Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Xia Hong had already experienced the power of a large group of cold beasts when Great Xia moved to the valley.

At that time, there were only fifteen frost wolves.

And on his side, there were five Earth-Digging Realm cultivators and about twenty Lumbering Realm cultivators.

Under such circumstances, forty to fifty people were still killed during the migration, and two Lumbering Realm cultivators also died. In the end, if Xia Hong hadn't bluffed the wolf pack, the outcome might have been even worse, with more people dying.

If a pack of only fifteen frost wolves was already so dangerous, then these hundreds of unfamiliar cold beasts on the northern slope of the mountain wall, if they moved just two kilometers south and discovered the valley, it would definitely be a catastrophe for Great Xia.

“Calm down. These long-tailed rodents aren't that big. Judging by their movements and aura, they're not as good as snow manes and frost wolves. Their individual strength might not be very strong, but there are too many of them, and we don't know if there's a leader or how strong the leader is. We can't provoke them easily. We have to think of a good solution…”

Judging from the frost wolf pack encountered during the previous migration, they had a clear division of labor, cooperated well, and advanced and retreated in an orderly manner. There was clearly a hierarchy among the cold beasts of the same kind, which proved that there was likely a leader among them.

Although he didn't see the leader of the frost wolf pack at the time, Xia Hong was still sure of his guess. This group of long-tailed rodents numbered nearly four hundred, so there must be a leader rat.

What is the strength of that leader rat?

Could it be a mid-level cold beast? What if it is?

Xia Hong's expression became more and more solemn, and his mind raced to think of countermeasures.

Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, who were next to him, knew that he was thinking, so they didn't dare to disturb him. Knowing how much of a threat this group of cold beasts posed to the camp, their expressions were no less relaxed than Xia Hong's, and they were also thinking of countermeasures.

“Could we try to lure them somewhere else?”

Hearing Xia Chuan's suggestion, Luo Yuan's face didn't show any surprise.

He had just brought the news back to the camp, and before Xia Hong returned, Xia Chuan had already proposed this method.

However, Xia Hong, who was next to him, didn't show any surprise at all. Instead, he subconsciously shook his head.

But after thinking for a moment, he showed a helpless expression.

“This is the only way, but the problem is that it's too difficult to actually do!”

Xia Hong had already had the idea of leading away this group of cold beasts on the way here, but the difficulty of operating it was too great.

First of all, this group of long-tailed rodents must have gathered here for a reason. Without figuring out the reason for their gathering, how easy would it be to lead them away?

Secondly, the number of rodents is too large, three or four hundred. If anything goes wrong during the guidance process, death is a minor matter. If they accidentally discover the valley, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Finally, they know nothing about the strength, habits, and attack methods of this cold beast. How much damage can such a large number of them cause? … And so on, a series of questions.

These three difficulties, combined together, make it conceivable how difficult it would be to successfully lead this group of rodents to other places.

Xia Hong subconsciously shook his head and rejected Xia Chuan's suggestion based on this.

And later, he showed a helpless expression, because he had to admit that this was the only feasible way they could think of at the moment.

When encountering a strong enemy, there are only two ways:

Either fight, or run.

Fighting is not an option, whether it is driving them away or hunting them, their strength does not allow it.

Running is also not an option. Last time, when three or four hundred people moved from the earthen slope to the valley, they encountered such a big accident. Now, the total number of people in Great Xia is nearly nine hundred. If they move rashly, who knows if they will encounter a greater danger than the rat pack?

Besides, where can they run to?

The area around Redwood Ridge is so big. If they are too close, it's the same as not moving. If they go far away to explore other unfamiliar environments, the risk is even greater.

Therefore, trying to lead the rat pack as far away from the valley as possible, although difficult, is the only feasible way at present.

“Leader, look over there!”

Luo Yuan suddenly shouted in a low voice. Xia Hong quickly raised his head and looked in the direction he was pointing. At this sight, his eyes lit up.

In the silver rat pack on the northern slope of the mountain wall, two rodents were scurrying around. Looking at the direction they were moving, their target seemed to be Redwood Ridge to the south.

Nighttime is the hibernation period for cold beasts, and this group of rodents is no exception. Nearly 90% of the rodents were intertwined with their tails and were closing their eyes to rest. Only these two were mavericks, seemingly wanting to leave the group.

“Good opportunity, move quietly, and follow them.”

After Xia Hong said softly, he took the lead in climbing down the mountain wall. Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan followed closely behind, all three of them moving exceptionally lightly, not daring to make the slightest sound.

When the three of them went down the mountain wall, Xia Hong looked up at the northern slope again, only to find that the two rodents were only two or three hundred meters away from Redwood Ridge.

But it was these two or three hundred meters that stopped the two rodents.

They stood in place and made subtle squeaking sounds, as if communicating something.

When the three of them entered Redwood Ridge in advance from the flank, seeing that the two rodents behind were still standing still, Xia Hong frowned and pondered for a moment before taking out a torch from his back.

“You two wait here, don't move, I'll first…”

“Leader, it's too dangerous, let me go.”

Before Xia Hong could finish speaking, Xia Chuan immediately interrupted, realizing what he was going to do, and volunteered.

“I'll go!”

Luo Yuan on the other side was even more direct, and rushed out as soon as he finished speaking.

Looking at Luo Yuan rushing out, and seeing Xia Chuan next to him who was obviously annoyed that he was a step slower than Luo Yuan, knowing that the two of them didn't want their leader to take risks, Xia Hong's heart was suddenly moved.

To deal with the rodent pack, you must understand their strength.

The large group on the northern slope, even if the three of them had a hundred guts, they wouldn't dare to touch them.

But it just so happened that they encountered two who wanted to leave the group, such a godsend opportunity, naturally could not be missed.

It is said that these two rodents are already four or five hundred meters away from the mountain wall. According to the previous hunting experience, there should be no problem attracting them with a torch.

But these long-tailed rodents are, after all, cold beasts that they have encountered for the first time, who knows if there will be any accidents.

“Get closer, be ready to help at any time!”

Although Luo Yuan has been hunting with him for so long, and Xia Hong trusts his adaptability enough, but after all, he doesn't understand new cold beasts like rodents, and he is worried about accidents, so he still took Xia Chuan closer.

Luo Yuan on the other side walked north for a while, roughly estimating that the distance between himself and the two rodents was about a hundred meters, and then took out the torch.

“When using torches to hunt before, the leader always lit the torch at a position fifty or sixty meters away from the cold beast. These rodents are unfamiliar, so let's try more than a hundred meters first. If we can't attract them, we'll slowly get closer.”

Strictly speaking, snow manes, frost wolves, and magic sheep have different perceptions of torches. The strongest is the frost wolf, which can sense it from fifty or sixty meters away. The second is the magic sheep, and the worst is the snow mane, which must be placed about thirty meters away to be sensed.

Following Xia Hong for the past six months, Luo Yuan's temperament has also been very cautious. He first lit the torch at a position of more than a hundred meters, wanting to test how far the rodents could sense the torch.

Sizzle… Bang…

In the dark jungle, the small torch suddenly lit up. Luo Yuan quickly inserted it into the snow, and he quickly ran to a tree he had already chosen.

Xia Hong, not far away, saw Luo Yuan's cautious approach, and a trace of satisfaction suddenly appeared in his eyes.

“Brother, look at those two rodents, what are they doing?”

Hearing this, Xia Hong quickly turned his head to look.

At this sight, his expression suddenly became horrified.

The two rodents were actually lying on their stomachs, stretching out their sharp incisors, and gnawing fiercely at the ground.

The key is that the ground was actually dug open by them, and broken soil and rocks were constantly piled up behind them. Almost instantly, their one-meter-long bodies all burrowed into the ground and disappeared directly. After only a few breaths, their two- or three-meter-long tails also burrowed into the ground.

“Do these rodents have the strength of the Earth-Digging Realm?”

Seeing this, Xia Chuan couldn't help but ask in a low voice with a horrified expression.

Xia Hong didn't answer immediately, but pondered with a solemn expression for a moment, and soon shook his head and said: “Not necessarily, if they really have the strength of the Earth-Digging Realm, they should use all four limbs to drill into the ground. Just now they only used their incisors, their incisors should be very hard, and their bite force is also very terrifying…”

Although he denied that the rodents had the strength of the Earth-Digging Realm, just those incisors were enough to make Xia Hong frightened.

Such hard ground, two rodents can dig open and drill into it so quickly, what would it be like if hundreds of them on the northern slope of the mountain wall gathered together?

“Where did those two rodents drill to?”

Not only Xia Chuan was confused, but so was Xia Hong.

The rodents drilled into the ground, not the snow on the ground, but the solid ground.

Because the snow is relatively loose, cold beasts can still be detected when they travel in it.

The underground of the Ice Abyss World is extremely hard. When rodents drill into it, they disappear without a trace, and no movement can be detected at all.

“As soon as the torch lit up, they drilled into the ground. Just stare at the torch. As long as the rodent pack on the mountain wall doesn't move, we'll guard the torch. We're not afraid that those two beasts won't appear!”

Xia Hong scanned the ground for a long time without any discovery, so he simply gave up directly, and instead took Xia Chuan closer to the torch, stopped at a position about fifty or sixty meters away from the torch, took out his bow and arrow, and stared at the torch with Xia Chuan.

Of course, while keeping an eye on the torch, Xia Hong was also constantly watching the movements on the north slope of the mountain wall. If there was anything amiss, he would immediately lead everyone to run.

But after staring for a full six or seven minutes, with nearly half of the small torch's burning time gone, they still hadn't seen the two gnawing rats appear.

Xia Hong looked up at the sky, his brow furrowing even tighter.

Dawn was coming soon, and if the two gnawing rats didn't appear again, they would have to go back first.

There was no reason for it. The small torch had been lit for so long, why weren't they taking the bait?

Could it be that the small torch had no attraction for them?

"Ah..." A suppressed, low-pitched scream suddenly interrupted Xia Hong's thoughts.

"Damn it, it's Luo Yuan, hurry over there!"

Xia Hong ran swiftly towards the tree where Luo Yuan was hiding. When he was still more than ten meters away, he saw Luo Yuan, his left arm covered in blood, running towards him with a pale face. There were also three huge claw marks on his chest, from which blood was constantly seeping out.

At the same time, above the tree behind him, two silver figures were moving nimbly among the branches, their speed so fast that even their shadows were unclear. One of the figures leaped down from a branch, its target being Luo Yuan.

"This speed!"

The two silver figures were naturally the two gnawing rats. Although Xia Hong was shocked by their speed, his actions were not slow. Holding his large blade, he rushed to Luo Yuan's side and slashed at the gnawing rat descending from the sky.

Whoosh...

Xia Hong's base strength had already exceeded 20,000 pounds, and the force generated by his charged-up slash swept up the accumulated snow on the ground, demonstrating its power.

The gnawing rat that was pouncing on Luo Yuan clearly felt the threat of Xia Hong's slash, and its body suddenly turned to the left in mid-air.

Xia Hong didn't get annoyed when his slash missed. He took back his large blade smoothly. His slash was only to relieve Luo Yuan, and he never thought he could kill the gnawing rat so easily.

Whoosh...

However, just as Xia Hong was about to withdraw his large blade, a gust of wind suddenly reached his ears. His heart contracted suddenly, and he abruptly raised his blade, turning to face the left and bracing himself horizontally.

The gnawing rat had actually used the momentum of turning its body to the left to swing its two-meter-long tail, covered in barbs, at Xia Hong's body.

Xia Hong's reaction was already very fast, and his sideways block was indeed effective.

But the gnawing rat's tail was soft, and its speed was extremely fast.

Pa... Sizzle...

Along with the sound of a whip and the tearing of flesh, intense pain entered his mind. Xia Hong turned his head and saw four or five deep wounds on his waist. Instead of getting angry, a few traces of joy rose in his pupils.

The gnawing rat returned to the tree branch, standing side by side with the other one, their two pairs of blood-red little eyes, filled with fierce light, staring intently at the two people below.

"Leader, they dug from underground to the heart of the tree, directly to my side. I didn't have time to run away. One of them bit my arm, and the other one scratched my chest with its claws."

Luo Yuan, who was already safe, was pale. While explaining the situation to Xia Hong, he took out Golden Sore Ointment from his bosom and applied it to his left arm and chest respectively.

Xia Hong also smeared some Golden Sore Ointment on his waist to stop the bleeding. He looked up at the tree where Luo Yuan had just hidden and saw a hole more than a meter wide in the tree. Then he looked up at the two gnawing rats on the branches, and a trace of coldness flashed in his heart.

They had tunneled all the way from more than a hundred meters away, dug from the bottom of the tree to Luo Yuan's side, and the whole process only took seven or eight minutes. More importantly, they didn't make any noise at all.

Luo Yuan was at the Earth-Digging Realm, and he had been hunting with him for half a year. His personality was absolutely cautious. The fact that the gnawing rats dug all the way to his side without him noticing anything was enough to illustrate the problem.

Moreover, these two gnawing rats must have been attracted by the torch, but their perception ability was obviously far superior to the previous three types of cold beasts. Not only did they detect the location where Luo Yuan was hiding, but they also knew to approach him in advance for a sneak attack.

Smart, cunning, united, super biting force and digging ability, super perception ability, super fast speed, and they also knew how to work as a team.

The only weakness of these gnawing rats is...

"Don't be afraid, they're just fast. Their strength is very ordinary!"

Xia Hong was pleasantly surprised when his waist was scratched by the barbs on the gnawing rat's tail, because he found that the strength of these gnawing rats was not strong.

Not to mention comparing them to the Snow Mane, even the Frost Wolves were stronger than them.

As Xia Hong spoke to remind him, the two gnawing rats on the tree charged down at him again.

Their speed was extremely fast. In between leaps, they were like two silver flashes, instantly arriving from the branches to his front.

Clearly realizing the power of the large blade in Xia Hong's hand, the two gnawing rats this time not only didn't use their claws, but they also didn't attack from the front. Instead, they opened their sharp teeth and attacked Xia Hong from the left and right sides.

Xia Hong drew his blade and blocked horizontally to the left. Luo Yuan, whose injuries had been temporarily suppressed after applying the Golden Sore Ointment, gritted his teeth and rushed to his right, cooperating with him to raise his blade to block the gnawing rat rushing from the right.

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Clang...

The teeth and the large blade collided fiercely, sparks bursting out in two clusters. Although it seemed like a lot of force, Xia Hong and Luo Yuan, back-to-back, didn't move an inch. Only the hands holding the blades trembled for a while.

"Their strength is really not strong!"

Luo Yuan, who had just been attacked and injured, felt a great sense of relief at this moment. He could sense that although the gnawing rat's speed was fast, this pounce and bite only had a force of six or seven thousand pounds. He wasn't afraid of this kind of strength in a head-on fight.

"Don't be careless, look at the blade!"

But he hadn't been happy for long when Xia Hong reminded him. Luo Yuan looked down at the large blade in his hand, and his face changed in shock. The relaxed look on his face immediately became tense again.

The position of the blade in his hand that had just collided with the gnawing rat's teeth had a large nick. The nick was shaped like a tooth mark, and the surrounding three or four inches were all rolled.

"So hard, how is that possible!"

"Don't get bitten, focus on dealing with them first."

Xia Hong naturally understood where Luo Yuan's shock came from.

Up to now, the hardest material they had encountered was iron.

The teeth of these gnawing rats were actually harder than iron.

If they were to bite someone, what would happen!

While Xia Hong's face was shocked, it also seemed to carry a hint of joy.

But at this time, he didn't have the mind to think about other things.

"Squeak..."

Only because the two gnawing rats, after a low cry, rushed up again.

This time they didn't choose Xia Hong, but changed their target to Luo Yuan.

To be precise, it was Luo Yuan's left arm and chest.

The two gnawing rats actually attacked Luo Yuan's left arm and chest at the same time.

Luo Yuan's left arm and chest were the positions where he had just been attacked.

Xia Hong leaped and stood in front of Luo Yuan's left side, only exchanging a look with Luo Yuan by turning his head. Charging up his blade, he slashed in advance at the position where the left gnawing rat was about to bite, before it could attack.

Luo Yuan, on the other hand, wielded his blade to block the other gnawing rat attacking his chest.

The two gnawing rats had similar speeds, and they almost blocked in front of the two at the same time.

Clang...

The situation was exactly the same as the first confrontation.

But this time, there was only one cluster of sparks from the collision between the large blade and the teeth.

Luo Yuan, who had just wielded his blade to block the gnawing rat on his chest, actually turned around at the critical moment and blocked the teeth of the gnawing rat on the left, ignoring the one attacking his chest.

Xia Hong, who had already completed his charge-up, also retracted the slash at the moment Luo Yuan turned around and swung it around again, not only changing his position with the momentum, but also completing a second round of charge-up.

Xia Hong's pupils suddenly contracted, and he suddenly slashed down at the body of the gnawing rat that had just arrived.

From the moment the two changed positions to Xia Hong's second round of charge-up and slash at the gnawing rat.

The whole process can be described as flowing smoothly.

The most important thing is that the entire exchange between the two only used one look.

"No matter how well you cooperate, can you be stronger than the tacit understanding of humans?"

Xia Hong slashed down with that blade, his eyes sinister, and his expression somewhat ferocious.

These two gnawing rats, after all, were not very strong in themselves.

He and Luo Yuan had suffered from the unfamiliarity of the first fight.

Luo Yuan didn't expect that the other party could dig to his front so quickly and silently from the ground; he didn't expect that the other party's speed was so fast and that the tail was so flexible.

This slash, with Luo Yuan changing positions at the last minute, was calculated with intention against unintentional, and the gnawing rat in front could definitely not react. Because of their speed, it was impossible to react in such a short period of time.

Moreover, Xia Hong and Luo Yuan were waiting for the opportunity and changed positions at the last moment. The fate of the gnawing rat in front was already doomed.

The gnawing rat, which was originally attacking Luo Yuan's face, had a trace of panic flashing in its pupils when it saw Xia Hong coming. Obviously, it also realized that it was too late to react.

Whoosh...

Xia Hong's slash, aimed at the gnawing rat's head, was timed extremely accurately. The blade cut through the air, making a cracking sound, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze for a moment.

But just as the large blade was about to hit, the gnawing rat suddenly raised its head in mid-air.

Its pair of scarlet little eyes suddenly shot out two inches of red light, as if they had solidified, like two sharp arrows, colliding suddenly with Xia Hong's blade, needle to needle.

Chih...

The pupil light hit the large blade, and a strong rebounding force made Xia Hong's hands holding the blade tremble non-stop. The large blade, which was originally slashing towards the gnawing rat's head, was deflected by the rebounding force by more than half a meter.

"These cold beasts really all have trump cards. This inch of light should be the gnawing rat's life-saving method. If you want to survive with this, you're still too tender!"

The ferocity on Xia Hong's face didn't diminish in the slightest. He forcibly stabilized his blade, completely disregarding his already splitting tiger's mouth, and forcefully twisted the blade, which had originally deviated by half a meter, back into its original path.

Ka… … … …

The sound of bones shattering suddenly echoed through the night sky. The body of that gnawing rat crashed to the ground in response. The immense force caused almost its entire body to sink into the snow, leaving only its back exposed.

“Squeak squeak… … … …

Accompanied by one last, feeble squeak, its life force was completely extinguished.

Xia Hong looked down at the gnawing rat's broken spine and took a deep breath.

“Although its teeth are hard, the strength of the bones within its body is average. Although its 'inch-light' is strong, its attack range seems very short, and it can probably only be unleashed in life-or-death crises. Then, as long as these long-tailed gnawing rats don't come in swarms, their threat shouldn't be too great!”

Whoosh… … … …

“Leader, it's trying to run!”

Before he had time to relax for long, Xia Hong was startled awake by Luo Yuan's warning. He turned his head and saw another gnawing rat already transforming into a streak of silver light as it fled towards the mountain wall. His expression immediately became tense.

“We can't let it escape, quickly, chase after it!”

Xia Hong shouted in a low voice, and led Luo Yuan in a swift pursuit.

The Cold Beasts possessed intelligence and could definitely communicate with each other. If this gnawing rat returned to its pack, it would definitely cause a major problem.

The problem was that this gnawing rat's speed was too fast. It had almost instantly run dozens of meters away. The outer perimeter of Red Maple Ridge was only seven or eight hundred meters away from the mountain wall. If they chased for a few more breaths, getting too close to the mountain wall would be very dangerous.

But Xia Hong and Luo Yuan still didn't slow down.

They even revealed a hint of anticipation in their eyes as they watched the gnawing rat about to run out of Red Maple Ridge.

The gnawing rat clearly realized that Xia Hong and Luo Yuan were not as fast as it. Although a hint of smugness appeared on its face, the ferocity in its pupils didn't diminish, and it didn't dare to slow down its escape in the slightest.

Bang… … … …

Suddenly, a sound like a taut bowstring came from beneath the gnawing rat's feet.

The gnawing rat, which was only a dozen meters away from running out of Red Maple Ridge, suddenly staggered, its body falling heavily and rolling forward several meters due to the excessive inertia.

Whoosh… … whoosh… … whoosh… …

At the same time, several arrows came speeding from behind, almost without any suspense, hitting the gnawing rat's fallen body.

The gnawing rat had a strong vitality. Even after being hit by several arrows, it still struggled to escape towards the mountain wall. However, those arrows seemed endless, and they became faster and faster, and their force became stronger and stronger. Even the last few arrows pierced through the gnawing rat's body and went straight into the snow in front of it.

The gnawing rat's life force was rapidly draining away. It turned its head to look at Xia Hong and Luo Yuan, who were gradually approaching. Its two blood-red little eyes were full of ferocity and tyranny. Seeing that the two of them were no longer approaching, but only cautiously standing a dozen meters away, constantly shooting arrows at it, its expression became even more ferocious.

Suddenly, it seemed to have figured something out. It raised its head to the sky, opened its mouth, and let out a rhythmic cry into the air.

“Squeak… … squeak… … squeak squeak… … … …

“It's summoning its companions, we can't let it continue, quick!”

Squeak squeak squeak squeak… … … …

Even though Xia Hong's reaction was already very fast, the gnawing rat's communication efficiency was obviously even faster. The gnawing rat had only cried out two or three times when a rustling sound came from the ground.

Xia Hong and Luo Yuan turned their heads at the same time, realizing that the sound was coming from the north slope of the mountain wall. Their expressions changed drastically. They quickly drew their bows and nocked arrows, firing four or five arrows in a row at the gnawing rat's head.

At the moment he opened his mouth to warn, Xia Chuan, who was hiding on the other side of the big tree and had just used a white thread to stop the gnawing rat, playing a key role, had also already rushed out and stabbed the gnawing rat's neck with his black knife.

“Collect the corpses of the two gnawing rats, pick up all the arrows on the ground, don't leave any traces, run quickly, run into Red Maple Ridge first!”

At Xia Hong's command, Luo Yuan immediately collected the corpses of the two gnawing rats on the ground. Xia Chuan flicked his fingers, using the white thread to pull back all the arrows.

They had been fighting for so long, there were quite a few traces on the ground.

Xia Hong looked around, directly waving his knife on the ground a few times, stirring up the snow. Then, seeing that Luo Yuan had already wrapped the gnawing rat corpses in leather, and Xia Chuan had also collected all the arrows, he took the two of them and immediately fled madly towards Red Maple Ridge.

Less than a dozen breaths after the three of them ran away, the ground began to vibrate slightly, followed by countless rat cries.

“Squeak… … squeak… … squeak squeak… … … …

“Squeak squeak squeak squeak… … … …

… … … … … …

A huge silver rat head suddenly broke out of the ground.

It stretched out its pointed nose, sniffed the air, and immediately turned its head to look towards the inner side of Red Maple Ridge. A pair of scarlet pupils, several times larger than those of other gnawing rats, revealed a fierce glint.

After seeming to think for a moment, it retracted back into the ground.

“Squeak squeak squeak squeak… … … …

A squeak that was much louder than that of other gnawing rats sounded, and two movements were simultaneously heard from underground, one clearly returning towards the north slope of the mountain wall, and the other chasing towards the inner side of Red Maple Ridge, which was the direction that Xia Hong and the other two had fled in.