Chapter 18: Attempting the Hunt

Why can Dashi Camp be so certain that the Snowmane was picked up by Daxia as a leftover?

The reason is simple: the camps around Hongmu Ridge are all too weak.

The only camp capable of consistently hunting and obtaining cold-beast flesh is Luo Ge’s camp, which boasts five Digging-Level Qiangzhe .

All other camps, if they want cold-beast flesh, must either trade large quantities of wood, crystal fruits, or other scarce resources to Luo Ge’s camp—or rely on luck.

Luck, in plain terms, means picking up cold-beast corpses in the forest.

Cold-beasts prefer live prey; after defeating another cold-beast, they typically stop eating once the opponent dies, so if you happen upon one, you’re almost guaranteed a find.

But how often does such an opportunity arise?

Perhaps the depths of Hongmu Ridge hold many cold-beast corpses, but the problem is they dare not enter; on the periphery, picking up one or two a year counts as divine favor.

Moreover, after years as neighbors, all the small camps know exactly how strong Daxia truly is.

Generally, limited cold-beast meat is prioritized for the logging team members; only surplus is given to the younger generation.

So without doubt, that Snowmane was definitely picked up by Daxia as a leftover.

…………

Xia Hong was unaware of Dashi Camp’s resentment.

After driving them away that night and taking Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng to chop down one tree each, the camp entered a relatively peaceful phase of development.

With the three of them venturing out every night, the camp’s wood and crystal fruit reserves rose visibly.

Crystal fruits increased from 7,000 jin to 12,000 jin.

With the camp’s 154 people, at one jin per person per day, even if they never ventured out, these crystal fruits would last over two months.

Wood rose from 87 units to 210 units.

Food and heating were now secured.

Naturally, the camp’s vitality began to slowly recover.

Though the cave entrance was still sealed at night, at least they no longer starved or froze.

Yet while others rejoiced, Xia Hong knew clearly: the camp had merely returned to its pre-logging-team-tragedy state.

When Xia Ding was alive, the camp never lacked crystal fruits or wood.

For a small camp like Daxia, the scarcest resource was cold-beast meat.

Without cold-beast meat, they could not cultivate or grow stronger.

Maintaining the status quo would ultimately lead to either discovery by a cold-beast or attack by a Guiguai —another repeat of what happened before.

Moreover, crystal fruits were not inexhaustible; they had already harvested all fruits from the three Ice-Sweet trees, and the next harvest was unknown.

If the current stock ran out and the three trees had not yet fruited again, they would starve—and without crystal fruits as their sole food source, death by hunger was possible.

Of course, Hongmu Ridge held more than just those three Ice-Sweet trees.

Xia Hong believed the depths of the dense forest must contain larger, thicker Ice-Sweet trees bearing more fruit—but the problem was, he dared not enter.

So the crux remained: cold-beast meat.

The thirty jin of cold-beast meat from Yue Feng’s group had been used up.

All five had made great progress, but they were still far from breaking through Logging Level.

Xia Hong’s own hundred jin of cold-beast meat was also gone.

Though his strength had increased significantly, he was still far from Digging Level.

“If I can’t keep growing stronger, not only will the small firepit never upgrade, I won’t be able to unlock a single one of the other countless structures in the system.”

“I must find a way to hunt—even if it carries risk, it’s worth it!”

The camp system still had only one small firepit; upgrading it from Level 1 to Level 2 required 200 wood and 50 iron.

Wood was no longer lacking.

But resources like iron—without strength, even touching them was a fantasy.

“Chuan, Cheng, tonight when we go out, we’ll attempt to hunt!”

As night fell, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, preparing to leave, heard Xia Hong’s words and immediately widened their eyes in excitement.

In fact, during all previous outings, the two had already seen cold-beasts.

Of course, they were cold-beasts asleep on trees.

Previously, they had raised the idea of hunting cold-beasts multiple times, but Xia Hong had always refused, citing their overwhelming strength.

Now, Xia Hong himself had proposed attempting a hunt.

“Don’t get excited too soon—I told you before, cold-beasts are strong. This is only an attempt. As before, you must obey me completely outside. Daxia currently has only you two as Logging-Level fighters; I don’t want either of you hurt. Understood?”

They clearly sensed the seriousness in Xia Hong’s tone and nodded vigorously.

After instructing them, Xia Hong took two small torches from behind his back and gave one to each.

They took the torches, their eyes brightening, sensing something.

“Leader, you’re planning to use the torches to lure the cold-beasts into fighting each other, like before, and we’ll reap the benefits, right?”

Xia Hong had already explained the torches’ function to them.

Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng’s quick understanding was expected.

“Yes, so it’s only an attempt—purely based on luck!”

Xia Hong felt slightly frustrated; using the small torches to lure cold-beasts was a waste.

The torches’ function, like the small firepit, was to repel and damage Guiguai .

In simple terms, the small torches were high-tier items—evident from the cold-beasts’ obsession with them.

But Daxia Camp was currently too weak to even approach or dare confront Guiguai , so they could only use them to lure cold-beasts.

Moreover, luring just one cold-beast wouldn’t help.

They needed to lure two—and those two had to fight to the death.

Even then, one had to fall—or be critically wounded.

Only then could they possibly claim the prey.

This hunting method had too many strict conditions; efficiency was bound to be extremely low.

But it was the only method Xia Hong could currently conceive of.

A last resort!

As night fell, Xia Hong led the two swiftly toward Hongmu Ridge.

The area under Daxia Camp’s influence was only five to six hundred meters.

Over many days, Xia Hong and the others had mapped it thoroughly.

Overall, there weren’t many cold-beasts on the periphery; they had confirmed and personally witnessed only four.

Two Snowmanes, one Frost Wolf, and one creature resembling a mountain goat—Xia Hong didn’t recognize it, nor did he recall Xia Ding ever mentioning it.

“The goat’s strength is unknown; leave it alone for now. Based on previous observations, the Frost Wolf and Snowmane are roughly equal in strength—so our targets remain these two.”

After locating the trees where the Snowmane and Frost Wolf each resided, Xia Hong chose a spot between them, planted the torch, then had Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan dig snow pits fifty meters away.

As before, after lighting the torch, the three quickly scattered and hid in their respective pits, silently watching the torch.

Xia Hong was still nervous—conditions were different now.

Last time, the Snowmane was a juvenile, blind and severely wounded.

This time was different.

Previously, they’d observed that both the Snowmane and Frost Wolf on these trees were adults in full health—he had no idea how their fight would unfold.

In stark contrast, Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan weren’t nervous at all; their eyes visible above the snow were filled with excitement.

After all, this was their first time seeing a cold-beast.

Though their thoughts differed, time still passed.

The torch’s effect lived up to Xia Hong’s expectations.

Barely two minutes after lighting it.

From the west came a heavy, muffled sound of hooves.

Thud… thud… thud…

(End of Chapter)