Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Given the perilous nature of the Great Xia's relocation, Xia Hong made sure to bring all twenty-six Lumbering Realm cultivators for the subsequent two nights when the Huang Zhao and Da Chuan camps moved, ensuring their safety.

Fortunately, nothing happened for two consecutive nights, and all 427 people from both camps safely arrived in the valley before dawn on the third day.

As soon as Xia Hong returned to the valley, he handed over all the merger affairs to Xia Chuan, and eagerly headed towards the iron smelting furnace.

On the furnace, a half-meter long ring-shaped serrated animal trap was burning red-hot, with seven silver-white forging patterns already appearing on the side of the trap.

Xia Hong picked up the polishing stone beside him and continued the hammering he had not finished last night.

Clang… Clang… Clang…

Half an hour later, Xia Chuan, with a grave expression, arrived with Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan, Huang Yong, and Hong Gang.

"Chief, the statistics are all in. After merging the two camps, the current total population of the camp is 902. Excluding you, there are 36 Lumbering Realm cultivators in total; 302 people are between the ages of thirteen and thirty; and 392 people are under the age of thirteen. According to our previous meat distribution rules, not including the chief, the camp's monthly consumption of Frost Beast meat is approximately…"

Xia Chuan paused here, his face becoming even more grave, and continued:

"Over twenty thousand pounds!"

After Xia Chuan said this number, Luo Yuan, Huang Yong, and Hong Gang simultaneously focused their gaze on Xia Hong's face.

Over twenty thousand pounds conservatively estimated, that would require fifteen Frost Beasts.

Fifteen Frost Beasts every month meant hunting one down every two nights on average.

No matter how they looked at it, this seemed impossible.

The four-tiered meat distribution rule that Xia Hong had boasted about was destined to fail.

They had helped with the population count earlier, so they already knew this number. Although they didn't believe Xia Hong could really do it, they still wanted to see how Xia Hong would react after hearing this number with his own ears.

Everyone, including Xia Chuan, thought that Xia Hong would show surprise, disbelief, or even embarrassment after hearing this number.

Clang… Clang… Clang…

But on the contrary, Xia Hong showed no expression at all. He was still focused on hammering the circular serrated iron ring in his hand, only stopping to turn his head and nod to Xia Chuan, saying, "Alright, I understand. You guys go back and rest first. Get a good rest during the day, and we'll go out hunting at night."

Xia Chuan hesitated several times, but seeing Xia Hong focused on forging again, he held back from speaking. Luo Yuan and the other two exchanged glances, clearly somewhat surprised by Xia Hong's calm reaction.

Could it be that he can really do it?

Impossible!

Luo Yuan shook his head inwardly. The others didn't know, but he was clear.

The Luo Ge camp previously had five Earth-Digging Realm cultivators and more than thirty Lumbering Realm cultivators, and its strength was much stronger than the current Great Xia. But even so, the number of Frost Beasts hunted each month was at most only seven or eight, and this was under the condition of sufficient and complete weapons.

The current Great Xia only has a dozen weapons at most, and Xia Hong is the only Earth-Digging Realm cultivator. Not to mention fifteen, even seven or eight would be a big problem.

Xia Hong is strong, that's true, but can he be stronger than five Earth-Digging Realm cultivators?

What exactly is this new chief relying on to be so confident?

Luo Yuan didn't leave, but turned to stare at the circular serrated iron ring in Xia Hong's hand for a while, and then couldn't help but say, "Chief, are you making animal traps? It's useless…"

Seeing Xia Hong raise his head and glance sideways, Luo Yuan continued, "The Luo Ge camp also tried setting animal traps before, but Frost Beasts don't move around at night at all, so it's useless to set them. Frost Beasts do occasionally step on them during the day, but these animal traps can only injure them at most, and it's impossible to keep them. Moreover, those Frost Beasts are all cunning, and they won't be fooled without real people as bait."

People can be used as bait at night, but Frost Beasts don't move around at night; bait can't be set during the day, and Frost Beasts won't be fooled. Even if a Frost Beast accidentally steps on one, it will eventually escape because there is no one nearby, and may even take the animal trap with it, which would be a loss of both beast and treasure.

Xia Hong naturally understood Luo Yuan's words, but he didn't react much. On the other hand, Xia Chuan, who was beside him, seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes lit up slightly as he looked at the animal trap.

"Don't worry, I have a way. You guys go rest first, and I'll call you at night. Also, Huang Yong and Hong Gang will lead the team to arrange the lumbering tonight."

Seeing that persuasion was useless, Luo Yuan could only leave helplessly. Huang Yong and Hong Gang also went to rest, and only Xia Chuan stayed in place, waiting for Xia Hong to finish forging the animal trap before approaching.

Xia Hong took a deep breath and looked at the ten silver-white forging patterns on the side of the animal trap, finally showing a hint of joy on his face.

"Brother, there are only two hours left until nightfall. You rest for a while first, and I'll prepare the torches. I'll call you when it gets dark."

Hearing Xia Chuan's words, Xia Hong knew that he already understood his plan. He nodded, put the animal trap away, and lay down to rest directly by the furnace.

After two consecutive nights of running around, plus forging the animal trap without stopping, he was indeed exhausted.

He still had to go out hunting at night, and he couldn't do it without resting.

The reason why Xia Hong understood Luo Ming's departure was because he knew the difficulties of being a chief, especially in weaker camps, where the chief had to put in more effort.

Lumbering, hunting, forging, mining… For the current Great Xia, the only thing Xia Hong could really let go of was lumbering. The other three not only had to be done by him, but even forging and mining could only be done by him.

Without a bit of dedication and contribution, one simply couldn't be a chief.

The current Great Xia was like this, and so was the previous Luo Ge camp.

Giving up is human nature, especially since Luo Ming had persisted for so many years.

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"Just persevere a little longer. Once the Frost Beast meat supply catches up, the situation will improve soon!"

Xia Hong rubbed his swollen arms and could only cheer himself up in his heart.

This rare respite did not last long.

Night quickly descended again. When Xia Hong woke up, Xia Chuan and the other eleven people were already fully armed, waiting for him.

Xia Hong looked around the camp and didn't see Huang Yong and the others, and immediately looked puzzled.

Seeing this, Xia Chuan quickly stepped forward and explained.

"Chief, Hong Gang and Huang Yong have already taken the others out to lumber. Mu Dong said that building new houses requires Golden Frost Trees, so they also took all ten saws."

Xia Hong nodded, and then remembered the lumbering matter. Now that he didn't have to worry about it himself, he felt a little relaxed.

Looking at the dark sky outside the wooden house, he waved to the crowd.

"Let's go!"

Xia Hong led the way, and the group of thirteen took advantage of the night to open the cave entrance of the valley, and walked out of the valley towards Redwood Ridge in the eyes of everyone in the camp.

"Do you think what the chief said earlier, that everyone can get Frost Beast meat, is true or false?"

"How could it be true? It should just be an exaggeration to appease us. If they could really hunt so many Frost Beasts, how could Great Xia have agreed to let us merge in?"

"That's right, the chief is only in the Earth-Digging Realm after all. Everyone getting Frost Beast meat, the Luo Ge camp hadn't even done that before, how could Great Xia possibly do it."

"I don't ask to get it every day, I just hope to have a pound or two each month."

Unlike the other newly merged people, most of the reserve members of the original Great Xia lumbering team did not participate in the discussion, but just took care of sharpening their strength, or helped Mu Dong and others move wood, taking the opportunity to exercise.

Even if they heard the discussions of others, these people didn't bother to explain anything, but just smiled and didn't speak.