Camp Hearts

Camp Hearts

The world was a frozen wasteland, the biting wind cutting to the bone.

Under the starry night, the people of Great Xia Camp struggled westward.

From Cave One to Cave Four, the distance was actually less than two kilometers.

Yet for that mere distance, the more than one hundred people of Great Xia Camp took a full two hours.

The main reason was that the snow on Redwood Ridge was astonishingly deep.

Once they left the cave, even the thinnest snow was over half a meter deep.

In the deeper places, it reached five or six meters. Several men at the front of the group had already tumbled down snowy slopes, their faces battered and bruised.

Whenever they encountered thicker snow, the group had no choice but to stop and let the sturdy men at the very front forcibly carve out a path before they could continue.

On top of that, the weather was freezing, and visibility at night was poor.

Considering the children in the group, Xia Hong could only deliberately slow their pace.

Though they traveled slowly and quite a few people were injured,

they ultimately arrived without incident.

Cave Four was on the western side of a small earthen slope. Its entrance was concealed by dense leaves, now covered in another layer of snow, with little icicles already forming.

Some of the children in the group had lips turning blue from the cold. Xia Hong grabbed his Stone Axe and hacked open the entrance in a few swift blows, hurriedly organizing everyone to enter.

This cave covered roughly a hundred square meters and was even more spacious than the previous one.

After entering the cave, Xia Hong was the first to build a fire. Then he told Xia Chuan to lead people in sealing the entrance again.

This left Xia Chuan somewhat puzzled. The temperature at night was higher than during the day, and Frost Beasts were not especially active either. Normally, there was no need to seal the cave.

But he understood soon enough.

"Everyone, gather around. I have something to say!"

Xia Hong summoned everyone to his side, then pointed solemnly at the fire.

"The most important thing in the camp right now is this fire. It can intimidate and kill monsters, but it also attracts Frost Beasts. So from now on, whether day or night, the cave entrance must be sealed whenever anyone enters or leaves. Understand?"

Everyone had personally witnessed the fake Xia Ding being killed and turned to ash in the previous cave. Naturally, they had complete faith in Xia Hong's words and nodded one after another.

"Chuan, how much food do we have left now?"

Xia Chuan's expression immediately darkened. "We have a little over seven hundred jin of Crystal Fruit left, and only sixty jin of Frost Beast Meat."

The moment they heard those numbers, everyone became deeply worried.

That naturally included Xia Hong.

With this world's environment being so harsh, farming was naturally out of the question.

Perhaps it existed, but Great Xia Camp certainly had no access to it for now.

Great Xia, along with every human camp around Redwood Ridge, relied for food on a fruit that grew on a tree called Ice Crystal.

The fruit was the size of a fist, with a crystalline peel and a soft, glutinous interior carrying a hint of sweetness. Each one weighed roughly half a jin.

For an ordinary person, two a day was barely enough to stave off hunger and cold.

More than seven hundred jin sounded like a lot, but divided among 154 people, it was not enough.

Even if they rationed it and gave each person only one fruit a day,

those seven hundred-odd jin would last less than ten days.

As for Frost Beast Meat, perhaps some giant camps could treat it as staple food, but in Great Xia Camp, Frost Beast flesh was, like wood, absolutely a strategic resource.

The humans of this world relied on Frost Beast flesh to cultivate.

When Xia Ding had been in Great Xia Camp, he had implemented a rationing system.

Each Lumber Team member received one jin per day.

Those between fifteen and eighteen years old received half a jin every three days.

That was how it appeared on the surface, but reality was not so simple.

Because the camp had possessed too little Frost Beast flesh before.

At least in the month since Xia Hong had transmigrated here, he had only seen Xia Ding bring back one Bone-spurred Frost Wolf. It had even been a juvenile, weighing only a little over one hundred jin.

When there were too many monks and too little porridge, the camp's Frost Beast flesh had in practice been prioritized for the children of Lumber Team members.

Xia Ding and Xia Chuan had also received portions before.

But Xia Chuan had given all his Frost Beast flesh to Xia Hong, saying his brother needed it to break through to Lumberjack Level.

That was why Xia Hong had grown so deeply attached to Xia Chuan in just one month.

Though the two were biological brothers,

this was a world where death could come at any moment.

Strategic resources like Frost Beast flesh, which could increase one's strength, were no exaggeration to call equivalent to one's life.

Yet Xia Chuan had been willing to give his share to him. It showed just how kind-hearted this younger brother was.

As Xia Hong pondered, Xia Chuan had already walked over from the back, carrying a mass of deep-blue flesh in his arms.

Frost Beast flesh was blue.

Xia Hong's expression froze for a moment, but he quickly realized what Xia Chuan intended to do.

"Everyone, I won't beat around the bush. My brother is the strongest, and he's only a little short of reaching the Lumbering Realm.

"I propose that we give all sixty jin of Frost Beast flesh to him. The sooner he breaks through, the safer our camp will be.

"What do you all think?"

Sure enough, Xia Hong had guessed correctly.

His first instinct was to refuse, but after thinking it over, he kept his mouth shut.

Though it was somewhat selfish, Xia Chuan was right.

But human nature was complicated after all. Once Xia Chuan finished speaking, a deathly silence fell over the crowd, and no one spoke.

Especially the children of the former Lumber Team members.

"Hong, we trust you, but can you swear that after reaching Lumberjack Level, you won't abandon us and leave on your own?"

The one who spoke was a burly young man.

Yuan Cheng. He was straightforward by nature and had no hidden schemes.

His father, Yuan Gang, had been second only to Xia Ding in strength within the camp.

That information flashed through Xia Hong's mind. Rather than answer immediately, he first turned his gaze elsewhere, observing everyone else's reactions.

"At a time like this, we really should concentrate our resources and help Hong grow stronger."

"But that flesh was bought back with my father's life on the line."

"Without Lumberjack Level combat strength, we won't even be able to gather wood. Once these three trees burn out, we'll freeze to death."

"I think we should give it to Hong."

"That's right. Give it to him."

Only the children of the former Lumber Team members spoke up.

From this, one could basically see the former hierarchy of Great Xia Camp.

Xia Ding and the Lumber Team members stood at the top. They were responsible for searching out resources, while also deciding how the camp's resources were distributed.

Their families and children formed the second tier, enjoying priority access to resources and a certain degree of influence over camp affairs.

Everyone else belonged to the third tier, waiting to be allotted resources.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Xia Hong gently pressed a hand down.

Seeing his gesture, everyone immediately fell silent.

Clearly, Xia Hong's performance during the earlier attack on the camp, as well as his leadership in moving them here, had already established a certain degree of authority in their hearts.

"Cheng, if I wanted to leave, I would leave even if I swore an oath. So I can't promise you anything..."

After responding to Yuan Cheng, Xia Hong paused. Then his tone grew heavier as he continued.

"Trust is the foundation between us. I'll only say this: if you are willing to give this flesh to me, then one day in the future, I will repay you tenfold, a hundredfold.

"If you are willing to give it to me, state your position now.

"If you are unwilling, I won't say anything. We'll continue as before."

When Xia Hong's words fell, the cave first sank into silence.

But soon, the first voice rang out.

"Hong, I believe in you."

Then came the second, and the third.

"I believe in the leader too."

"I, Yuan Cheng, am willing to give my Frost Beast flesh to Hong."

"That's right. Only if the leader grows stronger can we keep living."

Voices of support and trust rose one after another from the crowd.

A smile appeared on Xia Hong's face as well.

Taking that mass of Frost Beast flesh from Xia Chuan's hands, a trace of resolve gradually emerged in Xia Hong's eyes.

"In an apocalyptic world of such extreme cold, only a camp that trusts one another and treats each other with sincerity can truly survive. Strength will come sooner or later."