Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 474 Frostfire Spreads Across the Plains, Success and Revenge, Tragic Scene at the River Mouth, and a Master Still at the Door?

With the resilience of frost, it burned the entire Chu territory;
They resisted all the oppressive taxes, and restored my food and clothing.
Smash the household registration system; no one is superior or inferior.

Although these three slogans were considered taboo in Chencang, quite a few people actually knew them. Not to mention Zhang Long and other officials in charge of the jurisdiction, even ordinary people in the Digging Realm had heard of them.

So the moment thousands of people shouted slogans in unison, everyone reacted instantly, especially when they saw thousands of people wielding sharp weapons rushing out of the field, roaring as they charged towards Zhang Long and his group. Six words instantly flashed through their minds:
"Frostfire is rebelling!"

After this idea came to mind, apart from the members of the congregation who participated in the rebellion, the reactions of everyone else were roughly divided into two categories.

The first group consisted of people unrelated to the rebellion; their expressions were slightly fearful, and they immediately began to retreat. The second group consisted of Zhang Long and his subordinates, whose faces suddenly turned deathly pale, their expressions filled with fear and horror.

If it were just a thousand or so people rushing out from Awata, it wouldn't really be anything special.

The key reason for their panic was that at this moment, the Digging Realm members surrounding them numbered at least three or four thousand and were also starting to roar.

Swoosh... Swoosh... Swoosh...

Dozens of swift iron arrows suddenly shot out from the direction of Awada, hitting several officers in the jurisdiction who were not wearing iron armor. The iron arrows were so powerful that almost all of them pierced through the neck and killed instantly.

"A powerful bow? Where did they get a powerful bow?"

"Not only are they armed with powerful bows and thousand-times-forged iron armor, but also the weapons in their hands—can't you see them?"

"Their blood and qi levels were also off; how did they recover?"

………………

"Shut up, everyone!"

Zhang Long, being a commander, suppressed his emotions and roared to interrupt the crowd around him. He then loudly ordered, "So what if you're prepared? You only have about four thousand men, less than a thousand of whom are actually capable of fighting. The remaining three thousand are just a rabble, nothing more than a disgraceful traitor who can't amount to anything. Follow me and kill the enemy!"

After uttering his last words, Zhang Long's face paled slightly, but he still forcibly drew his long sword from his waist, slashing away several iron arrows shot towards his face. Then, turning to face the surrounding Digging Realm warriors, his eyes flashed slightly, and he shouted sharply, "Tonight, all those who join me in suppressing the rebels..."

"You corrupt official, prepare to die!"

Zhang Long's words could not be interrupted by the angry shout, because at the same time the shout rang out, several flashes of light from blades were also heading straight for his face.

call…………

It turned out that Liu Zhang, who had just escaped, had returned to fight.

He wasn't the only one who attacked; there were also two burly men in black wearing red-faced, fanged demon masks and wielding large silver swords.

"Protect the Chief Steward!"

Zhang Long had just been stabbed in the chest, so he retreated as soon as he saw Liu Zhang alone.

Fortunately, Zhang Hu reacted quickly from behind. With a command, the remaining seven deputy commanders, along with the hundreds of county guards and over a hundred soldiers from the subordinate units, swiftly drew their bows and shot arrows at the three attackers.

"Brothers, the lords are not letting us live. What are we hesitating for? If we follow Frostbite, we will rebel. We outnumber them. We have to fight to the death to survive!"

"That's right, going in to harvest the millet is a death sentence anyway, so we might as well risk it!"

"There are so many people in Frostbite, don't be afraid, charge!"

………………

"Tonight, anyone who manages to slay a member of the Frostfire Society rebels will have their achievements reported to the county seat, be stripped of their slave status, and then..."

The entire command had nearly three hundred people at the Cold Resistance level. In addition to these three hundred, there were more than a thousand loyal followers at the Earth Digging Realm Limit. Therefore, Zhang Long did not immediately find himself in a dead end and successfully retreated to the rear.

After retreating to a safe position, Zhang Long quickly finished speaking. Ignoring his injuries, he forcibly gathered some blood and qi in his throat, trying to make his voice resonate throughout the entire area.

Unfortunately, the fury of the tens of thousands of Earth-Digging Realm cultivators around them had already been completely ignited by the Frost Ash Society.

Those ten thousand-plus Digging Realm cultivators were forced here by the Judgment Bureau tonight. When they first realized that Frost Ashes would rebel, their first reaction was to retreat. However, as the core members of the Frost Ashes Society charged out from the Reed Fields, coupled with the clamor of the more than three thousand Digging Realm members on the periphery, their momentum suddenly grew, and their hearts had already quietly changed.

Coupled with the Frostfire Clan's deliberately loud shouts, their emotions were instantly ignited, and their courage surged.

"That's right, brothers, we're all going to die anyway, let's fight!"

"They rebelled along with the Frostfire Society."

"If we don't rebel, we're going to march into Awata. What are we afraid of?"

"Surround these corrupt officials and kill them."

………………

Driven by rage, the remaining ten thousand-plus Digging Realm soldiers erupted in anger. Though unarmed, they carried iron sickles issued by their jurisdiction for harvesting millet. Countless roars rang out as everyone raised their sickles, instantly surrounding Zhang Long and the other thousand-plus soldiers.

The hundreds of county guards had originally drawn their bows and aimed at the rebels charging from the direction of Sutian to the west, but when they were surrounded by tens of thousands of Juedi soldiers, they immediately turned their arrows around and aimed at the nearest people.

"do not want!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Long was instantly enraged and quickly spoke up to stop it.

Whoosh……

Unfortunately, his voice came a step too late.

One soldier was clearly nervous, and his hand trembled so much that he loosened the bowstring.

puff...

The county guards were equipped with powerful bows with a draw weight exceeding one mane, and their lethality against ordinary Digging Realm warriors who were not wearing armor was self-evident.

The number of people from the Digging Realm was too dense. When that person shot an arrow, it pierced through the bodies of at least three people, and more than a dozen people were also knocked down.

"Second brother!"

"father!"

"what…………"

"I'll fight you to the death, you corrupt official!"

………………

At this point, the situation was completely out of control!
The relatives of the three who were shot, numbering about a dozen, were now completely disregarded. Holding iron sickles and with bloodshot eyes, they charged towards the county guards with a frenzied roar, and the rest of the soldiers were also swept up in the frenzy.

The difference between regular soldiers and ordinary civilians is undoubtedly enormous.

The hundreds of county guards naturally wouldn't sit idly by and wait to die. The crowd was less than ten meters away from them, so they didn't have many opportunities to shoot arrows. They fired wildly, instantly killing hundreds more people.

"Suppress the rebels!"

Zhang Long also realized that the situation was completely out of control. Now that things had come to this, he had no way to salvage the situation. Fearing that it would affect morale, he even concealed his helplessness and deliberately shouted loudly to give orders to everyone.

The county guards' bows and arrows were ultimately useless in the face of the vast crowd.

Tens of thousands of Earth-Digging Realm cultivators charged forward recklessly, unable to even nock their arrows. Even if they managed to nock them, their bowstrings were cut off by the iron sickles that came crashing down on them before they could even draw their bows.

"kill!"

The Digging Realm is as fragile as paper in front of the Cold Resistance Realm, let alone a group of Digging Realm people who are not wearing armor and only carrying short iron sickles forged with a hundred times.

With over a hundred county guards, more than a hundred officers from various districts, and Zhang Long and the remaining dozens of officials, the scene instantly turned bloody.

The stench of blood, instead of having a deterrent effect, fueled the frenzy of the crowd. Some of those who had been lingering on the periphery were also provoked by the roars and shouts, and joined the charge in droves.

"Rebels and traitors, you deserve to die! Get out of my way!"

A soldier from the front rank of the county guards roared and raised his broadsword to kill three or four people in front of him. Then, with a sweeping motion, he pushed aside more than ten people in front of him and slashed down with his broadsword at one of them.

Clang...

At the critical moment, Hong Xicheng, clad in iron armor, appeared. He raised his sword to block the man's path, and without hesitation, kicked the soldier hard in the abdomen.

boom…………

The soldier, despite being kicked so hard, only staggered back four or five steps. Considering he had already killed many people and exerted considerable effort, it was clear that his strength far surpassed that of Hong Xicheng.

"You think you can act tough in front of me with your meager strength? Wearing this armor, you're nothing but an ant. Die, my lord..."

The soldier immediately sensed Hong Xicheng's strength, a sinister smile appeared on his face, and he leaped forward, slashing straight at him.

Clang... Crack...

Hong Xicheng raised his knife to block again. The blades clashed and sparks flew. In the end, his strength was no match for his opponent's. His hands lost their grip and sank down. The back of the knife slammed down on his opponent's right shoulder with a cracking sound.

One cut, and the bones shattered!
"With your meager strength, you dare to..."

puff!

The soldier grinned and spoke, but before he could finish, a flash of light slashed across his neck. His pupils dilated instantly, and he quickly dropped the knife and retreated. He then covered his neck with his right hand, pointed at Hong Xicheng with his left, and began to stagger, his face filled with disbelief.

"you you……"

The Divine Might Pill truly lives up to its name—it grants unparalleled divine might!
I couldn't feel any pain at all.

Hong Xicheng glanced sideways at his right shoulder, which was a bloody mess with bones showing, his pupils filled with excitement and shock.

The soldier had just thought his right shoulder was shattered and he had no strength left to struggle, so he continued to press down with all his might. Unexpectedly, he could not feel any pain in his right hand at all. At the critical moment, he freed his right hand, drew the dagger from his waist, and delivered a fatal blow.

"They don't seem to feel pain at all, there's something wrong with them!"

"He's really not afraid of pain. Be careful, he must have taken a strong drug!"

"Retreat, retreat..."

"Where can we retreat to? We're surrounded by people on all sides. Retreat is pointless! Fight to the death!"

"Take out all the Blood Frenzy Powder and give it to them. If we don't fight desperately, we'll all die!"

………………

The death of this county guard soldier was just the tip of the iceberg. Soon, more and more people realized the unusual nature of Frostburn's rebellion and noticed their fearlessness in the face of injury and pain.

Although Hong Xicheng was the first to engage the county guards, he was not the only one. While he was unexpectedly killing the soldier, the thirty-six members of the branch at the Cold Protection level, along with thousands of members at the Earth Digging Realm Limit, had already stormed into the inner circle and were fighting Zhang Long and the others.

The people in charge may be bad, but their strength is definitely not weak.

Three hundred soldiers of the Cold-Resistant level, including one hundred county guards, plus more than a thousand loyal subordinates, faced an attack from more than ten thousand ordinary Digging Realm soldiers. They did not only fail to collapse, but their formation was not even significantly disrupted.

The real signs of collapse only began after the more than a thousand members of the Frostfire Society charged up and engaged them in a fierce battle.

As more and more people noticed the Frost Ashes' rebellion and their lack of fear of pain, they became slightly flustered. However, under the loud reminder of the clerk Zhang Hu, many of the Cold-resistant level cultivators quickly took out a red medicine powder from their pockets and swallowed it.

After taking the red powder, their faces immediately flushed crimson, and their pupils became bloodshot. Some of those who had been injured and had difficulty moving were able to move normally again immediately.

Upon seeing this, Hong Xicheng, who had rushed to the front row, immediately turned serious.

Clearly, this Bloodlust Powder is a drug similar to the Divine Might Pill.

These corrupt officials and the county guards are certainly no less capable than these peasants.

boom…………

Just as Hong Xicheng was in a state of turmoil, two silver blades suddenly flashed out from the center of the crowd ahead, causing the ground to tremble violently.

"Second brother!"

Zhang Long's slightly sorrowful roar rang out, and Hong Xicheng stared intently at the scene before him, his face instantly filled with surprise.

It turned out to be the two guardians wearing red-faced, fanged demon masks. They were extremely powerful. One provided cover while the other charged in, and they had already reached the center of the crowd and were fighting with Zhang Long and his group.

As the formation crumbled, Zhang Long and the other officials of the jurisdiction had already led their subordinates to fight against the surrounding forces. In the area where he was located, there were only him, his younger brother Zhang Hu, and dozens of county guards.

The two protectors had been besieging the Zhang brothers, but dozens of county guards were protecting Zhang Long, so they couldn't break through after a long siege. They then turned their attention to killing Zhang Hu.

Zhang Hu was not as strong as his elder brother Zhang Long, and he was not under the protection of the county guards. As soon as the two protectors turned their attention to him, they succeeded immediately.

Click...

The protector who had stabbed Zhang Hu through the neck, upon hearing Zhang Long's hysterical roar, not only did not stop, but turned his head to look at him, and then suddenly exerted force with his right hand, actually severing Zhang Hu's head.

Then he reached out and grabbed a lock of long, loose hair, and provocatively threw Zhang Hu's head back at Zhang Long.

"Aaaaaah... You beast, I'll kill you! All the county guards, follow me and slay this wretch!"

Seeing his younger brother being beheaded, Zhang Long instantly lost control of his emotions, roared, drew his sword, and rushed straight towards the protector.

Although he seemed to have lost control of his emotions, Zhang Long's act of calling on the county guards showed that he was not charging forward blindly.

He took the Bloodlust Powder, which temporarily suppressed the injury to his chest. With the addition of dozens of county guards, he had a chance of defeating the two protectors.

"Heh heh, you've killed so many people, and I've never seen you, you corrupt official, shed a single tear. But you react so strongly when I kill your own brother?"

"what…………"

At this moment, Zhang Long was no longer listening to anything else. He swung his broadsword straight at the protector, and dozens of county guards rushed over as well, instantly surrounding the two protectors.

call…………

The county guards were also armed with swords. Under the siege of dozens of cold-resistant soldiers, the two protectors immediately became more cautious. However, their strength was simply too great. Even when surrounded by so many people, they still managed to break through the gap from time to time with brute force. Although they could not kill anyone, escaping was obviously not difficult for them.

"Damn it, damn it! Nearly 40 manes of strength, where did the Frostfire Clan get such a powerful expert? It's over, even if I survive this time..."

Zhang Long turned his head to look at the battle situation around him, and despair instantly filled his pupils.

The two protectors deliberately didn't escape, clearly helping the others to hold them back. How could he not see that? And at this moment, the situation around them was indeed becoming increasingly unfavorable.

Bloodlust Powder isn't something that's readily available everywhere. These Cold-Resistant level soldiers and county guards all carried it, but the more than a thousand Earth-Digging Realm ultimate loyalists didn't have it.

They were already outnumbered, and the rebel army of over a thousand, who were at the limit of their Earthly Realm cultivation, had also taken pills that ignored pain. The consequences of their clash were predictable.

Of those more than a thousand loyal followers, over 20% had already perished and were beginning to rout, with some even kneeling and begging for mercy.

"Beg for mercy now, and you'll have to give me back my father's life!"

"When my sister was sold to a brothel in the city, I knelt on the ground crying and begging you, but you didn't let her go. Now you want me to let you go? Dream on!"

“My son was driven to his death in the rice paddies by you beasts last month. I’m going to kill you, kill you…”

"Ah...ah..."

"Spare me, spare me... ah..."

………………

Zhang Long and his gang had just slaughtered at least four thousand people. The overwhelming stench of blood had driven everyone mad. Those who knelt down begging for mercy were overwhelmed by the angry mob before they could even utter a few words.

You don't even need to look; you can tell from their extremely painful screams how terrible their fate will be after being submerged.

"Run! Quickly go to the Luhe camp for reinforcements!"

Zhang Long was jolted awake. Seeing the growing crowd around him, his lost rationality finally returned. Realizing that if he didn't run away, he would really lose his life here, he immediately made a decision.

"It's too late to escape now!"

Unfortunately, the two guardians who had just been surrounded and killed by them refused to stand by any longer.

call…………

Seeing that many of the county guards had begun to retreat and break through to the east where there were the fewest soldiers, the two protectors leaped high into the air, using the heads of the county guards as footholds to rush to the eastern gap and help the rest of the Digging Realm resist the impact.

Pfft...

Both of the two protectors were at the level of 38. They rushed to the east side and killed several of the fastest-charging soldiers. Seeing Zhang Long and the others charging from behind, they immediately shouted to the crowd, "Chief Hong, quickly bring your men over. We can't let a single one of them escape!"

"Subordinates obey orders!"

Hong Xicheng only had twenty-five people left with him at this moment, but when he heard the protector's shout, he quickly responded loudly and then called the remaining twenty-five cold-resistant level warriors to quickly surround the east side.

However, he suddenly remembered something, turned his head to look at the direction of the millet field to the west, and saw more than a hundred people standing outside holding iron sickles with hesitant expressions on their faces. He immediately shouted loudly, "Gentlemen, it's no use for you to stand still now. Today, everyone who sees this uprising will have a share. Do you think the Luhe camp and the prefect will let you off the hook if they investigate?"

The hundred-plus people standing around the sorghum field were all slaves of the Cold-Resistant level from Qingwu Village. With such a commotion, they would have rushed out of the field long ago. The fact that they were standing still clearly meant they were still considering their options.

Upon hearing Hong Xicheng's shout, some of them immediately reacted. Seeing that only two or three hundred of their subordinates at the Yuhan level had been killed, a hint of hatred rose in their eyes. They raised their iron scythes and charged towards them.

Once someone made a move, the rest of the people, even if they didn't want to move, were quickly swept up by their emotions and rushed towards this side together.

"Run!"

Seeing the more than one hundred Cold-resistant slaves rushing over, Zhang Long and his deputy stewards were instantly terrified. There were nearly three hundred of them in total, and although there were still a little over two hundred left, they couldn't withstand the more than ten thousand people around them.

They couldn't stop more than 10,000 Earth-Digging Realm cultivators, let alone the addition of more than 100 Cold-Resistant Realm slaves.

Zhang Long's shout of "Run!" effectively signaled the success of the uprising.

After the two hundred-plus Cold-resistant warriors failed to break through to the east, they quickly turned southeast. The speed of the turn was so fast that it caught the two protectors and Hong Xicheng and his group off guard, and they actually managed to break through and create an opening.

Zhang Long and his three deputy commanders, along with more than thirty county guards, actually managed to break through the gap.

"Liu Zhang, come with us to pursue them. Chief Hong, you lead your men to continue the encirclement and killing."

"I obey my orders!"

After giving the order in a deep voice, Protector Liu, along with another protector, went straight after Zhang Long and the others.

"Run! Run! If we can get to the Luhe camp, we'll be saved!"

Zhang Long's chest wound was aggravated again, and he realized that the effects of the Bloodlust Powder were fading. His face turned pale, and he turned to look at the two protectors and Liu Zhang who were chasing after him. They had already killed more than ten county guards. Fear intensified in his eyes, and he wished his legs could fly as he fled frantically.

He was indeed a level 35 warrior, and with his mind set on escaping, his speed was indeed fast. In just over ten breaths, he had already put a distance of more than ten meters between himself and the people behind him. Seeing that the two protectors and Liu Zhang were getting further and further away, and that their speed was even slowing down due to chasing the people behind them, he was overjoyed and quickened his pace of escape.

call…………

However, just as he passed a large tree, a sudden, violent gust of wind came from above.

It's a knife!

Zhang Long sensed an attack. His heart, which had just settled, instantly leaped into his throat again. His pupils widened in terror, and in a panic, he raised his knife to defend himself.

"You corrupt official, where do you think you're going?"

He was already easily frightened, and upon hearing the young man's angry shout above him, he instinctively looked up as he drew his sword. He saw that the person who had ambushed him was exactly the same as the two guardians behind him, also wearing a red-faced, fanged demon mask. In an instant, his courage trembled, and in the nick of time, he sheathed his sword, abandoned his defense, and chose to lean back and lie on the ground.

He was already severely injured, with only 60-70% of his strength remaining. The Frostfire Clan's protectors were all close to level 40. If he had chosen to block this sudden attack head-on, he would have undoubtedly died.

*Pfft...* This is what they call being too clever for one's own good. As soon as Zhang Long saw the mask with fangs and teeth, he didn't even bother to observe the opponent's movements. He immediately assumed that the opponent was very strong, so he chose to lean back to deflect the force before engaging the opponent.

The person who ambushed him, Zhang Yuchuan, had obviously anticipated this. When he saw Zhang Long choose to lie down to absorb the force, a look of joy instantly appeared in the two pupils behind his mask. In mid-air, he quickly changed from holding the knife with both hands to holding it with one hand, and his free right hand grasped the short sword that flew out from his sleeve.

Clang... Pfft...

"Ah, 16...you little bastard, you tricked me!"

Zhang Long simply chose to lie on his back to absorb the force, not to give up the fight. When the opponent's downward slashing blade was still about a meter away from him, he, lying on the ground, swung his blade to block it.

With that block, he instantly realized that the masked young man's strength was not what he had thought. However, by the time he realized it, it was too late.

The opponent's downward slash was a feint. Although he managed to deflect the opponent's large sword in his left hand, the short sword in his right hand pierced straight through his abdomen, almost pinning him to the ground.

puff...

The sharp pain in his abdomen made Zhang Long realize that the effects of the Bloodlust Powder had completely worn off. He suddenly drew his short sword and threw it at Zhang Yuchuan, who was wearing a demon mask and standing silently to his side.

Then, they continued to flee in the southeast direction.

"Let's see how far you can run!"

Looking at Zhang Long fleeing in a disheveled state ahead, Zhang Yuchuan thought of his deceased grandfather Zhang Qinggu, and the hatred in his eyes reached its peak.

He already knew that the grain quotas for the three regions had been increased this year, and worried that his grandfather would be affected. So, in early August, he sent Zhang Long three thousand taels of silver in order to exempt his grandfather from corvée labor.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Long took the money but didn't do anything.

"How can I quell my hatred without killing you with my own hands..."

Zhang Yuchuan relentlessly pursued him. Seeing the trail of blood on the snow, he didn't even want to catch up too quickly. Instead, he preferred to continue like this, to see Zhang Long's panicked and frightened state a little longer.

However, an unexpected event soon occurred!

Zhang Long, who was in front, suddenly took out a golden elixir from his pocket and swallowed it directly. His face quickly turned crimson, and then he burst out with a speed three or four times faster than before.

Seeing his speed increase dramatically, Zhang Yuchuan's pupils suddenly narrowed, and he quickly took out a spirit pill from his body.

But just as he was putting the elixir into his mouth...

An unexpected scene unfolded.

Zhang Long, who had dashed dozens of meters ahead, suddenly stopped for some reason and froze on the snow.

Zhang Yuchuan's expression froze for a moment, then he quietly took the pill in his hand and slowly walked towards him with a suspicious look on his face.

When they got to within ten meters of him, they found that Zhang Long's qi and muscles had not changed. They became alert and slowly moved closer, then circled around to the front of him, maintaining a distance of five meters.

When he got to face Zhang Long and saw what was going on, he was stunned for a moment.

Zhang Long's face was full of terror. He was not dead. He was deliberately twisting his legs, clearly trying to escape.

The problem is that his knees are now pierced by a black tree branch, which is clearly penetrating through the bone, almost pinning his legs together and preventing him from making any small movements.

It was just an ordinary tree branch, about the thickness of a thumb and about 30 centimeters long. The end that had crossed it wasn't pointed, and it was obvious that someone had just broken it off.

"There's a master here!"

Once Zhang Yuchuan saw the shape of the tree branch, his expression immediately became wary, and he quickly turned his head to look around.

"May I ask, which senior sir/madam lent a helping hand?"

Unfortunately, after looking for a long time, he couldn't find a single person. Helpless, he asked a question, but after waiting for several breaths, until the two great protectors and Liu Zhang were already approaching, he finally gave up and slowly walked up to Zhang Long.

"Spare me...please..."

puff!

Without uttering another word, Zhang Yuchuan drew his sword and beheaded Zhang Long. He then carried Zhang Long's head towards the two protectors and Liu Zhang.

"Excellent management skills!"

"No wonder he has won the favor of the young leader, Zhang, you are truly remarkable!"

The three people who arrived from afar all showed a look of shock when they saw Zhang Yuchuan carrying Zhang Long's head.

Even with his injuries, Zhang Long was still at the level of 35, while Zhang Yuchuan was only at 16, less than half his strength. To kill him and even behead him, no matter what method was used, was enough to shock them.

"It wasn't just me who killed them; a master craftsman intervened!"

As soon as Zhang Yuchuan spoke, the three of them instantly changed their expressions and quickly became alert to their surroundings, but like the former, they still found nothing.

"The uprising in Baiying Village started so early, there must be a big problem. And with unfamiliar experts appearing here, this uprising is likely to encounter many unexpected events..."

Upon hearing Zhang Yuchuan's words, the Liu-surnamed protector said in a deep voice, "During the battle just now, I saw that Huangye Village in the north issued a command arrow. The timing was synchronized. Of the three nearby villages, only Bai Ying should be in trouble. Let's go back and clear the battlefield first, and quickly lead people to provide support!"

Liu Zhang nodded and continued, "There are 16 branch strongholds in total, so it's not surprising that some of them will run into trouble. The key is Hekou Village, which is only three kilometers away from the Luhe Camp, which guards the water source. If an uprising breaks out, the army will react quickly. We need to head south immediately with reinforcements..."

"Let's go back and make arrangements first! It's 32 kilometers from here to Hekou Village. We can travel very fast through the outer perimeter of Sutian. It shouldn't take more than an hour. I hope there won't be any problems in Baiying Village."

Unlike the outside world, Awata Ward is windless, and with coal providing heating for a long time, there is no snow on the ground, so it hardly affects walking. As long as the route and personnel are arranged properly, the journey will be quick.

These plans had been discussed in the county town months ago. Zhang Yuchuan was naturally methodical at this moment, and he quickly led the three of them back to prepare to clear out the last battlefield.

………………

High above the south of Qingwu Village, Xia Hong, dressed in a light blue linen robe, stood in mid-air, looking down at the entire eastern edge of the poppy field below, his gaze slightly narrowed.

"The millet planting area in Luhe Valley can be roughly regarded as a large semicircle with a radius of 20 kilometers. The river that runs through the millet fields in the middle should be the Luhe River. The sixteen villages are all distributed along the eastern side of the millet fields, with Hekou Village in the middle, seven villages to the north, and eight villages to the south."

"The sixteen branch leaders started the uprising together, and after it ends, they will definitely need to regroup to deal with the thousands of county guards at the Luhe camp. Therefore, after their uprising succeeds, they will all gather in Hekou Village in the middle. In other words, the key to this uprising is Hekou Village..."

Xia Hong was somewhat pleasantly surprised at that moment.

Zhang Long, who had just narrowly escaped death, had his legs pierced by tree branches, which was naturally Zhang Long's doing. He had read the entire process of the uprising in Qingwu Village.

Such a meticulous and detailed plan, from its inception to its final success, truly impressed him. The key point is that Qingwu Village is only one part of the plan.

This Frostfire Guild is indeed quite something.

I wonder if that little dragon head has arrived yet?
Qingwu Village is located slightly to the north, and although Xia Hong is suspended in mid-air, he can only see the situation of five nearby villages.

"Although Baiying Village has run into trouble, the three villages to the north have all succeeded and are nearing completion. They should be able to come to the rescue soon. The situation in the village to the south is similar. Going through Sutian will be much faster. They should all be heading towards Hekou Village in the middle..."

Since everyone has deduced that the key to the Frostfire Society's uprising lies in Hekou Village, Xia Hong naturally wants to go and take a look. Based on what he saw and heard in Qingwu Village, and as long as he is safe and does not reveal his identity, he really doesn't mind lending a hand to the Frostfire Society.

After making up his mind, Xia Hong took out a vermilion wooden mask from the yellow mustard bag, put it on his face, and quickly flew towards the direction of Hekou Village in the south.

The route south from Qingwu Village passes through the grain-harvesting areas of three villages. After surveying the area from mid-air, Xia Hong immediately determined the situation of the uprising in the seven villages to the north.

"Five villages have succeeded, two are still fighting, the seven villages in the north are now completely won, and the situation in the eight villages in the south should be similar. So, all fifteen villages will be won. As long as Hekou Village can hold out until reinforcements from those villages arrive, this uprising will be considered a success. Impressive..."

Xia Hong quickly arrived at the destination, a distance of over thirty kilometers.

As expected, fierce fighting was raging in the millet-harvesting area of ​​Hekou Village, and the situation here was significantly more brutal than in other villages.

First, there's the number of people on both sides. On the eastern outskirts of Awata, the two groups were only fighting at the front, and the overall situation was still clearly divided.

On one side was a well-trained, armored army of nearly four thousand who maintained their battle formation even in the midst of fierce fighting. They were equipped not only with armor, but also with bows, shields, and even large human-powered chariots and other combat supplies. There were also more than three thousand unarmored soldiers fighting alongside them, and at least one-third of these three thousand soldiers were equipped with cold-weather gear.
The other side fared much worse. Although they numbered over 30,000, only a little over 1,000 were armored at the Cold Resistance level, while about 600-700 were unarmored. Most of them didn't even have decent weapons and carried iron sickles like the people of Qingwu Village. Of the remaining 28,000, over 3,000 were at the Digging Realm Limit and did carry weapons, but their effectiveness was extremely limited. As for the ordinary Digging Realm cultivators, they were even worse off.

"Initially, there were more than 30,000. At least 10,000 died on the ground, 90% of whom were slaves. Armored soldiers were few and far between..."

Xia Hong glanced at the ground and frowned slightly.

He could hardly bear to watch the situation in Qingwu Village, but the situation in Hekou Village was far more terrifying.

There are just too many people who have died!
Moreover, the battlefield was still ongoing, and people continued to fall, especially on the rebel side. Faced with a large-scale army, they were almost no different from stalks of millet in a field. A single chariot charge would kill at least dozens of people, and a volley of arrows would kill hundreds or even thousands more...

The Great Xia Dynasty has lasted for more than fifteen years. Since the Tupo period, Xia Hong has always attached great importance to the population. In his inherent understanding, such a large-scale death would only occur when monsters and monsters were causing trouble.

"It's all an outsider's business anyway, there's no need to meddle so much, eh..."

Xia Hong shook his head, suppressing unnecessary thoughts, and suddenly noticed something. He looked down at the area where the battle was taking place in front of the crowd.

"Hahahaha, a bunch of rabble from the Frostfire Society, thinking they can turn the world upside down? You bastards, put down your weapons and surrender now!"

A loud shout suddenly rang out in the battle area, followed by a silver arc-shaped blade light, tens of meters long, that suddenly flew out from a chariot.

call out…………

The sword light roared forward, instantly cleaving dozens of armored, cold-resistant rebel soldiers in two. Even more deadly, before the first sword light dissipated, a second giant blade of light flew out from the chariot behind.

"A Yang-level being!"

"It's Chu Qingwu."

"Commander of the Luhe Camp".

………………

The Xianyang-class is not invincible, especially on large-scale battlefields. Unless there are enough of them, it is impossible to influence the course of a battle with just a few Xianyang-class units.

However, the battlefield at this moment has nothing to do with its large scale, and it is already one-sided. The Chencang government, which is in a superior position, has once again produced a Xianyang-level expert.

It can be said that the psychological defenses of the rebels were shattered in an instant.

A deep sense of despair rose on the faces of all the rebel soldiers.

Clang...

However, just as Chu Qingwu's second blade of light flew outward, a point of light suddenly appeared on the flank of the rebel army.

The point of light moved incredibly fast, flying out in an instant and transforming into a sharp beam that struck the very center of the blade's light.

The intense, ear-piercing sound of metal clashing against metal caused everyone at the front of the battlefield to immediately cover their ears in pain. The powerful shockwave spread out, creating an open area several meters in diameter at the front of the battlefield.

"A dignified Manifestation Yang level cultivator, acting arrogantly towards a bunch of Earth Digging Realm commoners. Is this all the Chu family disciples are capable of? What kind of Fangbo lineage do they have? I think it's all bullshit!"

A tall, slender man wearing a mask of a blue-faced, fanged demon held a blood-red longsword. He pointed it directly at the broadsword in Chu Qingwu's hand, gave a slightly mocking sneer, and then quickly retreated, standing in mid-air.

"Blue-faced and fanged, it's the Heavenly King! I knew it! The headquarters would definitely send the Heavenly King to support this uprising! Hahaha, it's the Heavenly King!"

Upon seeing the blue-faced, fanged mask on the man's face in mid-air, several members of the rebel army immediately erupted in jubilation, their expressions filled with excitement.

"The King!"

Chu Qingwu, whose sword strike had been blocked, looked at the Frost King of the Frost Ash Society wearing a blue-faced, fanged mask, and his expression instantly became serious.

Chen Cang has been suppressing and tracking the Frost Ashes Society for over twenty years, but he has failed to completely eradicate the organization. There are two main reasons for this: first, the Frost Ashes Society has a unique organizational structure; and second, the core members of the organization are simply too mysterious.

This organization claims to have headquarters in various counties, but the location of the headquarters is always unpredictable. The location of the headquarters you find out one second may change the next. This has led to the fact that although the Chencang authorities have destroyed many headquarters in the past, they have not caused any devastating damage to them. Such a unique organizational form naturally gives Chencang a lot of headaches.

Secondly, there's the mystery surrounding the core of the Frostfire Society. They had previously captured key members of the organization, but the problem is that even these key members didn't know each other's true identities.

Moreover, the organization's high-level structure is extremely simple. The highest leader is called the Purple-Faced Dragon Head, and there are currently six confirmed to be six, plus a Little Dragon Head who just emerged two years ago. Below the Dragon Head are the Green-Faced Heavenly Kings, who are generally experts at the Manifestation Yang level, but the exact number is unknown. Below them are the Crimson-Faced Guardian level experts, who are generally strong at the Cold Resistance level.

"Wu Jun's strength isn't that great, the question is, are there any others..."

Chu Qingwu shifted his gaze from the person in mid-air, then looked around at the tens of thousands of people below, his expression slightly darkening.

Not to mention his strength of 10 jun, the thousands of county guards surrounding him at this moment were enough to make him fearless of any threat. His only worry was whether there were other people hiding in the shadows.

"We must finish this quickly so that the battlefield below is safe!"

Chu Qingwu quickly made a decision. Seeing that the rebels' morale was beginning to recover because of the appearance of the blue-faced Heavenly King, and recalling the other party's mockery just now, he immediately shouted coldly: "Rebels and traitors, what face do you have to call yourselves commoners? With your meager strength of 5 jun, you dare to call yourselves Heavenly King? You're courting death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly flew into the air and rushed straight towards his opponent.

"Zijian, take over command and continue to annihilate the rebels. No one shall escape. I will come to your aid after I have killed this cowardly rat!"

call…………

Chu Qingwu's silver blade light rose into the air and instantly struck the green-faced Heavenly King of the Frost Ash Society in mid-air.

"The rear ranks draw their bows, the vanguard chariots charge, the rebels put up a stubborn resistance, then kill them until they are terrified!"

The two powerful beings clashed in mid-air. Below, Zijian, who had just been called upon by Chu Qingwu, took over command and began to issue orders to the army in an orderly manner, continuing to suppress the rebels.

Although Chu Qingwu was arrogant, the term "rabble" was definitely accurate. To be precise, compared to a regular army, the 30,000 men hastily assembled by the Hekou branch were nothing more than a rabble.

No, it shouldn't be 30,000 people!

The uprising at the River Mouth branch was similar to that in Qingwu Village. The actual number of members of the Frost Ash Society was only a little over 10,000; the rest were also caught up in the uprising.

They lacked weaponry and equipment, their fighting style was disorganized, and their advances and retreats were chaotic and disorderly.

In contrast, the nearly four thousand troops at the Luhe camp charged forward in human-powered chariots, scattering the area where the two sides met. Meanwhile, the archers in the rear unleashed a hail of arrows, relentlessly killing the rebels on the outskirts. In addition, there were more than three thousand people from the Hekou Village jurisdiction surrounding the main army, who were also taking the lives of those who fled.

The outcome of this battle was never in doubt!

Not only on the ground battlefield, but even in mid-air, the Green-Faced Heavenly King of the Frost Ash Society was being forced to retreat under Chu Qingwu's frenzied attacks. The battle was originally taking place in the air above the contact area between the two armies, but in less than a hundred breaths, he was driven to the air above the rebel army behind him.

Among the rebels, a man, his courage shattered by the attack, watched another volley of arrows fly overhead and saw rows of men fall behind him. His eyes widened in terror, and he threw down his hundred-times-forged iron sickle, then looked up and cried out, "Surrender..."

puff...

As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man in armor beside him, who seemed to have already noticed, immediately turned around and cleaved him in two with his broadsword. Then, his crimson pupils scanned the surroundings, and he roared hoarsely:
"Anyone who dares to retreat, I'll chop them down right here without even needing the county guards! At this point, retreating is tantamount to falling into an abyss. Hold on, as long as we hold on until the reinforcements from the fifteen villages arrive, we'll win!"

"Retreat? What's the point of retreating? Will you live if you retreat? Rebellion is a capital offense. The county guards will settle scores later and wipe out your entire family anyway. Rather than die with your wife and children, you'd better die here now and pave the way for them..."

"There's no way out. Retreating means certain death. Fight to the death! Everyone, push forward and fight them to the death!"

"Hold on, brothers, reinforcements are on their way!"

………………

"Listen up, you overseers! Go patrol the battlefield. Anyone who dares to disrupt our morale, kill them without asking for permission!"

At the forefront of the battle between the two armies, Liu Yu, the nearly 29-year-old leader of the Hekou branch, turned his head and heard the commotion behind him. He immediately realized that someone had backed down and had been killed by the supervisory team he had arranged in advance. He immediately roared angrily and signaled the supervisory team to begin patrolling the battlefield.

River Mouth Village is the largest slave village in the Luhe Valley region, and also the one with the longest history. Therefore, it is only natural that the first branch of the Frostfire Society to be established in this region is the River Mouth Branch.

Liu Yu joined the branch at the age of fifteen, as soon as he came of age, because his father, Liu Feng, was the former leader of the Hekou branch.

At the beginning of the uprising in Hekou Village last night, someone inadvertently informed on him, and his father was killed on the spot. So, he was actually pushed into the position of leader temporarily.

Although he was temporarily nominated, Liu Yu had been developing the branch with his father for many years and knew the situation of the branch very well. His father, Liu Feng, had even informed him of all the details before the uprising.

The idea of ​​the supervisory team was proposed to his father by him.

"It's been over two hours, and not a single village has sent reinforcements. What are they doing? What are they all doing...?"

The supervisory team can only play a temporary role; if it cannot reverse the situation on the battlefield, it will ultimately be doomed to die.

Liu Yu naturally understood this principle. He raised his sword to block the charge of the county guards in front of him, turned his head to look to the north and south, and kept shouting in his heart, hoping that reinforcements would arrive soon.

"Rat, suffer death!"

Unfortunately, after his incessant shouts, he didn't receive any reinforcements. Instead, he was met with Chu Qingwu's furious roar filled with murderous intent from above.

When Liu Yu looked up, the despair in his eyes deepened.

In mid-air, the Blue-Faced Heavenly King, who had reignited their fighting spirit, was now being forced to retreat from the battlefield by Chu Qingwu. He was clearly no longer able to withstand Chu Qingwu's attacks, and his longsword could only defend, unable to launch any counterattacks.

"With such little strength, they dare to rebel..."

Another strike was parried and blocked by the opponent. Chu Qingwu sneered, gripped the broadsword with both hands, and used the recoil to circle it around his back. The energy in his bones suddenly surged, and a thousand-foot-tall bone phantom suddenly condensed behind him. He raised the broadsword above his head and slashed down fiercely.

He only slashed downwards once, but because of the speed, he created three afterimages as he continued to slash downwards, one after another, until the third time when the sword energy had solidified into a tangible form. With a thunderous roar, he unleashed a shockwave nearly a hundred meters long, which suddenly pressed down on the head of the Blue-Faced Heavenly King.

"die!"

The Triple Demon Blade is Chu Qingwu's signature move and one of the Chu family's inherited martial arts. With a power increase of nearly 40%, this strike has a force of 14 jun (approximately 60 kg).

Chu Qingwu coldly uttered the word "death," proving his confidence in his strike.

The reality was pretty much what he expected.

As the broadsword slashed down, a hint of panic was clearly visible in the pupils beneath the mask of the blue-faced Heavenly King, but he did not give up his defense.

The blue-faced Heavenly King, his fists, feet, and waist moving as one, suddenly unleashed his power, his long sword flashing rapidly, instantly sweeping out thousands of silver rays of light in mid-air. Those silver rays of light were like... like... countless magnificent silver feathers...

Clang...

Thousands of feather-light sword blades poured out in an instant, clashing fiercely with Chu Qingwu's triple demonic blade in mid-air.

boom…………

The violent commotion seemed to indicate that the battle between the two Manifestation Yang level cultivators had reached its final moment.

The collision between the Feather Light Sword and the Triple Demon Blade created a vacuum area of ​​100 meters in diameter in mid-air. The terrifying shockwave spread to the ground, instantly sending hundreds of people flying and stirring up dust tens of meters high, which quickly enveloped the entire area.

Since the two were currently fighting behind the rebel army, the hundreds of people who were blown away were naturally rebel soldiers.

This only made matters worse for the already dire situation of the rebels.

However, after the dust settled...

Everyone in the audience who was expecting the result looked up at the sky and were instantly stunned, their eyes glazed over, their pupils filled with disbelief and astonishment.

Chu Qingwu's brow was pierced by a long, dark-colored staff.

His face was full of astonishment; he clearly hadn't expected this himself.

The other end of the staff was held by a person dressed in a blue linen robe and wearing a red mask. He stood in front of Chu Qingwu, or more precisely, between Chu Qingwu and the blue-faced Heavenly King.

"Chu Qingwu is dead?"

"The Frostfire Gathering has also brought other experts!"

"I knew it, there was no way only one person could come, hahaha..."

"The commander is dead!"

"The commander has been killed!"

………………

(End of this chapter)