Chapter 155: Mirror Immortal

Red Wood Ridge remained in its eternal, frosty state.

The giant trees looked as if they were cast from icicles, and the patches of ground between them were like carpets of white velvet. The moonlight filtering through the branches was absorbed by the accumulated snow, leaving not a trace.

The surroundings were deathly silent; the occasional noise brought by the wind and snow was exceptionally distinct.

"You five, why do your clothes look a bit thicker than the others?"

Xia Hong, walking at the front of the team, looked back at Xu Ning and Lin Kai, who were clearly a size larger than the rest. He then swept his gaze over the group and discovered that Qiu Peng, Zhu Shun, and Zou Yuankai were the same, so he asked out of curiosity.

The members of the hunting team all revealed smiles upon hearing this.

The five who had been named, however, all looked a bit embarrassed.

"Leader, the five of them are wearing something underneath!"

Seeing Xia Hong looking at him, Xu Ning directly took off his outer coat.

Beneath his black cloak, it wasn't an inner lining, but a thick, double-sided, pale gold leather armor.

"This is... Lei Kui skin?"

Xia Hong stepped forward to touch it and immediately recognized the material of the leather armor. He then turned to look at the chests of Lin Kai and the other three, immediately understanding why they all wore embarrassed expressions.

"Didn't I tell Big Brother last time? Mu Dong used Lei Kui skin to make five sets of leather armor. We've all tested them; this armor can block most arrows shot by Earth-Digging Realm cultivators. Since they were just sitting there, we decided to let these five wear them. Of course, they have to pay rent!"

As soon as Xia Chuan spoke, the others couldn't help but chuckle.

Lin Kai couldn't help but say, "I said that this armor should be worn by you guys. We five were the last to break through, and our strength isn't good enough..."

"Hahaha, it's precisely because your strength isn't good enough that we gave them to you!"

…………

The five who broke through last, Xu Ning and the others, were receiving special care.

The embarrassment of Lin Kai and the others wasn't because they felt humiliated; it was clearly because they felt their strength was insufficient and they weren't worthy of using such good items, believing the armor should be used by those with greater strength.

Seeing the five being teased by everyone, Xia Hong couldn't help but chuckle twice, his eyes revealing a deep look of approval.

Unity isn't just something you talk about; worshipping the strong is nothing, but caring for the weak is what truly reflects the cohesion of a camp.

Lin Kai, Xu Ning, and Qiu Peng were originally from Great Xia; Zou Yuankai was originally from Luo Ge; Zhu Shun was originally from Huang Zhao.

The hunting team was exactly a microcosm of the camp.

From this behavior of theirs, it could be seen that after more than half a year, everyone within Great Xia had completed a thorough integration.

"By the way, aren't there still twenty-five pieces of Lei Kui head armor?"

Recalling the harvest from killing He Meng's group earlier, Xia Hong asked again.

Xia Chuan replied, "Those skulls were taken by Mu Dong for research. Since He Meng's group carried them on their bodies and it took five people to form one shield, we found it troublesome and didn't bring them."

That makes sense!

Although the defensive power of that head armor was strong, they were all small pieces, making them truly inconvenient to carry. Moreover, wanting to quickly assemble them into a shield like He Meng and the others did would certainly require spending a lot of time practicing coordination.

Hopefully, Mu Dong's research can bring some surprises!

Unknowingly, Xia Hong had led the group to the northernmost edge of Red Wood Ridge.

After only a brief patrol of the outer perimeter, Xia Hong's expression immediately darkened.

The others followed him, observing along the way, and their expressions became the same as his.

"The number of low-level cold beasts is not right!"

"There are also quite a few activity traces on the snow."

"Are the people from the Mirror Immortal camp still continuing to come over?"

"Most likely. Besides them, there's no one else."

…………

Sure enough, the Mirror Immortal camp had treated his words as wind past their ears.

Being slighted like this, Xia Hong was naturally somewhat annoyed.

But compared to his anger, he was more confused at this moment!

Judging by their behavior of continuing to invade Red Wood Ridge, the Mirror Immortal camp clearly hadn't taken his warning to heart, or to put it more bluntly, they still didn't view the Great Xia camp as a threat.

Since that was the case, why didn't they come to the door to take direct revenge?

After such a large group of people like He Meng's died, the other side hadn't come for revenge for six consecutive days, only continuing to come to Red Wood Ridge as if no one else was around.

This behavior seemed strange no matter how you looked at it!

For the previous six days, the people of Great Xia had indeed not gone out, but the Great Xia settlement had always been over by the valley; if they wanted revenge, it was entirely possible.

It was impossible that they couldn't find the Great Xia settlement.

Not to mention the two Frost-Resistant Realm experts and hundreds of Earth-Digging Realm cultivators, even just wandering around the outer perimeter of Red Wood Ridge would make it very easy to find.

Not to mention that Lu He, the leader of the Lu Shang camp, had previously been to the valley, and now their entire camp had been merged into Mirror Immortal.

Xia Hong could almost be certain that the Mirror Immortal camp definitely knew the location of the Great Xia settlement.

In that case, it was even stranger!

Not just Xia Hong, but Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the others were also furrowing their brows, clearly thinking the same thing, unable to fathom the motives of the Mirror Immortal camp.

"Could it be that they intend to swallow the fact that He Meng and the others were killed, using this as a reason to force us to completely cede this northern piece of land to them?"

As soon as Luo Yuan spoke, the others fell into deep thought.

Come to think of it, that actually made some sense.

But soon, Xia Chuan negated this speculation.

"No reason. If they really intended that, they could have entirely sent people over to negotiate with us. Now, continuing to invade Red Wood Ridge without a word doesn't look like a stance of wanting to compromise with us..."

After saying this, Xia Chuan looked back at Xia Hong and continued:

"Moreover, with the overall strength of the Mirror Immortal camp, is there any need for them to make such a compromise?"

This sentence caused everyone to fall silent.

Two Frost-Resistant Realm experts and hundreds of Earth-Digging Realm cultivators—judging by the style the Mirror Immortal camp had previously displayed, directly bringing everyone to the door to start a war with Great Xia was the most reasonable course of action.

But now, why was it like this?

Unlike the others, as soon as Luo Yuan voiced his speculation, Xia Hong immediately knew it was impossible. The problem was, he couldn't explain why the Mirror Immortal camp was acting this way either.

Why didn't the Mirror Immortal camp come directly to the door?

Could it be that they already knew about the Green Bamboo Fence, the Marking Stone, and the Wooden Dummy?

That was impossible. Xia Hong immediately shook his head; he had only just pointed out the first two buildings, and the Wooden Dummy had never appeared in front of others.

The other side couldn't possibly know.

*Whoosh*…………

A sound of wind suddenly came from beside his ear. Xia Hong's brow twitched violently, and he quickly drew his blade and turned, slashing behind Luo Yuan.

*Clang*…………

"Run! Disperse and run!"

It was an iron arrow shot rapidly from the direction of the eastern outer perimeter. The moment he slashed down that iron arrow, Xia Hong's expression changed drastically, and he roared at the crowd.

The sudden change was too abrupt; Luo Yuan didn't even have a chance to look back. Hearing only the sound of the iron arrow falling and Xia Hong's roar, he immediately realized a major situation had occurred and hurriedly fled frantically toward the south with Xia Chuan and the other seventeen people.

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

Soon, everyone knew why Xia Hong had roared.

Not just from the east; from the west—that is, the depths of Red Wood Ridge—from the north, and even from the south where they were fleeing—that is, the front—from all directions, countless sharp arrows were suddenly shot.

*Pfft*... *pfft*…………

The sound of five or six arrows piercing flesh rang out. Of the seventeen people who hadn't had time to disperse, four immediately fell behind.

Zhao Bao was shot in the left leg; Li Yun was shot in the chest; Li Pingkai's waist was directly pierced; Ying Xuan was the most miserable—an arrow pierced in from his left cheek and came out the right, blood immediately covering his entire face, a terrifying sight.

The four who were hit, worried about affecting the others' escape, only gritted their teeth and let out a muffled groan, stubbornly refusing to make any further sound.

"Keep running! Don't stop!"

Xia Hong hung behind the group, signaling the four to keep fleeing while rapidly waving the ceremonial blade in his hand.

While slashing down countless iron arrows, he also took advantage of the gaps to observe the situation around him.

At this look, his heart instantly turned cold.

East, south, west, north—centered on his seventeen people, from all four directions, at a distance of about a hundred meters, there were hundreds of people in total, rapidly approaching while shooting arrows.

"We've been ambushed!"

"How did they know we came out tonight?"

"Was this prepared long ago?"

"No, no, it doesn't look like it. There are the most people on the east side, and fewer on the west side; it looks like they just rushed over from the Arrow Bamboo Forest."

"They have been sending people to monitor the valley all along!"

………………

In a flash of lightning, countless thoughts flashed through Xia Hong's mind, but his hand movements didn't dare to stop for a second.

*Pfft*…………

Just as he slashed down three or four iron arrows shot toward Zhao Bao's heart, a sound of rapid flight reached Xia Hong's ear. His brow jumped violently, and he directly pushed Zhao Bao away and swept his blade horizontally.

*Whoosh*…………

The speed of that iron arrow far exceeded his expectations. It wasn't swept down by the ceremonial blade but rapidly passed through the blade screen, shooting straight toward his left eye.

At the critical moment, Xia Hong couldn't even tilt his head. In desperation, he could only close his left eye.

*Ssh*...

The skin was pierced by the sharp arrow. A massive force was transmitted to his face. Xia Hong's head moved frantically backward to reduce the impact of the iron arrow.

It felt like a long time had passed, and yet it felt like an instant. A warm current slid down from the corner of his eye. Xia Hong opened his left eye and pulled out the iron arrow stuck in his eyelid. Although there was relief on his face, his heart was full of chill.

Just half an inch away... no, it should be said that if it weren't for the fact that his skin-membrane progress had surged significantly in the last few days, his left eye would definitely not have been saved from this arrow.

Not just his left eye, he might have even lost his life!

*Pfft*...

The sound of several sharp arrows piercing flesh came. Xia Hong suddenly raised his head to look forward, and a blood-red color instantly rose in his eyes.

Just as he retreated, without him there to block those arrows, Xia Chuan and the others who were fleeing south immediately ran into trouble.

It was still the four who had been shot in the first wave.

Zhao Bao, whose left foot had been pierced, was the slowest and fell to the very back. He was hit by two more arrows in the chest and shoulder, and his speed became even slower than before.

Then there was Li Pingkai; the blood from the wound at his waist had already flowed down to his leg, and three new arrows had been added to his back. His breathing had become chaotic to the extreme, and his fleeing movements had begun to stagger.

Li Yun, who was shot in the chest, was the same. If it weren't for Ying Xuan supporting him, he probably wouldn't even have the strength to run.

But the problem was, Ying Xuan's cheek had also been pierced, and his own eyes had a blurry look; he was clearly reaching his limit.

In such a moment of fleeing for one's life, as long as a wound appears on the body, especially one that affects movement, one is basically not far from death.

And it wasn't just the four of them; the thirteen people in front, including Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, although their fleeing speed wasn't slow, all had one or two arrows stuck in them to varying degrees, and their movements were constantly deforming; they were clearly also injured.

=9+Book_Bar

The most fatal thing was that the arrows shot from all directions showed absolutely no sign of stopping. Not only that, the large wave of at least two or three hundred people on the east side was approaching rapidly, and it looked like they were less than fifty meters away.

"They intend to wipe us all out!"

Xia Hong looked back at the hundreds of people on the east side; the distance of fifty meters was enough for him to see the appearance of those people clearly.

Seeing that the leader was Yu Wenhu, the murderous intent in Xia Hong's eyes had already risen to the extreme, but he forcibly held it back. He raised his long blade, transformed into a gale, and directly swept past Xia Chuan and the others, rushing to their front.

"Watch out for the arrows coming from behind! Keep dispersing and run south!"

Seeing Xia Hong's movements, Xia Chuan and the others immediately understood his intention and continued to pull apart the distance horizontally, but the direction of their flight remained south.

In less than ten breaths, Xia Hong had already swept across a distance of dozens of meters and rushed to a large tree where arrows were flying from the south.

The ceremonial blade turned into a gale. Xia Hong didn't think at all. His peripheral vision swept to the direction of the tree trunk from which the arrows were flying. He leaped up and slashed violently.

*Pfft*…………

A person dressed in black holding a giant bow didn't even let out a scream before his body was slashed in two by him and fell directly from the tree.

"Disperse and run first..."

The moment the first person lost his life, the several people from the Mirror Immortal camp hiding in ambush on the south side immediately realized how strong Xia Hong was. After one person shouted, more than ten people immediately leaped down from the large trees and fled in all directions.

"Want to run? All of you die for me!"

How could Xia Hong let them have their way? Although coming to the south side was mainly to let Xia Chuan and the others break through, if he could slaughter a few more Earth-Digging Realm cultivators from the Mirror Immortal camp, that would naturally be even better.

His body was like lightning. Almost instantly, he caught up to the nearest person. The moment his right hand slashed with the ceremonial blade, his left hand took the double-edged giant axe from his back, tilted his head slightly toward another person, and threw it violently.

*Crack*... *bang*...

While the ceremonial blade killed one person, the thrown giant axe also directly smashed another into the snow. Bright red blood instantly stained the ground. Two lives were lost in an instant.

*Whoosh*…………

Tilting his head to see that two of the seventeen people in the hunting team behind had already fallen, Xia Hong felt impatient, and the murderous intent in his eyes grew even stronger. He threw his ceremonial blade straight at the third person.

The 1.7-meter-long, slender ceremonial blade, like a sharp spear, directly pierced through that person's heart. In less than ten breaths, three Earth-Digging Realm cultivators from the Mirror Immortal camp had already died at his hands.

The specific deployment of the Mirror Immortal camp's ambush was unknown. There were the fewest people on the south side, totaling only a dozen or so. Xia Hong had torn open the gap here in just the short while he had come over.

And coincidentally, Xia Chuan and the others behind also rushed over in time.

"Keep fleeing! Don't worry about me!"

Hearing Xia Hong's words, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan revealed a hint of hesitation, but meeting Xia Hong's unquestionable gaze, they gritted their teeth and left.

"Can't let them escape! Brothers, drag them down! When the Second Leader brings people here, they will all die!"

Surprisingly, the nine people who had just fled on the south side, seeing the hunting team pass through the encirclement, actually rushed back without fear of death.

Looking at the nine people approaching, murderous intent was stern in Xia Hong's eyes.

Just now, it wasn't that he couldn't catch up to these nine people; it was only because he was afraid that the hunting team's casualties would continue to expand that he stopped to block arrows for Xia Chuan and the others.

These nine people actually came up again without fear of death, their goal only to drag them down.

"Not afraid of death? If you're not afraid of death, then I'll send you to your deaths!"

Xia Hong hadn't intended to flee in the first place. Throwing the ceremonial blade, he rushed empty-handed toward the one closest to Xia Chuan and the others among the nine.

That person was middle-aged. Seeing Xia Hong rush over, a look of fear flashed in his pupils subconsciously, but the fear disappeared quickly, turning into ferocity and mania.

He dropped his long bow and raised his blade to slash violently at Xia Hong.

"More than twenty thousand jin!"

Xia Hong had no mind to admire the opponent's fearless fighting spirit at this moment. After sensing his strength from this person's Qi and muscles, he didn't even make a dodging movement and directly kicked diagonally at the large blade the person was slashing with.

*Pfft*...

The large blade clashed with Xia Hong's leg. The violent force caused the person's web between thumb and forefinger to burst directly, and that wasn't all—the large blade returned straight along the path it had slashed.

The difference was that the force of the large blade's return was greater and the speed faster.

The back of that person's blade wasn't sharpened and was about two or three inches thick.

But even so, the back of the blade still split his face and slashed directly into his skull.

"The fourth!"

After killing this person, Xia Hong directly changed targets, rushed to the position where the ceremonial blade had just been thrown, blasted another person to death with a punch, pulled out the ceremonial blade, and rushed toward the remaining seven.

Although these twelve people on the south side were brave, wanting to drag down the hunting team in Xia Hong's hands was no different from a pipe dream.

The ones lying on the ground should be Li Yun and Li Pingkai.

Xia Hong turned to look at the two corpses on the east side, identified the identities of the two, and the murderous intent in his heart grew even stronger, especially seeing that Xia Chuan and the others had successfully run out of the encirclement from the south side. Realizing that he had no burden at all, his body movements became faster.

*Ssh*…………

Those seven people probably knew they couldn't contend with Xia Hong and were actually still trying to pursue Xia Chuan and the others in front. Xia Hong didn't care about the arrows shot from behind and only focused on slaughtering these seven people.

In less than five or six breaths, three of the seven who were lagging behind were killed by him.

*Whoosh*…………

Just as he was rushing toward the fourth person, another sound of rapid flight entered his ears. Xia Hong's brow jumped violently. This time, he didn't resist hard and chose to twist his body to dodge.

*Pfft*...

Watching the iron arrow pass through the tree, a look of shock first flashed in Xia Hong's eyes, and then he looked back at Yu Wenhu, who was less than twenty meters behind him holding a powerful bow, his eyes full of chill.

At the same time, behind Yu Wenhu, two or three hundred people approached one after another, slowly forming an encirclement, surrounding Xia Hong in the very center.

"It really is the turn of the tide! Leader Xia Hong, this time, you have fallen!"

Xia Hong didn't speak, only staring at the giant bow in Yu Wenhu's hand—to be precise, staring at the white bowstring of that giant bow.

Seeing that the bowstring was also made of white silk threads twisted together, but several times thicker than the bowstrings captured from He Meng and the others last time, Xia Hong's expression moved slightly.

Although so many arrows had been shot at him just now, Xia Hong only took three arrows to heart: the first one shot at Luo Yuan, the second one shot at his left eye, and the third one that forced him to dodge at the end.

These three arrows were clearly shot by Yu Wenhu.

Not to mention the first and last ones, just the middle one—the one that could pierce his skin-membrane—must have had a force of over one *zong*.

The toughness of that white silk thread after being thickened was actually this high!

"Leader Xia Hong, He Meng killed eight of your people earlier, and you killed twenty-five of their group; tonight I led people to encircle you, and both sides have casualties. From the perspective of numbers, Great Xia still earned it. You tell me, am I right?"

Seeing Xia Hong not opening his mouth, Yu Wenhu continued, this time with a bit of sincerity in his tone.

Upon hearing this tone, Xia Hong could roughly guess what he was going to say. He didn't answer his question, only raised his head and asked in a flat tone:

"What do you want to say?"

Yu Wenhu took a step forward and said in a deep voice: "You and I are both human, both struggling to survive in the Frozen Abyss. Why bother fighting to the death? Strange monsters and cold beasts are our true enemies. Brother Xia Hong, you tell me, am I right?"

Next, it was time to get to the point!

Xia Hong raised his head without a word, continuing to wait for Yu Wenhu to speak.

"As long as Brother Xia Hong is willing to lead Great Xia to merge, my Mirror Immortal camp will definitely welcome you with open arms. I am willing to offer the position of the third chair. How about it?"

At this moment, a young man also walked out from behind Yu Wenhu.

"Brother Xia, my Mirror Immortal camp has a population of over ten thousand and hundreds of Earth-Digging Realm cultivators. You saw it today, and we have the great leader He Yuanhun, who is a man of great talent and strategy. He is also a person who cherishes talent. He said that as long as you are willing to lead Great Xia in, everything that happened before can be let bygones be bygones. If you have any other requirements, you can also bring them up."

Looking at the young man behind Yu Wenhu, a gloomy look appeared on Xia Hong's face, and he said in a deep voice: "It seems that I shouldn't have let you go back then!"

That young man was naturally Yu Wentao, whom he had met once before and whom Xia Hong had let go.

Hearing Xia Hong's words, the expressions of the Director Yu Wen father and son changed in unison.

Clearly, the things they had said before were all in vain.

"If you had said these things when we first made contact, although I might not necessarily have agreed, at least I would have seriously considered it. Now..."

Xia Hong didn't finish his sentence, but when his gaze turned to the corpses of Li Yun and Li Pingkai behind the crowd, the coldness on his face was very obvious.

"Leader Xia Hong, if you really calculate it, the Mirror Immortal camp has died more people in these three conflicts than your Great Xia. Why must you..."

"Yu Wenhu, what did you say about me in your first sentence just now..."

Further talk was useless. Xia Hong directly interrupted Yu Wenhu. After Yu Wenhu's expression froze, he asked rhetorically, continuing: "I have fallen?"

Xia Hong held the ceremonial blade, raised his head to look at Yu Wenhu, swept his gaze around the people of the Mirror Immortal camp, and said in a deep voice:

"Who exactly has fallen? It's still too early to say.

You can count today's ambush as having some results.

But afterward, you Mirror Immortal camp will be in trouble..."

After saying the last word, Xia Hong's figure leaped violently, the ceremonial blade pulling out a cold light in the night sky, rushing straight toward Yu Wenhu in the very center.

Surrounded by two or three hundred people, Xia Hong was not only not afraid, but actually rushed toward his side first!

No matter how good Yu Wenhu's temper was, he couldn't hold his face anymore.

"So stubborn and unyielding? Then kill him!"

Everyone around immediately drew their large blades, surrounding Xia Hong in three layers inside and three layers outside.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 156 =====