Chapter 58: The Solidified Fire Oil Is Gone

When extracted from the smelting furnace, one portion of solidified fire oil was no larger than a fist.

Though solid in form, a light pressure could liquefy it.

Xia Hong couldn’t determine how many Guiguai one portion could kill, but he was certain that testing it on the five or six hundred people before him would be far from enough.

As Xia Hong’s mind churned with thoughts, the stream of people pouring from the room reached the five of them.

The problem was, some of them were real, some were fake—impossible to guard against.

The issue was, even the real ones didn’t know who was real or fake; they only knew to run toward the five, hoping to hide behind them.

With the crisis escalating, Luo Ming had no time to mourn his eldest son’s death; he and Shang Ping and the other two had to distinguish the real from the fake while defending against ambushes from the impostors.

“Fall back! Don’t come closer!”

Seeing many people rushing toward him, Xia Hong’s expression tightened; he raised his stone axe and ordered them back—not because he lacked feeling for Luo Ge’s camp, but because among them lurked puppets controlled by the wooden puppet Guiguai ; one misstep could cost him his life.

He wouldn’t risk his life for a gamble.

The real people, of course, were startled into stillness.

But the fakes couldn’t hold back.

Shhhhh…

A gust of wind came from his right side; Xia Hong’s eyes snapped wide, he twisted left in a swift dodge, swung his axe rightward to block the attacker’s weapon.

Clang…

The blade slashing from his left was an iron shortsword—clearly from Luo Ge’s camp—and it cleanly severed his stone axe without hesitation, then thrust upward toward his chin.

“This power—these puppets—are Digging Earth realm!”

The moment his axe was struck, Xia Hong’s face changed—not from the blade’s sharpness, but because the puppet’s force matched his own almost exactly.

No time to be stunned; Xia Hong retreated further, evading the thrust to his chin, leaped backward, kicked hard against the door panel behind him, and lunged forward to seize the attacker.

In an instant, the solidified fire oil on his hand took effect.

“Aaaah…”

The attacker was a puppet resembling a woman; the fire from the solidified fire oil seared her into a shrieking frenzy, yet even then, she kept swinging her shortsword, trying to stab Xia Hong who held her.

Xia Hong swayed left and right, dragging the woman against the wooden wall, dodging her sword while staying alert to ambushes from others nearby.

Solidified fire oil was ruthless—it soon reduced the woman to ash, and once the puppet was ash, any remaining flame that touched Xia Hong instantly extinguished.

Solidified fire oil ignited upon contact with Guiguai , but was completely harmless to human flesh.

Yet as he watched the woman’s corpse burn to ash, Xia Hong’s face didn’t relax—it grew even heavier than before.

A woman?

Around Hongmu Ridge, even adult men didn’t get cold-beast meat; women? Even less so—every woman in every camp was surely an ordinary person.

But the woman who just attacked him possessed Digging Earth realm power.

What did that mean?

It meant the wooden puppet Guiguai ’s puppets could now manifest Digging Earth realm strength!

“Headman Xia, we’ve run out of solidified fire oil—can you give us more?”

Luo Ming’s voice came; Xia Hong turned and his heart clenched.

Shang Ping and the other three were still struggling to distinguish real from fake; though each had saved over ten people, the solidified fire oil on their weapons and hands was nearly gone, and all bore wounds.

And Luo Ming, who begged for help, was surrounded, even stabbed in the waist—blood gushed steadily from the wound.

Luo Ming and Shang Ping and the other three had surpassed Digging Earth realm long ago; Xia Hong had observed them before—each had greater base strength than he did.

Even with his solidified fire oil, they were reduced to this—only one conclusion: the puppets hidden among the real people were, as he suspected, all Digging Earth realm.

“Headman Luo, catch!”

Seeing Luo Ming’s dire state, Xia Hong hurled the last remaining chunk of solidified fire oil—leftover from coating his weapon—through the air to him.

Luo Ming caught it midair, swiftly broke it into four pieces, gave one to each of Shang Ping and the others, then immediately smeared it on his hands and weapons.

Solidified fire oil was indeed effective.

Any puppet that approached to ambush, upon contact, burst into screams; even if they wielded Digging Earth realm power, they gained no advantage against Luo Ming and the other three.

Reinforced, Luo Ming’s group surged like tigers unleashed; in moments, they rescued dozens more—within this short time, they’d sorted nearly a hundred people behind them.

From entering the camp until now, the despair etched on their faces finally began to shift.

Though the people they saved were less than one-tenth of the total, at least they’d reclaimed something.

But there were simply too many people—and solidified fire oil was running out!

“Headman Xia, give us more solidified fire oil—we can save more people.”

With his last solidified fire oil nearly gone, Luo Ming stared at Xia Hong, hoping he’d produce another portion.

But Xia Hong’s expression crushed his hope instantly.

“Headman Luo, solidified fire oil isn’t common as dirt—I had only two portions total; I’ve used one already. This last one I give you—can we sort out everyone behind us? That wooden puppet Guiguai still hasn’t shown itself!”

Luo Ming glanced back into the wooden house, roughly estimating at least three or four hundred people inside; his face darkened.

He knew Xia Hong was right—solidified fire oil couldn’t possibly distinguish so many, and the wooden puppet Guiguai hadn’t appeared, likely because it feared the oil.

What if they used up the oil, and then the puppet revealed itself?

“Headman Luo, give up. Use the solidified fire oil to break open the wooden house—the people outside are also in danger; if they’re lost, things will only get worse!”

Luo Ming clenched his fists, staring at the crowd inside the house and the group crawling on the ground nearby; though torn, he made his decision instantly.

“Shang Ping, coat your weapons with solidified fire oil—smash through the wooden wall, let these people escape first.”

“Yes, Headman!”

Seeing Luo Ming act so decisively, Xia Hong exhaled in relief.

He’d feared the man would hesitate, unwilling to abandon those inside the house.

Too many people were inside—but impossible to save them all; continuing to rescue would waste solidified fire oil and risk lives, since they had no idea how many puppets the wooden puppet Guiguai controlled.

And staying inside longer endangered those outside.

All the Chopping Wood realm cultivators from Luo Ge’s camp and Great Xia, plus the four camps of Huang Zhao, Hong Gang, and others—all waited outside; if they died, even defeating the wooden puppet Guiguai would mean nothing.

The wooden house trapping them seemed only to confine people, with no other function—but the other four houses? Unknown.

As Xia Hong pondered, Luo Ming and the other three had coated their weapons with the last of the solidified fire oil; together, they struck the recently sealed wooden wall with their blades.

Crack…

Just as before, their blades sank into the wood—but unlike before, sparks erupted instantly from the blade’s impact.

The sparks, upon touching the moving wooden walls, grew wildly excited, rapidly expanding the fire and burning a large hole through the wall.

The wall, which had tried to close again, recoiled at the touch of the solidified fire oil’s flame—abandoning the burned section entirely rather than continue closing.

Thus, a firehole five to six meters wide opened in the wall.

“Escape—now!”

At Luo Ming’s command, the rescued people surged through the firehole.

Xia Hong didn’t rush out with them; he peered through the firehole at the scene outside—and his face twisted with urgency.

“Headman Luo, get out and help!”

Ignoring that not everyone inside had escaped, Xia Hong shouted to Luo Ming, then vaulted past the ordinary people and charged out first.

Luo Ming gritted his teeth—he’d wanted to stay inside and rescue more—but when he turned and saw the situation outside, his face paled; he no longer hesitated, and immediately led Shang Ping and the others out.

(End of Chapter)