Chapter 21: Bountiful Harvest |
This Snow Mane had actually been extremely cautious.
Even when fighting the Frost Wolf and sustaining severe injuries, it had never used its tongue.
Clearly, these Frost Beasts that had long roamed the forests possessed rich combat experience. They knew to keep their trump cards hidden until life-or-death moments.
Unfortunately, Xia Hong had planned this ambush with careful calculation.
Guiding the Snow Mane toward the large tree was precisely to make its tongue pierce through the trunk, restricting its movement before attacking its greatest weakness.
That's right—Xia Hong's primary target from the start had been the tongue.
He had witnessed the entire hunting process during Boulder Camp's expedition last time.
Even a greatsword couldn't penetrate the Snow Mane's hide, let alone his stone hand axe.
While the Frost Wolf could use its claws to tear open the Snow Mane's belly and its fangs to rip leg muscles, Xia Hong wasn't naive enough to think he could do the same.
Moreover, his strength had now increased to six thousand four hundred jin.
So Xia Hong took this gamble.
The results proved his gamble correct.
Though Frost Beasts were powerful, they weren't invincible.
With Xia Hong relentlessly engaging it from the front while Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng madly hacked at its injured left hind leg with their stone axes from behind, even the Snow Mane's strong will to survive couldn't prevent its eventual collapse.
The thousand-jin behemoth crashed to the ground as the three hunters nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
Yet identical expressions of exhilaration and joy appeared on all three faces.
"This... must weigh over a thousand jin?"
"At least fourteen hundred, probably more."
"Yue Feng and the other four should be able to break through now."
"Quick, carry it back to camp first."
Xia Hong hadn't let excitement cloud his judgment. After standing up, he immediately extinguished the still-burning torch, had the other two shoulder the Snow Mane's carcass, and led them swiftly back toward camp.
Such a massive prey could attract other Frost Beasts or humans—both deadly threats to their exhausted trio.
Fortunately, they encountered no dangers along the way and safely returned to camp.
After exchanging passcodes, the cave entrance opened. Only when the Snow Mane was finally laid on the ground and Xia Hong examined their prize by the cave's firelight did he truly relax, a relieved smile appearing on his face.
"Another one hunted down..."
"Leader, you're this strong?"
"Even when the previous leader was here, we never saw Frost Beasts this big."
"This must weigh over a thousand jin!"
......
Whether it was Yue Feng's group of five, the dozen or so peers, or indeed everyone else in camp, all had now gathered around Xia Hong's trio.
Staring at the Snow Mane's massive frame, sharp tusks, and lethal claws, after a period of hushed whispers, everyone unanimously directed looks of reverence—even fanaticism—toward the three hunters.
Xia Hong was familiar with such gazes. As he continued bringing resources back to camp, these looks had become increasingly frequent.
While he didn't particularly care about the reverence and fanaticism—natural reactions when weaker creatures encountered stronger ones—what truly mattered to him lay deeper in their eyes:
Hope.
Only with hope could people find motivation and courage.
Xia Hong had noticed this upon first arriving—the camp residents universally lacked hope.
Even during Xia Ding's time when crystal fruits were plentiful and heating wasn't an issue, not a trace of hope could be seen on their faces.
The reason was simple—crystal fruits filled bellies and heating prevented freezing, but these merely sustained life, preventing starvation and death from cold.
Yet humans aren't meant to merely survive.
These people had lived their entire lives in shadows, where Frost Beasts, Abominations, even sunlight posed deadly threats outside.
What they truly lacked were security and dignity—both requiring formidable strength as foundation.
Frost Beast flesh represented their only hope for empowerment.
Previously under Xia Ding, Great Xia Camp obtained Frost Beast meat too infrequently, leaving few able to receive portions.
But now, just over two months since Xia Hong became leader, he'd brought back two Snow Manes—an immense morale boost for everyone.
Even if they couldn't receive portions now, as the lumberjack team reformed and expanded, bringing back more prey, their turn would eventually come.
This was the true reason behind their reverent, fanatic gazes—because Xia Hong had given them the most precious gift: hope.
"After removing skin and bones, total weight is one thousand two hundred seventy jin."
The crowd's excitement reached new heights as the Frost Beast meat was weighed.
All eyes fixed on Xia Hong, awaiting distribution.
Most knew they wouldn't receive portions, yet still wanted to see how he'd allocate it.
Xia Hong had already prepared his plan. Seeing everyone's expectant looks, he announced directly:
"From now on, all Frost Beast meat will be distributed in a three-five-two ratio.
Hunting teams get thirty percent; lumberjack realm reserves—meaning Yue Feng's five—get fifty percent; the remaining twenty percent goes to anyone aged fifteen to twenty-two with over one thousand jin base strength.
Additionally, regardless of gender or age, anyone surpassing two thousand jin strength may join lumberjack team reserves.
Furthermore, we'll set aside the remainder—this time being seventy jin—to distribute among all camp members as a treat."
The three-five-two ratio alone shocked everyone.
Hunting teams only getting thirty percent?
But when they heard the subsequent conditions—that anyone over two thousand jin could join reserves for fifty percent shares—the crowd fell silent.
Finally, the announcement of distributing seventy jin to everyone made those who thought they'd get nothing immediately raise their heads, staring intently at Xia Hong.
"Does this mean we can join the lumberjack team later?"
"Even women?"
"Did I hear correctly?"
"We get shares too?"
Several voices rose from the crowd as everyone looked at Xia Hong in disbelief. When he nodded confirmation, smiles broke out everywhere—some even cried tears of joy.
"Leader is mighty!"
Someone first shouted these four words.
Then the crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.
"Leader is mighty... Leader is mighty... Leader is mighty..."
Everyone went wild, some even kneeling to worship Xia Hong.
He didn't stop either the cheers or worship—he understood these people and their actions.
Under Xia Ding, only lumberjack teams and their direct descendants received Frost Beast meat—others couldn't even dream of it.
This wasn't due to Xia Ding's shortsightedness—he knew more lumberjack realm fighters meant greater camp strength and resources, so maximizing breakthroughs would yield greatest benefits.
Xia Ding understood this logic, but couldn't implement it.
Without hunting capabilities, obtaining Frost Beast meat depended purely on luck—or more bluntly, scavenging.
With scarce resources, priority went to lumberjack teams.
But now things were different.
Xia Hong felt exhilarated—tonight's greatest harvest wasn't the thousand-jin Snow Mane.
The real prize was confirming that hunting with Small Torches was viable.
Though luck played a role, the method genuinely worked.
Before his strength allowed direct confrontation with low-level Frost Beasts, having a verified hunting method was invaluable.
This meant Redwood Ridge's surroundings no longer had just Rogge Camp as hunters.
Great Xia could hunt too!
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