Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

The next day, just as night fell, Shi Qing sought out Luo Ming, preparing to bid farewell.

The leaders of the five camps had reached an agreement to cooperate with Yang and Li for one last trip to Redwood Ridge to see if they could lure out the Wooden Puppet Wraith and successfully slay it.

Luo Ming brought three Earth Burrowing Realm cultivators and twenty-five Lumbering Realm cultivators. The other four camps also brought everyone they could. Compared to the previous four times, everyone was showing greater determination this time.

But none of this had anything to do with Shi Qing anymore.

Da Shi Camp had suffered heavy losses, and even if he wanted to help, he couldn't spare anyone.

After wishing everyone success in slaying the strange creature, Shi Qing, along with his younger brother Shi Dong, took a route through Redwood Ridge, heading back to Da Shi Camp.

They also carried a bag of crystal fruit that Luo Ming had given them.

There was little interaction between the various camps, so there were few main roads between them. Generally, they traveled along the outer edges of Redwood Ridge.

Redwood Ridge was vast. It wasn't entirely accurate to say that all these camps were located around Redwood Ridge. In fact, the nine camps were only distributed along the eastern side of Redwood Ridge.

Luo Ge Camp was located directly east, while Da Shi and Da Xia Camps were more precisely located in the southeast, although Da Xia was a bit further south.

The territory each camp occupied on the outskirts of Redwood Ridge was also roughly divided according to the camp's location. Luo Ge Camp was the strongest, so it naturally occupied the largest area, stretching over two thousand meters from north to south.

The other eight camps were only about five hundred meters wide.

South of Luo Ge Camp were four camps: Huang Zhao, Da Chuan, Da Shi, and Da Xia, in that order. So, coming out of Luo Ge Camp, entering Redwood Ridge, and heading south, it would only take about three kilometers to return to the territory of Da Shi Camp.

Shi Qing was worried about the safety of the three hundred or so people in the camp, so he and Shi Dong traveled as fast as they could. Three kilometers wasn't far to begin with, and the two quickly reached their own territory.

"Hoo… Finally here! Let's hurry back!"

Although they were still in Redwood Ridge, stepping into their own territory made Shi Qing feel much more relaxed. However, the thought of having to tell everyone in the camp that they had lost three more brothers made his mood heavy.

It had only been a little over half a month since they had lost eight brothers in Da Xia's territory. Now, three more had died. You had to remember that just over three months ago, Da Shi Camp had a full sixteen Lumbering Realm fighters. At that time, he had even volunteered to hunt Cold Beasts.

The change in circumstances in just a few months was like going from heaven to hell.

As Shi Qing walked, he suddenly turned back to look at the bag on Shi Dong's back.

"Second, wait."

Shi Dong stopped, looking at him in confusion.

Shi Qing reached out, took the bag from his back, weighed it in his hands, and frowned slightly. "It's been over half a month. They must have finished all the crystal fruit left in the camp last time. There's only a little over a thousand pounds in this bag. It probably won't be enough to bring back. Let's go to the Ice Shuo Tree and see if we can pick some more."

Shi Dong nodded and stood still, waiting for Shi Qing to lead the way towards the Ice Shuo Tree before following behind.

As the camp leader, Shi Qing naturally knew the location of the six Ice Shuo Trees in his territory like the back of his hand, and he quickly reached the nearest one.

But when he was still thirty meters away from the Ice Shuo Tree, his expression suddenly changed. He grabbed Shi Dong next to him and quickly hid behind a nearby tree.

"Someone has trespassed!"

Shi Dong had already noticed it as well, and the two of them looked in that direction together.

They saw two young men on the Ice Shuo Tree, happily picking crystal fruit and putting them into bags. Below them, there were three people on lookout, a total of five people.

After carefully examining the appearances of the five people, Shi Qing's face first showed shock, then confusion.

"So young, which camp are they from?"

Being able to go out at night meant they must have Lumbering Realm strength.

The problem was, these five young men looked to be only about twenty years old at most.

Even Luo Ge Camp probably couldn't find five such young Lumbering Realm cultivators.

Could it be that they were from other large or even giant camps?

No, that's not right.

Shi Qing quickly dismissed this guess.

Because these six people were all wearing ordinary animal skin skirts.

"Those five are from Da Xia Camp."

Shi Dong suddenly spoke at this moment.

Shi Qing was stunned when he heard this, and a trace of fear immediately welled up in his heart. The look in his eyes as he looked at the five young men instantly changed.

"You mean, those five might be…"

Shi Dong didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly to him.

Shi Qing swallowed, his heart instantly skipped a beat, and his movements became cautious, afraid of making any noise and alarming the five people over there.

He hadn't forgotten that Xia Ding and his group were clearly already dead.

If all the members of a Lumbering Team in any camp were to die, the remaining people in that camp would basically have no way to survive.

So, before going to Luo Ge Camp, Shi Qing was certain that the people of Da Xia Camp had either all starved to death or had long since fallen victim to the wraiths.

The scene before him clearly told him the answer.

Wraiths!

Yes, that must be it. It must be controlled by wraiths.

Otherwise, how could there be such young Lumbering Realm cultivators, and five of them at once.

"Quiet, don't disturb them, let's go!"

Hearing Shi Qing's signal, Shi Dong nodded, a glint of dark light flashing in his eyes.

The two of them tiptoed backward, quickly moving twenty or thirty meters away.

Shi Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, preparing to head towards Ta Shan.

"Camp Leader Shi, where are you two going?"

However, a slightly teasing voice suddenly rang out from in front of them, and the expressions of Shi Qing and Shi Dong instantly stiffened.

The two of them looked up and saw a burly young man holding a stone axe, standing on a large tree five meters away, looking at them.

The young man's voice was not soft, and the five people who were picking crystal fruit immediately stopped and ran over when they heard the voice.

That wasn't all. There were actually two people on each of the left and right sides, who also surrounded them.

Instantly surrounded by ten people, Shi Qing's face was filled with despair.

Ten wraiths, there was no way he and Shi Dong could deal with them.

"Camp Leader Xia, it's fine to come and pick crystal fruit, but you still want to kill people?"

But at this moment, Shi Dong suddenly spoke.

Shi Qing's expression froze, and he looked up at the burly young man on the tree. A trace of familiarity flashed in his eyes, and he asked in an uncertain tone: "Are you Lao Ding's son?"

Xia Hong stretched lazily, jumped down from the tree, and the snow on the ground didn't sink at all. He slowly walked to Shi Qing's face.

"That's right, my name is Xia Hong, the current leader of Da Xia!"

Not a wraith?

Shi Qing suddenly realized this. The joy of surviving a disaster instantly made him somewhat overjoyed, but the smile on his face only lasted for a moment before being replaced by shock.

"You, are all of you in the Lumbering Realm?"

Xia Hong didn't speak, but Yuan Cheng, Xia Chuan, and the other seven people, including Yue Feng and Lin Kai on the left and right sides, couldn't help but chuckle.

After all, they were young people, and hearing the shock in Shi Qing's tone, they couldn't help but feel a little proud, especially Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, who had a lot of opinions about Da Shi Camp, after all, the other party had crossed the border into Da Xia territory twice before.

Of course, Xia Hong wouldn't be complacent because of such a small matter. His mind was focused on the changes in Shi Qing's expression just now.

Just now, Shi Qing went from despair when he saw him, to joy when Shi Dong called out his identity. This change made him a little curious.

This curiosity even made him forget that the original intention of stopping the two of them was to get back at them for what happened some time ago and teach Da Shi Camp a lesson.

"Camp Leader Xia, I haven't been back to the camp for a long time, I still need to go back first. When I have time to come to Redwood Ridge, let's get together again, how about that?"

However, Shi Qing obviously had no intention of answering his questions.