No Longer the Same

"Careful!" the tall, gaunt apprentice ability master shouted at the sight. "High-tier Guizu possess immense corruptive power!" At that exact moment, Wu Youren felt his entire body tense, the hairs on his arms standing on end in an instant. He could faintly sense an immense threat locking directly onto him. By this point, he could no longer afford to be cautious. Thoughts of controlled bursts were thrown entirely out the window as he clamped down hard on the trigger. The heavy machine gun spewed a long tongue of flame, bursting in the air into a sky full of blazing light orbs that instantly formed a dazzling barrage. "Watch out," he shouted as well, half a beat behind. "We've been targeted too." The two knights were concentrating wholly on fending off the Guizu aura closing in from the rear and flanks—the front was receiving the machine gun's dedicated attention, making it hard for the aura to draw near. Hearing his warning, both were alarmed. Without hesitation, they spun around and braced to engage the enemy, leaving their rear defenses drastically weakened in an instant. Yet weakened or not, it hardly mattered—wasn't the biguijue prepared by martial artists meant precisely for critical moments like this? In truth, earlier, while the two had been protecting the youth, the inability of all three to rely effectively back-to-back had already taken a toll on the talismans. In their eyes, Wu Youren had lower cultivation and was actively running around, so his biguijue's energy was bound to be depleted the most. Even so, their own defense occasionally showed gaps; it was impossible to suffer zero drain. Meanwhile, Wu Youren's sustained, continuous spray gave everyone on the main battlefield a fright. Those were heavy machine gun rounds; if swept by them, even an apprentice knight would struggle to leave an intact corpse. The tall, gaunt ability master let out a gasp. "Ah, has he gone mad?" "Orderly retreat!" the burly grand knight barked decisively. "Rally toward the heavy firepower!" Instructor Hong materialized, casting a complicated look at him, then melted back into stealth without a word. *You really dare to trust him!* Her impression of Wu Youren was decent enough, and she believed he wasn't an impulsive person. Even so, he was a hostage from Jin. If he ever harbored foul intentions, their entire party would be wiped out! Yet the burly man had no other choice. He couldn't realistically expect the trio to merge into the main group on their own initiative. The heavy fire had to keep laying down suppression, the two beside him had to protect a student, and there were heavy crates of ammunition... More crucially, Wu Youren had previously made it clear that he wanted to retreat out of the mountains; he was fully capable of acting on his own. Considering the youth's ability to sense Guizu aura, ditching the main force might actually make it easier for him to get away. Whereas on the main battlefield, there were quite a few wounded, which meant their retreat would not be swift, and they also needed to leverage his sensory capabilities. If the mountain will not come to me, I shall go to the mountain—it was as simple as that. As the two sides drew closer, Wu Youren gradually shifted his muzzle outward, carefully avoiding the main group up ahead. Amidst his frantic barrage, he felt the latent threat diminishing rapidly. Since that was the case, steady and cautious was the way to go. However, as the two sides were closing the gap, a faint, metallic clink rang out: *Clink—* In such a noisy battlefield environment, anyone whose cultivation was slightly lower would hardly have noticed it. Yet there were two grand knights present. In a flash, Instructor Hong appeared and scooped up an object from the ground. "Holy crap, a Guizu relic!" the burly man noticed as well. Yet now was hardly the time to argue over it. He grunted coldly, "Mind your coordination! When can't you pick up spoils of war?" The Red Pine instructor beside Wu Youren couldn't help muttering at the sight, "Earlier... who knows if any Guizu relics dropped back there!" The two of them were tasked with guarding the youth, so the gains from the main battlefield had nothing to do with them. Still, they had slain quite a few Guizu nearby too; if any treasures had dropped, they certainly had the right to claim them. Regrettably, their duty was simply too heavy and the pressure too intense; there was no way they could have spared the attention. Only now did they painfully realize that earlier, there had been a very real chance of picking up good items! It wasn't that they lacked common sense; rather, in a situation like that, getting distracted by greed would have truly meant endangering others as well as themselves! Still, seeing Hong Da score some loot, it was impossible not to feel a twinge of regret! Compared to them, Wu Youren's focus was elsewhere. "Uh, Cynthia, are you all right?" The female warrior jabbed the ground with the crutch fashioned from a tree branch in her left hand, then pointed at her bandage-wrapped waist. "What do you think?" "You can't blame me for that," Wu Youren sighed. *Who told you not to firmly stand on my side?* Still, there was no need for idle chatter at a time like this, especially when he noticed the tattered remains of a coir raincoat clinging to her shoulder. "Begin a slow retreat," the burly grand knight ordered calmly. "Do not fall out of formation; we won't have the strength to rescue you." "Hong Da, we could escort the military squad out first!" the instructor from Red Pine suggested. "When we entered the mountains, it was mentioned that we might set up camp here." Previously, he hadn't supported that idea; clearly, he had been spurred by recent events to change his mind. The crucial thing was that Red Pine not only had a grand knight, but also a young student exceptionally sensitive to Guizu aura. Forming an effective combat unit wouldn't be an issue at all, and their combat capability wouldn't be weak either! "What I hate most is precisely this trait of you Martial Academy people!" The burly man shot him a cold glare. "When it's time to put your lives on the line, you dither and hesitate endlessly. But the moment you see profit, you'll throw away your lives without a second thought!" "Don't drag the Martial Academy into this every chance you get," Hong Yan said unhurriedly. "Seeking benefit and avoiding harm—isn't that basic human nature?" Right after, however, she added, "Let's all pull out together. We shouldn't disrupt the military's next deployment." The people they had just retrieved were carrying the latest intelligence from the front line. The process of the retreat needs no elaboration; they encountered plenty of obstacles along the way. Fortunately, they came through without major mishap in the end, reaching the cat-ear shelter Wu Youren had dug two hours later. Outside the mountains, there was still plenty of Guizu aura, but compared to yesterday, it had truly lessened considerably. Their team chose to set up camp right here on the spot, while sending word to the perimeter that an outpost had been established! Logically, their most natural reaction right now should have been to push out to the perimeter near Red Pine, regroup with the main force, and take a breather. Yet both the burly man and Hong Yan stated simultaneously: they would stay right here. Whether for the military, the Martial Academy, or other departments, reopening this transit route in the near future was an urgent necessity. Since they already had a foothold at the front, why not keep it? They would have to push forward sooner or later anyway. What's more, they had two readily available grand knights on hand; staying a day or two would serve to deter any petty troublemakers, wouldn't it? Indeed, what the two intended to deter wasn't just the Guizu, but all petty scoundrels! The main group halted and began pitching camp. Supplies were relatively tight at the moment, but that didn't matter—all they had to do was notify the rear. With the strength of this squad, having fought their way out of the mountains, clearing a corridor to the perimeter wouldn't be all that difficult either. Outside the mountains, there were also grand-knight-level Guizu; Wu Youren had sensed several of them earlier. However, for either side, fighting a decisive battle here right now would be premature. While sending word back, they also began inquiring into what exactly this breakout squad had run into. Different people had different priorities. Wu Youren did not take the initiative to ask anything; he simply sat there, listening quietly. The rescued group numbered sixteen in total, among whom nine were knights. Among them were two familiar faces: the two military scouts he had encountered back at the patrol post. Only now, the slightly lean knight was injured in one eye, while the stocky knight had taken a heavy blow to the forehead, both having bandages wrapped around their heads. They looked rather battered, but given the peril they had faced, walking away with their lives was already something to be thankful for. Cynthia hobbled over on her crutch and sat down beside him. "Naimu'er... he's probably gone." Wu Youren glanced sideways at her, thought for a moment, and said, "The person you're talking about... let me think. Was he the one who injured his arm?" "You!" The female warrior's chest heaved rapidly, visibly irritated. "How could you not remember him?" "Well, yes," Wu Youren pondered briefly, then gave a solemn nod. "I generally don't bother remembering unimportant people." Cynthia froze for a moment, then laughed out of sheer exasperation. "So when I stood up to him for your sake, you forgot that too?" Wu Youren blinked a few times before replying, "And did the result of you standing up to him... end with me leaving?" Cynthia was instantly tongue-tied. What had happened back then wasn't really a huge deal, but trying to untangle it all would take some doing. More importantly, they were surrounded by high-ranking martial artists discussing the battle against the Guizu; dwelling on such petty squabbles now would look terribly small-minded. All she could do was sulkily change the subject. "It's all because of those two guys leading people to the post." It truly was those two head-injured military scouts who had brought the rescued team to that post. At the time, the situation had been dire, with hordes of Guizu hot on their heels, and they had wanted to use the surrounding traps. To military personnel, such an action was completely standard in wartime. Only by fully utilizing every shred of available assistance could they hope to secure ultimate victory. For Cynthia and Naimu'er, however, it had been sheer, undeserved calamity. Wu Youren had laid quite a few traps around the post, but how much material could Instructor Keli's off-road vehicle hold in the first place? Compared to a Guizu swarm of that scale, it had been a drop in the ocean. Even with every trap triggered, they had only held them off for a brief moment. Taking advantage of the blast collapsing the rocks, the group had begun retreating, and along the way, they ran into another military squad pulling out. Wu Youren listened to her narrate casually. In his eyes, there was nothing unusual about such things, and they certainly weren't worth getting upset over. The next moment, his brows lifted, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his lips—the conversation off in the distance was getting rather interesting. As it turned out, these soldiers they had escorted out didn't possess much new intel at all. So much so that the burly grand knight's face darkened. "Hmm, only this little information... You tricked us into mounting an extraction? Quite the nerve you have!" The slightly lean knight with an injured eye carefully defended himself, "If we hadn't called for backup, even this little bit of intel would have been hard to deliver." Another chimed in, "The Guizu situation inside is growing increasingly dire—you've seen it yourself."