Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 493 A meticulously planned operation has begun.
About twenty kilometers west of the Tiger Forest, deep in the Redwood Ridge

Under the cover of night, snowflakes filled the sky, and the cold wind howled.

A hunting party is searching for prey in the snowy forest.

The hunting team consisted of more than 20 people. Five people were in the center, and the rest of the people were scattered around the area in groups of three, with the five people in the center forming the core.

This method of troop movement, which improves search efficiency, is not uncommon in Daxia.

However, at a depth like Redwood Ridge, there aren't many who dare to use this search method; usually only high-level hunting teams have the guts to do so.

Whoosh……

When the group reached a low slope, a middle-aged man in black, from the three-person team on the north side, suddenly raised his bow and shot an arrow at the top of the slope.

"Brother Zhou, have you found anything?"

The other two noticed the man in black shooting an arrow and immediately asked him a question.

The archer in black looked at it for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's a reflective stone. I was mistaken. I thought it was a snow-maned head lying on it."

The other two smiled when they saw the glowing boulder on the earthen slope.

There was indeed a rock on the slope, about three meters long and two meters wide, with a ring of icicles hanging from its side. The icicles were so long that they almost extended and protruded in the opposite direction, and from a distance they did look like a low-grade snow mane lying on the ground.

"We've come this far, even if it's a real snow mane, it's not worth our time. Let's keep searching!"

The man in black nodded and followed the two men forward. When they were about a hundred meters away from the earthen slope, he turned his head and glanced at them, a dark look flashing in his eyes.

After the hunting party had gone some distance, about fifty breaths later, a gentle breeze blew by, and a black figure carrying a long spear suddenly appeared on the earthen slope.

The man pulled out the iron arrow stuck in the boulder, crushed the tail of the arrow, and found a white letter that had been crumpled into the size of a needle.

After reading the letter, the man in black's pupils suddenly lit up. He turned his head and first looked in the direction of Xia City, then took off directly and flew deeper into Redwood Ridge.

The man in black quickly traveled more than ten kilometers westward and found a small stone peak over a hundred meters high. He landed on the mountaintop, easily found a hidden cave entrance, pushed open the barrier at the door, and went straight in.

"Sanlang, is there any news?"

Inside that inconspicuous, hidden cave, a campfire was burning, and there were 23 people hidden inside. The 23 people were divided into two groups, 12 on the left and 11 on the right. As soon as the man in black walked in, they all stood up immediately.

The white-robed elder on the left spoke up, and the others, seeing the smile on the black-robed man's face by the firelight, immediately realized what was happening, and their expressions became slightly excited.

The man in black slowly raised his head, revealing a slightly domineering face. He was none other than Yang Zun, the lord of Beishuo, whom Xia Hong had dealt with several times.

Of course, after his trip to the vassal states, Xia Hong had already guessed that the person he had been dealing with in the previous years was actually Yang Jian, the third of the three Yang brothers, who was not well-known. Combining this with the old man on the left's earlier address of "Third Brother," it was not difficult to guess this person's identity.

Yang Jian did not answer the old man's question on the left. Instead, he noticed the eleven people on the right, whose expressions were slightly unfriendly. After thinking for a moment, he clasped his hands and bowed to the group, saying, "I am grateful to you all for accompanying me here for more than two months. On behalf of the three northern towns, I thank you all!"

The people on the left had no expression on their faces; but the eleven people on the right, upon hearing Yang Jian's words, showed a slight improvement in their expressions.

Of course, not absolutely!
Among the eleven people on the right, there was a young man in blue standing at the front. His expression remained gloomy and did not change at all because of Yang Jian's words. He even couldn't help but shout angrily, "Alright! Yang Jian, stop with the nagging. Is there any news about that slut's offspring?"

Sensing the impatience in Cai Shiqi's tone, Yang Jian frowned slightly. He glanced at Cai's right index finger subconsciously, sneered inwardly, then ignored him, looked up at the crowd, nodded, and said in a deep voice, "Tonight, during the Tiger Forest Trial, Xia Hong's close guards, the Dragon Guards, are all on the move. His son, Xia Yusheng's, chariot, the Crimson Flame Jade Phoenix, has just left the North Gate!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room was startled.

Heaven rewards those who persevere; after waiting for more than two months, the opportunity finally arrived!
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going and catch that kid."

"As long as we capture this Xia Yu Sheng, the problem of the 60,000 Xia troops in the north will be solved immediately..."

"Absolutely more than that. Xia Hong is young and has only this one son. As long as we can control him, we can definitely make a big difference."

"Yes, yes, he and Li Xuanling only have this one son."

........................

Seeing the excited reaction of the crowd, Yang Jian showed no surprise, because when he received the intelligence from the secret agent, his excitement was no less than theirs.

The twenty-four Xianyang-level beings had been patiently waiting in this desolate mountain cave for over two months, and one can imagine the extent of their resentment at that moment.

"Everyone, please calm down..."

Yang Jian did not agree to the suggestion that everyone set off immediately. Instead, he spoke slowly to interrupt them, and after a pause, he continued: "I have already told you about the many strange things about Xia City. Outsiders are always under their surveillance, and there is absolutely no chance for them to sneak in."

According to reports from spies, the monitoring area was limited to Xia City, but it has now been confirmed that this is false information…

At this point, Yang Jian stopped and turned to look at the white-robed elder on his left, who was the leader of the twelve Xianyang-level members of Chen Cang's group. Chen Cang Fangbo was a descendant of Yanling County and Chu Xuankong, a third-generation member of the Chu family.

Chu Xuankong nodded and said, "As I have mentioned before, four years ago my little granddaughter once broke into Xia City. At that time, she used the Danqing Deception Technique to escape to the snow forest five kilometers west of the city, but was caught by Xia Hong in a short time."

"so……"

Yang Jian immediately picked up where Chu Xuankong left off, and said seriously, "The intelligence that the spies brought back must have been deliberately released as false information to mislead others. The Great Xia's monitoring range of outsiders is by no means limited to the city. The little princess's experience is enough to prove that its monitoring range can extend to five kilometers outside the city, and that is the most conservative estimate."

The group inside the cave frowned slightly upon hearing this. Zhu Yan, the leader of Cai Qiu's eleven men and a military advisor from Baishui County, said impatiently, "Yang Jian, stop with the nonsense and get to the plan!"

Cai Qiu and his gang have really bad tempers. Cai Shiqi was like that just now, and Zhu Yan, who is quite old, speaks the same way.

Thinking that he still had to rely on the people in front of him, Yang Jian suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "This place is at least forty kilometers away from Xia City. We have been staking out here for more than two months, and Xia City has not reacted at all. This shows that the monitoring range of the Great Xia cannot extend to here. But we don't know exactly where it can reach. So we must be prepared to be known by the Great Xia at any time if we make any move."

I've already explained the strength of the Great Xia before we arrived. Leaving aside the army in the city, there are at least twelve Beast King-level puppets alone. In the past two years, many people in the Great Xia have broken through to the Xianyang level, and there are at least 24 known to have done so. Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao, Xiang Fuhai, and Mu Longhe are all in Jinyang and Dongchuan, so there are at least 20 Xianyang-level beings in the city.

Among these 20 people, the strongest are Xia Hong and his wife Li Xuanling. Li Xuanling's last public appearance was when she killed Duan Hong in Chuishan two years ago. At that time, she had a combat strength of 19 jun. Her current strength is at least 20 jun or even higher.

"Of course, the biggest threat to us is Xia Hong himself. Four years ago, he already had a strength of over 22 jun. You all know his talent. Four years have passed, and I estimate his current strength is at least 30 jun, and possibly even more." After saying this, Yang Jian saw that everyone's expressions were gradually becoming serious, and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes. He paused and continued, "However, this time we are only arresting people. If possible, we will try to avoid fighting with Xia Hong and his wife. I'm saying this to make it clear to everyone that this arrest won't be easy, so we must make several preparations..."

Inside the small, quiet cave, Yang Jian slowly revealed his plan.

During his two months of surveillance, he had clearly considered all possible scenarios and unexpected events. So when everyone heard his seemingly flawless plan, their eyes lit up instantly.

Even Zhu Yan and Cai Shiqi, who had just spoken in a very unfriendly tone, showed a hint of satisfaction on their faces.

"Do as you say. Catch that brat and force Xia Hong to withdraw the 60,000 Xia troops from the three northern towns. Once he agrees, things will be much easier, and the situation in the nine towns will be reversed..."

After Zhu Yan finished speaking, Cai Shiqi, who was standing next to him, seemed to have already imagined the scene of forcing Xia Hong and his wife to withdraw their troops after capturing Xia Yusheng.

Getting the Great Xia army to withdraw was the goal that the two major warlords wanted to achieve, but at this moment his mind was filled with the incident two years ago when Li Xuanling cut off his index finger in front of tens of thousands of people in Chuishan Town.

"Once we catch this brat, we'll make that bitch Li Xuanling kneel before me and avenge her!"

Although Yang Jian's plan was meticulous, it was not lengthy. This was clearly because he had taken into account that Xia Yusheng's imperial carriage had already left the city and time was precious. Therefore, he arranged everything in a very short time, which was only a hundred breaths in total.

"Alright, that's the plan. If anyone has any questions, please ask them now, and I, Yang, will answer them one by one."

"No need. This plan is so simple, there's nothing you don't understand. Let's begin!"

As soon as Chu Xuankong spoke, everyone chimed in with their own opinions.

Seeing this, Yang Jian nodded and said, "Alright, let's proceed according to plan."

As soon as he finished speaking, the people in the cave immediately split into four groups: two large groups and two small groups. The two large groups each had ten people, while the two small groups had only two people and one person respectively. The group with only one person was none other than Chu Xuan Kong, the leader of Chen Cang. Finally, one person remained in the cave to guard the cave.

Chu Xuankong walked to the inside of the cave and gently pressed his right hand against the rock wall. A white light spot was immediately left on the rock wall. Then he turned to the person who was guarding the cave and said, "You stay here and guard the cave. As soon as I succeed, you take him and escape. You can fly directly up the rock wall of Shuanglong Mountain and send him to Beishuo Town as soon as possible."

"I obey my orders!"

After Chu Xuankong finished giving his instructions, the four groups of people walked out of the cave and quickly headed east from different directions, towards the direction of the Tiger Breeding Forest.

………………

"Your Highness, that intermediate-level demonic sheep in the tree ahead should have a strength between 1.5 and 2 manes. It would be suitable for you to practice on. Why don't you choose it?"

On the western outskirts of the Tiger Forest, a bright red van was parked on the snow-covered ground. Hundreds of Imperial Guards followed less than twenty meters behind the van, with many more Imperial Guards scattered around to keep watch.

About ten meters in front of the carriage, the Dragon Guard Commander Tie Xinchuan, Deputy Commander Yuan Bai, and the remaining eight commanders, including Zhou Yalong, Lu Dong, and Luo An, were all surrounding Xia Yusheng and Han Yue in the center.

Tie Xinchuan looked helpless as he made a suggestion to Xia Yusheng, but Xia Yusheng refused to answer with a straight face. Tie Xinchuan had no choice but to look at his wife, Hanyue, with pleading eyes.

Seeing her husband's headache, Han Yue felt a pang of sympathy. She gently walked behind Xia Yusheng and softly advised, "Your Highness, this is already the edge of the Lunch Tiger Forest. If we go any further out, Madam instructed us not to leave the Lunch Tiger Forest before we came out."

Hearing Han Yue mention his mother, Xia Yusheng's tense expression immediately relaxed. However, he was still somewhat unwilling. He turned to look at Tie Xinchuan, pointed at the Dragon Guard army behind him, and pouted, "Uncle Tie, it was agreed that I would come in for the trial, but with so many of you following behind me, do you think any of the cold beasts would dare to fight me?"

Given the environment of Ice Abyss, a nine-year-old child would actually be quite sensible. However, due to the rapid development of Great Xia in recent years, while it is true that the child's aptitude is getting higher and higher, the psychological growth cycle is inevitably getting longer and longer.

Xia Yusheng rarely went out, and the people he came into contact with basically revolved around him. You could tell from the childishness in his words that his mental age was incomparable to that of a nine-year-old child in the early Great Xia Dynasty.

Upon hearing this, Tie Xinchuan immediately gave a wry smile. He knew, of course, that Xia Yusheng did not want the Imperial Guard to keep following behind.

The problem is, would he dare not follow?
This was Xia Yusheng's first time going out hunting. In the past, he had only practiced on the Frost Beast training posts in the Martial Arts Pavilion and had never actually fought a Frost Beast head-on.

The Great Xia had long been experienced in this matter. Although the Frost Beast transformed from the Frost Beast Stake was nearly as strong as the real Frost Beast, fighting the Frost Beast Stake in the Martial Arts Pavilion was a completely different matter from actually fighting a real Frost Beast to the death.

Firstly, knowing that the opponent won't kill you when facing the former naturally makes you feel much more relaxed; secondly, the complex terrain of the snow forest is something that the cold beasts are much more familiar with than humans, and the environment inside the Martial Arts Pavilion is ultimately just a simulation, no matter how realistic, it can never be 100% replicated; finally, there are the occasional unexpected situations that may occur in the snow forest, such as a cold beast suddenly having allies arrive, a cold beast feigning death, or even some cold beasts hiding some powerful methods, etc...

The numerous trials that Lunch Tiger Forest had previously demonstrated had fully proven that those young geniuses who had never left Xia City, no matter how dazzling their achievements were when fighting against the Frost Beasts in the Martial Arts Pavilion, would end up in a miserable state when they actually arrived in the Snow Forest and faced the Frost Beasts head-on in a life-or-death battle.

Tie Xinchuan had no doubt about Xia Yusheng's current strength. With a base strength of 2.6, he was almost catching up with the early stage of the Cold Resistance realm with the aptitude of a top-grade battle body. Under normal circumstances, with such cultivation, not to mention hunting intermediate-level cold beasts, he could easily hunt high-level cold beasts in a team with others.

The problem is that Xia Yusheng has absolutely no experience in the wilderness or hunting. When he came out to the Tiger Forest for the trial, he didn't even bring a bow, only a horizontal sword.

Under these circumstances, Tie Xinchuan dared not leave him too far away. The distance between the Imperial Guard and the carriage was 20 meters, which was already the limit he could accept.

Fearing that some unexpected situation might arise and there wouldn't be enough time to rescue him, he took Yuan Bai and the other nine people and followed Xia Yusheng almost every step of the way.

This inevitably displeased Xia Yusheng.

"Uncle Tie, here's the arrangement: ten of you will stay with me, just don't release your aura. But you need to make sure the people behind you stay at least 100...50 meters away, okay?"

Xia Yusheng had originally said 100 meters, but seeing Tie Xinchuan shake his head, he immediately changed his mind and said 50 meters, looking at him with hopeful eyes, hoping that he would agree.

50 meters is clearly a pipe dream.

Tie Xinchuan shook his head almost without hesitation.

Xia Yusheng's lips immediately curled up, and he remained silent, displaying an air of determination that he would not speak until Tie Xinchuan agreed.

"Second Prince, you..."

Boom... Boom...

Han Yue was about to step forward to smooth things over again, but she was interrupted by two deafening explosions as soon as she uttered a single call.

"Tie Xinchuan, quickly take the Second Prince to the imperial carriage! All Imperial Guards, surround the carriage and escort the Prince back to the city! Hurry, hurry, hurry..."

A voice suddenly rang out from behind, and the expressions of Tie Xinchuan, Yuan Bai, Han Yue, and all the Dragon Guard soldiers changed instantly.

(End of this chapter)