Chapter 223: Difficult Journey, Yucheng Encounter, Li Ying Xuan Ling

West of the Hive, a piece of snowfield with slightly flat terrain.

Six iron-wheeled carts lined up in a long queue, moving slowly and with difficulty toward the west.

At the very front of the team were eight people clearing the snow path;

Behind were two small iron-wheeled carts, each pulled by two people, each with a flag inserted on the cart, written with the words "Hive" and "Yanglu" respectively;

Further back were four large iron-wheeled carts, fully loaded with iron ore, each with more than ten people working together to pull or push, moving forward slowly.

"Hong Yu, you go to the front to pull the cart, change people to the back to push!"

Xia Hong was pushing the cart at the rear. Hearing Ma Yong's call, although his expression was a bit helpless, he still hurriedly walked to the front of the large cart, took the chain from one of the people, exchanged positions with him, and pretended to pull the cart with effort.

Pushing the cart and pulling the cart required different levels of effort, so they had to change positions frequently. For Xia Hong, the weight of this large cart, whether pushing or pulling, was something he had to hold back his strength for, so it naturally didn't count as any burden.

The reason he had a helpless expression was mainly because the time spent walking was too long!

Today was already April 13th. Counting the days, from setting off on the 2nd until now, they had been pulling the large carts and walking west for eleven days.

And according to Xia Hong's own measurement along the way, in these eleven days, the distance they moved west was about forty-two kilometers.

Moving forty-two kilometers in eleven days sounded very outrageous. If he hadn't followed the team all the way and witnessed what was going on with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it even if he was beaten to death.

Overall, the one that slowed down the journey the most was the large cart loaded with iron ore.

This large cart was more than ten meters long and five meters wide. It was made of pure iron itself, and it was loaded with five million jin of iron ore. Once encountering some deep gullies or slightly larger road obstacles along the way, the whole team had to stop and think of a way.

It was funny to say that in most cases, Chen Yingyuan had to get off the cart, either using brute force to move the cart or helping them push it together.

Then there was the road condition. Longshan was due west of the Hive. The ideal state was naturally to go west all the way, but there were many special situations on the road, such as dirt slopes, continuous gullies, small hills, and other special terrains, all of which they had to bypass.

Especially on the sixth day of the fourth lunar month, just after entering the territory of the Yanglu camp, they passed by a small lake. When they were still a kilometer away, Chen Yingyuan and Ma Yong were already acting as if facing a formidable enemy; to avoid getting close to that lake, they took a detour and walked at least four or five kilometers of unnecessary road.

However, it had to be said that this was already the fastest and most suitable path chosen by Chen Yingyuan under the condition of being extremely familiar with the environment.

Of course, in the first eleven days, Xia Hong didn't waste time.

Whenever the team rested during the day, he would detail the environment and road conditions along the way, including the small lake that made Chen Yingyuan and Ma Yong like facing a great enemy, as well as other dangerous areas clearly avoided by the team, and record them on the beast skin roll in detail.

Although the process was boring, it wasn't a waste of time!

Xia Hong touched the beast skin roll in his bosom, his gaze cast toward the first small cart in front, looking at the Yanglu flag on the top of the small cart, his eyes flashed slightly.

Three days ago, which was April 8th.

They finally met up with the team of the Yanglu camp.

Three days passed, and Xia Hong naturally figured out the situation of the Yanglu team.

The leader of Yanglu was called Peng Bo, a middle-aged man with a fat physique, equipped with a ghost-head black blade, and his base strength was eight manes, slightly stronger than Chen Yingyuan.

Their team had slightly more people, thirty, among whom the leader was Peng Bo's son Peng Yuan, and the remaining twenty-nine people all had strength above thirty thousand jin, which was about the same configuration as Chen Yingyuan's team.

When they met three days ago, although Chen Yingyuan got off the cart, he only exchanged pleasantries with Peng Bo for a few sentences. The conversation between the two didn't involve the alliance, so Xia Hong didn't hear any useful information.

"Not right, the configuration of the team can already explain many things!"

Xia Hong secretly thought, looked at Chen Yuan in his own team, then looked up at Peng Yuan in front, and finally scanned the iron ore fully loaded on the four large carts, his expression stirred slightly.

The requirements of the Alliance Leader Order had three items: Jade Bone, iron ore, hostage.

Chen Yingyuan pulled five million jin of iron ore and brought his youngest son. Unsurprisingly, the carriage he sat in should also have Jade Bone. In fact, this already explained that he was inclined toward Longshan for this alliance.

At the beginning of the departure, Xia Hong couldn't grasp his thoughts. Seeing the team configuration of Yanglu three days ago, which was about the same as Chen Yingyuan's, he was sure in his heart.

Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan were both likely inclined toward Longshan.

"Such a harsh Alliance Leader Order, just doing it is fine. Knowing that five camps have already defected to Zhaoyang, actually choosing to stand firmly on Longshan's side, how strong is the Longshan camp?"

Longshan was definitely strong. Xia Hong had preparations in his heart for this point, but the actions of Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan undoubtedly made his fear of Longshan even more intense.

Up to now, Xia Hong already knew ten families of the Longyou Alliance.

Judging from the current situation, Longshan was the strongest;

Followed by the Zhaoyang camp that was challenging Longshan's position;

The following Xiling, Bai Yuan, Dongkang, Wu Shuang, Hanqiong, Yanglu, Yucheng, Hive, and two others whose names Xia Hong didn't know, these ten families all had similar strength and should belong to the third echelon.

Which file should Great Xia's strength be placed in?

Xia Hong's eyes flashed, while calculating in his heart, while pulling the cart to continue moving forward.

Soon, the crowd walked three or four kilometers west again.

"Look, arrived at Longshan!"

Suddenly, Ma Yong pointed to the west side and shouted with excitement.

Many people in the team raised their heads and looked in the direction he pointed, their expressions all slightly shocked.

In the dark snowy night, a mountain range stood on the western horizon.

Although separated by more than ten kilometers, the crowd could still see that the mountain was not too high, at most one thousand-plus meters;

Although not high, the mountain was turbulent, stretching north and south, longitudinally fully fifty or sixty kilometers. It was clearly composed of countless small mountains piled together, winding indefinitely, undulating, like a Cangyuan giant dragon, lying across the Pingxi Plain.

Not just Ma Yong, the fifty-plus people of the two teams, very few people had been to Longshan for the first time. Most people raised their heads to see Longshan, and expressions of relief appeared on their faces.

After walking for so many days, they finally saw the destination.

"Strange, seeing Longshan, actually haven't encountered the Yucheng camp team yet. Today is only the 11th, they arrived at Longshan so early?"

Ma Yong's soft mutter, others didn't hear, but Xia Hong heard it clearly, and a trace of pondering rose in his eyes.

The team walked forty-plus kilometers west and had long entered Yucheng's territory. Now they could see Longshan, but hadn't encountered the Yucheng camp team. Unsurprisingly, they should have arrived at Longshan early.

Thinking about it, it wasn't strange!

The Hive and Yanglu families were so far from Longshan, and they obediently prepared things and sent them from

As Longshan grew closer and closer, Xia Hong also learned from Ma Yong that they were about to walk out of the sphere of influence of the Yucheng camp and enter Longshan territory.

Before entering Longshan territory, it happened to be nearly dawn. Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan called a halt to the team and ordered everyone to rest in place, waiting until nightfall to continue their departure.

Just like the previous eleven days, everyone used the wood prepared beforehand to directly cover and surround the four large carts, forming four wooden huts, then started a fire inside to eat and rest.

Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan both stayed on the small trailer and did not come down.

The daytime was only four hours long. By the time everyone had finished a sleep and realized it was already night, they immediately packed up their supplies and baggage and continued pushing the carts forward.

Upon entering Longshan territory, the vegetation coverage rate was suddenly much higher. Although it still couldn't compare to Seeing Hong Mu Ridge, it was much better than the Beehive, as well as the Yanglu and Yucheng camps they had passed through earlier.

High vegetation coverage meant that the accumulated snow on the ground was not as thick. As a result, the travel speed naturally became much faster.

"This Chen Yingyuan is truly precise with his timing. Today is the fourteenth of the fourth month; at this speed, one night's journey to the foot of Longshan will happen to catch the alliance assembly on the fifteenth. By the way, it's not just him; that Peng Bo is the same."

Timing it so precisely proves that Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo must have come to Longshan many times. If the leaders of other camps are also like this, then by the time they arrive, all the leaders will have arrived together.

That's right, many of these leaders have served as hostages in Longshan...

"Yi!"

Xia Hong, who was lowering his head in thought, suddenly sensed something.

He lifted his head slightly, looked forward calmly, and his gaze narrowed slightly.

There are people, and quite a few!

Xia Hong scanned the dense forest on the left and right sides ahead, then sniffed his nose lightly, and his expression immediately became vigilant.

"The smell of blood?"

"You all smelled it too?"

"It's ahead."

"What's the situation!"

………………

The smell of blood drifting from the front was truly too thick. Not only Xia Hong, but the others also smelled it one after another soon after.

It was the two people staying in the enclosed space of the small cart, Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan, who only discovered it after hearing the voices of the crowd. The two walked out of the small cart, looked ahead, and their gazes instantly became solemn.

About a hundred meters ahead of the team, a lonely, dilapidated small trailer was parked on the snow. The wheel hubs and axle of the trailer were completely broken, leaving only the carriage above, which was still relatively intact.

On the snow around the trailer, there were sixteen corpses lying horizontally. Many arrows were stuck in the bodies, and many scattered weapons were also stuck in the nearby snow.

At this moment, heavy snow was still falling from the sky, and the corpses on the ground had not been buried much.

This alone was enough to prove that the battle before them had not ended long ago.

Xia Hong, at the back of the team, focused his gaze directly on the flag stuck on the small trailer. Seeing the two characters "Yucheng" on the flag, his gaze narrowed slightly.

"There are people in the carriage, and there are many people in the surrounding dense forest. This is..."

Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo's strength is not good, and their perception is not as good as his. The people in the surrounding dense forest were still a bit far away, and the two of them likely didn't notice them.

But there were people in the carriage; not only Xia Hong, but everyone else knew it too.

The reason is very simple: because inside that dilapidated carriage, a stove fire was burning at the moment, and a figure sitting upright was looming in the window, which everyone could see very clearly with their eyes.

"Did something happen to Yan Chuan?"

No errors, no omissions, read it all!

"That shouldn't be; they've already reached Longshan territory, who could deal with him?"

Hearing the slightly fearful voices of Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo ahead, Xia Hong immediately judged that Yan Chuan should be the leader of the Yucheng camp.

No wonder they hadn't encountered the Yucheng camp's team all this time.

Something had actually happened to them!

But as Peng Bo said, they had already entered Longshan territory, who would still want to deal with him?

Cold beasts? Could it be, ghosts and monsters?

This doubt arose in Xia Hong's mind. He looked up at the figure looming in the carriage window not far away, his expression incomparably solemn.

The next second, the solemnity on his face intensified a bit more.

"Leader Chen, Leader Peng, it's been many years, I hope you've been well!"

A soft and nimble female voice suddenly rang out from the carriage not far away.

Hearing the voice, except for Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo, whose brows only furrowed slightly, the expressions of all the other Earth-Digging Realm experts became as incomparably solemn as Xia Hong's, and some of the more timid ones even showed a trace of fear.

Under the snowy night, the lonely, dilapidated carriage, the looming figure, the corpses lying horizontally, the scattered weapons, and suddenly such a soft and nimble female voice—any normal person would think of ghosts and monsters.

But Xia Hong looked around at the dense forests on both sides, then carefully looked at the expressions of Chen and Peng, and immediately realized that this woman should have nothing to do with ghosts and monsters.

Chen and Peng clearly remembered something; their brows had already relaxed. Although their expressions were solemn, after looking at each other, they still cupped their fists and bowed toward the carriage:

"May I ask, is it Young Master Ying Xuan Ling in person?"

Young Master Ying Xuan Ling?

Hearing this title, Xia Hong's brows furrowed slightly, but he soon thought of what he had learned from Cheng Ping—that the eldest young master in charge of Longshan was named Li Ying Xuan Yan—and he immediately had a guess in his heart.

"You two have good memories; it was not in vain for Ying Xuan Ling to wait here specifically today."

The same female voice came from inside the carriage again.

Immediately after, the carriage door slowly opened.

A beautiful woman dressed in a snow-white gauze dress leaned over slightly and slowly walked out of the carriage.

The woman's waterfall-like long hair was gently held up by a blue silk ribbon. Beneath the snow-white gauze dress, her slender and exquisite figure was incomparably alluring;

She looked to be in her early twenties, with a pair of nimble and soft large eyes that were full of charm. Her flawless, fair face made the snow on the ground look dim in comparison;

Her elegant features, beautiful posture, and ethereal temperament—everything about the woman seemed to be a gift from the Creator;

The originally gray and cold snowy night seemed to have been lit up by her appearance.

"What a beautiful woman!"

Not to mention the group of Earth-Digging Realm experts, even Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo, and even Xia Hong at the back of the crowd, couldn't help but lose their focus for a moment when they saw the woman, and they let out a heartfelt exclamation.

In the Frozen Abyss World, or rather, for humans, before reaching the Frigid level, it is very difficult to describe women as beautiful because their skin is constantly eroded by wind and frost, and clean water resources are relatively scarce.

The living habits of surviving in the wilderness make the status of women inevitably disadvantaged. One can imagine that Frigid-level women must be pitifully few.

If other indigenous people of the Frozen Abyss World were to lose focus, one could say there was a reason, but Xia Hong, who had lived two lives, showed a reaction at this moment that was absolutely enough to interpret just how alluring Li Ying Xuan Ling's face was.

Xia Hong pinched his fingers to suppress the restlessness in his heart, and his gaze focused on the silver long sword hanging at Li Ying Xuan Ling's waist.

That silver long sword made him instantly think of Yang Ning from two years ago.

At that time, the long sword in Yang Ning's hand was also this color.

If nothing unexpected happens, Longshan should also have silver mines!

Of course, the reason for paying attention to the long sword is not just this.

Xia Hong scanned the sixteen corpses on the ground, looked at the black arrows stuck in the bodies, glanced at the hundreds of people hiding in the dense forests on both sides, and finally fixed his gaze on Li Ying Xuan Ling.

With this look, his expression immediately became a bit more solemn.

"Twelve Manes!"

It is hard to imagine that Li Ying Xuan Ling, who looks to be only in her early twenties, is actually the strongest Frigid-level expert Xia Hong has seen so far.

Soft and nimble—that was clearly just the characteristic of Li Ying Xuan Ling's voice.

This woman is far more complex than she looks!

"You two have both followed my father to practice. By rights, Ying Xuan Ling should call you two 'Senior Brothers.' But now, the ten families of Longyou have all been bewitched by Zhaoyang. Whether you are friends or foes, Ying Xuan Ling is a bit unclear. Why don't you two tell me, for this alliance assembly, do you plan to stand with Zhaoyang, or with my Longshan?"

Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo, hearing Li Ying Xuan Ling's words, looked down at the corpses lying on the ground and the flag with the word "Yucheng" written on it. It seemed they associated it with something, and cold sweat instantly broke out on their backs.

Xia Hong, at the back, soon understood as well, and his expression became incomparably solemn in an instant.

"On the way here, I didn't find any cart tracks, nor any traces of clearing the snow road. If nothing unexpected happens, the Yucheng camp shouldn't have brought iron ore. They didn't bring iron ore, so they were killed by this woman?"

Xia Hong deduced the matter to be seven or eight parts correct, and looking at Li Ying Xuan Ling again, his gaze was not as relaxed as before.

The superficial reason is that they didn't bring iron ore; the real reason is that they didn't intend to fulfill the Alliance Leader's Decree issued by the Eldest Young Master of Longshan. Thinking deeper, it can basically be concluded that Yucheng intended to lean toward Zhaoyang.

Yucheng is the closest to Longshan, yet they dared to stand on Zhaoyang's side. Although this made Xia Hong feel incredible, Li Ying Xuan Ling's actions were what truly shocked him.

Not obeying the Alliance Leader's Decree, and just killing them directly?

That means that the Alliance Leader's Decree was truly a tool used by Longshan to test the loyalty of the ten families of Longyou. Does this mean that all the other camps that came, as long as they didn't bring iron ore or hostages, have all already...

Peng Bo and Chen Yingyuan thought for a moment, then actually walked directly in front of Li Ying Xuan Ling, bowed down to her, and spoke with incomparably pious voices:

"Young Master, please rest assured. Chen Yingyuan swears that my Beehive has absolutely no second thoughts. Hou Hu of Zhaoyang relies on having some strength to wreak havoc in Longyou. My Beehive camp and he are irreconcilable!"

"My Yanglu's heart is toward Longshan, and I will absolutely not collude with the Zhaoyang camp. Young Master, please rest assured. Five million jin of iron ore, ten jin of Jade Bone, and my son Peng Yuan have all followed me here this time. For the Eldest Young Master's Alliance Leader's Decree, even if it's a mountain of blades or a sea of fire, Peng Bo will absolutely carry it out!"

The two of them actually expressed their loyalty one after another!

It's no wonder; judging by Yucheng's encounter, if the two families hadn't brought iron ore, their fate would likely be about the same as Yan Chuan's.

Xia Hong watched the two of them, frightened into bowing by Li Ying Xuan Ling, and while his expression was solemn, his mind also began to think rapidly.

Li Tianhua's daughter has the strength of Twelve Manes.

The Eldest Young Master, the Eight Great Vajras, and many unknown situations...

Then Longshan's strength is probably even more terrifying than he imagined!

"If this is the case, it will be a bit difficult for Great Xia to reach out here..."

Xia Hong's thoughts, let's leave them aside for now.

Over there, Li Ying Xuan Ling, after hearing the two of them express their loyalty, turned her head to look at the four large carts behind them, and a beautiful smile bloomed on her face.

"That's good. Then please, two Senior Brothers, follow me first. It just so happens there is a good show, let you all see it together..."

After finishing the sentence, Li Ying Xuan Ling seemed to have thought of something, took out a section of a whip from behind her, and lashed it fiercely at the carriage she had just walked out of.

Bang...

The carriage shattered in response, and the corpse of a middle-aged man with a terrified expression flew directly out from within.

Seeing the corpse, the expressions of Chen and Peng instantly froze. They hurriedly lowered their heads, and their posture became increasingly respectful.

"Yan Chuan's corpse. The Yucheng camp should be gone; it's about to be swallowed by Longshan!"

Xia Hong saw the expressions of Chen and Peng and immediately understood the identity of that corpse.

Longshan has begun to annex other camps!

Reaching this conclusion, a sense of urgency suddenly rose in Xia Hong's heart.

(End of chapter)