Chapter 180

The first year of Great Xia, the first day of the fourth month, late at night.

Inside the valley, the construction of the new wooden building was still in full swing.

Although only ten days had passed, the three-story outline of the new wooden building had already begun to take shape, and the focus of the people's construction had shifted from the outer walls to the interior.

Unlike the original, the outer walls of the new wooden building used a large amount of iron, and some key parts were even thickened and reinforced. Just by looking at it, one could judge that the defensive capability of the new building was certainly several times higher than the original one.

At the entrance of the valley, a group of several hundred people was walking in one after another.

Everyone in this group wore animal skin skirts; a small number of them even had tattered skirts, and some children were simply wrapped in a single piece of animal skin. It was clear they had traveled a long way, their lips blue from the cold.

After entering the valley and looking around at everything, they all stopped in their tracks simultaneously, their faces filled with amazement and excitement:

"We've arrived. This valley is the settlement of our Great Xia."

"It's so warm. I don't see any bonfires, so why is the temperature so high?"

"They must be burning coal; look at that white smoke."

"So much wood! The wood is almost piled up on both sides of this valley!"

"What wood? Look at the ground over there; it's all iron and coal."

"Hiss... look over there, that's cold beast meat. And so many animal skins, there must be thousands of them, right? Are they just left on the ground like that?"

"These two wooden houses are so big!"

"It's not just these two outside; look inside, there are three more. That one under construction, are they using so much iron for the outer wall?"

"Hiss... it's not just the outer walls; they used a lot of iron inside too."

"Are those stones laid out on the ground all coal?"

………………

The wooden building was still under construction, and both temporary wooden houses were needed for living, so all the supplies recently acquired by the camp—whether wood, coal, iron, beast meat, beast blood, or animal skins—were basically piled up on both sides of the valley.

The supplies gathered from ten days of mining and hunting were naturally commonplace to the people of Great Xia, but to others, it was a different story.

Zeng Fan, standing at the very front of the crowd, looked at everything in the valley with disbelief in his eyes. He couldn't help but pinch himself, fearing he was dreaming and hadn't woken up yet.

Confirming that everything he saw was real, his face immediately revealed wild joy and excitement, and he almost couldn't help but cry out.

"It's true! That Lord Shi Ping really didn't lie to me, he didn't lie to us!"

Three days ago, when he heard that Lord Shi Ping's flowery speech, he hadn't believed a word of it in his heart, thinking that no matter how strong this Great Xia was, it couldn't be better than the Three Tigers Camp.

Having lived in Mount Wuyuan for many years, the shadow of the Three Tigers Camp made it impossible for Zeng Fan to imagine a camp stronger than them.

Taking the risk to agree to bring over three hundred people to join Great Xia was actually a helpless move for Zeng Fan.

Their Zengping Camp was located at the Four Apes Peak, very close to the Three Tigers Camp.

In recent years, as the atrocities of the Three Tigers Camp were exposed, many small camps stopped being deceived, but their lives became harder day by day.

The reason was that previously, the Three Tigers Camp had hidden things and used deception and bribery, but now they didn't even bother to pretend and were directly searching everywhere. Any small camp they found met a miserable end.

With the cold wave approaching, the Three Tigers Camp likely needed slave labor and bait, so the frequency of their searches in the vicinity had become higher and higher, and the risks of going out to cut wood had also increased.

Especially twice when their settlement location was almost discovered, Zeng Fan had been incredibly nervous and terrified.

He had heard plenty of situations from others and knew that once discovered by the Three Tigers Camp, the fate of his group would be absolutely miserable.

Zeng Fan had considered finding a medium-sized camp in Mount Wuyuan to join, but he knew the two medium-sized camps at Four Apes Peak had neither the ability nor the willingness to take in their three hundred-plus people.

And beyond Four Apes Peak, he couldn't travel any further, let alone find other camps to accept his group. Even if he risked finding a third medium-sized camp, he estimated the result would be the same as the two nearby.

At this critical juncture, the appearance of Shi Ping was his last straw. Even if he didn't believe Shi Ping's description of the Great Xia camp and even harbored suspicion toward him, he had no other choice but to take the gamble.

Three days ago, after hesitating for a long time, he agreed to Shi Ping, promising to return and notify the camp people to pack their things, and that three days later at nightfall, everyone would follow Shi Ping to migrate to Great Xia.

In fact, last night before nightfall, when he saw Shi Ping bring nearly thirty fully armed men to escort their migration, his heart had already wavered.

Just from their aura, he could tell that the nearly thirty people Shi Ping brought were all at the Earth-Digging Realm, not to mention the exquisite clothes they wore and the various iron weapons they carried—things Zeng Fan had never even seen in all his years living in Mount Wuyuan.

Even if this Great Xia camp wasn't as strong as the Three Tigers Camp, it probably wouldn't be much worse, was Zeng Fan's thought before setting off last night.

At this moment, truly stepping into the Great Xia valley and seeing everything before him, he realized how ridiculously wrong his previous thoughts had been.

Not to mention anything else, the mountains of wood, coal, iron ore, cold beast meat, and various cold beast materials piled on both sides of the valley, as well as that large barrel of red blood he couldn't understand, were enough to prove that the strength of Great Xia was far beyond what the Three Tigers Camp could compare to.

Just the wooden building under construction in the middle of the valley, based on the iron visible to the naked eye, was estimated to be hundreds of thousands of jin.

Hundreds of thousands of jin!

How many weapons could be forged with that?

And they were just using it to build a house?

No, there were two more buildings behind that wooden building, and a steady stream of iron was being moved out of the one on the right and sent to the wooden building.

He even saw batches of weapons being moved out from inside.

What was even more outrageous was that after the man moved the weapons out, he threw them directly onto a wooden board on the south side of the valley.

And on that wooden board, hundreds of broadswords and bows and arrows were already laid out.

"Leader, the clothes, did you see? The people in this Great Xia camp almost all wear full sets of clothes, even those..."

Hearing the words of the person beside him, Zeng Fan looked in the direction of his gaze. His pupils shrank, and his expression instantly became as stiff as the other man's.

"Luo An, it's your turn to be the cold beast; I'm the captain today."

"Okay, I'm starting, Awoo..."

"Xiao Ping, get the rope quickly, everyone else follow me, kill..."

………………

A group of twenty or thirty children, looking only three or four years old, were playing with wooden sticks and wooden swords on the south side of the valley, clearly playing some kind of hunting game.

What left Zeng Fan and the others dumbfounded was that every one of those children was wearing a full set of animal skin padded jackets, and those jackets even came in five colors: black, blue, brown, green, and white.

"Gulp..."

Zeng Fan swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The people who entered the valley with him also had somewhat dull eyes, clearly shocked to the core.

It was the younger children who didn't have so many thoughts, just looking at the clothes on Luo An and the group of children, their eyes filled with deep envy.

"Old Zeng, you're here too, hahahaha!"

Suddenly, a man moving wood from the south cliff seemed to have just discovered Zeng Fan, approached, and shouted with a face full of smiles.

Zeng Fan recovered from his trance, looked up to see the man clearly, and his expression froze.

"Old Kong, why are you here?"

Zeng Fan didn't know exactly how many other small camps were hidden around Four Apes Peak besides the two medium-sized ones, but he did know of two that were adjacent to their Zengping Camp.

Konghe Camp was one of them, and the Kong Ning before him was the leader of Konghe Camp. They had met before while cutting wood, and their relationship was quite good.

"Only you are allowed to come? Hehe, were you also brought by Lord Shi Ping?"

"Indeed."

Meeting an acquaintance in a strange camp made Zeng Fan's already good mood even better. He hurriedly pulled Kong Ning aside and began to inquire about the situation.

Seeing the situation in the valley, he could already be certain that Great Xia's strength was stronger than the Three Tigers Camp. The next step was to confirm whether the promises Shi Ping had made to him earlier were true.

And as the two talked, the expression on Zeng Fan's face became brighter and brighter, and his mood gradually became excited.

And just as they were talking, on the top floor of the wooden building, Meng Ao, Zhu Kang, and Hong Yu, who were working, also kept their eyes on this group of people.

Zhu Kang's expression shifted slightly: "This is the fourth batch, right? These are the people brought back by the Cloud Dragon Squad; it should count toward Shi Ping's credit."

Meng Ao nodded, cast his gaze toward Hong Yu, and asked in a low voice: "The two camps Uncle Hong brought back don't seem to have many people. Xiao Yu, do you know the exact number?"

Hearing their words, Hong Yu withdrew his gaze, his expression somewhat somber, and he nodded in reply: "The two camps that Brother Tao and Father brought back earlier only have 482 people combined. Luo Yuan's Tiger-Leopard Squad brought back Konghe Camp first, which has 329 people, and this one is visually estimated to have over three hundred. Shi Ping is currently in the lead."

Meng Ao and Zhu Kang heard this, and their expressions stalled slightly.

The camp was competing for the position of Director of the Reclamation Department, and the vast majority of those in the Woodcutting Realm certainly didn't know about it, but the three of them were, after all, the sons of the parties involved, so they understood it very clearly.

The three of them knew that the people currently competing on the surface appeared to be Hong Guang and Shi Ping, but in reality, it was the Department Head Xia Chuan and the Hunting Department Director Yu Wen Tao.

Theoretically, Shi Ping wasn't qualified to compete with Hong Guang; after all, he was just an ordinary member of the Cloud Dragon Squad, while Hong Guang was the captain of the Profound Martial Squad.

The problem was that Shi Ping had the backing of Department Head Xia Chuan. Recently, Xia Chuan had sent all seven hunting squads of Great Xia to the north bank, ostensibly to hunt, but who didn't know it was to pull more people for Shi Ping?

Of course, Hong Guang's side wasn't weak either. In addition to his own Profound Martial Squad, he also pulled in Yu Wen Tao to stand for him, along with the Dragon Martial, Divine Martial, Vibration Martial, Heroic Martial, and Majestic Martial squads—a total of six squads—almost all of which were dispatched, going to the north bank every night to find people.

The current situation was that the squads on Great Xia's side found camps and pulled in people, and the contribution points were taken by themselves, but the credit was recorded for Shi Ping; while Yu Wen Tao's side was the same, except the credit was recorded for Hong Guang.

Everything stemmed from the words of Leader Xia Hong earlier: One month later, whoever pulls more people for the camp will get the position of Director of the Reclamation Department.

"There are still twenty days left; no one can say for sure until the end. Although Shi Ping has more people, their strength has a gap compared to ours. I think Uncle Hong will definitely be able to get this position in the end. Xiao Yu, don't worry!"

Seeing Hong Yu looking worried, thinking he was worried that his father Hong Guang wouldn't get the position, Zhu Kang hurriedly spoke to comfort him.

Meng Ao also nodded and said: "My father also said that Department Head Xia's strength isn't as good as Brother Tao's. Among the sixty-seven Earth-Digging Realm experts helping Shi Ping, not one has reached the limit of thirty thousand jin, while we have six on our side. From the perspective of strength, Uncle Hong shouldn't lose."

Hearing their persuasion, Hong Yu shook his head, a trace of hesitation first appearing on his face, before he slowly said: "You misunderstood. I'm not worried about my father losing to Shi Ping; I just feel, is this Director position really that important?

Father has been running to the north bank every night recently, and even Second Uncle, Uncle Hong, and Uncle Zhu have been following him. Last night, they didn't even return to the camp. To be so laborious for a Director position, I think it's not worth it!"

Zhu and Meng heard this and fell silent, not speaking. Hong Guang competing for this Director position was, in the final analysis, to allow their group of later-arriving Mirror Immortals to have more say in Great Xia.

Theoretically, they should all support it.

But in reality, after staying in Great Xia for this period, the mentality of the three had changed slightly, so the two could understand why Hong Yu said this.

"All resources in Great Xia are distributed according to individual contribution, which in the end is linked to strength. The stronger the strength, the more contributions one can naturally make.

The position of Director of the Six Departments is, in the end, currently just a symbol of status, and the title sounds good, but it has no actual benefits, and it will occupy a large amount of cultivation time with trivial matters, which has a great impact on improving strength.

The most critical thing is that whether it's the Leader or the Director, there is no difference in how they treat us who joined later compared to their own people. Since that's the case, why bother with a Director position? It's better to focus on improving one's own strength. Once the strength comes up, the status will naturally follow!"

Hong Yu's words were deafening. Although Zhu and Meng didn't speak, their faces were full of agreement, and they clearly approved of these words.

"Our words carry little weight; even if we have such thoughts, no one will listen if we say them."

"There's nothing we can do about Father and the others wanting to compete. Let's improve our own strength first. It will be better after we enter the Hunting Department and have some say."

Hearing the words of his two friends, Hong Yu nodded and didn't say anything more.

All three continued the unfinished work at hand, but their eyes swept from time to time toward the Martial Arts Pavilion on the left behind the wooden building, their faces full of longing.

In one by one/p>

………………

Having taken in three camps before, Great Xia was clearly already very experienced. Zeng Fan's batch of over three hundred people was quickly settled by the people sent by Lin Kai.

Woodcutting Realm, adults, and children were all registered in an orderly manner.

From being a leader to becoming an ordinary member of Great Xia, although Zeng Fan had emotions in his heart, there was more relief. After all, the life he had lived as a leader was actually not as good as an ordinary member of Great Xia.

Walking out of the temporary wooden house on the right, he immediately found Kong Ning. Just as he was about to chat with him again, he was stopped by Shi Ping.

"Zeng Fan, Kong Ning, come with me!"

Both camps were brought by Shi Ping, and as the two leaders, they were naturally very familiar with Shi Ping. Hearing this, they immediately followed him and walked toward the wooden house on the left.

"My lord, is there something you need from us?"

Kong Ning had been in Great Xia for the third day and understood the camp situation a little.

These newcomers were all settled in the wooden house on the right. Although he hadn't been to the wooden house on the left, he had heard that it was a place where some big figures in the camp handled affairs. Shi Ping taking them there must mean something was up.

Having been here for so many days, suddenly being called today, Kong Ning was a bit confused, and his mood was inevitably uneasy.

Zeng Fan had just arrived and didn't know anything, so he could only follow behind. Hearing Kong Ning's question, he also looked curiously at Shi Ping.

Shi Ping didn't look back, just saying: "Don't be nervous. It's the Department Head who wants to see you. He should be asking about the situation in Mount Wuyuan. Just say what you know and don't hide anything."

"Yes, my lord!"

Hearing the words "Department Head," Kong Ning's expression suddenly became somewhat excited.

Zeng Fan on the side was a bit confused and could only continue to follow.

Soon, the two followed Shi Ping into the wooden house on the left, along the main hall to the depths, and bypassed a three-legged round tripod before stopping.

Behind the round tripod was a hall partitioned off by wooden boards.

Directly above the hall was an empty chair, covered with a thick layer of animal fur cushion; below were two rows of more than twenty chairs, but only six people were sitting, and most were empty.

Entering the hall, Zeng Fan's gaze immediately locked onto the two people at the very front.

The person on the left wore a black cloak and had a warm face. Although he was sitting, one could still see his slender figure. Although he looked young, his extraordinary bearing was more outstanding than anyone he had ever seen before.

The person on the right wore a black tight-fitting outfit. His appearance was the same as the person on the left, also very young, but his temperament was very sharp, and he seemed a bit unhappy at the moment, his face not looking very good. Seeing him enter, his gaze looked at him like a sharp sword, making Zeng Fan feel slightly uneasy.

Zeng Fan didn't have time to observe the four people below, because Shi Ping had already walked to the side of the person on the left and spoke.

"Department Head, Zeng Fan and Kong Ning have been brought."

Seeing Shi Ping's respectful posture and knowing that the young man in front of him was the Department Head he had just mentioned, Zeng Fan felt a slight shock in his heart.

Shi Ping had Earth-Digging Realm cultivation and could bring so many people to help their camp migrate. Zeng Fan had previously always believed that even if his status in Great Xia wasn't the highest, it certainly wouldn't be low.

Unexpectedly, his posture in front of this young man was so humble.

"Department Head, could it be the meaning of Leader? Great Xia calls the leader Department Head, it must be like this."

Zeng Fan, who had just arrived, based on his past experience, inferred in his mind that the young man in front of him must be the leader of Great Xia.

"Zeng Fan, Kong Ning, I heard that the settlements of your two camps are both at Four Apes Peak, right?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Yes, my lord."

As soon as the Department Head on the left spoke, Zeng Fan and Kong Ning hurriedly answered.

"Do you know the location of the Three Tigers Camp's settlement?"

Hearing this question, both of their expressions froze slightly.

"My lord, I only know that the Three Tigers Camp's settlement is at Middle Apes Peak, but I don't know the specific location. We usually don't have time to hide from them, so we wouldn't dare to look for their settlement location."

As soon as Kong Ning finished speaking, the gazes of the people present gathered on Zeng Fan's face.

A look of hesitation appeared on Zeng Fan's face, and he didn't speak for a long time. Realizing that everyone was looking at him, he became even more nervous in his heart and couldn't speak.

"Don't worry, just say what you have to say; it doesn't matter if you're wrong."

Seeing Zeng Fan's hesitation, Shi Ping immediately spoke to comfort him.

With his guarantee, Zeng Fan became a little bolder and nodded:

"Our settlement is in a cave under Four Apes Peak. Once, when I went out to cut wood, I accidentally bumped into the Three Tigers Camp's hunting team. Although I dared to hide in the dark, I heard them say they were only five or six hundred meters away from the camp. Because I usually try to avoid them to prevent accidentally stumbling there again, I remembered that location!"

Slap...

As soon as Zeng Fan finished speaking, he was startled.

Because the young man on the right, wearing a black tight-fitting outfit and having a sharp face, stood up from his chair with a slap, as if he had been holding back for a long time.

"My lord, there is no time to lose, I will take people and set off now!"

Seeing Yu Wen Tao's impatient face, the young man on the left, Xia Chuan, shook his head slightly and asked in a deep voice: "Are you sure Hong Guang had an accident?"

Yu Wen Tao nodded heavily and said: "One hundred percent. Hong Guang is an old man who has followed my father for many years. He wouldn't be so rash. Even if there was something important that required him to stay there, he would definitely send someone back to report, and wouldn't stay out all night without any news."

Hearing Yu Wen Tao's answer, Xia Chuan's expression suddenly became somber.

In the Frozen Abyss World, human activity is limited, and coupled with the dangers of a strange environment, normal people would indeed not stay out overnight unless there were special circumstances.

Hong Guang was almost forty, which was considered an elderly person in the Frozen Abyss World, so he wouldn't be ignorant of such rules.

The key was that he took six members of the Profound Martial Squad with him. Even if there was something important that required him to stay out overnight, he could at least send one person back to notify them. Mount Wuyuan was only ten kilometers away from Great Xia in total, so it wouldn't take long to go back and forth.

"A few days ago, Old Hong also told me that he had news of a large camp and could find it soon by following the clues. As long as the negotiations went well, he could pull the other party to Great Xia. I didn't pay attention at the time, but now that I think about it, he must have obtained the news of that Three Tigers Camp from elsewhere."

Among the four people below the hall, Meng Yi also stood up, his expression looking extremely ugly. The expressions of Zhu Ling, Zhu Yuan, and Hong Guang's younger brother Hong Tian, who were sitting next to him, were also full of worry.

"My lord, let us go find them; there will be trouble if we are late."

Hong Tian's expression was excited, and he directly asked Xia Chuan for orders.

Although Yu Wen Tao didn't speak again, his gaze was also full of requests. Clearly, like Hong Tian, he was very worried about Hong Guang.

Seeing the expressions of the five, Xia Chuan naturally couldn't say anything more.

"Okay, then you go. But be prepared, take everyone with you, let Zeng Fan lead the way for you, go!"

"Thank you, my lord, we will set off now!"

Yu Wen Tao nodded in agreement, gave a signal to Meng Yi and the other four, and immediately took the lead to walk out of the house.

Meng Yi and the other four didn't say anything else, pulled Zeng Fan, who hadn't reacted yet, and went out to notify the people.

After everyone left, Shi Ping walked to Xia Chuan's side and said in a deep voice:

"My lord, Hong Guang has been a bit aggressive recently. Although the two leaders of the two camps he pulled back didn't say it explicitly, they were clearly coerced by him. Using such a method to increase the population of the camp is not a good thing!"

Xia Chuan shook his head and said in a deep voice: "It is indeed not a good thing. It seems he is a bit determined to get this position of Director of the Reclamation Department. He didn't even figure out the situation before going directly to the Three Tigers Camp. It's good for him to suffer a loss this time. Nothing big should happen if Yu Wen Tao goes over. I will talk to him properly after he comes back this time!"

It was more than just not a good thing; it was extremely vicious.

Great Xia had just experienced a merger, and its internal stability was not yet solid. Coercing other camps to join with force would not only fail to strengthen the camp's power but would instead make the internal situation more and more complicated!

Xia Chuan was now serving as Department Head; how could he not understand this truth? Hong Guang's actions this time could be considered self-inflicted. Fortunately, Zeng Fan, whom Shi Ping brought today, happened to know the approximate location of the Three Tigers Camp.

From the situation he had inquired about, although the Three Tigers Camp was not small in scale, its strength was not strong because it had adopted the wrong development method. It shouldn't be difficult for Yu Wen Tao to take so many people to find the other party's settlement and rescue Hong Guang.

"You should run over there more often recently. This Three Tigers Camp should be solved by Yu Wen Tao if there are no accidents. Pull more people from other camps over. There are twenty days left until the settlement; don't drop the ball."

"Yes, my lord, I will definitely work hard!"

Shi Ping's expression was excited, and he nodded heavily.

Xia Chuan remembered something and said: "By the way, go notify Qiu Peng and ask him to help me prepare ten thousand jin of iron ore, three long swords, and one ten-stone iron-fetal bow. Notify me when it's ready; I'll go to the north bank again tonight."

Hearing that so many things were being prepared, Shi Ping first showed a look of surprise, but soon realized something and said: "My lord, are these things being sent to the Xiaohe Camp?"

Seeing that he had guessed it, Xia Chuan didn't hide it, nodded and smiled: "This Xiao Kangcheng is too vigilant; we still need to show goodwill first. We must let him understand the strength of our Great Xia camp, so the negotiations should go much more smoothly."

(End of chapter)