Chapter 136: He Yuanhun, Yuwen Hu, Yuwen Tao |
From the very first time, He Meng and his group had displayed brazen arrogance;
to tonight, this same group had again trespassed into Redwood Ridge to hunt;
those two incidents had already sealed the fate that the Mirror Immortal Camp would not become a friendly neighbor—in fact, it was highly likely they would squeeze Great Xia’s living space.
Although during their recent hunt of the Magic Goat they had displayed a reckless ferocity that even earned Xia Hong a measure of grudging respect,
an enemy was still an enemy.
Any threat to Great Xia’s survival—whether Frost Beasts, Abominations, or humans—if necessary and if able, Xia Hong would show no mercy in stamping it out.
I, Xia Hong, will not hesitate!
Even before that final sentence, Xia Hong’s tone had already sunk to the lowest depths; anyone could hear the surging rage beneath it.
When he finished those last seven words, chills seemed to radiate from his voice.
“Great Xia’s territory? Isn’t this Lushang Camp’s territory?”
“Lu He already said he transferred this area to our Mirror Immortal Camp. Since when did it become your Great Xia’s territory?”
“Last time Great Xia drove the Gnawer Rats into the Arrow Bamboo Forest, we didn’t pursue it, and now you bite back, accusing us of trespassing?”
“Hahaha, ridiculous—what Great Xia? You just eyed our prey and got greedy.”
“Three measly men—damn it, even wounded I’m not afraid.”
“Boss, don’t waste time arguing with him. Let’s settle it with fists!”
………………
The Mirror Immortal group had not had an easy hunt for the Magic Goat; of more than twenty people, over a dozen were already down. Only nine people remained standing now.
And nearly all nine bore wounds.
Some could barely stand without support.
Even so, upon hearing Xia Hong’s icy words, not a single person showed fear—on the contrary, they all answered back with blazing defiance.
A few with more mobile legs seemed dissatisfied with mere words; like Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, they drew blades and took a couple of steps forward.
Their reactions were even more fierce than Xia Hong and his two companions; they looked ready to fight at the slightest provocation.
Xia Hong kept his gaze low. Based on these people’s ferocity during the hunt, their response did not surprise him.
At a distance of a dozen meters, Xia Hong could already make out most of their faces. He Meng, who’d clashed with them in the Arrow Bamboo Forest before, was not among them, but from the voices they’d just shouted, someone present last time probably was.
He Meng had brought fourteen men last time.
Xia Hong fixed his attention on the black-clad figure surrounded by the nine.
Matching the voices he’d heard, the black-clad man was indeed young.
Broad eyebrows and a wide face, expression as cold as water; a close-fitting black battle suit showed off a burly frame. Perhaps to hide a shoulder wound, he had both hands resting on the hilt of a broad sword that was plunged into the ground; upright like a solitary pine, he didn’t move.
Though he looked roughly the same age as Xia Chuan at most, his composed, seasoned bearing was far from youthful.
The nine around him were clearly older; some even middle-aged. Yet by expression, behavior, and apparent strength, they seemed more immature than he did.
As Xia Hong watched the black-clad man, the man was watching him too.
Their gazes met and hung in the air for a moment. The black-clad man’s face softened, a smile appearing, and he cupped his fist and spoke cheerfully:
“Last time He Meng told me about a Great Xia camp here at Redwood Ridge, with leader Xia Hong brave and unmatched—he drove the Gnawer Rats into a panic and almost drove them into the Arrow Bamboo Forest. I admired that then and intended to pay a visit in a few days. Never thought we’d meet early tonight.
Mirror Immortal Camp’s Yuwen Tao, greetings to Leader Xia Hong!”
…………
Xia Hong’s gloomy expression stiffened for a few seconds.
He had thought Yuwen Tao might react more aggressively than the others.
It wouldn’t have been impossible for him to start a fight outright.
So he never expected Yuwen Tao to be so courteous.
Of course, after the stiffness, Xia Hong grew even more guarded.
Compared to He Meng and the rest of the Mirror Immortal Camp’s bluntness, Yuwen Tao was polite on the surface but clearly harder to deal with.
His words, though courteous, had referenced the Gnawer Rats’ near intrusion into the Arrow Bamboo Forest—soft with a hard edge.
“I already discussed the Gnawer Rat matter with He Meng last time. Mirror Immortal has occupied the Arrow Bamboo Forest for only three months, and we didn’t notify Great Xia beforehand. The whole thing hasn’t caused Mirror Immortal any loss, and crucially, the rats didn’t end up entering the Arrow Bamboo Forest.
If you think you can trick us with that, it’s not so simple!”
Don’t strike a smiling man: since Yuwen Tao was polite and seemed to want a proper negotiation, Xia Hong obliged him and allowed his tone to soften a touch.
Of course, only his tone softened.
After speaking, he raised his right hand and casually waved toward the trees behind him.
Whoosh…………
Three iron-tipped arrows sliced through the air from the big trees behind and slammed into the ground two to three meters in front of Yuwen Tao and his men.
The arrows sank twenty to thirty centimeters into the earth with such force that the sound of the shafts snapping taut was unnervingly clear.
Yuwen Tao and the nine behind him stared at the arrows in the ground, then abruptly lifted their heads to look at Xia Hong’s rear—expressions all changed.
To embed that deep from so far away, the archer’s strength had to be Digging Realm. Three arrows might not be much, but who knew how many archers and how many arrows lay behind Xia Hong?
The smile vanished from Yuwen Tao’s face; he visibly darkened and stepped forward two paces, speaking in a low voice:
“Leader Xia, when Lu He merged his men into Mirror Immortal Camp, he transferred all the Redwood Ridge territory that belonged to Lushang Camp to us…”
“How Lushang Camp obtained that territory—didn’t I already tell you?”
Before Yuwen Tao could finish, Xia Hong cut him off.
“Save the long talk. I don’t want to explain Lushang Camp’s matters to you. To be direct: since this is your first offense tonight, I won’t press it further. Leave that Magic Goat here, and do not step into Redwood Ridge again. I can let you go!”
Xia Hong, unwilling to argue further, gave them his terms bluntly.
At once, the nine beside Yuwen Tao erupted as if their tails had been stepped on; they all shouted angrily, interrupting in a chorus.
“You’re dreaming!”
“Boss, ignore him. We’re not afraid to die—let’s fight!”
“We fought for so long, and you want to take it for nothing? Dream on.”
“Boss, don’t listen to him. If he dares to kill us, when our leaders come, they’ll make everyone in Great Xia pay…”
………………
At these words, not only Xia Hong but also Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan turned icy. Their gazes toward the ten grew even more frigid.
Smack…
“Shut up!”
Before that last man could finish saying the word “bury,” Yuwen Tao angrily snapped at him and even slapped him hard.
The man, already wounded, flew backward two or three meters from the slap and couldn’t even steady himself, collapsing into a seated position on the ground.
“Leader Xia, my men have misbehaved and spoken recklessly. Please forgive us!”
After slapping him, Yuwen Tao turned and bowed low toward Xia Hong and his two companions, all the while cursing his nine men as fools in his heart.
No reply came from Xia Hong’s trio for a long moment; Yuwen Tao grew more anxious. He glanced at the massive Magic Goat carcass behind him, winced at the sight of the loss, then grit his teeth and raised his head:
“Leader Xia, we suffered no small losses to hunt this Magic Goat. Let us give you the whole carcass—don’t think of how the brothers will feel or that I’m willing to accept this without regret. How about this: I’ll take half the blood from this Magic Goat and present it to you. Leader Xia, what say you?”
Xia Hong said nothing for a moment, but his expression shifted subtly when he heard that.
Obviously, Yuwen Tao had noticed something different about Xia Hong’s skin—he knew Xia Hong was at the critical stage of breaking through to the Warmth Realm and urgently needed intermediate-level beast blood.
Accept half the blood and keep a group of potential enemies?
Or refuse, take Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and the others and kill Yuwen Tao and his nine right here?
“Big bro!”
“Leader…!”
Seeing Xia Hong hesitate, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan both urged him at once—Xia Chuan’s gaze went cold while Luo Yuan made a slicing motion across his own neck.
Knowing both urged him to order an attack, Xia Hong wavered a little.
True, he and his men had just fought and weren’t at full strength.
But these ten were in worse shape!
Wounded Yuwen Tao and nine shaky but standing Digging Realm fighters—
and behind Xia Hong’s group were nine hidden archers!
“If I’m not mistaken about the Gnawer Rat incident, He Meng must have had a substantial grievance with your camp. Last time he returned and petitioned our leader He Yuanhun to take men and demand justice from Great Xia. Fortunately, my father persuaded him not to agree…”
Yuwen Tao’s face tightened a little. Seeing Xia Hong’s hesitation, he broke into a light sweat and continued, eager to tip the balance:
“Also, I haven’t told Leader Xia: Mirror Immortal has over ten thousand people, hundreds of Digging Realm experts, and leaders He Yuanhun and my father Yuwen Hu—two Warmth Realm powerhouses—are stationed at the camp!
Leader Xia, my father always believes that humans in the Ice Abyss should help one another, that old grievances should be resolved, not deepened. Mirror Immortal occupying the Arrow Bamboo Forest means we’ll be neighbors to Great Xia. Even if the two camps don’t become friendly, they should not form deep enmity.
Leader Xia, am I right?”
…………
He Yuanhun, Yuwen Hu, He Meng—two Warmth Realm powerhouses stationed….
Hearing Yuwen Tao, the undecided Xia Hong subtly changed expression.
Especially when he met Yuwen Tao’s eyes and noticed a faint nuance there—his mind tightened.
Yuwen Tao’s words had said his father Yuwen Hu had restrained He Yuanhun from executing He Meng’s plan to confront Great Xia, implying his father favored Great Xia.
But those words alone wouldn’t be enough to spare them; words without proof are meaningless.
It was the subtext in that sentence that truly swayed Xia Hong.
Mirror Immortal having over ten thousand people and hundreds of Digging Realm fighters he’d already guessed roughly, but Yuwen Tao’s last line—two Warmth Realm powerhouses stationed—was what really grabbed Xia Hong’s attention.
And with that subtle look on Yuwen Tao’s face, it was clearly implying that Mirror Immortal was not under He Yuanhun’s sole command.
Deeper still, the implication was: if Xia Hong killed these people now, Yuwen Hu would change position, He Meng’s proposal would be adopted by He Yuanhun, and Great Xia and Mirror Immortal would descend into unending warfare.
Those few short sentences pressed both soft and hard.
They spelled out a huge benefit if Xia Hong did not attack;
they also warned, without leaving fingerprints, of the consequences Great Xia would face if they murdered the ten—an unstated threat.
Is this Yuwen Tao really a young man?
Although Xia Hong’s face gave nothing away, he was more surprised than he let on by Yuwen Tao’s old-headed composure.
Whether Yuwen Tao’s earlier words were true or not, at least his last point was real: it would be foolish for Great Xia to provoke a neighboring camp that housed Warmth Realm elites.
And killing a Warmth Realm figure’s son would clearly lead to an endless vendetta—there was no need to invite that.
Thinking someone could secretly kill them and leave no trace? Xia Hong shook his head. This was the Ice Abyss, not the normal world; if someone died in your territory, you couldn’t escape responsibility—people didn’t need evidence here.
At this point Xia Hong had lost the thought of killing Yuwen Tao and his nine; even Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan’s murderous looks had faded considerably.
Now he could only hope Yuwen Tao’s claims about Yuwen Hu and He Yuanhun being Warmth Realm elites were true.
Whether Mirror Immortal’s power was exactly as Yuwen Tao described or not, it was certainly stronger than Great Xia until Xia Hong himself broke into the Warmth Realm—this much was indisputable.
Right now, Xia Hong’s main reliance in any clash with Mirror Immortal was that the latter didn’t know Great Xia’s camp location and could only encounter them here in Redwood Ridge.
But that wasn’t safe.
If Mirror Immortal really wanted to find the valley, it would only be a matter of time.
Current skirmishes between the camps weren’t huge, so Mirror Immortal likely wouldn’t expend great effort to hunt down Great Xia’s base just yet.
But what about the future?
Two neighboring camps would inevitably collide. And judging by He Meng and his group’s attitude, future conflicts were unavoidable.
That was why Xia Hong had been rushing to break into the Warmth Realm.
If he didn’t reach Warmth Realm before a more intense clash with Mirror Immortal, Great Xia wouldn’t have a good outcome.
He could kill Yuwen Tao’s ten men tonight, of course—but then what?
If he failed to break through to Warmth Realm shortly after, what then?
Xia Hong needed time—lots of it.
If, as Yuwen Tao hinted, Mirror Immortal’s internal factions were at odds, then Xia Hong could buy more time.
Also, Yuwen Tao had purposely mentioned his father Yuwen Hu’s philosophy; that was a telling detail—perhaps He Yuanhun’s leadership and Yuwen Hu’s views didn’t align.
That could explain why Yuwen Hu stopped He Yuanhun from accepting He Meng’s plan to press Great Xia.
Yuwen Tao’s gaze never left Xia Hong; he looked tense, his hands never leaving that broad sword, clearly waiting for a decision.
“Let them bleed.”
After a long while, Xia Hong finally uttered three words. Yuwen Tao visibly relaxed; the tension drained from his face. He turned and instructed his men, smiling.
“Leader Xia, thank you!”
Xia Hong only slightly cupped his fist and did not offer a friendly expression.
Although he found Yuwen Tao admirable, relations between the camps were still far from good. Letting them go tonight was a temporary expedient—if Yuwen Tao had lied, giving him a friendly face now would be a huge embarrassment later.
Perhaps sensing Xia Hong’s misgivings, Yuwen Tao brushed it off. He forced a laugh, glanced at Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan behind Xia Hong with a curious look, and then nodded at them with a smile.
Only then did he show a touch of youthful mannerisms…
That hint of boyishness, falling into Xia Hong’s sight, eased him somewhat and dissolved much of his hostility.
Of course, while focusing on Yuwen Tao, Xia Hong hadn’t forgotten to watch how the Mirror Immortal men drained the Magic Goat’s blood.
They moved to the carcass’s chest, slit the hide, and found a red blood vessel three to four centimeters in diameter near the heart.
One man cut the vessel and a gushing stream of red blood poured out. Others held leather bags beneath and quickly filled a large sack.
Strangely, while they bled the beast, the nine-meter-long Magic Goat’s enormous body began to wither and shrink. After half the blood was taken, its body had shrunk by ten to twenty percent, down to just over seven meters.
Although this curious scene piqued Xia Hong’s interest, he didn’t ask and showed no reaction. Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan behaved the same.
All three deliberately turned their heads to hide their curiosity.
There was no choice; asking would confirm that this was their first time seeing blood drawn from an intermediate-level Frost Beast—revealing Great Xia’s strength and lowering their dignity in one fell swoop.
“Leader Xia Hong!”
Soon the sealed sack of beast blood was tossed over. Xia Hong reached out and caught it—it weighed roughly thirty jin.
Judging from earlier low-level beast processing, the blood volume from an intermediate Frost Beast of that size matched that estimate.
After receiving it, Xia Hong didn’t leave immediately. He looked toward Yuwen Tao with increasingly grave expression and spoke in a deep voice:
“The misunderstanding tonight is resolved. I shouldn’t say much more, but Brother Yuwen, since you yourself said you believe our two camps should be good neighbors, please take a few words back.
The Gnawer Rat incident was purely a misunderstanding. Any clear-eyed person can see that Great Xia never intended to make enemies of Mirror Immortal.
We are already neighbors; even if we don’t become friendly, at least keep to our own waters and avoid unnecessary disputes.
I will restrain my camp from entering any part of the Arrow Bamboo Forest. I also ask Mirror Immortal not to cross into my Redwood Ridge.
Tonight’s forgiveness is a one-time thing.
If it happens again, Great Xia will show no mercy. Consider this your warning!”
“Very well. I will deliver Leader Xia Hong’s words.”
Yuwen Tao quickly nodded in response. He then looked up and saw Xia Hong and his group slipping away toward the southern thicket.
At the same time, the rustle of several large trees came—apparently the archers Xia Hong had brought.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9………”
Yuwen Tao closed his eyes and listened, counting silently. Only when the sounds in the trees faded completely did he open his eyes and watch the southern direction where Great Xia had disappeared, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Nine Digging Realm archers—thankfully it didn’t escalate!”
He glanced at the wound on his shoulder and a flicker of relief crossed his face.
He had been watching Xia Hong’s changing expression closely; if the other side had changed their mind, tonight’s outcome would have been completely different.
The nine men now relaxed as well, though most still wore some resentment—clearly still upset about handing over half the Magic Goat’s blood.
“Enough. We kept our lives—why the long faces?”
When Yuwen Tao said that, the nine immediately laughed.
One of them even dragged out a huge shape from behind a northern tree.
It was the carcass of a Snow Mane.
“Hahaha, Xia Hong never expected we had another prey hidden here.”
He dragged the Snow Mane beside the Magic Goat and laughed out loud.
Yuwen Tao turned to watch the direction Xia Hong had gone and a proud smile spread across his face.
“Hahahaha, if I hadn’t worried that this Snow Mane would be discovered too, I wouldn’t have handed over half the Magic Goat’s blood so readily. This Great Xia leader is smart—don’t underestimate him…”
A trace of meaning passed through Yuwen Tao’s pupils as he looked back at the nine.
“Alright, clean up and leave quickly. Report to the primary and secondary leaders; from now on we’ll inevitably deal with Great Xia’s camp.”
They soon collected both prey and hauled up the unconscious and dead. Then they followed Yuwen Tao eastward, toward the outer boundary of Redwood Ridge.
………………
On the other side, Xia Hong, with the half-sack of beast blood, led eleven people including Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, found Zhu Shun and Qiu Peng and cheerfully returned to the valley camp.