I become stronger by sacrificing my lifespan, becoming invincible in the world.

Lin Chen subconsciously touched one of the handles.

It feels cool to the touch, and its texture is harder than refined iron, with naturally sharp, curved edges.

He's definitely a good killer.

As they spoke, the dark outline of Ghost Cry Pass appeared on the horizon.

As darkness fell completely, torches were lit on the city walls. The flickering flames cast enormous shadows across the wasteland, like the open mouth of a crouching beast.

The three quickened their pace.

"Who goes there!"

A sharp shout came from the city wall, and the creaking sound of a taut bowstring was particularly clear in the silence.

"Scout Battalion, Third Team! Li San, Zhao Tiegu, Lin Chen!" Li the Cripple hurriedly responded, his voice trembling with relief, "Mission accomplished! Return to the pass to report!"

The heavy ironwood city gate slowly opened a crack just wide enough for one person to pass through.

The three of them squeezed in sideways.

Inside the doorway, Scarface Wang was already waiting.

He wore a greasy fur coat and carried a thick leather whip. The scar on his face looked like a twisted centipede in the torchlight. When he saw the three men enter, he narrowed his triangular eyes, his gaze sweeping over the blood-soaked, disheveled figures. A half-smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"They're back? How many died?"

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against a stone.

"Two...two." Li the Cripple lowered his head, his voice tight, "One-Eyed Zhang and Crippled Liu...were attacked in Black Wind Pass, they...they didn't come back."

"Useless." Scarface Wang spat out a thick wad of phlegm, aiming precisely at Li the Cripple's feet. "What about the mission? Did you find out anything?"

Li the Cripple quickly stepped forward, cradling the wolf's eye wrapped in rag in his hands, bowing low: "Squad Leader, there are indeed demon wolves active in Black Wind Pass, their numbers... no less than ten. We encountered five of them, and fought desperately... fought desperately to kill one..."

He paused, his voice lower, tinged with deliberate fear and schadenfreude: "It's...it's of the King rank."

"Wang Jie?!" Wang the Scarface's pupils suddenly contracted, and he snatched the cloth bag, tearing it open in a few quick movements.

The dark red wolf eyes were exposed to the firelight, the pupils already dilated, but the remaining fierce and violent aura still made the soldiers guarding the gate subconsciously take a half step back.

It truly is the eye of a King-rank demon wolf!

Wang the Scarface's facial muscles twitched a few times, and when he looked up at Li the Cripple again, his eyes had changed: "You killed him?"

"It was...it was the three of us working together." Li the Cripple's voice was weak, and his head drooped even lower. "Zhao Tiegu and Lin Chen also...also put in a lot of effort."

Wang the Scarface's gaze swept over Zhao Tiegu and Lin Chen like a knife.

Zhao Tiegu lowered his head, his shoulders slumped slightly, looking utterly exhausted. Lin Chen was even more pale, his face as white as paper (from exerting his internal energy), the front of his clothes soaked with blood, and he stood there swaying as if he might collapse at any moment.

It certainly looks like he narrowly escaped death.

"Hmph, consider yourselves lucky." Scarface Wang stuffed the wolf eye into his pocket as naturally as if it were his own. "According to the rules of the pass, a king-rank demon wolf eye is worth one 'minor merit' and a reward of ten taels of silver."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the faces of Li the Cripple, Zhao Tiegu, and Lin Chen, before slowly saying, "Li San, since you're the one who handed it in, the credit mainly goes to you. As for the reward... you take five taels, and Zhao Tiegu and Lin Chen... two and a half taels each. Any objections?"

Li the Cripple shook his head vigorously: "No! No objection! It's entirely up to the team leader!"

Zhao Tiegu also said in a low voice, "Thank you, Captain Xie."

Lin Chen lowered his head and remained silent.

Wang the Scarface was quite pleased with this submissive behavior. He pulled a filthy money pouch from his pocket, spat on his fingertip, counted out five taels of loose silver, and casually tossed it to Li the Cripple. He then counted out two and a half taels for Zhao the Iron Bone.

When it was Lin Chen's turn, he fiddled with his money pouch for a long time, and finally only managed to pick out the smallest piece of silver, weighing only about an ounce, which he casually tossed over.

"New guy," Wang Ba said with a forced smile, his triangular eyes gleaming with mockery, "Your first mission, and you've managed to come back unscathed, you should be incredibly lucky. This little bit is a reward from me, the team leader. Keep up the good work, and there will be plenty of 'opportunities' in the future."

A blatant deduction.

The surrounding soldiers were used to it, and some even let out low sneers.

Li the Cripple and Zhao the Iron Bone clenched their silver coins tightly, their knuckles turning white, but they dared not look up.

Lin Chen caught the one or two taels of silver.

A cool sensation came from my palm.

He tightened his grip slightly, clutching the silver coins in his palm. His face remained expressionless as he whispered, "Thank you, Captain Xie."

"Go eat," Scarface Wang waved his hand dismissively, like shooing away a fly. "I have work to do tomorrow."

The three felt as if they had been granted a pardon and quickly turned and left.

After walking a few dozen steps and turning around a corner piled with junk, Zhao Tiegu slammed his fist on the earthen wall and cursed under his breath, "That heartless bastard! A single King-rank wolf eye can sell for at least thirty taels on the black market! He swallowed more than twenty taels in one gulp, taking away most of your meager earnings!"

Lin Chen opened his palm and looked at the small piece of silver in his hand.

In the torchlight, it gleamed with a dim luster.

"To come back alive," he said calmly, tucking the silver into his pocket, "is already a win."

Zhao Tiegu was taken aback and turned to look at him.

In the dim light, Lin Chen's face showed neither anger nor grievance, only a bottomless calm.

That's not numbness.

It's a kind of coldness that suppresses all emotions deep inside, waiting only for the right moment to erupt.

Zhao Tiegu felt a chill run down his spine, and swallowed the curse that was on the tip of his tongue. In the end, he could only sigh heavily: "You are... quite composed."

It's not that I can keep my composure.

I've noted it down.

In his mind, Lin Chen added another charge to the list of names associated with "Scarface Wang".

The three arrived at the so-called "dining hall".

A large, drafty thatched shed with several rows of long wooden benches haphazardly placed on the ground. In the middle were three large iron pots, with firewood burning beneath them, the contents of which were a dark, sticky, muddy paste that emitted a strange stench of sourness and burnt smell.

The line for food was incredibly long, and everyone was pale and thin with vacant eyes. When it was their turn, the cook would scoop up a spoonful of porridge, slam it into the broken bowl that was being offered to them, and then toss in half a black, hard, rock-hard flatbread.

No one complained.

Being able to receive it is a blessing.

Lin Chen, carrying a broken bowl and half a pancake, followed Zhao Tiegu to a corner and squatted down.

The three of them ate their "dinner" in silence, letting in the cold wind blowing in from outside the shed.

The taste of the mushy paste was indescribable, a mixture of sand and mold. The mixed noodle cakes were so hard they could break your teeth; you had to soak them in the paste for a long time before you could barely chew them.

But Lin Chen ate very seriously, chewing slowly, one bite at a time.

This body desperately needs energy. No matter how difficult it is to swallow, it has to be swallowed.

"Kid," Zhao Tiegu suddenly spoke, his voice low so only the three of them could hear, "thank you for today...."

He was referring to the time Lin Chen saved him in the valley.

Lin Chen shook his head: "Old Zhao also saved me."

"It's different." Zhao Tiegu scraped the bottom of the bowl with a flatbread, without looking up. "Your movements... don't seem like those of a soldier. But I won't ask. In this godforsaken place, the ability to survive is a skill in itself."

He paused, lowering his voice even further, almost a whisper: "But you have to be careful. This isn't the first time Wang Scarface has taken your reward money today, and it certainly won't be the last. This guy only bullies newcomers with no connections; he's ugly and has a black heart."

"I know," Lin Chen nodded.

"And another thing," Zhao Tiegu raised his eyelids, a sharp glint flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"The scout camp is a murky place. Some people want to earn merit and advance their careers; some want to drag others down with them to climb the ranks; and some... are the 'eyes' and 'ears' of certain big shots inside the pass. Be careful what you say and do."

Lin Chen felt a chill run down his spine.

Eyeliner?

Was it someone arranged by the "Black Bird" behind Chen Hong?

Or is it an extension of other forces in Ghost Cry Pass?

This place was indeed more complicated and dangerous than he had imagined.

"Understood," Lin Chen said in a deep voice.

Zhao Tiegu said no more, quickly shoveled the remaining paste clean, and got up to wash the dishes.

Li the Cripple finished eating, smiled gratefully at Lin Chen, and followed him.

Lin Chen squatted alone in the corner, slowly finishing the last bite of the pancake.

Inside his body, the 40-year lifespan of the demon wolf was still being slowly refined. The beastly roars gradually subsided, transforming into a purer power that nourished every inch of his flesh and blood.

He could feel his power growing little by little.

Although his dantian is still shattered, with his strengthened physical body, combined with the Wolf Gaze Step and those wolf claw daggers, he will never face such danger as he did today when encountering ordinary demon wolves again.

But not enough.

Far from enough.

By the time we finished eating, it was completely dark.

The three returned to the dilapidated mud house.

Two unfamiliar faces appeared in the room—new convicts who had just been brought in that day.

A burly man with a face full of scars and broad shoulders and a thick waist, and a middle-aged man with shifty eyes and a skinny, monkey-like appearance.

The two of them had taken over the spot near the door where Lin Chen had slept the night before, kicking aside the dry grass and rags that had been laid out there.

Seeing Lin Chen and his two companions enter, the burly man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "I've got my eye on this place. You guys, get out of here."

He pointed to the innermost corner of the mud house, right next to the chamber pot. That was where the stench was strongest, the ground was damp, and the straw covering it was rotten.

Li the Cripple's expression changed, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but was stopped by a look from Zhao Tiegu.

Zhao Tiegu looked at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen didn't say anything and walked straight up to the burly man.

The two men were of similar height, but the muscular man was almost half again as wide, with bulging muscles, like a wall.

"Get out of the way." Lin Chen's voice was flat, revealing no emotion.

The burly man was taken aback, seemingly not expecting this seemingly frail and pale young man to dare speak to him like that. Then, his fleshy face twitched, and he grinned maliciously: "Kid, itching for a beating?"

The skinny guy next to him leaned in and chimed in menacingly, "New guy, don't you know the rules? In this room, whoever has the biggest fist calls the shots!"

Everyone else in the room huddled in their bunks, watching coldly without uttering a sound.

Lin Chen raised his head and looked at the burly man's face, which was full of fat.

Then, he extended his right hand.

Instead of making a fist, he gently placed his palm on the burly man's chest.

Swallow.

With a slight thought, the suction force of the divine jade was quietly activated.

I'll only smoke for one year.

The burly man's sinister smile froze instantly.

He felt a sudden emptiness in his chest, as if something warm had been forcibly ripped away.

Immediately afterwards, a sudden feeling of weakness swept over my whole body, my legs went weak, my vision went black, and I had some difficulty breathing.

"You..." He stared at Lin Chen in shock, trying to back away, but stumbled.

Lin Chen withdrew his hand, his tone remaining calm: "Get out of the way."

The burly man opened his mouth, wanting to curse or strike, but the real, unsettling feeling of weakness he felt was undeniable.

His expression shifted, and finally he glared at Lin Chen fiercely before grabbing his tattered bundle and slinking to the innermost corner.

Seeing that things were not going well, the skinny man swallowed hard and quickly followed, clutching his belongings.

Zhao Tiegu and Li Quezi exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise and doubt in each other's eyes.

They didn't see what Lin Chen did, but the burly man's sudden change in expression and staggering were definitely not an act.

This kid... his methods are becoming increasingly unpredictable.

Lin Chen didn't explain. He sat down in his original spot, rearranged the dry grass, and began to close his eyes and regulate his breathing.

Continue refining the demon's lifespan.

At the same time, he sorted through the information he had received today: Scarface Wang, Ke Kou, eyeliner, military rules...

The road ahead is treacherous, fraught with danger at every turn.

But he had to keep going.

The divine jade on his chest emitted a gentle warmth in the darkness, as if responding to his determination.

Outside the window, the cold wind of the North howled past, whipping up sand and gravel that rustled against the earthen walls.

From the distant city wall, the sound of night watchmen striking their clappers was hollow and long, one strike after another.

The first night at Ghost Cry Pass has only just begun.