Chapter 47: A Miraculous Recovery

A tall figure, clad in profound iron armor inlaid with silver and draped in a wolf-hide battle cloak, strode purposefully forward, surrounded by a retinue of personal guards.

A few splatters of demonic blood marred Tuoba Yanxue’s otherwise icy face, while the faint saber scar at the corner of her eye appeared even more savage under the flickering firelight. Her phoenix eyes, calm as an ice-bound lake, swept over Captain Wang, who knelt on the ground, then flickered to Military Doctor Sun, who stood by helplessly, causing her brow to furrow deeply.

“General!” The surrounding soldiers saluted in unison, their voices hoarse with strain.

Tuoba Yanxue remained silent, simply crouching down to personally inspect Captain Wang’s injuries.

When she saw the black bloodline already creeping up to his chest, her gaze suddenly darkened.

“Wang Tietou has been with me for five years.” She stood, her voice devoid of discernible emotion, yet it caused the very air around them to solidify. “Prepare for his funeral.”

Six chilling words, delivering a death sentence to an old soldier.

The young soldier kneeling beside Captain Wang could no longer hold back his sobs, bursting into uncontrolled wailing.

Shen Zhaoqing’s footsteps felt as if they were nailed to the ground, unable to move even a fraction of an inch.

She watched as Captain Wang’s breathing grew faint, his pupils beginning to unfocus, yet the hand gripping his saber hilt remained stubbornly clasped.

Her gaze then fell upon Tuoba Yanxue once more.

Shen Zhaoqing’s heart felt as though it had been fiercely pierced by something unseen.For some inexplicable reason—perhaps because Captain Wang’s figure overlapped with a memory of that person—Shen Zhaoqing was suddenly reminded of her time at Black Wind Fortress. She recalled the escort guards who had died protecting the villagers, and the old chief escort who had shielded her before ultimately being decapitated by a single blade.

‘Survival first,’ Shen Zhaoqing thought.

‘Survival first’…

“I’m truly fed up with this wretched place!” Shen Zhaoqing gritted her teeth in a sudden surge of determination.

Seizing the moment while everyone’s attention was fixed on Captain Wang and Tuoba Yanxue, she silently circled behind the young soldier.

“If you want to save your chief, do as I say.” Lowering her voice, Shen Zhaoqing spoke swiftly, her words barely audible to anyone but them. “Find a water skin, fill it with clean water, and wait for me behind the third hay bale over there.”

The sound-transmitting talisman burned away. “Don’t let anyone notice!”

The young soldier’s body jolted, and he spun around, only to catch a glimpse of a slender back rapidly disappearing into the shadows.

He paused for half a second, then looked at Captain Wang, who was barely clinging to life, a flicker of fierce resolve in his eyes.

He didn’t care anymore; he would treat a dead horse as if it were still alive!

Wiping away his tears, he scrambled to his feet, staggering as he ran quickly towards the water skin storage, following the instructions.

****

In the shadow of the hay bales.

Shen Zhaoqing glanced around like a thief, and only after confirming no one was paying attention did she swiftly uncork the Gui Niang Hu.

She dared not use the spiritual brew directly, as its pure life force would be too conspicuous. Instead, she tilted the gourd’s opening, carefully letting just a single drop fall into a clean leather water skin.

Just one drop, and an indescribably fresh fragrance instantly permeated the air.

Shen Zhaoqing quickly recorked the gourd, mixed that single drop of spiritual brew with the entire water skin of clean water, shaking it vigorously several times. Then, she handed the water skin to the arriving young soldier.

“Quick! Make him drink it! As much as he can!”

“This… what is this?” The young soldier looked at the water skin in his hands, his face filled with confusion.

“It’s a folk remedy for poison, stop wasting time, go!” Shen Zhaoqing urged.

The young soldier dared not delay further, clutching the water skin as he rushed back.

Shen Zhaoqing, meanwhile, retreated into the shadows behind the grain cart, her heart pounding wildly.

She felt truly insane.

Consider Tuoba Yanxue, a top master at the peak of the mortal martial realm. How keen were her five senses? Could her small actions truly deceive the heavens?

She was already prepared to immediately cast Drunken Hidden Evasion and flee if discovered.

However, to her surprise, Tuoba Yanxue’s attention seemed entirely drawn to the fierce fighting at the other end of the battlefield, never once glancing in her direction.

Over there, the young soldier had already rushed back to Captain Wang’s side. He pried open Captain Wang’s mouth, no longer caring about protocol, and poured the water from the skin into his mouth.

“Little Zhang, what are you doing! Chief, he’s…” A nearby comrade tried to intervene.

“Let him drink!” Military Doctor Sun suddenly shouted. “Never mind, never mind. A drink of water before he departs, it’s… hmm?”

His words abruptly trailed off midway.

Everyone’s eyes around them widened dramatically.

They watched as Captain Wang, who had been on the verge of death, his body wreathed in black qi, began to see the black bloodlines on his body fade at a speed visible to the naked eye after drinking the clear water.

The violent heaving of his chest gradually subsided. Although he remained unconscious, the ashen color of his face miraculously regained a hint of vitality.

“This… how is this possible?!” Military Doctor Sun gasped as if he had seen a ghost, rushing forward to grasp Captain Wang’s wrist, his hands trembling as he checked for a pulse.

“He’s alive… The pulse is weak, but… but it’s stable! The poison… the poison has been suppressed!”

The entire scene plunged into an instant, profound silence.

Everyone stared dumbfounded at this miraculous sight, their minds utterly blank.

Tuoba Yanxue remained standing, her back to the crowd, seemingly indifferent to everything unfolding behind her.

But if anyone could have seen her face, they would have noticed the slight tremor in the iron-blooded general’s body.

Tuoba Yanxue’s eyes were fixed on the distant darkness, but her pupils had long lost their focus. The color had drained from her face, leaving it utterly pale. She didn’t look at the revived captain, nor did she concern herself with what kind of miraculous elixir it might have been.

Just moments ago, the instant that young soldier poured the water from the water skin into Wang Tietou’s mouth, she had keenly detected a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance.

Extremely light, yet incredibly warm.

Clean, pure, carrying a comforting, vibrant life force.

This scent…

This scent…

Three years ago, on that snowy night, a series of memories she had buried deep within her mind surged forth like a broken dam, flooding her consciousness.

Her childhood sweetheart, her husband, had had his Divine Soul shattered by the Demonic King’s divine ability during a bloody battle with a great demon, and was slowly withering away. The military doctor had declared he wouldn’t live more than a month.

Yet, one night, as his life was about to end, a ragged, drunken little beggar, seemingly only thirteen or fourteen years old, collapsed outside their tent.

Her kind-hearted husband had casually saved her, feeding her a mouthful of hot soup.

It was after that night that a miracle occurred.

Her husband’s Divine Soul, which should have completely dissipated, had stabilized, allowing him to cling to life for another year.

On his deathbed, he held her hand, using his last ounce of strength to tell her:

“Yanxue, it was that little beggar… her scent, her aura, could nourish the soul… You must thank her properly…”

For three years, Tuoba Yanxue had traversed the Northern Border, visited countless taverns, and smelled innumerable fine wines, yet she had never again encountered that unique wine fragrance.

She had even once believed it to be merely a hallucination from her dying husband.

Until just now.

Tuoba Yanxue sharply turned around.

Her gaze, precise and unwavering, locked onto the green-robed figure behind the grain cart, who had just poked out half a head, preparing to quietly slip away.

Shen Zhaoqing.