Something's Wrong, There's a Problem

Hearing Shi Qing's polite request to leave, Xia Hong's eyebrows twitched, and his curiosity immediately piqued.

After all, they were currently picking Crystal Fruits on Big Stone Camp's territory.

Trespassing into another camp's domain was no small matter in Redwood Ridge.

Shi Dong had at least pointed out their intrusion earlier.

Yet, Shi Qing, from beginning to end, had said nothing about them intruding on Big Stone's territory to pick Crystal Fruits, acting as if he hadn't noticed.

Xia Hong's heart stirred. Instead of directly agreeing to let Shi Qing leave, he cast his gaze towards the bulging bag on Shi Dong's back, which clearly contained Crystal Fruits.

"Leader Shi, why are only the two of you out tonight?"

Shi Qing's expression stiffened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and replied, "Just picking some Crystal Fruits, no need for so many people. What, Leader Xia, do you know people from our camp's Lumber Team?"

As Xia Hong spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on Shi Qing. Although the latter was hiding it well, Xia Hong had noticed the subtle stiffness in his expression just moments before.

But Xia Hong said nothing, merely nodding with a half-smile.

"If that's the case, then Leader Shi should head back. We'll meet again another day."

"Alright, I, Shi, shall take my leave first. Leader Xia, until we meet again."

It was evident that Shi Qing was in a real hurry. Seeing that Xia Hong was letting them go, he immediately turned and left without looking back, practically dragging Shi Dong away at a run.

Xia Hong stared at their retreating figures, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Leader, just letting them go like that? Aren't we going to teach them a lesson?"

Yuan Cheng had always held a grudge against Big Stone Camp. He had initially thought that since Xia Hong had stopped them, they would finally get to teach the two a lesson tonight, but they were just allowed to leave.

Xia Hong shook his head. "There's no need. We've picked so many Crystal Fruits here from Big Stone during this period; consider it retaliation for what they did before. Besides, Big Stone Camp... something must have happened."

Yuan Cheng's expression faltered, a look of confusion on his face.

Meanwhile, Yue Feng walked over and nodded. "Something definitely happened. Big Stone has over a dozen Lumbering Realm combatants. Picking Crystal Fruits wouldn't require their leader to personally come out. Moreover, we've basically cleared out all the Crystal Fruits in this area during this time. That bag of Crystal Fruits on their backs probably wasn't picked from their own territory."

Xia Hong smiled approvingly at Yue Feng. Among the camp's Lumbering Realm experts, Yue Feng was the oldest and clearly observed and considered issues more meticulously than the others.

Shi Qing had definitely lied, but Xia Hong couldn't be sure what exactly had happened at Big Stone Camp. He had wanted to ask just now, but the words caught in his throat, and he held back.

Among camps, it was highly taboo to pry into each other's affairs.

Just like after Xia Ding and the Lumber Team were wiped out, Xia Hong had been very worried about encountering people from other camps. Later, when he met Wang Ming's group, he had to put on a show and pretend that Xia Ding and the others were still around.

If he had rashly asked, Shi Qing wouldn't have told him and would have become even more wary of him.

"Alright, let's not worry about them. What we've picked tonight is enough. Let's head back. Xu An, Liu Yuan, Li Yuan Kun, each of you will cut down one tree tonight. Everyone else will cut down two."

Since he couldn't figure it out, he decided to stop thinking about it.

Xia Hong turned to look at his people and smilingly announced the remaining tasks for the night.

Ever since they obtained that Golden-Eyed Demonic Sheep last time, coupled with the subsequent hunting gains, the camp's Frost Beast Meat had suddenly become abundant.

And after the perilous incident where a Grotesque ambushed Xia Hong, the younger generation in the camp's enthusiasm for cultivation had become even more fervent. With a sufficient supply of Frost Beast Meat, the camp had gained three more young combatants in the Lumbering Realm.

If nothing unexpected happened, these three, like the previous eight, were the offspring of former Lumber Team members.

It was worth mentioning that Xu An was Xu Ning's younger brother.

A month ago, during the Golden-Eyed Demonic Sheep incident, Xu Ning lost his right eye. Although it didn't affect his cultivation and his injuries had mostly healed, for safety's sake, Xia Hong had minimized his outdoor activities, keeping him at the camp.

Perhaps spurred by his brother's loss of an eye, Xu An had cultivated exceptionally diligently during the following period, thus becoming the first of the three to break through.

With three new Lumbering Realm combatants added in just one month, it was a significant morale boost for the camp, which had recently suffered losses.

Xu Ning often joked that if he had known losing a right eye could earn them three Lumbering Realm experts, he would have given the left eye to that Frost Beast as well.

Jokes aside, the saying "a loss in one place can be a gain in another" held true.

The camp now had ten Lumbering Realm combatants. Adding Xia Hong, their leader in the Earth Excavation Realm, the Great Xia Camp's strength had far surpassed that of when Xia Ding was the leader.

With the Iron Smelting Furnace providing warmth and protection against Grotesques, and the Small Torches complementing everyone's increasing strength, the camp's hunting capabilities had grown stronger. Most importantly, the Fire Condensing Oil gave everyone the ability to fight even when facing Grotesques while outdoors.

It could be said that the Great Xia Camp, in all aspects, had improved by more than one level compared to before. And all of this was just from the first building provided by the system.

Xia Hong was extremely eager for the remaining eight buildings.

Unfortunately, even the most skilled cook cannot prepare a meal without ingredients.

The remaining buildings, even the most basic ones, required Iron resources to unlock, let alone those that needed Gold and Silver resources.

Therefore, during this period, Xia Hong had handed over the normal lumbering and fruit-picking tasks to others. As for himself, apart from overseeing hunts, he spent all his other time searching in Redwood Ridge and the surrounding areas of the camp, hoping to find Coal and Iron Ore as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, after searching alone for more than half a month, he had found nothing.

He wanted to ask Xia Chuan and the others to help search, but the others were not in the Earth Excavation Realm. They couldn't even break through the surface soil, let alone mountain rocks.

So, not only did the search for mines depend on him, but even if they found a mine later, if no one else broke through to the Earth Excavation Realm, the mining itself would still fall to him.

"We don't lack wood or Crystal Fruits anymore. What we're short of now is Frost Beast Meat. We can't rush finding Coal and Iron for now. Once more people break through to the Earth Excavation Realm, we can expand the search area, and we'll find them eventually," Xia Hong thought to himself. Seeing that the others had mostly finished packing, he quickly followed them.

As he approached the group, Xia Hong noticed that Xia Chuan seemed to be lost in thought, his expression absent-minded.

Like Yuan Cheng, Xia Chuan had also experienced the Big Stone Camp crossing the border incident before. He recalled that Xia Chuan had remained silent when Shi Qing and the other person were present just now.

Xia Hong thought he was dwelling on that, so he stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and asked, "Are you unhappy that I let Shi Qing and the other one go?"

However, Xia Chuan shook his head and then said with some hesitation, "I was wondering how Shi Dong recognized you at a glance just now. We've only met Wang Ming and his three companions before. Even with a description, they shouldn't be able to recognize you on the first meeting, right? And there were ten of us in total. Shi Dong recognized you immediately, which feels a bit off!"

Hearing this, Xia Hong was stunned. It was as if a string in his mind had been plucked.

That's right!

The first time he went out after breaking through to the Lumbering Realm, he had been hiding in the shadows, which was why he could recognize Shi Qing and Shi Dong. The second time he went out with Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, they had only encountered Wang Ming and his three companions who were stealing Crystal Fruit.

Neither Shi Qing nor Shi Dong had ever seen him before.

Instantly, many things flashed through Xia Hong's mind...

The bodies of Wang Ming and his three companions he had seen before on Great Xia's territory;

The knife that Shi Qing hadn't even had time to clean up;

He hadn't seen the two of them in the Big Stone Camp's territory for a while;

The Crystal Fruit that Shi Qing and the other one carried back from the north, and none of the other Lumbering Realm cultivators from Big Stone Camp were seen;

Even the various expressions on Shi Qing's face just now...

Piecing together the clues in his mind, Xia Hong suddenly looked up, his expression changing drastically:

"Something's wrong, hurry up and follow them, Shi Dong is suspicious!"

The second round of recommendation notifications has arrived, and the readership momentum is very strong. Thank you all. The previous chapters were setup, and you might be tired of reading them. It was mainly for the protagonist to develop the camp, but there's no other way. Please bear with me during the new book period. I still ask that you don't stop following the story. Don't worry about saving it to read later; just make sure to come in every day and read up to the latest chapter during this new book period. We're pushing hard in the second round. Your humble author sincerely thanks all of you, great patrons! orz