Chapter 11: Strong and Cunning

Anyone who claims not to be envious of this snow-maned beast is lying.

But circumstances overpower individuals—Dashi Camp, even if it had crossed the line, was now beyond Xia Hong’s capacity and strength to intervene.

Not only could he not intervene, he must actively avoid any contact with Dashi Camp.

In fact, according to Xia Ding’s words before his death, relations between Dashi and Daxia Camps had always been fairly amicable.

But times have changed; Daxia is now utterly weak, and if outsiders glimpsed its true state, its fate would no longer be its own to decide.

Once he understood, Xia Hong’s expression calmed, and he continued observing the group.

At this moment, the people from Dashi Camp had reached the snow-maned beast’s side.

“Tsk tsk, this thing must weigh four or five hundred jin—we’re rich.”

“Enough to feed the camp for two or three months.”

“Earlier, when our leader traded three hundred jin of cold-beast meat to Luo Ge Camp for bows, you all opposed it—now do you see how deadly these arrows are?”

“Enough talk, hurry and carry it off—this is Daxia’s territory; if they find us here, it’ll be trouble.”

The sharp, commanding voice earlier clearly belonged to Dashi’s leader.

The moment he spoke, everyone fell silent.

Then one man stepped forward, preparing to pull out the arrow lodged in the snow-maned beast’s eye.

Yet, the instant he grasped the arrow, a sudden transformation occurred.

The snow-maned beast, which had lain motionless on the ground, suddenly rolled over.

Its roll was too fast—the man had no time to let go and was flung straight into the air.

By the time he realized he needed to release his grip, the beast had already charged forward and crushed him into fragments.

Yes—not thrown, but shattered midair.

“This beast pretended to be dead.”

“Fall back!”

“Everyone retreat, scatter and run, now!”

Though terrified, the people of Dashi Camp reacted swiftly.

Especially the leader with the sharp voice—he instantly decided to split up and flee.

Everyone immediately obeyed, scattering in all directions.

But they were too close to the snow-maned beast.

After crushing one man, the beast didn’t pause—it lunged violently toward the first person who had spoken.

At the same time, it twisted its head, snarling, and opened its massive maw toward the second person who had spoken.

A long, ice-cone-shaped tongue shot out from its mouth.

Pfft…

The tongue moved like lightning, razor-sharp—it pierced the man almost instantly.

It didn’t stop there—the tongue curved midair and sped toward the back of Dashi’s leader.

“Leader, watch out!”

The leader was fleeing for his life and had no time to check behind him.

Two men nearby, seeing their leader in danger, charged forward without hesitation and blocked his path.

The only man in Dashi Camp carrying a blade was among them.

He raised his blade before him, timing it perfectly to intercept the beast’s tongue.

Clang!

Seeing his blade hold against the tongue without breaking, he sighed in relief.

But the tongue swiftly curled around to its right side.

As it swept forward, it pierced another man who wasn’t armed.

“How long is this beast’s tongue?!”

The man with the blade roared in frustration.

“Shut up, fool! Everyone, stay silent! This beast is blind—slowly retreat backward, don’t make a sound, and it won’t detect us.”

But the sharp voice immediately cut him off with a furious curse.

The leader clearly saw the key point—he’d reacted quickly enough.

But the man with the blade was far too close to the beast’s tongue.

The tongue had already curled past the blade-wielder to kill the second man.

As soon as the second target fell, the tongue softened instantly, then whipped sharply leftward like a living rope, wrapping around the blade-wielder’s neck.

The blade-wielder seemed to realize what was coming—he hurled his great blade with all his strength toward the leader.

The next instant, as the snow-maned beast growled and strained, the man’s head cleanly severed from his neck.

This horrifying sight filled every heart with icy dread.

The leader caught the falling blade in midair; seeing his man dead, he clenched his fists in fury yet forced himself to remain silent.

The others followed suit, standing frozen, not daring to make a sound.

Beneath the ice-laden tree, silence fell like death.

Meanwhile, Xia Hong, still hidden in the tree, didn’t dare move—even his breathing was held in perfect stillness.

Remember, everything that had just happened occurred in the blink of an eye.

He’d been ready to descend once the others took their prey.

Who knew that in mere breaths, three men from Dashi Camp were dead?

This snow-maned beast wasn’t just tough and terrifying in power.

More importantly, its nature was fiendishly cunning—nothing like a mere beast.

It didn’t just feign death—it knew how to lure enemies in.

Before the two archers emerged, the snow-maned beast hadn’t moved at all.

And this long-tongued snow-maned beast was merely a low-grade cold-beast.

What strength and cunning must the mid- and high-grade ones possess?

Only now did Xia Hong understand why only Luo Ge Camp, among all the camps around Hongmu Ridge, maintained a proper hunting team.

While Daxia and other camps could only muster logging squads.

Swoosh…

As he pondered, an arrow whistled through the snowy night.

Xia Hong looked up—the arrow struck a tree fifty meters away, its force shaking loose a cascade of ice shards that crashed to the ground with greater noise.

The snow-maned beast, drawn by the sound, twitched its limbs briefly, then charged toward the source.

Xia Hong instantly understood—he looked down at the Dashi Camp survivors.

Sure enough, it was the other archer, hidden far away, who had fired.

As soon as the beast was gone, the Dashi Camp survivors fled wildly westward, abandoning even their dead comrades—clearly terrified beyond reason.

The snow-maned beast reached the tree, found nothing, and quickly turned back toward the ice-laden tree.

Its nostrils still puffed hot breath, its limbs occasionally pounded the ground—it was still furious, its rage far from spent.

Xia Hong dared not move, even though the beast now lay motionless beneath the tree.

Indeed, half an hour later, the beast suddenly lifted its head; though blind, its turning ear betrayed its use of hearing to scan the surroundings.

Xia Hong felt immense relief—he was glad he hadn’t moved.

The beast lingered a while longer, then finally climbed back up the ice-laden tree.

Its climbing was slow, even unsteady; after finding a thick branch, it lay atop it, gradually blending into the surrounding ice crystals.

Xia Hong, however, still didn’t move for another hour.

It wasn’t fear—the snow-maned beast was almost certainly asleep.

Leaving now wouldn’t be dangerous.

But to leave now felt like a waste to Xia Hong.

From its final climbing motion, it was clear:

This ferocious snow-maned beast was in terrible physical condition.

And its eyes were still blind.

That was four or five hundred jin of cold-beast meat.

If he didn’t take this opportunity, Xia Hong couldn’t help but feel cheated.

But judging from the beast’s power and cunning, the risk of scavenging was immense.

The three shattered corpses still lying on the ground were proof enough.

After long thought, Xia Hong suddenly remembered something—his eyes lit up.

(End of Chapter)