Chapter 149: Wrath, Killing, Ferocity

First Year of Great Xia, February 25th.

On the third floor of the wooden house, Xia Hong, lying on the bed, opened his eyes.

Although the room was filled with the glow of firelight, sensing that there was no movement downstairs, Xia Hong immediately discerned that it was daytime.

"440 jin, two days, a total of ten blackouts; the progress is now..."

【Camp: Great Xia (Level 0)】

【Lord: Xia Hong】

【Cultivation: Earth-Digging Realm Perfection (Skin-Membrane Remolding progress 31%)】

【Camp Population: 1088】

【Resources: Wood 52030, Coal 4910, Iron 11740, Silver 0, Gold 0】

The Skin-Membrane progress had jumped by 11 points in one go!

A look of surprise appeared on Xia Hong's face. He hurriedly clenched his fist to test his strength, and the shock instantly transformed into deep joy.

"Nearly seventy thousand!"

With less than one-third of the progress complete, his strength had increased by nearly forty thousand jin.

Just as he had anticipated, once the Skin-Membrane remolding process was fully complete, his base strength would reach at least one hundred and fifty thousand jin.

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, clenched his right fist, and suddenly struck forward.

Whoosh...

A slight sonic boom echoed in the small area where his fist struck, and the airflow driven by the punch instantly caused the fire basin in the room to sway left and right.

"The Frigid-Resistant level is one hundred and fifty thousand jin. With my base strength of nearly seventy thousand jin, plus the force-generating techniques of the Long Fist, I should be able to match more than half of a Frigid-Resistant level expert!"

The reason he used an uncertain tone was that Xia Hong had not yet witnessed a true Frigid-Resistant level expert; everything currently was just his speculation.

Xia Hong walked to the wall and threw open the window.

The light, full of chill, shone upon him. A full half-hour passed, yet not a trace of discomfort appeared on Xia Hong's face; he could even look up and stare directly at the somewhat dim sun in the sky.

"The higher the progress, the smaller the reaction to the chill of this light. When I have time, I'll test how long I can stay outdoors during the day!"

Staying completely outdoors was not the same concept as Xia Hong standing inside the wooden house with the window open, being shone upon by the light.

Within the wooden house, there was the warming effect of the iron-smelting furnace; the outdoors had no such thing.

Although Xia Hong felt that the light was causing him almost no harm at this moment, he had no idea if he could stay outdoors for the full four hours of daylight.

The reason he had to wait until he had time to test it was, of course...

"In these three days, eight people are missing, and the number of wood resources is also wrong. Something must have happened!"

What Xia Hong was concerned about was not just his own cultivation progress.

The camp's population and resource reserves—these two crucial things—were also objects he focused on every time.

Six days ago, the wood was at forty-five thousand. Based on the current daily extraction rate of three to four thousand, today, it should have been over sixty-three thousand.

With over ten thousand missing, it was clear that for three nights, the Woodcutting Realm members of the camp had basically not gone out to cut wood.

The wood was fine, but seeing that the camp population was down by eight, Xia Hong frowned deeply and shouted directly toward the door.

"Shi Ping, come in!"

He had woken up several times midway and had long known that Shi Ping had been guarding outside the door; it must have been arranged by Xia Chuan out of concern for his needs.

"Leader, you've finally woken up..."

Hearing the voice, Shi Ping immediately pushed open the door and walked in, his face full of surprise.

"During the two days I was in seclusion, what happened in the camp?"

Hearing Xia Hong's inquiry, the surprise on Shi Ping's face instantly turned into anger, and he recounted everything that had happened on the night of the 22nd.

As Shi Ping continued to speak, the calmness on Xia Hong's face was broken. The joy he felt after coming out of seclusion instantly vanished, his expression grew increasingly gloomy, and he turned, like Shi Ping, into a state of raging fury.

Especially when he was led by Shi Ping to the back of the valley and saw the eight unburied corpses, he could not hide the rage in his chest, drawing his blade and splitting a giant tree nearby in two.

"Notify Xia Chuan, and the people from the hunting team, to all come to the main hall on the second floor!"

Xia Hong looked down at the corpse whose head had been sliced off, seeing its mangled abdomen and the neck fixed with wood, and squeezed these words out through his teeth.

"Yes, Leader, I'll go right now!"

After Shi Ping left, Xia Hong remained alone, staring at the eight corpses for a full hundred breaths, before finally bowing slightly and turning to go upstairs with a blank expression.

Hearing that Xia Hong had come out of seclusion, Xia Chuan and the others, who were mining in the mine, all put down their gnawing chisels and immediately rushed to the main hall on the second floor.

Seeing Xia Hong sitting by the furnace, everyone spoke up with righteous indignation:

"Big Brother!"

"Leader, you've finally come out of seclusion."

"Leader, those animals from the Jingxian Camp..."

"Enough, no need to say anything, I already know!"

Xia Hong reached out to interrupt them, signaling that he was already fully informed.

It was currently daytime, and those who had gathered around were not just the seventeen members of the hunting team; the gathering team, the woodcutting team, and even the rest of the camp, upon learning that Xia Hong had come out of seclusion, had almost all gathered around.

Their faces were all filled with anger; clearly, they had been holding back their frustration for the past two days.

"The entire hunting team, get ready. Tonight, come with me to the north to kill!"

Facing everyone's anger, Xia Hong only said this with a calm expression.

"Yes, Leader!"

Hearing the order, the hunting team members were spirited and nodded in unison.

Only Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Watching Yue Feng, who were at the very front, revealed a trace of hidden worry on their faces simultaneously.

"Leader, let us come with you too!"

"Let me come too, Leader."

"Our strength isn't great, but with bows and arrows in hand, we can threaten them."

"I want to avenge my third brother, Leader, please take us!"

The gathering team, the woodcutting team, the craftsmen's workshop, and even the Woodcutting Realm members from the camp supply office all spoke up, hoping to be taken along.

"To deal with a bunch of small fry, there's no need to make such a big fuss. No need to say any more. Tonight, the seventeen members of the hunting team will come with me, that's all!"

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he didn't give anyone else a chance to speak and turned directly to go to the third floor.

The people on the second floor immediately fell into heated discussion. The hunting team members in the crowd dispersed to prepare, while only Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Watching Yue Feng looked at each other, nodded, and walked up to the third floor together.

Reaching the third floor, seeing that the door to Xia Hong's room was not yet closed, Xia Chuan led the other two inside. After bowing, he asked with a tone of speculation:

"Big Brother, have you broken through?"

After asking, not only he, but even Luo Yuan and Watching Yue Feng behind him, looked at Xia Hong with anticipation.

Unfortunately, the anticipation of the three was in vain.

Xia Hong shook his head slightly and said in a deep voice: "Not yet, it will take at least another month. You..."

Seeing the three of them reveal hesitant expressions upon hearing that he hadn't broken through, Xia Hong immediately understood.

Clearly, the attitude he had just displayed had caused the three to misunderstand.

"Do you think that the Jingxian Camp is too strong, and it's not appropriate to be at odds with them right now, and even if we want revenge, we should wait until I break through?"

After the three were silent for a moment, they nodded gently.

Anger can make people lose their reason, but time can make people calm down.

Two days ago, the moment he saw the eight corpses, Xia Chuan's heart was also filled with rage, and he also thought about disregarding everything to seek revenge on the Jingxian Camp.

But after two days had passed and he had calmed down, he had to admit that seeking revenge on the Jingxian Camp now was indeed unrealistic.

Two Frigid-Resistant level experts were like two great mountains, an uncrossable chasm in front of Great Xia.

At the very least, before Xia Hong broke through, it was so.

Not to mention the Earth-Digging Realm; just based on the three encounters they'd had so far, the number of Earth-Digging Realm experts in the Jingxian Camp was definitely higher than in Great Xia.

Their high-end combat power was not as strong as the others, and their mid-tier strength was not as numerous.

They truly lacked the strength for revenge.

"Don't be afraid!"

Xia Hong stood up, waved his hand, and continued in a deep voice:

"Unless those two Frigid-Resistant level experts from the Jingxian Camp follow them every single moment, which is unlikely.

Of course, even if they do follow, it doesn't matter.

Tonight, everyone bring five torches, and just make preparations for both possibilities.

We won't worry about the periphery; we will only hunt them within a thousand-meter depth of the Red Wood Ridge, until we drive them completely out of the northern territory!"

Anger is anger, but the problems Xia Chuan was worried about, Xia Hong had long since considered.

If he could, he certainly didn't want to fall out with the Jingxian Camp so early.

The problem was, the other side was being too overbearing, having already pushed to their doorstep.

Not only were they killing people directly, but they were also probing for the location of Great Xia's camp.

The act of killing was already touching the bottom line; probing for the camp's location was trampling Great Xia's face directly into the dirt.

In the Frozen Abyss World, camps were most wary of others probing for their locations.

Since their first contact, Xia Hong believed that he had repeatedly tolerated the Jingxian Camp and had tried his best to show the greatest goodwill.

Last time, when he clearly had the chance to kill Director Yu Wen Tao, he gave it up and let Director Yu Wen Tao take a message, only asking that the Jingxian Camp maintain non-aggression with Great Xia;

Three nights ago, he also had the chance to use cold beasts to kill He Meng and the others, and he gave that up too, only taking away the other side's three pieces of prey. When He Meng and the others fled, he didn't cause them any trouble.

Clearly, both times, the other side did not appreciate it.

Not only did they not appreciate it, but from the behavior of He Meng bringing people directly to the south of Red Wood Ridge to kill, it could be seen that the Jingxian Camp didn't take Great Xia to heart at all, feeling from the bottom of their hearts that Great Xia was just a tiny existence to be toyed with at will.

Probing for the camp's location, were they planning to come to the door to kill next!

Xia Hong's pupils grew colder. Seeing the worry on the faces of the three, he knew what they were worried about. After pondering for a moment, his mind stirred.

"Roar..."

Suddenly, a low roar came from above.

Xia Chuan and the others looked up subconsciously. Seeing the things on the roof, they were startled, their expressions changed drastically, and they almost simultaneously drew the large blades at their waists.

Five sixty-to-seventy-meter-long Teng Dragons were actually coiled across the five large wooden beams on the roof. The five Teng Dragons, each in a different form, were opening their blood-red maws, staring fixedly at the three people below.

"Intermediate Teng Dragons, five of them, how could they appear in the wooden house!"

"Leader..."

Luo Yuan was the first to exclaim in horror. But after he finished that sentence, he noticed that the Teng Dragons above were motionless, and combined with Xia Hong's calm expression, his emotions immediately recovered, turning into surprise.

On the other side, Xia Chuan and Watching Yue Feng clearly reacted faster than him; their gazes had already shifted from the Teng Dragons to Xia Hong, their expressions extremely excited.

"Leader, is this... a Wooden Human Stake?"

As Xia Chuan asked, the five Teng Dragons on the wooden beams had already transformed one after another, returning to their original appearance.

Although the upgraded Wooden Human Stake was very different from the original, Xia Chuan and the others recognized it at a glance.

After all, the only thing in the entire camp that could transform into a cold beast was this.

"Five of them, five intermediate cold beasts, Leader, this..."

"With this, we don't have to be afraid. Even if Frigid-Resistant level experts come to the door, we have absolutely nothing to fear. Hahaha, no wonder, no wonder..."

Xia Chuan's laughter also influenced Luo Yuan and Watching Yue Feng, and both of them laughed too.

First of all, the strength of an intermediate cold beast was not weak; their impact force was easily one hundred thousand jin, and they had unique innate skills, cunning personalities, and a massive size.

If it weren't for the iron-tire bows and beast traps, combined with an overwhelming numerical advantage, Great Xia probably wouldn't have had the ability to hunt them until now.

A single intermediate cold beast certainly didn't count for much; after all, during the recent period, relying on their rich hunting experience and increasingly complete iron traps, they could hunt three Snow Manes every night.

But five at once, that was completely different!

Even a camp as strong as Jingxian wouldn't dare to deal with more than two intermediate cold beasts at once.

Not to mention, these were five intermediate cold beasts that obeyed orders one hundred percent, could cooperate with each other, and ignored all pain. It was no exaggeration to say that even if everyone in Great Xia added together, they couldn't hunt them successfully. "With these five Wooden Human Stakes, the safety of the camp is guaranteed. I reckon even if those two Frigid-Resistant level experts really make a move, they won't be able to do anything to us!"

Finally understanding where Xia Hong's confidence came from, the expressions of Xia Chuan and the others were no longer worried, but instead became firm.

"The safety of the camp can be guaranteed, and the torches are the second insurance. If Frigid-Resistant level experts really make a move, we won't be completely helpless. Since that's the case, there's no pressure to deal with that group of dog things under He Meng."

"Alright, go and prepare, it's about to be nightfall!"

Xia Hong signaled for everyone to withdraw, while he himself drew his ceremonial blade and began to adapt to the base strength he had gained after the last round of Skin-Membrane remolding.

Swish... swish... swish...

Every time the ceremonial blade swung, it emitted a violent sonic boom, and the airflow driven by the blade's light caused the campfire in the room to crackle loudly.

Along with the increasingly fast blade momentum, the coldness in Xia Hong's eyes grew thicker, and his surging fighting spirit climbed upward from his heart.

"If a Frigid-Resistant level expert really makes a move directly, that's fine too. I can just happen to see and learn, saving me from being on pins and needles here, and see exactly how much of a gap there is between me and them!"

Red Wood Ridge, deep in the middle section.

Crack...

【9+ Book Bar】

He Meng struck the neck of a Magic Sheep with his blade and immediately pulled back to a distance.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

As he ran away, a series of arrows flew from all directions. The Magic Sheep, already critically injured, couldn't last more than ten breaths before it collapsed completely.

More than twenty people walked out one after another from several large trees nearby.

After these people gathered around, they retrieved the iron arrows stuck in the Magic Sheep's back while speaking to He Meng, who was in the lead.

"The third one, hahaha, the harvest tonight is not bad!"

"There really are a lot of cold beasts in this Red Wood Ridge."

"The boss should have brought us here sooner."

"Such a good place, actually occupied by that Great Xia, what a waste!"

"If we had come to the south sooner, we wouldn't have had to work so hard before."

"Hahahaha..."

Hearing everyone's words, He Meng also laughed heartily and said: "Thanks to those idiots in Great Xia, I thought they would be tougher and come looking for trouble with us. Unexpectedly, we've been coming here for two days and haven't seen anyone, humph!"

He Gang sneered twice, shook his head, and said: "According to Lu He, it's at most a medium-sized camp. Going head-to-head with us is suicide. With eight dead, they probably accept reality now and are going to withdraw from Red Wood Ridge. Their strength is weak, but they know how to read the situation."

He Meng nodded slightly, looked around, and a trace of smugness appeared on his face.

When he came over two days ago, even though he only led the group to operate in the north, he was still very careful, worried that the Great Xia group would secretly trip him up.

After all, he had killed eight of them!

But for two consecutive days, no one from Great Xia was found in the north.

Tonight was the third day, and he directly led people south, entering the middle section of Red Wood Ridge, which was the location where they had chased the ten people from Great Xia last time.

From the periphery to the depths, they were surprised to find that not only was there no one, but there were no traces of human activity in recent days, and there was still a lot of wood and wheelbarrows left behind on the periphery.

Great Xia hadn't dared to come out for several days in a row!

Confirming this point, He Meng was in a great mood.

Combined with what these people said, thinking of the huge gap in strength between Great Xia and the Jingxian Camp, the smugness on He Meng's face grew even thicker.

"Xia Hong's own strength isn't strong either. When we met outside the Arrow Bamboo Forest for the first time, I observed the changes in his Qi muscles; his strength was only twenty thousand or so. The dozen or so Earth-Digging Realm experts below him are even worse.

Only that idiot Director Yu Wen Tao would be deceived by others and even advise the leader to maintain good-neighborly relations with Great Xia. Does such a weak camp deserve it!"

He Gang, on the side, nodded and said in a deep voice: "Just wanting to withdraw from Red Wood Ridge to settle things, they're thinking too beautifully. Lu He said that since Great Xia took over the Luo Ge Camp, their camp should be between the two high mountains on the east side. Next time we come, bring people and go find them directly!"

He Meng nodded in agreement first, then a trace of ruthlessness appeared on his face: "First kill that leader Xia Hong, and those pieces of trash beside him, then take the rest in to report to the leader."

The leader, He Yuanhun, attached great importance to the camp's population. Last time, he publicly gave the order to him and Director Yu Wen Tao, telling them that no matter what method they used, they had to incorporate all of Great Xia into the Jingxian Camp.

"This Great Xia camp, the members have fierce tempers and are unruly. I reckon if they're really taken in, there should be some trouble at the beginning!"

Hearing He Gang's words, He Meng touched his ear, a flash of anger appeared in his eyes, and he said ruthlessly: "How much trouble can there be? It's nothing more than killing a batch to intimidate them like before. No matter how unruly their tempers are, they will always be afraid of death!"

He Gang thought of something, nodded, and smiled: "That's true. This time we only killed eight, and it scared them. It shows their bones aren't that hard. When people die, they immediately know how to soften up and not come to Red Wood Ridge."

"Hahahaha..."

Hearing He Gang's words, the people around burst into laughter.

"If you ask me, this Great Xia isn't hard-boned, it's cheap-boned. They only get scared when people are killed."

"Right, right, right. Originally, we only hunted in the north. If they didn't come to find trouble, we could have lived in peace for a short time. Now it's better; there's this middle and south, this entire Red Wood Ridge will belong to our camp from now on!"

"Haha..."

Whoosh...

An archer on the outermost periphery of the east side was laughing wantonly, but after only laughing twice, it came to an abrupt end along with the sound of an arrow piercing the air.

Bang...

An iron arrow shot from the darkness behind passed straight through the back of the laughing man's head, then the arrowhead pierced out from between his eyebrows, carrying him flying forward for more than ten meters, pinning him dead to the trunk of a large tree more than twenty meters away.

"Careful, there are arrows!"

"Who is it!"

"Everyone, disperse quickly."

He Meng's expression changed in shock, and he quickly fled, not forgetting to shout for everyone to disperse.

The moment he saw the power of that iron arrow, he immediately realized that the person who fired this cold arrow had strength not inferior to his own.

The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, which is already fatal, not to mention that the one hiding in the dark might be someone stronger than himself.

"May I ask which camp's friend this is? He Meng of the Jingxian Camp. I don't know when I offended you, to use cold arrows to hurt people, how despicable!"

Whoosh...

Responding to He Meng was just an iron arrow with speed and power not much different from the previous one. He wanted to test it, gritted his teeth, gathered his strength, raised his blade, and tried to block it.

Clang...

The large blade collided with the iron arrow, sparking a fire. He Meng, who was running wildly, was shifted to the left by a meter or two.

He Meng looked down at his cracked web between his thumb and index finger, a flash of horror crossed his face, and he quickly shouted to the people around: "Form shields, you can't block this arrow!"

He Gang and the other twenty-plus people, hearing the sound, immediately took out a pale gold wooden board-like thing from their backs.

Then the twenty-plus people who were originally dispersed quickly gathered, forming five teams, averaging four to five people per group. They quickly pieced those things together to form a shield, held by the last person, and continued to flee.

Whoosh...

An iron arrow shot from behind again, the target clearly being the group that had run the farthest. Unfortunately, the other side had already raised their shields, and the iron arrow shot accurately onto the pale gold shield.

Bang...

After the iron arrow hit, although it didn't penetrate the shield, the powerful impact force knocked the person holding the shield flying backward, dragging the four people in front down with them, rolling four or five meters forward on the ground.

"How can it be so strong? Frigid-Resistant level, this must be a Frigid-Resistant level expert. Is it the Hive Camp, or someone from somewhere else? How could they find trouble with me!"

Not far away, He Meng, seeing this scene, felt his heart trembling uncontrollably.

He didn't know the specific strength of the person firing the arrows from behind, but an arrow fired from such a distance having enough impact to knock down five Earth-Digging Realm experts holding Lei Kui shields was already outrageous.

Not to mention, they were also knocked flying backward for four or five meters.

In any case, he couldn't do it no matter what.

"The ten-stone iron-tire bow, it seems it's no longer suitable for me!"

On a large tree behind, Xia Hong, who was chasing rapidly with the others, looked at the iron-tire bow in his hand and shook his head slightly.

The bow body was completely bent, and the specially thickened bowstring had also snapped.

Back and forth, he had only fired three arrows.

And Xia Chuan and the others around, looking at the bent bow body in his hand, were full of shock and horror, while a question simultaneously popped into their minds.

How many jin of strength does the leader have?

"Alright, you guys fire arrows to keep the others hanging on, don't let them out of sight. I'll solve them one by one!"

Xia Hong looked at the fleeing crowd in the distance, cold light shining in his eyes, gave an order to the others, dropped the iron-tire bow, drew the ceremonial blade at his waist, and suddenly increased his speed to rush over.

The retreat of the Jingxian Camp people also had a method.

He Meng and He Gang, the two strongest, were at the rear.

Xia Hong's primary target was naturally these two.

After Xia Chuan and the others received the order, they bypassed He Meng and He Gang in the middle and fired iron arrows one after another at the twenty-plus people fleeing in front.

With shields blocking, the iron arrows naturally couldn't hit those people, but Xia Chuan and the others only intended to interfere with their escape and were not in a hurry.

And He Meng and He Gang at the very rear, sensing someone approaching rapidly behind them, immediately tightened their minds.

"Frigid-Resistant level, how could a Frigid-Resistant level expert pop out? Killing people without saying a word, why, why, why..."

He Meng shouted in his heart, his expression panicked to the extreme.

He Gang, not far from him, also had an extremely nervous expression. When passing a large tree, because he had to go around, his escape speed slowed down.

Swish...

A sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air came to his ears. He Gang turned his head sharply, catching a glimpse of a blade light attacking from his back. Knowing there was no way to avoid it, he lowered his head sharply, raised his blade to his back to block, and his heart stopped for several breaths.

Clang...

The moment a thin, narrow long blade collided with his large blade, He Gang only felt a great mountain crashing into him. He couldn't even last half a breath before he was knocked flying backward like a kite with a broken string.

Bang... Crack... Crack...

"Pfft..."

He Gang, who was knocked flying backward for more than ten meters, had two crisp sounds of bone fracture coming from his back. His internal organs were hit too hard, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out directly.

Even injured like this, the look on his face was one of relief. He turned his head to look at He Meng behind him, his eyes filled with gratitude.

If it weren't for He Meng turning back to support him from behind and neutralizing part of the opponent's force, his back bone fracture wouldn't have been so light.

One hundred percent, he would have died!

"Nearly seventy thousand jin, it's Frigid-Resistant level, it really is a Frigid-Resistant level expert..."

Although blood kept spilling from his mouth, He Gang still forced himself to quickly remind his big brother He Meng how great the strength he had just felt was.

However, he glanced up and found that He Meng's expression was completely blank at this moment, his pupils full of disbelief.

"How... how... how is it possible!"

He Gang turned his head sharply, also wanting to see the appearance of the person behind.

Unfortunately, the other side didn't seem to intend to give him that chance.

Swish...

"Careful!"

A blade light suddenly slashed over. Although he already felt his big brother He Meng pulling him to dodge, the scent of death still crept into He Gang's nostrils.

Crack...

The sound of cartilage breaking rang out, and hot visceral blood splashed, instantly dyeing the snow on the ground black.

He Meng, who had dodged three meters away, looked at He Gang in his hands, who only had his upper body left, and his expression instantly went crazy.

"Stop running, come back and fight this dog bastard! Killing my brother, even if I don't want this life today, I'll bite a piece of meat off you, ah!"

Before He Meng even finished speaking, he dropped He Gang's corpse, raised his large blade, and rushed crazily toward Xia Hong.

And the twenty-plus people who were fleeing stopped one after another, turned around quickly, and also drew their blades to rush toward him.

The fierce reaction of He Meng's group did not exceed Xia Hong's expectations; after all, he had witnessed it once before, the madness of Director Yu Wen Tao's group when hunting.

Hunting was already like that, let alone a life-and-death struggle at this moment.

"Perfect, then solve it all together!"

I really don't have any filler, I just want to try my best to write every chapter well. The plot progression must be logical. I hope everyone can understand. I will accelerate the plot progression.

(End of chapter)