The Sorceress: Blossoming Power

General Lofey didn't see what happened at the back. Rather, he was in despair to see his men fall one by one on the ground every time a ghost flew through them. 

"Fall back! Fall back! Retreat!" General Lofey ordered. Seeing his men fall like paper being blown by the wind, grieved him and he was losing hope. But he couldn't show his emotions to his men or they'd be defeated. 

One of those things tried to attack him from behind and he was too late to look around. Just as he was about to be touched by one, a strong wind passed by his face. It was sharp enough to cut the tips of his hair above his forehead. It was Ming. He showed up in time and kept most of those things from attacking as he aimed the sharp winds toward them. 

"General, we have to regroup outside. This has become a dangerous situation. We can't risk our men more," he shouted while he kept on sending slicing winds, blowing the ghosts far from them until the General turned his back from the apparitions.

The General led his men outside and cared less if those things followed. His only focus was on his dead soldiers as he ran on the way out. His heart wrenched at the sight of them. He passed by Xinyi and Nianshi and saw them fighting fairly well, believing they were Chiangdas too.

Ming, behind him, called her to follow them. Just a few inches away as he passed them, he heard Xinyi scream, "Look out." A ghost appeared from the ground and raised its hand to touch Ming, but she jumped while waving her hand. Instantly an emerald sword appeared in her hand and sliced the ghost into two. 

The ghost howled in pain and the cut body flew in the walls, leaving a growling sound behind. 

"Thank you for saving my life."

"Let's go," she said, pulling him with her all the way out. However, before Ming could step forward, another ghost zoomed out from the wall and reached for Xinyi. This time Ming pushed Xinyi away and avoided the ghost of whom Lofey blasted a fire enough to blow the thing away. The thing wailed as it vanished.

Nianshi stood in front of Xinyi as more ghosts attacked the couple. The sword made a good hacking sound as he swung in great speed. The apparition cried out and dematerialized particle by particle with every hit. They didn't tarry for those things to reappear afterward. General Lofey and Nianshi stayed at the rear to protect the remaining soldiers to go out. 

As they reached outside, the ghosts tried to run after them but hit a barrier of white light at the exit instead. The beings wailed in anger, snarling at the humans outside. 

The general walked toward Ming, furious. "What were those things?" 

Ming only lowered his head. He also did not know what those things were. He understood what the general felt because he too had also lost a lot of his men just for a brief moment.

"I have no idea, but I think those things seemed cursed ghosts. Vengeful ones." 

Nianshi, out of nowhere, spoke out. "I agree with what the governor."

Everybody was mourning. The soldiers were terrified. The confidence they had when they entered were all gone. Time lapsed as gloomy silence took over the atmosphere. Everybody expected a safe and medium risk kind of mission but met something so cruel instead. 

Nianshi remained calm for he was used to these kinds of scenarios. He knew being emotional was not the solution. He looked toward the exhausted Xinyi whose head leaned on Ming's chest while Ming patted her shoulder to calm her down. 

The governor seemed perfectly fine, but the way Nianshi read his body language; he knew something was wrong. Ming jerked whenever his hand was brushed. 

"Let's all rest for now and regroup the men later. We need to find a strategy to beat those things" General Lofey ordered Tyriece, who looked up to the general in disbelief. 

"Didn't we just lost a lot of men inside? Must we continue on a battle that's not even supposed to be ours?" He knew some soldiers were brothers or cousins, fathers and sons. "Hadn't we had enough death for one day?" 

The general was furious, mostly to himself for insisting to go in. He blamed himself for causing the merciless death of his men. He sighed, trying to calm himself, knowing Tyriece had a point, but he also believed that there was nothing that couldn't be beaten. Somehow, he couldn't let this thing go; He wanted to avenge his men. 

Before he could utter another word, Ming stood and patted Tyriece's shoulder and nodded at the old man. "Let's give our men some time to mourn first, big brother. We also need to rest our tensed bodies for a while. Forcing these people right now won't help much."

The general gave in, admitting he was also exhausted. He retreated somewhere to think.

---- o ----

During the commotion earlier, Mafan had ran ahead with something in his hand. The ghouls had left him and attacked General Lofey and his men instead. Now, while they rested, Mafan had already found the passage going to the chamber General Lei Ming mentioned.

What was in his hand? Why did the ghosts left him alone? Will Mafan succeed finding the Haptorite stone?