Chapter 378

Eighth Year of Great Xia, April 28th.

Just as the first double-hour of the day passed, Xia Hong returned to Hexia Village, bringing Li Ying Xuan Ling and carrying Xiang Fuhai.

"Greetings, my lord!"

"My lord, are you injured?"

"Greetings, my lord!"

In the main building of Hexia Village, Xia Chuan and the others, who had returned a step earlier, saw the wound on his back, and their expressions immediately became tense.

"It is nothing!"

As Xia Hong waved his hand to signal, he sat in the main seat. He did not waste a single moment, turning his head to face the crowd and issuing orders directly and swiftly:

"Xia Chuan, go notify the Cloud Dragon Army to set out east immediately. You must occupy the Hongguan Camp at the fastest speed possible; no matter who comes, drive them away directly. Furthermore, send people back to Wuyuan immediately, have the seven Wuyuan armies prepare in advance, and have them rush to Hongguan swiftly after nightfall to rendezvous with the Cloud Dragon Army."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

"Shi Ping, there shouldn't be many living people left in the eighteen families of the three Qinghepu villages and the two Jinbi Longgu villages. You are to immediately pull people from Wuyuan to take over these places, gather all the remaining survivors, and you will also be responsible for all subsequent arrangements."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

"Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Luo Yuan, since your main armies have not arrived yet, set out with the Cloud Dragon Army first to help at Hongguan."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Hearing this deployment from Xia Hong, the expressions of everyone in the hall were instantly filled with excitement.

They had also just returned from Ba Shang City. Although Xia Hong had suffered a not-insignificant injury, he had returned carrying Xiang Fuhai, and they recognized at a glance that the crimson long spear he used to carry Xiang Fuhai belonged to Master Yanlong.

Combining this with his three orders, how could they not understand?

Dajue Temple was definitely finished.

This meant that Great Xia's path to the east had officially begun!

"Commander, your subordinate will lead the army out now!"

Liu Yuan, the deputy commander of the Cloud Dragon Army, was also standing in the main hall at this moment. After hearing Xia Hong's order, he directly turned to Xia Chuan to request instructions.

Xia Chuan naturally nodded in agreement. Then, waiting until Yuan Cheng and the others had all left, he turned back to Xia Hong and recounted everything he had heard after returning to Hexia Village.

The focus, of course, was the demon dragon in Red Longhu and the words spoken by the eight towns' Xianyang-level experts when they fought the demon dragon.

Xia Hong had long guessed that Dajue Temple had left a contingency plan here in Qinghepu, but upon suddenly hearing that there was a thousand-zhang-long Red Blood Demon Dragon beneath Red Longhu, his expression still changed in shock repeatedly.

"Can a dragon body controlled by Dajue Temple exert such strength?"

Xia Chuan nodded. When he had returned to Hexia Village earlier and heard Wang Yuan describe those scenes, his expression was no more relaxed than Xia Hong's.

"Zhu Xing was too far away and couldn't see very clearly. It was thanks to the fact that the voices of the demon dragon and Master Wusheng were very loud that he heard quite a bit. That demon dragon is currently in its dragon-molting period. The person controlling the dragon body said that the dragon-molting period lasts at least a hundred years. According to rumors in Qinghepu, that demon dragon came to Red Longhu over forty years ago. Calculating it this way, it will take at least another fifty years to fully awaken."

Dragon-molting period!

Although he did not understand the specific meaning, he could roughly infer from the literal words that it should mean something similar to evolution and transformation. If the dragon body could exert such power while the demon dragon was in its dormant period, then once it fully awakened, how astonishing would its strength be?

"Zhu Xing said that in the end, the thunder disappeared, the fifteen people from the eight towns fled, and that demon dragon escaped back into Red Longhu."

Xia Hong had returned from Ba Shang with a mood that was originally quite good, but it instantly grew much heavier.

The entire Qinghepu would henceforth be considered Great Xia's territory, and Red Longhu was naturally no exception. Now that he knew such a large ticking time bomb was buried inside, he felt as if a large stone were blocking his heart, and he naturally could not feel relaxed.

"We can only hope that Dajue Temple's claim is true. If it really takes over fifty years to awaken, then we don't have to worry so much..."

Hearing Xia Chuan's words, Xia Hong frowned tightly, but in the end, he could only nod.

"Big Brother, what about Ba Shang City?"

Xia Chuan finally could not help but ask about the specific situation at Ba Shang.

Hearing his question, Xia Hong temporarily suppressed the gloom brought by the demon dragon, took a small cloth bag from his bosom, and slowly unfolded it, revealing the heart, liver, and lungs inside, which had already returned to their normal blood-red color.

Seeing the three internal organs still pulsing eerily, a trace of horror appeared on Xia Chuan's face. He looked at Xia Hong and asked in shock, "This is..."

"The abilities of the three great masters—Yanlong, Wusheng, and Jin Gang—came from these three internal organs. If I am not mistaken, Dajue Temple spent all these years taking away six-year-old children just to collect their five internal organs. Although I don't know exactly how they use them, it must be extremely bloody."

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan understood immediately. Looking at the three eerie internal organs, his eyes instantly lit up.

"It's a pity we only killed three. Yang Zun took Master Heiming's kidneys, and Master Juyuan's spleen was obtained by Wu Chuan Lord Qin Feng. These two picked up a bargain; there's no helping it!"

Hearing this, a look of shame appeared on Xia Chuan's face: "It is we who dragged Big Brother down. If our Great Xia could produce even one more Xianyang-level expert, we wouldn't have let those two towns pick up a bargain for nothing."

"Not necessarily, in the end, our harvest is still the greatest!"

In the past, the one playing the role of picking up scraps was mostly himself. To suddenly have others pick up scraps from his own hands, Xia Hong really felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Of course, this was only from his perspective.

Xia Hong could also roughly guess that after Yang Zun and the other two asked the people in Ba Shang City and found out that he alone had taken the organs of the three great masters, they would inevitably be furious, especially the Jin Shan Town lord Shangguan Yang, who had gained nothing. He was probably throwing a tantrum right now.

"Master Wusheng's liver should be able to restore Xu Ning to normal. I will return to Xia City first, and while I'm at it, have the Craftsman Department save Xiang Fuhai. I will try to return before dark. You take the Cloud Dragon Army to occupy the Hongguan Camp first. Once all seven Wuyuan armies arrive, the north bank of the Ying River will henceforth belong entirely to our Great Xia."

"Understood, Big Brother!"

Hearing this, Xia Chuan's expression brightened. He had long known Xia Hong's plan, so he did not raise any objections to only occupying Hongguan.

"When I launched a sneak attack on the three great masters, there were people spying nearby, and they also seemed to be planning to make a move. If nothing goes wrong, it should be Xia Houzhang. He knew the outcome at Ba Shang earlier than the Xianyang-level experts of the other seven towns, so Jiangxia should have already started to recover its lost territory. We will not interfere in other places; occupying just one Hongguan is not a big problem.

After you occupy Hongguan, immediately send someone to notify Jiangxia and hand this soft sword to Xia Houzhang; he will understand."

As Xia Hong spoke, he took a black soft sword from his waist and handed it to Xia Chuan. This soft sword was what he had obtained last year when he saved Xia Houzhang above the Fengshan Camp; it was originally the other party's personal sword.

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Xia Chuan took the soft sword, bowed, and then quickly retreated.

"Are you staying here on the north bank, or are you returning with me?"

Only Li Ying Xuan Ling was left in the hall, so Xia Hong was naturally asking her.

Li Ying Xuan Ling did not hesitate and said directly, "I'll go back with you. I still need to seize the time to cultivate."

"Good, then let's go back together!"

Xia Hong nodded, and after speaking, he took Li Ying Xuan Ling and returned to Xia City together.

Ba Shang was gone. Among the remaining eight towns, except for Muyin and Jiangxia, the other six towns basically had two Xianyang-level experts each. Great Xia only had Xia Hong, which was clearly not enough. Currently, the person in all of Great Xia most likely to break through first was Li Ying Xuan Ling. It was only natural that she felt a sense of urgency.

………………

132nd Year of Mo'ao, early May, on the eve of nightfall.

In a snow forest fifteen kilometers north of Hongguan, a small, fully armed army of over three hundred people was galloping rapidly from north to south against the cold light. From the slightly heavy panting of the soldiers, one could tell they had been walking for quite some time.

"Hehe, to be able to take Hongguan without shedding blood, our Chuishan has picked up a huge bargain this time!"

"Hongguan is nothing; the main thing is the north bank of the Heng River, totaling over two hundred kilometers to the west of Hongguan, and the vast stretch of territory further west of the north bank—that is our greatest harvest."

"That's right, Dajue Temple is already gone. This time, not only can we swallow the entire Qinghepu, but the territory west of Qinghepu also belongs to us."

"The key is that we took such a large piece of land without losing a single person."

"Hahaha, Ba Shang was destroyed, Jiangxia is cowering in its town, our Chuishan has really picked up a huge bargain this time!"

………………

Duan Chang, who was in charge of the army at the front of the column, could not help but feel a trace of excitement rise in his pupils when he heard the discussion of the people around him.

He was the deputy military commander of Chuishan Town, responsible for the southern Jiangyan Camp. An hour ago, Town Head Mu Longhe sent someone to the Jiangyan Camp to notify him to immediately lead troops to set out and head south to occupy the four camps of Hongguan, Fengshan, Long Zhou, and Xu Yang.

Upon hearing the news, he immediately realized that the battle between Ba Shang Town and Dajue Temple had reached a conclusion. As expected, the messenger told him that Ba Shang Town had been destroyed, all five great masters were dead, and Dajue Temple was gone.

Having learned this news, Duan Chang quickly realized that the timing was precious and naturally dared not delay in the slightest. During the day, the Town Defense Army could not be fully mobilized, so he simply pulled out all the Cold-Resisting Realm experts from the two thousand Town Defense soldiers under his command to set out first, letting the remaining sixteen hundred-plus people set out after nightfall.

"Even if Jiangxia knows the outcome of Ba Shang City, their reaction won't be that fast. They set out from the town, first arriving at Xu Yang Camp, then Long Zhou and Fengshan, and only then can they arrive at Hongguan. As long as my speed is fast enough, I can completely beat them to it and occupy two or three camps!

Moreover, Jiangxia suffered heavy losses a while ago, and their Town Defense Army is almost completely wiped out; they probably can't scrape together any decent army. As long as I can occupy these camps, once the subsequent Town Defense Army arrives, these places will all belong to my Chuishan."

The more Duan Chang thought, the more excited he became. He could not help but turn back and call out to the soldiers in a low voice: "Increase speed, we are less than ten kilometers away!"

"Understood, my lord!"

"First occupy Hongguan, then take Fengshan, Long Zhou, and Xu Yang."

"What does this count for? Jiangxia is currently relying on Xia Houzhang alone to hold on. When the lord and town head return, I think we can even take Binjiang as well. Let Jiangxia shrink in the town forever—wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Hahaha, you brat, you're really wicked!"

………………

The more they talked, the more excited they became, and their speed grew faster and faster.

As soon as it turned dark, they arrived at the north side of the Hongguan Camp.

But the moment they saw the Hongguan Camp from a kilometer away, the expressions of Duan Chang and the others instantly froze.

"There is firelight, what is going on?"