Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 368 Hongguan Pass, the town chief's ultimatum, rushing to the aid of the nine towns, a clash, a stare-down.

The terrain on the north bank of Hengjiang River rises steadily from west to east, but because the entire stretch is so long, more than 200 kilometers, the rise is extremely slow and difficult to notice without careful observation.

However, a normal person can basically determine this by observing the direction of the Hengjiang River's flow. It is precisely because the terrain rises continuously from west to east that the water flow generally presents a direction from east to west.

If you walk east along the north bank until you reach the eastern exit, the southern cliff of Shuanglong Mountain will only be about 200 meters high. In other words, the altitude here is not much different from the boundary of Shuanglong Mountain.

The Hengjiang River flows from east to west, but for some unknown reason, it suddenly changed course and flowed northwest for about 50 kilometers before returning to its normal course due to the influence of the Shuanglong Mountain terrain.

Any change in the course of a river will inevitably have a huge impact on the terrain, and this is especially true for a large river like the Hengjiang, which is five or six kilometers wide.

The eastern section of the north bank of the Hengjiang River has become extremely narrow due to the alluvial deposits of the river. The width is about five or six kilometers around Jinbi Village, and about four kilometers around Longhe Village, but it is less than two kilometers wide at the eastern exit.

The vegetation in the Ice Abyss is mostly unusually robust. With a width of two kilometers, and the area to the south also affected by the cold air from the Hengjiang River, the eastern exit area not only has very few large trees, but also extremely low temperatures, making it completely unsuitable for human habitation.

However, if you go east from this opening, away from the Hengjiang River basin, and reach the border of the Nine Towns, the situation will be completely different.

The eastern exit on the north bank of Hengjiang is too narrow and is affected by the cold air from Hengjiang. The entire pass is frozen all year round, with icicles hanging everywhere, resembling the beak of a cold-blooded bird called Zhu Hong, hence the name Hongguan (meaning "Red Pass").

Knowing that it is named after a pass, it naturally means that the namer, Jiangxia Town, had long recognized the key significance of this place, and thus its importance was inevitable.

The ground of the entire Hongguan Pass was covered with a thick layer of solid ice; there wasn't a single tree or even a single plant to be found.

October 18th, 131st year of the Moo calendar

It was nighttime, and thousands of soldiers, fully armed and in good gear, lined up from south to north, with a post every five steps and a sentry every ten steps, almost filling the less than two-kilometer-long pass. If you looked closely, you would see that there were even several figures patrolling back and forth on the top of the mountain wall to the north.

The soldiers were all extremely vigilant. The slightest disturbance would immediately attract their attention. They would then send someone to check, and once they confirmed that everything was alright, they would return to their original positions to continue their vigilance.

Suddenly, several figures rushed from the west, heading straight for the pass, instantly attracting the attention of a large number of red-armored soldiers.

"who!"

"Warning, someone's coming."

"Stop whoever comes!"

…………

"I am Xiahou Qin, make way! I have urgent military intelligence to report!"

Upon hearing the hurried voices of the approaching group, more than a dozen blue-armored generals behind the pass quickly went to meet them. When they saw that Xiahou Qin and his group of five were covered in wounds and looked disheveled, their expressions changed drastically.

"Lord Xiahou, what's going on?"

"Something happened in Jinbi Village?"

"Isn't there still a garrison in Longhe?"

………………

"Both Jinbi and Longhe have fallen. I need to go to Hongguan Camp to meet with the Deputy Commander. You all continue to guard here. More people will likely escape later, so be careful to identify them."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Yes, sir. Please proceed to the main camp immediately."

"We will definitely defend this pass!"

Xiahou Qin clearly held some status in Jiangxia Town. As soon as he spoke, the dozen or so generals immediately nodded in agreement and then gestured for him to hurry to the main camp.

He nodded and quickly led the four men to the east.

Two kilometers east of the pass, there is a village. Although there are many fires in the village, there are few people coming and going. Instead, many soldiers are patrolling back and forth in the village. Above the main building in the center of the village, a black banner is fluttering in the wind. The two large golden characters "Jiangxia" on the banner are particularly conspicuous under the firelight below.

Xiahou Qin passed the soldiers' screening and went straight to the main building upon entering the village.

"Xiahou Qin, what brings you back from Jinbi Village?"

"Lost?"

"Isn't there still the Dragon River?"

"What happened?"

………………

There were more than a dozen people sitting in the main hall of the building. They were obviously surprised to see Xiahou Qin in such a disheveled state, but they quickly realized what was going on and their expressions changed drastically. A few of them stood up and asked Xiahou Qin what was wrong.

"Xiahou Qin, President of the Censorate, pays his respects to the Deputy Commander!"

Xiahou Qin didn't even have time to greet everyone before bowing to a middle-aged man in a blue brocade robe sitting in the main seat.

When the middle-aged man in blue saw Xiahou Qin enter, a look of surprise was clearly visible on his face, but he quickly raised his hand to signal him to stand up, and then asked in a deep voice, "Has Jinbilonghe fallen?"

"Both places have fallen, and I deserve to die a thousand deaths!"

Xiahou Qin readily knelt down to admit his mistake, and then recounted the entire process of the fall of Jinbi Village. When he mentioned Longhe, he was clearly not very clear about the situation and only gave a general overview.

"After the fall of Jinbi Village, I led more than 300 Yuhan-class warriors to break through the encirclement and escape to Longhe. I did not expect that Longhe had already been captured by the four abbots of Dajue Temple, who led more than 5,000 monks. They had also made a careful disguise. In my panic after the defeat, I rushed into the village without conducting any reconnaissance, which led to my brothers being surrounded and suffering heavy casualties. In the end, I am afraid that less than one in ten of them survived. I deserve to die a thousand deaths!"

In the end, Xiahou Qin thought of the more than three hundred Yu Han-class soldiers who had followed him out of Jinbi Village, who were now likely dead. He kept slapping himself, clearly overwhelmed with grief.

"Fool, what's the use of slapping yourself now? How did those five thousand monks from Dajue Temple manage to bypass Jinbi and attack Longhe? Jinbi Village is only so big from north to south, didn't you know to send someone to keep an eye on it?"

The middle-aged man in blue, Jiang Yuanlong, the deputy commander of Jiangxia Town, stood up and angrily interrupted Xiahou Qin, clearly also extremely furious.

Xiahou Qin was stunned upon hearing this. He had suffered two major defeats during the day and was in a state of extreme panic. He hadn't had time to think about this issue at all. Now that Jiang Yuanlong had reminded him, he immediately realized what was going on.

How could he possibly make such a basic mistake? When he was stationed at Jinbi Village, he had already sent more than twenty cold-resistant soldiers to keep an eye on the north and south sides. If the more than 5,000 monks of the Zen Monastery had gone around, how could he not have known?

Therefore, there is only one explanation...

"Dajue Temple has the means to march on water, this is troublesome!"

Seeing Xiahou Qin's expression, Jiang Yuanlong immediately realized what was happening. After speaking in a low voice, his pupils were filled with surprise.

Not only Jiang Yuanlong, but also the expressions of more than a dozen generals in the hall changed drastically.

Jiangxia Town is located on the east bank of the Hengjiang River. When it comes to understanding the waterways, they are definitely the best among the nine towns, even surpassing Bashang Town, which is also located on the east bank.

The Ice Abyss is far more dangerous than the land. Firstly, the aquatic beasts are extremely unfamiliar to humans, possessing a wide variety of abilities and being much stronger than the land-based beasts. Secondly, they are born to live underwater, giving them a natural advantage in their home-field advantage against humans. Thirdly, each area of ​​the Ice Abyss is basically owned by a beast, and the beasts that can dominate a particular area are at least beast kings, making it extremely difficult for humans to operate in the water.

For a town like Jiangxia to have managed to occupy more than ten kilometers of water along the east bank after decades of effort is already quite remarkable.

Even so, to this day, only a small number of experienced and strong Cold-resistant soldiers in Jiangxia Town can move freely in the water. Not to mention mobilizing soldiers on a large scale to march in the water, even the hunting teams that go to the water to hunt cold beasts on a regular basis do not dare to exceed twenty people.

Aquatic cold beasts are far more perceptive than terrestrial cold beasts, and since water is their domain, if a large number of them are discovered, they are easily targeted by the underwater beast horde. There are countless examples of them being wiped out in the past.

"The ability to march across water means that Dajue Temple has unknowingly gained control of the waters along the eastern shore. Something's not right..."

Jiang Yuanlong frowned, turned to look at the map of Jiangxia Town on the table, looked up at the person on his left below, and ordered: "Yuanhua, you set off immediately to Binjiang Camp to find Deputy Commander Xiahou Ying, tell him about the loss of Jinbilong River, and then convey my message to him to keep a close watch on the waters along the east bank and not give Dajue Temple any opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

"I obey my orders!"

Upon hearing this, the person below immediately bowed and accepted the order, then left the main hall.

Jiangxia has a total of six military leaders. There is only one chief military leader, Xiahou Zhang, and five deputy military leaders, of whom Jiang Yuanlong is just one.

A special camp was set up, and five deputy military commanders were stationed there with their troops for a long period of time. Ordinary village-level camps would not have such treatment. Only five village-level camps in the entire Jiangxia region received this honor.

For example, Hongguan Village, which controls the eastern exit of the north bank of Hengjiang River, has established the Hongguan Camp, which is personally overseen by Deputy Commander Jiang Yuanlong.
Binjiang Village is the largest village-level camp along the east bank of the Hengjiang River in Jiangxia Town. Like Hongguan Village, it is directly under the jurisdiction of the town. Binjiang Camp was also established there, and it was personally managed by another deputy commander, Xiahou Ying.

Now that they know that Dajue Temple has the means to march on water, the entire eastern coastline must be on high alert, so Jiang Yuanlong naturally had to inform Xiahou Ying in advance.

"Alright, stop kneeling and get up!"

Xiahou Qin was filled with extreme guilt, his face full of sorrow as he said, "I deserve to die ten thousand times. Not only did I cause the deaths of so many brothers, but I also lost the villages of Jinbilonghe, which together have a population of 110,000. Now they are all under the control of Dajue Temple. Judging by the methods of that Chief Yanxin, I estimate that the people of these two villages..."

"Seven years have passed, and the population of Qinghepu has grown old. Dajue Temple's expansion is simply to have more people so they can have more children. As long as they don't kill indiscriminately, it's fine. If we lose territory, we can take it back in the future. Even if you die ten thousand times, you can't bring those people back. Get up!"

Jiang Yuanlong was clearly very familiar with the situation in Qinghepu. Combining this with Xiahou Qin's account of the fall of Jinbi Village, he immediately deduced the core objective of Dajue Temple's attack on Jiangxia.

The deputy commander gestured for him to stand up for the second time. Xiahou Qin dared not kneel any longer. After standing up, he remembered something, cupped his hands and gritted his teeth, and said, "Lord Jiang, the battle has only just begun, and my Jiangxia Town has already suffered such heavy losses. The reinforcements from the other seven towns are slow to arrive. It is clearly intentional, wanting my Jiangxia to be at the forefront. I suggest that we send letters to the seven towns immediately to urge the reinforcements."

"The Great Awakening Temple is so powerful, and their methods are so unpredictable and bizarre. Our Jiangxia family alone simply cannot continue fighting them!"

More than 600 people at the Cold Resistance level were killed, and more than 50,000 people at the Earth Digging level, along with 110,000 people from two villages, all fell into enemy hands. It is no exaggeration to describe Jiangxia's first confrontation with Dajue Temple as a crushing defeat.

Thinking of all this, Xiahou Qin's heart was practically bleeding. He had long suspected that Dajue Temple was not simple, so he had moved all the people of Jinbi Village to Longhe Village in advance, thinking that if one line of defense was lost, he could simply retreat.

Who would have thought that Dajue Temple would have such miraculous methods, having the Digging Realm warriors fight during the day and march across water? Losing two villages is nothing compared to the fact that he personally witnessed the methods of the head monk Yan Xin in Jinbi Village. Yan Xin controlled more than 50,000 Digging Realm warriors and also managed to control the population of two villages. It's easy to imagine that Dajue Temple will spare no effort to use various means to win them over, brainwash them, or even coerce them into joining Dajue Temple's ranks.

Of the 50,000 Digging Realm members, 30,000 were transferred from other villages in Jiangxia, while nearly 20,000 were locals from Jinbi and Longhe villages. The 110,000 people currently under control in the two villages are basically the families of those 20,000 Digging Realm members.

Leaving aside the other 30,000 Digging Realm warriors transferred from various places, just consider the 20,000 Digging Realm warriors from Jinbilonghe Village. They took control of their families, and with those monks possessing such miraculous and bizarre methods, it was incredibly easy to lure them to join the Great Awakening Temple and even fight for it.

If we continue thinking about it, what will happen to the remaining 30,000 Dig-ground warriors from various villages? Will their attitude towards Dajue Temple change after seeing the situation in Jinbilonghe Village and Dajue Temple?
Thinking of this, Xiahou Qin looked up at Jiang Yuanlong, his expression becoming increasingly solemn.

Although Xiahou Qin did not say these words, Jiang Yuanlong, with his keen mind, had already realized this after hearing the whole story of the fall of Jinbi Village. At this moment, his expression was much more solemn than Xiahou Qin's.

“I know, you don’t need to remind me. I’ve been sending three urgent letters every day urging the towns of Chuishan and Bashang. We agreed to send reinforcements at the end of last month, and it’s the 18th now, but the reinforcements still haven’t arrived. I can forgive the other six towns, but Chuishan and Bashang are right next door, and they still dare to drag it out until now!”

boom!
Jiang Yuanlong looked somewhat angry, and after sitting back in his chair, he slammed his hand on the table.

"If the Seven Towns dare to drag their feet any longer, we might really have to make way for Dajue Temple, just like the Commander-in-Chief said. Better to die than lose ourselves. They all want Jiangxia to take the lead? Dream on!"

Upon hearing Jiang Yuanlong's words, the crowd below nodded emphatically, their eyes filled with anger towards the other seven towns.

stomping on...

Suddenly, a messenger hurriedly entered through the door.

"Reporting, sir, the town chief has sent a message!"

Upon hearing that the letter came from the town head, everyone in the room immediately perked up. Jiang Yuanlong even stood up, took the letter from the messenger, opened it, and his face immediately lit up with excitement.

"The town chief has ordered us to continue guarding Hongguan. He has issued ultimatums to the seven towns. If any of the towns fails to send reinforcements by the 20th, we will withdraw our troops immediately. He will personally come to talk to Dajue Temple."

Everyone in the room, including Xiahou Qin, was suddenly startled, their faces showing expressions of relief, and they began to speak one after another:
"That's how it should be!"

"Knowing that Dajue Temple is related to ghosts and monsters, the Seven Towns are still dragging their feet, hoping that our Jiangxia family will take the lead. Dream on."

"That's right. Since the Seven Towns won't come to help, we might as well make peace with Dajue Temple. Hongguan Village is just north of Chuishan Town. I want to see if Chuishan is in a hurry!"

"Jinbilong River. Adding Hongguan, it's just giving up these three villages. We'd rather lose a little flesh than let those scoundrels from the Seven Towns benefit. Humph!"

………………

Hearing what everyone said, Jiang Yuanlong looked down at the map of Jiangxia's territory on the table, and his originally excited expression froze slightly.

Ceding territory is like cutting off flesh, especially since Jiang Yuanlong is the deputy commander of the Hongguan Camp. He is unwilling to give up this place as long as there is any hope.

"Personal future is a small matter; Jiangxia's interests are paramount. If the Seven Towns are truly so shameless, I have no choice but to obey the orders of the town chief."

The nine towns of Mo'ao all implemented similar systems: under the lord, the military commander led the army, and the town commander governed the government; Jiangxia was no exception.

Jiang Yuanlong's position is deputy military commander, and he is supposed to follow the orders of military commander Xiahou Zhang. However, since Xiahou Zhang is currently recuperating in the town, the army is temporarily under the command of town commander Jiang Xinfan. That is why the town commander is delivering the message at this moment.

"Xiahou Qin, you will stay at the Hongguan camp to recover from your injuries. There is an ultimatum from the garrison commander that the reinforcements from the seven garrisons will arrive no later than the day after tomorrow. You will then join them in the battle!" Upon hearing this, Xiahou Qin's face showed a touch of emotion. He cupped his hands, bowed deeply to Jiang Yuanlong, and said in a deep voice, "I will never forget your kindness, my lord!"

Jinbilonghe Village was lost in less than a day under his control. Regardless of the reason, he would be punished if he returned to the town at this time. Jiang Yuanlong was clearly giving him a chance to redeem himself.

"Hongguan cannot be lost. Even if it is to be lost, it must be given to Dajue Temple by Jiangxia. Since they can make the Digging Realm fight during the day, then send scouts to keep a close watch along the eastern section. Report any further movement of their troops to me immediately. They have captured two villages in one day. Dajue Temple is quite powerful. I want to see if those bald monks dare to continue attacking Hongguan. Humph!"

"I obey my orders!"

Jiang Yuanlong gave a cold snort, and the generals below immediately agreed in unison.

When they heard Jiang Yuanlong's last words, their faces showed no fear whatsoever; instead, they all became full of fighting spirit.

Xiahou Qin seemed to have thought of something as well. His dejected mood slowly dissipated, and he clenched his fists, a hint of fighting spirit appearing in his pupils.

………………

October 19th, 131st year of the Moo calendar, midnight

In the northern border region of Chuishan Town, bordering Yangqu Town, a lightly armed team of more than 1500 people sped southward.

They moved with incredible speed, covering five or six miles of snowfield in a short time, and entered the border region from Yangqu. They were clearly all experts at the Cold Resistance level.

They were described as lightly armed because although these 1,500-plus people were armed, they were all dressed in civilian clothes and not in armor. Moreover, they were clearly divided into five groups, obviously not from the same family's cold-weather gear.

The five groups of people were clearly in a hurry to get somewhere, and no one was making a lot of noise. Only a few people in the group were whispering among themselves.

In the central area on the left, a middle-aged man with a kind face was speaking softly to a young man of about thirty beside him:
"Brother Lu may not know this, but Jiangxia Town is jointly governed by the Jiang and Xiahou families. The founding lord of Jiangxia was Xiahou Wu, and the second lord after his death was his son Xiahou Ming. More than sixty years ago, in order to open up the waters along the coast of Jiangxia Town, Xiahou Ming risked his life to fight against the Red Carp Monster that occupied that area at the time. Although he successfully injured and drove away the monster, he was also poisoned by the monster's cold poison and almost died."

Xiahou Ming held on for a full fifteen years, until his son Xiahou Zhang broke through to the Xianyang level, before passing the lordship to Jiang Yinglong. Less than two or three years after the succession, Xiahou Ming died, and the lordship of Jiangxia fell to the Jiang family. However, with Xiahou Zhang becoming the military leader, the Xiahou family's position within the town remained stable, though not as powerful as before.

Upon hearing the middle-aged man's words, a glint of light flashed in Lu Yang's eyes, and he asked in a low voice, "According to Brother Chen, Jiangxia is actually unstable internally?"

Upon hearing this conjecture, Chen Yiqing immediately laughed and said, "A normal person would probably think the same thing as Brother Lu upon hearing this, but that's not the case..."

He paused, shook his head, and continued, "Jiangxia Town rose to prominence thanks to the concerted efforts of the Jiang and Xiahou families. It is said that many years ago, before the death of the first lord, Xiahou Wu, he originally intended to pass the lordship to the Jiang family and even made a promise that the lordship would be passed on alternately between the two families. However, the Jiang family declined the offer, and his son, Xiahou Ming, was able to take over the position smoothly."

Brother Lu may think that Xiahou Ming held on for the last fifteen years because he was afraid that his son Xiahou Zhang would not break through to the Xianyang level and would be purged by the Jiang family. But that's not the case. His son Xiahou Zhang was Jiang Yinglong's only disciple. In fact, Xiahou Zhang was able to break through to the Xianyang level because Jiang Yinglong risked his life to pick five Tianyang Fruits at Mount Mo'ao. With such a relationship, how could Xiahou Ming be worried about the Jiang family purging their Xiahou family?

Among the nine towns of Mo'ao, quite a few were jointly governed by two or even three families, such as Yangqu, Chuishan, Longgu, and Wuchuan. However, none had achieved the level of unity between the Jiang and Xiahou families.

It's not just the Nine Towns that don't have it; it's probably extremely rare even in other camps.

Lu Yang nodded, feeling that his understanding of Jiangxia had deepened even further. A smile appeared on his face as he cupped his hands in greeting to Chen Yiqing and said with a smile, "Brother Chen, you are from the Dongchuan jurisdiction. I didn't expect you to know so much about the situation in Jiangxia. Thank you for your guidance, Brother Chen. I have learned a lot today!"

"I've always been one to ask questions, Brother Lu, you're too kind."

Lu Yang didn't continue speaking, but turned to look at the two people leading Bei Shuo's trip in the front row, his eyes flashing slightly.

As he had predicted, on the night of the 16th, he arrived in Beishuo with 31 Cold-Resistant level warriors and 450 Earth-Digging level warriors from Dongling, and joined up with all the personnel Beishuo had drawn from various villages.

The number of people was roughly the same as he had guessed. A total of 362 people at the Cold-Resistant level and more than 18000 people at the Earth-Digging level were drawn from the seven districts of Beishuo. The commanders of the Beishuo reinforcements were Huang Tianxing, the deputy head of the Supervisory Council, and Gu Tianxiong, the head of the Supervisory Council, who were the two people leading the Beishuo team at this moment.

The reinforcements rested in Beishuo Town for a day and set off on the night of the 17th. According to his previous estimate, they would not arrive until at least the 24th or 25th.

But the situation changed last night, on the night of the 18th.

Last night, someone from Beishuo Town suddenly caught up with the marching column from behind, spoke to Huang Tianxing and Gu Tianxiong, and then the two gathered all 362 of them, the Cold-resistant level warriors, and broke away from the main army, heading towards Jiangxia at full speed.

Along the way, they also caught up with the four families of Wuchuan, Jinshan, Longgu, and Yangqu, who were all at the Cold-Resistant level, which is why there are now five groups of people traveling at the same time.

It's no surprise that all the Cold-Weather-class troops marched ahead of schedule; there must have been some major change in the Jiangxia campaign, and they couldn't wait any longer. That's why each town sent a message to its own troops, ordering the Cold-Weather-class troops to set off ahead of time.

But that's all Lu Yang knows for now. He looked around at the other four teams at the Cold Resistance level, focusing his gaze on the leader of each team.

The other four leaders, like those in Beishuo Town, are all vice presidents of the Supervisory Commission.

The leader of Jinshan Town was Shangguan Yan, who wielded a large, dark-colored sword and looked to be over eighty years old, making him the oldest in the group. The one from Wuchuan Town was Qin Yuanhai, who was in his forties, tall, and carried a staff that was about ten feet long. The one from Longgu Town was Long Wending, who was not much older than him and seemed to have high aptitude; his weapon was a longsword. The last one from Yangqu was Cao Tianyun, who was also in his forties and carried a silver eight-sided hammer; he was the most robust-looking of them all.

Although they had never fought before, Lu Yang had heard of Gu Tianxiong's strength, which was probably in his thirties. Huang Tianxing's status was above his, so his strength was definitely a bit stronger.

From this, we can infer that the other four deputy leaders are roughly as strong as Huang Tianxing, and each of the four towns has also assigned them a deputy. Therefore, there are a total of ten people in the team with strength above the level of thirty.

Apart from these ten people, the strength of the remaining thousand-plus people was, frankly, rather pathetic.

Lu Yang himself was at the late stage of the Cold Resistance Realm with the strength of the Eighteen Manes. He was currently positioned at the front of the group, basically hanging behind Gu Tianxiong, with only about twenty people standing next to him.

Everyone is at the cold-weather level, and the rank order during the march is not something that can be done casually. From this, we can basically infer the strength of the support that the five towns are providing to Jiangxia this time.

"Those with around twenty strength, Beishuo has at most twenty, Wuchuan and Jinshan towns have about the same, and Longgu and Yangqu towns have even fewer, less than fifteen. Adding them up, there are less than ninety people. Even if you include Chuishan and Bashang towns, it's probably just over a hundred. With such strength, compared to Dajue Temple..."

There's absolutely no comparison!
Lu Yang frowned and said those words aloud in his mind.

Although he was in Dongling, Xiacheng would still share the information Xu Ning brought back with him, so he was well aware of how terrifying the overall strength of Dajue Temple was.

Leaving aside those at the Digging Realm, the sheer number of formal monks with over 820 hairs and more than 5,000 monks with hair in Zen monasteries—such terrifying strength—makes it utterly futile for the Seven Towns to send such a small number of people to help.

"However, the Nine Towns are not clear about the true strength of Dajue Temple, so it is perfectly reasonable that they only sent such a small number of reinforcements. Jiangxia must have already suffered a defeat, otherwise they would not have urged this side to speed up the march."

"I just don't know if, after a few more defeats, the various factions will send more reinforcements. The magistrate ordered me to, within safe limits, incite conflict between the various towns as much as possible. It's hard to say when we're winning, but stirring up trouble after defeats is too easy!"

Lu Yang secretly glanced at the other four towns' teams, a hint of gloom creeping onto his face.

"By the way, Brother Chen, in this great battle in Jiangxia, all seven towns sent reinforcements, but Muyin Town alone did not send a single person. Why is that?"

Lu Yang had only one question on his mind at this moment: they had already passed through the Muyin Realm, and had not seen a single reinforcement from Muyin Town. It was basically certain that Muyin had sent no one this time.

"Brother Lu, you don't know yet! Ever since Murong Ding passed away three years ago and his grandson Murong Yan succeeded him, the entire Muyin Town has been declining. Now, the town only has the town leader Murong Chui, who is at the Xianyang level. Murong Yan is only in his early twenties and has only reached the late stage of the Yuhan level. With a young ruler, the country is in turmoil. Everyone is saying that Murong Chui will soon seize the throne and replace Murong Yan. In the past two years, one-third of Muyin Town's territory has been taken away by Jinshan and Wuchuan Towns. It is beset by internal and external troubles and can hardly protect itself. Where would it have the mind to send people to support others?"

This Chen Yiqing is practically a know-it-all!
Lu Yang sighed inwardly, his expression also showing some relief. The reason he recognized the leader of the four towns of Wuchuan and Jinshan was because he had asked Chen Yiqing about it. Along the way, he had heard more details about the nine towns from Chen Yiqing than he had inquired about in Beishuo Town in the previous three years.

It seemed that there was nothing in Jiuzhen that he didn't know.

The key point is that Chen Yiqing is also from Beishuo Town, just like him, except that he is from Jingxi, while Chen Yiqing comes from Dongchuan.

If he had met Chen Yiqing earlier, he wouldn't have needed to be so careful in Beishuo City, trying to gather information about the other eight towns!
Why was Murong Ding's grandson Murong Yan succeeded him after his death? What about his son?

Lu Yang cleared his mind of his thoughts and continued to ask Chen Yiqing in a low voice for more details about the Murong family and the other eight towns. Of course, he only asked about things that would not arouse suspicion. At this moment, they were marching, and no matter how softly he spoke, Huang Tianxing and Gu Tianxiong in front could hear him.

Chen Yiqing had an honest and simple appearance, but he was extremely talkative. Moreover, he clearly had a good impression of Lu Yang and was willing to chat with him. He talked to Lu Yang all the way, without holding back any information.

Although the entire team numbered over 1,500, their advantage lay in the fact that they were all at the Cold Resistance level, so their speed was extremely fast. In addition, since the various towns had probably been informed of the reinforcements' departure, they all traveled along the bluestone paths of the Chuishan region. Before dawn, the group arrived at the southern border of the Chuishan territory.

A group of about two hundred people had been waiting in the area where Chuishan and Jiangxia met. When they saw the reinforcements from the five towns rushing in from the north, a middle-aged man with a knife at his waist immediately came forward with a smile.

"Brother Huang, Senior Shangguan, Brother Qin, it's been a long time!"

When the newcomer called out Huang Tianxing first, Lu Yang's eyes flashed slightly.

Three years ago, when he first entered Beishuo City, he and Wang Tao deduced that one of the two families, Chuishan and Jiangxia, was very likely to have an extraordinary relationship with Beishuo. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been Yang and Li who came to Hongmuling eight years ago. After three years of investigation, it was basically confirmed that it was Chuishan.

At this moment, the man from Chuishan Town saw the group from the five towns and greeted Huang Tianxing from Beishuo first, which clearly confirmed his deduction.

"Brother Duan, it's been a long time!"

Huang Tianxing and the other two returned the greeting with clasped hands and then went up to chat with him. However, Long Wending of Longgu and Cao Tianyun of Yangqu were clearly ignored by the man from Chuishan. The two men looked angry, but they did not lash out on the spot. They just snorted and led their respective men around the three of them and continued south.

"Hehe, Chuishan Town is known as a pushover. It's like it has no bones when it sees our three northern towns. The five southern towns don't like it either, so they don't have a good relationship with Chuishan."

Huang Tianxing and the others were already quite far away, so Chen Yiqing couldn't help but come over and tease them. Then he pointed at the man from Chuishan and said, "If I'm not mistaken, that man should be Duan Xing, the deputy head of the Chuishan Supervisory Council. He seems to be related to our Chief Huang by marriage, and the two have always had a good relationship."

Lu Yang nodded slightly. There are many marriage ties between Chui Mountain and Beishuo Town, not just Huang and Duan. The biggest one should be the town chief Yang Fa and Duan Xi, the younger sister of Chui Mountain lord Duan Hong.

………………

While Lu Yang was chatting with Chen Yiqing in the back, Huang Tianxing and the other three were also having a conversation in front of them. However, unlike their casual conversation, the four of them clearly had a gloating look on their faces.

"Jiangxia suffered a huge loss in the first battle. The two villages of Jinbilonghe fell, and seven hundred Cold Resistance level cultivators and fifty thousand Earth Digging level cultivators were all wiped out. Hehe!"

As soon as Duan Xing spoke, Huang Tianxing and the other two all smiled.

A sinister smile appeared on Shangguan Yan's decaying face as he said, "Doesn't Jiangxia like to occupy the north bank of the Hengjiang River and prevent us from interfering? This time, Dajue Temple will give them a hard time."

Qin Yuanhai shook his head and chuckled, "This is called being hoist by one's own petard. Even if Dajue Temple really has some treasures, it's not something Jiangxia can monopolize. Now that they've suffered a great loss, they know to ask for help. In my opinion, they should be made to give up some more territory, otherwise how will they learn their lesson?"

"Jiang Xinfan even issued some kind of 'town chief's ultimatum,' saying that if a town's reinforcements didn't arrive by the 20th, Jiangxia would immediately withdraw its troops and hand over Hongguan to Dajue Temple. He even dared to threaten us! Humph!"

Huang Tianxing, who hadn't spoken until now, frowned slightly upon hearing Duan Xing's words and asked, "Just how strong is Dajue Temple? Did Jiang Xia explain it clearly?"

Duan Xing shook his head and said, "Isn't this what the scouts reported before? More than 5,000 monks in the Zen temple, and only more than 20,000 people in the entire Qinghepu Earth-Digging Realm. What waves can such a small force stir up?"

Seeing that Huang Tianxing was still frowning, he immediately waved his hand and said, "Brother Huang, what are you worried about? To put it bluntly, Jiangxia Town is deliberately not putting in any effort. They want to monopolize the benefits of Dajue Temple, but they are unwilling to invest heavily. They are using monsters as a pretext to trick us seven towns into sending people to support them. They are all bark and no bite, greedy for profit but also afraid of losing their lives. They haven't even mobilized their town's guards yet. The seven hundred-plus Cold-resistant level soldiers and fifty thousand Earth-digging level soldiers were all drawn from various villages. Isn't it normal for them to suffer defeat? I doubt they even care much about it themselves."

Huang Tianxing nodded first, then shook his head slightly and said, "What you said makes sense, but it's not entirely true. Seven hundred Cold-Resistant Realm cultivators and fifty thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators would be wiped out in a day of fighting. The strength of Dajue Temple is probably not simple. Jiang Xinfan, as the head of the town, personally issued an ultimatum to the seven towns, which shows how much he values ​​it. We can't be careless. Let's set off quickly. There's less than half an hour left until dawn. Let's hurry to Hongguan and not give Jiang Xia any reason to criticize us."

“Brother Huang is right.”

"That's right, let's set off first! If we're late and Jiang Xinfan really uses this against us, we'll have a hard time explaining ourselves."

"Let's call people to set off."

Huang Tianxing clearly still had some authority. After he finished speaking, Duan Xing and the other two nodded in agreement. Then he went to the rear to call on the four towns' teams to prepare to set off.

"set off!"

In the Beishuo Town group, Lu Yang looked back at the 31 people he had brought from Dongling, gave them a look that said to be careful, and then turned around and followed Gu Tianxiong, continuing south.

Someone is spying on me!
After walking for a short while, Lu Yang suddenly frowned.

The senses of someone with a cold-resistant level are still quite strong; unless the observer's strength far surpasses one's own, they can easily detect it.

He immediately realized that the spy came from the right side, that is, from the group in Jinshan Town.

He had never dealt with anyone from Jinshan Town.

Why would anyone in Jinshan Town be spying on me?
Lu Yang frowned, noticing that gaze was still peering in. He sped forward for several dozen meters, then suddenly turned his head sharply to look at Jinshan's group on his right.

Upon looking at him, he instantly met a pair of eyes.

The moment Lu Yang saw the man's face, his expression changed drastically.

The man from Jinshan Town clearly hadn't expected Lu Yang to suddenly turn and look at him. He had been somewhat confused, but upon seeing Lu Yang's reaction, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he quickly lowered his head, avoiding Lu Yang's gaze.

"You made a stupid mistake!"

Seeing the change in the man's expression, Lu Yang realized he had given himself away first and wished he could slap himself.

"It's Han Feng. I was wondering why I hadn't been able to find out a single thing about him in the past three years in Beishuo. That kid actually went to Jinshan Town. I saw him five years ago when he was detained by the lord in Hanqiong Secret Passage, and he saw me too. It's over!"

Lu Yang was well aware of the impact of being recognized by Han Feng.

The secret passage, the Eastern Ridge, the Great Xia... If Han Feng were to reveal all of this to Jinshan Town, then everything would be over!

"No, no, we must find a way to salvage this, we absolutely must salvage it. Dongling is crucial to the eastward expansion of Great Xia, it absolutely cannot be ruined in my hands. Han Feng, Han Feng, Han Feng, we must shut him up, shut him up forever..."

Lu Yang's heart was trembling. He looked up at Han Feng in the Jinshan Town team, his pupils filled with killing intent. If the situation didn't prevent it, he would have even led his men to rush over and kill him right now.

(End of this chapter)