Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Surrounded by Eighth-Order Demon Wolves attacking cultivators in the Yuan Spirit Realm and Sixth to Seventh-Order Demon Wolves blocking all exits of the Blackrock Gorge, coupled with the inexplicable explosions and cave-ins within the gorge, the bandits found themselves trapped without an escape route.

At this moment, Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou no longer hid themselves, starting to take action against the surrounding bandits.

Wen Qiao summoned a spirit sword, delivering a graceful yet lethal strike, "Phoenix Sword Dance." The sky was split by her sword, its light manifesting into thousands of streaks, slaying several bandits in one fell swoop.

Caught off guard, the bandits didn't expect their companions, who had been fleeing alongside them, to suddenly turn on them. By the time they realized what was happening, they were already spirits beneath her blade.

As Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou dispatched the bandits around them, they swiftly headed toward one of the exits of the Blackrock Gorge.

Wen Qiao led the way, her long sword in hand, while Ning Yuzhou followed closely behind, also wielding a long sword. He took care of the bandits that Wen Qiao couldn't handle. Despite his lower cultivation, his swordsmanship appeared rather impressive. Wen Qiao stole a glance and discovered that her husband was also skilled in swordplay.

As they moved forward, their goal was clear: They only targeted bandits below the Yuan Pulse Realm, leaving those above it to the pack of Demon Wolves.

The Demon Wolves, now driven by a bloodlust, had eyes that seemed dyed red, mercilessly tearing apart the bandits with brutal ferocity.

The gorge was littered not just with human corpses but also with the bodies of Demon Wolves. The sight of their fallen comrades elicited mournful howls from them, while the blood of the cultivators fueled their bestial instincts, demanding ceaseless combat to quell their rage.

Their actions soon drew the attention of the bandits within the gorge.

"An intruder!" a bandit cried out.

However, by the time they realized these two outsiders had infiltrated the Blackrock Gorge, it was too late. The duo had already reached the nearest exit, where several Demon Wolves were blocking the way. Upon seeing them approach, instead of attacking, the Demon Wolves parted to let them pass, allowing the two to escape unobstructed.

The pursuing bandits instinctively tried to follow them out, only to find that the Demon Wolves had once again blocked the exit, their blood-stained eyes fixed on them.

Bandits: "...Is this differential treatment?"

Before they could question why the Demon Wolves were treating them differently, the pack pounced, treating them as prey and enemies alike, tearing them apart.

When Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou emerged from the Blackrock Gorge, they noticed that the sky was growing dark; the sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the desert, painting a scene of dusk.

A few of the Demon Wolves that had surrounded the Blackrock Gorge approached them, bowing their heads in submission before the pair.

"Woof woof~"

A soft whimper sounded, followed by a small wolf's head poking out from under a cloak.

The wolf pup's eyes remained closed as it whined at the Demon Wolves, its tiny nose twitching as if searching for something.

One of the massive Eighth-Order Demon Wolves lowered its head, gently nudging the pup before letting out a long howl that echoed across the desert, reverberating far into the distance.

Upon hearing the howl, the Demon Wolves still within the Blackrock Gorge raised their heads and joined in, howling into the sky.

The howls of thousands of Demon Wolves merged into a powerful chorus, enveloping the entire desert.

After their howl, the Demon Wolves began to retreat, no longer blocking the various exits of the Blackrock Gorge. They descended from the black rocks or flew out of the gorge, gathering in the desert. Most of the Demon Wolves flying out of the gorge carried the bodies of fallen comrades in their mouths, then proceeded in an orderly fashion towards the horizon.

Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou sat atop the Eighth-Order Demon Wolf, which spread its wings and took flight, leading the pack away.

The bandits of the Blackrock Gorge watched in confusion as the Demon Wolves suddenly withdrew. They maintained their battle stances, their faces filled with bewilderment, unable to comprehend why the Demon Wolves, on the brink of conquering the Blackrock Gorge, would suddenly withdraw?

It wasn't until some time later that they finally came to their senses, realizing that with the Demon Wolves' departure, they were safe.

The Demon Wolves had truly withdrawn, and they had survived, a better outcome than they could have hoped for!

As for the questions that lingered, they set aside for the moment, only hoping that the Demon Wolves wouldn't return. Otherwise, the Blackrock Gorge would truly become the domain of the Demon Wolves.

But little did the bandits of the Blackrock Gorge know that not only would the Demon Wolves not return, but even Lord Wu, who had always protected the Blackrock Gorge, did not come back.

In this battle, the Blackrock Gorge not only suffered the collapse of most of its caves but also lost two experts of the Yuan Sect Realm, significantly reducing its strength and making it the weakest force in the Shifting Desert.

***

The pack of wolves raced and flew through the desert at sunset, some in the sky and others on the ground, ensuring they could respond to any threat from either realm.

Soon, the Demon Wolves halted.

Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou, riding on the back of the Demon Wolf, quickly understood why they had stopped, for they had arrived at the site where the Wolf King and Lord Wu of the Blackrock Gorge had fought.

In the boundless desert, the orange-red afterglow of the sunset bathed the dunes, dyeing the golden sand a warm shade of orange.

On one of those dunes lay a colossal Demon Wolf, its body sprawled upon the sands stained crimson by its own blood. The blood flowed in rivulets, spreading across the surrounding sand as if soaking it.

Not far away, there was also the corpse of a human.

Seeing this, Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao understood that the Wolf King and Lord Wu had both been grievously wounded. This realization also explained why they hadn't seen Lord Wu return despite the havoc they had wreaked upon the Blackrock Gorge.

The Azure-winged Demon Wolves in the sky descended, folding their wings as they silently observed the Wolf King lying on the dune. A somber atmosphere of mourning hung heavy in the air above the desert.

"Woof woof woof..."

The whimpers of the wolf pup inside the cloak grew louder. It struggled to crawl out, tumbling off the back of the Demon Wolf. Its underdeveloped meaty wings flapped clumsily as it stumbled toward the Wolf King.

The pup, its limbs still healing from being broken, could only fly and roll in a haphazard manner, eventually reaching the Wolf King. Its tiny body collided with the Wolf King's nose.

"Woof woof woof..."

Dazed from the impact, the pup emitted soft whines.

Its injured eye, crusted with dried blood, kept shut. It blindly nuzzled the Wolf King's head with its body and slapped its nose with its small wings, emitting whimpers and whines.

Perhaps sensing the bond between father and son, the Wolf King slowly opened its eyes in response to the pup's cries.

Its head lay weakly on the sand, gazing at the pup that had collided with it. It managed to extend its large, bloody tongue and licked the pup from head to toe, causing the pup to stumble and fall onto the sand. Lying there, the pup allowed itself to be licked by the Wolf King, emitting small whimpers that sounded almost like coos, as if it were playfully complaining.

Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou jumped off the back of the eighth-rank demon wolf.

They approached the wolf king.

The wolf king's gaze fell upon them. Although it was severely injured at this moment, the aura of a high-rank demon beast hadn't diminished in the slightest. It just looked at them like that.

Wen Qiao produced a bottle of spirit pills, poured a few into the wolf king's mouth.

The young wolf whined at the smell of the spirit pills, urging its father to eat quickly, as if telling him his body would get better after eating.

After watching them for a while, the wolf king swallowed the spirit pills stuffed into its mouth.

So Wen Qiao sat on the sand dune, pulled out spirit pills from her storage bag, replenishing blood and qi, restoring vitality, restoring spirit energy, treating external injuries... She mindlessly stuffed all the healing spirit pills into the wolf king's mouth.

Ning Yuzhou examined the wolf king's body and found that the wolf king's injuries were very severe. If they had arrived any later, the wolf king might have died here. Although it was holding on by a thread now, without timely treatment, death was only a matter of time. But with them around, the wolf king naturally wouldn't die.

"Husband, how is it? Can you save it?" Wen Qiao asked as she continued stuffing spirit pills into the wolf king's mouth.

She practically emptied the spirit pills from her storage bag, sparing no expense to stuff them into the wolf king's mouth. The little wolf cub, smelling the scent of the spirit pills, greedily swallowed its saliva but didn't come forward to beg for a taste, looking both adorable and pitiful.

Wen Tuntu followed the demon wolves over and jumped onto Wen Qiao's shoulder. Seeing Wen Qiao continuously feeding spirit pills to the wolf king, although it was unhappy, it dared not protest because the wolf king's rank was higher than its own. Even though the wolf king was injured now, it was still a ninth-rank demon beast, not something an eighth-rank demon beast could challenge.

The hierarchy among demon beasts was very strict.

Ning Yuzhou said, "I can save it, but it's already late. Let's find a safe place first."

Hearing this, Wen Qiao immediately said to the wolf king, "Wolf King, can you walk? We'll find a safe place to spend the night and treat your injuries at the same time."

The wolf king let out a low sound, deep and sonorous, different from the young wolf's milk-like whines, more dignified and authoritative.

The wolf king slowly stood up.

Only then did Wen Qiao notice that there was a deep wound on the wolf king's abdomen that exposed bone, and one of its wings was broken, hanging limply at its side. In addition to this, there were many other wounds on its body, three of which were life-threatening, one on its abdomen and two on the sides of its neck.

And the sand beneath the wolf king was stained red with blood.

The wolf king was, after all, a ninth-rank demon beast. Although severely injured, thanks to Wen Qiao's generous supply of spirit pills, it managed to pick itself up and stand, barely clinging to life.

Before leaving, Wen Qiao specifically went to check the nearby corpse, casually glancing at the face of the corpse's owner, confirming that he was dead before stripping him of his storage bags. Then, she casually cast a fire spell, burning his corpse.

Even if she hadn't burned it, once night fell and the desert winds picked up, the body would be shredded into mincemeat.

Then, Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou climbed back onto the back of the eighth-rank demon beast.

With one of its wings broken, the wolf king couldn't fly, so it was carried by two eighth-rank demon wolves, all flying toward the direction of the setting sun.

As the sun approached the horizon, the demon wolves finally returned to their territory, an oasis covered in green sandstone formations.

The demon wolves flew into the caves among the green sandstone formations.

The cave where the wolf king lived was very large and clean, without a trace of odor.

Soft dry grass covered the ground, and the young wolf cub rolled around in it, then crawled all the way to the wolf king's body, dragging its four weak legs and climbing on it.

The wolf king lay there, its eyes filled with warmth as it watched the little wolf cub crawling all over its body, occasionally licking it to clean its fur.

Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou sat to the side eating spirit fruits.

The spirit fruits were brought by the demon wolves, plucked from the oasis. The demon wolves directly bit through a section of the vine bearing spirit fruits and brought them over like that. The spirit fruits were soft, sweet, and juicy, after being exposed to the scorching desert sun, all the sugar had settled in the flesh, like honey sweetness, causing Ning Yuzhou to help himself to several more.

Seeing this, Wen Qiao happily peeled the skin for him, placing the peeled fruit, the size of a baby's fist, in front of him, smilingly asking, "Husband, are these Cherry Spirit Fruits delicious?"

Ning Yuzhou calmly hummed in agreement, eating all the Cherry Spirit Fruits that she had peeled for him.

Wen Qiao suddenly realized that her husband liked such sweet spirit fruits. No wonder he never competed with her for spirit fruits before, as those spirit fruits weren't as sweet as the Cherry Spirit Fruits from the desert.

A cauldron was simmering soup, filling the air with an extremely fresh and fragrant aroma.

Wen Tuntu and the two Yellow Crystal Ants squatted beside the cauldron, all three gnawing on spirit pills.

Wen Tuntu gnawed while eyeing the wolf king, seemingly obedient, but in reality, its fur was bristling, guarding against the wolf king. In comparison, the two Yellow Crystal Ants were much calmer. After gnawing on the spirit pills, they continued to gnaw on ant fragrance leaves, as if they didn't know what fear was.

They were now guests of honor among the Azure-Winged Demon Wolves, and the demon wolves treated them very politely. The wolf king even allowed them to stay in its cave.

After the soup in the cauldron was cooked, Ning Yuzhou ladled it out and placed it in front of Wen Qiao.

Today's soup wasn't mixed with diluted ten-thousand-year-old spirit milk, yet despite this, its flavor remained extremely delicious.

As Wen Qiao prepared to eat, she discovered a little wolf cub drooling over her soup right in front of her, its wet nose twitching.

Wen Qiao: "…"

Wen Qiao shared some of it with the cub and declared, "This is the medicinal meal my husband made for me, I can't give you too much."

The young wolf cub happily wagged its half-tail, burying its head in the bowl like a piglet, pushing against it to lick.

Wen Tuntu instantly felt unbalanced.

This wolf cub actually stole its sister's soup. It should be known that it hadn't even eaten any!

Wen Tuntu issued a sharp angry hiss at the young wolf cub, loudly grinding its teeth, wanting to show this little wolf cub its might. Unfortunately, the young wolf cub was focused on drinking the soup and simply ignored it.

The cub's father was watching from the side, and Wen Tuntu, no matter how angry it was with the young wolf cub, could only threaten with its teeth and not take action.

After realizing they wouldn't fight, Wen Qiao left them alone.

After finishing the soup, Wen Qiao ran over to chat with the wolf king lying on the straw to rest and heal, grabbing the pouncing young wolf cub and rubbing its soft belly.

"Your injuries need time to heal." Wen Qiao said, glancing at Ning Yuzhou, who was not far away, preparing to refine pills, "My husband is an alchemist, he will cure you. Don't worry."

The wolf king let out a mournful howl, lowering his head to gaze at the pup, his eyes fixating on the tiny creature's unopened orbs.

Wen Qiao remarked, "Earlier, my husband examined the pup's eyes; they've been blinded by poison. We must seek out the appropriate antidote."

The poison that had robbed the pup of its sight shared similarities with the properties of the Red Frost Flower, far from being remedied by common detoxifying pills. Upon discovering the pup, Wen Qiao had administered a pill concocted from the royal honey of Moon Bees, but to no avail.

If only she had known then what she knew now. Back in Blackrock Gorge, upon witnessing Zuo Peng's demise at the hands of the demon wolves, she should have rifled through his storage bag. Zuo Peng likely possessed the antidote they desperately needed.

Regret tinged Wen Qiao's voice as she imparted this lesson to Wen Tutu: "Wen Tutu, remember this—whenever you slay an enemy, always check their storage bag. It might contain something we require, do you understand?"

Wen Tutu was silent, ...

... realizing that not only was taking a life part of the equation, but also the subsequent search of the fallen. Wen Tutu acknowledged the lesson with a newfound understanding.