Long-tongued Snow Mane

At first glance, this Ice Vast Tree was no different from the others nearby.

Its trunk was blanketed in snow, its crown clad in silver. Thousands upon thousands of icicles hung from its sprawling branches like curtains.

But upon closer inspection, one thick branch held dozens of icicles over a meter long that stood upside down in a bizarre fashion.

Xia Hong stared carefully at that section of trunk and immediately made out what they were.

Those were no icicles at all. They were clearly a gigantic snow-white creature lying on the branch, resting.

A tongue four or five meters long dangled from its mouth.

Its tongue was white as well, and its surface was coated in frost, so without a careful look, one would think it was merely an especially long icicle.

And those "upward-hanging icicles" were actually the spikes on its back.

It was night, and without close observation, it would have been impossible to spot.

Fortunately, this was Xia Hong's first time venturing out, and he had been especially cautious. That was why he had noticed it.

Under the night sky, he could not make out the creature's exact size, but with that long tongue and a back full of spikes, Xia Hong had already recognized it.

"Long-tongued Snow Mane. Its body is only two meters long—it should be a juvenile!"

There were not many types of frost beasts around the outskirts of Redwood Ridge.

Two were the most common: Bone-spurred Frost Wolves and Long-tongued Snow Manes.

According to what Xia Hong had heard from the Lumber Team members, Long-tongued Snow Manes were low-level frost beasts resembling wild boars.

Long-tongued Snow Manes were enormous. Even juveniles weighed three to four hundred jin, while adults generally weighed over a thousand jin.

Snow Manes possessed boundless strength and liked to attack with the sharp spikes on their backs and foreheads. More importantly, their several-meter-long tongues were not only long, pointed, and sharp, but could turn hard or soft at will, making them impossible to guard against.

"If it's a juvenile Snow Mane, a powerful archer working with a dozen or so skilled Lumbering Realm fighters might still have a chance to kill it. Otherwise, if you encounter one in the wild, there's nothing to say—run."

Remembering what he had heard before, Xia Hong took a deep breath and tried his best to calm himself.

Though the Snow Mane's body full of fine meat tempted him greatly, a man still had to face reality.

Fortunately, it was nighttime, and the Snow Mane was asleep.

If it had been daytime and he had encountered an awake one, whether he could survive at all would have been a question.

"Quietly. Don't disturb it. Pick some Crystal Fruit, then leave."

"The greatest trait of Long-tongued Snow Manes is that they become extremely sleepy at night. As long as you don't attack one, it basically won't wake up."

Although the Lumber Team members would not lie to him, Xia Hong would not joke with his own life. He first picked up a stone from the ground, then climbed up a tree and hurled it fiercely at another tree a hundred meters away.

The stone struck the tree, causing only a slight tremor and not much noise.

Yet the icicles on that tree came rustling down because of the vibration.

The sound of icicles striking the ground was exceptionally clear in the silent forest. Xia Hong held his breath and carefully watched the Snow Mane.

The Snow Mane turned a deaf ear to such a loud noise and continued sleeping soundly.

That sight truly put Xia Hong at ease.

"Picking the fruit a little more carefully shouldn't be a problem."

However, just as Xia Hong was preparing to climb down from the tree—

Whoosh...

The sound of an arrow tearing through the air suddenly came from the opposite side.

In the darkness, Xia Hong could not see the arrow clearly, but judging from the direction of the sound, he could more or less determine that it had come from the Snow Mane on the tree.

"Roar..."

Sure enough, as the arrow's whistle faded, an enraged roar suddenly erupted from the Ice Vast Tree.

The sound shook heaven and earth. The entire tree began to tremble, icicles scattered from its branches, and even the snow on the ground was shaken into flying sprays.

Even Xia Hong's tree began shaking wildly.

"Have they gone mad? Are they people from Big Stone Camp?"

Xia Hong screamed inwardly, but his body did not dare move in the slightest.

Years ago, under Rogue Camp's lead, the camps around Redwood Ridge had divided up their respective territories.

West of Great Xia's territory in Redwood Ridge lay Big Stone Camp's territory.

At this moment, Xia Hong naturally had no interest in whether Big Stone Camp had crossed the border.

He was only curious where Big Stone Camp had found the nerve to attack a Long-tongued Snow Mane.

Though he did not know Big Stone Camp's exact strength, he could be certain that, like Great Xia, it was a small camp. At most, it had a few more Lumberjack Level combatants than Great Xia.

Could such strength hunt a Snow Mane?

Very quickly, Xia Hong discovered that he had been wrong.

Big Stone Camp seemed to truly have some skill.

"Shi Dong, I hit its left eye. Aim for its right eye with me! Everyone else, hurry and lasso it with the ropes!"

A sharp voice came from the western side of the Ice Vast Tree.

Seventeen people followed the voice. All wore beast-hide skirts and carried stone axes, except for the one at the front, who held a gleaming Great Saber.

"Iron weapon. They probably bought it from Rogue Camp."

Xia Hong looked at the Great Saber, a trace of envy in his eyes.

In the extreme cold, both stone and iron had undergone great changes.

Great Xia had once possessed a half-iron weapon as well—Xia Ding's axe.

The word "half" was added because only the axe blade was iron; the axe body was still stone mounted on a wooden handle.

Yet even a half-iron weapon was far sharper than a stone axe.

Xia Hong had personally struck that iron axe with a stone axe before. The stone axe chipped, while the iron axe remained completely unscathed.

An axe with merely an iron blade was already so formidable, let alone the bright Great Saber in that man's hand.

Setting aside Xia Hong's envy, beneath the Ice Vast Tree, the people of Big Stone Camp had already engaged the Snow Mane.

The Snow Mane's left eye had indeed been shot. A black arrow was still embedded in it.

Perhaps because of the pain, after climbing down from the tree, the Snow Mane stopped roaring, but its breathing became exceptionally heavy.

Its sole remaining little right eye was already bloodshot and crimson, fixed viciously upon the group from Big Stone Camp.

Its hind legs pawed twice at the snow, then it suddenly burst forward.

Swift as a white arrow leaving the bow, savage as a mountain range collapsing.

Looking at the Snow Mane's massive body, no one could have imagined that it could move so fast.

Its enormous body combined with such extreme speed even scattered the frigid air. The force contained in that charge was easy to imagine.

"Get out of the way! Release the lassos, quickly!"

That sharp voice rang out again, and Xia Hong turned his gaze toward behind a tree on the western side.

The person giving orders should have been an archer. Another archer named Shi Dong was likely hiding somewhere else as well.

While issuing commands, that person and the other archer fired arrows madly.

But none of those arrows struck the Snow Mane's vital points.

Though they did not hit vital areas, they successfully disrupted the Snow Mane's forward charge.

As the Snow Mane was being hindered, the fourteen people beneath the Ice Vast Tree scattered in every direction. While evading it, they laid more than ten rope loops on the ground.

The leader holding the Great Saber even tossed a rope loop directly over the Snow Mane's neck as he dodged aside.

Unable to stop its momentum, the Snow Mane crashed straight into the ground filled with rope loops.

Sure enough, all four of the Snow Mane's limbs and its head were caught.

"Pull! Hard!"

The sharp command came from behind the tree. The fourteen scattered people swiftly gathered, divided into five groups, grabbed the ropes on the ground, and ran fiercely in five separate directions.

Roar...

The Snow Mane let out an angry roar, but it still stumbled and was yanked straight over, slamming into the ground with a tremendous crash.

At the same time, two arrows shot out from behind the trees like meteors.

They plunged directly into the Snow Mane's crimson right eye.

Pfft...

Both arrows actually hit.

The Snow Mane released an even more agonized, furious roar.

"We did it!"

"Hahaha, the chief is amazing!"

"This beast will die from the pain alone."

The laughter of Big Stone Camp's people formed a stark contrast with the Snow Mane's furious, agonized cries.

Though delighted, the people of Big Stone Camp did not approach while the Snow Mane was still rolling around.

The two distant archers did not emerge either. They remained behind the trees, continuously firing arrows to finish it off.

As time passed, the Snow Mane's struggling grew smaller and smaller, until it finally stopped moving.

The people of Big Stone Camp seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The saber-wielding leader threw stones at it from afar several times. Only after confirming that the Snow Mane was dead did he finally speak toward the woods behind him.

"Chief, it's dead."

Sure enough, two middle-aged men emerged from behind the western trees, leading everyone toward the Snow Mane's corpse.

Seeing them begin to harvest their prey, Xia Hong, who had remained hidden in the tree, frowned slightly.