Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 288: Unusual movements of the two families, what is Bai Lugui trying to guard?
The person Liu Yuan caught was a young man in white clothes.

He probably peeked at the scene of the Yunjiao Army slaughtering the cold beasts. He was still a little dazed at the moment, with shock in his pupils.

"General, this should be someone from Longshan!"

Xia Chuan waved his hand. He knew what the man was wearing when he saw his attire. The color and style were obviously from Longshan.

At the same time, the young man in white also came to life. When he looked up and saw Xia Chuan's murderous eyes, he immediately shuddered and said hurriedly:

"Please spare my life, my name is Xue Ping. I was asked to come here to deliver a message to Daxia. I just stumbled into this place by mistake and didn't mean to peek."

Xia Chuan was stunned at first, then turned his head and looked three or four kilometers away. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Who asked you to deliver the message?"

"Li Hu, Yang Zhong."

Sure enough!

A hint of understanding flashed in Xia Chuan's eyes. This was the branch of Longshan Mountain that was closest to Wushuang. Their current location was about eight kilometers deep. To get from Longshan Mountain to Wushuang, if they didn't take the plain, they would have to pass through the outer four kilometers.

"I was just about to go to Wushuang, but when I saw some movement here, I guessed that the people from Daxia were hunting, so I came directly here. I didn't mean to spy on Daxia's military training, so I hope you will forgive me!"

After hearing this explanation, Xia Chuan still did not let down his guard. He just signaled Liu Yuan to put Xue Ping down and continued to ask:
"What message did they ask you to give me?"

After Xue Ping was put down, he hesitated for a moment, but soon answered:
"There are two pieces of news. First, Longshan has recently added a thousand-man army. Second, Longshan is going to send a large batch of supplies to Baiyuan. Brother Hu is 90% sure that they are all complete sets of 100-forged weapons and armor. It is estimated that there are about 800 sets."

When Xia Chuan heard these two pieces of news, his expression suddenly changed.

The same was true for Liu Yuan, who was standing behind Xue Ping.

Longshan already has 3,000 Longyou troops, making them almost invincible in Longyou, but they are actually going to add 1,000 troops. Obviously, they are preparing to do something.

Bai Yuan had already surrendered to Hou Hu. Zhaoyang's 1,000 Blood Guards were now stationed in Bai Yuan's camp. Long Shan sent a complete set of 100-forged weapons and armor to Bai Yuan. What did this mean...

transaction?

It's impossible. Hundred-forged-level armor and weapons are extremely strategically important materials for any camp. One or two sets or a small amount may be traded, but if the quantity is large, it cannot be traded.

800 sets are enough to arm an army of a thousand people.

Xia Chuan has been worried about the equipment of the Yunjiao Army recently, so he has reason to believe that no matter whether it is Daxia, Zhaoyang or Longshan, there is no way that the three families would be able to sell the 800 sets of hundred-forged-level weapons and armor to each other.

Taking into account the previous relationship between Longshan and Zhaoyang, it was impossible for Li Xuanling to sell 800 units to Zhaoyang.

Xia Chuan's eyes twitched suddenly, and a bold guess suddenly flashed through his mind.

No, it was no longer just a guess; he was almost certain of it.

I'm afraid the relationship between the two families has undergone drastic changes!

Xia Chuan quickly calmed himself down, and then continued to ask Xue Ping:
"Why don't Li Hu and Yang Zhong come by themselves? What is your relationship with them?"

Xue Ping didn't say much, he just took out a token from his bosom and handed it to Xia Chuan, saying, "This is the token that Brother Hu gave me. Brother Hu and Brother Zhong have both joined the new army and cannot leave the barracks for a long time, so they can only ask me to pass the message to the adults."

Xia Chuan looked down at the token in his hand, and his suspicion of Xue Ping disappeared.

This is his hunting team token, which he handed personally to Li Hu when he came to Wu Shuang to deliver a message on the 20th of last month.

Xue Ping then continued to add: "Longshan originally planned to send that batch of supplies to Baiyuan after nightfall on the 10th, but I don't know what happened later, the date was delayed, and it will have to wait until the 20th to be delivered."

Xia Chuan's expression brightened. The date Xue Ping mentioned should be the Longyou calendar. The Longyou calendar is ten days apart from the Daxia calendar. If it is sent on the 20th, then according to the Daxia calendar, it is the 30th of this month, that is, at nightfall five days later.

"Liu Yuan, you and the army will continue to stay here, train as usual at night, and return to the barracks at dawn. I will come to find you before dawn on the 30th."

"I obey my orders!"

After Xia Chuan gave Liu Yuan instructions, he said to Xue Ping, "Come with me. You will stay in Wushuang for a while. When the time is right, I will let you go back to Longshan."

Xue Ping was stunned for a moment, but he soon figured something out. He nodded and followed Xia Chuan towards Wu Shuang.

Wu Shuang’s base is surrounded by more than 800 huge rocks. Each of these rocks is more than ten meters high, three to five meters wide, and basically ten meters thick.

The entire base is a circular space with a diameter of about one kilometer. There are many houses inside, surrounding a main building in the middle.

Daxia has occupied Wushuang for more than two months, and the original Stonehenge site has naturally undergone some changes.

The gaps in the outer boulders were all filled with molten iron, and the boulders were covered with iron spikes, apparently to prevent someone from flipping over.

The only exit, the main gate on the east side, was replaced with a larger iron door that was thicker and heavier than the original one. It opened and closed like the gate of Xiacheng and was hung in the air with an iron chain.

These two points alone are enough to show that after being transformed by Daxia, the defense capability of Wu Shuang’s garrison is much higher than before.

Great changes have also taken place inside the base.

Probably to adapt to the changes caused by population decline, the number of houses inside the settlement has decreased a lot, with only less than fifty left. And from the appearance, most of them are still made of iron, and they are still clustered around the main building in the middle as before.

"Greetings, Si Cheng!"

"Arrange a place for him to live."

Xia Chuan led Xue Ping all the way to the bottom of the main building. After instructing his subordinates, he turned to Xue Ping and said, "You stay here for the time being and don't go anywhere. I will let you go back after this matter is over."

Xue Ping didn't say anything, just nodded, and followed the man downstairs.

Xia Chuan went all the way to the top floor of the main building. When he saw the empty main throne at the back of the hall, his expression slightly stiffened.

"Isn't Si Cheng training in the mountains? Why is he back?"

Lin Kai, who learned that Xia Chuan had returned, hurried over. Seeing Xia Chuan's heavy face, he immediately asked curiously.

Xia Chuan raised his head and saw that Lin Kai did not hide anything and told him all the news that Xue Ping brought.

"800 sets of hundred-forged weapons and armor were sent from Longshan to Baiyuan Camp. How is this possible? Are you sure that Xue Ping is okay?"

After listening to this, Lin Kai's face was full of disbelief. He subconsciously began to suspect Xue Ping, worrying whether the news he brought was fake.

But he immediately realized that Xia Chuan would not be deceived so easily, and most likely he was sure that he had brought back Xue Ping's news.

"What can Zhaoyang produce that would make Longshan pay such a high price for 800 sets of finished hundred-forged weapon armor? Not to mention the huge amount of time and effort spent by the craftsmen, the iron ore alone would cost hundreds of millions of kilograms..."

Lin Kai paused for a moment and continued, "Besides, Zhaoyang wanted to challenge Longshan's dominance before. The relationship between the two families should be very bad, right? Sending so many weapons and armors is obviously aiding the enemy. Are those people in Longshan so stupid?"

"The key point is that Longshan has just established a new army. Even if Longshan's treasury is full and can still provide so many weapons and armors after equipping the new army, there is no need to waste them. Shouldn't we sell them all to Zhaoyang?"

Hearing Lin Kai's words, Xia Chuan looked slightly serious and asked, "Why do you conclude that Longshan and Zhaoyang have a bad relationship?"

Lin Kai was stunned when he heard the voice and looked at Xia Chuan with some confusion.

Xia Chuan said faintly, "The relationship was very bad, but that was in the past. Before Daxia intervened in Longyou, their relationship was indeed very bad, but what about now?"

Lin Kai was startled, and then realized what Xia Chuan meant, and his expression changed drastically:

"Si Cheng is saying that the two families are cooperating to deal with us?"

"Apart from this reason, I can't think of any other reason that would make Longshan willing to send 800 sets of Hundred Forged Weapon Armor to Hou Hu."

Lin Kai's body trembled, and then he realized why Xia Chuan looked so heavy.

"The leader hasn't been back for a few days?"

Lin Kai quickly replied: "Today is the third day."

After arriving in Wushuang on the ninth day of June, Xia Hong remained in seclusion for thirteen consecutive days until he came out three days ago. As soon as he came out, he took Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo to investigate the situation at Yang Camp, and they have not returned yet.

Seeing the worry on Xia Chuan's face, Lin Kai consoled him: "The leader is so strong, nothing will happen, Si Cheng, don't worry."

Xia Chuan shook his head slightly and said, "Of course the leader is fine. I am worried whether Longshan and Zhaoyang have really joined forces. If so, Daxia will be in trouble. Besides, whether these 800 sets of weapons and armor should be handed over to Zhaoyang smoothly is also a problem!"

"of course not……"

Lin Kai opened his mouth subconsciously, but stopped before he finished speaking. He looked a little embarrassed and did not continue.

They knew the importance of 800 sets of weapons and armor.

What about Longshan and Zhaoyang, aren’t you clear about it?
Da Xia's forces under Wu Shuang, in addition to the 1000 Yunjiao soldiers, include the two of them and their leader Xia Hong, a total of seven cold-resistant levels.

Without Xia Hong and the other two, there are only four people at the cold-resistant level left.

The strength of the Yunjiao Army is certainly good, but the Longyou Army and the Xuewei Army are not weak either.

With their limited strength, if they want to take that batch of supplies, I'm afraid...

A new army has already been established in Longshan. Zhaoyang wants this batch of weapons and armor, most likely to establish a new army as well. If we sit back and do nothing now, Daxia will be in more and more trouble in the future.

Moreover, the Yunjiao Army just happened to be coveting this batch of weapons and armor!
Xia Chuan's thoughts gradually became clearer, and he immediately ordered Lin Kai, "Go back to Xiacheng, and if there's no one here, send someone over. We can't let Longshan deliver the things to Hou Hu so smoothly."

"I obey my orders!"

Lin Kai bowed and obeyed, then immediately turned around and walked out.

"There are still five days left. Maybe big brother will come back halfway. Besides, the Yunjiao Army has been practicing with the beast tide all this time. It's hard to say how they will perform on the battlefield. It's a good opportunity to pull them out and give the Longyou Army and the Blood Guard Army a try!" Of course, when it comes to giving it a try, we still have to be fully prepared.

Xia Chuan treasures every soldier of the Yunjiao Army that he had assembled with great difficulty, otherwise he would not have gone into the mountains to train the troops personally. The fact that no soldier was injured or killed in the past half month is proof of this.

"We have to consider various factors, such as the route Longshan uses to transport supplies, the location where Zhaoyang might meet, and the place where the two sides will meet. We can only clash with one of them, and we also have to consider the retreat route..."

Xia Chuan took out the Feng Shui map from his arms, found a seat in the hall, and sat down, then began to study it carefully.

At the end of April, after the situation in Longyou was stabilized, Daxia never stopped exploring the environment around Wushuang. Now, more than two months have passed, and the map has naturally become more detailed.

The key point is that Liu Yuan was not only accompanying the troops in training in the branch of Longshan Mountain in the past half month. His scout camp had already sneaked into the territories of Bai Yuan and Song Yuan, and had almost found out the situation in the two families.

What Xia Chuan didn't know was that Xue Ping, who was taken to the guest room, was both nervous and shocked.

The reason for his uneasiness was that Xia Chuan didn't trust him.

Xue Ping was not stupid. He knew very well why Xia Chuan wanted to keep him. Only after five days, when the two pieces of news he brought were confirmed, would he be considered to have passed this round of tests and gained Xia Chuan's true trust.

The reason for the shock is,

"I've seen the Longyou Army training before. At most, they were just pushing the cold beasts outside Longshan step by step. Daxia... actually used a beast tide to train its troops. I read it right, it was a beast tide. How did they create a beast tide? This... this... this... this... is too crazy!"

………………

In the southern part of Wushuang, above a big tree in Yanglu.

Xia Hong, dressed in black, stood on the top of the tree. Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo stood behind him. The three of them moved in unison, all looking far to the west.

The treetop where the three people were standing was about two hundred meters from the ground. Under the tree was a thick white fog. The fog was so thick that it completely blocked the tree trunks in the air, and the ground was completely invisible.

You know, there are not many trees blocking the view in Pingxi Plain, so visibility is extremely high even at night. At this moment, the sky is already dawning, but visibility is still so low, which shows how thick the white fog is.

Roar…Roar…

In the white fog area under the tree, the roars of beasts almost never stopped.

Anyone with a little hunting experience would know at once that this intensive roar of beasts means that the density of cold beasts here is terrifyingly high.

"The reason why the beast tide in the Arrow Bamboo Forest disappeared has been found. All the cold beasts in Redwood Ridge have fled to Yanglu Territory."

Hearing Chen Yingyuan's words, Peng Bo nodded and continued, "In three days, we only walked ten kilometers in total, and we encountered three groups of cold beasts, four high-level cold beasts, and countless scattered cold beasts. I have been hunting in Hongmu Ridge for so long, and I have never encountered such a situation."

"It should be that the cold beasts in the depths of Redwood Ridge have all run here. This white fog area must be the reason, right, leader?"

After Chen Yingyuan finished speaking, he and Peng Bo looked at Xia Hong in front of them.

Xia Hong nodded when he heard this, turned around and looked at the bags on their backs, and asked:

"How much fire-condensing oil do you have left?"

If someone was standing nearby, they would have seen that the three men were covered in a layer of pitch-black grease, just like three people burnt by fire.

However, the oil on the three people's bodies was constantly fading away due to the erosion of the white mist. Obviously, the white mist contained extremely strong and strange energy.

"I still have twenty-seven dollars here."

"I have thirty-one dollars."

Xia Hong frowned slightly. When Wu Shuang left, he asked the two of them to take 100 pieces of fire-condensing oil each. In just three days, two-thirds of it had been used up. The key point was that they had only advanced ten kilometers.

"Peng Bo, how far is this place from Yangyuan Peak?"

Peng Bo frowned slightly, looked up and observed for a while before answering, "It should be more than 20 kilometers away."

With a distance of more than 20 kilometers, the fire-condensing oil is definitely not enough.

"So many cold beasts have gathered here, but I haven't seen them gather together to attack the surrounding human camps. It seems that they simply like to stay in this thick fog. I have lived for fifty or sixty years, and I have never seen such a situation."

After Chen Yingyuan finished speaking, he took out a piece of jade bone from his backpack and said:
"The frigid beasts we killed along the way, whether low-level, intermediate-level, or advanced, did not show any signs of being controlled. The beast meat, blood, and even jade bones were all in normal condition. Leader, do you really think that the gathering of these frigid beasts here is related to the White Dew Ghost on Yangyuan Peak?"

Xia Hong's determined look was a disguised answer to Chen Yingyuan's question.

In fact, the moment Xia Hong saw the Yanglu fog area three days ago, he had already concluded that the Bailu ghost was definitely not dead.

The reason was simple. The white fog area in the eyes of Chen and Peng was clearly an area covered by fiery red substance in his eyes of seeing through delusion.

He had seen those fiery red substances on Wu Xiong who was controlled by Bai Lugui when Han Qiong was killed.

From this he could basically confirm that Wu Xiong, whom he killed that day, was just a puppet controlled by Bai Lugui.

The Bailu ghost not only survived, but became even more powerful.

This can be seen from the fact that it can create a thick fog area with a radius of tens of kilometers, attracting so many cold beasts to reside here.

"Leader, how about I go back and get some fire-condensing oil and then explore further inside?"

Peng Bo was eager to go back to Yangyuan Peak to take a look, probably because he was worried that Xia Hong was unwilling to continue exploring inside, so he took the initiative to propose it.

Xia Hong stood there and pondered for a moment, then said, "You and Chen Yingyuan, take back all the cold beasts we hunted in the past three days. I will continue to explore inside to see how densely populated the cold beasts are."

"Leader, this..."

Chen Yingyuan was probably worried about Xia Hong's safety; Peng Bo obviously wanted to continue following him, but since there was not much fire-condensing oil, he was unsure.

"Alright, that's it. Judging from the density of the Frost Beasts within the outer ten kilometers, I predict that we will be driven out by the Frost Beasts before we reach Yangyuan Peak. You guys should go back first!"

Since Xia Hong insisted, Chen Peng and the others had nothing to say. They bowed to him, jumped down from the tree, and walked towards Wu Shuang in the north.

Xia Hong turned his head and looked in the direction of Yangyuan Peak on the south side, his expression flickering slightly.

"You are attracting a large number of cold beasts here, and you are not looking for trouble with the surrounding camps. Your purpose is to turn this place into a Jedi and not let others get close. The cold beasts are there to protect you. What exactly do you want to guard?"

………………

June 20, the 48th year of Longyou

After nightfall, outside the Longshan camp
An army of a thousand men, ready to go, guarded ten giant iron four-wheeled vehicles, forming a long line more than two hundred meters long.

There is a road for four-wheel vehicles to the east outside the camp, which was obviously cleared just a few days ago.

The army commander Zhou Yuan was standing in front of the team, giving instructions in a loud voice.

At the back of the team, Yang Zhong and Li Hu stood side by side, looking at the hundred large wooden boxes loaded on ten carts, and stared at each other with puzzled expressions.

"Okay, let's go!"

Captain Zhou Yuan finally finished his instructions. With a command, the front row of people started pushing the carts and the teams behind followed one after another.

Team nine, Yang Zhong and Li Hu followed the other twenty people to the front of the four-wheeled vehicle, put ropes on their shoulders, and then gathered strength to pull it forward.

"It was delayed for ten days, just to train the troops, right?"

"Originally, we wanted to have the Second Army escort them, but Captain Zhou Yuan said that since our Fourth Army had just been established, it was just right for this kind of mission that was not too difficult. Firstly, it would be a training exercise for us, and secondly, it would be a good opportunity to intimidate Hou Hu."

"To intimidate Hou Hu? These are obviously Hundred Forging-level weapons and armor. I heard that Hou Hu has already defected to Longshan, and these weapons were given to them by our camp."

"I think so. What can Zhaoyang do to fight against Longshan? It's only a matter of time before they surrender to us. Tsk tsk, the new army has just received all the hundred-forged weapons and armor, and we've given them so many at once."

………………

Hearing the discussions in the team, Li Hu and Yang Zhong sighed slightly.

Five days ago, they found out that the things in the box were to be sent to Bai Yuan, and they immediately asked Xue Ping to report the news to Da Xia.

But who would have thought that in the next five days, more and more news spread in Longshan, and they all knew the news that Hou Hu had defected to Longshan.

After knowing this, the two of them wanted to inform Daxia first, but the problem was that Xue Ping never came back and they couldn't find anyone.

It's not that they are unpopular, but mainly because of Li Yuanqing and Yang Gan's obstruction. Not many people dare to get close to them on a normal day. It's almost impossible to find another person as trustworthy as Xue Ping.

"The news that Hou Hu defected to Longshan is most likely true. I met someone from Zhaoyang Camp in the military camp a few days ago. Although they were far away, I can basically confirm it from their clothes. I must find a way to pass this news to Si Cheng."

Hearing Yang Zhong's whisper, Li Hu nodded first, but then a hint of helplessness appeared in his eyes. He lowered his head and whispered, "I don't know whether Xue Ping has passed the first two pieces of news to Daxia. Now this piece of news is even harder to pass on."

"We can't leave the barracks when we are stationed here, but it's different when we go out. We will definitely find opportunities on the road. As long as one of us can leave the team, it will be fine."

Li Hu nodded and whispered, "Zhou Yuan just said that the destination is at the junction of Changning and Baiyuan. It is more than 30 kilometers in total and is expected to take more than five hours. We will definitely have a chance along the way."

Strictly speaking, Baiyuan is located in the central part of Longyou. Changning is next to Longshan in the east, and Baiyuan is further east of Changning.

It is impossible for Zhaoyang to wait for such an important batch of supplies to be delivered to Baiyuan’s base. Changning’s territory is long and narrow from north to south, and only a dozen kilometers from east to west, which is not very wide. Hou Hu will definitely send a large army from Baiyuan to Changning to meet them.

"I hope Xue Ping has passed the news to you, sir. I just realized that this batch of supplies can basically tell what Zhaoyang and Longshan are planning to do. You will definitely respond after you find out!"

Li Hu pondered in his heart, and a hint of anxiety flashed in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)