Chapter 700: Chapter 289: Crushing, Stalling for Time, Ning Yuan Hill’s Decisive Victory
"The tactics of the White Dew Gu are indeed too strong; if we allow it to continue, it might lead to a disastrous situation!"
Xia Hong had this thought flash through his mind as he quickly got up to pursue Hou Hu and the other three.
Three Cold Resistance Level warriors with only five or six manes, along with a severely injured Hou Hu, trying to escape from his grasp was simply impossible.
The extent to which the White Dew Gu can enhance Cold Resistance Level strength is still unclear, but judging from the enhancement rate of Zhaoyang’s Cold Resistance Levels over the past two months, the efficiency has been astonishing.
Once this enhancement spreads widely, the Great Xia could be in deep trouble.
So, it’s best to kill them one by one!
In less than ten breaths, Xia Hong had already caught up with the four of them.
With killing intent glinting in his eyes, Xia Hong did not hesitate. The Dragon Sparrow Saber drew a cold edge, directly targeting the severely injured Hou Hu.
Whish...
However, just as the blade was about to cut into the back of Hou Hu’s neck.
A swift sound of an Iron Arrow tearing through the air suddenly rang by Xia Hong’s ear.
"Clang..."
Xia Hong simply ignored the Iron Arrow, being able to discern who shot it just from the intensity of the wind noise.
It was the Divine Archer named Yang Fengping from Gourd Valley.
This also indicated that the people of Long Mountain had arrived.
If it had been two months ago, he might not have dared to take this shot head-on.
But now...
Xia Hong directly braced against the Iron Arrow and continued to swing his saber towards Hou Hu.
Clang...
However, to Xia Hong’s surprise, the Iron Arrow wasn’t aimed at him personally but rather at the Dragon Sparrow Saber in his hand.
The strength of the Iron Arrow wasn’t particularly strong, only about sixteen manes.
Yet this force was enough to alter the direction of the Dragon Sparrow Saber, making his cut deviate.
Hou Hu stumbled forward, throwing himself forward desperately. Having narrowly escaped death, he couldn’t be bothered about his image anymore, as the three Cold Resistance Levels dragged him to hide at the back of the crowd rushing from the north.
"Leader Xia, you Great Xia invaded Longyou first, occupying one-third of Longyou’s land from the Beehive, Hanqiong, and Wushuang families; and now you seize our supplies and slaughter our allies. It seems you’ve set your mind to ignite war in Longyou!"
The people from Long Mountain were numerous, a total of thirteen.
The leader was Li Xuanling, behind her were Li Xuantiang and Li Xuandu, and the remaining nine Xia Hong recognized as the stronger Cold Resistance Levels of Long Mountain.
The thirteen came from the southwest, presumably departing from Long Mountain, passing through Songyuan Realm, before arriving here; they were slightly breathless, evidently having rushed over in haste.
Having been promptly outmaneuvered by Li Xuanling, Xia Hong didn’t react but instead, watched the Long Mountain crowd with interest, focusing particularly on Li Xuantiang, then looked directly at Li Xuanling, chuckling lightly as he asked, "Long Mountain sent 800 sets of Hundred Forged Level armors to Zhaoyang. Surely, it’s not just to enhance their hunting ability?"
Li Xuanling’s expression faltered at the question.
The implication of Xia Hong’s words was clear: Long Mountain and Zhaoyang were on the same side, aiming to oppose Great Xia.
So, what difference does it make whether or not Great Xia declares war?
Indeed, since Great Xia dared to snatch this batch of armors, it meant they must have already known about Long Mountain and Zhaoyang’s alliance. Her earlier outmaneuver was indeed somewhat redundant.
There must be a traitor within Long Mountain, likely among the more than 900 people in the Earth-digging Realm whom Great Xia released from Gourd Valley last time.
With so many in the Earth-digging Realm, Great Xia saying they released them was indeed suspicious!
Similarly, Zhaoyang also had more than 700 in the Earth-digging Realm released at that time, and there must be spies from Great Xia among them as well.
At this moment, Li Xuanling’s demeanor was highly somber. When Great Xia released those over 900 Earth-digging Realm individuals in late April, she had already sensed that there was a problem with this batch of people.
The crucial matter was that on the night of Gourd Valley, she had chosen to abandon this batch of Earth-digging Realm individuals on her own accord.
Upon realizing they couldn’t neutralize Wu Xiong, who was under the control of White Dew Gu, she led several Cold Resistance Levels to cover the retreat of Longyou Army soldiers and then fled herself, leaving the remaining Earth-digging Realm to be abandoned by her.
Who would have thought that Great Xia would save all these people and eventually return them to Long Mountain?
Li Xuanling and several Cold Resistance Levels felt guilty towards these people, so even knowing there might be a traitor among them, they only dared to investigate secretly.
But after more than two months, they hadn’t found any problems, so Long Mountain decided to put this matter aside, not expecting the traitor to be so well hidden!
Being able to ambush in Changbai Gully and intercept these 800 sets of armors on the way, it showed that Great Xia not only knew about the armors long ago but also were clear about the delivery to Baiyuan Camp.
"This batch of armors was kept extremely secret from construction to transportation, known only by people within the military camp, so the traitor is very likely in the new army. However, in the Battle of Changbai Gully, the new army was completely wiped out, with only over sixty people returning. Would Xia Hong still hide the traitor among these people and return them to Long Mountain?"
Looking at Xia Hong at this moment, Li Xuanling, though her face was as cold as frost and showed no emotional fluctuations, had her right hand resting on the sword hilt tremble slightly twice.
"Xia Hong, since you already know about Zhaoyang and Long Mountain’s alliance, then you should clearly understand that Great Xia no longer has a foothold in Longyou. As long as you return these 800 sets of armors, release Zhou Yuan, Li Yuanqing, Cheng He, and a group of Long Mountain captives, and then lead Great Xia to withdraw from Longyou, henceforth Longyou and Redwood Ridge shall be divided by the Arrow Bamboo Forest, with our two sides leaving each other alone, how about it?"
Xia Hong looked up at Li Xuanling, a slight look of surprise flashing across his face.
Although Li Xuanling’s right-hand tremor earlier was small, it didn’t escape his keen eyes, so he was very aware that Li Xuanling must be at her boiling point of anger at this moment.