Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 471: Chapter 216: Miracle Medicine, Outing, and the Longyou Incident

Unlike the first time entering the main building, this time, with Cheng Ping leading the way, Xia Hong quickly climbed to the fourth floor via the interior staircase.

The main hall on the fourth floor had a large Martial Arts Training Ground, where over a hundred people were diligently engaging in cultivation.

After Cheng Ping arrived, his movements became notably more cautious. Unsurprisingly, those who could train here were, if not elites, at least members of elite families.

Soon, Cheng Ping led him to a small room on the side of the fourth floor.

“Above this room is the boiler room where Jade Bone is cooked. I can only bring the gentleman here. Today, our Great Leader, Second Leader, and Commander Chen are all on the top floor. Maybe you should…”

“Shh… don’t speak.”

Xia Hong interrupted Cheng Ping directly, then closed his eyes and focused on listening to the sounds above.

Unfortunately, after a while of listening, his brow furrowed.

“There’s actually added protection on the top floor, worried about others eavesdropping!”

This undoubtedly piqued Xia Hong’s curiosity even more, especially knowing that Jade Bone was being cooked upstairs. After pondering for a moment, Xia Hong looked at the window of the room and directly climbed out through it.

“Wait for me here.”

Seeing Xia Hong climb to the top floor through the window, Cheng Ping’s face turned extremely unpleasant.

He had just been troubled about this, afraid Xia Hong would act this way. With all three leaders on the top floor, Xia Hong would undoubtedly die if discovered, then what about my antidote?

Of course, there was another possibility.

Since Xia Hong dared to go up, it proved he was confident he wouldn’t be discovered by the three leaders, but that possibility was really slim.

“Oh no, oh no, maybe I should just go upstairs and report to the leader…

But what if, as Hong Yu said, the leader cannot help me detox? Then I’m still doomed!

No, no, I’ll wait here a bit longer and see what happens!”

After weighing the pros and cons, Cheng Ping could only hope that Xia Hong would come back safely and decided that if anything happened upstairs, he would take action immediately.

Even though he was determined, staying in the room still made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

………

In the fifth-floor boiler room, Chen Li stood by a large pot.

More than ten people were continuously adding coal stone beneath the pot, making the bottom of the pot glow red. Steam kept rising from the pot, and since the room only had one pipe leading upward, the steam couldn’t escape quickly, leaving virtually no visibility inside the room.

The dozen or so people adding coal all covered their mouths and noses with damp cloths, showing dazed expressions and clear signs of poisoning.

“How much longer until the shift change? I’m about to hit my limit!”

“Almost done, just two more minutes, people are already outside the door.”

“The toxins from this Jade Bone are terrifying. After three hours, I’m at my limit. If I stay any longer, I’ll definitely die from the poison.”

“I wonder how the Great Leader and others use this for cultivation. I heard they drink the bone broth directly every time it’s cooked?”

“They add something to it. Last year, during one of the Jade Bone cookings, I was the last group to leave and saw the leader bring in three kinds of herbs. They probably added those things to make it drinkable.”

………

With the room filled with mist and everyone covering their noses and mouths, conversations were hushed. Soon, as the door opened and a new group entered, everyone inside breathed a sigh of relief and headed for the door.

No one noticed that a window on one side of the room had been silently opened slightly, and in the mist nearby squatted a black-clad masked person, who used the shift change to quietly blend into the new crowd.

“Poisonous fumes, Yuwen Dao didn’t mention that He Yuanhun was cooking Jade Bone!”

Xia Hong, mixed among the crowd as they shoveled coal, looked at the swirling poisonous fumes in the boiler room and showed a hint of confusion in his eyes.

He could clearly sense that these toxic fumes indeed derived from the Beast Bone.

But Yuwen Dao didn’t mention this before.

Yuwen Dao had joined the Camp for a long time, and Xia Hong trusted him. So, it meant that Chen Yingyuan did this on purpose.

Combining with what that person just said about the herbs, it’s likely Chen Yingyuan added herbs at the end to counteract the toxic fumes intentionally, to protect the formula from leaking out.

This matched with the Beehive’s overall approach of stifling advancement.

“Someone, go upstairs and stir the pot!”

Xia Hong shook his head slightly. Hearing the words of the person next to him, he promptly volunteered, throwing down the iron shovel and climbing up the wooden ladder on the side of the large pot.

Beside the large pot was a long-handled iron ladle, which Xia Hong picked up and started stirring.

Looking at the rich aromatic bone broth bubbling non-stop in the pot, Xia Hong’s eyes showed longing, but he quickly noticed that the Green Jade Beast Bone floating on top emitted an unusual black color. Looking closely, the toxic fumes in the room were coming from it.

This ended up being a wasted trip.

Xia Hong’s eyes flashed with helplessness. Chen Yingyuan was unexpectedly secretive about the Beast Bone formula, not even trusting his own people, which caught him off guard.

“What are you doing, trying to taste it? It will poison you to death!”

Just as he felt somewhat disheartened inside, another person climbed up on the opposite side of the pot. While stirring the bone broth inside, that person noticed Xia Hong staring blankly and teased him immediately.

“Zhu Yinhua, White Frost Grass, and one more thing, Cold Apple Jade Dew. Without these Three Great Medicines, this pot of bone broth is pure poison to us. No, even with the three medicines, we probably can’t withstand the energy of the Beast Bone…”