Chapter 85: The Gray Wolf King Named "Grey Big Wolf"

A silent, blue, crescent-shaped sword aura sliced through the air, issuing straight from Ge Nie’s sword twenty meters away, aimed directly at the Wolf King.

“What!” In that instant, a chill ran through the Wolf King’s body. Years of battle experience screamed at him—a threat to his life, lethal and swift, was coming straight for him.

Every cell in his body trembled—a primal warning of imminent death.

“It’s sword aura! Dodge, I must dodge!” The Wolf King jerked his head aside and saw the blue arc bearing down on him with deadly intent.

This wasn’t some second-rate aura like Si Kongxu’s—pure, perhaps, but lacking in substance. This blue sword arc could truly split metal and stone, a single stroke deadly as fate itself!

Among this group, only Ge Nie could unleash such an aura. He had made his move.

“Damn it, dodge!” The Wolf King had already spotted the incoming blow, but he was mid-lunge toward Si Kongxu. Though he managed to arrest his movement in a split second, that brief instant was all it took for the sword aura to arrive.

Swish—

The sharp blue arc, icy and lethal, struck the Wolf King. It should have pierced his throat as he leapt, but thanks to his quick reflexes—raising his body just in time—the aura instead slashed his left shoulder, narrowly sparing his life.

“Aagh—!”

Agonizing pain overwhelmed the Wolf King’s mind. He had evaded death, but not disaster—the sword aura left a deep gash in his shoulder. If Ge Nie’s attack had been any stronger, it might have cleaved off his entire arm.

“Ge Nie, I swear I’ll have my revenge! Aagh—!”

His miserable cry echoed through the night, and the surrounding wolves, hearing their king’s anguish, halted their assault.

“He’s trying to escape!” Suddenly, Si Kongxu recalled the original story—where the Wolf King, burned by Tianming’s flames, also fled. Now, wounded so grievously, the Wolf King would surely try to escape!

“Shaoyu, we must stop him—he’s about to run!” With those words, Si Kongxu raced toward the Wolf King, sword at the ready.

“Damn you!” The Wolf King’s left shoulder hung limp, utterly useless. His night-raid garb was soaked in blood, and in the firelight he looked truly terrifying.

Seeing Si Kongxu charging at him, the Wolf King knew they meant to keep him here. Yet, as an assassin of the night, agility was his forte. In the original tale, though his lightness skill was not as refined as Bai Feng’s or Dao Tuo’s, it was still formidable—he could cover dozens of meters in a single stride at full speed.

Unfortunately for him, Si Kongxu, familiar with this minor character, anticipated his move. As he dashed forward, he swung his sword, sending a sword aura flying toward the Wolf King.

Though weaker than Ge Nie’s, this aura would still force the injured Wolf King to scramble.

Yet Si Kongxu underestimated the Wolf King’s desperation to escape.

Facing this middling attack, the Wolf King chose not to dodge but to endure it. He glanced coldly at Si Kongxu, then turned, exposing his back and letting the sword aura carve a shallow wound across it.

“Ugh… I will return!”

With a low groan, the Wolf King summoned his strength, unleashed his lightness skill, and vanished, his figure flickering away at shocking speed—dozens of meters at a bound, disappearing from sight. Really, he should be called the Ashen Wolf, not the Wolf King…

With his departure, the leaderless wolves surrounding the caravan dispersed, and the crisis was lifted.

“Congratulations, trainee, for defeating the Wolf King.”

“Mission: ‘Nightmare of Quicksand’”

“Mission Difficulty: Four and a half stars.”

“Mission Objective: Quicksand’s fates, life and death shrouded… Defeat the Four Heavenly Kings of Quicksand and their leader, Wei Zhuang.”

“Mission Rewards: Ghost Valley Vertical Sword Technique—The Hundred-Pace Flying Sword; Ghost Valley Horizontal Sword Technique—Sweeping the Eight Directions.”

“Completion: 40% (Unmatched Demon and Wolf King defeated.)”

Apparently, defeating the target did not require killing—driving off the Wolf King counted as mission complete.

Si Kongxu ignored the prompt from his imprint.

He took a deep breath. During battle, he hadn’t noticed, but as soon as it ended, exhaustion crashed over him—muscles aching, nerves numb. He wanted nothing more than to sleep.

“Still not used to fighting at this intensity?” As Si Kongxu collapsed onto the cold ground, Shaoyu appeared from nowhere—vanishing during the fight, only to reappear the moment it ended.

“I’m not like you Xiang clan warriors, born to lead armies. I guess I’m just not used to war…” Though he’d seen fierce combat in the world of Attack on Titan, Si Kongxu had never grown accustomed to it—every time, he was left utterly spent.

“Were you some pampered young master? In these times, those who can’t adapt to war have long since died…” Shaoyu looked toward the pale light on the horizon, speaking with feeling.

“In my time, it was an age of peace—well, more or less. Ordinary people didn’t have to worry about war.”

“Not worry about war? Ha! What strange country were you born in? I’d like to see such a place.”

Si Kongxu realized he’d said too much and fell silent.

“What, no answer? Was it all a dream?” Shaoyu lay beside him, gazing up at the stars.

“What are you two talking about? Let me join in.” Suddenly, Tianming appeared, having been absent during the battle, and addressed them.

“We’re talking about a country—a beautiful country.”

“A beautiful country?” Tianming paused, then said, “One with food and drink, and you can sleep whenever you want—that’s a truly beautiful country!”

“Haha, that’s called a communist society…”

“A what society? I don’t understand…”

…

The three of them fell asleep where they lay. Fan Zeng, Xiang Liang, and the others, not wishing to disturb them, had them gently carried to the carriage.

Si Kongxu was truly exhausted—he slept through all the carriage’s jolts, unwilling to wake unless he absolutely had to. In the end, though, someone roused him.

They had arrived at Mirror Lake Medical Manor’s reception hall.