After Surviving the Calamity

With the addition of those immortal masters, the situation atop the city walls was instantly reversed.

Bolts of lightning and enormous fireballs rained down in succession, accompanied by invisible bursts of force and flashes of sword light that continually struck below. The wolf beasts that had climbed onto the walls immediately suffered devastating casualties and were forced to retreat.

Yu Meng finally crawled out from beneath the massive corpse of a Black Wolf. Leaning on his saber, he walked over to Shen Luo, patted him on the shoulder, and said sincerely, "Thanks, brother."

Still stunned by the sight of immortals, Shen Luo merely forced a smile. He then took several steps to the battlements and looked into the distance.

The wolf pack below was fleeing beyond the moat like a receding tide, but one area amid the dense pack stood out conspicuously.

He narrowed his eyes and looked carefully. On a small hill beyond the moat stood nearly a hundred Demon Wolves—not a single Gray Wolf among them, but all enormous Black Wolves. On the back of the largest one in the center sat a figure.

More precisely, it could not be called a "person." It was a horrifying monster with a savage wolf's head and a human body, dressed in coarse cloth with its arms bare.

As Shen Luo stared intently, the wolf-headed humanoid monster turned to look toward the city wall as well. Faint green light flickered in its eyes, and rows of grim, sharp fangs showed between its parted wolf jaws.

A chill ran down Shen Luo's spine at the sight.

The monster seemed to be smiling, but that smile was utterly terrifying.

However, the monster only glanced back once before turning around again. It raised an arm and waved it forward, seemingly issuing some command.

Immediately afterward, the entire army of wolf beasts accelerated as one and charged into the distance.

Just as Shen Luo was about to withdraw his gaze, something caught the corner of his eye. He quickly focused and noticed what seemed to be two strange wolves with blue-gray fur amid the black wolf pack.

They were not as massive as the Black Wolves, being roughly the size of Gray Wolves. Yet as they raced along, their bodies continuously flickered and blurred, appearing and disappearing, impossible to see clearly.

Before Shen Luo could get a better look, the wolf pack had already vanished into the distance beyond the limits of his vision.

Only then did Shen Luo's tightly wound mind finally relax. At once, though, he felt empty and weak all over, while waves of agonizing pain came from every part of his body.

He hurriedly braced himself against the battlements, and his gaze fell beyond the outer wall. Only then did he see that apart from the mountain of wolf corpses piled there, the ground at the foot of the wall all the way to the moat was littered with mangled bodies—both wolf beasts and young defenders of the city—densely layered upon one another.

Even the moat was clogged with floating corpses of men and beasts, and its blood-red water no longer flowed.

Clearly, before everyone had retreated to defend the city walls, a brutal battle had also taken place beneath the walls and before the moat.

Hell on earth was no worse than this.

Cries of grief rang endlessly from the city walls near and far. Some were tears of joy from those lucky enough to survive, some were wails for friends and family who had died in battle, and mixed among them were voices offering thanks to the immortal masters.

The thick stench of blood drifting through the air made Shen Luo dizzy and nauseated. He raised a hand to cover his chest.

He slumped weakly against the city wall, his hands and legs trembling uncontrollably. His gaze passed over the corpses and survivors atop the wall one by one. The fear, joy, and despair on every face were so vivid, so real.

Was this really just a dream?

At that moment, Shen Luo's eyes flickered as he suddenly realized he had overlooked something.

Previously, his attention had been wholly fixed on fighting the wolf pack. He had not noticed that the clothing and attire of the people atop the wall seemed somewhat different from what he usually saw.

Most still wore round-collared robes, but the front and back hems were clearly much shorter. He could not tell whether they had been deliberately cut for ease in battle or had always been made that way.

"Brother Shen, are you all right?" Seeing Shen Luo's poor complexion, Yu Meng walked over and asked.

Even speaking felt difficult for Shen Luo at that moment, so he could only shake his head.

"As long as you're fine." Yu Meng smiled.

"Brother Yu, how can you still look so happy?" Shen Luo could not smile at all.

"This is the way of the world. Being alive is already a blessing. Besides, we just escaped death—shouldn't that be worth celebrating?" Yu Meng raised his thick brows, his gaze drifting somberly into the distance.

Shen Luo could only answer with a bitter smile, though doubt still lingered in his heart.

He had clearly returned the Jade Pillow. Why was he still having such a bizarre dream?

Moreover, when he had appeared atop the city wall this time, his clothes and even his injuries had been exactly the same as when the previous dream ended.

The only difference was that after he and the little girl had joined forces to destroy the evil ghost last time, he had already been utterly exhausted. Yet when he had awakened in this dream, he was still full of vigor and completely unaffected.

This place was so dangerous that it was naturally best to return to reality as soon as possible.

But he had no idea how to wake up.

Back in Ghost Village, he had died several times before finally returning after killing that ghostly creature. Could it be that this time, he also had to die several more times, or kill every one of these wolf beasts?

The thought made Shen Luo's head throb, and the pain throughout his body seemed to worsen.

Just then, three armored young men carried someone over on a wooden board.

As they drew closer, he saw that the carried man had a bloody hole torn open in his chest by wolf claws, surrounded by clotted, filthy blood.

Yu Meng's fists clenched abruptly, and he stepped forward to meet them.

Shen Luo recognized the three men as Yu Meng's retainers. The man who had already died was the very one who had charged at the front in an attempt to save them when Shen Luo and Yu Meng had been surrounded by the wolf pack.

Yu Meng's hands trembled slightly as he wiped the blood from the retainer's face. Then he bent down, picked up a bloodstained banner from nearby, and slowly covered the man with it.

"This was my brother. His name was Tian Chong..." When he turned back to speak, his eyes were already reddened.

Shen Luo's expression turned solemn. Forcing himself to stand, he clasped his fists heavily toward the others.

The other three nodded gravely at him.

At this moment, on the other side of the city wall, the immortal masters who had chased the wolf beasts more than a hundred li beyond the city had returned after confirming that the beasts had truly withdrawn, landing once more atop the wall.

Among them, the elderly man who looked like a wealthy gentleman led several people in patrols along the city wall, while the two immortal masters who resembled a monk and a Daoist priest dispersed separately to examine the injuries of the survivors.

For those gravely wounded, ordinary medicine for cuts and wounds might not have been enough to save them, but the powders and pills the immortal masters distributed could preserve their lives.

Yet these medicines were clearly limited and precious, and not everyone could receive them.

Most of those treated were strong young men. The somewhat older wounded, or those who had already lost arms or legs, could only rely on ordinary medicine.

At this moment, the lives and deaths of mortals truly depended only on fate.