Chapter 148: Killing, Tragic

Red Wood Ridge periphery

Bang...

A large tree with a diameter of over eight meters collapsed with a boom.

Xu An rubbed his sore arms, looked at the many large trees that had collapsed nearby, put down the iron saw, and smiled:

"The thirteenth one, nearly seventy thousand jin tonight, right?"

"Should be!"

Liu Yuan on the opposite side nodded, and a smile also appeared on his face, but thinking of something, the smile faded, saying: "Nine Jin Lin, four Zhu Shuang, converted, it's only 31 contribution points, we two only shared 15 points, still too slow."

Jin Lin trees are 2000 jin for one contribution point, Zhu Shuang trees are 4000 jin for one point. The nine Jin Lin trees just now were almost six thousand jin, Zhu Shuang four thousand, converted, it is indeed this much contribution points.

"If you could be like your brother, join the hunting team, go out to hunt cold beasts with the leader, then contribution points would come fast."

Hearing Liu Yuan's envy of his brother Xu Ning, Xu An also showed a proud smile, but in his pupils, there was also envy.

"Nine hundred points in one night, as long as you join the hunting team, contribution points are simply endless. Look at Luo Yuan and those people, not only does everyone in their family have clothes to wear, but ironware has also been added. I saw yesterday, even his son Luo An ordered a set of small clothes at the artisan workshop. Tsk tsk, that Luo An, not even six years old, is already wearing clothes!"

Xu An also couldn't help but take over the topic, starting to extend this topic, envying:

"I saw it, Zou Yuankai's son Zou Ping also made it, Watching Yue Feng also went to find Mu Dong yesterday to order a blue velvet blanket, heard it was for Yue Yuan."

Yue Yuan, only born for more than a month!

Liu Yuan's eyes were first stunned, and then his expression became even more envious.

What he envied was naturally not that children wear clothes, but that these things represent that the people in the hunting team have

"Clothes, wooden products, animal hide products—these are still the minor stuff. A while back, the hunting team members all managed to get their hands on the Ten-Stone Iron-Fetal Bows; that was the real big-ticket item. They could all afford the 2,000 contribution points. I reckon that apart from my brother and Lin Kai, the other hunting team members have at least three or four thousand contribution points on hand."

Three or four thousand...

Hearing the figure Xu An guessed, Liu Yuan couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly, thinking of the mere three hundred or so contribution points he had saved up until now.

"Still need to break through quickly. How many jin are you at now?"

"Eight thousand five hundred. I reckon it'll take a while longer..."

After Xu An answered, he remembered that Liu Yuan's base strength had always been a bit stronger than his own, so he hurriedly asked, "What about you?"

Only then did Liu Yuan finally reveal a smile; he extended his right hand toward Xu An and hooked his index finger slightly.

"Nine thousand. Good man, you're almost at the breakthrough!"

Upon learning that Liu Yuan's base strength had reached nine thousand, Xu An felt a sense of urgency arise alongside his excitement.

He and Liu Yuan were both among the oldest members of Great Xia, and they were also among the first ten people to break through to the Woodcutting Realm, excluding the leader, Xia Hong.

Not counting the leader, the first batch to break through over by the earthen slope were Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng; the second batch was Watching Yue Feng and four others; the third batch was himself, Liu Yuan, and Li Yuankun.

Having broken through in the same batch, he couldn't afford to fall too far behind Liu Yuan.

"Li Yuankun went to the gathering team; I don't know how his strength is. I heard he was assigned to the same group as us under Team Leader Cheng Feng. I must ask him next time I see him."

Xu An nodded; he also wanted to know about Li Yuankun's progress.

Now, whether it was the gathering team or the logging team, everyone had to go out in groups of ten.

Those in the Woodcutting Realm could freely choose to enter the gathering team or the logging team. He and Liu Yuan had joined the logging team together, and because their strength was decent, they were assigned to Team Leader Bai Dongying's group.

Li Yuankun had gone to the gathering team, and presumably because his strength was also decent, he was assigned to Team Leader Cheng Feng's group.

"Don't tell me my strength is the worst. You two better not pull too far ahead of me!"

"Hahahaha, I don't think so."

Seeing the annoyed look on Xu An's face, Liu Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud and tease him.

Among the camp members, there was definitely a sense of rivalry, but it always boiled down to three things: strength, gathering speed, and contribution points.

The three complemented each other, but everyone knew in their hearts that the most important thing was definitely strength. As long as one's strength was high enough, gathering speed would increase, and more contribution points would naturally follow—it was all a matter of course.

"Alright, let's chop one more tree and head back; that's enough for tonight!"

Xu An nodded and followed behind Liu Yuan, searching for the next large tree.

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

Suddenly, two urgent bone whistle blasts came from the north side!

The two, who were weaving between the large trees, suddenly had their expressions change drastically.

"Four blasts—the emergency retreat signal?"

"Someone is in danger!"

The two exchanged a glance and, without the slightest hesitation, directly took out the bone whistles hanging around their necks and blew them toward the south.

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

While blowing the bone whistles, the two immediately put away their saws and quickly ran toward the east side, which was outside the Red Wood Ridge.

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

And as the two blew their whistles, countless bone whistle sounds rang out rapidly within a five-hundred-meter radius from north to south, signaling others to retreat quickly.

Great Xia now had over three hundred people in the Woodcutting Realm. Because they were worried about attracting cold beasts, those who went out couldn't be too concentrated. To facilitate communication, everyone was equipped with a bone whistle when going out.

One blast meant encountering a cold beast and needing help; two blasts meant encountering a strange entity and needing help; three blasts meant there was still enough time to pack up supplies before retreating;

Four blasts meant that everyone must retreat immediately and could not linger!

"Four blasts—this is the first time, right? Who is it, and what did they encounter?"

"It must be something too strong, or perhaps multiple cold beasts, and intermediate ones at that; or maybe a very powerful strange entity..."

The two had shocked expressions as they moved with flying speed, retreating frantically toward the perimeter, speculating about what they could have encountered as they ran!

In the current Great Xia, even if it were a strange entity, as long as it wasn't too strong, normal people wouldn't blow four bone whistle blasts, especially since they had fire-condensing oil, torches, and so many people.

Not to mention ordinary strange entities!

As the two retreated, seven people nearby soon caught up.

"Did you all hear it?"

"We heard it."

"It came from the north."

"Who is it? Which team ran into it?"

"Where is the team leader?"

Xu An looked around at the seven people and, discovering that Team Leader Bai Dongying was not among them, immediately asked.

Their group of ten was led personally by Team Leader Bai Dongying.

Bai Dongying shouldn't have been far from them; with such dense bone whistle sounds, it was impossible not to hear them. How could he not have retreated?

"He told us to retreat first while he went over there to check the situation!"

Lu Sheng spoke with lingering fear; he had been with Bai Dongying just a moment ago.

"What happened?"

"Liu Yuan, was that you blowing the whistles?"

"It wasn't us."

"Which group was it?"

"Not sure!"

One after another, more and more people retreated from within the Red Wood Ridge. Some noticed Liu Yuan and the others here and immediately came over to ask.

Upon learning that the sound came from the north, everyone looked toward the north with expressions of both vigilance and curiosity.

"Don't waste time here; hurry back and notify the leader and the others!"

Xu An withdrew his solemn expression and gave a reminder before running directly back toward the valley settlement.

Four bone whistle blasts—whoever blew them, they were definitely in big trouble.

Even if they went over, they wouldn't be able to help; they could only hurry to notify Xia Hong.

"I just don't know if the hunting team is back yet. If they haven't returned, we're in trouble!"

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

In the northern part of the Red Wood Ridge, a team of seven was moving through the dense forest in a two-two-three formation. They all had bone whistles in their mouths, blowing them incessantly while fleeing frantically toward the south.

*Whoosh... whoosh... *

Behind them, more than twenty people were closing in. While closing in, they didn't stop their hands, continuously firing iron arrows at them.

Those iron arrows were extremely fast and had terrifying power. Crucially, the opponents' archery was also very strong, constantly predicting where they would dodge.

*Bang... *

One of the three-man team on the left was accidentally pierced through the chest by an iron arrow and was pinned directly to the tree trunk behind him.

"Run! Don't worry about me!"

The two beside him instinctively looked back, but upon hearing the man's desperate roar, they gritted their teeth, gave up on turning back, and continued to flee south.

"All of you follow He Gang and keep chasing! Don't let a single one get away!"

He Meng, who was in the crowd behind, saw that the Great Xia man had been hit but wasn't dead yet. After giving the order to He Gang, he stopped himself, walked up to the man who had been pierced through the chest, and revealed a savage grin on his face:

"Tell me, where is the Great Xia settlement?"

The man's lungs had been pierced by the iron arrow, and he was already in a state of breathing more than he was inhaling. Hearing He Meng's question, he raised his head to look, a glimmer of the will to survive appearing on his face as he trembled: "You... come... closer, I..."

A look of triumph appeared in He Meng's eyes; he walked lightly to the man's side and leaned his ear in.

"Our settlement is... in the... south of... Red Wood Ridge..."

Seeing He Meng lean his ear in, the man opened his mouth and spoke slowly, but his voice was so faint that He Meng was forced to lean even closer.

The moment the man's mouth touched He Meng's ear, his pupils suddenly constricted, and he opened his mouth and bit down hard on He Meng's ear.

"Ah..."

A sharp pain shot from his ear, and He Meng let out a shrill scream, instinctively wanting to pull away.

But the man bit down with all his might and wouldn't let go, even reaching out his hands to grab He Meng's clothes. It was clearly a final burst of strength before death, and the power he exerted actually managed to hold He Meng for a moment.

"You're courting death, courting death, courting death! Ah, ah, ah, you're courting death!"

Recovering from his brief state of panic, He Meng immediately drew his large blade and began stabbing the man's body frantically.

But the man just bit down and wouldn't let go. After being stabbed over a dozen times, the man finally lost all his life force and released his grip.

Only by then, a small half of He Meng's ear had already fallen off.

*Hiss... *

He Meng clutched his ear, pulled back, and saw the man holding the small piece of his ear with a smile still on his face. He was instantly overcome with rage and sliced the man's head off with a single stroke.

"I want to see if everyone in the Great Xia camp is this stubborn!"

He Meng's fury was sky-high; he sheathed his blade and rushed south, soon catching up with He Gang and the others. "How many did you kill?"

He Gang looked back and saw the wound on He Meng's ear. Seeing his furious expression, he had some guesses, and the anger on his own face grew even more intense as he said in a low voice:

"Killed two; only four are left. They are changing course to the west. It seems they don't intend to run home at all. Should we just slaughter them all?"

He Meng looked ahead at the four small torches twenty or thirty meters away, which were constantly shifting and moving west, and his expression immediately tightened.

They weren't planning on living; they were trying to lure them into the depths of the Red Wood Ridge. Thinking of the man from just now and looking at the four in front of him, the fury in He Meng's chest grew even more intense.

These Great Xia people were truly fierce.

"Kill them all. No need to leave any alive. The Red Wood Ridge is only so big; if we search a few more times, we'll find the Great Xia settlement sooner or later!"

*Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh... *

As He Meng's voice fell, the speed at which everyone fired their arrows became even faster.

With over twenty people in the Earth-Digging Realm armed with bows against ten in the Woodcutting Realm, if it weren't for the need to keep them alive to extract the location of the Great Xia settlement, they wouldn't have needed to chase for so long.

*Puchi... *

=9+Shu_ba

Sure enough, another one of the four in front was hit.

Since there was no need to keep them alive, this group stopped holding back. Seeing the man hit and pinned to a tree, they immediately fired four or five more arrows, striking vital points.

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

Before dying, the man actually relied on his willpower to blow one last bone whistle blast.

*Puchi... *

Such a scene naturally made the fury in He Meng's heart even greater. He shot an arrow directly through the man's mouth, and the sound of the bone whistle stopped abruptly.

"It's over, Team Leader Hong, they're going for the kill!"

"Seven are already dead; we probably won't survive either..."

The three still fleeing ahead confirmed that the pursuers had started going for the kill, and the panic in their eyes disappeared, replaced by ferocity.

Especially Hong Mu in the middle, who, after dodging an iron arrow with the help of a large tree, plunged straight into the deeper parts of the Red Wood Ridge on the west side.

"Even if we die, we won't let them have it easy. Give me all the torches, gather them together. We've already entered the five-hundred-meter range; as long as we can lure a few intermediate cold beasts, even if we die, it won't be a loss!"

The people on the left and right immediately threw the torches in their hands toward him.

When Great Xia members in the Woodcutting Realm went out, besides applying fire-condensing oil, they were only equipped with one torch each.

Hong Mu combined the three torches, held them high, and continued deeper.

From the first encounter, when the opponent fired the first arrow, Hong Mu had already realized that this group was entirely in the Earth-Digging Realm.

His father, Hong Gang, was in the hunting team and also had the strength of the Earth-Digging Realm.

Hong Mu had seen the arrows his father fired, so he knew very well that the strength of this group behind them was highly likely to be above his father's. Combined with their numbers, the strength of this group might be even greater than that of the Great Xia hunting team.

Although he hadn't seen their faces clearly, Hong Mu could basically conclude that it was definitely that group from the Mirror Immortal camp.

Fighting head-on was definitely suicide. If the leader didn't come, he estimated that no one in the entire camp was a match for this group. Therefore, from the beginning, Hong Mu had directly blown the four bone whistle blasts to warn those who had gone out tonight to run as fast as they could.

"The others should have run far enough by now. Death is certain, but even if the leader knows, he's too far away to make it in time. Only by luring cold beasts is there a glimmer of hope for survival!"

Hong Mu didn't know the specific power of these torches because he had never used them while out; he had only heard his father, Hong Gang, say that these torches had a terrifying attraction to cold beasts and must never be lit unless absolutely necessary.

So at this moment, he actually had no confidence in his heart. Plus, the iron arrows from behind were becoming increasingly dense, only two people were left alive beside him, and with no cold beasts appearing for a long time, he felt even more despair.

*Roar... *

Suddenly, a cold beast's roar came from the side.

If they were out logging on a normal day, such a cold beast's roar would be no different from a death knell, but at this moment, Hong Mu heard it like the music of the immortals.

Not only did he feel much more relaxed, but a smile even appeared on his face.

"In this area, with this sound, it must be an intermediate cold beast. If we hold on for a few more breaths, maybe, just maybe, there's a chance to survive!"

It sounds like a long time, but from the moment the group behind decided to go for the kill until now, it had only been about twenty breaths of time.

As long as this cold beast arrived quickly, or if another one came...

*Puchi... *

A team member on the left was pinned to a tree by an iron arrow again.

A look of deep sorrow appeared on Hong Mu's face. His group had ten people in total, and they had grown very close from logging together every day.

In just this short while, eight had already died.

Only he and one other person remained.

"Still want to run? Die!"

The barrage of arrows from behind suddenly paused. Hong Mu thought it was because the fallen team members had delayed them for a moment.

It wasn't until the roar of He Meng sounded in his ear that he realized it was because He Meng had caught up to him, and the others from the Mirror Immortal camp had stopped firing.

Feeling the chill of a blade strike from behind, Hong Mu's pupils shrank, and a sense of impending death shot straight to his brain.

His wishful thinking had been good, and the cold beast had indeed been lured by the torches.

The only thing he hadn't calculated was that his own strength was too weak!

To be precise, the chasm between the Woodcutting Realm and the Earth-Digging Realm was too great.

The fact that He Meng and the others hadn't gone for the kill earlier was the biggest reason they had been able to escape so far. From the moment the opponents decided to go for the kill until now, being able to dodge for over twenty breaths by using the large trees had already reached his limit.

The cold beast was too far away; no one could save him.

He was dead!

*Clang... *

Just at the moment when Hong Mu closed his eyes to wait for death, an iron arrow flew suddenly from the east and struck He Meng's blade directly.

The sound of metal clashing rang out; although He Meng's blade was deflected slightly, it didn't affect his ability to continue slaughtering Hong Mu.

Although he realized that Great Xia must have sent people, He Meng's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he still struck firmly toward Hong Mu.

*Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh... *

After the first arrow was deflected by his blade, more iron arrows flew in continuously from behind, and their target was clearly him.

"You bastards!"

He Meng gritted his teeth and roared, directly withdrawing his blade and dodging to the side.

He could ignore the first arrow aimed at his blade, but he couldn't ignore these arrows aimed at him.

Although he had already begun reshaping his skin-membrane, he was still far from being able to ignore arrows fired by those in the Earth-Digging Realm; otherwise, he wouldn't have had his ear bitten off by that man earlier.

*Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh... *

"Boss, a lot of people have come!"

The continuous rain of arrows sped over from behind. Not just He Meng, but the others from the Mirror Immortal camp all turned to look behind them, their scalps instantly going numb.

On the large trees behind them stood at least a hundred people, frantically firing arrows at the twenty-plus of them.

"Retreat first!"

He Meng hadn't managed to kill Hong Mu, and although he was angry, he became rational when he saw the sea of a hundred Great Xia archers, plus the fact that a cold beast was rapidly approaching from the inner side.

Hearing the order, the group from the Mirror Immortal camp immediately scattered and fled toward the north side.

"Hong Mu, throw the torches and come over here, quick!"

Xia Chuan's voice rang out from afar. Hong Mu immediately threw the torches in his hand and, taking the person beside him, ran quickly toward the east.

*Boom... boom... boom... *

In the distance, a behemoth was running over rapidly, and the ground was trembling incessantly.

"Mu'er, are you alright?"

Hong Gang caught his son from the front of the crowd. Looking at Hong Mu's disheveled appearance and the multiple arrow wounds on his body, his face was full of fury.

"Father, I'm fine."

Hong Mu first eased Hong Gang's mind, then, with a look of deep sorrow, turned to look at Xia Chuan and said: "My lord, that group from the Mirror Immortal camp came straight over. At first, they wanted to find out the location of our settlement, so they didn't go for the kill. Later, seeing that we wouldn't cooperate, they started killing. My group of ten was killed, eight of them!"

"Crossing the boundary directly to the south to kill people—this He Meng is actually this arrogant!"

"These bastards, killing people!"

"When the leader took us to patrol the north, we didn't go for the kill on them, yet they dare to kill people directly."

"Didn't you hear? They even wanted to find out the location of our settlement. This is their plan to fight us to the death!"

The others might not know, but the people in the hunting team certainly understood why He Meng and his group had come.

They had intercepted three pieces of prey, so it was certain that He Meng and the others would be angry.

But they had never expected a reaction like this.

Killing people directly and even trying to find out the location of Great Xia's settlement!

This clearly showed they didn't hold Great Xia in any regard, feeling that Great Xia and the Mirror Immortal camp were not on equal footing, and they were coming to settle the score!

The seventeen members of the hunting team, including Xia Chuan, were instantly filled with sky-high fury.

"Too many people have come out. Everyone else, go back first. The hunting team members, follow me to the north to see if anyone else is still alive. Everything else can wait until the leader wakes up!"

Xia Chuan looked toward the north, his hands clenched tightly. Although the murderous intent in his eyes was very strong, he still suppressed his anger and signaled for everyone to hurry back.

Although his impression of the Mirror Immortal camp was very poor, Xia Chuan had to admit that the opponent's strength was still stronger than Great Xia's.

Especially with Xia Hong not being around, this was even more true!

Everyone in the Woodcutting Realm returned to the camp, while Xia Chuan took the sixteen members of the hunting team and searched north along the tracks where Hong Mu had just fled.

As one gruesome corpse after another was discovered, the expressions on the faces of Xia Chuan and the others grew increasingly angry.

"Stabbed over a dozen times in the chest."

"Head sliced off, and an ear is still bitten in the mouth; he must have been interrogated by He Meng."

"He was interrogated only after being pinned to a tree by arrows; his head and body were subjected to violent blows."

"This is Bai Wuting's younger brother, Bai Wufan, who only broke through last month!"

"He Meng and his bunch of animals!"

Until they discovered that headless corpse, the fury in everyone's hearts instantly climbed to the extreme.

Everyone looked at the headless corpse on the ground, their chests heaving, their hands clenched tightly, and their eyes filled with coldness.

"Bring the bodies back and wait for the leader to come out of seclusion!"

Xia Chuan was also overcome with rage at this moment. After speaking, he directly picked up the corpse on the ground and hurried back toward the settlement.

"Losing eight Woodcutting Realm members at once—this is the first time for Great Xia. When Big Brother wakes up, he should be very angry too!"

Xia Chuan led the group back to the settlement, the anger on his face not fading for a long time.

He estimated that Xia Hong could never have imagined that He Meng would have such a short fuse.

Three pieces of prey had just been intercepted, and he immediately crossed the boundary to the south to kill people.

Not only did he kill people, but he also wanted to find out the location of Great Xia's settlement!

If he had known this earlier, he definitely wouldn't have gone into seclusion using beast blood.

(End of chapter)