Something's Wrong, There's a Problem

Hearing Shi Qing politely resign and leave, Xia Hong became even more curious.

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

Trespassing into another camp's sphere of influence was no small matter around Redwood Ridge.

Shi Dong had at least pointed that out just now.

But Shi Qing had said nothing from beginning to end about their trespassing onto Big Stone Camp's territory to pick Crystal Fruits, as if he had turned a blind eye to it.

Xia Hong's heart stirred. Instead of immediately agreeing to let Shi Qing leave, he looked toward the bulging sack on Shi Dong's back. Anyone could tell it was filled with Crystal Fruits.

"Camp Lord Shi, why are just the two of you out tonight?"

Shi Qing's expression stiffened slightly, but he quickly composed himself and said, "We're only picking some Crystal Fruits. We don't need that many people. What is it, Camp Lord Xia? Do you know someone from our Lumber Team?"

As Xia Hong spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on Shi Qing. Although the other man had concealed it well, Xia Hong still noticed that fleeting stiffness in his expression.

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

"If that's the case, then go back first, Camp Lord Shi. We'll meet again another day."

"Very well. Shi will take his leave first. Camp Lord Xia, until next time."

It was obvious that Shi Qing was truly anxious. The moment Xia Hong let him go, he immediately left without looking back, practically running away with Shi Dong.

Xia Hong stared thoughtfully at their retreating backs.

"Chief, you're just letting them go? Aren't you going to teach them a lesson?"

Yuan Cheng had always disliked Big Stone Camp. When he saw Xia Hong stop the two men, he had thought they would get to teach them a lesson tonight. Who would have expected Xia Hong to simply let them leave?

Xia Hong shook his head. "There's no need. We've picked so many Crystal Fruits from Big Stone's territory during this period, which counts as payback for what they did before. Besides, something... should have happened to Big Stone Camp."

Yuan Cheng froze, confusion showing on his face.

Yue Feng, who was standing nearby, came over and nodded. "Something definitely happened. Big Stone has more than a dozen Lumbering Realm fighters. Why would their chief personally come out to pick a few Crystal Fruits? Besides, we've practically swept all the Crystal Fruits here clean during this period. The fruits in that sack they were carrying probably weren't picked on their own territory either."

Xia Hong smiled approvingly at Yue Feng. Among the camp's Lumbering Realm fighters, Yue Feng was the oldest, and he was clearly more meticulous than the others when observing and considering matters.

Shi Qing had definitely lied, but Xia Hong couldn't be certain what exactly had happened to Big Stone Camp. He had wanted to ask just now, but when the words reached his lips, he still held them back.

Between camps, it was highly taboo to inquire into each other's circumstances.

Just as after Xia Ding and the Lumber Team had been wiped out, Xia Hong had worried about running into people from other camps. Later, when they encountered Wang Ming's group, he had even put on a show of strength and pretended that Xia Ding and the others were still alive.

If he rashly asked, Shi Qing wouldn't tell him. He would only become more guarded against Xia Hong.

"All right, forget about them. We've picked enough for tonight. Let's head back. Xu An, Liu Yuan, and Li Yuan Kun, you three each cut down one tree tonight. Everyone else cuts down two."

Since there was no point dwelling on it, Xia Hong simply stopped thinking about it.

He turned to the others and smiled as he announced the remaining tasks for the night.

Ever since they obtained that Golden-Eyed Demonic Sheep, along with the gains from their subsequent hunts, the camp's Frost Beast Meat had suddenly become abundant.

After that dangerous incident when a strange creature ambushed Xia Hong, the camp's youths became even more enthusiastic about cultivation. With an ample supply of Frost Beast Meat, the camp had gained three more young Lumbering Realm fighters.

Unsurprisingly, like the previous eight, these three were all descendants of former Lumber Team members.

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

A month ago, during the incident with the Golden-Eyed Demonic Sheep, Xu Ning had lost his right eye. Although it hadn't affected his cultivation and his injury had mostly healed, Xia Hong had still reduced the number of times he went out for safety's sake, leaving him behind to guard the camp.

Perhaps being shaken by his brother losing an eye, Xu An trained exceptionally hard for a period afterward and was therefore the first of the three to break through.

Adding three Lumbering Realm fighters in the short span of a month was a tremendous boost for a camp that had just suffered losses.

Xu Ning often joked that if he had known losing one right eye could be exchanged for three Lumbering Realm fighters, he would have simply given his left eye to that Frost Beast as well.

The joke couldn't be taken seriously, but it was also true that when one lost something in one place, one gained something elsewhere.

The camp now had ten Lumbering Realm fighters. Adding Xia Hong, the chief of the Earth Excavation Realm, Great Xia Camp's strength had already far surpassed what it had been under Xia Ding.

The Iron Smelting Furnace provided warmth and warded off strange creatures, while the Small Torches combined with everyone's steadily rising strength to make the camp's hunting ability grow stronger and stronger. More importantly, the Fire Condensing Oil gave everyone the power to fight strange creatures even when they were outside.

It could be said that Great Xia Camp had now improved in every respect by more than one level compared with before—and all of this had come from merely the system's first building.

Xia Hong was practically salivating over the remaining eight buildings.

Unfortunately, even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice.

The remaining buildings required Iron Ore resources even for the cheapest ones, let alone the buildings that required gold and silver resources.

Therefore, during this period, Xia Hong had handed the regular tree-cutting and fruit-picking tasks to the others. Aside from leading hunts, he spent all his remaining time searching Redwood Ridge and the areas around the camp, hoping to find coal and Iron Ore as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, after searching alone for more than half a month, he still had nothing to show for it.

He had wanted to have Xia Chuan and the others search as well, but they had no one in the Earth Excavation Realm. They couldn't even break through the soil on the ground, let alone the rocks in the mountains.

Thus, not only did they have to rely on him to search for ore, but even after they found a mine, if no one else had broken through to the Earth Excavation Realm, he would still have to do the mining himself.

"There's no shortage of wood or Crystal Fruits anymore. The only thing we're short of now is Frost Beast Meat. We can't find coal or Iron Ore for the moment, but there's no need to rush. Once more people break through to the Earth Excavation Realm, we can expand our search area. We'll find them sooner or later."

Xia Hong thought this to himself. Seeing that the others had nearly finished packing up, he hurried after them.

Only after approaching them did Xia Hong notice that Xia Chuan seemed to be thinking about something, his expression absent-minded.

Like Yuan Cheng, Xia Chuan had experienced Big Stone Camp crossing the boundary before. Thinking back, Xia Chuan hadn't said a word while Shi Qing and Shi Dong were there.

Xia Hong assumed that was what he was thinking about, so he walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and asked, "Are you unhappy that I let Shi Qing and Shi Dong go?"

However, Xia Chuan shook his head. Then, with a hint of hesitation on his face, he said:

"I was wondering how Shi Dong recognized you at a glance just now. Before this, the only people we'd encountered were Wang Ming and the other three. Even if they'd described you, they shouldn't have been able to recognize you the first time they saw you. Besides, there are ten of us, yet Shi Dong picked you out at a glance. It feels a little off!"

Xia Hong jolted violently. It was as if a string in his mind had suddenly been plucked.

That's right!

The first time he had gone out after breaking through to the Lumbering Realm, he had hidden in the dark, which was why he had been able to recognize Shi Qing and Shi Dong. The second time, when he went out with Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, they had only encountered Wang Ming's group of four, who had been stealing Crystal Fruits.

Neither Shi Qing nor Shi Dong had seen him before.

In an instant, countless things surfaced in Xia Hong's mind...

The corpses of Wang Ming's group of four that they had seen earlier on Great Xia's territory;

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

The fact that they hadn't seen either of the two men on Big Stone Camp's territory during this period;

The Crystal Fruits Shi Qing and Shi Dong had carried back from the north, despite not seeing a single other Lumbering Realm fighter from Big Stone Camp;

Even the many changes in Shi Qing's expression just now...

After piecing together the scattered clues in his mind, Xia Hong abruptly raised his head, his expression changing drastically.

"Something's wrong. Hurry and catch up! There's something wrong with Shi Dong!"

The second round of recommendation had arrived, and the momentum of readers following the story was fierce. Thank you all! You may have grown tired of the buildup in the previous chapters, but it was mainly to lay the groundwork for the protagonist's development of the camp. There's nothing I can do about it—please bear with me during the new-book period. I'm still asking everyone not to stop following the story. It's fine to save up chapters; during the new-book period, all I ask is that everyone come in each day and flip to the latest chapter. Let's keep charging through the second round! This humble author bows to all the great readers! orz