Chapter 244

"That batch of people who ran out of Yangyuan Peak definitely all have problems."

"The transmission method of this Bai Lu plague is extremely rapid. Contact, and even the air, has a very high probability of transmission, which means that as long as you get close, you will be infected."

"That ghost is highly likely to be controlling people through this dew."

"There were at least four or five thousand people besieging me last night. Just now when I woke up, there were at most a thousand or so on the ground, which means there is still a large batch of people running around outside."

"No, I can't just go back to the Hive like this. If I bring the plague back, I will harm others. I must think of a way, preferably one that involves no contact."

………………

Yuan Cheng dragged his wounded body, thinking of countermeasures in his mind while walking toward the Hive area.

The other encampments in Longyou do not yet know what happened at Yanglu. Once this Bai Lu plague spreads, it will definitely be a great disaster;

Even without mentioning the impact of the plague, he still hasn't seen the true form of the ghost behind this plague. It shows how strong it is and how deeply it hides. If it is allowed to continue killing people through the plague, who knows to what extent it will evolve? Can Great Xia, which is only separated from Longyou by a forest, still stay out of it?

This is the main reason why he is in such a hurry to return to the Hive.

Yuan Cheng is certainly afraid of death, but in his heart, compared to death, the survival of Great Xia is even more important!

"There must be no contact, and we must talk from a long distance as much as possible. The most important thing is to pass the message to my lord!"

Yuan Cheng gritted his teeth and quickened his pace. Roughly estimating that he had reached the territory of the Hive, he slowed his pace slightly and rested for a moment.

"Eh?"

As soon as he slowed his pace, Yuan Cheng didn't take two steps before he stopped immediately.

"What's the situation!"

Yuan Cheng lowered his head, pulled open his clothes, and looked toward the wound. His expression froze instantly.

The milky white dew near the wound had already begun to turn red, the same situation as what he saw at Yangyuan Peak last night. It should be in the process of heating up.

But strangely, the process of this dew heating up was abnormally slow, completely unlike the situation at Yangyuan Peak last night where it heated up rapidly and then burst, with blue flames emerging from inside.

"Moreover, I have been walking in the sunlight for more than two hours. In normal times, I would never be able to stay in the sunlight for so long."

The Cold-Resistant level only qualifies one for activities during the day, not for being in the sunlight around the clock.

When Yuan Cheng broke through to the Cold-Resistant level, he had already tested it. He could persist in the sun for at most two hours, and that was in a state where his body was normal.

Being like this now is clearly abnormal!

Yuan Cheng looked up at the sunlight in the sky, then touched the white dew near the wound, his expression thoughtful.

"The soaring temperature of this white dew seems to have been offset by the cold light. My skin-membrane strength can withstand the high temperature of the dew and can also resist the cold air in the sunlight. The two just happen to reach a balance on my skin-membrane, so instead, it temporarily produces no impact on me..."

Recalling the corpses he saw frozen by the cold light on the outskirts of the large tree when he just woke up, Yuan Cheng's gaze condensed slightly, and his speculation in his heart gradually firmed up.

"Most of the people who escaped from Yangyuan Peak were ordinary people. They could neither withstand the high temperature of the dew nor face the cold light, so they all fled at the last moment before dawn!"

That's right, if the dew that will heat up is compared to yang, then the cold light of the sun during the day is yin. The Cold-Resistant level can resist both at the same time, allowing the two to reach a brief balance on the body surface, so he was fine even after walking for so long.

"In other words, this dew also fears the cold. From this, it can be deduced that the Bai Lu ghost at Yangyuan Peak, like humans for the time being, also fears the daytime..."

Thinking of Director Yu Wen Tao and the group waiting for his rescue in the tree hole, Yuan Cheng continued to move forward while constantly deducing more information about the Bai Lu ghost.

With the gradual expansion of Great Xia and the improvement of various regulations, Yuan Cheng's reckless and rough personality had also converged a lot, especially after the six-department reform, when he was appointed as the Secretary of the Jurisdiction Department by Xia Chuan, his growth was even more rapid.

The strength of a ghost is only one aspect; more of it is actually reflected in their many mysterious and unpredictable means. Therefore, intelligence and information are the most important things for dealing with them.

The matter of the Bai Lu ghost has not yet spread in Longyou. The only ones who have had indirect contact with it are himself and Director Yu Wen Tao's group, so the first-hand information he deduced is of vital importance.

As his pace quickened, before dark, Yuan Cheng finally arrived at the outskirts of the Hive.

After Great Xia captured the Hive, they did not make any changes to the encampment. To go down from the ground, one still had to find the giant stone entrance. Fortunately, it was daytime, and Yuan Cheng was familiar with the location of the Hive encampment, so he found it very quickly.

Yuan Cheng did not get close to the giant stone. He blocked himself tightly with his clothes, revealing only his face. Then he picked up a few gravels from the ground, threw them at the giant stone from five or six meters away, and after making a sound, he spoke loudly:

"The wind and rain from all directions cannot compare to the rain of our Red Wood Ridge."

Only after four or five breaths did a reply come from under the giant stone.

"There is rain on Mount Longmen, and the tiger comes down from the snowfield."

This secret code of Great Xia had never changed. Compared to when it was really used to guard against ghosts and monsters, now it only serves as a preliminary screening. The guards can at least judge through the secret code that it is a person from Great Xia.

Of course, as the Secretary of the Jurisdiction Department and one of the top leaders, almost no one in Great Xia doesn't know Yuan Cheng, especially those who could come to Longyou this time, who are all Earth-Digging Realm experts from the Hunting Department, so they are even more familiar with Yuan Cheng.

An opening was made under the giant stone, revealing a pair of eyes inside. Although separated by five or six meters, the person inside recognized Yuan Cheng at a glance.

"It's Secretary Yuan who has returned!"

The guard's voice was joyful, and he opened the giant stone opening directly, clearly preparing to welcome Yuan Cheng back.

"Don't open the opening. I can't go in. Quickly have someone notify Meng Yi and let him come out. In addition, do you have any Fire-Condensing Oil on you? If you have any, throw it to me directly; if not, hurry up and get some for me."

Yuan Cheng knew about Xia Chuan taking people to attack Wu Shuang. Only Meng Yi and Hong Tian, plus one thousand Great Xia Earth-Digging Realm experts, were left to guard the Hive, so he directly asked someone to notify Meng Yi.

Hearing Yuan Cheng's words, although the guard was puzzled, he heard that his tone was very solemn. He soon threw two pieces of Fire-Condensing Oil out from inside and said:

"I will go notify Lord Meng right away. Secretary Yuan, please wait a moment."

Yuan Cheng took the Fire-Condensing Oil, quickly crushed it, and applied it near the wounds, then began to observe the situation of the white dew.

Sizzle...

As soon as the milky white dew touched the Fire-Condensing Oil, fine smoke immediately emerged, and then it began to condense and fade, slowly becoming transparent, and in the end, it turned into clear water droplets.

Yuan Cheng reached out and wiped it, his gaze suddenly full of surprise.

"Fortunately, it's useful!"

When he crawled out of the corpse pile, seeing that the dew was different from the previous night, he was always a little uneasy in his heart, worried that the Bai Lu ghost's ability had become stronger and that this dew would be harder to fade.

Fortunately, the Fire-Condensing Oil was still useful.

"Yuan Cheng, what's the situation?"

Meng Yi arrived. He walked out directly from under the giant stone and approached Yuan Cheng.

"Don't get close to me. You first have someone prepare a batch of Fire-Condensing Oil for me. Director Yu Wen Tao is seriously injured, and there is another batch of people with him, trapped near Yangyuan Peak. I am in a hurry to go back to save people. Yanglu has an extremely urgent situation. I will tell you first, and you immediately go to Wu Shuang to notify my lord and the others..."

Meng Yi knew that Director Yu Wen Tao was disguised as Lin Ye and staying in Yanglu, and that Yuan Cheng had taken people to support him. Hearing Yuan Cheng's solemn tone, although he was curious why he wouldn't let him get close, he still immediately ordered people to prepare Fire-Condensing Oil, while he himself listened attentively to Yuan Cheng's words.

The Longyou Army's great victory, Wu Ying's death, Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli's defeat, Director Yu Wen Tao being seriously injured by Li Xuantian... As he heard more and more situations, Meng Yi's expression became increasingly solemn.

Finally, hearing about the Bai Lu ghost and the plague, Meng Yi's pupils condensed even more, and his expression became extremely solemn instantly.

"You wait here, the Fire-Condensing Oil will be sent over very soon. I will set off for Wu Shuang now to report to my lord."

"Good, you must be fast!"

………………

Wu Shuang giant stone encampment, main building.

There were only three people in the main building. Xia Chuan sat at the head, with Peng Bo and Luo Yuan below.

However, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan were smilingly staring at Peng Bo.

Peng Bo, on the lower left, was carefully holding a cup of aged brew, sniffing it for a dozen breaths, intoxicated for a long time, before drinking it in one gulp. Immediately, an expression of immense enjoyment appeared on his face, and after savoring it for a long time, he sighed slightly.

"I've lived for more than fifty years and have never drunk anything this good. My lord just said, what was this called again?"

"Wine. This kind is called aged brew, it's considered the most ordinary kind in Great Xia at present!"

Hearing that there was even better wine, Peng Bo looked at the package on Xia Chuan's table, his eyes instantly shining. After a chuckle, he spoke with a constrained expression:

"There's other better stuff? My lord, could you..."

"Hahahaha, don't even think about it. The production of this stuff is not much. I just happened to have a bottle on me, so I let you have a taste. When you return to Xia City in the future, go exchange it at the Encampment Needs Department yourself!"

"Haha, this is just aged brew. If you tasted a sip of Blood Cold Wine, Leader Peng would probably never forget it for the rest of his life."

Having tasted only one cup of wine, he directly asked for more, which shows the strength of the temptation of wine to Peng Bo. After Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan teased him a few times, they couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in their hearts.

Great Xia's strength might not be the strongest in Longyou, but if you compare productivity and the abundance of supplies, based on what is seen now, even Longshan and Zhaoyang have no comparability with Great Xia.

Seeing the pride between the two's brows, Peng Bo became even more expectant not only for the Blood Cold Wine but also for Xia City, which the two had mentioned repeatedly.

After all, having been a leader for so many years, Peng Bo's discernment was not low. The reason he decided to join Great Xia, while the life-saving grace for his three grandsons certainly occupied the majority, the things Xia Chuan and the others inadvertently revealed were also very important.

Strength goes without saying. Based on what is seen now, the number of Earth-Digging Realm experts in the Hive and Wu Shuang combined has already reached 2,500, and there are more than ten Cold-Resistant-level experts. Just counting these, Great Xia is only slightly worse than Longshan and Zhaoyang.

Crucially, this is only a portion of Great Xia's strength projected into Longyou.

The abundance of supplies goes even more without saying. Even without the cup of aged brew in front of him, one can see the whole picture just from the light golden armor worn by those Earth-Digging Realm experts in Great Xia, as well as the casual clothes under their armor.

"Xiao Ming, Xiao Feng, and Little Zu will set off for Xia City tonight. They should see Xia City one step ahead of me, to see what it's really like!"

While Peng Bo was yearning, thinking that his three grandsons would arrive at Xia City one step ahead and enjoy various supplies he had never seen before, he felt much more at ease in his heart.

"Luo Yuan, how have the migration tasks been arranged?"

Hearing Xia Chuan's sudden question, Luo Yuan nodded immediately and said excitedly: "Everything is arranged. Wu Shuang currently has a total population of 25,210, including 821 captives. It will be divided into five batches, led by Hong Gang, Huang Yong, Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao, and Lu Yang, five people leading five intermediate hunting teams, going back and forth five times to send people to the Hive first. After arriving at the Hive, they will be divided into batches to go south through the Border Valley, and finally arrive at Xia City!"

Twenty-five thousand people, it is certainly impossible to migrate them all at once. Dividing them into five batches and having five Cold-Resistant-level experts personally lead the teams to escort them, the problem will not be big.

Hearing the excitement in Luo Yuan's tone, Xia Chuan nodded and smiled lightly, his brows full of joy that could not be hidden.

These twenty-five thousand plus people in Wu Shuang, plus the thirty-three thousand in the Hive, Great Xia's population explosion scale in this round will be unprecedented. The key is that in the few months since his eldest brother Xia Hong left, they haven't been idle, and the population has been rising steadily.

"After migrating these two batches of people back to Xia City, our Great Xia's total population will be about..."

"How can my Wu Shuang men allow others to bully them like this? Have your bones been extracted? I have returned, what are you still afraid of? All of you, pick up your weapons and resist!"

Xia Chuan, who was calculating the total population, was interrupted by an angry shout from outside the house before he could finish speaking. He looked up at the outside of the house abruptly, and after hearing the words, his expression changed instantly, and he rushed out directly. "It's Wu Xiong's voice!"

Peng Bo drew his blade and rushed out, even one step faster than Xia Chuan, just because he recognized the owner of this voice was actually Wu Xiong.

The three rushed out of the main building and found that a fierce battle had already begun beside a large wooden house on the right.

A short yellow figure holding a long staff was being besieged by Hong Guang, Zhu Yuan, and Zhao Hu, and Huang Yong, Hong Gang, and others who came after hearing the sound also joined the ranks of the siege one after another.

"Wu Xiong, you dog, I want your life!"

Seeing that it was truly Wu Xiong himself, Peng Bo didn't even think about it. Holding a ghost-head broadsword, he roared and rushed over, directly replacing Hong Guang's position as the main attacker, and slashed wildly at Wu Xiong without regard for his own life, his momentum fierce to the extreme.

Swish, swish, swish...

However, it was not just these Cold-Resistant-level experts who were fighting.

From the large wooden house on the right and the other four houses near the main building, arrows began to be shot out continuously, and the targets were all the Cold-Resistant-level experts of Great Xia.

"Don't move, none of you move. Whoever moves again will die!"

"Are you tired of living? Whoever dares to move again, kill them for me."

!

"The leader has returned, brothers, don't be afraid. Wu Shuang is our own home, we must not let these people occupy it. Follow me and charge!"

"That's right, they killed so many of us and still dream of ruling us. What kind of bullshit Great Xia is this? Follow the leader and resist, kill and drive them away."

………………

"Hong Guang, Zhu Yuan, just cooperate with Peng Bo to besiege him. The rest of you, follow me into the house to suppress those rebels!"

Hearing the commotion coming from several wooden houses and realizing that the people of Wu Shuang were rioting, Xia Chuan did not hesitate for a moment and directly deployed his forces.

After capturing Wu Shuang previously, he only imposed restrictions on the Earth-Digging Realm experts.

For the rest of the people, both for convenience and considering the need to appease the people's hearts, Xia Chuan only concentrated them in five wooden houses. He didn't even confiscate their weapons, and each house only left one hundred Earth-Digging Realm experts to take turns on duty.

These five thousand plus people were, after all, mostly ordinary people, with a small portion in the Woodcutting Realm. It's not that 100 Earth-Digging Realm experts of Great Xia couldn't watch them, but the problem was that Wu Xiong, as the leader, was clearly very charismatic. If the riot couldn't be controlled and everyone was incited by him, then killing too many people would ultimately be a loss for Great Xia.

Therefore, the riot must be suppressed first.

With Peng Bo, Hong Guang, and Zhu Yuan besieging him, Wu Xiong had nowhere to fly!

Xia Chuan only glanced at Wu Xiong, immediately summoned the black blade in his hand, and rushed into the wooden house where the riot was most serious.

Rushing into the wooden house and seeing a group of people shooting arrows near the second-floor window, Xia Chuan's expression sank. He jumped directly to the second floor, and the black blade slashed horizontally.

Crack...

With this slash of his, the twenty or so people gathered by the window were all decapitated. Those who were baring fangs and brandishing claws behind them, trying to lean forward, were splashed with blood, and their expressions instantly calmed down, their pupils filled with fear.

"Continue killing. Regardless of whether they stop or not, kill five hundred people!"

Xia Chuan spoke angrily, increasing his volume. Not only did everyone in this house hear it, but everyone in the other four houses heard it too.

In each house, there were one hundred Great Xia Earth-Digging Realm experts, and just now Xia Chuan also ordered the other six Cold-Resistant-level experts, except for Zhu Yuan and Hong Guang, to enter the houses to participate in the suppression.

Therefore, Xia Chuan's order was executed very quickly.

Regardless of whether the rebellion stops or not, five hundred people must be killed!

Pfft... crack... sizzle...

The wooden houses holding the twenty-five thousand plus people of Wu Shuang instantly began a slaughter of extreme bloodiness. To say that the number of people participating in this riot in each house was more than five hundred, but Great Xia's move of killing directly without even asking still made everyone in Wu Shuang sober up instantly.

Regardless of whether they participated in the rebellion or not, they all sobered up!

"I didn't participate in the rebellion, don't kill me."

"Neither did I, I surrender, I shouldn't have rebelled."

"Stop, hurry up and stop, don't let them kill anymore."

"Don't kill me, don't kill me..."

…………

It's a pity that they sobered up too late.

No matter how miserable the pleas for mercy were, the people on Great Xia's side, from the Cold-Resistant-level experts like Zhao Hu and Zhao Bao down to the five hundred Earth-Digging Realm experts, never stopped.

In the wooden house where Xia Chuan was, the people of Wu Shuang were frantically retreating toward the walls, the Earth-Digging Realm experts at the door were still slaughtering, and not to mention Xia Chuan, he was frantically hacking and killing with his black blade, his face filled with raging flames, without a moment of stagnation.

"Riot, rebellion, with Wu Xiong, you think you can turn the world upside down?"

"It seems that Great Xia's attitude toward you was too good."

"Your mistake was taking Great Xia's kindness for weakness!"

"You like to rebel, you like to cause trouble, then I'll let you have enough trouble!"

"Die, all of you die!"

………………

The strongest in the house was only in the Woodcutting Realm, how could they block Xia Chuan?

Every time Xia Chuan said a word, he would swing his black blade, taking away more than a dozen lives.

He forcibly killed a small pit of corpses in the house. Finally, the whole house fell into silence. Counting the number of people, it was almost enough for five hundred, and only then did he stop with a group of Earth-Digging Realm experts.

The other four wooden houses were slightly slower than this one, but they also fell into silence in the end, clearly all scared by the killing.

The remaining four thousand plus people in the house, from the elderly to the young and strong, down to the children, looked at the blood-soaked Xia Chuan with terror in their eyes, not daring to make any sound. Some women holding infants, fearing that the infants in their arms would make a sound, even covered their mouths.

Xia Chuan was soaked in blood, his handsome and delicate face was already blurred, and combined with a pair of furious blood-red pupils, plus the unusually large black blade in his hand, the whole person looked like an evil ghost, making people shudder.

"If you like to rebel, you can continue, but I'll say this first: next time, regardless of the reason, if there is another such riot or rebellion, it won't just be five hundred people who will be killed!"

Xia Chuan's voice was still very loud, and his words clearly reached the ears of everyone in the five wooden houses. Then he stopped looking into the house and walked out directly with his blade drawn. But when he reached the door, he suddenly stopped again.

The four thousand plus people in the house, seeing Xia Chuan stop at the door again, had their nerves, which had just relaxed slightly, tighten up again. They all looked at his back in terror, not daring to make the slightest sound.

"Clean up the ground, and no one is allowed to make any sound again!"

………………

This time, at least another 2,500 people died!

This account naturally has to be settled with Wu Xiong, who incited everyone to rebel.

Xia Chuan walked out of the wooden house, looking coldly at Wu Xiong, who was being besieged. Seeing that Wu Xiong had already shown signs of defeat, he drew his blade and rushed up directly.

Wu Xiong, besieged by three people, noticed the black blade slashing over and suddenly drew his staff to block behind him. It's just a pity that the black blade in Xia Chuan's hand was no ordinary item.

Crack...

The black staff was cut off, and that wasn't the end. Xia Chuan's blade slashed directly into Wu Xiong's spine, forcibly slashing his body forward for twenty or thirty meters.

Boom...

There was not much snow on the ground inside the Wu Shuang encampment, so Wu Xiong hit the ground directly, his body plunged into the ground, and he rubbed forward for a full seven or eight meters before slowly stopping.

Zhu Yuan and Hong Guang were fine, but Peng Bo, who had just been the main attacker, saw the power of this slash, his gaze instantly froze, and his expression was full of shock.

Wu Xiong had the power of seven manes. The siege just now was actually led by him. Hong Guang and Zhu Yuan were at most assistants. In fact, Peng Bo had always felt in his heart that the one who could serve as the main attacker at this moment was himself.

But this slash of Xia Chuan's completely overturned his thinking.

Xia Chuan, didn't he only have the power of six manes?

Gulp...

Peng Bo looked back at Xia Chuan and found that between his brows, he didn't know when, three vertical blood-red cloud patterns had appeared.

No, it wasn't just Xia Chuan; Zhu Yuan and Hong Guang, who had besieged Wu Xiong with him just now, also had them between their brows.

Not to mention the shock in Peng Bo's heart, Xia Chuan's anger had not yet completely dissipated. He drew his blade and ran straight toward Wu Xiong, not giving the opponent a single chance to catch his breath.

Swish...

However, a shocking scene occurred.

Wu Xiong, whose spine was almost cut off, actually climbed up from the ground in front quickly, and then quickly fled toward the north of Wu Shuang.

"This..."

"What's the situation?"

…………

Peng Bo, Zhu Yuan, Hong Guang, including the six people like Luo Yuan who came out of the wooden house later, saw the scene of Wu Xiong fleeing, and their expressions were instantly stunned.

They all saw it clearly. Xia Chuan's slash just now had one hundred percent cut off Wu Xiong's spine. Under such circumstances, Wu Xiong could still get up and run away. How is this possible?

"There's something strange. Peng Bo, Hong Guang, Zhu Yuan, follow me in pursuit!"

The others' reactions were still like this, not to mention Xia Chuan, who had personally slashed that blow. While his expression was shocked, he realized there was something strange. While leaping to chase, he didn't forget to call the others.

Peng Bo, Hong Guang, and Zhu Yuan immediately followed behind him in pursuit.

(End of chapter)