First Collision

"Leader, I've broken through."

"Brother, I've also reached the Lumbering Realm."

Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng had both broken through at the same time!

Seeing them both lift a five-thousand-jin wooden stake one after another, Xia Hong felt a heavy sigh of relief.

Lumbering Realm, three!

Although they were weak compared to other camps, they had finally gotten started.

Moreover, during this period, Yue Feng and Lin Kai's strength had also greatly improved.

As long as they followed the plan and slowly recovered their previous strength, it was only a matter of time.

The very next evening, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, with excited expressions, fastened their stone axes to their waists and followed Xia Hong.

"I'll say it again, Redwood Ridge is dangerous. Outside, you must listen to me and not act rashly. Tonight, I'm mainly taking you to familiarize yourselves with our territory. Also, each of you needs to chop down a tree alone."

"Understood, Leader!"

Sensing the seriousness in Xia Hong's tone, Xia Chuan didn't call him "brother" but, for the first time, along with Yuan Cheng, called him "Leader."

Xia Hong nodded, gave a few instructions to the five behind him, and led the way out of the cave, with Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan closely following him.

Now that Xia Chuan was also out, the camp was naturally the responsibility of the five. The camp was well-hidden, and as long as no special circumstances arose, safety should be guaranteed.

Even though it was night, under the light reflected by the white snow, Xia Hong could clearly see the excited expressions on Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng's faces.

In fact, it wasn't just them; Xia Hong had also been excited during his first outing.

They had always stayed in the cave, sealing it during the day. When Xia Ding was around, they could open the cave entrance to get some air at night.

With Xia Ding gone, for over a month, everyone in the camp, except for him, had barely seen any light.

"The humans in this world are probably cursed..."

As soon as Xia Hong transmigrated and learned about this world, he had this feeling.

Forever cold, unable to see the light, only able to hide in the shadows, vastly outmatched by Frost Beasts, and facing inexplicably deadly Grotesques.

The plight of humanity in this world was simply inconceivable.

This wasn't a hell-level difficulty anymore.

The true eighteen levels of hell probably wouldn't be any worse.

Xia Hong didn't know if there were any humans living with dignity, but at least the scene he saw so far was a hellish landscape.

The Rogue Camp, they should be living alright, right?

As Xia Hong's thoughts drifted, they had already reached the outskirts of Redwood Ridge.

"Tonight's mission has two parts. One is to familiarize you with the environment here, including where Frost Beasts are, how to identify them, the types of vegetation nearby, and the territory of our Great Xia Camp.

The other is that you two must each chop down a tree to take back tonight."

The excitement on their faces hadn't faded yet, and Xia Hong didn't want to dampen their spirits. While leading them around the outskirts, he explained the situation.

Over more than twenty nights, Xia Hong could say he was intimately familiar with the area within a five-hundred-meter radius.

The locations of three Ice Vast Trees, seven Golden Scale Trees confirmed to be inhabited by Frost Beasts;

The area where Crimson Frost Trees were most densely distributed, and the location with the most small Crimson Frost Trees.

After pointing out each spot, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng remained silent, listening intently and committing it all to memory.

It wasn't until the three reached the location of the third Ice Vast Tree that an incident occurred.

There were people near the third Ice Vast Tree.

Unlike Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, Xia Hong was constantly paying attention to his surroundings as he walked.

So, when they were still over a hundred meters away from the third Ice Vast Tree, he noticed movement over there.

"There are people ahead. Tread lightly and don't make a sound. Let's observe first."

Xia Hong was the first to crouch down, and the two followed him, circling around the snow-covered ground and hiding behind the trees as they slowly approached the third Ice Vast Tree.

Although visibility was decent in the snow, it was still night. It wasn't until they were about thirty meters away from the Ice Vast Tree that Xia Hong could clearly see the situation there.

Upon seeing it clearly, his brow furrowed, and his expression turned grim.

He couldn't see their faces clearly from this distance, but he saw there were four people, and one of them was carrying a large saber.

It was people from the Big Stone Camp.

This was the fifth time Xia Hong had seen people from the Big Stone Camp trespassing on their territory.

That's right, since the Snow Mane incident, over the past twenty-odd days, Xia Hong had encountered people from the Big Stone Camp on their territory three more times.

During this period, he had found three Ice Vast Trees.

The first was on the west side, the closest one to the Big Stone Camp.

The second was about a hundred meters north of the entrance he used to enter Redwood Ridge.

The third, the one before them now, was located towards the eastern side of their entire territory.

Great Xia territory was only five hundred meters wide in total. Xia Hong always entered from the middle. In the previous four times, he had encountered people from the Big Stone Camp on the west side. This time, they were actually on the east side.

This meant that the people from the Big Stone Camp had not only brazenly entered, but their intrusion was also becoming increasingly excessive.

"Four people from the Big Stone Camp, you've crossed the boundary!"

This time, Xia Hong didn't choose to turn a blind eye. He stood up directly, walking towards the Ice Vast Tree while sternly reprimanding them.

Upon hearing Xia Hong's words, Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan realized the four were from the Big Stone Camp. They immediately stood up in anger and followed behind Xia Hong.

Thieves always feel guilty. The four from the Big Stone Camp were picking Crystal Fruit from the trees when they heard the reprimand. They immediately jumped down and turned back to stare nervously at Xia Hong's group.

As Xia Hong approached, his gaze constantly swept the surroundings.

The Big Stone Camp had two archers; he wasn't sure if they were present.

"May I ask who the three of you are?"

One of the four stepped forward and asked for their identities. Judging by the voice, he was a middle-aged man.

Xia Hong moved closer and saw that all four were middle-aged. The one who stepped forward was the only one among the four carrying a saber.

The previous owner of that saber had already been beheaded by Snow Mane.

"Great Xia Camp, Xia Hong."

"It's Old Ding's son."

Xia Hong recognized the other party, and they naturally recognized him.

The man holding the large saber immediately recognized Xia Hong when he saw his appearance.

"So young?"

"Out at night, and already in the Lumbering Realm."

"Old Ding has raised a good son."

The other three seemed to know Xia Ding as well. Whether they were intentionally praising him or genuinely shocked by Xia Hong's youth, they all spoke up.

"The four of you, let's not talk about other things. You were picking fruit, and you crossed the boundary, right?"

"Hey, you..."

The last person to jump down from the tree, seeing that Xia Hong wasn't going along with it and was still bringing up the boundary issue, became visibly angry. He spoke up, even taking a couple of steps towards Xia Hong.

However, before he could finish speaking, the one with the saber reached out and stopped him.

"Nephew, my name is Wang Ming. I knew your father, Xia Ding. If you're willing, you can call me Uncle Ming. Our camp has been having some problems recently, and the Crystal Fruit shortage is too severe. We had no choice but to bring them here tonight to borrow some provisions from your Great Xia. We'll return them as soon as this difficult period passes. How about it?"

After hearing Wang Ming's words, Xia Hong's expression immediately turned grim.

The other party was treating him like a fool!

Xia Hong simply stared at Wang Ming, remaining silent for a long time.

However, Xia Chuan, standing behind him, couldn't help but speak up in anger.

"If you want to steal, just steal. Why call it borrowing? Brother, don't waste your breath on them. When the Rogue Camp set the boundaries back then, they said that trespassing on someone else's territory is equivalent to murder. I'll go back and inform Father immediately to bring people over."

Hearing Xia Chuan's words, Wang Ming and the four behind him immediately had grim expressions.