Chapter 114: Survival in Desperation【Three-in-One Large Chapter】

Xia Hong's serious tone made it easy for people to hear the subtext in his words. Everyone in the circle was silent for less than a moment before someone stood out first.

"Leader, tell me, what to do, I listen to you."

The first one to rush out was not from Does Da Xia at the beginning, but a member of the hunting team from the former Luo Ge camp, Zou Yuankai.

And as Zou Yuankai's voice fell, Yuan Cheng, Hong Gang, Huang Yong, and other members of the hunting team, and even members of the woodcutting team and gathering team, stood out one after another and expressed their stance to Xia Hong.

"The Gnawing Mouse group is coming, we won't survive. Leader, just say what you have to do. If there is any place where I, Yuan Cheng, can be used, I will never refuse."

"That's right, the leader has been fighting outside all day, and we have no use at all. It's not easy to be able to play a role. I've been waiting for this day. Leader, please speak directly!"

"If the leader has any orders, I will be the first to rush forward!"

…………

Xia Hong sat on the chair, listening to everyone's continuous expressions, looking at the determination and fearlessness on the faces of those who expressed their stance, and couldn't help but be moved.

Those who stood out to express their stance not only included members of the hunting team, woodcutting team, and gathering team, but almost all the people in the Woodcutting Realm in the camp were there, and even ordinary people in the reserve force standing in the back were included.

From moving, camp merging to now, nearly seven months have passed. At this moment, Xia Hong finally realized that everyone in the Does Da Xia camp no longer has any barriers. In the face of disaster, not only have they twisted into a rope, but everyone has the determination to die for Does Da Xia.

The greatest achievement and harvest of the past seven months of hard work is of course cultivating so many combat forces in the Woodcutting Realm and Earth-Digging Realm;

But at this moment, in Xia Hong's view, the courage and responsibility shown by these people in the face of disaster are the greatest return to him.

"Good, our Does Da Xia has no cowards!"

Xia Hong stood up directly from the chair, his expression was quite excited, looked around at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "With our current strength, it is unrealistic to deal with that group of Gnawing Mice head-on, and it is definitely not possible to drive them away by force, so we can only think of a way to guide them away from here……"

The strength of a single Gnawing Mouse is not strong.

Xia Hong believes that in a one-on-one situation, hunting should not be a problem.

But the Gnawing Mouse group on the mountain wall side is too huge. Combined with the Gnawing Mouse's ability to drill holes silently and its ghostly speed, the current Does Da Xia is definitely not an opponent. Once the location of the camp is discovered, it will definitely be a devastating disaster.

Guidance is the only way, and what's more, Does Da Xia happens to have the sharp weapon of torches to lure cold beasts.

But even if it is just to lure the Gnawing Mouse group away, there is a huge risk.

First of all, where to lure them?

This question has no other answer. The north side of the mountain wall is the Lu Shang camp, the east side is the strange high mountain, and the south side is the valley where they are stationed. It is even more impossible, so they can only go to the west side and lure them into Seeing Hong Mu Ridge.

The north slope of the mountain wall

Secondly, how to lure them?

According to Xia Hong's idea, use torches to lay a path all the way, luring the Gnawing Rat swarm to the deepest part, preferably to the edge of the habitat of their natural enemy, the Cloud-Mist Flood Dragon.

The difficulty of this operation lies in the fact that the torches must definitely be lit at the same time; one cannot say to light one torch, lure them for a distance, and then light the next one, as this is not only troublesome to operate and extremely difficult to control the distance, but also extremely prone to accidents.

Furthermore, with such a massive swarm of Gnawing Rats that can also burrow, who knows if a few will appear that run around randomly; if they discover the person lighting the torches and then follow the trail to find the valley, that would be an unprovoked disaster.

Finally, there are various unexpected situations that might occur midway.

For example, according to Xia Hong's plan, laying them from the north slope of the cliff to the inner side of Red Wood Ridge would require at least dozens of torches; they had never tried lighting so many torches at once before, and what if it triggered a large-scale mobilization of cold beasts?

Laying so many torches along the way, given the density of cold beasts within Red Wood Ridge, some of the points along the way where torches are laid certainly cannot avoid cold beasts; the danger level for the people responsible for lighting the torches at these positions is self-evident.

And whether the Gnawing Rat swarm will flow entirely toward the torches;

After entering Red Wood Ridge, it would be best if the Gnawing Rat swarm fights with other cold beasts, but what if they don't fight?

Moreover, the burning time of the torches is only fifteen minutes; after they go out, will the Gnawing Rats stay entrenched in Red Wood Ridge, or will they return to the north slope of the cliff? If they return, wouldn't they have wasted their time for nothing?

Xia Hong detailed his entire plan, including the difficulties in implementation, the various possibilities of success and failure, and even his worries.

He explained it clearly, and everyone naturally understood it very quickly.

In essence, this method belongs to the attempts of the weak.

It can be seen from tonight's encounter that using torches to slowly lure and hunt them in batches is completely impossible; first, the number is too large, nearly four hundred, so it would take forever to finish killing them; second, the Gnawing Rats can send information to each other, and the group possesses communication capabilities; once there is a problem with one hunt, it is very likely to implicate the camp.

If they could confront the Gnawing Rat swarm head-on, whether it was to expel them or to carry out a large-scale cleanup and hunt, Xia Hong would not hesitate in the slightest.

The problem is that the current strength of the camp is completely incapable of doing so.

But sitting by and watching them entrench themselves there will sooner or later lead to a dead end, so they can only try to use torches to lure them to other places.

This brings up another question: why did the Gnawing Rat swarm gather over there?

If it was just an accidental gathering, then after being lured away by the torches, they shouldn't come back; but if the Gnawing Rat swarm gathered there with a purpose, then once the torches go out, they will naturally come back.

The former is fine, but if it's the latter, their guidance, which took so much effort and involved such great risk, would all be in vain.

Why is it called an attempt of the weak?

Because this is the only feasible method they have at the moment, even if this method is extremely likely to be of no use.

"Can we move away and not live in the valley anymore?"

"Move where? To the east are mountains, we can't go there; the Gnawing Rat swarm is right to the north, and moving over eight hundred people would create a lot of noise, so going north is also impossible; to the south, the furthest is only three kilometers away, at the Tashan location of the Great Stone camp—what's the difference between moving and not moving? Further south is an unfamiliar area, which is even more impossible."

Someone suggested moving, but as soon as they spoke, it was immediately rejected.

"Then can we..."

Others successively put forward other suggestions, but unsurprisingly, either they lacked feasibility, or the difficulty was too great and the dangers too many.

A large group of people even showed obvious resistance on their faces when they heard suggestions like relocation.

Xia Hong sat on his chair without saying a word, silently waiting for everyone to discuss.

Although he was already certain in his heart that this was the only method, it would naturally be better if everyone could discuss other better response strategies.

It was a pity that after a full hour had passed, everyone in the wooden house finally quieted down, and then their gazes slowly shifted to Xia Hong.

Clearly, they all realized that the only feasible method was still the one Xia Hong proposed: luring the Gnawing Rat swarm into Red Wood Ridge.

"Leader, pick the people; sitting and waiting for death definitely won't work!"

"At most, it's just death; if I can lure the Gnawing Rat swarm away, I can consider myself to have performed a service for Great Xia and saved face, so I am willing to go."

"I am also willing to go, leader."

"I am also willing."

Watching everyone eagerly petition, Xia Hong's expression was somewhat heavy, but he still stood up, nodded, and then used coal to sketch the terrain on the ground, making detailed deployments.

"From the north slope of the cliff to Red Wood Ridge is a total of over seven hundred meters, and then another thousand-plus meters deep into the inner side; counting the detours along the way, it should be within three thousand meters at the longest. Placing one torch every hundred meters will require about thirty-plus people.

Taking the lighting of the first torch as the signal, the people behind, as soon as they light their torch, must immediately retreat, so I need people who are familiar enough with the terrain and can run fast.

In addition, when placing the torches tomorrow night, we must first explore the cold beasts entrenched on the trees along the way and try to avoid them. The torches and personnel deployment for the outer five hundred meters will be arranged by Xia Chuan leading people, and within five hundred meters, I will lead Luo Yuan and the four others to be responsible..."

Specific deployments naturally couldn't just appear out of thin air; Xia Hong was just anticipating explaining the operational ideas to them and selecting personnel.

Everything had to wait until nightfall, when they went to the north slope of the cliff, to combine with the actual situation to make a more comprehensive and detailed plan.

After everyone understood Xia Hong's thinking, they also offered suggestions one after another; Xia Hong gladly adopted some of the useful ones, and soon thirty-five candidates and the specific execution method were determined.

Among the thirty-five people, fifteen from the hunting team were prominently included, and the rest were all members of the woodcutting team; this group of people was the most familiar with the environment of Red Wood Ridge within the camp.

Although these people who were selected understood that the task they were about to execute was very dangerous, there was still not a trace of fear on their faces.

"Theoretically, this plan does not need to confront the Gnawing Rat swarm head-on, and under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be any danger, but as I just said, there are several unexpected situations that might occur.

Therefore, I must state in advance that in order to ensure the camp is not discovered by the Gnawing Rat swarm, the people executing the lighting task, including myself, are all forbidden from returning to the camp immediately after escaping; we must wait until dawn is approaching before returning. Do you understand?"

"Understood, leader!"

The thirty-five people, their expressions slightly solemn, nodded in unison to answer.

Xia Hong did not say anything more, waved his hand to let everyone disperse, glanced at Luo Yuan who had already woken up, and saw that the wound on his own waist was also healing rapidly, so he lay directly on the chair and began to close his eyes to rest, waiting quietly for night to come.

The physical fitness of the Earth-Digging Realm was already very strong, and coupled with the application of Golden Sore Powder, the injuries were recovering quickly; after nightfall, not to mention full recovery, he and Luo Yuan should have no problem recovering all their mobility.

North slope of the cliff, cold wind biting.

It was currently daytime, and at first glance, only a sparse ten or so Long-Tailed Gnawing Rats remained on the north slope.

But if one looked further north toward the mountain, one would discover that on a dirt slope a hundred meters away, there were countless flesh-colored long tails exposed on the ground.

Those tails seemed to be swaying rhythmically from side to side, accompanying the Gnawing Rats' bodies beneath the ground; the scene was incomparably strange and disgusting.

And just twenty or thirty meters underground beneath the cliff, inside a three-meter-high cave, Chen Ying was stepping on the shoulders of two people, pressing his ears against the stone wall at the top of the cave, eyes closed, clearly listening to the movement above.

After listening for a while, Chen Ying climbed down on tiptoe, his sallow, thin face revealing a few traces of despair.

The two people below saw his expression and clearly realized something, their expressions also gradually becoming desperate.

"They are still there; they don't intend to leave. What exactly is on the north slope? Are these beasts planning to stay here forever!"

"It's useless for them to leave during the day; we can't get out at all. As soon as night falls, they come back and lie on top to rest, and we still can't escape."

"The crystal fruit ran out three days ago. The leather, hay, and tarpaulins we used before in the cave—anything edible has already been eaten. There are already children who have fainted from hunger."

"We can't go on like this, father."

"The firewood is also about to run out; the camp is about to start eating people, father."

"Shut up, quiet!"

Chen Ying interrupted the discussion of his two sons; although his tone was slightly heavier, he still tried his best to keep his volume down, fearing that he would be discovered by the cold beasts overhead.

But after interrupting the two, Chen Ying didn't know what to say either; thinking of their current predicament, the despair in his pupils grew even thicker.

This group of Gnawing Rats had been here for over half a month, and he didn't know why they were entrenched on the north slope of the cliff and wouldn't leave; as of today, counting fully, it had been a full seventeen days.

Chen Ye's camp was only a small camp to begin with, not very strong, and the crystal fruit and firewood they had stored were not many; the woodcutting team hadn't been able to go out for seventeen days, so their current predicament was imaginable.

It wasn't that Chen Ying hadn't thought about fighting to the death, but the problem was that with their strength, even fighting to the death was a luxury; as long as they were exposed even a little, it would basically be the outcome of delivering themselves as rations to this group of cold beasts.

Last time, regarding the wooden puppet trick in Luo Ge's camp, Chen Ye's camp also lost five Woodcutting Realm members; currently, there were only the three of them, father and sons, in the Woodcutting Realm. With this little strength, any one of the overwhelming Gnawing Rats on the north slope would surely kill them without a doubt.

The hope Chen Ying had previously held was that this group of Gnawing Rats had some purpose in coming here, and once it was achieved, perhaps they would leave.

But until now, there was no sign of the Gnawing Rats leaving.

"Go back and check first!"

Chen Ying took his two sons and walked more than ten meters toward the south side of the cave, knocked on a stone wall, and a response immediately came from behind the stone wall.

A stone was moved aside, and light immediately shone out from inside; the three of them squeezed in immediately and blocked the stone wall again by the way.

Behind the stone wall, there was actually another cave-within-a-cave, twenty or thirty meters in circumference; a small campfire was lit in the middle of the cave, and two or three hundred people were packed tightly around the campfire, their faces full of despair and helplessness.

Chen Ying and the three entered, and everyone stirred slightly.

But noticing the expressions on the three's faces, everyone clearly fell into despair again, their expressions withered. "Sob, child, my child..."

Suddenly, a woman's low sobbing came from the crowd.

Chen Ying followed the sound and walked over, discovering it was an adult female by the campfire, holding a three- or four-year-old child, sobbing in a low voice.

Chen Ying reached out his hand, placed it on the child's neck, and discovered that its pulse had already stopped beating; his expression immediately turned even gloomier.

Those closest to the campfire were all children and women; Chen Ying stood up, looked around, and discovered that most of the children had their eyes closed, their breathing as thin as a thread, and some had even fallen into a coma.

On the third day of fasting, under normal circumstances, it shouldn't actually lead to people starving to death.

The problem was that heating had also run into trouble; there were large groups of cold beasts overhead, so they didn't dare to burn the fire too brightly, and coupled with the fact that the firewood was about to hit bottom these past few days, the heating was becoming increasingly strained.

Just being hungry was something they could endure, but if you added cold, even adults couldn't hold on, let alone small children; if this continued, the small children would definitely be the first batch to starve or freeze to death, and then it would spread to the adults.

Chen Ying clenched his fists tightly for a moment, seemingly having made some decision, and the despair on his face gradually turned into determination.

He turned his head to look at everyone and spoke in a deep voice:

"When night falls, Chen Shang and I will rush out of the cave entrance together and run north to attract the attention of the cold beasts; Chen Ping will take the others and run south. If you can run, run; if you can't run, then let's all die together!"

After finishing, Chen Ying didn't care about everyone's reaction, sat directly on the ground, and began to close his eyes to rest, waiting quietly for night to come.

=9+Shu_ba

Chen Ping and Chen Shang heard this and didn't have any emotional fluctuations, just nodded slightly desperately.

The others heard Chen Ye's words, and their reactions were the same as theirs, looking even more desperate than them.

Not to mention these ordinary people, at the moment Chen Ye made this decision, he knew in his heart that these two hundred and seventy-eight—no, it should be two hundred and seventy-seven people—in Chen Ye's camp, barring any accidents, should not have a single one survive.

The problem was that not going out to fight to the death was also death.

If you fight, at least you die with a bit of dignity.

Just now, when confirming the death of that child, he had already noticed that there were ghostly lights flashing in the eyes of many adults in the camp.

If they continued to stay inside, not only would they die without dignity, but it was also very likely that human tragedies he didn't want to see would occur.

Therefore, apart from death, there was no other way!

Weakness is the original sin; who told them to be at the very bottom in this world of ice and snow? Since death cannot be avoided, then accept it calmly.

Sigh...

Chen Ying, with his eyes closed, felt a slight sigh flash through his heart, and he couldn't help but think of Yang Ning and the other person he had seen in Luo Ge's camp some time ago.

"If only I could have been born in a place like Beishuo town!"

Night arrived quietly.

In fact, for these seventeen days of being blocked in the depths of the cave, because he was worried about being discovered by the cold beasts, Chen Ying even tried to find a way to vent the smoke from the campfire through a wooden pipe to the depths of the cave, let alone opening the cave to see if it was day or night outside.

He didn't even dare to dig a small hole to take a look.

He could only judge based on the movement created by the group of cold beasts overhead.

That group of cold beasts would climb the high mountains of the north slope during the day and crawl back to the cliff side to rest at night, so hearing the movement above grow louder, Chen Ying realized that it was already dark.

After waiting for a moment, Chen Ying first extinguished the campfire, then took everyone, walked out of the cave-within-a-cave where they were hiding, and along the three-meter-high passage, arrived at the large cave near the outskirts where they had previously been entrenched.

"Open the cave!"

Chen Ying already had psychological preparation and didn't talk nonsense, taking his two sons and some adults to start clearing the cave entrance.

To avoid disturbing the cold beasts overhead in advance, their movements were as light as possible; coupled with the fact that they hadn't eaten for several days and had no strength, the efficiency of clearing was extremely slow.

Even so, everyone was not impatient; perhaps they knew that once they went out, they would have to face death, so their mentality was still very peaceful.

When only the last layer of branches remained at the cave entrance, Chen Ying waved his hand to signal everyone to stop, then looked at everyone in turn, clearly meaning to say goodbye.

Just as he raised his hand, preparing to push away the last layer of branches.

Thump thump...

Suddenly, a violent tremor came from overhead.

Chen Ying looked up at the top, his expression changing in shock, thinking that they had been discovered by the cold beasts, and subconsciously wanted to have everyone retreat to the previous cave.

"Wait, father, this group of cold beasts seems to be leaving!"

"They aren't going to the north slope; they are moving toward Red Wood Ridge."

Chen Shang and Chen Ping had already pressed their ears to the ground; after listening for a while, the two immediately raised their heads, their faces full of ecstasy.

Chen Ying was also stunned for a moment, then immediately prostrated himself on the ground, listened for a while, and his face also revealed ecstasy; then he immediately pried open a small piece of the cave entrance and looked outside.

"Fire?"

Looking at this, he was stunned for a moment.

On the west side of the cliff, more than a hundred meters away, although he couldn't see clearly, Chen Ying could be certain that a small flame was burning, and at the same time, countless silver cold beasts were leaping down from overhead, rushing crazily toward that small flame.

No, there's more!

Behind that flame, another one ignited, followed closely by more and more, until four or five small flames ignited, almost reaching the outskirts of Red Wood Ridge; it was too far away, and Chen Ying couldn't see clearly anymore.

"Everyone, hurry out and run south!"

Until all the silver cold beasts had jumped down and rushed toward the west side, and were chasing those small flames further and further away from the cliff side, Chen Ye, realizing that this was an excellent opportunity to escape, immediately lifted the branches at the cave entrance and shouted loudly at the people behind him.

He didn't escape first, but let the others run first.

"Run, run!"

"Hurry up and run, quick, those who still have strength, carry the children, quick!"

Chen Shang and Chen Ping were the same; the two not only didn't run first, but instead walked to the back and picked up two children respectively, then shouted to urge everyone to run quickly.

For over two hundred people to all run out so quickly was definitely not realistic.

But under the coordination and organization of the three Chen father and sons, coupled with the cooperation of many adults, the speed was also surprisingly fast; in less than two minutes, everyone had run out of the cave and was fleeing crazily toward the south.

The three Chen father and sons followed at the back of the team; they were constantly paying attention to the group of cold beasts that had already entered the outskirts of Red Wood Ridge, while also looking back to watch for danger behind them.

Unfortunately, the team of two or three hundred people was really too huge; when crawling out of the cave, with the coordination and organization of the three of them, the speed was very fast; but once they were out of the cave and started fleeing south, the speed immediately slowed down.

"Ah..."

At the same time, a scream suddenly resounded from the team, causing the team to break directly from the middle; the people in front ran forward crazily, while the people in the back actually started to retreat.

The three Chen Ying father and sons, who were bringing up the rear, had their expressions change in shock and immediately rushed to the middle.

Seeing the scene in the middle, the three felt a chill in their hearts.

Three large holes with a diameter of half a meter appeared on the ground, and three silver-furred, long-tailed cold beasts had already bitten seven or eight people to death; one of them even had the upper body of a person in its mouth, and with a light chew of its two gnawing teeth, that person was directly crushed and swallowed into its stomach.

"Entangle them, the rest continue to run, quick!"

Chen Ying didn't hesitate, pulled out the stone axe in his hand, and rushed up defiantly; Chen Ping and Chen Shang also followed closely behind, all rushing up.

The three of them clearly intended to use their lives to create an escape opportunity for the others.

Those ordinary people reacted very quickly; the vast majority bypassed and tried to bypass to continue fleeing, while a small number of adults gritted their teeth and actually followed behind the three Chen Ying father and sons, rushing toward the long-tailed silver-furred cold beasts.

"Anyway, it's death, fight these beasts to the death!"

"Others hurry and run."

"Not bad, fight it to the death."

It must be said that this scene could be considered heroic, but it's a pity that the strength of these people was really too weak, too weak.

Those two cold beasts didn't even move much; just in a few leaps, their sharp claws danced and their gnawing teeth flashed, and those adults were either cut into two halves or directly disemboweled, their deaths incomparably miserable.

And the three Chen Ying father and sons who rushed up first did indeed entangle them a few times, but that was all; in less than three or four breaths, they were directly thrown out five or six meters by the long tail of one of the cold beasts.

The tail of that cold beast was full of barbs, and the parts of the three that were hit instantly became a bloody mess; Chen Ying, the oldest, had blood overflowing from the corners of his mouth and couldn't even climb up at the first moment.

"Father, let's run; the movement over at Red Wood Ridge is getting bigger and bigger, and if that group of cold beasts comes back, we'll be dead for sure."

Hearing the words of his son Chen Ping, Chen Ying gritted his teeth, turned his head to see that the two cold beasts were still crazily slaughtering the ordinary people in the camp, and without thinking, he pushed him away and forced himself to stand up, rushing toward the cold beast on the left.

"You run first!"

Pa...

Seeing Chen Ying still rushing toward him regardless of his life, a hint of playfulness clearly flashed on the cold beast's face; its body flickered slightly, and its two-meter-long tail suddenly whipped out a cracking sound, flying straight toward Chen Ying's face.

Chen Ying's speed was clearly not on the same level as the opponent's; he didn't even have time to try to raise his stone axe to block, and seeing the barbs on the long tail almost piercing his eyeballs, Chen Ying subconsciously closed his eyes, a look of relief appearing on his face.

He was already in his early forties; according to the average human lifespan of forty years in the Ice Abyss World, he was already of advanced age. He had originally thought that everyone in the camp would starve or freeze to death in the cave, but now that so many had run out, he was already satisfied.

Dragging it out for so long, quite a few people should have run away; it's worth it!

Shiu...

However, Chen Ying, who had already intended to accept death, suddenly heard the sound of an arrow piercing the air beside his ear; he suddenly raised his head, looked at the cold beast that had been knocked back four or five meters in front of him, and was stunned.

"Bows and arrows, greet them; don't let these two Gnawing Rats run away, quick!"

A calm and composed command came from behind; Chen Ying and his two sons, as well as those who hadn't had time to run far, all subconsciously turned to look behind them.

Looking at this, everyone couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

Six neatly dressed, extraordinary-looking young men were rapidly speeding over from behind; the six had large blades slung at their waists and arrow quivers on their backs, and while approaching, they were quickly drawing their bows and nocking arrows, shooting rapidly toward the two Gnawing Rats.

Especially the one who gave the command, the leader, the clothes on his body—describing them as just neat was probably far from enough.

A light blue velvet hat with two five- or six-inch-long white beast teeth; straight white-brown trousers; shiny black beast-skin boots; and that domineering black cloak.

Luxurious!

This adjective popped into everyone's mind, including Chen Ying.

"Beishuo town, people came again?"

This thought subconsciously popped into Chen Ying's mind; with such luxurious clothing, coupled with the six people's luxurious weapon configuration, he could only think of Yang and Li, and subsequently connect it to Beishuo town.

"Leader Chen, don't be dazed, hurry and take people to escape!"

Recognize me?

Chen Ying was stunned; at the same time, he also saw the appearance of the six approaching people.

"Xia... Leader Xia... how could it be you guys?"

"Up, not much time, quick battle, quick decision!"

Xia Hong currently had no intention of clearing up Chen Ying's confusion; at his command, he put down the bow and arrow in his hand, drew his blade, and took the lead in rushing up.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the five others followed closely behind.

The six surrounded the two Gnawing Rats in the middle, not giving them any chance, and rushed up to kill them directly.

(End of chapter)