Chapter 36: Conflagration Oil [Please Follow!]

No one thought Xia Hong would be injured, because the one who ambushed him was an ordinary man.

That middle-aged man, no matter how close he got, couldn’t change the fact that he was merely an ordinary person.

He had no cultivation whatsoever; even if Xia Hong had just fought the cold beast, was still wounded, and showed signs of exhaustion, it made no difference.

The Woodcutting Realm isn’t just about being able to go out and chop trees.

An increase in basic strength means one’s physical condition far surpasses that of an ordinary person.

The others panicked because they were caught off guard and overwhelmed by sudden fear.

Why would an ordinary middle-aged man in the camp attack Xia Hong?

Thud…………

But when Xia Hong raised his hand, caught the man’s punch, and was shoved back over ten meters, every face in the camp turned pale.

Xia Hong was the strongest man in the camp right now; even without that, everyone had seen the power he displayed just moments ago against the cold beast.

To be punched back over ten meters by one blow?

How could he possibly be an ordinary man?

“I know him—that’s Wang Ping!”

“How could it be him? Fake.”

“Fake?”

…………

There were only a hundred or so people in Great Xia; everyone knew each other, and soon someone recognized the middle-aged man and called out his name.

But even faster, everyone realized the man was not Wang Ping.

“You’re watching me, little brat—quite cautious!”

The man calling himself Wang Ping spoke again, but this time his voice was like wood scraping against wood—harsh, grating, and repulsive.

Xia Hong shook his stinging hand, looked up at the middle-aged man, and showed no surprise—only a cold sneer.

“I knew something was off about why that cold beast suddenly came this way—it was you driving it here. Afraid to show yourself, you sent a beast instead. You’re wasting all your abilities.”

Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and the other six had now arrived, their expressions wary as they surrounded the middle-aged man in a tight circle.

Upon hearing the man’s strange voice, the six instantly understood: this was no human—it was the demon from Redwood Ridge, the same one that had brought them great disaster three months ago.

“Gleeful, gleeful, gleeful—I thought the beast alone could finish you off, but this vile creature was too weak. I had to do the work myself. All six of them are useless, and how much of your strength remains? All your hundred lives are mine now—heeheeheeheehee…”

The middle-aged man’s laughter was twisted and unnatural, just as it had been during the massacre at the camp—this demon seemed to have a peculiar fondness for killing.

Xia Hong kept his eyes fixed on the man before him, but his peripheral vision constantly swept the surroundings; the man confirmed his earlier suspicions.

The demon was indeed manipulating these fake humans from behind.

It had never shown itself directly.

But it seemed terrified of the fire he’d used last time.

This time, it first sent the cold beast as a scout, then slipped into the camp disguised as one of them, hoping to strike by ambush.

Perhaps the punch had confirmed Xia Hong’s strength was nearly gone—the demon’s laughter grew bolder as it scanned the hundred-odd people in the camp, its eyes slowly filling with a bloodthirsty gleam.

“Don’t celebrate too soon—look at your own palm.”

Xia Hong’s mocking tone caused the demon’s laughter to halt.

It looked down in confusion and noticed, for the first time, a layer of yellowish oil smeared over the part of its hand that had struck Xia Hong.

“Trying to trick me? What is this—ah—”

The demon, still skeptical, thought Xia Hong was bluffing—but before it could finish speaking, the oil ignited spontaneously, just as it had in that cave before, unleashing a piercing, agonized scream.

“Ah… ah… again this fire… ah…”

Sitting on the ground, Xia Hong exhaled slightly in relief.

For days now, the smelting furnace had produced only one batch of Conflagration Oil; if he hadn’t rubbed it on himself beforehand, he might have been caught off guard.

From the very beginning, when the cold beast had inexplicably charged toward the cave, Xia Hong had sensed something was wrong.

That Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep had always dwelled near Redwood Ridge—he’d seen it many nights while leading patrols; it rarely ventured elsewhere, so why had it suddenly appeared at the camp?

Coupled with the discovery of Wang Ming’s body that night, he had no choice but to suspect the demon was behind it.

So even before fighting the Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep, he had secretly coated himself with Conflagration Oil, fearing the beast might be controlled by the demon.

If the demon could control people, it could just as easily control cold beasts.

The truth proved it: though the cold beast wasn’t directly controlled, it had been driven here by the demon—and applying the oil beforehand had been correct.

This demon truly feared the system’s fire.

“Ah… ah… you little brat, I will kill you.”

“You—and all of you—none of you will escape.”

“Ah… I will return… none of you will escape…”

The screams didn’t last long—the demon dissolved completely, leaving only a few venomous, hateful words echoing in the cave.

Xia Hong watched as the demon was fully consumed by flame, and a flicker of anger rose in his eyes; this demon had now attacked the camp twice, yet he still hadn’t seen its true face.

This demon’s methods were terrifying and strange, but its personality seemed… overly cautious.

“It would rather disguise itself as an ordinary man to ambush than face me directly—is it truly weak, or just terrified of the system’s fire?”

Xia Hong was deeply puzzled. Logically, the best moment for the demon to strike was right after his battle with the cold beast—when the camp’s fire was out and all eight of them were pinned down.

If he couldn’t figure it out, he’d stop trying. Xia Hong turned to the others and said:

“Light the fire quickly, count the people, and find out if Wang Ping is still here.”

From the moment Wang Ping attacked to the moment the demon’s identity was exposed and burned to ash, less than a minute had passed.

The others were still stunned by the close call when Xia Hong’s voice snapped them back to reality—they immediately began searching the crowd for Wang Ping.

“Gone—Wang Ping is gone. We can’t find him anywhere in the cave.”

Soon, it was confirmed: Wang Ping was missing.

Hearing this, Xia Hong’s eyes darkened with gravity.

The fake Wang Ping appeared—the real Wang Ping vanished.

Without doubt, the demon had first slipped into the cave, silently killed Wang Ping, then assumed his form.

That meant: if the demon killed anyone, it could transform into them—and even control them remotely?

Xia Hong’s worries ran deeper still.

“Wang Ping was just an ordinary man, yet the punch he delivered had real power beyond the Woodcutting Realm.”

Not only could it mimic someone, but also enhance their original strength?

More critically, the demon could control multiple people at once.

“If we don’t eliminate this demon soon, it will become a great calamity!”

Brothers who’ve made it this far, please keep reading—this is the first day of promotion, and the new book’s PK period is crucial. Thank you all.

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(End of Chapter)