After the thunderous rush of wind and sand came a deathly silence.
Inside Broken Ridge Pass, Han Chuan, Lü Heng, and Feng Weibing stood frozen. None of them spoke first.
As they watched the Sand Crystal Rat burrow into the ground and leave, none of them moved to stop it.
It turned out that their counterattack had been under the Wind Falcon Demon King's gaze from beginning to end. Even their recapture of the four passes might have happened with his tacit consent.
The more clearly they understood this, the harder it became to shake the chill clinging to their backs.
Han Chuan slowly tightened his grip on his saber.
He had fought campaign after campaign under Pei Xuance, killing more than a dozen Mystic Core greater demons. He had thought himself well acquainted with the savage nature of demons.
Yet the message that had just reached his ears had laid bare another side of this Pill-Pattern Demon King.
Confidence! Composure! And an absolute certainty that brooked no refusal!
"He's threatening us."
His voice was tight as he spoke. "Deputy General Yang, we can't go any farther."
Lü Heng came to his senses as well, his expression grim.
"He told us to take the remaining three passes too. Isn't that plainly luring the snake into his den?" He paused, then frowned again. "But he also said he'd wash Baisha Commandery in blood if we didn't go."
"That may not be an empty threat."
Feng Weibing spoke slowly. "He must have mastered a wind pill pattern. We don't have his speed. By the time we get back to Baisha Commandery, he'll already have finished slaughtering everyone."
"We can't stop him."
Those words plunged the pass into silence again.
Han Chuan opened his mouth to say something, then swallowed it back.
Feng