丁丁漫画

“How is the situation in the south canyon?”

“It’s not clear.”

The subordinate shook his head. “The officials there said a blizzard broke out at the south canyon and every external communication and path had been cut off, but we haven’t detected any large-scale weather disaster in that direction…”

He gritted his teeth and said grimly, “Aiwen District’s higher-ups must’ve known something but have been giving us perfunctory statements to delay time!”

“What about the unit dispatched earlier?”

“They met a small group of mercenaries and are in a fight with them, advancing extremely slowly.”

Wen Yao took a deep breath, her brows tinged with a bit of weariness. “What about Chief Mu? Were you able to contact him?”

“… No.”

The senior officials of the Aiwen District had a negative attitude toward them and the relevant authorities only shifted their responsibilities. Due to its remote northern location, this district usually didn’t receive much attention from the central district, resulting in a twisted and corrupted local authority that had perfunctorily written them out by now.

The Bureau’s team was already short-handed and Mu Heng could not be reached, so the matter had fallen into a deadlock.

As the deputy, all the burdens rested alone on Wen Yao’s shoulders.

Now, she had to make a decision. One wrong move and she would probably lose everything.

Her brow furrowed as she gazed at the map before her.

The auction house, south canyon…

Eventually, Wen Yao slowly took a deep breath and raised her head.

Her expression was resolute as if she had already made up her mind and she said in a calm and determined tone, “Leave a few people to stay at the headquarters. All the remaining combat staff follow me.”

If her guess was correct, it was likely that the mercenaries and Aiwen District’s higher-ups had joined forces this time to target the dragon’s capture plan. The southern and western entrances to the canyon were guarded. With their human resources, they were afraid that they would not be able to fight the other parties on multiple fronts, so they could only concentrate their strength and break out from the location that was most likely to be the weak zone.

Wen Yao pointed her finger at the eastern side of the Aiwen Snowfield, bordering another district.

“Go here.”

***

The firewood had almost burned out and the dragon flame in the fireplace gradually weakened.

Shi An’s eyelashes fluttered and his eyes opened in time.

His eyes had turned into pure golden-red dragon pupils, narrow and slender, like burning scarlet flames.

The dragon molt’s absorption had finally been completed after such a long time.

Shi An sat up, relaxed his body, and stretched.

He yawned, blinking away the sleepy tears at the corners of his eyes, and turned his head toward the man beside him.

Mu Heng was still unconscious.

His sword was made of magic, so the wounds inflicted were far more severe than ordinary lethal weapons and a harsh chill would continue to invade the depths of the injury. While the doctors in the mercenaries were able to treat the superficial wounds, they could do nothing for the more profound magical damages that were inflicted on him. Not to mention that he had run thousands of miles with such a fatal wound and forcefully mobilized his magic, even more so to wipe out all the mercenary group’s leading forces in the southern canyon.

Although his vital signs were stable, it would be tough for him to wake up immediately.

However, it should be enough to make it to the eastern canyon alive.

Shi An touched the man’s long silver hair scattered on the pillow and climbed up.

With the help of the demon insect and black smoke, he helped the unconscious Mu Heng put on his clothes.

Although Mu Heng typically looked slender and not exactly burly, that weight could practically crush a dragon after being in a coma, a dead weight. After barely wrapping Mu Heng tightly, a layer of sweat had already appeared on Shi An’s forehead.

He gasped heavily and sat on the edge of the bed for a while before recovering his strength.

At that moment, Shi An heard the skeleton horse outside the tent make a restless kicking sound and its loud snorts were apparent on this silent snowy night.

Shi An was slightly startled and squinted his eyes in one direction.

…. There was a human smell.

Heavy snow poured down, turning the ground and sky a uniform grayish-white color.

The mercenaries responsible for tracking Mu Heng’s whereabouts were already in pursuit, the heavy snow crunching beneath their feet as the group leader led several porcupine-like demonic creatures in his hands. These creatures could sniff through the snow to search for the smell of blood, the only way to find the injured in such extreme conditions.

Suddenly, the creatures stopped in their tracks and looked in one direction simultaneously.

They pawed uneasily in place, harsh grunts emanating from their snouts and a fearful glint in their tiny eyes.

The mercenaries gazed suspiciously at the group of demonic creatures behaving unusually.

Had they found a clue?

It didn’t look like it…

But no matter how much they scolded and prodded, the demons wouldn’t take even one more step in that direction.

What a strange situation.

The mercenary’s team leader twisted his head and signaled to the few men behind him. “Go take a look.”

The mercenaries’ pupils flinched as they passed through the blizzard.

Most of the destroyed camp was covered in wind and snow and faintly visible frozen green and black bodies poked out of the snow piles that had not yet accumulated thick enough as if they had been subjected to an inhumane massacre, with scorch marks from the blazing fires all around them, looking extremely gruesome.

“Quick, call someone! We have found him!”

The noise and chaos of footsteps approached the only tent in the entire camp that was still intact.

The air seemed to freeze and stagnate with the heavy hostility and murderous aura coming from all directions.

“Chief Mu, we know you’re inside.”

The mercenary’s team leader narrowed his eyes and looked fixedly into the deadly silence of the tent, his sinister voice echoing through the snow and wind. “I have to say that I admire you for running so far in that condition and could even pillage this camp. But you should’ve known that you’re only making a last-ditch fight now… We respect an unyielding man. As long as you cooperate with us, we’d be willing to befriend you…” he said while gesturing toward the other mercenaries.

The remaining two teams sneaked around the side and approached the tent.

Even though they knew that the other side was already severely wounded, the mercenaries did not dare to take it lightly.

They knew the more wounded a beast was, the more vicious its bite would be. The almost wholly destroyed camp in front of them confirmed their suspicions.

However, they didn’t intend to leave anyone alive from the start.