Chapter 366: Hongguan, Ultimatum from the Town Head, Reinforcements and Friction with the Jiuzhen

The terrain on the north bank of the Heng River rises continuously from west to east, but because the entire distance is too long, a full two hundred kilometers, it is an extremely slow rising trend, which is difficult to see without careful observation.

But normal people can basically judge this point just by the direction of the Heng River's flow. It is precisely because the terrain rises continuously from west to east that the water flow overall presents a flow direction from east to west.

Walking east along the north bank, when reaching the east exit, the southern cliff of Mount Shuanglong is only two hundred meters high, which means the altitude here is actually not much different from the Mount Shuanglong boundary.

The overall flow of the Heng River is from east to west, which is correct, but for some reason, the middle section suddenly changes course to flow northwest, flowing for about fifty kilometers, and finally returns to the normal flow direction due to the influence of the Mount Shuanglong terrain.

Any river changing course is bound to have a huge impact on the terrain, and for a large river like the Heng River with a width of five or six kilometers, that goes without saying.

The east section of the north bank of the Heng River, affected by river alluvium, has become exceptionally narrow. The width around Jinbi Village is still five or six kilometers, and it is still about four kilometers at Longhe Village, but it is less than two kilometers at the east exit here.

Most of the vegetation in the Frozen Abyss is exceptionally sturdy. With a width of two kilometers, plus the fact that the south side is also invaded by the cold air of the Heng River, the east exit area not only cannot grow a few big trees, but the temperature is also extremely low, which is not suitable for human survival at all.

But walking out to the east from this opening, away from the Heng River basin, and arriving at the boundary of the nine towns, the situation is completely different.

The east exit of the north bank of the Heng River, because it is too narrow and invaded by the cold air of the Heng River, the entire pass is frozen all year round, with icicle pillars hanging everywhere, shaped like the beak of a cold beast of the avian type named Zhu Hong, hence the name Hongguan (Red Beak Pass).

Since it is named after a pass, it naturally represents that its namer, Jiangxia Town, saw the key point here long ago, and attaching importance to it is inevitable.

The ground of the entire Hongguan pass is covered with a layer of thick, hard ice. Not to mention big trees, even a single plant cannot be found.

131st Year of the Mo'ao Era, October 18th

It is night, and over a thousand soldiers in full armor and with sharp weapons are lined up from south to north, with a sentry every five steps and a guard every ten steps, almost occupying the entire pass of less than two kilometers. If one observes carefully, one will find that even above the north cliff, there are several figures patrolling back and forth.

These soldiers are exceptionally vigilant. Any slight disturbance will immediately attract their attention, and then they will send people to check. After confirming that there is nothing wrong, they will return to their original positions and continue to be on alert.

Suddenly, several figures gallop from the west, rushing straight to the pass, instantly attracting the attention of a large number of red-armored soldiers.

"Who goes there!"

"Alert, someone is coming."

"Stop!"

…………

"I am Xia Hou Qin, quickly make way, I have urgent military intelligence to report!"

Hearing the panicked voice of the newcomer, over a dozen green-armored generals behind the pass quickly greeted them. Seeing that Xia Hou Qin and his party of five are all covered in scars and in a disheveled state, their expressions change drastically.

"Lord Xia Hou, what happened?"

"Did something happen to Jinbi Village?"

"Doesn't Longhe still have a wave of garrison troops?"

………………

"Both Jinbi and Longhe have fallen. I am going to the Hongguan camp to see the Deputy Military Head. You continue to guard well here. There should be more people fleeing over later, pay attention to identifying the newcomers."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Understood, my lord, you go to the camp quickly."

"We will definitely guard the pass well!"

Xia Hou Qin clearly has some status in Jiangxia Town. As soon as he speaks, those dozen or so generals nod in agreement, then signal him to go to the camp quickly.

He nods and quickly leads the four people toward the east.

Two kilometers east of the pass, there is a village. Although there are many lights in the village, there are very few pedestrians. Instead, many soldiers are patrolling back and forth in various parts of the village. Above the main building in the center of the village, a black banner is fluttering in the wind, and the two golden characters "Jiangxia" on the banner are exceptionally conspicuous under the illumination of the fire below.

Xia Hou Qin passes the soldier screening and heads straight for the main building as soon as he enters the village.

"Xia Hou Qin, why did you come back from Jinbi Village?"

"Did it fall?"

"Isn't there still Longhe?"

"What happened?"

………………

Over a dozen people are sitting in the main hall of the main building. Seeing the disheveled Xia Hou Qin, they are clearly very surprised, but then they realize something, their expressions change in shock, and a few people stand up directly to ask Xia Hou Qin about the situation.

"Inspector Xia Hou Qin of the Supervisory Yuan, pays respects to the Deputy Military Head!"

Xia Hou Qin has no time to greet everyone and bows directly to a middle-aged man in green brocade clothes sitting in the main seat.

When the green-robed middle-aged man saw Xia Hou Qin come in, a look of shock clearly appeared on his face, but he still quickly raised his hand to signal him to stand up, then asked in a deep voice: "Have both Jinbi and Longhe fallen?"

"Both places have fallen, this subordinate deserves death!"

Xia Hou Qin kneels down to admit his mistake cleanly and neatly, and only then tells the whole process of the fall of Jinbi Village. When mentioning Longhe, he is clearly not very clear about the situation, only giving a rough idea.

"After Jinbi Village fell, this subordinate led over three hundred Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators to break out of the encirclement and flee to Longhe, not wanting Longhe to have already been breached by the four head monks of Dajue Temple leading over five thousand monastery monks. They also made careful disguises. This subordinate was defeated and panicked, and without investigation, rushed into the village rashly, causing the brothers to be surrounded, suffering heavy casualties. The people who could escape in the end, I fear, are less than one in ten. This subordinate deserves death, deserves death!"

Speaking to the end, Xia Hou Qin thinks of the three hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators who followed him out of Jinbi Village, who are now in dire straits, and slaps himself repeatedly, his heart clearly grieving to the extreme.

"Fool, what's the use of slapping yourself now? How did those five thousand-plus monastery monks of Dajue Temple bypass Jinbi to attack Longhe? Jinbi Village is only so big from north to south, didn't you know to send people to watch?"

The green-robed middle-aged man, Jiang Yuanlong, the Deputy Military Head of Jiangxia Town, stands up directly and scolds Xia Hou Qin, clearly also exceptionally furious.

Xia Hou Qin freezes upon hearing this. He experienced two major defeats during the day, and his mind was indeed panicked to the extreme. He didn't have time to think about this problem at all. Now, reminded by Jiang Yuanlong, he reacts immediately.

How could he make such a low-level mistake? When stationed in Jinbi Village, he had already sent over twenty Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators to watch on the north and south sides. If five thousand-plus monastery monks bypassed, how could he not know?

Therefore, there is only one explanation...

"Dajue Temple has the means to march through water areas. This is troublesome!"

Seeing Xia Hou Qin's expression, Jiang Yuanlong reacts immediately. After speaking in a low voice, his pupils are full of shock.

Not only Jiang Yuanlong, but the dozen or so generals in the hall also have their expressions change suddenly.

Jiangxia Town is located on the east bank of the Heng River. When it comes to understanding water areas, they are definitely the first among the nine towns, even better than Bada Town, which is also on the east bank.

The danger level of the Frozen Abyss water area is far higher than that on land. First, aquatic cold beasts are extremely unfamiliar to humans and possess strange abilities, far stronger than land cold beasts; second, they are born to live underwater, and have a natural advantage over humans in home-field combat; third, every water area in the Frozen Abyss basically has an owner, and the cold beasts that can dominate a water area are at least at the Beast King level. It is as difficult as ascending to heaven for humans to operate in water areas.

Like Jiangxia Town, having managed for decades and finally occupying over ten kilometers of water area along the east bank, it is already considered very remarkable.

But even so, until now, only a small number of experienced and relatively strong Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators in Jiangxia Town can operate freely in water areas, not to mention large-scale mobilization of soldiers to march in water areas. Even the hunting teams that go to water areas to capture cold beasts on weekdays dare not exceed twenty people.

The sensitivity of aquatic cold beasts far exceeds that of land cold beasts, and since the water is their world, once a large number of people are discovered, they are easily targeted by underwater beast herds. Examples of total annihilation in the past are numerous.

"Being able to march through water areas means that Dajue Temple has unknowingly controlled the water areas along the east bank. Something is wrong..."

Jiang Yuanlong's brows knit tightly. He looks at the map of Jiangxia Town on the table, looks up at a person on his lower left, and orders: "Yuanhua, you set out immediately, go to the Binjiang camp to find Deputy Military Head Xia Houying, tell him the military intelligence that Jinbi and Longhe have fallen, and then pass on this Military Head's words, telling him to be sure to watch the water areas along the east bank and not give Dajue Temple any opportunity."

"This subordinate obeys!"

The person below bows and accepts the order upon hearing this and goes straight out of the main hall.

Jiangxia has a total of six major Military Heads. There is only one main Military Head, Xia Houzhang, and five Deputy Military Heads. Jiang Yuanlong is just one of them.

Setting up a special camp and letting five Deputy Military Heads lead troops to be stationed for a long time—ordinary village-level camps naturally do not have this treatment. Only five village-level camps in the entire Jiangxia territory have this honor.

For example, Hongguan Village, which controls the east exit of the north bank of the Heng River, set up the Hongguan camp, which is personally responsible by Deputy Military Head Jiang Yuanlong;

And Binjiang Village is the largest village-level camp on the east bank of the Heng River in Jiangxia Town. Like Hongguan Village, it is directly under the jurisdiction of the town city. It also set up the Binjiang camp, which is personally responsible by another Deputy Military Head, Xia Houying.

Since they know that Dajue Temple has the means to march through water areas, the entire east bank must be highly vigilant. Jiang Yuanlong naturally wants to notify Xia Houying in advance.

"Alright, you don't have to kneel, get up!"

Xia Hou Qin is extremely guilty at this moment, his face full of grief: "This subordinate deserves death, not only causing the death of so many brothers but also losing the two villages of Jinbi and Longhe. The two villages have a total of 110,000 people, and now they are all controlled by Dajue Temple. According to the methods of Head Monk Yanxin, I estimate that the people in these two villages..."

"Seven years have passed, and the population of Qinghepu is also older. Dajue Temple's expansion is nothing more than wanting more people to produce offspring for them. As long as they don't kill people indiscriminately, it's fine. If the territory is lost, we can fight it back in the future. Even if you die ten thousand times, you can't exchange it for the lives of those people. Get up!"

Jiang Yuanlong clearly knows the situation in Qinghepu very well. Combining the process of the fall of Jinbi Village that Xia Hou Qin just said, he immediately deduced the core purpose of Dajue Temple's war against Jiangxia this time.

The Deputy Military Head signaled himself to get up for the second time. Xia Hou Qin dared not continue to kneel. After standing up, he thought of something, bowed, and gritted his teeth: "Lord Jiang, the great war has just begun, and our Jiangxia Town has suffered such heavy losses. The reinforcements from the other seven towns have been slow to arrive, clearly on purpose, wanting our Jiangxia to be at the front. This subordinate proposes to send a letter to the seven towns immediately to urge reinforcements.

Dajue Temple's strength is so terrifying, and their methods are weird and inexplicable. Relying on our Jiangxia alone, we simply cannot continue to fight them!"

Over six hundred Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators were beheaded, and over fifty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators, along with the 110,000 people of the two villages, all fell into the hands of the enemy. Jiangxia's first confrontation with Dajue Temple can be described as a disastrous defeat.

Thinking of these, Xia Hou Qin's heart is almost bleeding. He had long thought that Dajue Temple was not simple, so he moved all the people of Jinbi Village to Longhe Village in advance, thinking that if one line of defense was lost, he could just retreat.

Letting Earth-Digging Realm cultivators fight during the day, marching through water areas—who would have thought that Dajue Temple would have such magical means? Losing two villages is not much, the key is that he saw the methods of Head Monk Yanxin in Jinbi Village with his own eyes, controlling over fifty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators, and incidentally controlling the population of the two villages. No need to think, he knows that Dajue Temple will spare no effort to use various means to win them over, or brainwash them, and coercion is also possible, inducing them to turn to Dajue Temple's command.

Fifty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators, thirty thousand of whom were transferred from other villages in Jiangxia, and nearly twenty thousand are locals of Jinbi and Longhe villages. The 110,000 people controlled in the two villages now are basically the families of those twenty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators.

Not to mention the thirty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators transferred from various places, just the twenty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators in Jinbi and Longhe villages—controlling their families, plus that group of monks having such magical and weird means, inducing them to turn to Dajue Temple's command, and even fighting for Dajue Temple, is simply too easy.

Thinking further down, seeing the situation in Jinbi and Longhe villages, will the mentality of the remaining thirty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators from various villages toward Dajue Temple change?

Thinking of this, Xia Hou Qin looks up at Jiang Yuanlong, his expression increasingly solemn.

Although Xia Hou Qin did not say these words, Jiang Yuanlong is a man of what kind of mind. After listening to the whole process of the fall of Jinbi Village, he had long realized this point. At this moment, his expression is much more solemn than Xia Hou Qin's.

"I know, you don't need to remind me. I have already urged the Chui Shan and Bada towns with three urgent letters every day. The reinforcements agreed upon at the end of last month, it's the 18th, and the reinforcements haven't arrived yet. Forget about the other six towns, Chui Shan and Bada are right on the edge, and they actually dare to drag it until now!"

Bang!

Jiang Yuanlong's face is somewhat angry. After sitting back in his chair, he angrily slapped the table.

"If the seven towns dare to drag it out again, maybe we really have to follow the Military Head's words and give way to Dajue Temple. Dead friends, not dead poor Dao, all want our Jiangxia to be at the front, dream!"

Hearing Jiang Yuanlong's words, the group of people below nodded heavily, their eyes full of anger toward the other seven towns.

Tap tap tap...

Suddenly, a messenger soldier hurriedly entered from the door.

"Report, my lord, a letter from the Town Head!"

Hearing that it was a letter from the Town Head, everyone in the room immediately got into the spirit. Jiang Yuanlong stood up directly, took the letter from the messenger soldier's hand, opened it, looked at it, and a look of excitement immediately appeared on his face.

"The Town Head ordered us to continue to guard Hongguan well. He has already issued an ultimatum to the seven towns separately. If the reinforcements from any town do not arrive before the 20th, we will withdraw directly, and he will come to talk to Dajue Temple in person."

Everyone in the room, including Xia Hou Qin, was shocked, and expressions of relief appeared on their faces one after another, speaking one after another:

"That's how it should be!"

"Knowing that Dajue Temple is related to weird monsters, the seven towns still drag it out, wanting our Jiangxia to be at the front, dream."

"Not bad, if the seven towns don't come to help, we might as well make peace with Dajue Temple. North of Hongguan Village is Chui Shan Town. I want to see if Chui Shan is in a hurry!"

"Jinbi, Longhe, plus Hongguan, it's nothing more than giving up these three villages. I'd rather cut some meat than let the dog thieves of the seven towns take advantage, hum!"

………………

Hearing everyone's words, Jiang Yuanlong looked down at the Jiangxia territory map on the table, and his originally excited expression froze slightly.

Giving up territory is cutting meat, not to mention that he, Jiang Yuanlong, is the Deputy Military Head in charge of the Hongguan camp. As long as there is a little hope, he is unwilling to give up here.

"Personal future is small, Jiangxia's interests are big. If the seven towns are really so shameless, I can only follow the Town Head's orders."

The Mo'ao nine towns basically have similar systems. Under the leader, there are Military Heads leading the army and Town Heads leading the government. Jiangxia is no exception.

Jiang Yuanlong's position is Deputy Military Head. Theoretically, he should follow the orders of Military Head Xia Houzhang, but because Xia Houzhang has been healing in the town city recently, the army is temporarily managed by Town Head Jiang Xinfan, so it is the Town Head's letter at this moment.

"Xia Hou Qin, you stay in the Hongguan camp to heal. With the Town Head's ultimatum, the reinforcements from the seven towns will arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest. By then, you will also go to the battlefield to kill the enemy!" ===== CHAPTER 367 =====