Chapter 163: It

Second-floor corridor.

A frost wolf had its four limbs bound by white threads, its body flipped upside down, belly upward, desperately thrashing to roll over.

Pfft…………

A great blade slashed in from the side, cleaving the frost wolf's belly clean in two; emerald-green blood exploded outward, its intestines and organs spilling across the floor.

After killing the enemy with one stroke, Xia Chuan's bulging tendons gradually subsided; he pulled his blade free and immediately turned to look toward the northern corridor.

Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Zou Yuankai, and over ten others were divided into three groups, each facing a frost wolf; all three groups handled their foes with ease, and on Yue Feng's side, the frost wolf had already been cornered, on the verge of being slain.

"Yue Feng, take your men to block the hole—I'll handle this frost wolf!"

Xia Chuan sprinted forward, slashing his blade horizontally at the frost wolf, taking over the battlefield while bellowing orders to Yue Feng and the others.

"My lord, we can't block it—over a dozen have already climbed up!"

As Yue Feng prepared to lead his men toward the end of the corridor, Xu Ning's warning voice rang out from nearby.

Xia Chuan swept the frost wolf aside with his blade and turned his head—his heart froze.

The first two frost wolves to climb up had already been killed by him and the others; the four they were now fighting were the second wave.

Four frost wolves against a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators? More than enough.

But the problem was, these four frost wolves had caused them to miss the optimal moment to seal the hole.

Dozens of frost wolves had already surged into the corridor.

At the hole at the corridor's end, more frost wolves kept crawling in.

The instant their heads poked in, their eyes locked onto the third-floor furnace, pupils brimming with excitement and madness.

"Roar…………"

The frost wolves still half-in were already this frenzied; how much more so those already inside—and this one fighting me right now?

Swish… swish… swish…………

If Xu Ning and his men hadn't been frantically firing arrows to suppress them, the frost wolves would have already stormed into the main hall.

The second-floor main hall was where all the women and children of the camp were huddled.

"Take all the children to the third floor!"

Having finally slain the frost wolf in his hands, Xia Chuan pulled his blade free, wiped green blood across his face, and turned to shout toward the center of the main hall.

"Yes, my lord!"

Lin Wan, Shi Lu, and the other women responsible for the children immediately sprang into action.

"Children, hurry upstairs, quickly… quickly…"

"Yes!"

In the Ice Abyss world, average lifespans in weak camps were barely over forty—no elders existed, and Xia was no exception.

Of Xia's 1088 souls, excluding the sixty-seven Foundation Establishment cultivators and five hundred-odd Woodcutting Realm cultivators, the remaining four hundred or so children were all under fifteen.

Even among those under fifteen, there were distinctions: older children had already begun cultivation; even if they hadn't broken through to Foundation Establishment, most possessed strength of three to four thousand jin, while the youngest were still infants, carried in arms.

Given such a massive incursion of cold beasts, these children, who had never left the camp, should have been terrified—but in truth, aside from the occasional cries of a few infants, not a single child made a sound.

Older children even helped carry infants; even five- or six-year-olds merely clenched their lips, silently following the line up the stairs in perfect order, requiring no effort from Lin Wan or Shi Lu.

They certainly felt fear when seeing the snarling cold beasts; some, like Luo An and Zou Ping, whose fathers were fighting the beasts on the second floor, bore not only fear but worry for their fathers; women holding infants also thought of their husbands…

Though their eyes held countless emotions, they knew they could do nothing to help—so their only choice was to obey Xia Chuan and the others without causing chaos.

Thus, no matter how terrified or panicked they felt, they bit their lips tight, refusing to make a sound, afraid of distracting those fighting the cold beasts.

"My lord, there are more and more cold beasts in the wooden house—many must have slipped into the partitions; they're all rushing toward the furnace. We can't hold them back with just our numbers—if we don't extinguish the fire now, it'll be too late! I've already built a regular bonfire on the third floor with wood—the temperature isn't an issue!"

Xia Chuan was blocking a frost wolf charging toward the main hall on the northern corridor when he heard Shi Ping's shout from the staircase entrance—his eyes flickered with inner conflict.

Shi Ping's voice was loud; every Foundation Establishment cultivator holding the four corridors on the second floor turned to look at Xia Chuan.

Seeing the struggle on Xia Chuan's face, the others looked puzzled.

Boom!

At that moment, a room beside the second-floor main hall suddenly burst open from within—out flew the corpse of a demon goat, its head already torn apart.

Many froze, staring at the room.

"Roar…………"

Slowly emerging from the room was a nine-meter-long golden-armored Lei Kui; everyone who saw it recoiled in shock.

Then, a few noticed the Lei Kui's eyes—and suddenly remembered something; their terror vanished, replaced by hope.

"This is a mid-level Lei Kui conjured by the wooden training post—it's the leader's wooden post! Hahaha! We're saved! We're saved!"

Yuan Cheng's words instantly cleared the confusion for those who hadn't understood.

Remembering the five wooden training posts in the practice yard, every Foundation Establishment cultivator—including those still climbing to the third floor—suddenly wore expressions of hope.

"No wonder—no wonder no cold beasts broke out of the partitions all this time! Those were the five wooden posts conjuring beasts to fight them!"

Luo Yuan finally understood—the sounds of cold beasts entering the partitions had lasted a long time, yet none had broken through the walls; this was why.

But as soon as he realized this, his face darkened.

Not just him—Shi Ping, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and the entire hunting team's faces turned grim.

They all understood why Xia Chuan hadn't extinguished the iron-smelting furnace's fire.

Of all the camp's structures, they seventeen knew best.

The wooden training posts could only be activated within the iron-smelting furnace's radiation range.

"It's not just the wooden posts—it'll play right into the Mirror Immortal Camp's hands if we put out the fire!"

Luo Yuan locked eyes with Xia Chuan across the distance—and instantly grasped the even graver implication.

This cold beast surge was almost certainly orchestrated by the strange entity behind the Mirror Immortal Camp.

Their entire plan had been to make us extinguish the fire!

Boom…………

While everyone was stunned, a thunderous crash came from below.

Yuan Cheng, closest to the window, quickly leaned out to look down—his pupils shrank, and he shouted back at Xia Chuan:

"Chuan, it's a mid-level frost wolf—a mid-level frost wolf's here!"

No reminder from Yuan Cheng was needed; Xia Chuan and the others were already backed into the main hall by the cold beasts flooding the four corridors.

The wooden house's second floor had been breached by so many cold beasts that all four walls were riddled with holes; the outside was easily visible.

To the north: a frost wolf; to the south: a demon goat; to the west: a snow-maned beast; behind the eastern valley: a Teng Jiao.

Just as the earlier wave of cold beasts had attacked the wooden house from four directions, these four mid-level beasts now slammed violently against the walls.

Boom… boom… boom…

"Chuan, look at their eyes!"

"I've seen them."

Yuan Cheng's warning was redundant.

Not just Xia Chuan—every Foundation Establishment cultivator on the second floor had noticed the beasts' eyes the moment they appeared.

Unlike the low-level cold beasts whose eyes burned crimson, these four mid-level beasts had eyes of silver-white fluid, like mirrors; even from dozens of meters away, one could see their own reflection within.

"All other low-level beasts are normal—the Mirror Immortal Camp must be controlling these four mid-level beasts to orchestrate this surge!"

Xia Chuan's expression grew darker; the unnatural eyes of the four mid-level beasts confirmed his suspicions.

"The Mirror Immortal Camp is waiting for nightfall!"

Looking up at the wooden house's exterior, Xia Chuan saw the sky had turned utterly dark—his mind flashed this thought, and a cold sweat broke across his back.

"Bang…………"

The eastern wall of the wooden house cracked again; the mid-level Teng Jiao had driven its head—and over ten meters of its body—through the wall, twisting and tearing the structure further.

"Don't let go, not a single inch!"

"My lord, low-level cold beasts have broken in!"

"There's a Teng Jiao here—send help!"

"Aaah…………"

………………

Hearing the faint sounds from below, Xia Chuan's expression changed.

The wooden house had held this long only because five hundred Woodcutting Realm cultivators downstairs were holding it together with sheer will—but with the four mid-level beasts now engaged, they had clearly reached their limit.

Xia Chuan knew: if they delayed any longer and the first floor collapsed, it wouldn't be just one or two deaths—it would be total ruin.

Xia Chuan swung his blade faster, forcibly driving away the frost wolf before him, then shouted to Luo Yuan and the others: "Luo Yuan, hold the main hall—don't let any cold beasts reach the upper floors. Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and you ten—come with me downstairs!"

"Got it! We'll hold the stairs—even if we die, they won't get past here!"

Luo Yuan roared, leading the others to seal the staircase entrance.

The wooden post's conjured Lei Kui moved to his side, helping fend off the low-level cold beasts charging the stairs.

"Did this wooden post come to help me on its own—or…"

Watching the wooden post's movements, Luo Yuan's eyes lit up; after a moment's thought, he looked sharply toward the third floor—his expression filled with sudden excitement.

…………

Meanwhile, Xia Chuan led Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and ten others down to the first floor—and his heart lurched at the sight.

He'd thought the second floor's walls were riddled with holes—but compared to the first floor, they were pristine.

The first floor's four walls were nearly all open to the outside.

If not for the iron chains forged two days prior, binding the wooden structure together, and the four hundred-plus men under Mu Dong holding fast, the house would have collapsed long ago. This was only the main hall section; the western main entrance also had over a hundred men straining against the door chains—the double doors had been shoved open by a meter or two, with the snow-maned beast's tusks and the demon goat's horns already thrust inside.

Not even mentioning the main entrance—the wooden walls beside it were now shattered; the heads of several snow-maned beasts and demon goats had poked through, their bodies still straining to force their way in.

"Yuan Cheng, take five men to help them defend the main gate. Yue Feng, you six come with me to assist Mudong—move!"

Under Xia Chuan's command, the twelve men swiftly split into two teams.

Yuan Cheng led his five men, wielding great swords, charging toward the main gate. They slashed out the Snowmane and Demon Sheep impaled in the door, then, once the gate closed again, furiously chopped at the heads of Frost Beasts that had squeezed in from either side.

The hundred-plus men holding the main gate's chains immediately felt their burden lighten.

On the other side, Xia Chuan's reinforcement had little effect.

In the center of the main hall, though four hundred men pulled, the four iron chains they held connected to the entire wooden house's structural joints, bearing impact forces many times greater than those faced by the hundred-odd men at the main gate.

Moreover, the western side was blocked by a heavy iron gate, and since the wooden house's structure hadn't fully collapsed, almost no Frost Beasts had breached inside—but the same could not be said for the eastern, northern, and southern sides.

The interior rooms of the house were empty; once the Frost Beasts entered, their sole targets became the four hundred-plus men in the main hall. By the time Xia Chuan and the others descended, three or four Frost Beasts had already begun feasting—this was the source of the screams Xia Chuan had heard upstairs.

Swoosh…………

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Before Xu Ning even reached them, he fired an arrow at a Tengjiao that had a man in its jaws. The iron arrow struck with astonishing force, piercing the Tengjiao's pupil and pinning its skull to the ground.

Puchiiii…………

Xia Chuan arrived, slashed off the Tengjiao's head, then, with Yue Feng, began driving back the Frost Beasts from the other directions.

"My lord, we can't hold much longer!"

Mu Dong's face was flushed red; blood from the iron chains chafing his chest had soaked his shirt. Though he told Xia Chuan they couldn't hold, his hands still gripped the chain ends with all his strength, not a single inch loosened.

The other four hundred Felling Realm cultivators, though silent, all cast glances—intentional or not—toward Xia Chuan.

Clearly, Mu Dong's words echoed their own inner thoughts.

Tonight's Frost Beast tide numbered at least five hundred.

The wooden walls, iron spikes, Tengjiao venom skins and sacs, and the arrows fired from the third floor earlier had indeed eliminated many—but altogether, fewer than a hundred, barely one-fifth of the entire tide.

Nearly four hundred Frost Beasts charging simultaneously, plus four additional mid-tier Frost Beasts—yet the wooden house had held this long without collapsing. The five hundred-plus Felling Realm cultivators on the first floor had earned every bit of that credit.

Even knowing the five hundred men below had reached their limit, Xia Chuan slashed through the Snowmane before him, clenched his teeth, and growled:

"Hold on a little longer! The four mid-tier Frost Beasts are already being held by wooden stakes transformed into Frost Beasts. As long as the house stands, and we hold back these low-tier beasts, we still have a chance!"

Though Frost Beasts had breached the second floor, their numbers were small; Luo Yuan and the others could hold them off for a while without issue.

But if the first floor fell completely and the house collapsed, it would be over!

"It's only minutes until full darkness. Once night falls, these Frost Beasts lose strength. Hold on a little longer!"

They had to hold.

But what exactly were they holding for?

"Lord Xia, where is the leader? Is he outside, fighting even stronger Frost Beasts?"

One of the Felling Realm cultivators gripping the chains suddenly shouted out.

At his words, every eye turned toward Xia Chuan—including Mu Dong's.

Since nightfall, over an hour had passed.

Only minutes remained until full darkness.

Yet Leader Xia Hong had not shown his face once.

The house was small. Xia Chuan could hear the commotion downstairs from the second floor; the men downstairs could hear the sounds above just as clearly.

They had heard no voice from Xia Hong since the beginning.

In such a dire moment, how could the leader not appear?

Had his breakthrough reached this point?

The house was half-destroyed—and still Xia Hong remained sealed in seclusion?

That made no sense whatsoever.

A terrifying suspicion began to surface in some minds.

Their gazes toward Xia Chuan slowly turned hopeless.

Especially as Xia Chuan remained silent—this despair swelled, spreading through the crowd.

"Great Xia has come this far. You know better than I who our leader is. Don't let your thoughts run wild. If he hasn't appeared, it means the time isn't right. Do what you must. Whether we live or die rests on you. If you don't trust our leader, don't trust Brother—"

An hour of taut nerves had made Xia Chuan irritable. Reading their thoughts in their eyes, his fury surged. After speaking those words, he slashed back the Frost Wolf before him, then turned and roared at the crowd behind:

"Let go now! Run for your lives!"

At his words, everyone froze. Images of Xia Hong's past deeds flashed in their minds: the Frost Beast meat, the wooden puppets, the Rodent Swarms, the Mirror Immortal Camp…

"The leader isn't that kind of man. He wouldn't abandon us to flee."

"That's right. Whoever dares distrust the leader, I'll be the first to kill him."

"We're this far already—let go now? The leader might be mere breaths away from breakthrough! Hold on, brothers! If we hold until he emerges, we live!"

………………

Trust in Xia Hong ultimately prevailed.

With shouts and roars, the crowd's fading morale surged again. The four iron chains, for a moment, pulled inward slightly.

Boom… boom… CRASH…………

Several tremors shook the wooden house. Xia Chuan looked up to the corners and saw four Thunder Kui, conjured from wooden stakes, each facing one Frost Beast outside.

The wooden stakes took the form of Thunder Kui because their overall strength was greatest.

Logically, even a true mid-tier Thunder Kui, facing any one of the four mid-tier Frost Beasts—Tengjiao, Snowmane, Demon Sheep, Frost Wolf—would not be at a disadvantage.

And these conjured Thunder Kui felt no pain.

Under these conditions, the four conjured Thunder Kui should at least have held the upper hand—even if they couldn't kill the four mid-tier Frost Beasts outside.

But the reality was, the four Thunder Kui were locked in a stalemate with the four Frost Beasts—neither side gaining advantage.

On the east side, a Thunder Kui slammed into the Tengjiao, crushing its chest cavity.

Yet the Tengjiao acted as if nothing had happened, rearing up on its hind legs, its mirror-like pupils glinting with frost, then lunging again at the Thunder Kui.

The same held true on the west side with the Snowmane, the south with the Demon Sheep, and the north with the Frost Wolf.

These four mid-tier Frost Beasts weren't just fearless of pain—they were fearless of death. Or rather, they seemed unable to feel their wounds at all.

Especially when Xia Chuan saw the Snowmane on the west side, its front limb shattered by a Thunder Kui blow, rise again as if untouched after only four or five breaths—he froze, pupils contracting.

Fearless of death? Just like those Mirror Immortal Camp people!

No—it wasn't just fearlessness. These four Frost Beasts could ignore injuries entirely.

Boom…………

Though the four mid-tier Frost Beasts were held by the conjured Thunder Kui, the heavy iron gate on the west side finally collapsed under the relentless onslaught of two or three hundred Snowmane and Demon Sheep.

"Yuan Cheng, pull back your men—now!"

"Everyone, listen to me. When I count to three, release the chains together."

At the instant the gate collapsed, Xia Chuan looked up at the sky and shouted twice in quick succession.

The first shout was for Yuan Cheng and the hundred-plus men at the gate;

the second was for Mu Dong and the four hundred-plus men in the main hall.

"One—"

Xia Chuan began counting immediately.

As the gate collapsed, Yuan Cheng and his men retreated. Outside the western entrance, a sea of Snowmane and Demon Sheep surged in like a flood.

"Two—"

By the time he reached "two," the beast horde was less than a hundred meters away.

"Three!"

The moment he said "three," Mu Dong released his grip first. Then the four hundred-plus men, though slightly staggered, all let go within half a breath—nearly simultaneous.

Clang… clang… clang…………

Without the men's force holding them, the iron chains snapped back instantly to their original positions at the house's critical joints. So fast, they dragged four long lines of fire across the ground.

Boom…………

With the reinforcing iron removed, the Frost Beasts' impacts took immediate effect. The four walls of the wooden house began their first collapse.

Now, not only did the Snowmane and Demon Sheep pour in through the western gate, but the Tengjiao from the east and the Frost Wolves from the north and south all surged through the crumbling walls into the first floor.

The sheer violence of the flood of Frost Beasts entering was best understood by Xia Chuan and the others, who could barely stand in the center of the hall.

Fear crawled over every face. As they stared at the beasts charging from all four directions, some, overcome with despair, simply shut their eyes.

Yet just as the house collapsed at its center—precisely where the Frost Beasts had closed to within a hundred meters of the crowd—

CLANG…………

The fully reset iron chains suddenly seemed to catch on something.

Half the outer shell of the house had collapsed, revealing forty-meter-long walls of green bamboo fencing blocking the Frost Beasts' path.

The bamboo fences were arranged in diagonal crisscross patterns, each surface covered with sharp, dense thorns over twenty centimeters long. As the Frost Beasts lunged forward, the thorns shot out like rain.

Shiiii… shiiii… shiiii…………

Puchiiii…………

The thorns' power was terrifying.

Watching the Frost Beasts fall one after another beyond the bamboo, Xia Chuan, Yue Feng, and the others saw their despair vanish instantly.

Only Xia Chuan looked up at the fully darkened sky, fists clenched tightly beneath his sleeves.

"It's dark. That damned horde should be here now!"

(End of Chapter)