Chapter 41: Luo Ge Encampment [Request Collection, Request Votes]

Luo Ge’s encampment is situated in a valley between two towering mountains directly east of Hongmu Ridge.

Both mountains are vertically elongated, rising two to three thousand meters, and like Tashan where Da Shi encampment is based, their rocky walls have been coated for years with thick layers of black ice crystals formed by perpetual cold.

The mountains are taller than Tashan, and their ice crystals are naturally thicker.

Yet strangely, the deeper down the slopes you go, the thinner and paler the black crystals become, until at the very bottom, where they meet the ground, they’ve turned into ordinary stone color.

Only when closer did they notice a continuous wisp of white mist curling along the rock face; as the mist rose, the black crystals steadily melted into streams that dripped down the cliff.

“The intense heat from burning coal can melt ice crystals that have accumulated for years—Luo Ge’s encampment must never have anyone freeze to death.”

Though Hong Gang had spent the past half-month at Luo Ge’s encampment, each time he returned, he couldn’t help but marvel aloud.

The other three leaders, along with Shi Qing and the woodcutting-level personnel behind them, all looked at the white mist on the rock wall and wore expressions of envy.

“Freeze to death? What nonsense. My Luo Ge encampment—never mind that everyone has a fur coat—thanks to these coal blocks providing constant heat, not a single person has frozen to death in nearly twenty years.”

Luo Ming said nothing, but one of his subordinates behind him couldn’t help speaking up.

From his tone of clear pride, it was obvious he felt deep honor being part of Luo Ge encampment.

Hearing that no one had frozen to death in twenty years, the envy on everyone’s faces deepened further.

Especially the five leaders of the small encampments, who felt most acutely the weight of those words.

In truth, strictly speaking, compared to cold beasts and strange entities, cold is the simplest survival challenge humans must face.

Yet even so, each encampment loses more than a few people every year to the cold.

As leaders of small encampments, they rely solely on cutting wood for warmth—but even that doesn’t guarantee harvests; if they’re unlucky enough to encounter a cold beast, they lose not just their harvest but possibly their lives.

Worse, in recent years Hongmu Ridge has expanded rapidly, and the trees grow more fiercely; sometimes they can’t even find a single tree to fell in an entire night.

Not only is acquiring firewood difficult, but the ordinary people’s physical condition in their encampments is also a major problem—especially children, who still freeze to death even when hiding in caves with campfires during sudden temperature drops.

So for Luo Ge encampment, twenty years without a single freeze-death might be ordinary—but for these five small encampments, it’s a dream beyond reach.

Where there is envy, there is also contempt.

“Country bumpkins and lowly savages, making such a fuss over this little thing—why be proud of it?”

While Hong Gang and the others wore expressions of admiration, Li Hu’s face was filled with disdain.

Clearly, the recent events had left Li Hu deeply resentful toward the group, so he directly used the four words “country bumpkins and lowly savages” to mock them as ignorant of the world.

Yang Ning said nothing, but his expression was nearly identical.

“Never mind that Beishuozhen itself—any slightly stronger medium-sized encampment knows how to lay coal stones to soften the ground and transplant crops. Yet you only know how to burn them for warmth, clutching a treasure without knowing how to use it, and still boasting about it—utterly foolish!”

The others heard this and showed no reaction.

Only Luo Ming froze, then suddenly realized something, his face lighting up with joy.

“Thank you, my lord, for this insight—I’ve only just learned coal stones can serve such a purpose.”

Li Hu’s face stiffened. He’d meant only to mock and ridicule, never to give advice—never expecting to back himself into a corner.

But he quickly recovered, sneering: “Don’t get too excited. Those crops require vast land, and softening the ground demands enormous coal stones—you five earth-digging-levels couldn’t mine enough in ten or twenty years.”

Luo Ming, who had been elated just moments before, was instantly doused with cold water.

He said nothing, but Hong Gang, Shi Qing, and the other five encampment leaders now looked at Li Hu with unmistakable anger—they clearly resented how he’d toyed with Luo Ming.

“Enough chatter—get inside!”

Yang Ning noticed the five leaders’ unhidden anger and frowned slightly, but said nothing—only shot Li Hu a glance and signaled everyone to enter.

“Gentlemen, let’s go inside and discuss further!”

Whether Luo Ming was naturally mild-tempered or had mastered inner calm, he treated Li Hu’s mockery as if nothing had happened and invited everyone inside.

While they spoke, they’d never stopped walking, and now they’d reached the center of the valley.

Though a medium-sized encampment, Luo Ge’s location, like those of Da Xia and Da Shi, was well-hidden.

The valley entrance was completely blocked by massive boulders and fallen trees; any normal person would never suspect a camp of over a thousand people lay behind.

Luo Ming led them around the left side of the debris pile; several of his men, familiar with the path, stepped ahead and pulled out a single giant log—over five meters in diameter and more than fifty meters long—from a pile of rotting wood.

As soon as the log was removed, the boulders and trees piled atop it should have collapsed—but they didn’t move at all.

A thirty-meter-long passage simply appeared amid the boulders and trees; none of them were seeing it for the first time, and they followed Luo Ming inside without a flicker of surprise.

After passing through the passage, the full interior of the valley was revealed.

The depth of the valley was unclear, but its width from side to side was roughly three to four hundred meters; most astonishingly, the two towering mountains above met and crossed overhead, completely sealing off the valley and blocking all light.

Of course, that alone was insufficient to withstand the brutal polar cold.

Unlike Da Xia and Da Shi encampments, which warmed themselves by burning campfires in enclosed spaces, Luo Ge encampment had built five massive wooden structures inside the valley.

They weren’t quite houses—more like giant wooden boxes constructed from massive logs.

Each of the five wooden buildings was square, about fifty meters wide, capable of easily housing several hundred people.

All five buildings burned fires inside, with white smoke continuously drifting out of pre-cut ventilation holes, and voices of many people could be heard echoing from within.

The wooden buildings glowed faintly golden from the firelight inside—clearly built from the sturdiest Jinlin trees.

“As soon as we entered the valley, it warmed up—burning coal really is the way to go!”

Hong Gang stretched out his hand to feel the valley’s temperature and sighed in admiration.

Someone from the encampment had already come forward to greet them; Luo Ming exchanged a few casual words and led everyone toward the innermost wooden building.

Just before entering the building, Shi Dong, who had been walking beside Shi Qing, suddenly tensed and turned his head toward the left side of the building.

“Brother, what’s that place?”

Shi Qing followed his gaze and realized that beside the innermost building stood a small wooden hut, less than ten meters wide.

Luo Ming noticed them and walked over, explaining: “That’s my father’s residence.”

Both men froze in surprise.

Luo Ming’s father—the former leader of Luo Ge encampment—Luo Feng?

(End of Chapter)