Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 585 The Whole Story, The Lord's Disappearance

“My lord, we have led the king into the Panlong Palace as planned. The king should be collecting that batch of gold now.”

Above Qinghe Town, Qingyu spotted Xia Yulong in the distance and immediately began to report, but received no response.

When she got closer, she noticed that Xia Yulong's eyes were filled with tears, her whole body was trembling slightly, and her emotions were clearly not right.

"Princess, what's wrong?"

The two sisters rushed to Xia Yulong's side, their faces full of worry as they asked her what was wrong.

Xia Yulong was still weeping, and after more than ten breaths, she finally spoke, her voice slightly choked with emotion:
"I just saw a child..."

"What child?"

"Xia Houxuan!"

Upon hearing the name Xiahou Xuan, the two sisters were both startled, then looked at each other and fell silent.

In terms of familiarity with Xiahou Xuan, the two sisters were actually no less familiar than Xia Yulong.

In the future Great Xia Dynasty, not all members of the royal family were eligible to be enfeoffed. Xia Yulong was only granted the title of Princess Yupan Tianlong after passing the king's test in the 85th year of Great Xia.

The princess's fiefdom was the entire north bank of the Xinghe River; her palace was the golden palace that was later renamed Panlong Palace beneath Chilong Lake.

As for Xiahou Xuan, he was nothing special; he was just an ordinary admirer of the princess during her youth.

Although Xia Yulong's origins are shrouded in mystery, she was raised by Queen Li Xuanling during her childhood. Since she was less than two years old when she was brought back to Da Xia, while the Crown Prince, the Eldest Princess, and all the princes were already adults, she became the King's youngest heir.

The youngest is usually the most favored, let alone a little princess.

Xia Yulong's entire life was filled with love and affection. In addition, she was gentle and kind, unlike the eldest princess who was so intelligent that she inspired awe, or her other sisters who were either willful, cold, or arrogant. Therefore, she had many admirers, not only in the Great Xia, but also in the neighboring Great Wei, Great Qi, and Great Zhou.

From the time the princess came of age, suitors flocked to the Xia capital to propose marriage, almost without interruption.

It can be said that among Xia Yulong's many admirers, Xiahou Xuan is not particularly outstanding in terms of family background or personal qualities. His only outstanding point is probably his infatuation, and the kind of love where he silently stays by Xia Yulong's side without ever expressing his feelings.

For a long time, people didn't even know his feelings for Xia Yulong, because Xiahou Xuan never mentioned it in public. In the 57th year of the Great Xia Dynasty, Xiahou Xuan broke through to the Xianyang level and entered the Dragon Guard. He was assigned to the side of Xia Yulong, who was only 16 years old at the time. For the next few decades, he always kept to his duty and protected Xia Yulong as a guard, never overstepping his bounds.

In the 73rd year of the Great Xia Dynasty, Xia Yulong, then 32 years old, broke through to the Tribulation Realm and led an army against a local warlord for the first time. At that time, Xiahou Xuan, as a bodyguard, naturally went on the expedition with her.

Although Xia Yulong was capable, she was raised in the palace, kind-hearted, and too naive. In addition, Xia Hong intended to test her skills and did not give her much support. Therefore, this expedition did not go smoothly. Xia Yulong, the commander-in-chief, was even ambushed by the enemy and almost lost her life.

At the last moment, it was the guard Xiahou Xuan who risked his life to save Xia Yulong. What is most touching is that Xiahou Xuan only revealed his love for Xia Yulong on his deathbed.

The Qingyu sisters were sent to Xia Yulong's side by Queen Li Xuanling when they were six years old, so they not only knew about these things, but were even witnesses to them.

"In the 57th year of the Great Xia Dynasty, Commander Xiahou was 50 years old. Now it is the 13th year of the Great Xia Dynasty, and he has indeed just turned 7. It is not impossible that we happened to meet here. The future has not yet happened, so the princess need not..."

"In the 57th year of the Great Xia Dynasty, when Xiahou Xuan first met me, he said something to me. Do you know what it was?"

Qingyu was interrupted before she could finish speaking. Seeing Xia Yulong's face covered in tears, she rushed forward with heartache, wiping them away while asking, "What is it?"

"He said that his subordinate had already met the princess. I didn't understand at the time, but now it dawns on me that he really had met me, he really had met me..."

Qingyu was about to say something to comfort her, but then she realized something, her body suddenly froze, and she immediately shut her mouth and did not continue to speak.

She remained silent, but her younger sister Qingyue, on the other side, belatedly realized what was happening and exclaimed in sudden understanding, "So that's how it is! No wonder the King didn't stop the princess..."

"Moon, shut up!"

Qingyu interrupted her sister sharply before she could finish speaking.

But it was too late!
Xia Yulong, who was sobbing, had clearly sensed something. Her brows furrowed slightly, and then she looked at Qingyu sternly and said in a deep voice, "Qingyu, are you hiding something from me?"

Upon hearing this, Qingyu's expression immediately became tense.

She grew up with the princess since childhood. Although she was called a maid, she was practically like a sister to her. Xia Yulong rarely referred to herself as "this palace" in front of her. If she did, it meant that she was already very angry.

“You followed me and jumped into the blood pool to get here. Father was already here before you came, wasn’t he?”

Seeing that Qingyu was still stubborn and refused to speak, Xia Yulong's expression became increasingly gloomy. He began to carefully analyze the clues from Qingyue's slip of the tongue.

From the moment she saw Xiahou Xuan, she had a vague suspicion.

The sadness stemmed partly from seeing Xiahou Xuan again, but on the other hand...

"The future Xiahou Xuan said he had already seen me long ago, which means that my coming here was destined. Xue Kong was just the trigger. Whether it was there or not, I would have come here. This means..."

Xia Yulong's tone suddenly turned sad, and her anger towards Qingyu vanished instantly, clearly because she realized something.

Qingyu knew that silence was useless, so she said softly, "Princess, before Qingyue and I jumped into the blood pool, the King had indeed arrived, and he should have been able to stop you from coming, but he didn't. Qingyue and I didn't quite understand before, but now we do. Before Qingyue and I jumped into the blood pool, we heard the King say..."

She paused, then looked at Xia Yulong with a hint of heartache and said, "His Majesty said that from the moment Ancestor Xuekong opened the Blood Pool and connected the two timelines, the future was already irreversible, and nothing you do will make a difference."

After a moment of silence, Xia Yulong's face showed a look of despair.

In other words, her birth was predetermined, and the destruction of Weibo and her birth mother Li Baobao's eventual suicide were all unchangeable.

"I don't believe it, I don't believe it! I prevented their first meeting and had Father find the gold beforehand. With that batch of gold from Panlong Palace, the strength of Great Xia will increase by leaps and bounds. It won't be long before we can crush the four vassal states. Where did Weibo get the resources to contend with Great Xia for so many years..."

Xia Yulong's face was full of resentment, and she kept muttering to herself. She was clearly obsessed with the future and unwilling to accept that things would develop according to the established path.

"Hmm, no, it's the aura of Ancestor Blood Void..."

Just as she was struggling with her inner turmoil, she suddenly sensed a fluctuation of energy and quickly turned her head to look in the direction of Crimson Dragon Lake, her pupils becoming filled with surprise and uncertainty.

"Princess, have you forgotten that the Blood Void Ancestor's lair is located in the Blood Miasma Plain south of the Mo Ao River? At this time, it had not yet been driven away by the lord. It was able to connect two time periods and lure the princess here. There must be a conspiracy involved!"

The conspiracy wasn't even hard to guess.

On the very night they traveled to Wei Bo with Xia Yulong, the town was captured by the Xia army. Princess Li Baobao's birth mother committed suicide in the capital. Xue Kong Laozu, who had been hiding in Wei Bo for many years, was also severely injured by the king and was only one step away from death.

On her deathbed, Xia Yulong, whose mind had been corrupted by the bewitching, traveled to this time and space, which was clearly an act of self-rescue by the Blood Void Ancestor.

How can the Blood Void Ancestor save himself?

It's easy to guess that it can't defeat the future king, so it can only try to deal with the king who isn't very powerful at this stage.

Therefore, this conspiracy is clearly aimed at King Xia Hong.

According to the king, from the moment the Blood Void Ancestor opened up the two timelines, the future was already irreversible, so it was only natural that its self-rescue attempt could not succeed.

Having figured this out, Qingyu's expression remained unchanged even though she sensed the aura of the Blood Void Ancestor.

In her mind, King Xia Hong was directly equivalent to a god. Even though he hadn't fully grown up yet, dealing with Blood Sky Ancestor, a mere Calamity-level Divine Demon, would be a piece of cake.

"No, no, it was only for a moment. Ancestor Blood Void didn't come. This aura is from the Dark Realm. It opened the entrance to the Dark Realm!"

Xia Yulong's body trembled slightly, and a gilded crown suddenly appeared on his head. The thirteen green jade beads inlaid along the edge of the crown seemed to sense something and suddenly began to darken. As the aura became more and more intense, the darkening speed also accelerated wildly until it finally turned completely black.

It's not just ordinary black, but a deep, jade-like black. From the outside, it's clear that a lot of gas is brewing inside the bead, and some of it is even faintly emanating from it.

"It must be the Dark Realm. The Thirteen Capitals Heavenly Gods and Demons Pearls can sense all fluctuations from other realms. Xue Kong wants to lure Father into the Dark Realm..." "The Dark Realm!"

Upon hearing this, Qingyu's expression changed drastically, and she exclaimed in shock, "Your Majesty is only at the Manifestation Yang level! Entering the Dark Realm at this time would be..."

A dead end!
Out of her deep-seated respect and fervor for Xia Hong, Qingyu ultimately couldn't bring herself to utter those four words.

Xia Yulong had no interest in listening anymore. She was clearly aware of how dangerous it would be for Xia Hong to enter the Dark Realm at this time, and flew towards Crimson Dragon Lake almost without thinking.

"Princess, wait for me!"

The Qingyu sisters dared not delay and hurriedly followed behind her, but they were too slow to catch up and could only watch as Xia Yulong arrived above Chilong Lake first.

Meanwhile, on the frozen surface of Red Dragon Lake, the people of Great Xia, led by Li Xuanling, had already panicked.

"This, this golden palace is getting smaller and smaller..."

"The lord hasn't come out yet!"

“It was the size of a palm just now, but now it’s only the size of a thumb.”

"The outline is no longer visible; it has turned into dots of light and will soon disappear."

"It won't disappear, the lord is still inside! What do we do?"

………………

Hearing the voices of the people around him, even the usually calm Li Xuanling showed a hint of panic in his eyes.

The reason was that the golden palace that had been standing normally underwater began to shrink at a visible rate shortly after she emerged.

Xia Hong is still inside and hasn't come out yet!

Li Xuanling was brought into the palace by Li Longyu and the other two. She knew very well that this palace only appeared to be underwater, but in reality it was probably another space, at most it was only related to the waters of Chilong Lake.

If the palace disappears, they will be lost. The problem is that her husband, Xia Hongren, is still inside. If the palace disappears, will Xia Hongren be able to come back?
thump!
Worrying leads to confusion, and Li Xuanling finally couldn't resist the panic in her heart. She jumped into the water with a splash, trying to find the entrance to the palace before the underwater light disappeared.

The problem is, she simply can't find it.

After finding the gold, Xia Hong immediately told her to take the two children out of the pool. After she went into the pool, she felt dizzy and found herself standing at the bottom of Chilong Lake. She had no idea how she got out. How could she possibly find the entrance now?
Whoosh...

Just then, the sound of flowing water suddenly came from above. Li Xuanling quickly looked up and found that the person who came was actually Li Longyu, who had previously taken her and her two children hostage.

But upon seeing the other person, her face showed no fear, but rather delight, and she quickly said, "Miss, don't you know how to enter that palace? Could you take me in?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Yulong instinctively reached out her hand, trying to pull Li Xuanling into the Panlong Palace together. However, she quickly realized that her mother's strength was too weak at this time, and taking her in would be useless. So she directly refused.

"Don't worry, Madam, Lord Xia will be fine. He'll be back soon! That place is too dangerous... Madam, you shouldn't go in."

After she finished speaking, a bright light suddenly rose from between her brows, a light that was exactly the same as the light of the palace. Then, in Li Xuanling's angry and anxious gaze, she disappeared directly into the water.

The palace had shrunk to an extremely tiny golden dot. Once Li Longyu had completely disappeared, the dot also vanished, leaving only Li Xuanling floating in the water, his face full of worry.

Looking at the empty bottom of the water, Li Xuanling gritted her teeth, but ultimately had no other choice and floated to the surface.

"Madam, the lord..."

"Don't worry, the lord has probably gone to some other place and sealed off the area around Crimson Dragon Lake. No one is allowed to enter or leave at will."

Li Xuanling frowned, first giving Cheng He an instruction, then standing directly on the ice, intending to wait until Xia Hong came out from inside.

However, as the sky gradually brightened, they waited until dawn, which was the ninth day of the first lunar month, but there was still no movement from the bottom of the lake.

The 10th... 11th... 12th... 13th...

Li Xuanling waited until the fifteenth of the first month, the last day of the Cold Yuan Festival in the thirteenth year of the Great Xia Dynasty. The broken parts of the lake had all re-frozen with a layer of solid ice, but the bottom of the lake still did not show a ripple.

Even Li Xuanling, who had a good mental fortitude, began to feel extremely uneasy at this moment, and the panic in her eyes became more and more intense.

"Sister-in-law, where is my brother?"

On the first day of the second month, Xia Chuan, who had temporarily withdrawn from his affairs in the five northern towns, rushed over in a hurry. Seeing that there was only Li Xuanling on the lake, his face instantly turned extremely gloomy.

Li Xuanling suppressed her panic and, seeing that Xia Chuan had come alone, recounted in detail everything that had happened on the night of the eighth day of the first lunar month.

Since the start of the Northern Expedition last year, Xia Chuan has been stationed in the north. In the three major battles against Cai Qiu, the main force was Yuwen Tao's right wing army, which was also personally supervised by his elder brother Xia Hong. In addition, his elder brother later finalized a ceasefire agreement with Cai Qiu. Therefore, he focused his energy on the post-war work in the five northern towns and the 100,000-strong army in Chencang, Dongchuan City.

He only learned about his elder brother's disappearance at Chilong Lake on the last day of the Cold Moon Festival, through a person sent by his sister-in-law, Li Xuanling. He was furious on the way there, feeling that Li Xuanling had delayed telling him about such a big matter for seven days. But after listening to Li Xuanling recount the events, he pondered for a moment, understood the whole story, and was no longer so angry.

Clearly, Li Xuanling initially thought his elder brother would return soon, and the reason he didn't send anyone to inform him was probably because he was worried about causing panic. Moreover, the fewer people who knew about such a big matter, the better. Once it spread, it would be tantamount to the destruction of Great Xia in the current situation.

That's right, it's a catastrophe!
My older brother has disappeared, and we don't know when he'll be back.

The problem is that, unlike when he left Mo'aochuan four years ago, Xia Hong disappeared this time, taking the Sacred Cauldron and the Frost Beast Stake with him.

At present, the Great Xia Dynasty has not yet dealt with the 100,000-strong army of Chen Cang. The ceasefire agreement agreed upon with Cai Qiu is to be signed next month, which is March. Lord Xia Hong is not here at the moment. If Chen Cang and Cai Qiu find out, the consequences will be serious.

Xia Chuan wasn't worried about Xia Hong's personal safety at all; he had full confidence in his elder brother. However, the predicament that Da Xia was about to face made him uneasy, and he even imagined some terrible consequences.

"We don't know when our elder brother will be back. If we can't reach the ceasefire agreement with Cai Qiu by next month, Cai Qiu will definitely become suspicious. And then there's the 100,000 troops in Chencang, Dongchuan City. Without our elder brother, without the Sacred Cauldron and the Beast King Puppet, we're afraid that relying solely on ourselves will be..."

For a moment, Xia Chuan was in a state of utter confusion, and even lost his composure.

"Block the news of Chilong Lake, and publicly claim that the lord is at a critical moment of breakthrough. I will sign the Caiqiu agreement normally. As for the 100,000 troops in Chencang, we must not only manage them, but also use tougher methods. We must drive them out of the southern foothills quickly, or things will change."
Furthermore, we must quickly establish contact with Weibo and Hezang, refraining from participating in the battles of Chencang and Caiqiu, and from actively getting involved in the conflict among the four vassal states. However, we must act as regional military governors and engage in normal exchanges with them!

Xia Chuan looked up at Li Xuanling, paused for a moment, then quickly calmed himself down and carefully considered the three suggestions she had given.

"Sister-in-law, your insight is brilliant! This is the only way!"

At this critical juncture, Great Xia must not back down, but rather be even tougher.

“I sent a letter to Chu Tianhe a month ago, sternly urging him to withdraw the 100,000 troops from Chencang from Dongchuan City. He neither agreed nor refused, it seems he wants to delay. We can’t let him continue to delay. The rebels in the five northern towns have been dealt with almost completely. I’m going back now, muster the troops, and give Chu Tianhe a final ultimatum. I don’t believe that Chencang would really dare to attack!”

Xia Chuan's face was somber. After speaking, he turned and left.

Li Xuanling stood there, staring at the bottom of the lake for a while, accepting the fact that her husband wouldn't be able to come out anytime soon. She clenched her fists slightly, then turned and flew away to the north.

"Chenghe, continue to blockade this place. I will send the Longyuan Army here soon. Then you can hand this place over to them and go about your own business."

Before leaving, he didn't forget to give Chenghe a final message by the lake.

"Yes, sir!"

Cheng He was somewhat confused. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, after Li Xuanling brought the two princes out of the lake, he immediately ordered Cheng He to lead his men to evacuate from the ice. Therefore, he did not know what had happened.

"Lord... did he come out but I didn't see him, or did he not come out? Where are Xiahou Yong and Jiang Yifan? They're gone too. Why did the Chief Clerk come in person? Could it be..."

Of course, he wasn't stupid. He vaguely sensed that something big had happened, and a terrible guess rose in his mind, causing his pupils to shrink slightly.

Always cautious, he ultimately didn't dare to think any further. Instead, he turned to his soldiers and began deploying personnel to blockade Chilong Lake.

(End of this chapter)