Chapter 48

"Ai, ai, ai, not that road, Gongzi, ahhhh!"

As the words "The Jiaoren must be executed" unfolded in black and white, a deep, sharp wolf's howl echoed in the distance.

Just like when the wolves gathered under the moonlight on Spirit Mountian, this moment brought a chorus of howls from the pack. Gu Tingshuang didn’t need to strain his ears to know the special meaning behind that distant call.

It was a cry of sorrow and anger, mourning the fall or injury of a respected and beloved member. The moment that howl sounded, every ancient white wolf bristled, their throats releasing low growls.

This was a state of battle readiness.

Something had happened to Ning Shiting.

Gu Tingshuang couldn’t describe how he felt at that moment, but it was as if something inside him suddenly tightened, making his scalp tingle.

Confined to his wheelchair and unable to move easily, he made a simple hand gesture, and immediately six or seven white wolves dashed off, disappearing into the snowstorm.

The remaining wolves stayed by his side, forming a wall of massive bodies to shield him from the wind and snow, awaiting further instructions.

The wolves would not wait for anyone—except for their alpha. Gu Tingshuang’s approach mirrored the wolves’ ways. He reached out, letting one of the nearby white wolves nuzzle closer, resting his hand gently on its snout.

The white wolf understood his meaning. It sniffed his hand softly, then lifted its head and howled in response to the distant message from Yinbian.

Soon after, Yinbian's reply echoed through the storm once more, accompanied by the howls of the six or seven wolves that had just raced away. The mingled howls, amplified and prolonged by the wind, carried an aura of power stretching hundreds of miles. To the untrained ear, it sounded eerie and bone-chilling.

Like beacons of war, the wolf howls conveyed the message perfectly to Gu Tingshuang.

When the last long howl faded, Gu Tingshuang frowned, a trace of cold viciousness flashing in his eyes. "The Immortal Chief’s residence moves quickly. As soon as the bluebird’s message arrived, they couldn’t wait to strike."

He shouted, "Go, go, go!"

His cold voice cut through the wind like a sharp sword, and the wolves transformed into streaks of light, speeding off. Now, only a few wolves remained by his side, loyally shielding him from the storm, pushing his wheelchair.

They did not take the ice passage built today by the Immortal Chief's residence and the Qing Wang’s mansion, because Gu Tingshuang despised meeting outsiders.

Their entire path was hidden in the storm, and if someone lost their way in the snow and accidentally encountered the wolf pack, they might think they had seen a ghost.

The remaining wolves no longer headed towards Ning Shiting. Now, their direct target was the Immortal Master’s residence—Su Yue.

This was their shared enemy, the first real prey after days of heavy snow. Even though Gu Tingshuang had not activated his spiritual sense, he could still feel the wolves' heated bloodlust and the quiet anticipation, the thrill of revenge.

Golden flames reignited in Gu Tingshuang’s eyes.

Amid the raging blizzard, the wolves paved the way, claiming the high ground across the mountains. The snow was white, and so were the wolves. As they descended upon the ice city, no one realised the silent encirclement.

Countless white wolves, countless golden eyes, all hidden in the fierce wind and snow.

No matter how intense the storm grew, the wolves remained still, as if waiting for something to arrive.

In the distance, near the fire-wielding mages encircling the city, towering flames erupted, stretching dozens of feet high. The water mages quickly followed with their spells, forming ice fortresses with astonishing speed. When the fire dragons and water dragons intertwined, it created a dreamlike scene. Wind, snow, water, and fire mingled, sending steam, snowlight, and shards of ice flying in every direction. A tri-coloured tornado formed, linking heaven and earth.

Now they were gathering all the water and fire mages to build the largest snowstorm-era ice fortress for the Immortal Chief’s residence and Qing Wang’s mansion!

"Do the people of the Qing Wang's mansion know about this?"

Not far away, a foreman whispered to his companion. Both worked for the Immortal Chief’s residence, yet they found the rush to construct this ice fortress puzzling. "Did the two houses agree on this? But I haven’t seen Ning Gongzi from Qing Wagn’s mansion since this afternoon. Their water mages haven’t even finished yet."

"So, where is Su Gongzi now?"

A stranger suddenly interrupted their conversation, causing both the foreman and his companion to freeze.

At first glance, they almost thought they were seeing a snow yao.

It was a young man, though his demeanour was somewhat weathered. His entire figure was silver-white—his hair was white, and his fluffy clothes were white too, with only his eyes glowing an unusual golden colour they had never seen before.

"Don’t know? I’m just a commoner who received aid from the Immortal Chief’s residence this time, and I wanted to offer a gift to Su Gongzi," the young man said.

He seemed a bit disappointed as if he wasn’t going to get the answer he sought, so he turned to leave.

"Ai—Gongzi, wait a moment! Our master is in that ice tent with the red cloth hanging over it. If you want to offer a gift, we can also—" The word "deliver" was still on the foreman's lips when the young man nodded slightly and walked away.

"Ai, ai, ai, not that road, Gongzi, ahhhh!" Seeing the white-haired, white-clothed young man walking off into the snow, the foreman couldn’t stop him, muttering to himself, "What’s going on? I said he was inside, why is he heading out into the snow?"

But as they watched the young man walk away, they finally noticed a small difference—the fur on his clothes had a delicate and brilliant gold thread, sewn in an odd place. It ran from the middle of the collar down along the spine as if this person had been split by a golden blade.

The young man slowly walked into the blizzard, his white figure nearly blending with the snow. In the next moment, he slowly collapsed to the ground and transformed into a majestic giant wolf!

It was none other than the golden-backed wolf that had long been by Gu Tingshuang's side.

Some wolves among the pack had cultivated human form, and the golden-backed wolf was one of them. It had only just mastered transformation a few days earlier, but ancient white wolves loved their fur and didn’t care much for bare human skin. Unless necessary, they preferred to stay in their wolf forms and rarely transformed into humans.

"This is strange. Should we report this to Su Gongzi? We don’t know who that person is. If he’s one of the civilians rescued today, he seems unfamiliar, and we haven’t heard of anyone with golden eyes…"

The foreman entered the tent where Su Yue was, bowing in greeting.

Su Yue sat calmly by the fire, looking out, unsure of the foreman’s intent. Before he could speak, Su Yue asked, "How is the construction outside progressing? This work must be done well. I’ve already reported to the Immortal Emperor that the snowstorm relief is orderly, and things are stable. If we build this ice palace well, it could become the Emperor’s palace in the future. The Emperor has always liked the ice city of Dongzhou, but despises the bitter cold there. If we succeed, our Xizhou will have the beautiful scenery of an ice and snow city under all four seasons of flowers."

Hearing this, the foreman immediately forgot his original message, smiling brightly as he responded, "Almost done, almost done. Gongzi, rest assured. The fire and water mages are working in perfect harmony. Soon, the framework will be completed. This will be the largest ice dome we’ve built today. Please wait just a little longer, it will be finished shortly."

The formation outside had taken shape, with the fire elementalists, well-trained, concentrating the spiritual energy and spells of over a hundred people into a single point. One person alone could summon a fire dragon stretching several dozen zhang long, but when combined, the flames could soar to heights of over a hundred zhang.

The water elementalists followed closely behind, coordinating and experimenting with their responses, seeking ways to complement and support each other.

On the flat ground, fire dragons burst forth intermittently, with water dragons trailing in their wake. The flames reached ever higher, and the temperature became increasingly scorching.

The biting wind and snow were continuously weakened, and even from the snowy mountain peak across the way, the towering blaze could still be seen. The middle and lower sections of the fire dragons were obscured by snow and fog, leaving only a burning ball of light rising into the sky.

The fireball climbed higher and higher, the flames extending further and further, and the waves of heat became ever more intense.

The surrounding immortals, unaware of the deeper purpose behind this spectacle, cheered in unison at the sight. Each time the fire dragons soared higher, the cheers grew louder.

When the fire dragon finally reached the top—level with the highest point of the nearby city wall—the cheering reached its peak. Someone shouted, "Higher than the flag!"

In the next moment, the fire dragon soared past the flag, sparking another wave of fervor, and someone in the crowd yelled, "Even higher—"

But that shout seemed to trigger something. The echo of the voice was swallowed by the howls of wolves that erupted from all around the mountains.

It was at the height of the fire's brilliance, and the water elementalists had yet to catch up, when they were abruptly interrupted by the ghostly appearance of a pack of wolves.

Wolves—ancient white wolves—poured in by the hundreds. They wasted no time, dissolving the snowflakes without delay as they charged straight into the crowd!

"Wolves! Wolves, the ancient white wolves!!!"

Terrified screams filled the air, and the crowd scattered in all directions as panic quickly spread over the camp. The spellwork was broken, and under the influence of the fire dragon, all barriers within the camp took on a faintly transparent hue, on the verge of melting.

The wolves seized the opportunity, one by one smashing into granaries and supply depots, reducing them to rubble. They lunged into the crowd, grabbing people by their collars as if it were a game, tossing them wherever there were more people fleeing in panic.

Those with sharp eyes might have noticed something unusual: although the wolves seemed wild and unrestrained, indifferent to right and wrong, they deliberately avoided the supply points belonging to Qing Wang's estate, or merely destroyed a few small ones as a token gesture. If not for the wind and snow, from the mountain peak across the way, it would have been clear that these wolves were not running aimlessly. They were driving the crowd with purpose, herding them in a specific direction, while deliberately leaving a particular area untouched—allowing no one in or out.

Only when everyone had fled and everything prepared had been destroyed did the wolves slow their pace, silently surrounding the central tent.

On the opposite mountain, Gu Tingshuang's lips curled into a cold smile.

In that instant, he released a spiritual sense he hadn't used in days, sending it in the direction the wolves had indicated.

His spiritual sense traversed the mountains and sky, expanding and then narrowing, locking onto a small icehouse.

The icehouse was far away, the surroundings bearing traces of a struggle and a heavy scent of blood. His spiritual sense captured the figure of Yinbian by the door, and in an instant, it slipped inside, urging the wolf to move deeper within.

Ning Shiting lay with his eyes closed on a hastily arranged, simple bed, blood still seeping from the wound at his side.

Hulu and Lingjiao had yet to return. Yinbian, the wolf, grabbed a cloth and spread it on the ground, then dragged Ning Shiting onto it, using its own furry body to warm him.

Once Ning Shiting started to sweat, Yinbian silently withdrew, standing guard by the door, waiting for the two humans to arrive.

Gu Tingshuang murmured, "Jiaoren, today you were attacked, and this grudge is mine as well as the Qing Wang's. I have avenged you. Now sleep peacefully. And stop being so delicate—getting injured like this so easily."

As the words left his mouth, they still came out as the low, rumbling growl of the white wolf.

The Author has Something to Say

Finished with work and back home, comments will resume updating tomorrow.

Let me recommend a new story by a good friend~

"The Villain's Unparalleled Grace" 《反派芳华绝代》 by Qi Xiu Xue (绮绣雪)

It features a seemingly obedient but actually rebellious and aloof beauty of a shou x a cool, dashing, over-the-top disciple-loving gong.

Yan Xue, the son of a notorious villain, was shunned from a young age and endured a life of abuse.

Growing up under the disdain of others, he became a delicate and beautiful young man.

The first time Shen Zhuifeng saw Yan Xue, he was a pale, little bundle, crouching in a pool of blood with an obedient expression.

Everyone said that the world’s number one blade, Shen Zhuifeng, had taken in a frail little kitten as his disciple, who would be treated as nothing more than a lucky charm.

But only Shen Zhuifeng knew that this little kitten was still wrapped in a shell, and hidden beneath were sharp and lethal claws.

When the blood blade in Yan Xue’s hand was unsheathed—the sun and moon paled in comparison!

Shen Zhuifeng, known for his unmatched swordsmanship yet famous for never delivering a killing blow, witnessed the destruction wrought by Yan Xue fifteen years later.

Everyone believed he would personally put an end to the little villain he had trained. But then, one day—

Shen Zhuifeng: "Was it you who killed them?"

Yan Xue: "Mm."

Shen Zhuifeng: "Are you hurt?"

Yan Xue: "Mm."

Shen Zhuifeng: "Come here, let Shifu blow on it for you."

Onlookers: …????

Shen Zhuifeng's blade, once the mighty and invincible sword of a righteous man, was now used solely for protecting Yan Xue.

This blade could cut through the heavens, the earth, and the spirits.

It would defeat all under the sky and shield against the wind and snow.

—Only for you.