The Vermilion Bird Boat arrived at Northern Garrison Pass at dawn the next day.
From the sky, Northern Garrison Pass looked like an isolated island under siege.
The city walls still stood, but beyond them stretched a grayish-white wasteland.
The trees had withered, the houses had collapsed, and the ground was blanketed in a thin layer of grayish-white powder. It looked like snow, but it was not snow—it was bone ash. Once corroded by deathly aura, all organic matter turned into this powder.
The walls were crowded with soldiers, every face covered by cloth soaked in medicinal liquid.
Their eyes were red and bloodshot. Some could barely keep their feet, yet still gripped their weapons with all their strength.
The Vermilion Bird Boat landed on the parade ground within the city.
A row of tents had been set up in the center of the parade ground, packed with wounded soldiers. Groans, coughing, and wails mingled together like a pot of boiling porridge. Several military physicians hurried between the tents, their hands stained with blood and their eyes numb.
An armored general came forward to greet them. He was in his forties, his face covered in stubble, with a bandage over his left eye already soaked through with blood.
"This subordinate, Zhou Tieshan, welcomes Duke Lu on General Xu's behalf." He dropped to one knee, his voice hoarse.
Lu Chen helped him up. "Where is Xu Polu?"
Zhou Tieshan's expression darkened. "General Xu is still unconscious. The military physicians say his is no ordinary wound—the deathly aura has entered his body. We have tried every method we could, but we cannot drive it out."
Lu Chen turned to glance at Yun Qingyue.
Yun Qingyue had already come over with her medicine chest on her back. She looked at Zhou Tieshan and