Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 111: Long-tailed Rat [Three chapters in one]

Xia Hong had already experienced the power of groups of cold beasts when Da Xia moved to the valley.

At that time, there were only fifteen Frostwolves in the group.

On his side, there are five Digging Realms and nearly twenty Logging Realms.

Under such circumstances, forty or fifty of the migrating people were killed, and two of the loggers also died. In the end, if Xia Hong had not bluffed the wolves, the outcome might have been even worse, with more people dying.

The situation was so severe for a pack of fifteen frost wolves. Now, if the hundreds of unfamiliar cold beasts on the northern slope of the mountain moved another two kilometers to the south and discovered the valley, it would be an absolute disaster for Daxia.

"Calm down. This group of long-tailed snapping mice are not very big. Judging from their movements and aura, they are not as strong as the Snow Mane and Frost Wolf. The individual strength may not be very strong, but there are too many of them. And we don't know if there is a leader. How strong is the leader? We can't provoke them easily. We have to think of a way..."

Judging from the pack of frost wolves encountered during the previous migration, they had a clear division of labor, coordinated well, and had a plan for advance and retreat. There was obviously a hierarchical order among the same kind of cold beasts, which proved that there was most likely a leader among them.

Although for some reason he didn't see the leader of the Frostwolf pack at that time, Xia Hong was still certain of his guess that there must be a leader in this group of long-tailed rats, as the number of these rats was nearly four hundred.

How strong is that rat?

Could it be a medium-sized cold beast? If so, what should we do?
Xia Hong's expression became more and more solemn, and his mind was working rapidly to think of a countermeasure.

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, who were standing beside him, knew that he was thinking but did not dare to disturb him. Knowing very well how big a threat these cold beasts posed to the camp, their expressions were no more relaxed than Xia Hong's and they were also thinking of countermeasures.

"Can you try to lead them to some other place?"

When Luo Yuan heard Xia Chuan's proposal, there was no surprise on his face.

He had just brought the news back to the camp, and before Xia Hong came back, Xia Chuan had already proposed this solution.

Xia Hong, who was standing next to him, did not show any surprise when he heard it. Instead, he shook his head subconsciously.

But after thinking for a moment, he showed a helpless expression again.

"This is the only way, but the problem is that it is too difficult to actually do it!"

Xia Hong had already had the idea of ​​luring away this group of cold beasts when he was on his way here, but it was too difficult to do so.

First of all, this group of long-tailed rats definitely did not gather here for no reason. It would be difficult to lead them away without knowing the reason.

Secondly, the number of rodents is really too large, three or four hundred of them. If there is any problem in the guiding process, it will be a death at the very least. If they accidentally find the valley, the consequences will be disastrous.

Finally, they knew nothing about a series of questions, including the strength and habits of these cold beasts, their methods of attack, how much damage they could cause in such large numbers, etc.

Considering these three difficulties combined, it is easy to imagine how difficult it would be to successfully lead this group of rats to other places.

Xia Hong subconsciously shook his head to reject Xia Chuan's proposal based on this;
Later, he showed a helpless expression because he had to admit that this was the only feasible solution they could think of at the moment.

When you encounter a strong enemy, there are only two options:

Fight or run.

Fighting is not an option, whether it is to drive them away or hunt them down, strength does not allow it;
Running away is not an option. Last time, when three or four hundred people moved from the earth slope to the valley, they encountered such a big accident. Now the total number of Daxia people is nearly nine hundred. If we move rashly, who knows whether we will encounter a greater danger than the rat swarm.
Besides, where can they run to?
The area around Hongmuling is so small. If you move too close, it will be the same as if you hadn't moved there. If you go too far away and explore other unfamiliar environments, the risks will be greater.

Therefore, trying to lead the rats to other places as far away from the valley as possible, although difficult, is the only feasible way at present.

"Captain, look over there!"

Luo Yuan suddenly shouted in a low voice, and Xia Hong quickly raised his head and looked in the direction of his finger. When he saw it, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Among the group of silver rats on the north slope of the mountain wall, there are two dace rats moving around. Judging from the direction they are moving, their target seems to be Redwood Ridge in the south.

Nighttime is the dormant period for cold beasts, and this group of crickets is no exception. Nearly 90% of the crickets have their tails entwined and are resting with their eyes closed, but these two are the only ones that are standing out, as if they want to break away from the group.

"Good opportunity, be gentle and follow me."

After Xia Hong finished speaking in a low voice, he was the first to climb down the mountain wall, followed closely by Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan. The three of them moved very lightly and did not dare to make any sound.

After the three of them got down the cliff, Xia Hong looked up at the north slope again and found that the two rats were only two or three hundred meters away from Redwood Ridge.

But after just these two or three hundred meters, the two mice stopped moving again.

They stood there making tiny squeaking sounds, as if they were communicating something.

When the three of them entered Redwood Ridge from the flank in advance, they saw that the two rats behind them were still standing still. Xia Hong frowned, thought for a moment, and then took out a torch from his back.

"You two wait here, don't move, I'll..."

"Chief, it's too dangerous. Let me go."

Before Xia Hong finished speaking, Xia Chuan realized what he was about to do and immediately interrupted him and volunteered.

"I go!"

Luo Yuan on the other side was more direct. He rushed out right after he finished speaking.

Looking at Luo Yuan rushing out, and then seeing Xia Chuan standing beside him who was obviously annoyed because he was one step slower than Luo Yuan, Xia Hong's heart was suddenly moved, knowing that the two men were unwilling to let their leader put himself in danger.

If you want to deal with a group of rodents, you must understand their strength.

Even if three people had a hundred guts, they wouldn't dare to touch the large group on the north slope.

But we happened to encounter two that were about to leave the population. This was a godsend opportunity that we should not miss.

Logically speaking, these two rodents are already four or five hundred meters away from the cliff. According to previous hunting experience, it shouldn't be a problem to light a torch to attract them.

But this long-tailed rat is, after all, a cold-blooded beast that we have encountered for the first time, and who knows if anything unexpected will happen.

"Stay closer and be ready to help!"

Although Xia Hong had enough confidence in Luo Yuan's ability to respond as he had been hunting with him for such a long time, he was still unfamiliar with new cold-blooded beasts such as the rodent and worried about accidents, so he still approached with Xia Chuan.

On the other side, Luo Yuan walked north for a while and roughly estimated that the distance between himself and the two rats was about a hundred meters, so he took out a torch.

"When we used torches to hunt before, the leader would always light the torch 50 to 60 meters away from the cold beasts. We are not familiar with these rats, so we will try to stay more than 100 meters away first. If we cannot attract them, we can slowly get closer."

Strictly speaking, the perception abilities of the Snowmane, Frostwolf, and Demon Sheep to torches are different. The strongest is the Frostwolf, which can sense it from fifty to sixty meters away; the second is the Demon Sheep, and the worst is the Snowmane. The torch must be placed about thirty meters away before it can sense it.

During the past six months following Xia Hong, Luo Yuan had become extremely cautious. He first lit a torch at a distance of more than 100 meters, in order to test the distance at which the crickets could perceive the torch.

Sizzle…Bang…

In the dark jungle, a small torch suddenly lit up. Luo Yuan quickly inserted it into the snow and ran quickly towards a tree he had chosen before.

Xia Hong, who was not far away, saw Luo Yuan's cautious approach and a hint of satisfaction suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"Brother, look at those two rats, what are they doing?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Hong quickly turned around to look.

When he saw this, he was shocked.

The two rats were actually lying on their stomachs, stretching out their sharp teeth and gnawing at the ground fiercely.

The key point is that the ground was really dug and gnawed by them, and broken soil and stones kept piling up behind them. Almost in an instant, their one-meter-long bodies all drilled into the ground and disappeared. Within a few breaths, the two or three-meter-long tails were also completely drilled into the ground.

"Does this rat have the strength of the Earth Digging Realm?"

Seeing this, Xia Chuan couldn't help but look shocked and asked in a low voice.

Xia Hong did not answer immediately. He just thought for a moment with a serious expression, then shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. If they really have the strength of the Digging Realm, they should use all four limbs to drill the ground. Just now they only used their teeth, which should be very hard. In addition, their bite force is also terrifying..."

Even though it was denied that the rodent had the strength to reach the burrowing level, the pair of rodent teeth alone was enough to make Xia Hong tremble with fear.

The ground is so hard that two rats could dig and drill into it so quickly. How terrifying would it be if hundreds of them gathered together on the northern slope of the mountain?

"Where did those two mice go?"

Not only Xia Chuan was confused, but Xia Hong was too.

What the mice burrow into is not the snow on the ground, but the solid ground.

Because the snow is relatively fluffy, the cold beasts can still be detected when they burrow into it;
The ground beneath the Ice Abyss is extremely hard. Rats and mice burrow into it and disappear without a trace. No movement can be detected at all.

"As soon as the torch was lit, they burrowed into the ground. We just need to keep our eyes on the torch. As long as the rats on the other side of the mountain wall don't make any movement, we can just stay by the torch. We don't have to worry about the two beasts not showing up!"

Xia Hong scanned the ground for a long time without finding anything, so he simply gave up and took Xia Chuan towards the torch. When they were about fifty or sixty meters away from the torch, they stopped, took out the bow and arrow, and stared at the torch together with Xia Chuan.

The gnat reacted when a torch was lit from over a hundred meters away. Its perception ability was obviously stronger than the three cold beasts encountered before. In this case, we must control the distance and not get too close.

Of course, while staring at the torch, Xia Hong was also keeping an eye on the movements on the north slope of the mountain. If there was anything wrong, he would immediately take his men and run away.

But after staring at it for nearly six or seven minutes, nearly half of the burning time of the small torch had passed, he still didn't see the two rats appear.

Xia Hong looked up at the sky and his brows furrowed even more.

It will be dawn soon, and if the two mice don't show up, we will have to go back.

There is no reason. The torch has been lit for such a long time, why don’t they take the bait?

Could it be that the little torches are not attractive to them?
"what…………"

An extremely suppressed low scream suddenly interrupted Xia Hong's thoughts.

"Oh no, it's Luo Yuan, go over there quickly!"

Xia Hong ran quickly towards the big tree where Luo Yuan was hiding. When he was more than ten meters away, he saw Luo Yuan with blood all over his left arm, running towards him with a pale face. There were three huge claw marks on his chest, and blood was constantly oozing out of them.

At the same time, above the big tree behind him, two silver figures were moving flexibly among the branches, so fast that even their shadows could not be seen clearly. One of the figures jumped down from the branch, and their target was Luo Yuan.

"This speed!"

The two silver figures were naturally the two rats. Although Xia Hong was shocked by their speed, he did not slow down. He quickly rushed behind Luo Yuan with a big knife in his hand and chopped down the rats that fell from the sky.

call…………

Xia Hong's basic strength has exceeded 20,000 pounds. The wind from the sword brought by the accumulated power even swept up the snow on the ground, which shows its power.

The rat that pounced on Luo Yuan obviously felt the threat of Xia Hong's knife, and its body suddenly turned to the left in the air.

Xia Hong was not annoyed when his sword missed, and he took back the sword. He only wanted to rescue Luo Yuan, and he never thought that he could kill the rat so easily.

call……

However, when Xia Hong was about to withdraw his sword, he suddenly heard a gust of wind in his ears. His heart suddenly contracted, and he turned around with his sword raised, facing the left side and gathering strength to block horizontally.

The rat, using the potential energy of its body turning to the left, swung its two-meter-long barbed tail towards Xia Hong.

Xia Hong's reaction was very quick, and his sideways block was indeed effective.

But the rat's tail is soft and it can move very fast.

Snapped……

tear...

Accompanied by the sounds of whips and flesh tearing, severe pain entered Xia Hong's mind. He turned his head and saw four or five deep wounds on his waist. Instead of getting angry, a hint of joy rose in his pupils.

The rat returned to the branch and stood side by side with the other one. Its two pairs of fierce blood-red eyes stared at the two people below.

"Leader, they dug from the ground to the heart of the tree and directly to me. I didn't have time to run away, and one of them bit my arm, and another one scratched my chest with its claws."

Luo Yuan, who was now safe, looked pale. While explaining the situation to Xia Hong, he took out the Golden Wound Powder from his arms and applied it on his left arm and chest respectively.

Xia Hong also smeared a handful of Jinchuang Powder on his waist to stop the bleeding of the wound. Then he looked towards the big tree where Luo Yuan had just hidden. He saw a big hole more than one meter wide on the tree. He then looked up at the two mice on the branch, and a chill flashed through his heart.

From more than a hundred meters away, they drilled all the way through the ground, digging from the bottom of the tree stump to Luo Yuan's side. The whole process took only seven or eight minutes, and the key was that it didn't make any noise at all.

Luo Yuan was a Digging Realm expert, and had been hunting with him for half a year. He was extremely cautious, and he didn't notice the rats digging all the way to his side, which was enough to explain the problem. Moreover, the two rats must have been attracted by the torches, but their perception ability was obviously far superior to the three previous cold beasts. Not only did they sense where Luo Yuan was hiding, they also knew to sneak up on him in advance.

Smart, cunning, united, super strong bite force and burrowing ability, super perception, super fast speed, and the ability to work in a team.

The only weakness of this rat is...

"Don't be afraid, they are just fast, their strength is average!"

Just now, Xia Hong's waist was scratched by the barbs on the rat's tail, but he was not surprised but happy, because he found that the strength of the rat was not strong.

Not to mention the Snowmanes, even the Frostwolves are stronger than them.

As Xia Hong gave the warning, the two rats on the tree rushed towards him again.

They were so fast that they leaped like two silver flashes, appearing in front of them in an instant from the tree branches.

Apparently aware of the power of the machete in Xia Hong's hand, the two rats did not use their claws or attack from the front this time. Instead, they opened their sharp teeth and attacked Xia Hong from both sides.

Xia Hong drew his saber and blocked it to the left. After applying Golden Wound Powder, Luo Yuan, whose injuries were temporarily suppressed, gritted his teeth and rushed to his right, cooperating with him and holding up his saber to block the rats rushing from the right.

clang…………

The rodent's teeth collided violently with the sword, sending out two balls of sparks. It seemed to be very powerful, but Xia Hong and Luo Yuan, who were standing back to back, did not move at all. Only their hands holding the sword trembled for a while.

"Their strength is really not strong!"

Luo Yuan, who had just been injured in a sneak attack, was instantly calm at this moment. He could sense that although the rat was fast, the force of its bite was only six or seven thousand kilograms. He was not afraid of such strength in a head-on battle.

"Don't be careless, look at the blade!"

But before he could be happy for long, Xia Hong reminded him. Looking down at the big knife in his hand, Luo Yuan's face suddenly changed. The relaxed look on his face immediately became nervous again.

There was a big gap on the blade of the big knife in his hand where it had just collided with the rat's teeth. The gap was in the shape of a tooth mark, and the blade was completely bent for three or four inches around it.

"It's so hard, how is it possible!"

"Don't get bitten, just focus on dealing with them first."

Xia Hong naturally understood where Luo Yuan's shock came from.

The hardest substance they have encountered so far is iron.

The teeth of this rat are harder than iron.

It would be disastrous if this bit a person!
Xia Hong looked shocked, but also seemed to have a hint of joy on his face.

But at this moment, he didn't have the mind to think about anything else.

"squeak……"

Just because the two rats let out a low cry and rushed up again.

This time they did not choose Xia Hong, but changed their target to Luo Yuan.

To be precise, it was Luo Yuan's left arm and chest.

The two rats attacked Luo Yuan's left arm and chest simultaneously.

The place where Luo Yuan was attacked just now was his left arm and chest.

Xia Hong leaped to block Luo Yuan's left side, only turned his head to exchange glances with Luo Yuan, then gathered power with his sword, and while the rat on the left had not yet attacked, he had already chopped it down in advance at the position where it was about to bite.

Luo Yuan, on his side, used his sword to fend off another rat that was attacking his chest.

The two rats moved at similar speeds and attacked the two men almost at the same time.

clang…………

The situation was exactly the same as in the first confrontation.

But this time, only one spark was produced when the sword collided with the rodent's teeth.

Luo Yuan, who had just used his sword to block the rat on his chest, turned around at the critical moment and blocked the teeth of the rat on the left, while ignoring the one attacking his chest.

Xia Hong, who had already completed accumulating power, also retracted the sword he had swung and swung it again the moment Luo Yuan turned around. He not only took advantage of the momentum to change his position, but also completed the second round of charging.

Xia Hong's pupils suddenly froze, and he slashed at the body of the rat that had just arrived.

From the moment the two men changed positions to the moment Xia Hong accumulated strength for the second time and slashed at the rat.

The whole process was smooth as flowing water.

The most important thing is that the two of them communicated throughout the whole process with just a glance.

"No matter how well you cooperate, can it be better than the tacit understanding of humans?"

When Xia Hong chopped down with the knife, his eyes were sinister and his expression was somewhat ferocious.

These two rats, after all, are not very strong.

Both he and Luo Yuan suffered losses due to their unfamiliarity in their first fight.

Luo Yuan didn't expect that the other party could be so fast and dig all the way in front of him silently from the ground; he didn't expect that the other party was so fast and his tail was so flexible.

Luo Yuan's change of position in the battle was a deliberate move, and the rat in front of him had absolutely no time to react. Because of their fast speed, it was impossible for them to react in such a short time.

Moreover, Xia Hong and Luo Yuan were well-rested and waited for the opportunity to strike, changing their positions at the last possible moment. The fate of the rat in front of them was already doomed.

The rat that was originally attacking Luo Yuan's face had a flash of panic in its pupils when it saw Xia Hong coming. It was obvious that it also realized that it was too late to react.

call…………

Xia Hong aimed his knife at the head of the rat with great precision. The blade made a crackling sound while cutting through the air, and the air around it seemed to freeze for a moment.

But just as the sword was about to strike, the rat suddenly raised its head in mid-air.

Its pair of red eyes suddenly shot out two inch-long red rays, as if condensed into substance, like two sharp arrows, colliding with Xia Hong's blade like a needle against a wheat spike.

laugh…………

The pupil light hit the broadsword, and a strong recoil force caused Xia Hong's hands holding the sword to tremble. The broadsword that was originally chopped towards the rat's head was deflected by half a meter due to the recoil force.

"These frosty beasts really all have their own trump cards. This inch of light should be the life-saving method of the gnawing mouse. If you want to rely on this to survive, you are still a little naive!"

The ferocity on Xia Hong's face did not diminish in the slightest. He managed to steady the momentum of the knife, completely ignoring the broken knuckles, and forcibly twisted the blade back after it had shifted half a meter.

Click…………

The sound of bones breaking suddenly resounded through the night sky, and the body of the rat fell to the ground. The huge force caused its body to almost sink into the snow, leaving only its back exposed.

"Squeak..."

With one last weak squeak, its life was completely cut off.

Xia Hong looked down at the broken spine on the rat's back and took a deep breath.

"Although its teeth are hard, its bones are average in strength. Although its Inch Light is powerful, its attack range seems to be very short, and it may only erupt in life-and-death crisis. As long as these long-tailed snapping rats do not form a group, the threat should not be too great!"

call out…………

"Chief, it's trying to run!"

Before he had time to relax for long, Xia Hong was awakened by Luo Yuan's reminder. He turned around and saw another rat, which had turned into silver light and fled towards the mountain wall. His face immediately became tense.

"We can't let it get away, chase it!"

Xia Hong let out a low roar and quickly chased after him with Luo Yuan.

The cold beasts are intelligent and can definitely communicate with each other. If this rodent returns to the population, there will definitely be big problems.

The problem was that the rat was too fast. It ran dozens of meters away in almost an instant. The outer edge of Redwood Ridge was only about seven or eight hundred meters away from the mountain wall. If we chased it for a few more moments, it would get too close to the mountain wall and become very dangerous.

But Xia Hong and Luo Yuan still did not slow down.

Even when he looked at the rat about to run out of Redwood Ridge, there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

The rat obviously realized that Xia Hong and the other man were not as fast as itself. Although there was a hint of pride on its face, the fierce light in its pupils did not diminish, and it did not dare to slow down its escape speed at all.

Boom…………

Suddenly, a sound like a taut string came from under the mouse's feet.

The rat was only ten meters away from running out of Redwood Ridge when it suddenly stumbled, fell heavily, and rolled forward several meters due to excessive inertia.

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

At the same time, several arrows came rushing from behind and hit the fallen body of the rat almost without any suspense.

The gnat was very resilient. Even after being shot by several arrows, it was still struggling to escape towards the cliff. However, the arrows seemed to be endless, and their speed and force became faster and stronger as time went by. The last few arrows even penetrated the gnat's body and went straight into the snow in front of it.

The vitality of the rat was fading away madly. It turned its head to look at Xia Hong and Luo Yuan who were gradually approaching. Its two blood-red eyes were full of ferocity and cruelty. Seeing that the two were no longer approaching and were only standing cautiously more than ten meters away, constantly shooting arrows at itself, its expression suddenly became even more ferocious.

Suddenly, it seemed to have figured something out. It raised its head, opened its mouth, and made a rhythmic cry towards the air.

“Squeak…squeak…squeak…”

"It's gathering its companions. We can't let it continue. Quick!"

squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak

Xia Hong's reaction was already very fast, but the efficiency of the mouse's communication was obviously even faster. The mouse only called two or three times, and there was a rustling sound on the ground.

Xia Hong and Luo Yuan turned their heads at the same time and realized that the noise came from the north slope of the mountain. Their faces changed color and they quickly drew their bows and arrows, shooting four or five arrows at the rat's head in one breath.

The moment he opened his mouth to give the reminder, Xia Chuan, who had been hiding on the other side of the tree and had just played a key role in blocking the rat with a white line, had already rushed out and stabbed the rat's neck with a black knife.

"Collect the two dead rats and pick up all the arrows on the ground. Don't leave any traces. Run quickly and run to Redwood Ridge first!"

At Xia Hong's command, Luo Yuan immediately picked up the two dead rats on the ground; Xia Chuan flicked his fingers and used the white line to pull back all the arrows.

We fought for such a long time just now, there are many traces on the ground.

Xia Hong looked around and waved his knife on the ground a few times to lift up the snow. Then he saw that Luo Yuan had wrapped the dead rat with leather. Xia Chuan also collected all the arrows, took the two of them, and immediately fled madly towards Redwood Ridge.

The three of them had not run for more than ten breaths when the ground began to shake slightly, followed by the sound of countless rats.

“Squeak…squeak…squeak…”

“Squeak, squeak, squeak…”

………………

A huge silver rat head suddenly broke out of the ground.

It stretched out its pointed nose, sniffed the air, and immediately turned its head to look inside the Redwood Ridge. Its red pupils, which were several times larger than those of other rats, revealed a fierce look.

After seemingly thinking for a moment, it retreated back into the ground.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak…”

A squeak far louder than that of other rats was heard, and at the same time, two noises were heard from underground. One was clearly returning towards the northern slope of the mountain; the other was chasing towards the inside of Redwood Ridge, which was the direction in which Xia Hong and the other two had escaped.

(End of this chapter)