Chapter 372: Retreat and Ceasefire, Entrustment, Panic in Basha, Sudden Situation

Wuyuan was originally supposed to be called Five Ape Mountain.

Because the mountain has five dangerous peaks resembling a giant, upright palm, and the mountain was heavily occupied by a type of cold beast called the Frost-Electric Ape, it earned the name Five Ape Mountain.

In the first year, fourth month, Great Xia destroyed the Three Tiger Camp and incorporated the entire Five Ape Mountain into its territory. Initially, it was collectively referred to as "Five Apes" for convenience, but later, feeling that the character for "ape" was inauspicious, it was changed to the character for "origin," thus giving rise to the name Wuyuan.

Seven years have passed, and Wuyuan has long since undergone earth-shaking changes.

Especially four years ago, when Xia Hong established this place as Great Xia's bridgehead for eastward expansion and added eight subordinate offices, the changes here became even more rapid with each passing day.

Coupled with the fact that last October, Xia Hong personally took action to drive away that Red Carp Monster and seized fifteen kilometers of coastline, it was like adding fuel to the fire for Wuyuan, which has now become the most important, and undisputed, garrison point within Great Xia's borders.

Xia Hong led Shi Ping across the snow forest, heading three kilometers north, and from afar, he saw a fan-shaped city wall stretching fifteen kilometers from east to west.

Wuyuan had already been built into a city during Xu Ning's administration.

The city wall imitated the original Longshan garrison, inserting hundreds of five-cornered iron piles, each eight meters long, into the ground, enclosing a fan-shaped city along the cliffs of Five Ape Mountain. The total length of the city wall was three kilometers longer than the original Longshan.

"Greetings, Lord! Greetings, Deputy Si Zheng!"

"No need for formalities, continue your watch!"

Xia Hong led Shi Ping through the city gate, heading straight for the main hall of the office.

Inside the main hall, Xia Chuan was in the midst of a heated discussion with Director Yu Wen Tao, Yuan Cheng, and Luo Yuan. Seeing Xia Hong enter, they hurriedly bowed to him.

"Greetings, Lord!"

Xia Hong sat in the main seat. Seeing Xia Chuan preparing to hand him the letter sent back by Bai and Xiang, he waved his hand directly and said, "I won't read it; just tell me the specific situation."

Xia Chuan nodded, put away the letter, and bowed, saying, "On the 17th of this month, a total of 5,000 Garrison Troops from Yangqu and Longgu bypassed the east and entered Jiangxia territory, reaching the Binjiang Camp directly. Adding Jiangxia's own 5,000 Garrison Troops, that makes an army of 10,000. Furthermore, Jiangxia transferred 90,000 Earth-Digging Realm soldiers from the town and pulled out all the Earth-Digging Realm soldiers from the remaining 24 village-level camps in the territory, gathering a total of 150,000 Earth-Digging Realm soldiers. In terms of troop strength, they have formed an absolute advantage over Great Awakening Temple."

"On the 19th, 21st, and 23rd, Great Awakening Temple launched three charges against the Binjiang Camp—two daytime battles and one night battle—all of which ended in failure. On the Great Awakening Temple side, the three great heads—Jin Yang, Ju Kong, and Heiyan—along with more than 50 formal monks were killed in battle. There are only a little over 2,000 Zen monks left, and their Earth-Digging Realm troop strength is roughly around 90,000."

"The three towns didn't have it easy either. It is estimated that over 3,000 people at the Frost-Resisting level died, mainly from Jiangxia. Of the 10,000 Garrison Troops, only 4,000-plus remain, and there are about 80,000 Earth-Digging Realm soldiers left, which is about the same as Great Awakening Temple's casualties."

Hearing the casualties on both sides, Xia Hong raised an eyebrow and asked, "Just this? What about the Manifestation level on both sides?"

"I was just about to say. Two days ago, in the daytime battle on the 23rd, the Binjiang Camp was almost breached. At the final moment, Jiang Yinglong, Xia Houzhang, Long Mingyuan, and Cao Ganyang all took action. Although Great Awakening Temple only sent the three great masters—Jin Gang, Yan Long, and Heiming—they suppressed the four of them throughout the entire battle."

"According to Bai Shanqiu, the four of them fought for their lives and managed to drag the battle into the night. Relying on the 100,000 Earth-Digging Realm soldiers, they finally managed to scatter the enemy army. The three great masters saw that there was no hope of breaking the pass, so they finally stopped and ordered Yan Xin to withdraw the troops."

As Xia Chuan finished speaking, the expressions of Director Yu Wen Tao and the others tightened slightly.

The total troop strength of both sides already exceeded 300,000, not to mention that this included thousands at the Frost-Resisting level and tens of thousands of Garrison Troops.

Even seven Manifestation-level experts had taken action!

Just hearing about it, one could imagine how intense the fighting at the Binjiang Camp was.

Although Xia Hong's eyes flickered, he did not show much surprise when he heard about the Manifestation-level battle.

Eight Manifestation-level experts had already lost two and severely injured three when they went to Great Awakening Temple; let alone four Manifestation-level experts. It was fortunate that this was a life-and-death battlefield, not a one-on-one duel, and those three masters from Great Awakening Temple likely had some methods they dared not use in front of so many people, otherwise, Jiang Yinglong and the other three would likely have died.

The news sent back by Bai and Xiang this time was clearly substantial. Seeing that everyone's expressions had calmed down, Xia Chuan continued.

"After the great battle on the 23rd ended, Great Awakening Temple retreated to Hong Pass. The next day, the 24th, Jiangxia Town Head Jiang Xinfan went to Hong Pass to meet Head Yan Xin in person."

"What exactly Jiang Xinfan and Yan Xin discussed is unclear, but on the night after they finished talking—the night of the 24th—the tens of thousands of Great Awakening Temple troops stationed west of the Binjiang Camp all withdrew back to Hong Pass."

"They negotiated peace."

"It must be a peace negotiation. Great Awakening Temple has been attacking for so long and couldn't take it down; continuing to fight is just a waste of time."

"The heads of the three towns have appeared. Is Great Awakening Temple worried about the rest if they continue to fight?"

Hearing this, Director Yu Wen Tao and the others spoke up immediately.

Xia Chuan nodded upon hearing their words, expressing his agreement.

This was obvious and basically couldn't be wrong.

"Is it a peace negotiation, or a plea for peace?"

However, Xia Hong suddenly threw out a question at this moment.

Everyone was stunned, then lowered their heads to ponder.

A peace negotiation is when both sides don't want to continue fighting;

While a plea for peace is when only one side doesn't want to continue fighting and doesn't dare to fight anymore, so they take the initiative to find the other side to talk about stopping the war.

"It was Jiang Xinfan who took the initiative to go to the Hong Pass camp. Of course, it's a plea for peace!"

Xia Chuan gave the answer first, and Director Yu Wen Tao and the others nodded immediately, expressing their agreement.

"Big Brother, there is another important piece of news sent by a Jiangxia spy..."

Xia Chuan suddenly took out another letter. After finishing, he paused, and after a hint of excitement appeared in his pupils, he continued: "In the second half of the night on the 20th, Jiangxia suddenly blockaded the town, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving. The Garrison Troops and Frost-Resisting level experts stationed outside were all recalled to the town."

A Jiangxia spy?

Xia Hong had Xia Chuan send a few Frost-Resisting level experts from the East Ridge to infiltrate the eight towns last year. Now, these spies had also begun to send news back.

"Blockaded the town in the second half of the night on the 23rd, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving..."

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, suddenly thought of something, and looked up at Xia Chuan sharply.

"Did something happen to Jiang Yinglong?"

On the 23rd, Jiang Yinglong and the other three fought for their lives to drag the battle into the night, and then in the second half of the night, Jiangxia blockaded the town and forbade anyone from entering or leaving. This clearly meant they wanted to block some major news, and it was highly likely to be news unfavorable to Jiangxia.

Other than something happening to Jiang Yinglong, there didn't seem to be any other reason.

Xia Chuan had clearly thought of this link and nodded excitedly: "It could also be Xia Houzhang. It must be that one of these two had an accident."

Highly likely Jiang Yinglong!

Xia Hong did not say this out loud. During the Battle of Hong Pass at the end of November, when he saved Xia Houzhang from the two great masters, Jin Gang and Yan Long, he saw with his own eyes a severely injured Manifestation-level expert flying toward Jiangxia Town. That was nine times out of ten Jiang Yinglong.

That injury was much more severe than Xia Houzhang's and didn't look like something that could be healed in two or three months.

Combined with this news, Jiang Yinglong's injury had not healed, and he fought for his life against the three great masters at the Binjiang Camp, so it was highly likely that he had run into trouble.

Blockading the town was to prevent the news from spreading to the other eight towns.

Director Yu Wen Tao also reacted at this moment and said in a low voice: "This really matches up. Jiangxia is severely damaged and unable to fight again. Ceding land and signing a treaty—no matter what the conditions are, as long as they can keep the town, it's fine. Great Awakening Temple is fighting one against three, their losses are not small, and they don't dare to push too hard, so they simply took the opportunity to agree to withdraw troops and stop the war."

"The troops have withdrawn, but whether the war has stopped is not certain."

Xia Hong suddenly picked up on Director Yu Wen Tao's words.

Xia Chuan and the others were stunned when they heard this.

But they quickly understood the meaning of Xia Hong's words, and their expressions changed drastically.

"So this is what Big Brother meant by Jiangxia's turning point."

Especially Xia Chuan, who suddenly understood what Xia Hong meant at the family banquet half a month ago when he said Jiangxia would welcome a turning point.

"It's getting colder recently, you all feel it, right?"

Hearing Xia Hong's question, everyone was a bit confused.

"It's almost February, the Xinghe cold wave is coming!"

Shi Ping was the first to react and took Xia Hong's words first.

Reminded by Shi Ping, Xia Chuan and the four others also understood.

Every year in February, the Xinghe has a flood season that lasts for two months. During the flood season, the solid ice on the river surface will rise continuously with the water level, and the cold air will spread to the north bank, causing the temperature in the entire Five Ape Mountain area to plummet.

"Shi Ping, it seems you didn't serve as Wuyuan's Deputy Si Zheng in vain. Not bad!"

Praised by Xia Hong, Shi Ping was clearly very excited and bowed: "The Lord is too kind. Administering a region, one must naturally understand all local conditions. I notified all departments in Wuyuan ten days ago, letting them prepare for the arrival of the cold wave."

Xia Chuan also reacted at this time as to why Xia Hong mentioned February, and looked up sharply: "February is not only the cold wave, but also the day for Great Awakening Temple's monk selection. They are going to start going to every village to collect six-year-old boys..."

Speaking of this, he paused and continued: "Could it be that Great Awakening Temple agreed to Jiangxia's plea for peace for this reason?"

"That wouldn't go that far. Just collecting boys, they can just send some people. It won't affect the war. However, aren't you curious about what Great Awakening Temple actually uses all those six-year-old boys for after collecting them?"

Xia Chuan, Director Yu Wen Tao, and the five others had stiff expressions upon hearing this and fell into silence.

Since Great Awakening Temple is associated with ghosts and monsters, it's not hard to guess what they want those six-year-old boys for. In any case, it won't be anything good.

Xia Hong couldn't possibly be unaware of this point.

By raising this question now, Xia Hong's deeper meaning was clearly asking: don't they want to manage those six-year-old boys?

The five hesitated for a long time, and finally, Xia Chuan was the first to break the silence:

"If we are to manage it, the Jiuzhen should manage it first!"

As soon as he spoke, Director Yu Wen Tao and the four others followed:

"If the Jiuzhen could really work together, it wouldn't be our turn to worry about this. Great Awakening Temple was able to grow and develop precisely because they indulged it. The disaster they brought upon themselves must naturally be borne by themselves."

"At this critical juncture, no matter the reason, Great Xia cannot take the initiative to expose itself unless we are prepared for eastward expansion."

"That's right, I also sympathize with those children, but the timing is not right!"

…………

After listening to the five, Xia Hong nodded slightly and said nothing more.

He saw clearly the changes in their expressions from hesitation to determination, knowing that hesitation meant they still had reverence for life.

The cold-bloodedness shown by the superiors of the Jiuzhen during this confrontation with Great Awakening Temple made him feel somewhat cold-hearted. If they don't even treat Earth-Digging Realm soldiers as human beings, how can one expect them to have any compassion for others?

He was just worried that Xia Chuan, Director Yu Wen Tao, and all of Great Xia's top brass would gradually become like those people as the camp continued to grow and their own strength became stronger.

Fortunately, there was no such trend at the moment.

Xia Hong stood up and looked toward the direction of Qinghepu in the east, asking in a low voice: "How many people in the Yunjiao and Long Wu armies have yet to break through?"

"386 in the Yunjiao Army, 375 in the Long Wu Army."

Li Ying Xuan Ling's speculation half a month ago was likely correct. It would take until April at the earliest for everyone to break through to the Frost-Resisting level.

Seeing Xia Hong frowning, Xia Chuan added: "I have already sent a letter back to urge them. In addition, the extra spots in the Martial Arts Pavilion have also been prioritized for those in the Dragon-Slaying Army who have not yet broken through."

With sufficient resources, urging them on cultivation was useless; it still depended on individual fate. How could Xia Hong not understand this principle?

But with troops about to be deployed, there was no other way besides urging them.

"Try to make them speed up; we will need them soon."

"Subordinate obeys!"

………………

Mo'ao Era 132, February 4th

Inside the main hall of Jiangxia Town, hundreds of people, old and young, were gathered.

Everyone looked up at the living quarters behind the main hall, their expressions tense to the extreme. A small number of people seemed to have already sensed something, their eyes filled with hot tears, their faces showing grief.

In the living quarters behind the main hall, Xia Houzhang and Jiang Xinfan were guarding the bedside.

Both of them looked haggard, clearly having not closed their eyes for days and nights. But even so, they kept staring at the person on the bed, their faces filled with both panic and expectation.

The person lying on the bed was none other than the Jiangxia Lord, Jiang Yinglong.

There were three cone-shaped wounds on the left side of Jiang Yinglong's chest; one could tell at a glance that they were caused by being pierced by a long spear. Although the wounds had stopped oozing blood, the surrounding area had long since turned charred black, as if scorched by fire.

Not only his chest, but his right shoulder and forehead each had a large depression, and there were more than twenty unexplained swellings all over his body.

Jiang Yinglong was currently breathing weakly, clearly not in a normal state of unconsciousness.

"Master!"

"Father."

Suddenly, Xia Houzhang and Jiang Xinfan exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

It turned out that Jiang Yinglong on the bed had opened his eyes.

It was just that Jiang Yinglong seemed to find it very difficult to open his eyes at this moment. He did not speak, looking at his disciple and son by the bed, as if he had made some decision. A flash of determination crossed his eyes, and his body trembled slightly.

"Master!"

Xia Houzhang clearly sensed something and immediately rushed forward in terror.

"That's enough, don't waste any more medicinal pills on me. If I could really be saved, I would want to live more than you do. A Manifestation-level expert has a lifespan of two hundred years; I am 157 this year. Having lived this long, I have no regrets!"

Hearing this, Xia Houzhang and Jiang Xinfan both showed a trace of grief in their eyes.

"Xinfan, Great Awakening Temple agreed to stop the war. What conditions did they raise?"

Jiang Xinfan knew that his father was starting to arrange his affairs, so he didn't care about his sadness and hurriedly said: "A total of three conditions. First, cede the thirteen village-level camps around the Xu Yang Camp to them, and don't play any tricks with the population; second, compensate with 8,000 sets of thousand-forged battle armor, to be gathered and delivered within two months; third, no matter the circumstances in the future, do not become enemies with Great Awakening Temple."

"The third condition includes not only Jiangxia but also the two towns of Yangqu and Longgu."

Hearing these three conditions, Jiang Yinglong's face on the bed decayed even more instantly. After coughing twice, he said with grief: "My Jiangxia has a total of 47 village-level camps. Losing 21 and ceding 13 means three-quarters of the territory has fallen. I have failed the previous Lord, I have failed my elder brother!"

Seeing him blame himself so much, Xia Houzhang and Jiang Xinfan hurriedly spoke words of comfort.

"Master, the thieves are powerful; it is not your fault. You don't need to be like this."

"Father, it is not your fault. Beishuo, Jin Shan, Wu Chuan, Chuishan, Basha—it is all the fault of these five towns for being short-sighted and refusing to save us. Otherwise, how could my Jiangxia have fallen to this point?"

It was just that their comfort clearly did not have much effect.

The grief on Jiang Yinglong's face did not fade much, but realizing that he did not have much time left, he suppressed the grief in his heart, turned to look at the two, and said in a deep voice: "After the Battle of Binjiang, Jiangxia no longer has the opportunity to compete for hegemony with the eight towns. Once the news of my death spreads among the eight towns, your situation in the future will be similar to that of the Muyin Town. Zhang'er, I will keep it brief..."

Thump...

"Zhang'er, I will listen carefully to Master's teachings!"

Hearing the way his master addressed him, two lines of hot tears welled up in Xia Houzhang's eyes. He thumped to his knees in front of the bed, unable to stop sobbing.

"Zhang'er" was how his master addressed him when he was young. Jiang Yinglong hadn't called him that for more than 70 years. At this moment, on his deathbed, calling out this name again, how could he not be moved?

"Letting us cede the thirteen villages of the Xu Yang Camp shows Great Awakening Temple's wolfish ambition. This withdrawal of troops is just a breather for Jiangxia. There will surely be disasters in the future. If you want to protect yourselves, allying with the two towns of Yangqu and Longgu is far from enough. Go find the three northern towns and surrender!" ===== CHAPTER 373 =====