Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1125: Chapter 387: The Two Unwilling to Give Up, the Xiang Family’s Miserable Plight and Bashang’s Population, Yuan Cheng Sells the Mystery (2)

Moreover, as the reputation of Great Xia’s Moao First Town spread.

Another rumor is also starting to circulate in the Eight Towns.

The content of the rumor is that Xia Hong has replaced Yang Zhun of Beishuo, becoming the strongest in the Nine Towns at the southern foot of Moao Mountain.

It’s unclear how the other seven towns reacted, but the response from Beishuo Town was significant.

The name of the Great Lord Yang Zhun cannot be sullied.

When this rumor flowed into Beishuo City in mid-July, Town Chief Yang Fa was enraged and immediately executed more than a dozen key spreaders, then strictly ordered everyone in the city not to spread the message further.

Yang Ning, upon first hearing the rumor from the soldiers in the camp, also reacted violently, almost resorting to murder, but eventually, for the soldier’s idle chatting, only punished him with a hundred lashes, leaving him severely injured.

Now, the core members of Beishuo are extremely hostile toward Great Xia, including Yang Ning and Li Hu.

The two traveled thousands of miles to Hongmen to investigate Great Xia, partly to resolve their doubts and partly to alleviate the worries of the Lord and Town Chief.

”The three people just followed Vice Director Xu into the city; I know the one in the middle, named Xiang Tianyang, and the two on the sides look similar to him, likely also members of the Xiang family.”

Having decided to stay in Hongmen to gather information, Yang Ning put aside other thoughts and recalled the trio brought into the city by Xu Ning, his eyes immediately darkening.

”At the end of April’s Hongmen Banquet, Great Xia first snatched the Jiuchu Camp from our Beishuo, then took Bashang City from Chui Mountain Town, and now they invite members of the Xiang family over, likely because of the issue of the more than one hundred thousand people in Bashang City refusing to migrate.”

Li Hu nodded immediately upon hearing this.

He had also heard of the Bashang City’s people unwilling to migrate.

”The people from Yinhe Valley will likely stay in Hongmen for a few days. During these days, we should stick with Han Peng and see if, besides Yuan Cheng, we can spot other familiar faces.”

”Agreed!”

Li Hu immediately nodded in agreement.

Nine years ago, Xia Hong brought six people to the Rogel Camp with logging machines. Confirming just Yuan Cheng’s identity is not enough; if they can verify a few more familiar faces, it will be more reassuring.

While the two quietly discussed, they remained within Han Peng’s group.

They did not notice Han Peng at the front of the group whose gaze swept toward them, with a hint of darkness in his eyes.

...

Hongmen City, Ministry Building, Top Floor Main Hall.

Xiang Tianyang led his two clan brothers, Xiang Tianqing and Xiang Tianyu, following behind a Golden Armored Soldier, slowly entering the main hall, all three of them with unusually somber expressions, unsure of their thoughts.

”Gentlemen, my minister is busy with other matters and will be able to meet you after a while, please wait patiently for a moment.”

The soldier who led them extended his hands, explaining, before swiftly exiting the hall.

The trio stood quietly in the main hall for a while without speaking.

Finally, it was Xiang Tianqing on the left who couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke first.

”Brother, fourth brother, regardless of Great Xia’s strength, there is absolutely no way they’ll get us Xiang family to move away from Bashang!”

Xiang Tianqing, just over forty, is the youngest among them, and with a markedly impulsive temper, he expressed his stance first and then continued sternly: ”Not only us Xiang family, but also the Zhang family, Zheng family, Wang family... more than a dozen large and small families in the city, along with over sixty thousand others who have lived in Bashang for generations. A single word from Great Xia expecting all of us, over a hundred thousand people, to move is unreasonable!”

Xiang Tianyang and Xiang Tianyu instinctively wanted to respond, but the realization dawned on them, causing them to pause and not speak.

Bashang City’s original population was over eight hundred thousand, dwindling relentlessly due to the battle against Dajue Temple earlier in the year, prompting the relocation of all village-level camps into the town, causing the population to suddenly jump to over one million five hundred thousand.

Later, the Five Great Masters of Dajue Temple conjured that Five-headed Mysterious-faced Maitreya, claiming one-third of the town’s residents’ lives, so now Bashang City’s population remains slightly over a million.

The fall of Dajue Temple did not herald victory for Bashang City.

Lord Xiang Fuhai’s body was never found; Army Chief Xiang Fan Yun and Town Chief Xiang Tianlin both died in battle, with the high level members decimated, and countless Xiang family members were killed or injured. Only over five hundred Cold Resistance Level individuals in Bashang Town survived, about one-sixth of the pre-war number.

Post-war Bashang City could only watch helplessly as the Six Towns stripped their treasury bare, divided all of Bashang’s territory, and even Bashang City, where they resided, was lastly allocated to Chui Mountain Town.

But not even a day passed before they received news of Bashang City changing hands to Great Xia.

Despite the inner shock and sorrow, truth be told, most people in Bashang City were actually quite relieved, especially knowing Xia Hong was the one responsible for dealing with the Five-headed Mysterious-faced Maitreya, saving the people of Bashang City; there was hardly any further resistance in their hearts.

In early May, Dragon Martial Army stationed at Bashang City, faced no resistance, indicative of their unobjectionable mentality.

However, by mid-May, when Great Xia dispatched Deputy Director Xu Ning to oversee Bashang, proposing the relocation of over a hundred thousand to Xia City, the resistance within their hearts immediately emerged.

Over five hundred at Cold Resistance Level, along with thousands at the Earth-digging Realm, and all residents of Bashang City, nearly everyone refused.