Great Wilderness Demon Lord

"Xiao Yunlan... what exactly did you do? And what price did you pay?" Li Xuan murmured to herself, her fingers unconsciously twirling the fox fur at the edge of her cloak.

She could deduce that Xiao Yunlan must have used some method to interfere with or even reverse the cult's ritual, causing the plague attack originally aimed at Zhenhuang Pass to bounce back to the Langrong camp, and the effect of this attack had undergone a terrible mutation.

What kind of courage, decisiveness, and profound understanding, even... control, of that evil force would that require?

The horrific scenes of the physician treating those who suffered from the backlash of cult magic are still vivid in my mind.

Xiao Yunlan, with his mortal body, performed this act against the heavens; the backlash and risks he would face are probably unimaginable.

"Pass down the order," Li Xuan said to his personal guards, "All medical officers within the pass, assemble and stand by, prepare the best wound medicines and vital energy-tonifying herbs. Once you find Commander Xiao, immediately do everything in your power to treat him."

"yes!"

She then turned to Gu Yan: "Mr. Gu, in my name, draft a report of victory. Report truthfully that the Wolf Rong army was defeated due to the backlash of the cult ritual, and the siege of Zhenhuang Pass was lifted. Xiao Yunlan's troops fought bravely behind enemy lines, disrupting the ritual, and made great contributions."

Further details... will be omitted for now. The news of victory was delivered by express courier, traveling 800 li (approximately 400 kilometers), directly to the Ministry of War and the palace.

Gu Yan was slightly taken aback: "Your Highness, report the truth? What about the backlash from that cult ritual..."

"It can't be hidden." Li Xuan shook her head. "How many eyes have seen that scene outside the Great Wall? Rather than covering it up and arousing suspicion, it's better to report it frankly and firmly pin the credit on 'interfering with and sabotaging the cult's conspiracy'."

As for the specifics of how the interference occurred and why the backlash was so severe… the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, and the evil magic is unpredictable and difficult to describe in detail. Let the high-ranking officials in the court guess for themselves.”

A faint, slightly mocking smile curved her lips: "Sometimes, leaving some suspense is better."

Gu Yan understood and bowed in agreement.

The cold wind still blew atop the fortified wall. Li Xuan stood alone for a long time, her gaze never leaving the battlefield shrouded in eerie mist, or the vast snowfield to the southeast.

She was waiting, waiting for news from the scouts, and also waiting for the return of the young captain who had used himself as a pawn to stir up trouble.

Whether he brings back victory or... something far more unfathomable.

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The dispatched scouts sent back messages one after another in the afternoon.

Scouts on both the east and west sides confirmed that the spread of the bluish-gray mist was roughly centered on the ruins of the original Wolf Rong altar, with a radius of about one and a half miles.

The diffusion has almost stopped, but the fog concentration has not decreased, and slight creeping can still be seen at the edges.

Within a hundred feet, one can feel obvious palpitations and shortness of breath; warhorses with scouts show strong unease when approaching.

Within the fog's reach, everything was eroded away, and the ground took on a dull, eerie color, as if it had been scorched by fire and doused with acid.

The defeated Langrong soldiers had fled dozens of miles away, leaving behind a large amount of supplies and corpses along the way. Many of the seriously wounded were even abandoned in the snow to die, their condition miserable. However, the scouts obeyed orders and did not approach, but only observed from a distance.

As for the scouts searching for Xiao Yunlan in the southeast, they didn't bring back news that was both anxious and exciting until the beginning of the Shenshi hour.

"Your Highness! About fifteen li to the southeast, a simple stone altar has been discovered in a hidden depression, and there are signs of our soldiers' activity around it!"

"We found about twenty of our soldiers, all of them extremely exhausted, among them... Captain Xiao is unconscious and barely breathing!" The scout captain knelt on one knee, speaking rapidly.

Li Xuan's eyes narrowed: "Unconscious? How badly injured? What about the others?"

"There were no obvious serious external injuries on Captain Xiao's body, but his face was alternating between bluish and grayish, and he was sometimes cold and sometimes hot, and he was unconscious."

His twenty soldiers were also pale, as if they were severely depleted of qi and blood, but they were still conscious and were guarding the spot.

According to them, they assisted Captain Xiao in performing a ritual last night to combat the evil magic of the Wolf Rong, after which the captain vomited blood and fell into a coma.

The main force led by Commandant Lu is patrolling the perimeter, has made contact, and is on its way to join them.

"Immediately dispatch a medical team and a guard team, carrying stretchers, warm clothing and medicine, led by a reliable general personally selected by Vice Marshal Han, to provide support!"

"Make sure that Commander Xiao and his men are safely evacuated back to the pass! The operation must be swift, but caution is paramount. Stay away from that poisonous fog area!" Li Xuan ordered without hesitation.

"yes!"

The order was relayed swiftly. An hour later, a support team composed of elite soldiers and experienced medical officers, led by a composed captain, quietly left the pass and headed straight for the southeastern depression.

When Xiao Yunlan was carefully placed on a stretcher covered with a thick blanket, carried by eight strong soldiers and escorted by hundreds of elite cavalry, and passed through the slowly opening north gate of Zhenhuang Pass, it was already close to dusk.

The streets inside the pass had been cleared in advance, but behind the windows of the houses on both sides of the road, countless eyes were cast with awe and curiosity at the returning team, especially at the stretchers that were being closely guarded.

The news had already spread quietly. The young captain who had defended the Shuofeng Plain with his own troops and made outstanding contributions by infiltrating behind enemy lines was now being welcomed back like a hero while unconscious.

Li Xuan did not personally go to the city gate to greet them, but waited in front of the quiet room inside the general's residence.

As she instructed, the place had been set up as a temporary medical facility, warm and quiet, with all kinds of medicines and equipment readily available. Several of the most skilled military doctors from within the Great Wall had been waiting for a long time.

The stretcher was carefully carried into the quiet room and placed on a bed covered with soft animal hides.

Li Xuan then stepped forward and stared intently at the scene.

Xiao Yunlan's eyes were closed, and his face was bloodless, presenting an abnormal state that was sometimes bluish-gray and sometimes strangely flushed.

His breathing was weak and disordered, and with each rise and fall of his chest, faint, different colored glimmers flashed beneath his skin, almost imperceptible unless one had exceptional eyesight and observed closely at close range.

Even in his unconscious state, his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he were enduring immense pain or struggling.

"How is the situation?" Li Xuan asked, looking at the military doctors who were taking turns taking pulses and examining her.

The leader was an elderly military doctor with gray hair and a gaunt face, surnamed Sun, who had served in the northern border for over thirty years and was extremely experienced.

He pondered for a long time, exchanged glances with his colleagues, and then stood up, facing Li Xuan with a solemn expression and deep confusion: "Your Highness, Commandant Xiao's pulse... is extremely strange. In my decades of medical practice, I have never seen anything like it."

"Explain in detail."

"At first glance, his pulse seemed to indicate a deficiency of both qi and blood, and a severe depletion of vital energy. However, upon closer inspection, one could sense an extremely large and complex 'strange force' surging within his meridians and internal organs, which was in conflict and in balance with each other."

This strange force was no ordinary internal energy; it was a mixture of icy coldness, fiery intensity, life force, death energy, and violent, unpredictable power—all seemingly contradictory properties—maintaining a fragile balance while constantly impacting and eroding Xiao Xiao's foundation.