Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 183: Mutual Exchange, Murder, and the Gospel of Daxia
The third day of the fourth month in the first year of Daxia

At the northern foot of Yiyuan Peak in Wuyuan Mountain, Xiao Kangcheng and his group of three were pushing a wooden wheelbarrow steadily forward on the snow.

“I don’t feel as hard to push this car as I did last month.”

"It seems that the ice on the ground has become thicker."

Hearing the conversation between the two people beside him, Xiao Kangcheng frowned slightly, drew his sword, crouched down, stabbed the ground, then took out a few pieces of broken ice, observed it for a while, and said in a deep voice: "It has become thicker. It is estimated that in a few days, the cold wave will officially come."

The ground of the Ice Abyss world is covered with snow all year round, and there is a layer of ice under the snow. The ice layer does not change much at ordinary times, but during the two months of the cold wave every year, it will suddenly thicken two to three times. This is also the basis for humans in the Five Ape Mountain area to judge that the cold wave is approaching.

Although Lu Shun and Xiao Ping have also reached the Digging Realm, their experience is naturally not as rich as that of the leader Xiao Kangcheng.

Hearing that the cold wave was only a few days away, their expressions suddenly became more serious.

However, looking at the ten bags of coal on the wooden wheel cart, Lu Shun smiled again and thought of something. He said, "We can exchange all the 50,000 kilograms of coal for fresh fruits and animal meat, and some animal skins and wound medicine. This cold wave will make life easier for our camp."

"We don't need to exchange iron, we have more. Every time there is a trade meeting, I see the Zhuhe and Tongling camps using iron ore to exchange for so many supplies. I envy them so much. Thanks to Lord Xia Chuan, he gave us 10,000 kilograms. Leader, do you think the Great Xia camp has so much iron ore that it can't be used up?"

"Not only the iron ore, the three swords, but also the ten thousand jin iron bow. I estimate that in the entire Wuyuan Mountain, only the Sanhu camp has it. The Zhuhe and Tongling camps can't make such a good bow."

Hearing what the two said, Xiao Kangcheng also smiled.

The three things Xia Chuan sent them the day before yesterday really shocked them.

Does Daxia have so much iron ore that it can’t be used up?
Xiao Kangcheng still didn't dare to answer Lu Shun's question. He hesitated and said, "That's not necessarily true. When we see Xiao Yuan, Ning'er and the other two later, we'll naturally find out by asking them."

Lu Shun and Xiao Ping nodded when they heard this, with a hint of anticipation in their eyes.

The night before yesterday, Xiao Yuan took the sisters Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu to Da Xia. They all knew about it and couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Maybe the Great Xia Camp is really as Xia Chuan said...

"Leader, are you so sure that Xia Chuan will also come to the Exchange Club?"

Xiao Ping asked curiously. The night before yesterday, Xia Chuan was in the camp. He only found out the time and place of the exchange meeting and did not say that he would come. However, Xiao Kangcheng was very sure and took them out as soon as night fell tonight.

Xiao Kangcheng thought for a moment and nodded, "Didn't you realize that he already knows a lot about the situation of the camps in the Wuyuan Mountain area? I suspect that the Daxia camp has already figured out the situation in this area. I even suspect that they may have actually come into contact with the Sanhu camp..."

Have you ever had actual contact with the Sanhu Camp?

Lu Shun and Xiao Ping looked at each other, and a look of surprise appeared on their faces.

"Your Excellency, Yuwen Sizheng has rescued the people and arrested many of them. He seems very angry. Hong Guang and his team must have encountered something serious."

Xiao Kangcheng recalled what the last person to arrive the night before said to Xia Chuan, and his guess became more certain.

But after all, it was just a guess, so he didn't tell them directly.

The three of them continued to push the cart forward and soon reached the edge of the mountain wall on the north slope.

Seeing three big trees standing side by side not far away, Xiao Kangcheng's expression immediately relaxed.

"arrive."

This was not the first time that Xiao Ping and Lu Shun had come here. They relaxed a lot after hearing the sound and continued to push the cart towards the three big trees.

When they got close to the three big trees and went around the mountain wall at the back, a cave with a bonfire lit suddenly came into their sight.

Human figures could be vaguely seen moving around at the cave entrance. The three of them immediately quickened their pace and soon arrived at the cave entrance.

Someone in the cave had obviously noticed the three people approaching. A middle-aged man in animal skins ran out with a few people holding swords. When he saw that it was Xiao Kangcheng, he immediately let down his guard and said with a smile:
"Lao Xiao, you're a little late. You and Lao Chen are the only ones missing."

"Old Zhu, you are just talking nonsense. Old Chen and I are both from Wuyuan Peak. We are the farthest away, so we will arrive the latest, right?"

Seeing the person coming, Xiao Kangcheng couldn't help but make a joke.

Zhu Xing, the leader of the Zhuhe camp.

The Mutual Exchange Association was jointly established by the eleven medium-sized camps in Wuyuan Mountain. On the surface, everyone has equal status, but in reality it is not the case.

The so-called exchange means exchanging materials with each other.

To put it bluntly, everyone gets what they need.

It looks good, but it's not the case when it comes to actual exchange.

Everyone lives in the same area, and the supplies they can obtain are basically the same. The only difference is in strength. Some camps have a larger range of activities, stronger hunting capabilities, and can collect and obtain more supplies, both in variety and quantity.

Iron ore and cold beasts are two of the most representative resources.

The strength of Xiaohe Camp is not bad either, with more than 20 people at the Digging Realm, but due to the lack of sufficient weapons, their hunting ability has not been improved, and the corresponding supply of meat naturally cannot keep up.

Some things will have a chain reaction.

If there is no supply of beast meat, the strength will increase slowly, and the number of digging realms will not increase, resulting in the camp's range of activities being unable to expand. In this way, there will be few cold beasts to be found, and hunting experience will increase slowly...

Without iron ore, we can’t make enough weapons;

Without weapons, they could not expand their range of activities, and could not find or hunt more cold beasts;
Without the cold beast, its strength cannot continue to increase, and its range of activities will continue to be restricted, making it even more impossible to find iron ore.

This is almost a perfect closed loop!

Everyone knows that iron ore is important.

Therefore, Xiaohe Camp has a huge demand for iron ore.

On the other side of Wuyuan Mountain, there are eight other camps that are short of iron like them.

Among the eleven medium-sized camps in the entire Wuyuan Mountain, only Zhuhe and Tongling have iron mines. Knowing that the other nine camps are short of iron, how could these two camps easily distribute iron ore to them?

It takes 20 to 25 kilograms of coal to exchange for 1 kilogram of iron. Not only is the price set so high, but at the monthly exchange meeting, the amount of iron ore brought out by the two companies is surprisingly the same, only kilograms.

Five thousand per family, which adds up to only ten thousand.

Even if the distribution is evenly distributed, each family can only get more than 1500 kilograms at most.

Xiao He is not stupid, and neither are the leaders of the other eight camps.

The Zhuhe and Tongling camps were using iron to exploit them.

They all understood it in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do.

Weapons and tools are all subject to wear and tear.

Especially weapons, when fighting with cold beasts, let alone other things, the damage to the blades alone is astonishingly great; not to mention bows and arrows, which cannot be retrieved after being shot.

More than a thousand kilograms of iron can be exchanged every month, which can at least maintain the weapons and tools needed for the camp. It also has a certain hunting ability and can hunt some cold beasts every month, so safety is greatly guaranteed.

If we lose more than a thousand kilograms every month, once the weapons and tools in our hands are damaged, the danger of hunting cold beasts will be greatly increased, and even basic tasks such as cutting down trees will become difficult.

Therefore, even though they knew they were being exploited, they had no way to do anything. Not only did they not dare to say anything, they even had to happily come and be exploited by the two families every month.

"Lao Xiao, you go in first. Lao Chen is here too. I'll go pick him up."

After hearing Zhu Xing's words, Xiao Kangcheng looked back and found three more people behind him. Knowing that Chen Hua from the West Peak Camp had also arrived, he immediately nodded and walked into the cave.

"Old Xiao is here."

"Hahaha, we brought quite a bit of coal."

"The cold wave is coming. There's nothing we can do. We have to prepare more."

"We brought a lot of stuff with us, and we all want to exchange more."

…………

The monthly exchange meeting made the leaders of the eleven medium-sized camps familiar with each other. While greeting everyone, Xiao Kangcheng observed the situation in the cave.

Except for the two camps of Tongling and Zhuhe, which only brought two bags, the other seven camps brought the same amount of things as their own, nearly ten bags of various sizes.

Despite this, the seven families' attention was mostly focused on the bags in the Tongling and Zhuhe camps.

"Hey……"

Seeing this scene, Xiao Kangcheng sighed slightly in his heart.

If it's something that both parties are willing to do, then exploitation doesn't count.

Tongling and Zhuhe are willing to provide more than a thousand kilograms of iron ore to their nine camps every month. If they don't give even a kilogram, you will have no way to deal with it.

There is iron ore in the Sanhu Camp, but the question is, do you dare to exchange it?
"Old Chen is here, everyone is here!"

Soon, Zhu Xing came in with Chen Hua and others.

This cave is very large. The part outside illuminated by the campfire is more than 20 meters wide. Eleven groups of more than 40 people formed a circle around the campfire, and it didn't seem crowded at all.

Seeing that everyone was in position, Zhu Xing also announced:
"The Mutual Exchange Conference has officially begun!"

As usual, Zhu Xing announced the start, and then he and Meng Yuan, the leader of the Tongling camp, announced the amount of iron ore and cold beast meat they planned to release. The other nine camps then bid on the price and exchanged it for coal or other supplies.

This was indeed the case. As soon as he made the announcement, Meng Yuan stood up next to him.

bang... bang...

However, the two were just about to speak.

Suddenly, two heavy blows were heard in succession in the cave.

Two unidentified objects suddenly flew towards the campfire from the depths of the cave.

"who!"

"Is there someone hiding in there?"

"Who are you? You're sneaking around. Get out!"

………………

The faces of the people gathered around the campfire suddenly changed. They scattered in all directions and shouted angrily towards the depths of the cave.

At the same time, the unidentified object that had just flown out also fell beside the campfire, and everyone naturally saw it clearly.

When he saw this, he was stunned.

The things that flew out were actually two people tied up with ropes.

“Mmm…Mmm…Mmm…”

The mouths of the two men were pierced by the iron arrows. They must have been sealed with something before. The impact when they flew out was too strong, causing the things on their mouths to fall off, and they let out stammering howls.

step... step... step...

Before they could see the two people on the ground clearly, a steady sound of footsteps was heard from deep in the cave. Everyone turned their heads to look, and their expressions suddenly became nervous.

Only the three people in Xiaohe Camp showed a hint of speculation on their faces.

Xia Chuan, dressed in a black cloak, slowly walked up to the crowd from the shadows deep in the cave, with a smile on his face, and said:

"Don't panic, seniors. I am Xia Chuan, the secretary of the Great Xia Camp. I came here today with no ill intentions. I just want to give you a great gift!"

The moment they saw Xia Chuan clearly in the light of the fire, Zhu Xing, Meng Yuan, and the people from the other eight camps all narrowed their eyes.

Not to mention Xia Chuan's young and handsome face, his black cloak, animal leather boots, and blue fur hat were enough to shock everyone present.

Not to mention the thin and long knife hanging on his waist.

Everyone can see at a glance that the scabbard of the long sword is actually made of iron.

Combined with the two people lying on the ground, the force that just flew out from inside.

Meng Yuan and Zhu Xing looked at each other, both of them had solemn expressions.

"Master Xiachuan, you are here as expected!"

As soon as Xiao Kangcheng opened his mouth, the others immediately looked at him with anger in their eyes.

"Please don't blame Chief Xiao. Xia said that I came here with no ill intentions today. I just want to give you a great gift. I wonder if you, the seniors, know these two people on the ground?"

Xia Chuan had no intention of harming Xiao Kangcheng. After helping him out, he immediately continued speaking, motioning everyone to take a good look at the two people on the ground.

Although everyone looked suspicious, they still turned to look at the two people on the ground. "Isn't this Liu Erhu?"

After observing carefully, Meng Yuan was the first to speak in surprise.

He seemed to still have some doubts, and then he looked at another person. After seeing him, he exclaimed in shock again: "Liu Sanhu!"

After Meng Yuan said this, the other ten leaders, even Xiao Kangcheng who had already guessed it, couldn't help but lower their heads to take a closer look.

"It's really Liu Erhu and Liu Sanhu!"

"The Three Tigers Camp, could it be that this person has ..."

"The Great Xia Camp was destroyed by this Great Xia Camp?"

…………

After confirming that the two people on the ground were indeed the two leaders of the Sanhu Camp, everyone's eyes on Xia Chuan changed completely, and countless speculations arose in their minds.

Seeing that everyone recognized the two, Xia Chuan's eyes lit up. This saved him a lot of effort. He continued with a smile:
"The Three Tigers Camp has committed many evil deeds in the area of ​​Wuyuan Mountain, causing a lot of trouble to you all. Since Daxia has come, we cannot tolerate it. Today, not only these two main culprits, Yuwen Tao, come in!"

At the end, Xia Chuan shouted towards the outside of the cave.

Following his voice, everyone hurriedly looked towards the cave entrance.

Outside the cave entrance, Yuwen Tao poured in with hundreds of people. Who else could it be but members of Daxia’s hunting team.

Almost everyone of them held one or two prisoners, all of whom were tied up tightly with ropes. There were men and women, and some were elderly. The only thing these people had in common was that they all carried a strong sense of hostility.

Exactly the same as Liu Erhu and Liu Sanhu.

Yuwen Tao was also holding two people in his hands. He kicked them down as soon as he came in, then bowed to Xia Chuan and said, "Sir!"

Seeing this, the others also kicked the prisoners in their hands forward, then saluted respectfully to Xia Chuan and stood behind the prisoners without moving.

After Yuwen Tao and others paid their respects, the entire cave fell into deathly silence.

Zhu Xing, Meng Yuan, and almost everyone in the other eight camps, including Xiao Kangcheng, all focused their eyes on Yuwen Tao and his group, their pupils trembling and their faces filled with horror.

After looking around at everyone and seeing the reactions on their faces, Xia Chuan raised the corners of his mouth slightly, but did not rush to speak.

He knew very well why these people reacted this way.

Not speaking is to give them some time to buffer psychologically.

"Are they wearing full sets of animal skins?"

"Longbow, broadsword, one for each person?"

"Look at that. The double-edged axe on his back is too big. How much iron ore must it have consumed? I'm afraid it must weigh more than two or three thousand kilograms."

"Knives, swords, axes, long sticks, and spears, so many weapons."

"Not only that, look at their waists, they all have a token hanging on them, and that token seems to be made of iron."

"Look at that person's neck. Is that an animal tooth accessory?"

"Those look like the fangs of a thorn wolf. A thorn wolf only has two, but there must be hundreds of them in that string, right?"

"hiss…………"

………………

There were already whispers of discussion among the crowd.

Zhu Xing and Meng Yuan felt embarrassed when they heard the discussions of their family members behind them, and quickly turned their heads to glare at them. However, when they turned back to look at Yuwen Tao and his group, the horror in their eyes betrayed them.

Even the leader couldn't help but be shocked, let alone the people under him.

Compared with the people in the Wuyuan Mountain area, the people in the Daxia camp, whether it is their clothing, weapons, or even the random accessories on their bodies, are too eye-catching.

It was so eye-catching that they couldn't take their eyes away.

The entire cave was silent for forty or fifty breaths because of the appearance of Yuwen Tao and his group. It was not until people's eyes shifted away from Yuwen Tao and his group that Xia Chuan felt that it was about time. He slowly walked behind Liu Erhu and Liu Sanhu, grasped the hilt of the knife at his waist, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"These beasts, relying on their strength, do whatever they want. Not only do they enslave others and treat human life as worthless, they also use their own kind as bait to hunt cold beasts. They are so corrupting of human ethics and committing so many evil deeds. Since Great Xia has come to Five Ape Mountain, how can we tolerate such villains? The first great gift that Xia has prepared today is to help you in Five Ape Mountain get rid of these villains."

Click...

As soon as Xia Chuan finished speaking, a dark knife light suddenly emanated from his hand like lightning. Before everyone present could even react, they only heard a click, and Liu Erhu and Liu Sanhu on the ground had already been beheaded.

Swish!
Puff... Puff...

And just after Xia Chuan drew his sword and killed the two men, Yuwen Tao and hundreds of others immediately drew their weapons and killed all of the more than one hundred people they had just escorted over.

More than a hundred lives were lost in less than three breaths of time.

The entire cave was silent except for the crackling sound of the campfire. A fishy smell rushed into the nostrils. Everyone present couldn't help swallowing as they looked at the more than a hundred corpses lying on the ground.

They looked up at Xia Chuan, Yu Wentao and the others, their faces showing a mixture of joy, astonishment, shock, and a hint of fear, which was very complicated.

The reason for joy is that the Three Tigers Camp, which had been wreaking havoc on the Five Ape Mountains, has been destroyed!

I was shocked because it was destroyed in such a ridiculous way.

They didn't even know the whole story. The two main culprits in the Sanhu camp and more than a hundred people who followed them were beheaded in an execution-style manner.

The shock was naturally due to the strength of Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao and his group in front of him, as well as the Great Xia Camp represented by them.

The final fear is even simpler.

Those present today are the leaders of eleven camps.

They are not fools!
Since the Daxia Camp has come to Wuyuan Mountain...

This is what Xia Chuan just said.

These words, coupled with the fact that he was now beheading the people from the Three Tigers Camp in such a domineering and bloody manner in front of eleven medium-sized camps.

His motives are not difficult to guess.

It's nothing more than giving them a warning to have a deterrent effect.

As for the purpose...

They didn't know, and it was precisely because they didn't know Xia Chuan's purpose that they felt fear in their hearts.

Will this Daxia camp stay in Wuyuan Mountain from now on?

Will they be the same as the previous Three Tigers Camp?
With the strength Da Xia has shown so far, if that were the case, they...

"Zhu Xing greets you, sir! Thank you, sir Xia Chuan, for getting rid of this great evil for our Five Ape Mountain. From now on, whenever Da Xia gives us an order, our Zhuhe Camp will not dare to disobey!"

This old fox!
Seeing Zhu Xing rushing to speak, Meng Yuan cursed in his heart, and hurriedly followed behind and bowed to Xia Chuan:
"Meng Yuan greets you, sir! You have helped me so righteously, and I am very grateful to you. From now on, my Tongling camp will still respect Daxia as the supreme leader. If Daxia needs anything, my Tongling camp will provide it with both hands without hesitation!"

"Chen Hua greets you, sir! Today..."

"Liu Zhen greets His Excellency..."

"Kong Xiu greets His Excellency..."

………………

As soon as Zhu Xing and Meng Yuan spoke, the remaining eight people almost all rushed to salute Xia Chuan respectfully. Although they said different things, they all expressed the same meaning:
From now on, they will all respect Da Xia as their supreme leader, and they will obey unconditionally as long as it is Da Xia's order.

This is the effect of deterrence!
Seeing everyone's reactions, Xia Chuan showed a hint of satisfaction in the depths of his eyes.

The effect before him was undoubtedly what he wanted most.

He has been thinking about it since Hong Guang got into trouble.

Daxia, what is the best way to expand?

Using force directly, as Hong Guang did, is too barbaric. Although it can quickly achieve the goal, it is easy to make others bear grudges and cause endless troubles.
And the way he had done before with the Xiaohe Camp, communicating step by step and using gifts to demonstrate the camp's strength, although effective, the whole process was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and would not work.

Xia Chuan finally thought it through and decided that deterrence and showing goodwill was the best approach.

Tell these people clearly that Daxia is powerful but has no ill will towards you. Only in this way can you communicate according to your own ideas.

This scene was completely within Xia Chuan's expectations.

Of course, what he wanted was not just for these camps to respect Daxia.

"Since you all say so, Xia will just say it straight away..."

Xia Chuan looked around at everyone and continued, "What my Great Xia Camp lacks most right now is people!"

After hearing these words, only Xiao Kangcheng remained expressionless.

The expressions of the other ten people all changed slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in their pupils.

"Don't worry, my Daxia is different from the Sanhu Camp..."

Knowing what everyone was thinking, Xia Chuan continued speaking.

“To be honest, under the leadership of my brother Xia Hong, the Great Xia Camp has occupied more than 300 square kilometers of territory.

The entire bamboo forest on the east side of Hongmu Ridge and the north side is now our Great Xia hunting ground, with animal skins, meat, blood, iron ore, coal, elixirs, rare treasures and everything else... "

Hearing this, Xiao Kangcheng looked a little strange, because Xia Chuan had also said this to him when he first came to Xiaohe Camp more than ten days ago.

But when he saw the reactions of Zhu Xing, Meng Yuan and others, he immediately realized that what Xia Chuan said today would definitely have a greater effect than before.

This was indeed the case. When Zhu Xing, Meng Yuan and ten other leaders, as well as the people in their own camps behind them, heard Xia Chuan's description of the Great Xia camp, although some of them were still skeptical, many of them gradually revealed a hint of yearning on their faces.

This is the benefit of deterrence!
If Xia Chuan did nothing and just said these words dryly, I'm afraid no one present would believe him.

But with hundreds of Digging Realm masters including Yuwen Tao and the imminent destruction of the Sanhu camp, these people had no choice but to believe it.

"…So, the only thing my Daxia camp lacks is people!"

After Xia Chuan finished saying this, everyone present fell silent.

It seemed hard to believe, even unimaginable, to them that there were so many resources that there was a shortage of manpower. But that was exactly what Xia Chuan had just said.

Believe it or not, the ten leaders present finally understood.

This is an attempt to forcibly annex their own camp.

After figuring out Xia Chuan's intention, their eyes immediately became alert, and some of them even showed obvious resistance on their faces.

"Of course, Daxia will not force any of you to join us. Just like Xiaohe Camp, each of your camps can send three people to Daxia to visit and learn more about it. In the end, whether or not to join us is up to you!"

This sentence made everyone feel relieved.

Even a few leaders had their vigilance disappear from their eyes.

"The merger is a blessing from Daxia to you. Whether you can grasp it or not depends entirely on you. But I want to say one thing in advance. There is only one chance to merge directly like this. If you miss it, you will never have it again in the future!"

After Xia Chuan finished speaking, he gave up the idea of ​​continuing to persuade him, and changed the subject, saying with a smile: "I heard that most of the camps in your Five Ape Mountains are in urgent need of iron ore, and we in Daxia are very interested in this exchange.

If you can come up with something attractive enough, we can provide you with as much iron ore as you want!"

After saying the last sentence, Xia Chuan signaled to Shi Ping beside him with his eyes.

Shi Ping nodded and clapped his hands.

Eight members of the Yunjiao team came out from the back, each holding a leather bag. They opened the bag in front of everyone.

Ding ding...clang clang...

Five large bags of iron ore, along with five large bags of nearly a hundred weapons, fell to the ground with a clang.

Everyone's eyes were stunned for a moment, looking at the large amount of iron ore and hundreds of sharp weapons on the ground, their eyes full of desire.

When Meng Yuan and Zhu Xing saw that they had brought a bag of iron ore, they immediately stepped forward embarrassedly.

(End of this chapter)