Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1798: Chapter 573: Factional Strife, Unlucky Hou Tong (Part 3)

He originally belonged to the Longbei System, but after Hou Jing stepped down as Deputy Director of the Hunting Department the previous year, and seeing the decline of the Longbei System, he resolutely switched allegiance to Luo Yuan, and now he is considered part of the Rogel Faction.

As for Luo Yuan, the leader of the faction, he naturally had to obey unconditionally. Besides, he was now insignificant, even if he met the madam, he probably wouldn’t make any impression. Understanding this logic, Hou Tong had no complaints. He needed to handle some matters in the Southern Slope Territory, so he bid farewell to Luo Yuan and headed south.

Luo Yuan stayed behind, continuing to wait for the madam and the two princes.

The Bone-Eroding Path stretched over 100 kilometers. If it were in the past when the Black Wind occupied it, the valley would be filled with those terrifying bone-eroding winds. Even though Hou Tong had Xianyang level cultivation and 4-jun strength, it would have taken him at least six to seven hours to traverse.

But things were different now. After the disappearance of the Black Wind in the valley, even the temperature rose considerably. Moreover, with the ability to freely control the skies, Hou Tong soon found himself less than ten kilometers from the southern exit.

“The madam should not lose face and interfere with the lord’s marriage alliance with Cai Qiu, but the people under her could act differently. The Xia Palace, Dragon Forbidden Captain, and Long Mountain System are all closely tied to the madam and the Second Prince. If the lord and Cai Qiu successfully marry, it would affect them the most. There’s no way they would remain indifferent. The question is what method they’ll use to stop the marriage alliance…”

While flying south at high speed, Hou Tong’s thoughts never ceased.

In reality, Great Xia’s scale has now caught up with the Feudal Towns. The lord’s promotion to Landgrave is only a matter of time. As the scope increases, various entangled interests will continually emerge, and matters involving palace intrigue and succession are, of course, the most sensitive.

Since Zhaoyang was destroyed in the second year of Great Xia, Hou Tong switched allegiance to Xia Hong’s command, and it’s been eleven years since. Over such a long time, he has completely integrated into Xia City, considering himself one of the Xia people.

He saw clearly that Hou Jing was old and losing power, Hou Bing’s strength and tactics were inadequate, and the hope of sustaining the Longbei System was fleeting. If he wanted to climb further, he needed to find a new backer.

“Hou Bing tried to reverse the decline of the Longbei System by teaming up with Yuwen Yong to forcibly capture Guangning Mountain. It seemed like they outwitted Lord Yuwen, prolonging the Longbei System’s life, but actually, it was like attaching a death warrant!”

After the Xia Army stationed at River Valley Village, even though Commander Yuwen Dao did not issue a specific ceasefire order, from the deployment of the army, it was easy to tell that he no longer wished to advance north.

Hou Bing took the initiative to attack, although he did not defy military orders. Still, opposing the commander on the battlefield, regardless of the achievements, could he escape unscathed afterwards?

The key was the lord’s attitude. Hou Tong had already inquired from the Dragon Forbidden Captain’s people last night. Although the lord verbally commended Hou Bing for capturing Guangning Mountain, he actually held a contrary stance and even reprimanded Commander Yuwen Dao over the matter.

Yuwen Yong was an adopted brother. It was obvious on whose head Commander Yuwen Dao would pin this reprimand from the lord.

“Luckily, I cut ties with the Longbei System last year. Hou Bing is too foolish. Lord Qiu assigned him to be the Fei Peng Army Commander, a signal that was quite clear, basically a Tupo Faction olive branch. Yet he clings to the dead tree branches of the Longbei System, offending Yuwen Dao this time and coupled with the lord’s attitude, he is likely to be marginalized soon.”

Recalling this, Hou Tong couldn’t help but shake his head repeatedly.

The Longbei System actually had two Numbered Armies. The Beizhao Army led by Hou Tong was established in the seventh year of Great Xia with Hou Jing’s support; the second, Zhuhuan Army, originated from the Zhuhuan Team founded by Hou Bing, also dated back two years prior, when Hou Jing stepped down as Deputy Director of the Hunting Department, and with a plea to Yuwen Dao, was successfully established.

As the founder of the Zhuhuan Team, Hou Bing naturally took charge as the first Commander of the Zhuhuan Army. In recent years, as Great Xia expanded further, the Camp Needs Department had more affairs to handle, and Qiu Peng had little interest in military affairs, and last year vacated the Fei Peng Army Commander position. His choice was Hou Bing.

Some matters weren’t clear at the time, but looking back, they can be understood now.

The previous year, Qiu Peng asked Yuwen Dao to help transfer Hou Bing from Zhuhuan Army Commander to Fei Peng Army Commander, evidently an Assistant Minister’s move to consolidate the Longbei System’s forces. Unfortunately, Hou Bing didn’t see the situation clearly and attempted to raise the Longbei flag, leading to the current outcome.

“Great Xia is flourishing at present, changing almost yearly in appearance. Various resources are brimming. Securing discourse power during this time may not seem effective short-term, but when the camp reaches a bottleneck and resources become strained, this discourse power means priority allocation of resources, so it must be heeded.

Given my current strength and status, the Tupo Faction, Long Mountain System, and Mirror Valley Faction all don’t regard me well. Actively joining would not receive emphasis. The Rogel Faction doesn’t have many strong figures. Lord Luo is considered the most suitable backer I could find.”

Hou Tong gradually sorted out his thoughts, feeling more at ease.

Hou Bing called him a traitor in front of many Zhaoyang old acquaintances, but Hou Tong knew this clearly and never minded it.

Things change over time. If Hou Jing hadn’t stepped down and remained as Deputy Director of the Hunting Department, he wouldn’t have switched so soon to Luo Yuan. Even taking a step back, if Hou Bing could truly uphold the Longbei flag, the situation wouldn’t have evolved to this point.

The problem is, Hou Bing is too stubborn, definitely unreliable.

“Everyone is prone to improve his own lot. Past sentiments can be remembered, but since Hou Tong considers himself part of Great Xia, his career is of utmost importance…”

Boom!

Suddenly, a startling thunder resounded overhead, abruptly interrupting Hou Tong’s thoughts. The thunder was so loud, and the proximity too close, it startled him greatly, causing his body to freeze in mid-air.

“Thunder?”

Hou Tong looked up at the sky, his face full of confusion.

In an extremely cold environment like the Ice Abyss, thunderstorms are exceedingly rare. In his over fifty years, he recalls only witnessing thunderstorms twice.

Those two thunderstorms occurred during relatively warmer times and were also in extremely rare rainy conditions.

The Black Wind withdrew from the Bone-Eroding Path less than ten days ago, and the valley temperature is just slightly higher than outside, and currently, it isn’t a rainy day. How could there be a sudden thunderstorm?

Crack…

While Hou Tong was baffled, another blood-colored lightning streaked across the sky, lingering for a long time, seemingly tearing a crack in the sky.

Boom!

From the crack suddenly seeped dense blood-colored miasma. Within the miasma, a trace of white spiritual light gleamed. Hou Tong in mid-air saw something perplexing, his body stiffened suddenly, and almost without thinking, he flew swiftly towards the south.

“Someone in the white light… No… no… no, blood-colored lightning, pervasive miasma, the one emerging from that can’t be a person?”

“A deceitful monster, definitely a deceitful monster; it seemed to sweep a glance at me, and my blood almost stopped flowing. Even the Landgrave Cai Qiu’s gaze didn’t feel like this!”

“This is too unfortunate, encountering such a powerful deceitful monster here, descending from the sky without any warning.”

“It’s over, completely over now.”

…

Hou Tong dashed south, almost like lightning, covering two to three kilometers in mere five or six breaths. Yet even at such a distance, his entire face remained ashen with fear and his pupils were full of deep terror, his tone already extremely panicked.

“What year in Great Xia is it now? Where is this place?”

A cold female voice arose from overhead, causing Hou Tong’s dashing body to halt abruptly, freezing in the air. Realizing his body couldn’t move, he was utterly devastated, with despair quickly creeping into his eyes.