Chapter 288

The person Liu Yuan caught was a young man dressed in white.

He probably peeped at the scene of the Cloud Dragon Army slaughtering cold beasts just now. At this moment, he was still a bit dazed, his pupils full of shock.

"Commander, this should be a person from Longshan!"

Xia Chuan waved his hand. He already knew when he saw this person's clothing; the color and style were clearly Longshan's.

At the same time, the young man in white also recovered. Especially when he raised his head and saw Xia Chuan's murderous eyes, he immediately shivered and hurriedly said:

"My lord, spare my life! This little one is Xue Ping. I was entrusted by someone to specifically deliver a letter to Da Xia. I just stumbled into this place by mistake, not peeping on purpose."

Xia Chuan's expression was stunned at first, then he turned his head to look three or four kilometers away, thought for a moment, and asked: "Who asked you to deliver the letter?"

"Li Hu, Yang Zhong."

Sure enough!

A flash of realization crossed Xia Chuan's eyes. This is a branch of Longshan closest to Wu Shuang. Their current depth is about eight kilometers. From Longshan to Wu Shuang, if you don't take the plains, you will pass through the periphery of four kilometers.

"I was just about to go to Wu Shuang when I saw movement here. I guessed it was Da Xia people hunting, so I came directly. It was not intentionally peeping at Da Xia training. I hope the lord will forgive me!"

Hearing this explanation, Xia Chuan still didn't let down his guard, just signaled Liu Yuan to let go of Xue Ping, and continued to ask:

"What news did they ask you to deliver to me?"

After Xue Ping was let go, he hesitated for a while, but soon answered:

"There are two pieces of news in total. First, Longshan has recently added a new army of one thousand people; second, Longshan is going to send a large batch of supplies to Bai Yuan. Brother Tiger is ninety percent sure that they are all sets of hundred-forged weapons and battle armor, estimated to be about eight hundred sets."

Xia Chuan's expression changed suddenly upon hearing these two pieces of news.

Liu Yuan, standing behind Xue Ping, was the same.

Longshan already had three thousand Longyou Army, almost invincible in Longyou. Actually wanting to increase the army by one thousand, clearly, they are preparing for something.

Bai Yuan had long ago defected to Hou Hu. Zhaoyang's one thousand Blood Guard Army is now stationed in the Bai Yuan camp. Longshan sending sets of hundred-forged weapons and battle armor to Bai Yuan represents what...

Trade?

Impossible. Hundred-forged battle armor and weapons are strategically significant supplies for any camp. One or two sets, or a small amount, might be traded. If the quantity is large, it cannot be trade.

800 sets are almost enough to arm a new army of one thousand.

Xia Chuan has been worrying about the equipment of the Cloud Dragon Army recently, so he has reason to believe that 800 sets of hundred-forged blades and battle armor, whether it is Da Xia, Zhaoyang, or Longshan, none of the three parties would ever sell them to the other.

Considering the previous relationship between Longshan and Zhaoyang, it is impossible for Li Ying Xuan Ling to sell 800 sets to Zhaoyang.

Xia Chuan's eyes twitched suddenly, and a bold guess suddenly flashed in his heart.

No, it's no longer just a guess. He can almost be certain.

The relationship between the two families has probably undergone a drastic change!

Xia Chuan hurriedly made himself calm down, then continued to ask Xue Ping:

"Why didn't Li Hu and Yang Zhong come themselves? What is your relationship with them?"

Xue Ping didn't say much, just took out a token from his arms, handed it to Xia Chuan, and bowed: "This is the token Brother Tiger gave me. Brother Tiger and Brother Zhong have both entered the new army and cannot leave the military camp for a long time, so they can only entrust me to deliver the letter to the lord."

Xia Chuan looked down at the token in his hand, and his suspicion of Xue Ping disappeared.

This is his hunting team token, which he handed to the other party himself when Li Hu came to Wu Shuang to deliver a letter on the 20th of last month.

Xue Ping added at this time: "That batch of supplies, Longshan originally planned to send it to Bai Yuan after nightfall on the 10th, but later I don't know what happened, the date was delayed, and it won't be sent until the 20th."

Xia Chuan's expression vibrated. The date Xue Ping said should be the Longyou calendar. The Longyou calendar is ten days apart from the Da Xia calendar. Sending it on the 20th, according to the Da Xia calendar, is the 30th of this month, which is the nightfall five days later.

"Liu Yuan, you take the army and continue to stay here, train as usual at night, and return to the military camp at dawn. Before dawn on the 30th, I will come to find you."

"Subordinate obeys!"

After Xia Chuan finished instructing Liu Yuan, he said to Xue Ping: "You come with me. For a period of time in the future, you will stay in Wu Shuang. When the time is right, I will let you return to Longshan."

Xue Ping's expression was stunned, but soon he figured something out, nodded, and followed behind Xia Chuan, walking toward Wu Shuang together.

Wu Shuang station is surrounded by more than eight hundred giant stones. Each of these giant stones is more than ten meters high, three to five meters wide, and the thickness basically reaches ten meters.

The entire interior of the station is a circular space with a diameter of more than one kilometer. Inside, houses stand in great numbers, surrounding a main building in the center.

Da Xia has occupied Wu Shuang for more than two months, and the original giant stone array station has naturally undergone some changes.

The gaps between the giant stones on the periphery have all been poured with molten iron, and the tops of the giant stones are covered with iron spikes, clearly guarding against people climbing over from above;

The only exit, the gate on the east side, has also been replaced with a large iron gate that is thicker and heavier than the original one. The opening and closing method has become the same as the Xia City gate, hanging in mid-air with iron chains.

Just from these two points, it can be seen that after Da Xia's transformation, the defensive capability of the Wu Shuang station is much higher than before.

Inside the station, there have also been great changes.

Probably to adapt to the change in population reduction, there are many fewer houses inside the station, leaving only less than fifty, and from the appearance, most are still cast from iron materials, still the same as before, surrounding the main building in the center.

"Pay respects to the Grand Coordinator!"

"Arrange a place for him to stay."

Xia Chuan took Xue Ping all the way to the bottom of the main building. After instructing his subordinates, he turned his head and said to Xue Ping: "During this period, you stay here and don't go anywhere. When this matter is over, I will let you go back."

Xue Ping didn't speak, nodded, and went down with that person.

Xia Chuan went all the way to the top floor of the main building, saw the empty main seat behind the main hall, and his expression froze slightly.

"Isn't the Grand Coordinator training in the mountains? Why is he back?"

Lin Kai, who learned that Xia Chuan was back, hurried over. Seeing Xia Chuan's heavy expression, he immediately asked curiously.

Xia Chuan raised his head, saw Lin Kai, and didn't hide it, telling all the news Xue Ping brought.

"800 sets of hundred-forged blades and battle armor, Longshan sending them to Bai Yuan camp, how is this possible? Is the lord sure that this Xue Ping is fine?"

After Lin Kai finished listening, he was full of disbelief, subconsciously doubting Xue Ping, worried about whether the news he brought was fake.

But he immediately realized that Xia Chuan would not be easily deceived. It is highly likely that he was sure before bringing Xue Ping's news back.

"What can Zhaoyang take out? Let Longshan be worth paying such a high price to exchange. 800 sets of finished hundred-forged blades and battle armor, not to mention the large amount of time and effort spent by craftsmen, just the iron ore alone is over a hundred million jin..."

Lin Kai paused here and continued: "Moreover, Zhaoyang previously wanted to challenge Longshan's hegemony. The relationship between these two families should be very bad, right? Sending so many weapons and battle armor over, it is clearly helping the enemy. Are those people in Longshan so stupid?"

"The key is, Longshan also just established a new army. Even if Longshan's treasury is full, after equipping the new army, they don't need to be so wasteful and sell everything to Zhaoyang, right?"

Hearing Lin Kai's words, Xia Chuan's expression froze and asked: "Why do you conclude that the relationship between Longshan and Zhaoyang is very bad?"

Lin Kai was stunned when he heard this, looking at Xia Chuan with some confusion.

Xia Chuan said quietly: "The relationship is very bad, that was before. Before Da Xia intervened in Longyou, their relationship was indeed very bad, but now?"

Lin Kai's expression froze, realizing the meaning in Xia Chuan's words, his face changed greatly:

"Is the Grand Coordinator saying that the two families are cooperating to deal with us?"

"Except for this reason, I can't think of any other reason that would make Longshan willing to send 800 sets of hundred-forged blades and battle armor to Hou Hu's hands."

Lin Kai's body trembled. Only then did he realize the reason for Xia Chuan's heavy expression.

"How many days has the leader not been back?"

Lin Kai hurriedly answered: "Today is the third day."

After arriving in Wu Shuang on the ninth day of the sixth month, Xia Hong went into seclusion for thirteen days, and only came out three days ago. As soon as he came out, he took Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo to investigate the situation of the Yang Lu camp, and hasn't returned until today.

Seeing the worry on Xia Chuan's face, Lin Kai comforted: "The leader is so strong, he will be fine, Grand Coordinator, don't worry."

Xia Chuan shook his head slightly and said: "The leader is naturally fine. I am worried about whether Longshan and Zhaoyang have really merged. If so, Da Xia's situation will be troublesome next. And these 800 sets of weapons and battle armor, whether to let Longshan successfully hand them over to Zhaoyang is also a problem!"

"Of course not..."

Lin Kai spoke subconsciously, but stopped himself before finishing, showing a look of difficulty, and didn't continue.

They know the importance of 800 sets of weapons and battle armor.

Don't Longshan and Zhaoyang know?

Da Xia's strength in Wu Shuang, besides the 1000 Cloud Dragon Army, is a total of seven Cold-Resisting Realm cultivators, including the two of them and the leader Xia Hong.

Xia Hong and the other two are not here, so there are only four Cold-Resisting Realm cultivators left.

The strength of the Cloud Dragon Army is naturally good, but the Longyou Army and Blood Guard Army are not weak either.

With their little strength, wanting to target that batch of supplies, I'm afraid...

Longshan has already established a new army. Zhaoyang wanting this batch of weapons and battle armor is highly likely to establish a new army too. If we sit idly by now, Da Xia's trouble will get bigger and bigger later.

Moreover, this batch of weapons and battle armor, the Cloud Dragon Army also happens to covet!

Xia Chuan's thoughts gradually became clear, and he made a prompt decision and ordered Lin Kai: "You go back to Xia City. If there is no one, transfer people over. We cannot let Longshan send things to Hou Hu's hands so smoothly."

"Subordinate obeys!"

Lin Kai bowed and obeyed, and immediately turned and walked out.

"There are still five days left. Maybe Big Brother will come back halfway. Moreover, the Cloud Dragon Army has been using beast tides to practice during this period. It's hard to say how they will perform on the real battlefield. It's just right to take them out and try a head-on confrontation with the Longyou Army and Blood Guard Army, which is also good!"

Of course, saying "try" means preparations must be fully made.

The Cloud Dragon Army that was finally built, every soldier, Xia Chuan treasures them very much, otherwise he wouldn't have gone into the mountains to train the army himself. In the past half month, there were no soldier casualties, which is proof.

"The route for Longshan to transport supplies, the location where Zhaoyang might go to meet them, and the meeting point of the two sides, all factors must be considered. We can only collide with one of the parties, and we must also consider the retreat..."

Xia Chuan took out the map from his arms, found a seat in the hall, and then studied it carefully.

At the end of April, after the situation in Longyou was settled, Da Xia's exploration of the surrounding environment of Wu Shuang never stopped. Now that two months have passed, the situation on the map has naturally become more detailed.

The key is, Liu Yuan didn't just accompany the training in the Longshan branch for the past half month. His Scout Battalion had long ago touched into the territories of Bai Yuan and Song Yuan, and had explored the situation within the two territories almost completely.

What Xia Chuan didn't know was that Xue Ping, who was taken to the guest room, was both uneasy and shocked in his heart at this moment.

The reason for being uneasy is naturally because of Xia Chuan's distrust of him.

Xue Ping is not stupid. He knows very well why Xia Chuan wants to keep him. Only after five days, when the two pieces of news he brought are confirmed, can he be considered to have passed this round of testing and gained Xia Chuan's true trust;

The reason for being shocked is:

"I have seen the Longyou Army training before. At most, they just push forward step by step against the cold beasts on the periphery of Longshan. Da Xia... actually uses beast tides to train the army. I didn't see it wrong, it is a beast tide. How did they create a beast tide? This... this... this is also... too crazy!"

………………

South of Wu Shuang, above a big tree in the Yang Lu territory.

Xia Hong, dressed in black, stood on the top of the treetop. Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo stood behind him. The three acted in unison, all looking into the distance to the west.

The treetop position where the three stood was about two hundred meters from the ground. Below the big tree was a thick white fog. The white fog was too thick, completely blocking even the tree trunks in mid-air, and the ground was completely invisible.

You know, in the Pingxi Plain area, there are not many trees to block, even at night, the visibility is extremely high. At this moment, the sky is already dawning, and the visibility is still so low, which shows the thickness of this white fog.

Roar... roar...

In the white fog area under the tree, the beast roars have almost never stopped.

Anyone with a little hunting experience knows that this dense beast roar means that the density of cold beasts here is terrifyingly high.

"The reason for the disappearance of the Arrow Bamboo Forest beast tide is considered found. So many cold beasts in Red Wood Ridge have all run into the Yang Lu territory."

Hearing Chen Yingyuan's words, Peng Bo nodded and continued: "Three days, we only walked ten kilometers inside, and we encountered three waves of cold beast groups living together, four high-level cold beasts, and countless scattered cold beasts. I have hunted in Red Wood Ridge for so long, and I have never encountered this situation."

"It should be that the cold beasts in the depths of Red Wood Ridge have all run here. This white fog area is the reason, right, leader?"

After Chen Yingyuan finished speaking, he and Peng Bo looked at Xia Hong in front.

Xia Hong nodded when he heard this, turned his head to look at the luggage on their backs, and asked:

"How much Condensing Fire Oil do you have left on you?"

If someone were on the side, they could see that the three of them were covered with a layer of pitch-black grease, looking like three people burned by fire.

It's just that the grease on the three of them was constantly fading with the erosion of the white fog. Clearly, this white fog contains extremely strong strange energy.

"I have twenty-seven blocks left here."

"I have thirty-one blocks."

Xia Hong's brows froze slightly. When he left Wu Shuang, he asked the two to bring 100 blocks of Condensing Fire Oil each. It had only been three days, and two-thirds had been used. The key was that they had only advanced ten kilometers inside.

"Peng Bo, how far is it from here to Yang Yuan Peak?"

Peng Bo's brows froze slightly. After observing for a while, he answered: "There should be more than twenty kilometers left."

More than twenty kilometers, the Condensing Fire Oil is definitely not enough.

"With so many cold beasts gathered here, I haven't seen them gather to attack the surrounding human camps. It seems they just simply like to stay in this dense fog area. I have lived for fifty or sixty years, and I have really never seen this situation."

After Chen Yingyuan finished speaking, he took out a piece of jade bone from his backpack and said:

"The cold beasts we killed along the way, whether low-level, intermediate, or high-level, didn't show any abnormality of being controlled. Beast meat, beast blood, including jade bone, are all in a normal state. Does the leader really think that these cold beasts gathering here has something to do with that Bai Lu Strange on Yang Yuan Peak?"

Xia Hong's certain expression was a disguised answer to Chen Yingyuan's question.

In fact, the moment he saw the Yang Lu fog area three days ago, Xia Hong had already concluded that that Bai Lu Strange was definitely not dead.

The reason is simple. In his eyes of breaking delusions, the white fog area in the eyes of Chen and Peng was clearly an area covered by fire-red substances.

Those fire-red substances, he had seen on Wu Xiong, who was controlled by the Bai Lu Strange, when Han Qiong was exterminated.

From this, he could basically conclude that the Wu Xiong he beheaded that day was just a puppet controlled by the Bai Lu Strange.

That Bai Lu Strange not only didn't die but became even stronger.

From the fact that it could create a fog area of tens of kilometers in radius and attract so many cold beasts to occupy this place, this point could be seen.

"Leader, how about I go back and get some Condensing Fire Oil first, and then explore further inside?"

Peng Bo urgently wanted to go back to Yang Yuan Peak to see. Probably worried that Xia Hong was unwilling to continue exploring inside, he took the initiative to propose.

Xia Hong stood in place and thought for a while, and said: "You and Chen Yingyuan, take the cold beasts we hunted in the past three days back. I will continue to explore further inside to see how dense the cold beasts are inside."

"Leader, this..."

Chen Yingyuan was probably worried about Xia Hong's safety; Peng Bo clearly wanted to continue following him, but due to the lack of Condensing Fire Oil, he couldn't make up his mind.

"Alright, that's it. Judging from the density of cold beasts in the outer ten kilometers, I estimate that before reaching Yang Yuan Peak, I will be driven out by the cold beasts. You guys go back first!"

Since Xia Hong insisted, the two of Chen and Peng couldn't say anything. After bowing to him, they jumped off the tree and walked toward Wu Shuang in the north.

Xia Hong turned his head to look at the direction of Yang Yuan Peak in the south, his expression flickering slightly.

"Attracting a large number of cold beasts here, and not going to trouble the surrounding camps, the purpose is to turn this place into a desperate situation, not wanting others to approach. Cold beasts play a protective role. What exactly do you want to guard?"

………………

48th Year of Longyou, 20th Day of the 6th Month

After nightfall, periphery of Longshan camp

A thousand-man army, ready to go, guarded ten giant iron four-wheeled vehicles, standing in a long line more than two hundred meters long.

There is a road to the east of the camp periphery that can be used for four-wheeled vehicles to advance, clearly cleared in the past few days.

Army commandant Zhou Yuan is standing in front of the team, loudly explaining something.

At the back of the team, Yang Zhong and Li Hu stood side by side, looking at the hundred large wooden boxes loaded on the ten large vehicles, and looked at each other with inexplicable expressions.

"Alright, set off!"

Commandant Zhou Yuan finally finished explaining. With an order, the people in the front row began to push the vehicles and set off, and the teams behind followed one after another.

Team Nine, Yang Zhong and Li Hu followed the other twenty people to the front of the four-wheeled vehicle, put ropes on their shoulders, and then exerted force to pull forward.

"Delayed for ten days, just for training, right?"

"Originally, it was said that the Second Army would escort it. It was Commandant Zhou Yuan who said that our Fourth Army was just established, which is just suitable for this task that is not too difficult. First, it can be considered training us, and second, it just happens to deter Hou Hu."

"Deter Hou Hu? This clearly transports hundred-forged weapons and battle armor. How did I hear that Hou Hu has already defected to our Longshan, and this batch of weapons is sent by our camp to them."

"I guess so too. What can Zhaoyang use to fight our Longshan? Defecting to us is sooner or later. Tsk tsk, these hundred-forged weapons and armor, the new army has just been fully issued, and so many are sent to them at once."

………………

Hearing the discussion in the team, Li Hu and Yang Zhong sighed slightly.

Five days ago, after finding out that the things in the boxes were to be sent to Bai Yuan, they immediately asked Xue Ping to report to Da Xia.

But who would have thought that in the past five days, more and more news spread in Longshan, and they also knew the news of Hou Hu defecting to Longshan.

After knowing, both of them wanted to report to Da Xia at the first time. The problem is that Xue Ping went and never returned, and they couldn't find anyone anymore.

It's not that their popularity is not good, mainly because Li Yuanqing and Yang Gan are making trouble, and there are not many people who dare to get close to them on weekdays. Like Xue Ping, there is almost no second reliable person to find.

"The news of Hou Hu defecting to Longshan is highly likely to be true. I saw people from the Zhaoyang camp in the military camp a few days ago. Although it was very far away, judging from their clothing, I can basically confirm it. We must find a way to pass this news to the Grand Coordinator."

Hearing Yang Zhong's whisper, Li Hu nodded first, but then a look of helplessness appeared in his eyes, and he lowered his head and whispered: "The first two pieces of news, I don't know if Xue Ping has passed them to Da Xia. Now this piece of news is even harder to pass over."

"In the station, we can't leave the military camp. It's different when we go out. We will definitely find a chance on the road. As long as one of us can leave the team, it will be fine."

Li Hu nodded and whispered: "Zhou Yuan just said that the destination is at the junction of Changning and Bai Yuan, a total of more than thirty kilometers, estimated to take more than five hours. We will definitely have a chance on the way."

Strictly speaking, Bai Yuan is located in the central part of Longyou. To the east of Longshan is Changning, and to the east of Changning is Bai Yuan.

Such an important batch of supplies, Zhaoyang cannot wait for them to be sent into the Bai Yuan station. The territorial characteristics of Changning are long from north to south, and only ten or so kilometers from east to west, which is not wide. Hou Hu will definitely send a large army from Bai Yuan to Changning territory to meet them.

"I hope Xue Ping has already passed the news to the lord. I just reacted that through this batch of supplies, we can basically see what Zhaoyang and Longshan intend to do now. After the lord knows, he will definitely respond!"

Li Hu pondered secretly in his heart, a flash of urgency in his eyes.

(End of chapter)