Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 695: Chapter 288: On the March, Hou Hu’s Wrath

“A bit faster, it’s been half an hour and we’ve only covered a kilometer. Too slow.”

“The people pushing and pulling the carts, pack all the supplies onto the carts and pick up the pace.”

…

On the southern border of Changning, the Cloud Dragon Army was escorting ten empty carts and more than two hundred prisoners, forming a long convoy moving south.

Despite Liu Yuan constantly urging alongside the Nine Camp Captains, the overall marching speed remained shockingly slow.

Xia Chuan and Yuwen Dao, along with six Cold Resistance Level leaders, guarded Zhou Yuan and three other Cold Resistance Levels at the tail end of the convoy.

Watching the snail-like marching speed of the convoy, not only Xia Chuan, but also the individuals next to him including Yuwen Dao had furrowed brows.

This marching speed was truly too slow.

About one kilometer in half an hour, even without comparing to the Great Xia’s Straight Road, it’s astonishingly slow compared to normal marching in the Wushuang Realm.

“Though the carts are empty, people are carrying too much supply. Everyone has two sets of armor and weapons on their back, weighing at least tens of thousands of pounds collectively, wanting to go faster is impossible.”

“During the recent combat, all the wooden boxes on the carts were destroyed, and only a portion of the weapons and armor can be loaded onto the carts, which doesn’t help speed up much and wastes time instead, we can only keep trudging on.”

“No other options, we’re inherently unfamiliar with the road conditions within Changning and Songyuan Realm, and this route was temporarily surveyed and planned, speed is unachievable.”

“This won’t do, there are six kilometers to Songyuan, at this speed, it’ll take at least another hour, too slow.”

……

“Cough cough cough… Ptooey… Haha…”

Upon hearing the worrisome words of Yuwen Dao and others, the captured Zhou Yuan couldn’t help but laugh aloud a few times. He even spat out a bit of bloody froth due to the intense laughter affecting his wounds, and then he slowly spoke:

“It seems you plan to head south through Songyuan Realm and return to Wushuang.

Carrying so much supply, you won’t be able to escape.

Long Mountain must have gotten the news by now, the army surely has already set out from Long Mountain, heading through Songyuan to block your path; Hou Hu won’t miss sight of the convoy, he must have sent people to investigate in Changbai Gully long ago, and since you didn’t cover the corpses, the Blood Guard Army will definitely pursue you swiftly south from White Abyss…”

Due to his severe injuries, Zhou Yuan’s breath was feeble, yet seeing Xia Chuan and others in a predicament clearly brought him some relief, he continued spitefully:

“Zhaoyang siding with Long Mountain, there’s no place for Great Xia in Longyou, originally if only Great Xia accepted fate and withdrew from Longyou Land, but today, you’ve actively taken action against Long Mountain, henceforth…”

“Do you think I refrained from dealing with the corpses for fear of Hou Hu’s pursuit and in a hurry to escape?”

Zhou Yuan’s words were interrupted by Xia Chuan’s retort before he finished.

He froze momentarily, looking up at Xia Chuan with a puzzled expression.

Otherwise?

“Heh…”

Xia Chuan suddenly chuckled softly, then his gaze calmly fixed on Zhou Yuan, slighted shaking his head and said, “You are indeed loyal, but too naive…”

Zhou Yuan waited for no continuation, as the Cold Resistance Level leaders of Great Xia evidently sensed something, all raised their heads and looked to the east.

Following their gaze, Zhou Yuan noticed a black figure speeding towards them from the snowy field on the eastern side.

The figure in black moved swiftly across the snowy field, covering several hundred meters in less than a dozen breaths.

“Such speed!”

Just witnessing the speed exhibited by the figure made Zhou Yuan’s pupils constrict and his face filled with shock, not to mention Li Yuanqing and Cheng He, who were weaker than him.

“Greetings, Leader!”

Before Xia Chuan led Yuwen Dao and others in saluting the figure in black, Zhou Yuan had already recognized the person as Great Xia Leader Xia Hong, with whom he’d crossed paths previously in Gourd Valley.

“Long Mountain just sent people to White Abyss, Hou Hu should already be aware of what happened in Changbai Gully, the Blood Guard Army is pursuing us south…”

Clearly having rushed from White Abyss, Xia Hong spoke slightly out of breath.

“So soon?”

“It’s only been half an hour!”

“Directly sending the Blood Guard Army, Hou Hu dares risk so much?”

…

Listening to everyone’s words, Xia Hong shook his head with a smile and said, “With 800 sets of Hundred-forged Armor and weapons, who wouldn’t feel the pain, those two Cold Resistance Levels from Long Mountain must have arrived home as well, Li Xuanling surely knows by now.”

Xia Chuan promptly answered, “Li Xuanling knowing is useless, all three thousand of Longyou Army are in Long Mountain’s base, setting out now is too late, she can only send people from Songyuan’s garrison to harass us, amounts to nothing more!”

Upon hearing this, everyone relaxed significantly.

The route for the Cloud Dragon Army’s return obviously necessitated passing through Songyuan. If Long Mountain wanted to catch up, it could only dispatch people from Songyuan’s garrison. However, Songyuan’s garrison lacks stationed Longyou Army, sending a group of ordinary Earth-digging Realm would be impossible to intercept the Cloud Dragon Army, at most it’d serve as a harassment, indeed amounting to little concern.

“Lin Kai, go check south, see where the escort convoy is, have them speed up, the two forces must meet quickly, I expect Li Xuanling and Hou Hu will advance to locate the main army’s position, the supplies must be offloaded swiftly.”

“Understood, sir!”

Upon hearing, Lin Kai swiftly skirted the convoy’s flank, rushing southward.

Xia Hong watched Lin Kai leave, then turned to look at Xia Chuan and asked:

“Have the strategic positions been chosen?”

Xia Chuan’s expression brightened, he nodded and said, “Already chosen, a place called Ning Yuan Hill, right at the border between Songyuan and Changning, approximately six kilometers from here.”