Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 114: Survival in Desperate Situation [Three-in-one Chapter]

Xia Hong's serious tone made it easy for people to hear the hidden meaning in his words. All the people gathered around him were silent for less than a moment, and then one person stood up first.

"Leader, tell me what to do. I'll listen to you."

The first person to rush out was not the people from Da Xia, but Zou Yuankai, who was from Rogge Camp and is now a member of the hunting team.

As Zou Yuankai finished speaking, Yuan Cheng, Hong Gang, Huang Yong, and other members of the hunting team, as well as the logging team and the gathering team, all stood up and expressed their opinions to Xia Hong.

"If the rats come, we will all be dead. Leader, just tell me what you want to do. If I can be of any use to you, I will never refuse."

"That's right. The leader leads people to fight to the death all day long. We are useless. It's not easy to play a role. I have been waiting for this day. Please speak frankly, leader!"

"If the leader gives the order, I will be the first to rush forward!"

…………

Xia Hong sat in a chair, listening to the continuous statements of the crowd. Looking at the determination and fearlessness on the faces of those who made statements, he couldn't help but be moved.

Those who stood up to express their opinions were not only members of the hunting team, logging team and gathering team, but almost all the loggers in the camp were present, and even ordinary reserve soldiers standing in the back were involved.

Almost seven months had passed since the relocation and merging of the camps. Only at this moment did Xia Hong truly realize that all the people in the Daxia camp no longer had any barriers between them. In the face of disaster, they were not only united as one, but everyone was determined to die for Daxia.

The greatest achievement and gain of the nearly seven months of hard work was, of course, the cultivation of many woodcutters and diggers in front of us.

But at this moment, in Xia Hong's view, the courage and responsibility shown by these people in the face of disaster is the greatest reward for himself.

"Well, there is no coward in our Daxia!"

Xia Hong stood up from his chair, looking quite excited. After looking around at everyone, he said in a deep voice: "With our current strength, it is unrealistic to deal with the group of rats head-on. It is definitely impossible to drive them away by force, so we can only think of a way to guide them away from here..."

The strength of a single rat is not that strong.

Xia Hong believed that hunting should not be a problem in a one-on-one situation.

But the group of rats on the other side of the mountain wall is too large. Combined with the rats' ability to burrow silently and their elusive speed, the current Da Xia is no match for them. Once the location of the camp is discovered, it will be an absolute disaster.

Guiding is the only way, not to mention, Daxia has a torch, the best weapon to lure the cold beast.

But even just luring away the rodents and rats involves huge risks.

First of all, where should it be led?
There is no other answer to this question. To the north of the mountain wall is Lu Shang's camp, to the east are unfamiliar mountains, and to the south is the valley where they are stationed. So the only option is to go to the west and lead them into Redwood Ridge.

The northern slope of the mountain wall is only seven or eight hundred meters away from Hongmu Ridge. To be on the safe side, we must lead the group of rodents to a deeper depth as much as possible. According to the current depth that Daxia can penetrate, that is one thousand meters into Hongmu Ridge.

Secondly, how to cite?
According to Xia Hong's idea, torches should be laid along the way to lead the group of rats to the deepest part, preferably to the base of their natural enemy, the Yunwu Tengjiao.

The difficulty of this operation is that the torches must be lit at the same time. You cannot light one torch, lead it for a distance, and then light the next one. This is not only troublesome to operate and extremely difficult to control the distance, but also very prone to accidents.

Besides, with such a huge group of rats that can burrow underground, who knows if a few of them will run around. If they find the person who lit the torch and then follow the clues to find the valley, it would be an unexpected disaster.

Finally, there are various unexpected situations that may occur along the way.

For example, according to Xia Hong's plan, at least dozens of torches would be needed to spread the fire from the northern slope of the mountain wall to the inner side of Redwood Ridge. They had never tried to light so many torches at the same time. What if it triggered a large-scale outbreak of cold beasts?
With so many torches laid along the way, given the density of cold beasts in Redwood Ridge, some of the points where torches are laid along the way will definitely be inaccessible to cold beasts. The people responsible for lighting torches at these locations will be in great danger, needless to say.

And whether the rats would all flow toward the torches;

After entering Redwood Ridge, it would be best if the group of gnats fought with other cold beasts. What if they didn't fight?
Moreover, the torch only burns for fifteen minutes. After it goes out, will the rats stay in Redwood Ridge or return to the north slope of the mountain? If they return, wouldn't they have wasted their time?

…………

Xia Hong explained his overall plan in detail, including the difficulties in implementation, the various possibilities of success and failure, and even his worries.

He explained it clearly, so everyone understood it quickly.

In essence, this method is an attempt by the weak.

From what happened tonight, it was clear that it was completely impossible to lure the animals slowly with torches and hunt them in batches. Firstly, there were too many of them, nearly 400 of them, and it would take an eternity to kill them all. Secondly, rats could send messages to each other, and the tribe had the ability to communicate. Once something went wrong during a hunt, the camp would most likely be implicated.

Whenever he had to confront a group of rodents head-on, whether it was to drive them away or to hunt them down on a large scale, Xia Hong would not hesitate for a moment.

The problem is that the current camp is simply not capable of doing so.

But just watching them stay there would lead to death sooner or later, so we could only try to use torches to lead them to another place.

This brings up another question: why do the rodents gather there?

If they just gathered here accidentally, they would not come back after being led away by the torches; but if the group of rats gathered here for a purpose, they would naturally come back when the torches went out.

The former is fine, but if it is the latter, all the effort and risk they put into guiding will be in vain.

Why is it called a weak attempt?

Because this is the only feasible solution they have at the moment, even though it is very likely to be useless.

"Can you move away and not live in this valley anymore?"

"Where can we move to? There are mountains to the east, so we can't go there. The rodent colony is to the north. More than 800 people moving would make a lot of noise, so moving north is impossible. The farthest to the south is only three kilometers away. The location of the Dashi Camp's Tashan Mountain makes no difference whether we move or not. Moving further south is an unfamiliar area, which is even more impossible."

Someone suggested moving away, but the suggestion was immediately rejected.

"Can that..."

Other suggestions were subsequently put forward, but as expected, they were either not feasible or too difficult or dangerous.

There was even a large number of people who showed obvious resistance on their faces when they heard suggestions such as relocation.

Xia Hong sat in the chair without saying a word, waiting for everyone to discuss in silence.

Although I am sure that this is the only way, it would be better if everyone could discuss other better response strategies.

Unfortunately, after more than an hour, everyone in the wooden house finally quieted down and their eyes slowly shifted to Xia Hong.

Obviously, they all realized that the only feasible way was to lead the group of rats into Redwood Ridge as Xia Hong proposed.

"Chief, pick someone. We can't just sit there and wait for death!"

"The worst that can happen is death. If I can lead the rats away, I will have done a great service to Daxia and I will be honored. I am willing to go."

"I'd like to go too, Chief."

"I would like that too."

…………

Seeing everyone petitioning enthusiastically, Xia Hong looked a little heavy, but he still stood up, nodded, then used coal stones to outline the terrain on the ground and made detailed arrangements.

"It's more than 700 meters from the north slope of the mountain wall to Hongmu Ridge, and more than 1,000 meters deeper into the inner side. Taking into account the detour along the way, it should be no longer than 3,000 meters. It would take more than 30 people to place a torch every 100 meters.

When the first torch is lit, the people behind must retreat immediately as soon as they light their torches, so I need people who are familiar with the terrain and can run fast.

In addition, when setting up the torches tomorrow night, we must first survey the cold beasts entrenched in the trees along the way and try to avoid them. The torches and personnel for the outer 500 meters will be arranged by Xia Chuan and his men. Within 500 meters, I will lead Luo Yuan and four others to be responsible..."

Of course, it was impossible for the specific deployment to come up out of thin air. Xia Hong just wanted to explain the operational ideas to them and select personnel.

Everything has to wait until nightfall, when we reach the northern slope of the mountain wall and make a more comprehensive and detailed plan based on the actual situation.

After everyone understood Xia Hong's ideas, they also offered suggestions. Xia Hong gladly adopted some of the useful ones. Soon, thirty-five candidates and specific implementation methods were determined.

Among the thirty-five people, fifteen were from the hunting team, and the rest were members of the logging team. This group of people were the ones who were most familiar with the environment of Redwood Ridge in the camp.

Although these selected people knew that the mission they were about to carry out was very dangerous, there was no fear on their faces.

“In theory, this plan does not require a direct confrontation with the rodent group, so there will be no danger under normal circumstances. However, as I just said, there are several unexpected situations that may occur.

Therefore, I must explain in advance that in order to ensure that the camp is not discovered by the rats, those who carry out the fire-starting mission, including me, are not allowed to return to the camp immediately after escaping. They must wait until dawn before returning. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Chief!"

Thirty-five people, with slightly solemn expressions, nodded in response.

Xia Hong said no more and waved his hand to let everyone go. He glanced at Luo Yuan and saw that he had woken up. The wound on his waist was healing rapidly. He lay down on the chair and closed his eyes to rest, waiting for the night to come.

The physical fitness of the Digging Realm was already very strong, and with the application of the Golden Wound Powder, his injuries recovered quickly. Not to mention complete recovery after nightfall, it should be no problem for him and Luo Yuan to regain all their mobility.

………………

On the north slope of the mountain, the wind is cold and biting

It was daytime now, and at first glance there were only a dozen or so long-tailed mice left on the north slope.

But if you look towards the north side of the mountain, you will find countless flesh-colored long tails exposed on the ground on a slope more than a hundred meters away.

Those tails seemed to be swaying rhythmically from side to side along with the rat's body underground. The scene was extremely weird and disgusting.

And just twenty or thirty meters underground below the mountain wall, in a three-meter-high cave, Chen Ying was standing on the shoulders of two people, with his ear pressed against the stone wall on the top of the cave, with his eyes closed, obviously listening to the movement above.

After listening for a while, Chen Ying tiptoed down, a hint of despair appearing on his sallow and thin face.

The two people below saw his face, obviously realized something, and their expressions gradually became desperate.

"They are still here. They are not planning to leave. What is on the north slope? Are these beasts planning to stay here forever?"

"It's no use if they leave during the day, we can't get out at all. At night they come back and lie on top to rest, and we still can't escape."

"The crystal fruit was gone three days ago. All the leather, hay, and tarpaulin we used in the cave have been eaten. Some children have even fainted from hunger."

"We can't go on like this, Father."

"The wood will soon run out, and the camp will soon start cannibalism, father."

"Shut up, be quiet!"

Chen Ying interrupted his two sons' discussion. Although his tone became slightly heavier, he still tried to keep his voice down for fear of being discovered by the cold beast above his head.

But after interrupting the two of them, Chen Ying didn't know what to say. Thinking of his current situation, the despair in his pupils became more and more intense.

This group of rats came here more than half a month ago, and no one knows why, but they have been squatting on the north slope of the mountain and have not left. As of today, they have been there for seventeen days.

Chen Ye's camp was originally just a small camp, not very strong, and it did not have many crystal fruits and timber in reserve. The logging team could not go out for seventeen days, so one can imagine its current situation.

It’s not that Chen Ying didn’t think about fighting hard, the problem is, with their strength, even fighting hard is a luxury. If they are exposed in any way, they will basically end up providing food for these cold beasts.

During the last incident with the wooden puppet at Rogue Camp, Chen Ye's Camp also lost five Lumberjacks. Now, there are only three of them, father and son, at the Lumberjack level. With such limited strength, any one of the overwhelming rats on the north slope would surely kill them.

Chen Ying's previous hope was that this group of rats must have some purpose in coming here, and once that purpose was achieved, they might leave.

But so far, there is no sign of the rats leaving.

"Go back and check first!"

Chen Ying took his two sons and walked more than ten meters to the south side of the cave. He knocked on a stone wall, and a response immediately came from behind the wall.

A stone was moved away, and light suddenly came out from inside. The three of them immediately got in and blocked the stone wall again.

Behind the stone wall, there was a cave within a cave with a radius of about 20 to 30 meters. A small bonfire was lit in the middle of the cave. Two or three hundred people were crowded around the bonfire, their faces full of despair and helplessness.

When Chen Ying and the other two came in, there was a slight commotion among the crowd.

But after noticing the expressions on the three people's faces, they were obviously in despair again, and their faces were depressed. "Wuwuwu, child, my child..."

Suddenly, a woman's low sobbing was heard in the crowd.

Chen Ying walked over in the direction of the sound and found an adult woman by the campfire, holding a child of three or four years old and sobbing softly.

Chen Ying stretched out his hand and placed it on the child's neck. He found that his pulse had stopped beating and his expression suddenly became even gloomier.

The people closest to the campfire were children and women. Chen Ying stood up and looked around, and found that most of the children had their eyes closed, barely breathing, and some were even unconscious.

On the third day of fasting, under normal circumstances, people will not starve to death.

The problem is that there are problems with the heating supply. There are a large number of cold beasts overhead, so they dare not burn the fire too strongly. In addition, the wood is running out in the next few days, so the heating supply is becoming increasingly tense.

It's still possible to endure hunger alone, but if it's cold, even adults won't be able to hold on, let alone children. If this continues, the children will surely be the first to starve to death or freeze to death, and then the disease will spread to the adults.

Chen Ying clenched his fists for a moment, as if he had made a decision. The despair on his face gradually turned into determination.

He turned his head and looked at everyone, and said in a deep voice:
"When night falls, Chen Shang and I will rush out of the cave and run north to attract the attention of the cold beast. Chen Ping will lead the rest of us to run south. If we can run, we will run. If we can't, we will die together!"

After finishing speaking, Chen Ying, regardless of everyone's reaction, sat down on the ground, closed his eyes and began to rest, waiting for the night to come.

Chen Ping and Chen Shang did not show any emotion when they heard this, but just nodded with a slight despair.

When the others heard Chen Ye's words, their reactions were the same as theirs, and some even looked more desperate than them.

Not to mention these ordinary people, the moment Chen Ye made this decision, he knew in his heart that the 278, no, it should be 277 people in Chen Ye’s camp, if nothing unexpected happened, none of them would survive.

The problem is, if you don’t go out and fight, you will die.

Fight it, at least you can die with dignity.

When he confirmed the death of the child just now, he had noticed that there was a gleam of light in the eyes of many adults in the camp.

If he continued to stay in there, not only would he die in disgrace, but there would also be a high possibility that a human tragedy that he did not want to see would occur.

Therefore, there is no other way except death!
Being weak is the original sin. Who made them be at the bottom of the society in this world of ice and snow? Since death is inevitable, they should accept it calmly.

Why…………

Chen Ying closed his eyes, a sigh flashed through his heart, and he couldn't help but think of Yang Ning and the other person he met in Rogue Camp some time ago.

"It would be great if I could be born in a place like Beishuo Town!"

At night, it comes quietly.

In fact, during the seventeen days he was trapped deep in the cave, Chen Ying tried to vent the smoke from the campfire through a wooden pipe into the depths of the cave for fear of being discovered by the cold beasts, not to mention opening the cave to see whether it was day or night outside.

He didn't even dare to dig a small hole to take a look.

He could only judge based on the noise made by the group of cold beasts above his heads.

The group of cold beasts would climb up the northern slope of the mountain during the day and crawl back to the mountain wall to rest at night. So when Chen Ying heard the noise getting louder overhead, he realized that it was already dark.

After waiting for a while, Chen Ying put out the campfire first, and then led everyone out of the cave where they were hiding, along the three-meter-high passage, to the large cave near the periphery where they had been staying before.

"Open the cave!"

Chen Ying was already mentally prepared, so without further ado, he took his two sons and some adults to start clearing the hole.

In order to avoid disturbing the cold beast above their heads in advance, they moved as lightly as possible. In addition, they had not eaten for several days and had little strength, so their cleaning efficiency was extremely slow.

Even so, people were not impatient. Perhaps they knew that they would face death once they got out, so they were all calm.

When only the last layer of branches was left at the entrance of the cave, Chen Ying waved his hand to signal everyone to stop, and then looked at everyone in turn, obviously meaning to say goodbye.

Just as he raised his hand and was about to push away the last layer of branches.

Dongdong………………

Suddenly, there was a violent vibration above my head.

Chen Ying raised his head and looked upwards, his expression changed with shock, thinking that he and his people had been discovered by the cold beast, and subconsciously wanted to let everyone retreat back to the previous cave.

"Wait, father, these cold beasts seem to be moving!"

"They are not heading to the north slope, they are moving toward Redwood Ridge."

Chen Shang and Chen Ping had already put their ears to the ground. After listening for a while, they suddenly raised their heads, their faces full of ecstasy.

Chen Ying was also stunned for a moment, then he immediately fell to the ground. After listening for a while, a look of ecstasy appeared on his face. Then he immediately opened a small piece of the hole and looked outside.

"fire?"

When he saw this, he was stunned for a moment.

On the west side of the mountain wall, more than a hundred meters away, although it was not clear, Chen Ying could be sure that there was a small flame burning. At the same time, countless silver cold beasts were jumping down from the top of his head and rushing towards the small flame frantically.

No, there is more!
Behind that ball of fire, another ball of fire started, and then more and more ball of fire followed closely behind it, until four or five small ball of fire started, almost reaching the outer edge of Redwood Ridge. It was too far away, and Chen Ying could not see clearly.

"Everyone, get out and run south!"

Until all the silver cold beasts jumped down and ran to the west, chasing the small flames away from the mountain wall, Chen Ye realized that this was a great opportunity to escape. He immediately lifted the branches at the entrance of the cave and shouted behind him.

He did not run away first, but let the others run first.

"Run, run!"

"Run quickly, quickly, those who still have strength, pick up the child, quickly!"

The same thing happened to Chen Shang and Chen Ping. Instead of running away first, they walked to the back and picked up the two children respectively, then shouted and urged everyone to run quickly.

It is definitely unrealistic to expect more than 200 people to run away so quickly.

But under the coordination and organization of the Chen father and his two sons, and with the cooperation of many adults, the speed was astonishingly fast. In less than two minutes, everyone ran out of the cave and fled madly towards the south.

Chen, his two sons, followed at the end of the team. They kept a close eye on the group of cold beasts that had entered the outskirts of Redwood Ridge, while looking back to watch out for the danger behind them.

Unfortunately, the team of two or three hundred people was too large. With the coordination and organization of the three of them, they got out of the cave very quickly; but as soon as they got out of the cave and started fleeing south, their speed immediately slowed down.

"what…………"

At the same time, a scream suddenly rang out from the team, breaking the team in the middle. The people in the front ran forward frantically, and the people behind actually began to retreat.

Chen Ying and the other two who were at the rear were startled and immediately rushed to the middle.

Seeing the scene in the middle, the three of them suddenly felt a chill in their hearts.

Three large holes with a diameter of half a meter appeared on the ground. Three silver-haired and long-tailed cold beasts had bitten seven or eight people to death. One of them even had the upper body of a person in its mouth. With a light chewing of its two teeth, the person was directly bitten into pieces and swallowed into its stomach.

"Follow them, the rest of you keep running, quick!"

Chen Ying did not hesitate. He drew out the stone axe in his hand and rushed forward. Chen Ping and Chen Shang followed closely behind him and all rushed forward.

It was obvious that the three of them were planning to sacrifice their lives to give the others a chance to escape.

Those ordinary people reacted quickly as well. Most of them tried to bypass it and continue to escape. A small number of adults gritted their teeth and actually followed Chen Ying and the other two, rushing towards the long-tailed, silver-haired cold beast.

"We're all going to die anyway, so let's fight this beast!"

"Everyone else run quickly."

"Yes, fight it."

…………

To be honest, this scene is quite heroic, but it’s a pity that these people are so weak.

The two cold beasts didn't even move. They just leaped a few times, waving their claws and flashing their teeth. The adults were either cut in half or ripped open. Their deaths were extremely miserable.

Chen Ying and his two companions, who were the first to rush forward, did struggle for a few times, but that was all. In less than three or four breaths, they were thrown five or six meters away by the long tail of one of the cold beasts.

The tail of the cold beast was full of barbs, and the parts of the three people who were hit were instantly covered in blood. The oldest one, Chen Ying, had blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and he was unable to get up immediately.

"Father, let's run. The noise over at Redwood Ridge is getting louder and louder. If those cold beasts come back, we'll be dead."

Hearing his son Chen Ping's words, Chen Ying gritted his teeth, turned around and saw that the two cold beasts were still madly slaughtering ordinary people in the camp. Without thinking, he pushed him away, forced himself to stand up, and rushed towards the cold beast on the left.

"You run first!"

Snapped……

Seeing that Chen Ying was still rushing towards him desperately, a hint of mockery clearly flashed across the face of the cold beast. Its body slightly flashed, and its two-meter-long tail suddenly swung out with a whip-like sound, flying straight towards Chen Ying's face.

Chen Ying's speed was obviously not on the same level as his opponent's. He didn't even have time to raise the stone axe to block. Seeing that the barbs on the long tail were about to pierce his eyes, Chen Ying subconsciously closed his eyes, with a look of relief on his face.

He is in his early forties, which is considered a long life according to the average human lifespan of 40 in the Ice Abyss World. He thought that everyone in the camp would starve to death or freeze to death in the cave, but now that so many of them have escaped, he is already very satisfied.

It has been delayed for so long, and a lot of people must have run away. It’s enough!
call out…………

However, Chen Ying, who was about to accept death, suddenly heard the sound of an arrow flying through the air. He suddenly looked up at the cold beast that flew backwards four or five meters in front of him, and was stunned.

"Bow and arrows, we can't let these two rats get away, quick!"

A calm and composed commanding voice came from behind. Chen Ying, his son and his two children, as well as those who had not yet had time to run far away, all subconsciously turned around and looked behind them.

Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

Six neatly dressed young men with extraordinary temperament were galloping quickly from behind. They had big swords on their waists and quivers on their backs. As they approached, they quickly bent their bows and drew their arrows, shooting at the two rats.

Especially the man who gave the orders, that is, the one in the lead, the clothes he was wearing were so neat that it would be far from enough to describe them.

A light blue velvet hat with two white animal fangs five or six inches long; straight white-brown trousers; shiny black animal leather boots; and that domineering black cloak.

Luxurious!

This adjective popped up in everyone's mind, including Chen Ying.

"Beishu Town, someone's coming again?"

This thought popped up in Chen Ying's mind subconsciously. Seeing such luxurious clothing and the luxurious weapons of six people, he could only think of Yang and Li, and then contacted Beishuo Town.

"Captain Chen, stop being in a daze and lead your men to escape!"

know me?
Chen Ying was stunned, and at the same time, he also saw the appearance of the six people approaching.

"Xia... Leader Xia... why are you guys here?"

"Go ahead, there's not much time left, make it quick and decisive!"

Xia Hong had no intention of explaining to Chen Ying at the moment. At the command, he put down the bow and arrow, drew his sword and rushed forward.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan and four others followed closely behind.

The six men surrounded the two rats, not giving them any chance, and rushed forward to kill them.

(End of this chapter)