Chapter 28: Just Surviving Isn

“Brother…”

Xia Chuan hurried to speak, accidentally reverted to calling him “brother,” received a glare from Xia Hong, and quickly corrected himself.

“Leader, we all agree we should return to the old system: ninety percent of the cold beast meat goes to those of us who go out hunting, and the remaining ten percent is shared among everyone else. That way, we grow stronger faster, and our prey will only increase.”

Yuan Cheng on the other side couldn’t help but speak up too.

“Also, the crystal fruit rations—two per person per day is too much. We should revert to the old rule: one per person per day, enough to keep them alive.”

“Those three ice-fruit trees haven’t produced new fruit yet. At this rate of consumption, we’ll barely last a month and a half. If we finish this batch and the next hasn’t grown yet, it’ll be a major problem.”

In truth, everyone wanted to restore the old system.

Xia Hong had known this all along.

Including himself, the camp now had eight Woodcutting Realm cultivators.

It was nearly back to the numbers when Xia Ding was in charge.

The Woodcutting Team had been rebuilt; the old system should naturally be restored.

Not just Yuan Cheng and Yue Feng, but even his younger brother Xia Chuan thought the same.

Xia Hong didn’t answer immediately. He scanned the group, then spoke slowly:

“I’ll ask you a question: what is your goal, the seven of you?”

“To survive.”

Xia Chuan spoke first.

“To survive, and to make sure my mother has enough to eat.”

“To survive, so my younger brother can survive too.”

“To protect my sister, and survive.”

…………

Though their answers differed, the meaning was nearly identical: survival and protecting family.

“If that’s the case, why not just go out every day to find ice-fruit trees, pick the crystal fruits, and call it quits? Why risk your lives hunting?”

Xia Hong’s question left them stunned.

“Because you all know that only by growing stronger can you survive, right?”

Everyone nodded.

“Then when I first hunted that first snow-maned beast, why didn’t I eat all the cold beast meat myself? Wouldn’t that have let me grow stronger faster and kept me alive?”

Hearing this, the group froze, then one by one, shame spread across their faces.

“My goal is to grow stronger and survive. Yours is the same. Theirs is the same too.”

As he said “their,” Xia Hong pointed toward the rest of the camp gathered around the bonfire, then continued:

“During this time, you’ve all gone out with me—you’ve seen how much stronger the cold beasts are than us. Neither I alone nor even our eight of us can guarantee our survival.”

Xia Hong paused, then added:

“Not even thirteen of us could. Otherwise, our father’s group wouldn’t have been wiped out, would they?”

“I give you the bulk of the cold beast meat because I know survival isn’t possible with just one person’s strength. I’m counting on you to break through quickly—so more of us reach the Woodcutting Realm, making our expeditions safer, our logging and hunting more productive.”

“Now, I’m giving the majority of the cold beast meat to the younger members of the camp for the same reason: I want more Woodcutting Realm cultivators, a larger and stronger team.”

After speaking, Xia Hong saw them all lost in thought, and sighed softly.

In truth, this was simply a matter of resource allocation.

Since ancient times, interests have moved hearts—especially when those interests involve life and death.

Was Xia Ding’s earlier rule flawed?

Actually, no.

But context matters. Back then, Great Xia Camp had no hunting capability; cold beast meat came sporadically—sometimes there, sometimes gone.

With too many mouths and too little meat, Xia Ding could only prioritize the Woodcutting Team.

Now it’s different. With the small torches that attract cold beasts, the camp now has basic hunting capability. The meat isn’t abundant, but it’s vastly more than before.

If we cling stubbornly to the old system, we won’t just lose support—we’ll drastically slow the camp’s growth.

Let me state the simplest truth:

I’ve now freed myself from logging duties. Each expedition, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng handle logging, while I focus solely on scouting terrain and locating cold beasts.

In the future, when we have enough Woodcutting Realm cultivators, the camp can split into two teams: one dedicated to hunting, another to logging—even a third for picking crystal fruits, a fourth for scouting.

Any organization seeking to maximize output must divide labor, assign distinct roles, and let each person fulfill their duty.

This principle, obvious in my past life, is one Xia Hong could only explain patiently, in terms they could understand.

“Cold beasts are powerful, but haven’t you noticed? The more Yue Feng, Lin Kai, and others break through, the higher our hunting success rate becomes. Today Xu Ning broke through—tomorrow, our success rate might rise even further.”

“Think about it: if we had twenty, thirty, even forty or fifty Woodcutting Realm cultivators, we could overwhelm snow-maned beasts or frost wolves by sheer numbers. Would we still fear running out of cold beast meat?”

These words lit up Xia Chuan’s eyes.

They’d all witnessed firsthand the steady rise in hunting success since joining Xia Hong—and yes, more people meant higher success.

Especially Xia Hong’s final point—forty or fifty cultivators could simply overwhelm cold beasts by weight of numbers—left them deep in thought.

So far, they’d only encountered two types of cold beasts: snow-maned beasts and frost wolves. Though limited, they understood these two creatures’ habits and strengths best.

Snow-maned beasts were strong, but at most, they reached ten thousand jin. Frost wolves were fast, but weak in strength. If Xia Hong’s claim held true—forty or fifty Woodcutting Realm cultivators could easily surround and kill these two beasts in open combat.

“And listen carefully to what I say next.”

Xia Hong stood, pointing at the group by the bonfire, his voice low and firm:

“You all just said you want to protect your family—your brother, your sister, your mother. That’s good. But I also want you to remember this:

The outside world is full of peril. None of us can guarantee we’ll survive every expedition, every hunt.”

“One day, one of us might die. And when that happens, the person left behind will be your family.”

“Then, if someone suggests denying them cold beast meat, giving them only one crystal fruit per day—would you want me to agree?”

Xia Hong emphasized that final question.

The question struck like a bell, jolting all seven men.

They instantly realized how selfish and foolish their thoughts had been.

Especially Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, who had proposed the reform, lowered their heads, faces flushed with shame.

“We are one whole. If we are one whole, we cannot think only of ourselves. Cold beast meat is vital—it helps us grow stronger. But if only a few grow strong, like when the old Woodcutting Team was in charge, you’ve all seen the end result.”

Before the horrors, we had no defense—only necks to be cut.

So we must raise our collective strength. When every single person in the camp reaches the Woodcutting Realm, will we still fear cold beasts?

Then, even if horrors come, we’ll have the power to fight back.

Note: I mean ‘collective’—including your own family.”

Xia Hong spoke these words with emotion.

After hearing them, their expressions shifted from shame to resolve. Their gaze toward Xia Hong grew increasingly reverent.

Even without noticing, others by the bonfire had gathered, listening. Their faces, too, were filled with deep emotion.

“Our goal is survival—yes. But merely surviving isn’t enough. We must live with dignity, with conviction.”

“We are human beings, not creatures hiding in the shadows.”

“Those cold beasts, those horrors—they are the ones who belong in the dark.”

“One day, I will make them kneel before me, before Great Xia Camp, trembling!”

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(End of Chapter)