Challenging the Bottom Line of Life

On the east side of Tower Mountain, Xia Hong continuously felt along the mountain wall, occasionally looking up at the middle of the mountain, a flicker of impatience in his eyes.

Soon, Xia Chuan and Yuan Chuan arrived from the north and south sides respectively, each with two people.

"We didn't find an entrance on the south side."

"Nor on the north side."

Xia Hong's expression darkened. He had searched the east side thoroughly as well, but there was no entrance to Big Stone Camp. Now, only the west side remained.

A short while later, Yue Feng arrived with Lu Yang and Qiu Peng.

"We couldn't find anything on the west side, no traces either. It shouldn't be over there."

Xia Hong's brow furrowed immediately. They couldn't find the entrance to Big Stone Camp in any of the four directions – east, south, west, or north. How was that possible?

"It doesn't make sense. The Big Stone Camp's base must be around Tower Mountain. I heard my father mention it before, how could we not find it?"

Hearing Xia Chuan speak, Yuan Cheng nodded and said, "I heard my father mention it too. It's definitely around Tower Mountain. We've searched all four sides of the walls and still can't find it. Are they able to fly?"

Hearing the word "fly," Xia Hong was stunned for a moment, then looked up. He suddenly understood.

"So that's it!"

Tower Mountain wasn't like other mountains with a pyramid shape. It was a straight, vertical, small mountain. The top was only slightly narrower than the bottom.

Xia Hong's gaze made the others react as well.

Everyone looked up. Yue Feng, with his sharp eyes, was the first to discover something.

"Leader, there's a vine here, it seems to be connected to above."

Xia Hong hurried over and took the vine from Yue Feng. With just a gentle tug, several blocks of snow slid down from above.

"This is it. Follow me up, be careful."

After testing the sturdiness of the vine and finding it secure, Xia Hong immediately began to climb. Xia Chuan, Yuan Chuan, and the other nine followed behind him.

The five-meter-wide wooden plank was too conspicuous on the snow-covered mountaintop. Xia Hong only glanced at it casually before finding it. He quickly walked to the top of the cover.

"Ah..."

As soon as he got close, he heard faint screams coming from inside. Xia Hong's expression changed instantly. He quickly took out a fist-sized black ink block from his embrace.

"Everyone come over here, take out your stone axes!"

Seeing the nine men take out their stone axes, Xia Hong quickly smeared the black ink block onto the axe blades.

The ink block was magical. It seemed incredibly hard, but as soon as it touched the axe blade, it turned into a liquid. After smearing all nine axes, only a marble-sized amount remained.

The black ink block was, of course, Fire Condensing Oil, which ignited upon contact with a grotesque.

Xia Hong drew his small dagger and smeared the last bit onto it. Then, he turned to the group and ordered, "Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, you two come down with me and assess the situation first. The rest of you stay up here. If I need your help, I'll shout immediately. No matter what comes up, you deal with it directly with your axes, no matter who it is!"

Everyone nodded.

Xia Hong took a deep breath. He didn't know the situation inside, so he could only make arrangements like this. He stepped forward and lifted the wooden board.

"Ah..."

"Shi Dong, are you crazy? Don't kill me."

"Spare me, Shi Dong, don't kill anymore, don't kill anymore."

The three-meter-wide opening was revealed, and the lingering screams became clear.

As he suspected, Shi Dong was indeed controlled by a grotesque.

Xia Hong jumped directly into the opening, with Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng close behind.

Entering the cave, a strong smell of blood instantly assailed their nostrils, making them feel nauseous.

"Wuwuwuwu..."

A whimpering sound reached their ears. Xia Hong, enduring the discomfort, looked down and saw Shi Qing lying on the ground, struggling frantically. He was glancing towards the bonfire with his eyes, clearly signaling Xia Hong to save him quickly.

His mouth was sealed by something, and his body was bound by countless white threads. These threads weren't tied from the outside; they passed through his flesh, binding him tightly.

"You two untie Shi Qing. I'll go save people first!"

The moment they entered the cave, Xia Hong had already seen the slaughter happening by the bonfire. Now, with Shi Qing's signal, he didn't delay and rushed straight towards the grotesque that was gleefully slaughtering people.

Perhaps it was too excited from the killing frenzy, but the grotesque didn't seem to notice Xia Hong's arrival and continued to slaughter the ordinary people.

Only when Xia Hong reached its side did it throw away a freshly detached head and turn around fiercely, glaring at Xia Hong.

"It's you again, you little bastard, ruining my good deeds time and time again."

Xia Hong briefly scanned the surroundings, his brow suddenly sinking, and his anger surged.

His anger wasn't from the grotesque's curses.

His anger stemmed from the people, the corpses, the countless dismembered limbs and broken bodies around the bonfire, and the ordinary humans struggling and wailing in agony on the ground, having suffered heavy casualties.

With a rough scan, Xia Hong estimated that at least a hundred people had died.

Among the dead were men and women, adults and children.

Even the crying infants were present.

Many of those with fatal wounds lay on the ground, moaning. They were clearly on their last breaths, essentially waiting to die. Xia Hong even noticed a person cut in half at the waist, their face a mask of terror and pain, still struggling on the ground.

Those who were killed instantly almost seemed fortunate in comparison.

Xia Hong clenched his fists, his chest burning with rage.

Although this was the second time he had witnessed the grotesques' atrocities, the scene this time was far more brutal, terrifying, and ruthless than the one their Great Xia Camp had experienced before.

These grotesques, which attacked humans indiscriminately, possessed no emotion, let alone conscience.

Their very existence was an affront to the baseline of life.

The deaths of Xia Ding and the Lumber Team members, the seventy-two lives lost during the camp's first massacre by the grotesques, and the horrifying scene unfolding before him now.

All these new and old grievances combined, Xia Hong's fury reached a boiling point. He looked at Shi Dong, controlled by a grotesque, and spoke through gritted teeth:

"Beast, I know you like to hide behind the scenes. You'd better pray I don't catch you. Once I do, I will roast you over a bonfire day and night until you're nothing but ash!"

Xia Hong knew that the Shi Dong before him was not the grotesque's true form.

So, after saying this, he wasted no more words. He drew the small dagger from his waist and, in a flash, closed in on the grotesque.

When the grotesque heard Xia Hong's words, its already sinister face turned even more ferocious. Seeing Xia Hong charge, it furiously shot several transparent white threads towards him with both hands.

The instant Xia Hong saw the white threads, he remembered how Shi Qing had been bound by them just moments ago. Knowing he couldn't be careless, he dodged a few threads and immediately raised his dagger, slashing at the one closest to him.

Chira...

To his surprise, the moment the dagger touched the white thread, sparks flew.

Xia Hong immediately realized that these white threads also possessed grotesque properties.

With this, he no longer held back. Holding his dagger horizontally, he stopped dodging and continuously slashed at the white threads rushing towards him. In just three to four breaths, he reached the grotesque.

"Consider this a small down payment, beast. Just you wait, you'll die by my hand sooner or later!"

Xia Hong's eyes blazed with fury as his dagger cut through the air.

Although he had just broken through to the Earth Excavation Realm, with a base strength of only a little over ten thousand jin, the Great Battle Fist Style combined with his weapon allowed Xia Hong to unleash a terrifying force that exceeded his base strength by twenty percent.

This strike was devastating.

The grotesque, which hastily raised its arms to block, had its arms and head sliced open. In fact, due to the immense force, its head flew off, while the rest of its body had yet to fall.

It took a full four to five breaths before a small flame slowly ignited at the neck, which had been coated with Fire Condensing Oil.

The small flame gradually spread, burning brighter and fiercer, much like the raging inferno in Xia Hong's heart at that moment.

I'm begging you to keep reading. I'll try my best to climb higher in the second round. We're close to a thousand readers, and I thank all the brothers who have accompanied me during this time. I know it hasn't been a smooth read during the new book period, but thank you for your patience in coming in every day. As I said before, once this period passes, I will unleash my full potential. I just ask for your support during this new book period, hoping to advance and climb higher in the second round. Thank you!