Great Wilderness Demon Lord

The night was as dark as ink, and the wind and snow were fierce.

Outside the Wolf Rong camp, a patrol of about ten people was trudging through knee-deep snow.

This was undoubtedly a tough job. The weather was freezing cold, visibility was extremely poor, and they also had to be wary of sporadic threats that might appear from the "rear"—the direction of Shuofengyuan, which they thought was safe.

The leading quartermaster yawned, rubbed his frozen cheeks, and muttered complaints about the weather and his superior.

Most of the other Wolf Rong soldiers were also listless, mechanically following along.

The continuous siege and attrition over several days, coupled with the half-hearted attack that only increased casualties in the afternoon, and the vague rumors circulating in the camp about unstable supply lines and the failure of the flanking force, all weighed heavily on my heart like a heavy stone.

At this moment, all they wanted was to finish this damned patrol as quickly as possible and return to their shack, which, though not warm, at least offered shelter from the wind, so they could take a nap.

Just as they turned past a pile of rocks half-hidden by wind and snow—

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Two extremely faint whooshing sounds, almost completely masked by the wind, suddenly rang out!

Two Wolf Rong soldiers walking at the rear of the column suddenly stiffened, made strange "hoarse" sounds from their throats, and then collapsed into the snow.

Each of them had a short, thin, dark crossbow bolt stuck in their neck, the fletching of the bolt trembling slightly in the wind and snow.

"Enemy attack?!" The centurion was instantly jolted awake, roaring sharply as he drew his scimitar and looked warily toward the direction from which the arrows had come—the shadow of the dark, rocky hills.

The remaining wolf-like warriors hurriedly raised their shields and drew their bows, forming a circle and scanning their surroundings with suspicion and uncertainty.

However, there was nothing but howling wind and snow and the swaying shadows cast by the rocks.

There were no shouts of battle, no charging enemies, and even the echoes of crossbows being fired quickly dissipated in the wind.

It was as if those two deadly crossbow bolts were shot directly from the netherworld.

"Watch out! There's an ambush!" The sergeant's heart pounded. He dared not be careless and signaled his men to slowly retreat towards the camp lights.

They stared intently, their ears perked up, catching any unusual movement.

One breath, two breaths, ten breaths... Apart from the sound of wind and falling snow, there was only deathly silence.

"Could it be... a mistake?" A young wolf-like soldier asked, his voice trembling as he pointed at his fallen comrade. "Maybe it was a stray arrow? Or... he slipped and fell?"

"Fool! Didn't you see the arrow in your neck?" the centurion cursed, but his suspicions only grew stronger.

If it was an ambush, why not swarm them while they were in disarray? If it was a sneak attack, what was the archer's objective? Was it merely to kill two people?

Just then, a burst of fire suddenly shot up from the northeast corner of the camp, near the supply depot!

The fire started small, but fueled by the wind and snow, it quickly ignited some felt, hay, and broken vehicle parts piled up on the periphery. Flames shot up several feet in a flash, illuminating the panicked figures around them!

"Fire! Fire!" A chorus of shouts in the Wolf Rong language and urgent horn calls erupted from the camp.

The patrol team on the centurion's side was also drawn to the firelight and instinctively turned their heads to look.

It was in that fleeting moment of distraction—

"Whoosh!" Another cold arrow shot from another tricky angle, accurately piercing the temple of a soldier next to the centurion who was turning his head to look around!

"Over there!" The centurion was terrified and turned sharply in a new direction, but all he could see was wind, snow, and rocks.

Fear, like a cold, venomous snake, quietly coiled around the hearts of the remaining members of the patrol team.

An unknown enemy, unpredictable arrows, a mysterious fire in the camp... all of this exudes an eeriness and danger.

"Quickly! Send the signal! Retreat to camp!" The sergeant dared not linger any longer and ordered in a hoarse voice.

A whistling arrow shot into the night sky with a mournful cry, exploding into a faint burst of light amidst the wind and snow.

Like startled rabbits, the patrol team disregarded their formation and the corpses of their comrades, scrambling and tumbling towards the camp lights.

Not far behind them, in the shadows of a crevice in the rocks, two veterans, clad in white camouflage and almost blending into the snow, silently put away their short crossbows, exchanged a glance, nodded, and then nimbly slid backward like snow foxes, quickly disappearing into the deeper darkness and jumble of rocks.

-----------------

At the same time, inside the Wolf Rong camp.

The fire was quickly extinguished, burning only a small amount of debris and causing no substantial damage. However, the officer on duty looked unusually grim.

The patrol team was attacked, losing three members, and then this inexplicable fire...

Although they all seemed like minor troubles, the timing and manner in which they occurred cast a shadow over his mind.

"Strengthen vigilance! Double the number of sentries! Send out two teams of 100 men to search five miles outwards and see what kind of scoundrels are causing trouble!" the officer ordered sternly.

He didn't believe it was a coincidence, much less the work of bandits. It seemed more like... organized harassment.

However, the search team spent nearly an hour searching through the snowy, complex terrain of the night, but found nothing except a few faint footprints that were quickly covered by fresh snow, and the three bodies of sentries who had been deliberately dragged to a hidden place and stripped of some of their armor.

Exhausted and bewildered, the search party returned to camp with even more unsettling news: the enemy seemed extremely familiar with the terrain, acted swiftly and decisively, and their purpose remained unclear.

The officer reported the situation.

However, at this moment, the commander-in-chief of the Wolf Rong camp, Hechi, was preoccupied with the daytime attack setback, the unstable supply lines in the rear, and the growing unrest in the army. Although he was wary of this "insignificant" harassment from the flank and rear, he could not spare more energy to investigate it. He could only once again strictly order all battalions to strengthen their vigilance, especially at night.

However, the harassment did not stop.

In the latter half of the night, when most of the Wolf Warriors had finally made it to their changing shift after being on high alert, and their spirits began to relax slightly—

On the western outskirts of the camp, near an abandoned low wall, a sudden cacophony of shouts of battle, the sound of horses' hooves, and even short, horn-like sounds rang out!

The sound didn't travel far in the wind and snow, but it was enough to alert the nearby camps.

"Enemy attack! The Yong army has launched a surprise attack outside the city!" The nearby Langrong camp was immediately thrown into chaos.

The officers hurriedly assembled their troops, the soldiers frantically searched for weapons and armor, and the sentries on the arrow towers desperately looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a vast expanse of wind and snow.

A 100-man Wolf Warrior squad with the fastest reaction time rushed out of the camp gate and rushed towards the direction from which the sound came.

However, when they arrived, there was nothing there except for the ruins that were howling in the wind and some messy but obviously deliberately made footprints and drag marks on the snow.