Chapter 68: The aftermath after a bitter victory

Strictly speaking, Yang Ning and Li Hu hadn't done anything wrong.

Perhaps the two of them eliminating the ghost was out of selfishness, and the practice of letting Luo Ming and the other four leaders send people as bait was too cruel, but the fact that they stayed at Seeing Seeing Hong Mu Ridge to help them deal with the Wood Puppet Ghost was an indisputable fact.

Even in the great battle in the valley just now, the role played by the two, Yang and Li, could be called crucial.

Judging good deeds by their actions, not their intentions.

No matter what purpose the two had, the fact that they helped was an iron-clad truth.

The two were wrong in that arrogant posture they maintained from beginning to end.

Four failed ghost eliminations had long since worn away everyone's trust. After all, in the four ghost eliminations, Yang and Li only contributed strength, but the five leaders, including Luo Ming, contributed the real lives of their own people.

Although, hindered by the need for the two to help, everyone chose to ignore the two's arrogant posture and the contempt they often expressed, but this didn't mean they didn't have thoughts in their hearts; they just chose to endure it because they needed help.

As Yang and Li expressed such an aggressive posture toward Xia Hong, the accumulated resentment in everyone's hearts exploded completely; in fact, it was perfectly normal.

If it weren't for the timely notification from Xia Hong and his group today, not a single person in the entire Luo Ge camp would have survived, and the Wood Puppet Ghost would also have been very likely to successfully advance to intermediate level. By then, none of these people would have been able to escape.

What's more, Xia Hong deserved the primary credit for exterminating the Wood Puppet Ghost.

If it weren't for his Condensing Fire Oil, as well as his timely order for everyone not to leave the valley at the end, whether the Wood Puppet Ghost could have been completely eliminated today was not certain.

These people living around Seeing Seeing Hong Mu Ridge might be short-sighted and have low knowledge, but they didn't lack the normal, simple emotions of human beings.

Xia Hong had kindness toward them and had contributed greatly when exterminating the ghost, even playing a bigger role than Yang and Li. What's more, there was the relationship of being in the same region, so they naturally wouldn't sit by and watch Xia Hong be bullied.

Besides, that treasure wasn't deliberately snatched by Xia Chuan; it was just obtained inadvertently.

Nearly two hundred people all stood on Xia Hong's side, their firm expressions showing their attitude. Let alone Luo Ming, even those ordinary people from the Luo Ge camp were full of determination at this moment, not moving half an inch under the angry glares of Yang and Li.

Li Hu's chest heaved incessantly, and the hand holding the great blade trembled slightly, showing how angry he was at this moment.

But even so, he didn't take even half a step forward.

Yang Ning, beside him, also had an extremely gloomy expression.

Both of them understood in their hearts that taking action against Xia Hong was already impossible.

Although their strength was strong, they were still within the scope of the Earth-Digging Realm.

With nearly two hundred people, including four Earth-Digging Realms like Luo Ming and dozens of Woodcutting Realms, if they wanted to take action by force, that was courting death.

"Leader... Xia Hong, right! I'll say it one last time, hand him over to me. Once he goes to Beishuo Town, he can live a better life, and maybe one day in the future, you might also be able to obtain the qualification to enter Beishuo Town because of him, as long as you..."

"Enough, the two sirs don't need to say more. Let alone that Xia Chuan is my own younger brother, even if it were any ordinary person in my Great Xia camp, I wouldn't hand them over to any stranger for no reason."

Yang Ning was interrupted before he could finish speaking, his expression stiffening slightly.

Li Hu, beside him, finally couldn't help but want to speak, but just as he took a step forward, he was stopped by Yang Ning.

"Stupid and ignorant, saying more is useless, let's go!"

The tone Yang Ning used when saying this sentence didn't sound like he was scolding people; instead, it revealed a sense of helplessness and fatigue, as if he truly felt from the bottom of his heart that this group of people, Luo Ming and Xia Hong, were very stupid.

Li Hu was even more direct. Before being pulled away by Yang Ning, he didn't forget to look back at the crowd, sneering and scolding: "A bunch of short-sighted idiots. So what if you get the treasure? Born in such a place, your final outcome will always be to become food for cold beasts and ghosts; there won't be any change."

This sentence completely wiped out the last bit of goodwill everyone had in their hearts. Let alone those ordinary people, even Luo Ming couldn't help but reveal an angry expression.

Xia Hong, in the crowd, didn't have much of a reaction, just narrowed his eyes, staring at the backs of the two as they walked away, and recorded the names Yang Ning and Li Hu in his mind.

And with the departure of Yang and Li, this huge catastrophe brought by the Wood Puppet Ghost was also completely declared over.

Everyone, including Xia Hong, let out a long sigh of relief.

More than half of the people even realized they could completely relax, and their bodies suddenly felt as if they had been emptied, collapsing directly onto the ground.

But this sense of relief didn't last long. In less than ten breaths, wailing and crying began to spread one after another in the crowd.

"Sob, sob, sob, my child is dead, Leader, my child is dead."

"My mother is also gone..."

"My mother is dead, my father was also killed, wu..."

"I have to go back and find my mother's corpse..."

Every disaster is destined to be accompanied by immense pain.

The wailing and crying sounds coming to his ears made Xia Hong's heart feel extremely heavy.

This was already the third time.

Great Xia camp, Great Stone camp, and then the Luo Ge camp in front of him.

The Wood Puppet Ghost they faced was only an elementary ghost, but the outcome was already so miserable.

Then how powerful would intermediate or even advanced ghosts be?

If he encountered one someday, could he deal with it?

A strong sense of urgency suddenly arose in Xia Hong's heart.

As time passed, although the wailing and crying sounds gradually became smaller, the vast majority of people didn't walk out of the sorrow, just weeping silently. The small portion who woke up were also basically dull and numb, as if their spirit had been drained.

Let alone those ordinary people, even Luo Ming was no exception.

Luo Ming was currently lowering his head, his eyes staring blankly at a small dagger in his hand, his expression dazed, his pupils full of pain and struggle.

That small dagger was used by a puppet that had ambushed Luo Ming in the wooden house earlier; that puppet was Luo Ming's eldest son, Luo Yun.

Like the ordinary people in the camp, Luo Ming, this leader, had also lost his eldest son and wife, as well as his father, Luo Feng.

The total population of the Luo Ge camp was over thirteen hundred. Now, it hadn't been counted yet, but Xia Hong estimated that the total number of people who died, one way or another, was at least over a thousand.

To say that every household was in mourning and every door was draped in white silk was no exaggeration at all.

Xia Hong sighed slightly, turned his head to look at the sky, but still walked quickly to Luo Ming's side, patted him on the shoulder, and said: "Leader Luo, please restrain your grief. It's best to comfort everyone and have them return to the valley to tidy up as soon as possible. The sky is about to brighten, and it's not safe to stay outside."

Luo Ming was patted awake and immediately turned his head to look at the sky, finding that there was indeed a faint light appearing. He immediately gave a start, first revealing a grateful look toward Xia Hong, and then immediately faced the crowd, saying in a deep voice:

"Everyone, don't stay here. Enter the valley first and tidy up.

Shang Ping, you take the others to build a simple wooden house first, and then get the stove burning so that everyone doesn't freeze."

"Yes, Leader!"

After speaking, Luo Ming turned his head to look at the leaders of the other camps as well as Xia Hong:

"Five sirs, the sky is about to brighten, and you won't be able to leave today either. Just make do for one night here with me, and leave after nightfall tomorrow."

Hong Gang, Huang Zhao, and the others nodded upon hearing this.

Xia Hong would even less refuse. He had injuries on his body, and Xia Chuan hadn't woken up yet, so he couldn't leave even if he wanted to now.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 69 =====