Chapter 398 - 193: The Army, The Beast Tide, Little Snow Mane_2

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มี.ค. 2569 09:38

Chapter 398: Chapter 193: The Army, The Beast Tide, Little Snow Mane_2 Soon, some people from the former Mirror Immortal Camp spoke up to reassure the rest who were clueless. Upon learning that the Cold Beasts wouldn’t come to the valley, everyone’s emotions quickly stabilized, and the unrest in the crowd gradually subsided. "No need to panic, there’s nothing unusual around here. Everyone, just avoid going north for the next few days." Xia Hong’s booming voice echoed throughout the valley. After exchanging glances, everyone looked up at the third floor of the wooden cabin, their expressions instantly calming down. "Is that the leader’s voice?" "It sounds like it’s coming from the heavens." "The leader is like a god!" "The leader is indeed a god! If he says there’s no problem, there definitely won’t be any problem." "Just go about your business, just avoid the north. For these few days, stay active around the western outskirts." ... Xia Hongjing sat in the main seat of the grand hall on the third floor. After calming the unrest in the valley, a slight frown appeared on her brow. The commotion revealed that the current system in Great Xia still had many imperfections. Supposedly, in case of trouble, someone should immediately come forward to reassure everyone, then assess the situation to determine if there’s danger, and whether preparations are needed. Without anything happening, the camp was already in panic, requiring her, the leader, to personally speak to calm things down. It inevitably felt like a makeshift operation. But there’s no choice. Currently, even Xia Chuan, the Minister, has to lead teams for hunting missions, not to mention the directors of the Six Ministries and the captains of various Hunting Teams. They generally set out as soon as night falls, and not even the Craftsmen Department Director Mu Dong is an exception. "We still need to designate someone to manage the camp specially, so there isn’t chaos like a flock of headless flies in the event of sudden circumstances. I must discuss this with Xia Chuan next time." After pondering for a moment, Xia Hong rose and left the grand hall through the front door, heading north. ... Unlike the brief commotion in the Great Xia Valley, Jing Valley was a scene of utter chaos. The five to six-li radius of Jing Valley was continuously trembling. Over thirty wooden cabins were all shaking with the ground, releasing a flurry of snow and ice shards sliding down the roofs with crackling noises. Inside a central wooden cabin, hundreds of people huddled together. The bonfire inside had already gone out. Everyone’s faces were filled with horror as they occasionally peered out the windows and wooden doors toward the south, their faces crawling with fear. The Arrow Bamboo Forest, a kilometer away to the south, was continuously rumbling, as if a massive earthquake was underway. A thick blanket of snow had already covered the entire bamboo forest, enveloped in a vast expanse of snow mist, making visibility extremely low. Yet, even so, the people inside the wooden cabin could still see, through the snow mist, the faint but giant silhouettes of beasts charging forward. "We’re lucky Lord Yue Feng notified us in time. If we had been a little later, we would have been either eaten or trampled to death!" "Look over there; at least seven or eight of them. You can see them clearly from this distance. They must be at least seven or eight meters long—all Intermediate Cold Beasts?" "Gulp... that’s just what we see on the edge through the snow mist. Who knows how many more are inside? The bamboo forest is probably full of Cold Beasts right now. How come there are so many?" "Judging by the noise, hundreds must have passed by already!" "The people from Mirror Immortal Camp said this beast tide would last four to five days. So overall, there must be thousands of them." "Where are all these Cold Beasts headed?" "There must be some treasure in the Arrow Bamboo Forest, I guess?" "Ha, you’re smart. So what, are you thinking of grabbing some treasure?" "I’d have to be lucky enough to survive this! With such a huge beast tide, I bet no one in the camp, except the leader, dares to get close." "Even the leader might not dare. With so many Cold Beasts, I estimate there might even be Advanced ones among them." ... On the second floor of the cabin, upon hearing everyone’s discussions, Yue Feng turned back to look at Yuwen Dao with a grateful expression. He cupped his hands and said, "Thanks to you, Director, tonight. If it weren’t for your advance notice, we would have likely lost a lot of people tonight." Yuwen Dao waved it off slightly, "Brother Yue, no need to thank me. I had roughly calculated that a beast tide was due. I stayed around here during this period just for this reason." Yue Feng nodded at these words, but his gratitude did not diminish. He also knew that the beast tides in Arrow Bamboo Forest occurred every four months, following the maturation of the Ice Tree. Knowing is one thing, but accurately judging it is another. It’s already the eighteenth of May, and the beast tide still hadn’t come. He was just starting to let his guard down, thinking there wouldn’t be a beast tide this time. Who would have expected it to arrive tonight! Jing Valley had already become a permanent outpost for Great Xia in the north of Arrow Bamboo Forest. Not only did he station the Mountain River Team there, but many other Hunting Teams and Collection Teams also rested and stationed there routinely, sometimes staying for several days for convenient mining. The Collection Teams were the same. The Bamboo Silk from the Arrow Bamboo Forest was a vital resource that the camp needed to gather regularly. Now, every night, hundreds or even thousands of people in the Logging Realm were active in the Arrow Bamboo Forest. If it weren’t for Yuwen Dao accurately predicting the beast tide’s arrival and notifying him in advance, allowing him to rapidly send people to spread the notice and get everyone out in time, many would have certainly died tonight. As the person in charge of Jing Valley, he would naturally bear some responsibility. To be honest, Yue Feng’s impression of Yuwen Dao wasn’t too good initially, mainly because he was on good terms with both Li Yun and Li Pingkai. Due to the previous chase incident, he had a poor impression of the people from the Mirror Immortal Camp who had joined them. But today’s incident significantly changed Yue Feng’s perspective on Yuwen Dao. Yuwen Dao, unaware of Yue Feng’s complicated thoughts, was pondering deeply. "I remember the timing used to be accurate, once every four months, with a margin of error not exceeding five days. This time, it was delayed by more than ten days..." He whispered to himself, knitting his brows tightly. The Mirror Immortal Camp had experienced many beast tides over the years. The Ice Tree had matured at the beginning of the month, and now it was the eighteenth. Why had it arrived so late? Truth be told, like Yue Feng, he also suspected there wouldn’t be a beast tide this time due to the delay, had it not been for his caution, deciding to stay a few extra days. Otherwise, tonight’s events would have proven disastrous. Yuwen Dao continued pondering, unable to determine the cause for the delay even after a long while. Yue Feng, the partner beside him, understood even less. He maintained close observation of any movement within the southern bamboo forest, ready to respond to any changes. Besides the two of them, Meng Yi and Hong Guang were also present on the second floor. After Xia Hongjing’s encounter with the Beehive’s three individuals, he instructed Yue Feng to station the Mountain River Team here while allowing the other five teams to move freely. Yuwen Dao, feeling uneasy, stayed on with his Dragon Wu Team and the Divine Martial Team led by Meng Yi. "Oh, why is there a little Snow Mane here?" "Its body length is barely over a meter—is it a cub?" "Did it come along with the beast tide?" "Heh, I’ve never seen a Cold Beast cub before. Its meat should be quite tender." ... The previously silent room was suddenly interrupted by several voices coming from the first floor. Yue Feng, Hong Guang, and Meng Yi all paused in their tracks, puzzled, while Yuwen Dao’s body shook violently upon hearing these discussions. He quickly rushed to the edge of the stairs and looked down below. To coordinate uniformly and avoid people dispersing and alarming the beast tide, Yue Feng had gathered all four hundred-plus people staying in Jing Valley into this central wooden cabin. Hence, the first floor was now packed with a dense crowd. Even without lighting inside, the four individuals standing at the edge of the stairs immediately noticed the beast silhouette by the cabin door. The beast shadow, as discussed earlier, had a shoulder height of merely sixty centimeters and a body length of over a meter, small even for a Low-level Cold Beast. The beast silhouette had a row of spines on its back, and although its face details were unclear, its two prominent ivory tusks were evident. With its pitch-black mane, it was identifiable as a miniature Snow Mane. Is there really a Snow Mane cub? If anything set this small Snow Mane apart from previously encountered ones, it would probably be its eyes. Snow Mane eyes were typically bloodshot crimson. But this Snow Mane’s eyes were astonishingly blue. Not just blue, but they also possessed a translucent, jade-like quality. "Hm... hm..." It let out two grunts, endearingly adorable, causing laughter to erupt from the first-floor crowd. "Run, run, everyone, run quickly!" Yuwen Dao’s terrified scream halted the laughter abruptly. Yue Feng and his three companions beside him were all shocked in unison; The expression of all four hundred-plus people on the first floor froze. "That’s an Advanced Cold Beast, Advanced Cold Beast. Run, run, everyone scatter and flee..."

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