Chapter 13: Dividing the Meat

That frost wolf didn’t even eat the snowmane.

It didn’t even bother dragging away its kill.

Xia Hong quickly realized the reason must be the torch.

Clearly, in the frost wolf’s eyes, the torch mattered far more than the snowmane.

The frost wolf rushed off with the torch because it feared other cold beasts would come to steal it.

Xia Hong understood this too, so after the frost wolf had left a short while, he quickly rose from the snow pit, rushed forward, hoisted the four-hundred-pound snowmane onto his back, and ran east toward the ridge’s outer edge without looking back.

The frost wolf and snowmane had fought so long—who knew if other cold beasts had come? Besides, the snowmane had bled so much; the scent was thick here. If he moved slowly, who knew what might happen?

And they’d lingered here too long—the sky was about to break dawn.

He had to get back.

He raced all the way, swift as wind and lightning, and though tense, he faced no real danger.

Xia Hong soon spotted the camp’s cave.

As he neared the entrance, he didn’t rush in, but called out first:

“Eight-direction winds and rains can’t match the rain of Redwood Ridge.”

“Dragon Gate Mountain has rain; snow tigers descend.”

Xia Chuan’s surprised voice came from inside, and moments later, the branches at the cave entrance were hastily pushed aside from within.

The ones who came out to greet him weren’t just Xia Chuan—Yuan Cheng was there too.

Both saw the massive corpse of the snowmane slung over Xia Hong’s back, and their mouths dropped open, eyes wide, too stunned to speak.

“Heh, got lucky. Let’s get inside and seal the cave first.”

The three entered the cave, but before the entrance was sealed, a chorus of gasps erupted inside.

“What is that?”

“Chief, did you go hunting?”

“Sssss… Did you hunt this?”

“I’ve never seen a cold beast this big—is the chief really this strong?”

“Even when the logging team was here, they never brought back anything this large.”

…………

In an instant, everyone’s gaze at Xia Hong changed.

Reverence, admiration, dependence—and now, a glimmer of hope.

Strength rules supreme—it’s an iron law everywhere.

Especially in a world teeming with peril, where death could come at any moment.

As someone in the camp had said, even the logging team had never brought back a kill this large.

And this was Xia Hong’s very first outing.

“I didn’t hunt it. Just luck.”

Xia Hong explained to the group, but their expressions made it clear they didn’t believe him. After a moment’s thought, he held back and said no more.

It was a special time—letting the camp’s people hold onto hope wasn’t a bad thing. Let them believe what they wanted.

But seeing the burning admiration in Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng’s eyes as they approached from behind, he couldn’t hold back—he gave each of them a sharp tap on the head.

“Don’t get carried away. I’m not that strong. Cold beasts are far stronger than you imagine. If that snowmane were alive, all of us here combined wouldn’t be enough to fill its belly.”

Others could be naive—but Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng couldn’t.

The camp already had so few core fighters; the two of them were among the strongest. Unless something went wrong, they’d be the next to break through Logging Realm—and likely accompany me on future outings.

If they’re naive, they’ll die.

After his explanation, the two finally understood how the snowmane had come to be.

Yet their eyes still burned with fervor and admiration.

Though they hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, they could imagine how dangerous it must have been—and Xia Hong, who’d brought back such a beast, now loomed even larger in their minds.

“The people of Big Rock Camp are outrageous. When they were short on hunters before, they came to us—Uncle Ding and Father always agreed, even went themselves to help. Now they dare trespass to hunt.”

But Yuan Cheng quickly seized on the key point in Xia Hong’s words, stood up, and angrily rebuked Big Rock Camp.

Beside him, Xia Chuan’s face was equally furious—he clearly shared the same resentment.

In fact, trespassing onto another camp’s territory to hunt or gather resources

was a grave and vile offense on Redwood Ridge.

The reason was simple: Redwood Ridge had many trees, many cold beasts, and even more unknown precious resources.

But the humans around these camps were all too weak.

Because they were weak, none dared venture deep into Redwood Ridge.

Every camp only dared operate in the outermost fringes—extremely limited territory.

So when territories were originally divided, apart from Luo Ge’s medium-sized camp, every other camp’s share was tiny.

Under these conditions, if you gather resources on another camp’s land, you directly harm them.

Judging from Big Rock Camp’s actions, they clearly weren’t doing this for the first time—they must know exactly where the Ice Stone Tree stood.

They’d probably harvested its crystal fruits several times already.

“The situation is what it is. Let them trespass. We can’t handle it now. First, let the camp survive. When we grow stronger, they’ll dare not come.”

Xia Hong understood their anger, but the camp’s situation was too dire—he had neither the energy nor the authority to deal with this now.

Territory must be defended—but only after you’ve survived.

“Answer me honestly: if we fully supply cold-beast meat, how long would it take to break through to Logging Realm?”

Hearing this question, both men glanced at the snowmane on the ground, and their breaths grew heavier.

“Brother, if we fully supply it, I think I’d only need a little over a month.”

Xia Hong already knew Xia Chuan’s situation.

When he’d taught Xia Chuan the Long Fist, his strength had already reached over two thousand jin.

He’d only progressed slowly due to lack of cold-beast meat.

On the other side, Yuan Cheng spoke up.

“My strength is already three thousand jin. I won’t need a full month. If the chief is willing to teach me that Long Fist, I’m confident I can break through in twenty days.”

Xia Hong’s eyes lit up—Yuan Cheng’s strength was better than he’d imagined.

“Not just you. I’ll teach everyone in the camp.”

After saying this, Xia Hong turned to look at the snowmane’s meat and began calculating.

Based on Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng’s current strength, the maximum cold-beast meat each could consume daily was about three jin. If both needed a month to break through, that’s 180 jin total.

That meant over 200 jin would remain.

Quickly, Xia Hong made his decision—he ordered Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan to gather the other twenty-two people in camp who were their age.

The camp’s total population was 154. Subtracting 53 adults and 76 children under twelve, these twenty-four were all roughly Xia Hong’s age.

“No pleasantries—I won’t waste time. This snowmane wasn’t hunted by me. Heaven deemed our camp not yet doomed and granted it to us. So we must seize this chance and quickly strengthen the camp.

I brought back the kill alone, so I claim one hundred jin.

Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan are about to break through to Logging Realm—each gets ninety jin.

Plus the camp’s remaining stock, I’ve calculated we still have over 170 jin.

You twenty-two, tomorrow I’ll give each of you one jin. Then we’ll test basic strength—the top five will each receive thirty jin.”

At these words, everyone’s faces lit up with excitement.

They hadn’t expected Xia Hong to share a kill he’d brought back alone.

“The outside world is dangerous. I alone can’t keep this many people alive.

Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng—you must break through as soon as possible.

The rest of you too. Next time we get cold-beast meat, whoever breaks through fastest gets priority allocation.”

Hearing Xia Hong’s solemn words, everyone nodded slightly.

Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng clenched their fists tightly, eyes filled with resolve.

(End of Chapter)