Chapter 178

On the north bank of the Xinghe, the air is filled with a large amount of frost fog.

Perhaps because it is too close to the river, the temperature here is even lower than in other places, which can be seen from the depth of the snow on the ground and the thickness of the ice crystals on the outer layer of the trees.

"Second Sister, the cold air from the Xinghe seems to have accelerated its spread toward the cliff recently. Is the cold wave period coming again?"

Beside a large tree on the north bank, a young boy wearing a blue beast-hide coat and holding an iron axe looks at the frozen river to the south. Finding that the cold fog in the air is spreading toward his side, he quickly raises his head to ask.

Above the tree, a young girl, also wearing a blue beast-hide coat, is looking into the distance, her direction clearly the same as the boy's.

Unlike the boy, besides the stone axe in her hand, the girl also carries a set of bow and arrows on her back. Her long hair is tied into a ponytail with a hairpin ground from frostwolf bone, and she wears a pair of blue beast-hide boots on her feet. Although her skin is as rough as the boy's, her eyes flash with a nimble spirit.

Xiao Yu was already frowning, but upon hearing her younger brother Xiao Heng's question, her brows lock even tighter. She jumps down from the tree and walks directly to her brother's side, twisting his ear:

"You're fifteen years old this year, at least. As the son of the leader, you can't even remember the days of the cold wave period. I think you're asking for a beating!"

There were only fifteen people who went out tonight, so why are sixteen returning?

At a glance...

"Leader Xiao, to tell you the truth, Xia Chuan's trip to the north bank of the Xinghe to search is, firstly, to expand the territory for our Great Xia, and secondly, to save more humans struggling to survive in the Frozen Abyss and bring them into our Great Xia camp to live a better life."

"So strong? Is he even more powerful than Father?"

Although from the moment he saw Xia Chuan's appearance, Xiao Kangcheng had already guessed that he wouldn't be too old, at most a few years older than his daughter, but when he heard Xia Chuan say he had just turned seventeen, a deep shock still flashed across his face, and stormy waves rose in his heart, so much so that he forgot to answer.

…………

After all, it is night, and there are several bonfires lit in the outer space. There are adults busy and children playing. Seeing Xiao Kangcheng bring people back, they all salute and call out to them one after another. Some people notice the stranger, Xia Chuan, and look at him curiously.

The Double Dragon Valley is right here! Under the leadership of my brother Xia Hong, Great Xia has a population of barely five thousand, but it is full of talent, and the territory occupied is already over three hundred square kilometers.

Where on earth did this Xia Chuan pop out from?

After walking fifty meters inside, there is a cast-iron gate embedded in the stone crack of the mountain wall, which is clearly the most solid defense of the station.

"This Lord Xia Chuan is truly amazing!"

Tonight, Xiao Kangcheng led a team out to hunt, and it was originally going very smoothly. They first hit a thorn wolf and originally wanted to return directly, but unexpectedly encountered another lone thorn wolf.

Not mentioning the shock in the hearts of Xiao Yu and Xiao Heng, in the front row, the moment he saw the five adjacent small hills from afar, Xia Chuan immediately knew that his destination had arrived.

Hearing that the eldest sister almost had an accident, Xiao Yu and Xiao Heng's faces showed lingering fear, but they soon realized that Xia Chuan should be appearing in the story, so they quickly asked Xiao Yuan, but before they could finish, Xiao Yuan nodded and spoke.

Every time the hunting team can return safely, it is good news for them.

…………

Hearing the eldest daughter's address to Xia Chuan, Xiao Kangcheng's face also clearly showed some surprise. He turned his head to look at the two standing together, and a bright light rose in his eyes. Without waiting for Xia Chuan to respond, he said directly: "Lord Xia Chuan, this place is not far from our station. Come back with me first, let me fulfill the duties of a host, how about it?"

Upon asking, the two finally understood.

Xiao Kangcheng's face showed a smile, and after Xiao Yu and Xiao Heng packed up, he led everyone back toward the hills to the north.

More importantly, cold beast resources are scarce on the north bank, and the only one they can usually find and successfully hunt is the thorn wolf.

A snow mane rushed over.

The five small hills, although the height of the main peak is only over two hundred meters, the width below is unusually astonishing, just like a palm spread flat on the ground with five thumbs raised.

"Not only three pieces of prey, but there is also one more person!"

"No need to be formal. I didn't expect that besides Miss Xiao Ning, Leader Xiao's other two children are also so excellent. Earth-Digging Realm, your noble son, seems to be about to break through to the Earth-Digging Realm, right?"

As soon as Xiao Kangcheng asked, the others became interested, including the three siblings Xiao Ning, Xiao Yu, and Xiao Heng, as well as other members of the hunting team, all turning their heads to stare at Xia Chuan, waiting for him to speak with expectation.

Compared to his younger brother Xiao Heng, Xiao Yu's insight is clearly superior. She noticed at a glance that there were sixteen people approaching them from the south.

People from the Five Liu Liu Yuan Shan side! Sure enough, in this area, there is not only the Xiao River family, but also other camps.

It is mainly because his three children are indeed excellent. Looking at the Five Liu Liu Yuan Shan area, one really can't find many who are stronger than his three children.

Not only Xiao Kangcheng, but the three siblings Xiao Ning, Xiao Yu, and Xiao Heng, including all members of the Xiao River camp hunting team, had their originally kind expressions change immediately.

Xia Chuan's series of accounts made everyone instantly fascinated.

This is also why he addressed Xia Chuan as "Lord" all the way.

Although the siblings were suspicious, when they saw the two people at the very front of the crowd, their expressions relaxed immediately.

"Leader Xiao is so kind, how could I refuse!"

Xiao Heng exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly turned his head to look south.

That hat was actually made from the finest fluff of a frostwolf's head.

The cold wave is coming, and they have been hunting frequently recently just to hoard as many supplies as possible. They naturally don't want to miss such a good opportunity.

"Stinky brat!"

Fortunately, the Xiao River camp's strength in Five Liu Liu Yuan Shan is quite good, and there is enough time for his younger brother to grow up.

Xiao Heng rubbed his ears and grinned: "Hunting is indeed necessary, but there is no need to hoard wood. We have a coal mine, and the cold wave is very easy to..."

Before Xiao Kangcheng could speak, Xiao Ning on the side scolded Xiao Yu.

"Lord Xia Chuan, we are here, please!"

Hearing their father's address to the young man, the two had a slight change in expression. Realizing something, they hurried to Xia Chuan to prepare to salute.

It was mainly because she discovered that while she was observing, that person was also looking at her with a smile.

The gate opened, and Xia Chuan followed Xiao Kangcheng inside, which was when he truly saw the core area of the station.

"Father's basic strength is already 19,000, and he can't kill a low-level cold beast with one knife. He looks about the same age as Eldest Sister, how is it possible?"

The two had only been cutting for a while when a whistle suddenly came from the south of the forest.

Xiao Yu pouted immediately. She was not afraid of her father Xiao Kangcheng, but only feared her eldest sister Xiao Ning. Being scolded like this because of an outsider, she naturally felt unhappy in her heart.

Hearing Xiao Yuan's account, Xiao Yu and Xiao Heng turned their eyes to the snow mane on his back. Seeing that the snow mane was normal, but there was a neat, long, thin wound on its neck, they realized that what Xiao Yuan said was all true, and their hearts were filled with horror and shock.

That hat was clearly blue, and one could tell at a glance that it was also made of thorn wolf fluff, but not only was the color deeper than theirs, the texture looked infinitely better than the clothes they were wearing.

Seeing the surprise on Xia Chuan's face, Xiao Kangcheng grinned.

Xiao Yu looked down at her beast-hide clothes, saw the fine fluff on the outer layer, and compared it with that person's hat, immediately reacting.

"This iron gate should only be about fifty thousand jin."

The siblings knew very well what the situation was every time their hunting team went out. Being able to bring back one piece of prey was already worth celebrating; don't even think about two, and three had never happened before.

Watching Xiao Yu gradually getting angry, Xiao Heng shrank his neck and immediately raised his stone axe to start cutting trees, changing the subject: "Second Sister, don't, don't, let's hurry up and cut trees. Let's try to bring back three tonight."

Just from the knife Xia Chuan used to kill the snow mane in the dense forest, Xiao Kangcheng could be certain that his strength was definitely stronger than his own.

The eastern outskirts of Seeing Hong Mu Ridge and the entire arrow bamboo forest to the north are now hunting grounds for our Great Xia. Beast hides, beast meat, beast blood, iron ore, coal mines, spiritual medicines, and rare treasures are all available..."

"Dad, what are you dazing for? Big Brother Xia Chuan is talking to you!"

Seeing his younger brother begging for mercy, Xiao Yu gave another hard twist before letting go, saying unhappily: "If it weren't for the cold wave coming, why would Dad make us work so hard to cut trees recently? He himself takes Eldest Sister and the hunting team out almost every night. You really don't care about the camp's affairs at all!"

The population of the Xiao River camp should be over a thousand, with about twenty people in the Earth-Digging Realm, which is about the same as the previous Luo Ge camp, belonging to a medium-sized camp with slightly stronger strength.

At the first sight of that hat, the siblings couldn't take their eyes off it.

It was night, and before the crowd approached the mountain wall, a cave with firelight already came into view.

The black cloak that person was wearing was clearly made of the finest fluff of a snow mane's hide, and the material was sufficient, almost wrapping him from head to toe; the black snow mane hide boots he wore on his feet were also the same; only the blue beast-fluff hat he wore on his head was different.

There was a space over fifty meters long outside the cave, filled with wood and coal. Looking at the style of these supplies, it was clearly intended for both storage and defense.

Only Xiao Kangcheng frowned more and more as he listened, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Xia Chuan gradually carried a trace of scrutiny and suspicion.

And after calling their father Xiao Kangcheng and Eldest Sister Xiao Ning, the siblings' gazes turned to the side of the eldest sister, revealing a trace of curiosity.

The people in the hunting team were about the same age as Xiao Kangcheng, and were considered elders of the three siblings Xiao Ning, Xiao Yu, and Xiao Heng, so their address to the siblings was very intimate.

"Hiss... pain, pain, pain. Second Sister, spare my life. I remember now, once a year. The last time was twelve months ago, the cold wave is coming." In the Great Xia camp, there are many people with higher talent than him. Big Brother Xia Hong doesn't need to be mentioned. Just Director Yu Wen Tao alone, as far as he knows, started reshaping his skin-membrane at fifteen. These people were shocked to hear he was seventeen; if they saw Director Yu Wen Tao, that would be something else.

Five Liu Liu Yuan Shan should be the five mounds seen outside just now.

Behind the iron gate was a giant space about two hundred meters square and over ten meters high, with over twenty small wooden bungalows inside, and people moving in and out.

But as he walked into the cave, Xia Chuan's thoughts changed immediately.

"Lord Xia Chuan, I haven't introduced them yet. This is my second daughter Xiao Yu, and that is my son Xiao Heng. Yu'er, Heng'er, hurry up and salute Lord Xia Chuan!"

Fortunately, ignorance is ignorance, but Xiao Heng never caused any trouble for the camp, and he was clear about right and wrong.

"The leader spoke, abandoning that dying thorn wolf and letting everyone retreat directly. Unexpectedly, that snow mane targeted us. Ning'er, in order to relieve us, rushed up to confront that snow mane and almost died!"

This made her feel embarrassed, but also felt that the other party was a bit rude, so she quickly recovered her composure and glared back at that person fiercely.

After Xia Chuan finished this last paragraph.

Thus, Xiao Daocheng led the hunting team to take action.

His younger brother is kind-hearted, a good person, and talented, but he is just a bit ignorant and usually doesn't care about the camp's affairs at all.

Xia Chuan secretly said to himself, a bright light rising in his eyes, and soon followed Xiao Kangcheng toward the hill on the far left.

Clearly, this was the core space of the Xiao River camp.

"Nephew Xia Chuan, you shouldn't be from our Five Liu Liu Yuan Shan side, right?"

Just from a rough look, Xia Chuan had a rough idea in his heart.

Looking down at that person's face again, Xiao Yu's cheeks flushed slightly.

Looking at the cave under the mound mountain wall, a trace of memory flashed in Xia Chuan's eyes. This station was really too similar to the previous earth slope of Great Xia.

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Heng was frightened into silence by Xiao Yu's eyes.

"The hunting team is back, there are three pieces of prey, wow!"

Xiao Yu also stopped cutting trees, a smile appearing on her face.

Same age as her eldest daughter!

"This should be the location Big Brother mentioned. Sure enough, it's true. There is indeed a human camp here, and, possibly quite a few..."

Hearing Xia Chuan say such a large human camp, Xiao Kangcheng shook his head gently. He could hear the politeness in the other party's tone, so he simply said directly: "Nephew is over-praising. Although I don't know the population of Great Xia, just from the strength you showed, the outfit you are wearing, and your weapons, I can roughly guess that it must be much stronger than our Xiao River camp. If you don't mind, I hope you can tell me directly, so that our group can broaden our horizons, how about it?"

Xiao Yu and her brother, whose curiosity was piqued, naturally wouldn't wait until they returned to the camp, and found someone in the hunting team halfway to ask about the situation.

It was not that the siblings were sensitive, but mainly because among the sixteen people approaching, fifteen were wearing the same blue beast-hide clothes as them, while the one standing side by side with their father and eldest sister was wearing a black cloak.

Beep...

The Xiao River camp's station is under the main peak of the thumb.

Seeing his younger brother's quirky look, Xiao Yu couldn't help but tease him, but didn't say anything more, accompanying him to cut trees.

Xiao Kangcheng was so shocked that he forgot himself and didn't speak for a long time, until he was awakened by Xiao Ning's angry shout from the side.

Younger brother Xiao Heng was the first to notice the approaching crowd, carrying three huge cold beasts on their backs, front and back. In front were two thorn wolves, and behind... was actually a snow mane.

From the attire and bearing, it is not difficult to infer that this Xia Chuan should come from a large or even giant camp with much stronger strength than Xiao River.

"Hiss... three pieces of prey?"

"And then, Second Uncle, Eldest Sister almost died, is this Xia Chuan..."

But just as they were about to successfully hunt the thorn wolf, an accident happened.

Xiao Ning was different. A trace of shyness appeared on her face, and she said: "Big Brother Xia Chuan, don't say that anymore. If you hadn't taken action just now, I might have lost my life. Compared to you, what kind of excellence can we count as."

Cold beast resources on the north bank are extremely scarce. Thorn wolves are one of the more common ones. Because they are common, they have hunted them the most, and they are naturally handy when besieging them together. But snow manes are different. Snow manes are not as fast as thorn wolves, but their strength is much stronger than thorn wolves, and because they had not hunted snow manes before, they only learned some characteristics from other camps and had no actual hunting experience.

Sure enough!

The reason for Xiao Yu's blushing was, of course, not because the other party was good-looking.

Xiao Yuan sighed first, then held up a finger and said: "Just one knife, I didn't even see how he appeared. He jumped down from the tree and ended that snow mane with one knife. The long tongue, feigning death, and other tricks that snow manes usually use were not used at all. I estimate that this snow mane didn't even see Lord Xia Chuan clearly before it died."

But there is no way, after all, he is the youngest in the family, spoiled by his father, mother, eldest sister, and himself, so he developed such a personality.

At the very front of the crowd was a middle-aged man and a young girl slightly older than them. Seeing the two, Xiao Yu and her brother showed deep admiration in their eyes and walked up quickly: "Father, Eldest Sister!"

Xiao Kangcheng led everyone all the way to the deepest part, into a house made entirely of Jin Lin wood.

Really seventeen? He wouldn't be lying to me, would he?

And as the figures on the south side gradually emerged, finding that the number of people was not one less, the smiles on the siblings' faces became even richer.

"Talk is easy, can you mine coal? The camp's monthly output is only that much, and we still have to use it to trade for iron and other supplies. We must be frugal. If you were as wasteful as you, our camp would have been unable to survive long ago..."

However, Xia Chuan didn't wait for the two to bow down, and helped them both up.

"Yu'er, don't be rude!"

His eldest daughter Xiao Ning had just turned seventeen and broke through to the Earth-Digging Realm. Xiao Kangcheng knew very well that this qualification was absolutely one of the best in all the camps around Five Liu Liu Yuan Shan, so he had always been proud of his eldest daughter.

Xiao Daocheng never expected that Xia Chuan would be so young.

"The leader is back."

From this, it can be seen that the younger brother's ignorance is only temporary. As he participates more in camp affairs in the future, he will naturally become more mature.

"Good, Yu'er, Heng'er, pack up, let's go back."

"Father, Eldest Sister."

"Father and Eldest Sister are back!"

The Xiao River camp's station, only the cave entrance is like Great Xia's earth slope, the interior is completely different, and it is much stronger than Great Xia's earth slope, not just a little bit.

That person had a delicate appearance, handsome eyebrows, and looked about the same age as the eldest sister. He carried a thin, narrow long knife on his left waist and a piece of iron token hanging on his right waist, with the two characters "Yun Jiao" written on it. His graceful posture made him somewhat out of place with the fifteen people around him.

Just turned seventeen?

Xia Chuan didn't hide anything either, directly taking out a beast-hide map from his body and unfolding it for Xiao Kangcheng and the others to see, while his brows slowly revealed a trace of pride: "Since Leader Xiao asked, I won't hide it either.

Xia Chuan nodded slightly. He saw the shock on Xiao Kangcheng's and others' faces when they heard his age, and couldn't help but chuckle in his heart.

Being praised for his children, he, as a father, naturally felt comfortable.

Having dealt with iron ore a lot, Xia Chuan could basically judge the weight based on the volume of the iron gate. From this not-so-large iron gate and the weapons used by Xiao Kangcheng and others, it is clear that this camp is very short of iron resources. Coal resources cannot be seen to be lacking, but judging by the amount stored outside, it is not rich either.

Xia Chuan followed all the way to the main hall. After being invited by Xiao Daocheng to sit down, seeing that he wanted to speak, he immediately preempted him, speaking with a trace of humility: "Leader Xiao, don't call me Lord anymore. I just turned seventeen this year, and you are more than enough to be my elder. If you don't mind, let's address each other as uncle and nephew, how about it?"

Xia Chuan's expression brightened slightly, and he didn't hide it, directly taking off the token from his waist and handing it to Xiao Kangcheng, saying loudly: "Leader Xiao has eyes like torches. Xia Chuan comes from the Great Xia camp in Double Dragon Valley, about ten kilometers away from Five Liu Liu Yuan Shan. This time, I brought a small team here to hunt. If it weren't for the coincidence of running into Leader Xiao's group, I wouldn't have known that there was such a large human camp here."

Xiao Yu and Xiao Heng on the side, upon hearing this, seemed to smell something like prey, and a deep sense of gossip instantly rose in their eyes.

The room was full of wooden utensils, and there was a small stove inside, burning coal. Beside the stove, several people were shirtless, forging iron tools.

"Sister Ning is back."

For example, things like going out to cut wood, parents, eldest sister, and himself all didn't want him to do it, but he insisted on it, saying something like as the leader's son, he should lead by example.

Prey like snow manes, if they hadn't used coal to trade with other camps before, the siblings wouldn't even recognize them.

"It really feels like living to a dog's age. Okay, since Little Brother Xia Chuan is so reasonable, then I will take the liberty to call you nephew. I dare not call myself uncle, just call me Leader Xiao."

Vigilance, precaution, scrutiny, suspicion.

Seeing these emotions on everyone's faces, Xia Chuan's expression froze slightly.

This is not what he expected!

What's going on?

(End of chapter)