Chen Yuxin touched the dust on the ground with her hand. Indeed, perhaps because the ruins had been uninhabited for a long time, a layer of dust had gathered on the ground. A light step would leave a footprint, but the ground was very clean, looking quite "eerie."

"No matter what, I must find him. The ruins are full of bizarre things. Should we abandon the mission halfway?" Chen Yuxin ordered everyone to move forward. To prevent accidents, she commanded a few Hidden Guards to scout two kilometers ahead.

"Report to the Netherworld Empress, a fork in the road has appeared ahead." At this time, a Hidden Guard hurried over from the front to report to everyone.

"Go take a look." Chen Yuxin led the group to the front. Sure enough, the originally singular path developed into three forks. This was a troubling decision. The Ji Family had left the group and were attacked in the canyon, losing nearly thirty percent. If they stayed together, they could still protect themselves, but dividing into three paths would be suicidal if they encountered Ghost Soldiers.

"Netherworld Empress, what should we do?" Jeddon asked beside Chen Yuxin.

"Report, a large number of Ghost Soldiers are approaching from behind." Suddenly, a Hidden Guard ran over from the rear, looking panicked, with hurried speech, indicating things were not looking good.

"What? How did this happen? How did the Ghost Soldiers get here?" Jeddon looked serious, gripping the Dragon Sparrow Saber, seemingly ready for battle.

"How many Ghost Soldiers?" Chen Yuxin questioned.

"Countless. They are in formation, less than three kilometers away." The Hidden Guard immediately replied.

"Netherworld Empress, I'll take a team to block them. You should leave first." Jeddon volunteered. Ghost wanted to step forward to stop him, but was held back by the Demoness.

"Be careful." Chen Yuxin nodded. "Everyone else, follow me."

Jeddon led a team of Hidden Guards towards the rear. Chen Yuxin didn't let everyone disperse and chose to advance along the middle path.

"Not good, there are also Ghost Soldiers ahead." Suddenly, Ghost signaled everyone to stop. Sure enough, a group of Ghost Soldiers, orderly arrayed, approached them. With shields and spears, their numbers were enough to completely block the road ahead.

Blocked at the front, pursued from behind.

"Retreat, immediately return to the three-way junction." Chen Yuxin decisively commanded.

"Retreat, retreat." Nobody dared to delay. The Ghost Soldiers were restricting their space, pressing in bit by bit. It's hard to imagine why these Ghost Soldiers were so numerous. Back in Atlantis, Ghost and others encountered many guardians in the ruins, but it was a large city where you could hide everywhere. However, the ruins seemed more like a maze, with only paths left, nowhere to hide, only escape.

Everyone quickly retreated to the three-way junction, just in time to meet Jeddon and the Hidden Guards returning. Their clothes were already slashed in many places, and several Hidden Guards were afflicted with death aura, almost stumbling back while supporting each other.

"Netherworld Empress, why have you returned?" Jeddon asked curiously, his tone unable to mask the urgency within him, as the Ghost Soldiers had already caught up.

"There are Ghost Soldiers ahead as well," Ghost quickly explained, pointing to the left path, "Look, trouble is coming from there too."

The morale of the group was nearly rock bottom, having been "cornered" by wave after wave of Ghost Soldiers. The Ghost Soldiers on the left were the same, slowly approaching them.

Now, only the right path remained.

"You've got to be kidding, another narrow path." Ghost glanced at the right path and couldn't help but complain. They had already walked on a narrow path for over an hour before, and here it was again. The most critical thing was that below this narrow path was not scattered rocks, but an abyss, unfathomably deep. Even the bright flashlights couldn't reveal what was below—it could be a waterpool, or it could be piles of rocks...

If one fell, it would be nothing short of smashed to pieces.

"Everyone, onto the narrow path." Chen Yuxin ordered. The path was so narrow that it was difficult for two people to walk side by side, so they had to ascend one by one. Ghost stayed at the back of the group, organizing everyone to ascend in order.

"Have a few Hidden Guards come with me." Ghost saw the three lines of Ghost Soldiers slowly approaching and felt quite anxious. Only half the team had ascended at this point, and if it continued like this, chaos would surely ensue.

Ghost held a rifle, firing bursts at the approaching Ghost Soldiers. Bullets entered their brains, but the Ghost Soldiers did not stop moving. Unfortunately, Ye Shikai wasn't present as Ghost and the others still didn't know the Ghost Soldiers' weak points, so the bullets could only repel them, not pose a threat.

"Throw grenades." Ghost took out the few remaining grenades, pulling the pin, releasing the safety, and throwing them towards the Ghost Soldiers.

Boom.

With a loud explosion, the Ghost Soldiers' formation was disrupted. After all, they were from ancient times and didn't know the power of grenades, thinking they were just small iron balls.

"Keep throwing." Ghost ordered. Ye Shikai wasn't here, so there was no "large munitions warehouse" like the Storage Ring; the grenades were few and needed to be used sparingly.

"Lord Ghost, you should climb the narrow path first."

"No, you all go up first, hurry." Ghost shouted loudly, emptying bullets, with casings covering the ground, expertly changing a magazine. He had to be the last to leave.

"Lord Ghost, everyone is up, please come quickly."

"Okay." Ghost put away his rifle, stepped onto the narrow path, and threw a grenade on the ground, sprinting forward.

Bam.

With a deafening sound, the grenade successfully blasted the entrance of the narrow path, turning wood planks into shrapnel. The Ghost Soldiers reached the entrance, but the blown gap was over three meters wide, making it impossible to cross, effectively ending the Ghost Soldiers' pursuit.

"Lord Ghost, are you alright?" Crammed on the narrow path, Ghost panted heavily. It was dangerously close, as any later and the blast wave would have tossed him into the abyss.

"I'm fine, let's move quickly." Ghost shook his head, eyeing the Ghost Soldiers on the opposite side, fearing they might shoot arrows. This was a narrow path with no cover. If they didn't move quickly, they'd become sitting ducks.

..................

On another path in the ruins, Ye Shikai suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, so uncomfortable that he squatted down.

"Are you okay?" Ji Qian saw this, thinking something was wrong with his body, and her heart instantly tightened.

"I'm fine, just a bit of chest tightness and shortness of breath." Ye Shikai shook his head. Wuyan took his wrist to check his pulse.

"The pulse is quite stable, shouldn't be anything major." Wuyan took out a pill from his pocket and handed it to Ye Shikai.

"Taking this will help a bit," Wuyan said calmly.

"I just feel... something bad is happening." Ye Shikai murmured. Sometimes it's like this, when something major is about to happen, he suddenly feels a pang of discomfort.

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