Chapter 532: Chapter 234: Probing, Arrangements, and Hou Hu’s Confidence (Part 3)
"This doesn’t just seem like leaning towards Zhaoyang, it’s more like preparing to completely join Zhaoyang. Dongkang is on the right side, White Abyss to the northwest; both are adjacent to Zhaoyang, so merging fully isn’t surprising. However, this way, Zhaoyang’s power is growing stronger!"
Xia Hong’s gaze was slightly heavy as he continued listening to Hou Hu’s conversation with the others.
Hou Quan, who had just given up his seat for Xia Hong, stood up at this moment and cupped his hands, saying:
"Leader, two days ago, I separately dispatched eight people to Longyou’s eight camps to deliver the news, that Li Tianhua was no longer in Long Mountain. The news should have spread by now;
The people sent to report to Changning and Song Yuan have returned. According to them, Longyou troops are patrolling everywhere within these two territories, which should be under Long Mountain’s control;
The person who went to Yucheng has also returned; they didn’t even make it into Yucheng’s base and couldn’t find anyone from Yucheng, so it remains unclear what the situation is."
Upon hearing this final piece of news, Hou Hu’s expression slightly tensed, but then he chuckled a couple of times and spoke coldly: "Yan Chuan must have encountered some trouble. Since Long Mountain wants to take preemptive action, they would undoubtedly first target such double-dealing individuals.
Yucheng, Changning, and Song Yuan have all been taken by Long Mountain. With the common people from these three families, they control the Earth-digging Realm by at least 5,000 more; their actions this time are quite swift indeed."
Xia Hong’s brow slightly twitched, marveling at Hou Hu’s keen insight.
He had personally seen Yan Chuan’s corpse, yet Hou Hu could deduce from just this information that Yan Chuan had encountered trouble and that Yucheng had fallen to Long Mountain. This was indeed not simple.
Hou Quan nodded in agreement and then spoke again:
"Has Li Xuanyan wised up?"
"He doesn’t have the brains to act so decisively. I reckon Li Tiancheng personally took charge. They didn’t just take these three, right? What else is going on? Tell me everything!"
When mentioning Li Xuanyan, Hou Hu’s tone was full of disdain, declaring outright that he couldn’t have done these deeds, clearly indicating his familiarity with him.
Another person stepped out from behind Hou Quan, cupped his fists, and said: "Wushuang and Hanqiong have already captured Yang Lu as promised. Our spies have relayed from Wushuang that Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli, with a large force, are stationed in Yang Lu, waiting for Hou Ming from Beehive to finish, the forces of the four—Wushuang, Hanqiong, Beehive, and Yang Lu—will join together, completely liberating the southeast of Longyou from Long Mountain’s control!"
"Good!"
Hou Hu was visibly excited, standing up immediately and shifting his gaze towards Bai Qiucheng, speaking in a deep tone: "You said that Long Mountain’s army is currently partially stationed to your west, cutting off the major road between Xiling and you; the other part is stationed in the south, preventing large numbers of your people from going south and also hindering your uniting with us in Zhaoyang, is that correct?"
Bai Qiucheng stood up, bowed, and nodded, "Indeed, the numbers of the Longyou troops are somewhat unusual. Long Mountain must have utilized Longyou troops to take Yucheng, Changning, and Song Yuan so swiftly. However, among the 2,000 men stationed to our west, half are Longyou troops judging by their attire, and the 2,000 men in the south are the same—how could Long Mountain have this many...?"
"Li Tianhua always likes to keep a hidden hand in whatever he does. There have always been more than a thousand Longyou troops; I knew this from before, although to have this many is somewhat beyond my expectations."
Hou Hu’s brow showed a hint of pressure, and then he sneered, "Blocking the major roads to prevent large-scale personnel exchanges between us is because they’re afraid of us uniting. Among over 4,000 troops, even if I assume there are 2,000 Longyou troops, wanting to seal off all the major roads between six camps is somewhat naive..."
He pondered for a moment, turning to ask Hou Quan: "Is the thousand Blood Guard Army of Hou Hua already stationed at the White Abyss camp?"
Hou Quan cupped his hands and nodded vigorously, expression full of vigor.
"Instruct them to await orders there; I will arrive immediately. Besides..."
Hou Hu turned his gaze toward Xia Hong, who had been quietly listening, and with a hint of a smile in his voice, he spoke: "Brother Hong, I must trouble you."
"Brother Hou, please speak directly!"
Feeling he was finally being assigned a task, Xia Hong immediately stood up and cupped his fists in salute, giving Hou Hu ample face.
"Brother Hong, there’s no need for such..."
Hou Hu raised his hand slightly to indicate that he did not need to be so formal, then continued, "Zhaoyang has 1,500 people stationed at the Hanqiong Camp, currently led by Hou Tong. Please go to Hanqiong and assist Hou Tong, preferably breaking Long Mountain’s blockade of the south of White Abyss; if you can’t breach it, at least hold them up and prevent them from interfering with the battle on this side. How about it?"
He intended to personally lead the Blood Guard Army to deal with the Longshan Garrison on the west of White Abyss; Xia Hong himself was to help Hou Tong hold up the southern Longshan Garrison of White Abyss.
"Alright, I will do my utmost!"
Xia Hong immediately grasped Hou Hu’s strategy and agreed without hesitation.
While Xia Hong had not personally faced the Longyou and Blood Guard Armies, he had observed their battles. Not only did individuals possess strength exceeding 20,000 pounds, but they were also equipped with special weapons, and their combat prowess far surpassed that of ordinary camp Hunting Team members.
A formidable army like this, numbering even in the hundreds, could threaten the Cold Resistance Level, which was why Hou Hu had frenziedly fled towards the Blood Guard Army when being pursued by Li Tiancheng that night.
And such an army, Long Mountain didn’t have just a thousand.
Even Zhaoyang had only a thousand Blood Guard Army; to instruct him to hold back the southern front, was Hou Hu truly confident that he could defeat the Longshan army in the west?
Xia Hong’s expression flickered slightly as he looked at Hou Hu, who was still assigning tasks. A strong curiosity arose in his heart.