Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Lóng Mountain is located more than fifty kilometers west of the Hive.

More than fifty kilometers doesn't sound like much.

But for the humans of the Ice Abyss, it's quite a long distance.

The Great Xia's current sphere of influence is already quite vast, but starting from Twin Dragon Valley, the activity range of the Great Xia camp personnel extends at most south to the Xing River, then east in a curve to Wuyuan, a distance of only thirty-odd kilometers.

Without considering the dangers encountered along the way, just the harsh environment of the Ice Abyss, let alone a Ground-Digging Realm cultivator, even a Cold-Resistant cultivator would find it difficult to traverse an unfamiliar fifty kilometers.

So, for most Ice Abyss humans, a distance of fifty-plus kilometers is likely insurmountable in a lifetime.

“Of course, that’s not the case everywhere, but it is for our Hive. There are two camps in the southeastern part of Pingxi Plain, adjacent to Redwood Ridge. One is us, and the other is Yanglu Camp…”

On the snowy ground west of the Hive Camp, three iron-wheeled vehicles, one small and two large, are slowly moving westward under human power.

At the front of the last large cart, laden with iron ore, an older man is talking animatedly, recounting the difficulty of traversing more than fifty kilometers.

“If we head west for thirteen kilometers, we'll enter Yanglu's territory, and another fifteen kilometers west will bring us into the territory of Yucheng Camp. Once past Yucheng Camp, we'll see Lóng Mountain.”

“Uncle Ma, how long will it take to get to Lóng Mountain?”

At the front of the team, a young man dressed in fine clothes and carrying a sharp sword, upon hearing the older man's words, immediately stepped back a few paces and asked with a curious expression.

“Young Master!”

The middle-aged man surnamed Ma, upon seeing the young man, quickly clasped his hands in salute, then pondered for a moment before saying, “In the past, the annual tribute was one million catties each of coal and iron, requiring only one cargo vehicle, so the journey was faster, taking only eight days. This time, we brought two vehicles, which has slowed us down considerably. I estimate it will take at least twelve days.”

“That's so slow!”

“You can't say it's slow, Young Master. Traveling in the Ice Abyss is not like hunting. When hunting, we have a clear goal: to find Frost Beasts. Traveling is different. Someone has to clear the snow path, and there are so many people pulling the carts. Moreover, the road is full of ravines, and there are many pits in the snow. We can't go fast. Traveling five or six kilometers a day is already very fast. In special circumstances, it's normal to only travel three or four kilometers a day…”

Upon hearing this, the young man turned his head to look at the four people frantically clearing the snow path with spiked rakes in front, nodded slightly, and a look of agreement appeared on his face.

… … … …

Behind the large carts, Xia Hong and several others were pushing the carts forward. Hearing the conversation between Chen Yuan and Ma Yong, he looked up at the front and also showed a look of agreement.

Ma Yong is the No. 1 member of Chen Yingba's hunting team. According to Chen Yingba's numbering rules for team members, he is the strongest among the twenty-five members.

And that is indeed the case. Under Xia Hong's observation, Ma Yong's base strength has already exceeded 60,000 catties, which is indeed higher than the other twenty-three people.

Of course, strength is secondary.

The key is that Ma Yong is older and has decent experience.

More than fifty kilometers is an extremely long distance that most Ice Abyss humans have never traveled in their lives. Ma Yong's words were absolutely correct.

Due to the constant snowfall, the snow accumulation on the ground in the Ice Abyss is really too thick. Areas with high vegetation coverage and frequent human activity are slightly better, but places like Pingxi Plain are even more exaggerated.

The four people in front clearing the snow have basically not stopped using their spiked rakes all the way. Those of them pushing the carts take turns with them from time to time.

Even so, this group of them, from the night of the second day of the fourth month, has been heading west for ten hours now, equivalent to half a night, and has only traveled about three kilometers.

“Walking on the Pingxi Plain is several times slower than in Great Xia, but the main reason is these two large carts loaded with iron ore. If we didn't have these two carts, the speed should be much faster.”

Xia Hong looked at the two large carts, a trace of helplessness in his eyes.

If it were him alone, he certainly wouldn't be walking so slowly.

After thinking for a while, he looked up at the front of the team.

The smallest cart at the front is pulled by only two people. It carries a three-meter-long small room. Some decorations are hung around the room, and a banner is inserted on top. The banner reads “Hive.”

“This Chen Yingyuan really knows how to enjoy himself. He actually got himself a cart to sit in alone, and even equipped it with a heater, extravagant and dissolute… … … …”

Looking at the smoke curling up from the top of the small cart in front, Xia Hong sighed slightly, wishing he could pull Chen Yingyuan out of the cart and replace him.

Of course, this is just a joke!

Xia Hong's eyes narrowed slightly. Judging from Chen Yingyuan's control of the departure time, he probably intends to meet up with the teams from Yanglu and Yucheng along the way.

Wanting to meet before the alliance, it's easy to guess that it's for Hou Hu's matter.

As he overheard last time, the five camps of Xiling, Baiyuan, Dongkang, Wushuang, and Hanqiong have all defected to Zhao Yang's side. The Hive is currently in a state of wavering due to Chen Yingyuan's hesitation.

Xia Hong doesn't know the attitude of the other four.

“The attitude of Yanglu and Yucheng should influence Chen Yingyuan's final decision. It's no surprise that these three are in cahoots. Once they lean towards Zhao Yang, then Lóng Mountain will really be in danger. I might as well follow Chen Yingyuan to see what's going on, and watch the excitement when we get to Lóng Mountain!”

Xia Hong touched his face to secure the mask, then pretended to push the cart hard, following the team as they continued westward.

… … … … … …

Second Year of Great Xia, April 15th

Ten miles north of Jing Valley, in the same tree cave as before, Luo Ming, Luo Cheng, father and son, along with Li Baihe, are sitting around the campfire waiting.

Luo Cheng is fine, his face is full of anticipation, while Luo Ming and Li Baihe, the two adults, look expectant but also anxious, with a hint of panic.

“The fire to the south has been lit for more than half an hour. Someone in Jing Valley should have discovered it. It's been so long, why hasn't Yue Feng come yet?”

Luo Ming couldn't sit still and got up to look outside the tree cave. Finding that no one had come, his expression became even more anxious.

“Today is not a trading day. They may not have sent anyone to be active here!”

Li Baihe said in a deep voice, his face also somewhat anxious.

Not being a trading day means that the three of them came here on their own accord.

This area north of Jing Valley has no Frost Beasts. Coming here when it's not a trading day is easy to arouse suspicion. Coupled with the fact that the two of them have a guilty conscience, they are naturally nervous at this moment.

“Brother, why don't we just go directly to Jing Valley?”

“No, Jing Valley is ten miles away from here. If the three of us go back and forth, it will take even longer. If we are discovered by others at that time, we will be even more unable to explain ourselves.”

Li Baihe's suggestion was immediately rejected by Luo Ming.

But he couldn't think of any better suggestions for a while. After a long time, he shook his head helplessly and said, “Forget it, let's go back first, next time…”

“Brother Luo, does Brother Luo have something to look for me?”

Just then, a soft call suddenly came from the entrance.

Luo Ming stood up abruptly, his face full of joy, and hurriedly took his son's hand, leading Li Baihe out of the tree cave together.

Sure enough, under the big tree, Yue Feng, dressed in black, was standing quietly. He had a strong bow on his back and a long sword at his waist. Seeing that there was more than just Luo Ming coming down, his eyes swept slightly, and he immediately recognized the two.

“Brother Li, if I remember correctly, this is Brother Luo's son, Luo Cheng?”

“Lord Yue Feng has sharp eyes, Cheng'er, quickly pay your respects to the Lord!”

Luo Cheng hurried to Yue Feng's side and bowed deeply.

“Greetings, Lord Yue Feng!”

“No need for formalities, Brother Luo, your son has good aptitude.”

Yue Feng's eyes swept slightly, and he saw that Luo Cheng's base strength was already more than 6,800 catties. After a closer look, he found that he was at most just over ten years old, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

“The Lord is praising him!”

Hearing someone praise his son, Luo Ming's face naturally glowed. After a slight moment of modesty, he didn't forget the matter at hand and hurriedly took out the letter that Xia Hong had given him earlier, as well as a beast skin scroll that he had prepared himself.

Yue Feng silently took the letter and the beast skin scroll. Seeing that the letter had not been opened, he didn't rush to open it, but instead looked at the beast skin scroll first.

Seeing the contents of the beast skin scroll, Yue Feng suddenly looked up at Luo Ming.

“The Lord should be able to understand. This is the precise location of the Hive's base, as well as the defense terrain map of the thirty-two passages within the base. This was personally drawn by me. In addition, that letter was given to me by Lord Hong Yu five days ago, asking me to personally hand it over to Lord Yue Feng!”

Hearing the name Hong Yu, Yue Feng's expression immediately became solemn. He hurriedly put the beast skin scroll into his pocket, then opened the letter and began to read it.

Seeing the contents of the letter, Yue Feng's expression changed repeatedly, until he finally finished reading it and stuffed the letter into his arms. Then he looked up at Luo Ming and the others, and his eyes were completely different from before.

“Luo Ming, Li Baihe, from today onwards, you are all people of my Great Xia. For the time being, you will be under my Jing Valley. I am the Jing Valley Garrison Commander. In the future, you can find ways to report any situation in the Hive to me.”

Hearing Yue Feng's words, Luo Ming and Li Baihe were immediately overjoyed. At the same time, they bowed to him, and respectfully said:

“Luo Ming, greetings, Lord!”

Hong Yu's position in Great Xia is indeed not low. A letter alone can allow Yue Feng to accept him. Cheng'er will have a backer in the future. Thinking of this, Luo Ming's attitude became even more respectful.

“Li Baihe, greetings, Lord!”

As for Li Baihe, he had been observing Yue Feng's expression when Yue Feng opened the letter. He had already seen the respect on Yue Feng's face clearly. Coupled with Yue Feng's words at this moment, he was now almost 100% certain of Hong Yu's true identity.

“Luo Cheng will return with me this time and stay in Great Xia from now on.”

“Thank you, sir!”

Yue Feng waved his hand, suddenly looked up towards the side of a large tree, his eyes narrowed slightly, and said in a deep voice, “Luo Ming, be more careful next time you come over…”

Luo Ming and Li Baihe were both stunned, including Luo Cheng.

None of the three understood what Yue Feng meant.

Whoosh…

But soon, Yue Feng turned into a gust of wind and disappeared before their eyes.

The expressions of the three instantly froze.

“So fast!”

Luo Ming and Li Baihe's expressions tightened, and they quickly turned their heads to look towards the side.

Chih…

A streak of sword light cut through the night, directly slicing off a section of the soil slope on the side of the big tree, and the snow on the ground instantly burst open.

Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap…

Four figures sprinting quickly in succession rushed out from behind the soil slope.

“Luo Ming, you are indeed colluding with Great Xia. I will report back to the Second Leader and Regiment Commander Chen…”

“Will you make it back?”

Although that panicked and embarrassed voice was interrupted by Yue Feng, Luo Ming and Li Baihe's expressions changed drastically, and they rushed towards that side.

“It's Lu Sheng!”

“Someone actually followed us, this is terrible.”

Whoosh…

Before the two could rush over, a corpse was thrown out by Yue Feng's sword from under the soil slope.

Yue Feng didn't even throw it randomly, he used the corpse to hit the slowest of the four who had just escaped.

Bang…

Luo Ming and Li Baihe had just rushed to the edge of the soil slope when they saw the corpse thrown by Yue Feng directly hitting the person, causing him to vomit blood and fall to the ground, their eyes instantly froze.

“Yue Feng, what is his strength?”

“His strength was clearly about the same as mine two months ago…”

Before the horror in Luo Ming's mind could subside, Yue Feng moved again.

After killing two people in a row, he sprinted towards the third person, who was actually Lu Sheng, who was running the fastest. On the way to chase Lu Sheng, he even took off the longbow on his back and aimed six arrows in a row at the other two.

After firing six arrows, Yue Feng didn't even look, because he was less than ten meters away from Lu Sheng.

Puchi… Puchi…

Six consecutive sounds of iron arrows piercing flesh rang out, and the two who had escaped the farthest fell to the ground in response.

Looking at the six iron arrows that directly nailed the bodies of the two to the big tree behind them, Luo Ming and Li Baihe's faces were already numb.

“What kind of bow is that? Why does it feel like the arrows it shoots are stronger than my strength?”

“It's not just the bow, Yue Feng's accuracy in shooting arrows is even more terrifying!”

…

“Lu Sheng, I remember, you were the one who tipped them off last time, causing Chen Yingba to come to the border valley. This time, you've finally fallen into my hands!”

Just now, after hearing Luo Ming's voice, Yue Feng was stunned for a moment. At this moment, he approached and saw the other party's face clearly, recognizing that this person was Lu Sheng, who had previously trespassed into the border valley to steal iron ore. A grim smile suddenly appeared on his face, and the long sword in his hand suddenly accelerated.

Yue Feng's spear was like the wind, cutting through snowflakes, directly approaching Lu Sheng's neck;

Realizing that he could not avoid it, Lu Sheng could only grit his teeth and turn his head, raising the long knife in his hand to block.

Clang…

The swords collided violently, and miniature shockwaves gradually spread out, shaking away the snowflakes on the ground and in the air around them.

Before Lu Sheng could recover from Yue Feng's terrifying power, he looked down at his own chipped broadsword and immediately used the force to retreat violently.

He couldn't stay for even a moment…

Yue Feng's basic strength was at least ten thousand catties above his own!

As soon as this thought emerged in Lu Sheng's mind, he retreated more than ten meters and quickly turned around to flee towards the garrison on the north side.

Whoosh…

However, just after escaping more than ten meters, a swift iron arrow suddenly attacked from the side, cutting off his path.

Although the iron arrow was fast, Lu Sheng, whose desire to survive exploded, reacted even faster.

He suddenly turned sideways in the air, avoiding the iron arrow, while realizing that the situation was even more dangerous, and the speed of his escape increased a lot.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh…

Unfortunately, he was completely dumbfounded in the next second!

On the left and right sides, and even directly in front of him as he was escaping, more than ten iron arrows came swiftly from three directions.

The sound of arrows piercing through the air whistled, and Lu Sheng's movements were useless no matter how fast he was this time.

Puchi…

In the end, three iron arrows pierced through his cheeks, abdomen, and calf respectively. After a scream, he fell directly to the ground.

Looking at Yue Feng, who was frantically approaching from behind.

Lu Sheng's face showed fear, and he raised his head and opened his mouth to beg for mercy.

Puchi…

It was a pity that Yue Feng didn't give him a chance at all.

With one slash of the knife, Lu Sheng was directly decapitated and died tragically on the spot.

Yue Feng looked at Lu Sheng's corpse, a hint of ruthlessness appearing in his eyes.

Last time, it was because this person tipped them off that Chen Yingba was led to the border valley.

If Xia Hong hadn't appeared in time later, he would definitely have died at that time.

Since he ran into him this time, he would naturally not be soft-hearted!

Yue Feng put away his broadsword, turned his head to look at the ten members of the Mountain and River Squad on both sides, a smile appeared on his face, and he waved his hand and said:

“Take the three injured back, and clean up the ground.”

“Yes, sir!”

Without prior notice, Luo Ming suddenly lit a signal fire to see him, Yue Feng was naturally prepared. He brought ten hunting team members before coming and had them ambush in the surrounding area first.

…

Not far away, Luo Ming, Li Baihe, and Luo Cheng on the soil slope were already dumbfounded at this moment, especially when they saw the ten Mountain and River Squad members wearing light golden armor who appeared later, their faces were even more horrified, and their expressions were extremely moved.

“Are these all Yue Feng's subordinates?”

“What are they wearing? It looks a bit like iron, but it seems to be a bit more advanced than iron!”

“It seems to be… the hardest skull of the Thunder Kui combined with iron.”

“How strong is Great Xia, exactly?”

…

Luo Ming and Li Baihe, after all, had some insight. Although the equipment of Yue Feng's ten subordinates was very eye-catching, they could still see where it came from.

But Luo Cheng, who was still a child, was different.

As soon as he saw the light golden armor, his eyes couldn't move away.

Moreover, not only did each of the ten carry a longbow, but they also held various main weapons in their hands, and even short knives and short swords were attached to their waists.

Such a luxurious, sophisticated, and complete weapon configuration instantly made his heart filled with even more yearning and longing for Great Xia.

“Luo Ming, you two go back first, Luo Cheng will come with me!”

Li Baihe nodded respectfully, while Luo Ming walked to his son's side and explained a few words before leaving with Li Baihe towards the north.

Yue Feng, on the other hand, took Luo Cheng and ten team members back to the border valley.

“I still have some impression of the valley. It's only been two years, so the changes shouldn't be too big, right? No, there should still be changes. Great Xia is so strong now, the garrison must have become much better…”

Luo Cheng followed behind Yue Feng and the eleven others, realizing that he would soon be able to see the garrison of Great Xia, and his mood gradually began to become excited.