Chapter 252: The First Step of the Secret Cold Seal

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh……

The firelight emitted by the Hanxu Cauldron made the three holy patterns between Xia Hong’s eyebrows shine brightly. His eyes were as sharp as torches, and even though Wu Xiong was completely silent, he did not move over, but continued to shoot arrows.

The Shenbi bow was equipped with a total of fifty special iron arrows. Xia Hong stopped only after all the iron arrows were used up, and then he slowly walked in front of Wu Xiong.

Wuxiong’s head was pierced by the iron arrow and looked like a hedgehog. The flames produced by the reaction of the fire oil were still burning.

What is different from ordinary flesh is that the layer below Takeo’s skin is not the flesh and blood of a normal human being, but white dewdrops. After being melted by the flames, those dewdrops slowly condensed into water-blue liquid-like substances.

When Xia Hong saw the liquid substances, his eyes lit up instantly and he quickly took out a wooden box from his body and prepared.

One drop…two drops…three drops…fifteen drops…

By the time Takeo’s body was completely burned, a total of thirty drops had come out.

“As expected, this Bai Lu Gui and Han Ping Yu Lu have the same origin!”

Xia Hong looked at the thirty drops of water-blue liquid in the wooden box that looked like marbles. He touched it with his hand first, and felt the extremely high temperature of the liquid. His eyes were suddenly filled with joy.

He had seen Han Ping Yu Lu once in Zhaoyang, and the thirty drops of liquid in the box at this moment were exactly the same as Han Ping Yu Lu.

After the smoke cleared, only bones remained of Takeo’s body.

Xia Hong looked around the outer valley and found that there was no one there, so he walked straight towards the inner valley.

The whole process, from his appearance to the killing of Bai Lugui, lasted for more than an hour, so basically all the living people inside and outside the valley ran away. The entire Hanqiong base was now empty and there was no sound at all.

Having stayed in Hanqiong for a day or two, Xia Hong knew very well which wooden houses had people living in them. However, with each wooden house he opened, his expression became increasingly gloomy. It was not until he had searched the entire station that he sighed heavily.

“At least half of the people are dead. This monster is too lethal to ordinary people. It didn’t attack ordinary people at all. It killed so many people just by infecting them with dewdrops. If it lasts a little longer, I’m afraid no one in Hanqiong will survive!”

A dark light flashed in Xia Hong’s eyes. He walked into the main building of Hanqiong, went all the way to the top floor, and found the largest room.

Seeing that the room was tidy and there was no sign of anything being disturbed, Xia Hong’s eyes suddenly showed a hint of joy, and he hurriedly searched the room.

Even Hou Tong rarely comes into this room. He noticed it when he came here before. In addition, the room is filled with luxurious furnishings. If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the room of the leader Han Jiuli.

As the leader, Han Jiuli should have a lot of good things.

According to the news brought back by Yuan Cheng, Han Jiuli should have died with Wu Xiong at Yangyuan Peak. In that case, all these good things of his would naturally belong to him.

However, after searching the room for a long time, Xia Hong still found nothing.

It doesn’t make sense. A leader wouldn’t take everything with him when he goes out. Even he himself left a lot of good things in the room at the base.

After Xia Chuan and his men defeated Wu Shuang, they also found a lot of precious materials from Wu Xiong’s room, and even a large silver ingot.

“Dong dong…”

Xia Hong continued to explore the room, stepping on the ground from time to time. Soon when he stepped on the main couch in the room, the sound caught his attention.

Hollow!
Xia Hong pushed his feet hard twice again and realized that the inside of the bed was really empty. He immediately became interested and used a little more force.

boom…………

The bed collapsed, and a deep dark passage leading directly to the downstairs suddenly came into view. Xia Hong looked at the messy footprints near the entrance of the dark passage, immediately raised his eyebrows, and jumped down.

The main building of Han Qiong was built against the stone wall on the east side. It had fifteen floors and was more than seventy meters high. After Xia Hong jumped down the passage, he fell more than fifty meters before he stepped on the ground, and then he saw a secret passage to the east.

The stone wall on the east side is the stone wall of Shuanglong Mountain, which means that this secret passage leads to the interior of Shuanglong Mountain.

Xia Hong’s eyes suddenly lit up, especially when he lit a torch and walked along the secret passage. He found that the passage as a whole was rising from low to high, and his eyes suddenly became extremely hot.

“Maybe it can lead to the top of Shuanglong Mountain…”

call…………

Xia Hong, who was running fast in the passage, heard the sound of wind in his ears. His face became serious and he suddenly stopped and drew his sword to attack the top of his head.

Clang… click…

What was coming down from above was a big knife.

The big knife was of good quality. It collided violently with Xia Hong’s Dragon Sparrow Knife, but it did not break at the first time. However, Xia Hong then took the initiative to raise the knife with force and cut it off.

“Eight-mane power, you are Han Jiuli’s son Han Feng, right?”

The owner of the broadsword was less than thirty years old, and compared to his strength, he looked surprisingly young. A hint of thought rose in Xia Hong’s eyes, and he immediately revealed the other party’s identity.

There are three cold-resistant level warriors in Hanqiong Camp. Leaders Han Jiuli and Wu Lin both met with accidents at Yangyuan Peak, leaving only Han Feng, who never showed up from beginning to end.

On the first day when he arrived at Han Qiong’s base, Xia Hong was a little puzzled as to why Han Feng had never shown up, but he understood later.

Hou Tong’s original plan was not to cooperate with Han Qiong. He brought with him 1,500 Earth Digging Realm warriors and five Cold Resistance Realm warriors, which actually meant he had already substantially annexed Han Qiong.

Under such circumstances, Han Feng was not clear about the actual situation of Yangyuan Peak. If he was unwilling to surrender to Zhaoyang, he could only escape.

It now seems that Han Feng obviously did not escape, but has been hiding in the dark.

“The most commendable thing about Han Jiuli is that he has raised a very capable son. He has reached the late stage of the Cold Resistance Level at the age of 28. Looking at the entire Longyou, apart from the monster Li Xuanling, no one can compare to him!”

Thinking of Hou Hu’s evaluation of Han Feng in Zhaoyang, Xia Hong’s eyes suddenly showed an interest. Then he noticed the faint light of fire coming from the passage behind Han Feng, and said with appreciation:

“It seems that you have been able to rescue a lot of people during the chaos. Hou Tong and Li Xuanling have all escaped. The people your father took out have been killed by monsters at Yangyuan Peak. Where can you run with these people? Why not take them with you and join the Daxia camp?”

In Xia Hong’s opinion, Han Feng’s talent is just worthy of a good evaluation at best. There are many people in Daxia who are stronger than him, such as Yuwen Tao, Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, Lin Kai, Yue Feng, Lu Yang…

What really made him want to recruit him was Han Feng’s extraordinary character.

Although Han Feng was unwilling to surrender to Zhaoyang, he did not escape alone. Instead, he hid in the secret passage for so many days, waiting for an opportunity to come out and rescue people. Judging from the footsteps in the secret passage just now, it is very likely that when Wu Xiong was killing people in the valley, he took the initiative to run out to rescue people.

This alone is enough to prove his good character.

Moreover, he was able to hide in the secret passage for so many days without being discovered by Hou Tong and others, which proved that he was also smart and flexible enough.

Such a young cold-resistant master with superior talent and good character is enough to make Xia Hong want to recruit him.

Moreover, Han Qiong’s camp is gone. The Hulu Valley, including the more than 10,000 people who survived Han Qiong, should all belong to Daxia. If the leader’s son Han Feng could be recruited first, a lot of trouble could be saved later.

However, the other party didn’t seem interested in recruiting him.

In the dark passage, under the light of the fire, Xia Hong saw Han Feng’s vigilant eyes, frowned slightly, and asked in a deep voice: “From the traces of footsteps, you have rescued at least more than a thousand people. With your strength, it is basically impossible for you to live your previous life with more than a thousand people…”

At this point, noticing the obvious resistance on Han Feng’s face, Xia Hong paused and frowned, “Hou Tong was the one who killed Han Qiong. At the very least, you should put the blame on Zhao Yang and Hou Hu. If you look more thoroughly, it was Wu Xiong who was controlled by Bai Lugui who killed so many people in Han Qiong. I killed it, so I should be considered your benefactor. There is no reason for you to be wary of me, right?”

“Hou Tong and Hou Hu are not good people; Bai Lu, who killed so many of my Han Qiong’s people, is not a good person either; but you are essentially no different from them, and to some extent, you are even more cruel than them…” Xia Hong was stunned when he heard Han Feng’s words, but the next sentence from the other party made his face slightly stiff, and he fell silent immediately.

“You deliberately waited for Li Xuanling, Hou Tong and the eleven cold-resistant level creatures to run away before you killed the Bailu Gui. Wasn’t it also to annex our Hanqiong Camp?”

Although Han Feng was talking, he glanced back from time to time. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the people he had rescued running far away through the secret passage.

Then he turned around and looked at Xia Hong, with a sneer on his face again.

Just now, Xia Hong stood motionless at the entrance of the valley. Only when he saw Li Xuanling and others escaping did he suddenly attack and kill Bai Lugui. During the whole process, he was hiding in a cave in the middle of the mountain wall and saw it all clearly.

He was not stupid, and he quickly figured out Xia Hong’s plan at that time.

He simply wanted to wait for the monster to kill Li Xuanling, Hou Tong and eleven other people, but this intention was obviously not achieved as the eleven people escaped one after another.

And when all the eleven Cold-Resistant Level cultivators had escaped, Xia Hong appeared again as a savior, saving the Digging Level cultivators from the Longshan, Zhaoyang and Hanqiong families and all other ordinary people, becoming the biggest winner of the night.

The others didn’t know that when they saw Xia Hong appear, they regarded him as a savior. However, Han Feng, who saw everything clearly, looked at Xia Hong with only vigilance and strong resistance in his eyes.

Even the hostile Li Xuanling and Hou Tong, after realizing how powerful Bai Lugui was, immediately put aside their past grudges and reached a consensus to cooperate against the monster;
Xia Hong in front of him clearly had the ability to kill the monster, but in order to maximize his benefits, he just stood by and watched. He only stepped forward to rescue them after Li Xuanling and eleven others had all escaped.

He would not hate Xia Hong. After all, without Xia Hong, more people would have died in Hanqiong Camp, and he would not have had the chance to save so many people.

But the problem is that Xia Hong’s actions have caused a great psychological impact on Han Feng. At least in his opinion, whether it is Li Xuanling or Hou Tong, neither of them is as ruthless as Xia Hong in front of him.

That’s why he was so resistant to Xia Hong’s recruitment.

“You are a kind person!”

Xia Hong, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

There was not much shame on his face. After understanding the reason why Han Feng resisted his recruitment, he became more appreciative. After praising him, Xia Hong’s face darkened a little and continued, “You hid in the secret passage for so many days without running away. Just now, it was so dangerous, but you dared to run out to save people. This proves that you are not only concerned about yourself, but also have compassion for others. In this case, I will tell you a very simple truth, which is also the reason why I did that just now!”

Xia Hong paused for a moment, then said in a serious tone, “Hou Hu’s leadership has already pierced the Longyou Alliance. In my opinion, a divided and mutually hostile Longyou will bring as much harm to humanity as the monsters. I did allow the monsters to kill people just now, but if the sacrifice of this small number of people can end the current division in Longyou more quickly, then it will benefit more people. Do you understand?”

“You mean, it will be Daxia that will unify Longyou in the future?”

How could Han Feng not understand what Xia Hong meant? The more he understood, the more he sneered. He did not doubt Xia Hong’s personal strength, but he would never believe that the unknown Da Xia could resolve the Longshan and Zhaoyang families and finally unify the Longyou area.

“It must be, and can only be Da Xia!”

Xia Chuan’s voice suddenly came from the back of the passage and answered Han Feng.

“Big brother!”

“Chief.”

…………

Coming from the back of the passage were not only Xia Chuan, but also Luo Yuan, Zhao Long and five others.

The six people were relieved when they saw that Xia Hong was not injured. They bowed and saluted hurriedly. Then they turned to look at Han Feng on the other side of the passage. With a hint of coldness in their eyes, they drew their weapons and slowly walked towards him.

“Forget it, let him go.”

Xia Hong waved his hand slightly to stop everyone from taking action. Seeing Han Feng’s surprised expression, he shook his head and said, “You will understand me in the future!”

After saying that, Xia Hong thought of something, took out a small package from his arms, threw it directly at Han Feng, and said, “Apply this thing on your body to treat dew drops.”

Han Feng took the package, looked at Xia Hong deeply, clasped his fists, and subconsciously wanted to say thank you, but he held back the words and then turned around and left.

“Brother, who is this person?”

Xia Chuan probably just happened to hear Han Feng’s last question when he got close. When he saw Xia Hong let the other person go, he immediately asked out of curiosity.

Xia Hong shook his head slightly and did not answer him. He just asked Xia Chuan: “Didn’t I ask you to meet me in the southwest? How did you find this place?”

Xia Chuan nodded immediately and said, “We have met more than 10,000 people in the southwest and have sent people to take them to Wu Shuang’s base. Too much time has passed and we were worried that Big Brother was in danger, so we came directly to Han Qiong to find you. Later, we found a secret passage on the top floor of the main building and followed it to find you.”

“More than 10,000 people, including those three digging masters?”

Hearing this question, Luo Yuan on the side immediately answered with excitement:
“Captain, we have received a total of 17421 people, including 2931 Digging Realm masters. We just did a preliminary inquiry and found that there are people from Longshan, Zhaoyang, and Hanqiong. The remaining 14490 people are all from Hanqiong. Only a few of them still have dew on their bodies. We have already sent fire condensing oil to them. Once we confirm that they don’t have dew on their bodies, we will let them enter Wushuang’s camp.”

Seeing the excitement on Luo Yuan’s face, Xia Hong said with a strange expression: “Why are you so excited? Don’t you think that these three thousand Digging Realm will become people of Da Xia in the future?”

Luo Yuan was stunned when he heard this, and Xia Chuan and others beside him also showed puzzled expressions.

“The lives of these people were saved by the leader. If they don’t join Daxia, do they want to return to their original camp?”

“I just found out everything. Li Xuanling, Hou Tong and the others just abandoned them. These people still want to return to the original camp. Aren’t they crazy?”

Hearing what Xia Chuan and Zhao Long said, Xia Hong immediately shook his head.

“Saving a life is saving a life. I have no doubt that these people are grateful to me, but I am not very optimistic about how many people will change their allegiance because of this. Even if there are some, I estimate that they are rare.

These Digging Realm people are basically not young anymore, most of them have started families, they all grew up in their own camps, and their lives are not bad. The relationships with the core figures of their camps are also very complicated. How could they change camps so casually? Even if they really did, they would not ignore their families, so…”

After hearing Xia Hong’s explanation, Xia Chuan and others immediately reacted and their expressions turned unhappy.

Han Qiong’s people are easier to deal with. After all, the camp is gone, and they have no other choice but to join Da Xia.

But those Digging Realm masters from the other two families…

Qiu Peng thought for a moment, a ruthless look flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice:
“Then I say that the leader shouldn’t have saved these Diggers and let them go back to their own camps. They might even go against us in the future. We should have let Bai Lugui kill them all!”

Zhao Long was even more radical than him and continued, “No, that’s not right. We don’t need to let the two digging realms go. We can just bring those people back to Daxia and throw them into the mines like a beehive, and let them be miners, right?”

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up instantly.

Even Xia Chuan thought this was a good idea. He turned to look at Xia Hong and said, “Captain, this is feasible. We can tie them up with iron chains like a beehive and let them stay in the mine forever…”

“Look further ahead!”

Xia Hong interrupted Xia Chuan directly and said something with a hint of meaning. Seeing that everyone looked puzzled, he shook his head and said:

“The way the Beehive does it is to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. We don’t need to learn from them. Letting these people go is the first step for Daxia to truly take over Longyou. Think about it slowly, and follow me back to Wushuang first!”

Xia Hong had no intention of explaining to everyone. He just let them think about it slowly, and then led the way towards the entrance of the passage.

“Seal this passage and prepare to send someone to take over Hulu Valley.”

“Yes, leader!”

(End of this chapter)