Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 123: The rats move strangely, making bows crazily [Long Chapter]

The natural average life expectancy of ordinary people in the Ice Abyss world is in their early forties.

The Lumberjacks can live longer, but rarely past fifty;

Judging from Luo Ming's father Luo Feng, the lifespan of a Digging Realm cultivator is probably over sixty years old, but the exact limit is unclear.

If we calculate based on common sense from previous lives, the average lifespan of someone with such strong basic strength and physical fitness cannot be this short.

But this is the Ice Abyss World after all.

Xia Hong is only eighteen this year. Although he is not anxious about his life span for the time being, who doesn't want to live longer? He has thought about this issue carefully before.

In his opinion, there are three main reasons why the life span of humans in the Ice Abyss is too short:
One is the extremely cold climate;
Second, the dark environment;
The third is human beings’ irrational activity habits of hiding during the day and coming out at night, as well as seriously abnormal work and rest habits.

It goes without saying that extremely cold weather is harmful to the human body; just not being able to see sunlight for a long time can have a significant impact on life expectancy.
As for the third point, it’s not that humans themselves want to do this, but they are helpless.

The sun in the Ice Abyss world emits extremely cold light. Xia Hong had experienced this himself once when he was attacked by the demon sheep on the slope.

After breaking through the Digging Realm, he tried again, and the same thing happened.

Unless humans can withstand the cold, they cannot see the light at all.

If you can't see the light, you can only choose to move around at night.

The daytime in the Ice Abyss world is only four hours, and most of the day is dark. According to Xia Hong's observation, most people in the camp only sleep for about four hours a day.

They can't see the light, have a reversed schedule, and seriously don't get enough sleep, so it's normal that their average life expectancy is not high.

Xia Hong couldn't solve the two problems of exposure to light and reversed work and rest schedule, including prolonging the sleep time. After everyone had generally become accustomed to four hours of sleep, it was difficult for him to correct it.

So far, all Xia Hong could do and achieved was to order all children under the age of six in the camp to sleep two more hours a day.

Even so, there are still many children who cannot accept it.

Once it gets dark, I wake up naturally and then can't fall asleep again.

If this is the case with children, let alone adults.

A group habit that has been sustained and passed down for many years is difficult to correct in a short period of time. Xia Hong is well aware of this.

It is the same as the habit of working at sunrise and resting at sunset formed by humans in previous lives over thousands of years of reproduction, but the humans in the Ice Abyss World do exactly the opposite.

If you can't change it in a short period of time, then you can only do it slowly and subtly.

Of course, the most thorough way to solve the problem of short lifespan is to practice.

While basic strength is improving, physical fitness is also constantly leaping forward. This is the common understanding of everyone, including Xia Hong. This is also the biggest reason why they are so obsessed with practicing and pursuing strength.

With an increasingly strong body, life expectancy will inevitably increase.

The threat of rat swarms is imminent, and the progress of bow making must be accelerated. In the previous ten days, the seven Digging Realm masters, including Xia Hong, basically only slept for two hours a day. This is also the reason why iron ore mining cannot keep up with the progress of bow making.

Clang…clang…clang…clang…

Inside the mine, the sound of seven people chiseling began at dawn and lasted until the second half of the night of the next day.

Xia Hong and his seven companions mined for fifteen hours before finally stopping.

Corresponding to this, there was a pile of iron ore at the feet of the seven people.

Xia Hong weighed his side, then turned to look at the others.

"How many kilograms did you pick? Tell us the approximate number!"

Xia Chuan: "I weigh about 520 kilograms."

Luo Yuan: “490.”

Zhao Long: “130.”

Zhao Hu: "I had some before, a total of 450."

Zhao Bao: "I had it before, and the total is 430."

Yuan Cheng: "I have the same amount as them, 470 in total."

The efficiency of mining is not only affected by the tools, but also by the strength.

The greater the basic power, the faster the mining progress will be.

Before the four of them came to the mine, the rodent chisel was used by Zhao Hu and his two companions.

The three men who were mining later used a sheep horn chisel and probably only mined a little over 100 kilograms. However, together with the mining materials stored in front, they totaled more than 400 kilograms.

After he brought Xia Chuan and the other two in, in order to increase the mining speed, he took one of the three ratchet chisels himself, and Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan used the remaining two, so the mining volume of the two of them was relatively large.

Zhao Long has always used a sheep horn chisel, so the quantity is the smallest.

"Captain, how many pounds did you pick?"

When Luo Yuan asked this question, the other five people all turned to look at Xia Hong's feet. When they saw the large group of twenty or thirty pieces of iron ore, they were all shocked.

"I have about 840."

Each piece of iron ore weighs about 840 to kilograms. When everyone saw that piece of iron ore, they had a rough idea of ​​it. But when they heard Xia Hong report kilograms, they couldn't help but click their lips, marveling at Xia Hong's high mining efficiency.

"My basic strength is almost twice as much as yours, so my mining efficiency is of course faster than yours. Once your basic strength catches up with mine, you will be able to do it too."

Xia Hong didn't take it seriously. After fifteen hours of continuous mining, the seven people had basically reached their limit. The output was more than 3300 kilograms, which was considered good luck.

"We can play eleven rounds now. Let's stop for a while. There are still nine hours until dawn. Let's go back and rest for four hours. We will go to the north slope of the mountain wall later. We still have to hunt dragons tonight. Our spine is not strong enough!"

The six people nodded, put down their chisels, and followed Xia Hong out of the mine.

Mining is not an easy task. Even though all seven of them were at the Digging Realm, they were already exhausted after fifteen hours and needed a rest.

It was midnight outside. At the door of the wooden house, more than a hundred lumberjacks were still practicing archery enthusiastically. Xia Hong and others had no intention of watching. They said hello to everyone and went back to the third floor to rest.

"Sir, the top ten contestants have been announced. Please have a look."

As soon as Xia Chuan walked up to the third floor, Shi Ping caught up with him from behind and handed him the list of the top ten contestants.

Xia Chuan was exhausted and didn't bother to look carefully. He just took a quick glance and saw that the top three were Xu Ning, Qiu Peng, and Shi Ping standing in front of him. A smile immediately appeared on his face.

"You're a good kid. Eh, is your sister here too?"

Xia Chuan actually saw Shi Lu's name at the back of the list.

Shi Ping showed a hint of shyness on his face, nodded and said: "My sister's archery skills are not bad to begin with. She has been practicing very hard recently. She was also lucky, so she got seventh place."

"In future archery competitions, the amount of contribution points awarded will remain unchanged for the time being. It will be held every ten days and will be in charge of you and your father. You can just tell me the results directly."

Hearing that Xia Chuan was going to entrust the task of the archery competition to himself and his father, Shi Ping was immediately excited and nodded heavily, saying, "Don't worry, sir, Shi Ping will do his best to do it."

Shi Ping is not very old, even two years younger than Xia Chuan. With his vision, he cannot see the great benefits of being in charge of this matter.

He was excited, simply because he felt that Xia Chuan's entrusting him with such an important task was a recognition of his ability; moreover, archery was the interest of both father and son, and his father Shi Qing would be even happier if he knew about it.

"By the way, have you informed everyone about the rat swarm?"

Xia Chuan took two steps, remembered something, turned back and asked again.

Shi Ping nodded immediately upon hearing this and replied, "Ten days ago, when the camp announced the start of the archery training, we had already notified everyone in the logging camp. Almost everyone in the logging camp knew about it."

"Okay, you go down first. I'm going to rest. I'm going to go to the north slope of the mountain with the leader later. We still have to hunt dragons tonight."

"My Lord, please go and rest first. I will withdraw first!"

Shi Ping watched Xia Chuan leave, his eyes filled with admiration and envy.

His respect came from his understanding that Xia Chuan and the others were so tired because they had been mining in the mine for more than ten hours. The purpose of mining was to make enough bows and arrows for the lumberjacks to deal with the group of rats on the north slope of the mountain. Ultimately, it was for the safety of the camp.

The envy came from Xia Chuan’s last sentence, that he could go out with the leader.

It can be said that everyone in the camp who has broken through to the logging realm wants to join the hunting team and go out with Xia Hong, including him.

The last time the hunting team brought back Tengjiao prey, the news had already spread. One prey was worth hundreds of contribution points, not to mention the cold beast meat, it was enough to buy two sets of clothes.

Of course, contribution value is only one aspect. Given Xia Hong’s current high status in the eyes of everyone in the camp, being able to go out with him is itself a matter of great honor.

"The hunting team no longer recruits people at the logging level. If you want to join, you must break through to the digging level. You should hurry up and practice!"

Shi Ping secretly encouraged himself, hurried downstairs, and continued practicing archery with everyone else.

…………

"We don't need too many people. Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan can just come with me. The four of you stay here and we'll talk if there's any situation."

Four hours later, not far from the north slope of the mountain.

Xia Hong signaled Zhao Long and the other three to stay where they were. He put down the giant axes on his backs and carried only a bow and a pot of arrows. Together with Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, who were dressed in the same way, the three of them carefully moved towards the north slope.

The three of them climbed up the slope quietly, and at the same time stretched their heads out to look towards the top of the north slope.

Upon seeing this, the expressions of the three people changed slightly.

"Moved?"

"Yes, it has moved. We were not sure when we came back last time, but we are sure this time. It has moved to the south of the mountain. It should be about a hundred meters away. Look at the grassland to the north. When we came here before, it was covered by a group of rats and we couldn't see it."

After hearing what Xia Chuan said, Xia Hong looked towards the grass and confirmed the location of the group of rodents. They had indeed moved more than a hundred meters to the south. His expression suddenly became a little ugly.

In the previous ten days, he had brought people here three times.

The purpose of coming here is not just to get a few more rat chisels. More importantly, it is to see if there is any movement among the rat colony.

He didn't expect the rats to leave on their own. He just hoped that the rats would stay put until he could forge enough bows and arrows.

But now, this hope is gone.

The valley is about two kilometers away from here, and the group of rodents has only moved a mere hundred meters. Of course, it is nothing. What really worries Xia Hong is the signs of such movement, which means even more unpredictable risks.

Why are they moving? What went wrong?

Will it continue, will it move to the top of the southern mountain next time?

If it moves one hundred meters today, will it move one kilometer or even two kilometers tomorrow?

Do they move at night or during the day?

If this group of rats discovered the valley during the day, they would be dead even if they prepared a thousand bows and arrows.

…………

Several questions popped up in Xia Hong's mind, his expression kept changing, and he quickly interrupted his thoughts, and suddenly became much more anxious.

"Brother, look over there!"

But before he could think it through, Xia Chuan on the other side seemed to have seen something, his tone suddenly became extremely heavy, and he motioned Xia Hong to look quickly.

Xia Hong quickly turned his head and looked in the direction of his finger.

Upon seeing this, his face suddenly became extremely gloomy.

On one side of the northern slope of the mountain wall, which was the direction of Xiachuan's finger, there were forty or fifty more rats of varying sizes.

The bodies of those rodents were obviously much smaller than the others. The largest one was half a meter long, with sparse hair on its body and short barbs on its tail. The smallest one was only 20 to 30 centimeters long. Because they were too far away, they could not be seen clearly. All I could see was that they were flesh-colored and huddled together, which was extremely disgusting.

"These are baby gnats. They have only been here for less than a month, and they have already started to reproduce. And there are so many of them at once..."

There are only about three or four hundred munches in this group, and they gave birth to forty or fifty in just over a month. And judging by their size, they are growing quite fast. If they continue to reproduce, what will happen?
Luo Yuan's words made Xia Hong frown, and even felt a little terrified.

He knew the reproductive capacity of rats.

"Let's go, there's no chance tonight, let's go hunt the dragon first, and speed up the process!"

Since there was no lone rat left, Xia Hong did not waste any more time. After observing for a while, he took Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan down the north slope, and then found Zhao Long and the other three, and they quickly ran towards Hongmu Ridge together.

The group of rats not only moved more than a hundred meters to the south.

Moreover, they started to reproduce!

This was the only thought in Xia Hong's mind.

The sense of urgency in my heart instantly reached its peak.

Originally, I had made thirty-six iron-framed bows in ten days, and I felt a sense of accomplishment. However, after seeing the swarm of rats tonight, all of them were smashed to pieces in an instant.

Not fast enough, still not fast enough.

The efficiency of bow making must be further improved.

If we don't get rid of this group of rats quickly, if anything goes wrong, they will be the ones to take over the Daxia camp.

Xia Hong is not the only one who is aware of the seriousness of the situation.

Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and Zhao Long, who learned the situation from the two men, all became nervous in an instant.

"We must do our best tonight and hunt as many as we can. We must try to get all the spines we need at once. We must also increase the speed of bow making when we return to the camp. The situation is critical. During this period, the seven of us must rest as little as possible and make bows as quickly as possible. We must start early."

"Yes, leader!"

Knowing the seriousness of the situation, the six people nodded quickly and obeyed the order. Their expressions were the same as Xia Hong's, full of solemnity and seriousness.

The most difficult thing to deal with the Teng Jiao is the poisonous fog it spews out, because after covering it with a wet cloth, it can only last for half an hour, so the hunting time must be controlled within half an hour, and even as short as possible in order to leave enough time to escape.

The only difficulty is that it has to be done in a very short time.

After Xia Hong discovered that Teng Jiao's saliva could alleviate the poisonous fog, it became basically no difficulty for the seven of them to join forces to hunt down Teng Jiao.

Xia Hong, with six people, searched frantically within a thousand-meter radius. They hunted three Tengjiao in a row and calculated that they could harvest more than a hundred spinal tendons. However, he was still not satisfied and chose to continue searching with six people.

"We also need to leave enough time for mining. We probably won't have time to hunt dragons later. We should try to get rid of it once and for all, find another one, kill it and then go back."

All six people had no objection and followed Xia Hong to continue searching.

Soon, two hours later, another Teng Jiao fell to the ground with a bang.

Xia Hong and his seven companions successfully completed tonight's mission.

"Based on the length of the four Teng Jiaos, they can produce at least 130 meters of spines, which is enough material for bowstrings. The next task is to concentrate on mining and making bows."

After hearing Xia Hong's words, the six people who had fought all night suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, put it away, go back to where we were just now, take the three Teng Jiao corpses with us, and go back."

Xia Hong signaled the six people to clean up the prey, while he himself began to search carefully on the tree where Teng Jiao had just been perched.

Soon, Xia Hong found a ball of saliva in the middle of the tree.

After collecting all the saliva in a leather bag and weighing it, Xia Hong immediately showed a smile on his face.

"It's OK. I'm lucky. I got more than ten pounds."

The three previously, plus the four tonight, Xia Hong has hunted seven Tengjiao in total. He has also figured out the pattern of the production of Tengjiao's saliva.

Although saliva is a secretion of Teng Jiao, the amount in its body will not exceed ten kilograms at most. Xia Hong speculated that Teng Jiao would spit it out after a certain amount, and after spitting it out, it would probably evaporate quickly.

Whether there is Tengjiao saliva on the tree depends on luck. To be more precise, it depends on whether the hunted Tengjiao has secreted it recently.

My luck was pretty good tonight. I hunted four Teng Jiaos and found saliva from two of them perched on trees. I estimate that the total weight is more than 30 kilograms.

If we add the weight in the bodies of the four Teng Jiaos, the total weight should be around 60 kilograms.

"There's something!"

After collecting the saliva, Xia Hong searched the tree carefully again and unexpectedly made a new discovery at the top of the tree.

At the top of the tree, there is a fruit the size of a fist.

Moreover, the smell of the fruit is extremely similar to Tengjiao's saliva.

"By the way, this tree doesn't seem to be an ordinary variety."

Xia Hong took out a small knife and cut off the cold crystals on the bark. As expected, the bark was green.

"Zhu Shuang, Jin Lin, Bing Shuo, Lan Yu, plus this one, we have discovered five species of trees. Cut a piece and give it back to Cheng Feng, and ask the collection team to pay attention to it."

In theory, exploring tree species is the job of the collection team, but they are all logging teams at the moment and cannot go deep into the inner area. They can only look for some precious vegetation outside, and there have been no new discoveries in tree species.

Xia Hong naturally paid attention to the discovery of a new species of tree after much difficulty.

Of course, the fruit on the tree is the most important.

Xia Hong picked the fruits and put them into a leather bag. When he came down, Xia Chuan and his companions had already brought the other three Tengjiao prey.

"Okay, let's go back!"

The seven people quickly returned to the camp with the four Tengjiao.

One can imagine how shocked everyone in the camp was when they brought back four Teng Jiaos in one go.

But soon, after Xia Hong told everyone about the unusual movements of the group of rats on the northern slope of the mountain, everyone immediately understood the purpose of Xia Hong's crazy hunting of dragons.

It would definitely not be enough if the seven of them, the Digging Realm, just stepped up.

To deal with the swarm of rats, they can't rely on just the seven of them. So many bows were made to allow all the lumberjacks in the camp to play a role.

Since that was the case, Xia Hong naturally wouldn't hide it from them.

“During this period, the seven of us will speed up the bow-making process.

You can't help much with dragon hunting, mining, and bow making, so just focus on improving your archery skills.

Pay attention, there is not much time left. Once you have enough bows and arrows, I will take you to deal with the rat swarm. I warn you in advance that if you don't practice hard now, when something goes wrong, you will lose your life. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Chief!"

After hearing Xia Hong's words, all the more than one hundred lumberjacks in the camp looked solemn and answered in unison.

"Okay, everyone go and do your own things. Zhao Hu, Zhao Bao, and Yuan Cheng continue mining. Xia Chuan and the other two will go with me to the ironworks to make bows. Mu Dong and the people in the craftsman workshop will be on standby at any time.

In the next few days, everyone involved in bow making can only take turns to rest. In short, people can rest, but bow making cannot stop, unless the mining progress cannot keep up. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Chief!"

Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng and six others, including Mu Dong and others who participated in making the bow, all answered in unison.

Seeing that everyone looked very motivated, Xia Hong nodded with satisfaction, and without further ado, he led the way to the iron room on the second floor.

Seeing this, the others started mining, practicing archery, and the bow makers also started to stand by...

Everyone quickly got into the state.

(End of this chapter)