Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely-Chapter 119 - 108: Long-tailed Rodent [3-in-1 Mega Chapter]_2

Chapter 119: Chapter 108: Long-tailed Rodent [3-in-1 Mega Chapter]_2

"Damn it!"

On the other side, Luo Yuan was more direct; after speaking, he just dashed out.

Watching Luo Yuan rush out and then seeing Xia Chuan beside him, obviously annoyed for being a step slower than Luo Yuan, Xia Hong knew the two didn’t want their leader to risk himself, and he was somewhat moved.

To deal with the rodent swarm, one must understand their strength.

That large group on the North Slope, even if given a hundred guts, the three of us wouldn’t dare to touch them.

But by chance, we came across two trying to leave the group; such a heaven-sent opportunity shouldn’t be missed.

According to previous hunting experience, lighting a torch a short distance should be no problem.

But this Long-tailed Rodent, after all, being the first encounter with this Cold Beast, who knows if there will be any unexpected occurrences.

"Get a bit closer, be ready to help at any time!"

Although Luo Yuan has been hunting with us for so long, and Xia Hong trusted his adaptability, he still wasn’t familiar with these new Cold Beasts like the rodent, fearing any accidents, he brought Xia Chuan closer.

Meanwhile, Luo Yuan went north for a while, roughly estimated, the distance between himself and the two rodents was about a hundred meters, then he took out a torch.

"During previous hunts, the leader always lit the torch when about fifty or sixty meters away from a Cold Beast. Not familiar with these rodents, let’s try a bit over a hundred meters first; if it can’t attract them, I’ll slowly get closer."

Technically, Snow Mane, Frost Wolf, and Demon Sheep have different torch perception abilities, with Frost Wolf being the strongest, able to perceive beyond fifty or sixty meters; Demon Sheep was next, with Snow Mane being the worst, needing the torch about thirty meters away to perceive it.

After half a year with Xia Hong, Luo Yuan became exceedingly cautious, lighting the torch from over a hundred meters to test how far the rodents could sense the torch.

Fizz... Bang...

In the dark forest, a small torch suddenly lit up, Luo Yuan swiftly plunged it into the snow, then quickly ran towards a pre-selected tree.

Not far off, seeing Luo Yuan’s cautious approach, Xia Hong’s eyes revealed a hint of satisfaction.

"Brother, look at those two rodents, what are they doing?"

Hearing this, Xia Hong quickly turned to look.

What he saw suddenly made his expression turn horrified.

The two rodents were actually crouching, stretching out their sharp incisors, gnawing hard at the ground.

The problem was, the ground was actually being dug open by them, with soil and rocks piling up behind them, and almost instantly, their one-meter-long bodies burrowed completely underground, disappearing, and in just a few breaths, even their two to three-meter tails fully burrowed underground.

"Do these rodents have Earth-digging Realm strength?"

Xia Chuan, upon seeing this, couldn’t help but ask in a low voice with a horrified expression.

Xia Hong didn’t immediately answer; he pondered with a grave expression for a moment, then shook his head quickly, saying, "Not necessarily. If they truly have Earth-digging Realm strength, they would’ve used all their limbs to dig. Just now, they only used their incisors, which should mean those teeth are very hard and their biting force is also terrifying..."

Despite denying that the rodents had Earth-digging Realm strength, just their incisors alone were enough to make Xia Hong’s heart pound with fear.

Such a hard ground, and yet two rodents could dig through it so quickly and burrow inside; if those hundreds on the mountainside North Slope came together, how terrifying would it be?

"Where did those two rodents burrow to?"

The confusion not only troubled Xia Chuan but also Xia Hong.

The rodents were burrowing not into the snow, but hard into the ground beneath.

In the somewhat loose snow, Cold Beasts burrowing around could still be detected;

The ground in the Ice Abyss World was incomparably hard; once rodents burrowed in, they completely vanished without a trace, impossible to detect any movement.

"They burrowed as soon as the torch lit up, just keep an eye on the torch. As long as there’s no movement from the rodent group on the mountainside, we’ll guard the torch. Those two beasts will show up eventually!"

Xia Hong scanned the ground for a long time without finding anything, so he simply gave up and led Xia Chuan closer to the torch, stopping about fifty or sixty meters from it. He took out his bow and arrow and, together with Xia Chuan, stared intently at the torch.

Lighting the torch over a hundred meters away, the rodents reacted, indicating their perception ability was obviously stronger than the previously encountered Cold Beasts. Given this, distance control was essential; getting too close was not an option.

Of course, while keeping an eye on the torch, Xia Hong also continuously monitored any movement on the North Slope of the mountainside. If anything seemed off, he’d immediately lead a retreat.

Yet, after staring closely for nearly six or seven minutes, with the small torch burning for almost half of its duration, those two rodents still hadn’t appeared.

Xia Hong looked up at the sky, his brows furrowing tighter.

Dawn was about to break; if those two rodents didn’t show up soon, they’d have to head back.

It doesn’t add up; with the small torch burning for so long, why haven’t they taken the bait?

Could it be, the small torch doesn’t attract them?

"Ah..."

A suppressed, low scream suddenly interrupted Xia Hong’s thoughts.

"Damn, it’s Luo Yuan, quickly, get over there!"

Xia Hong darted towards the tree where Luo Yuan was hiding. Within ten meters, he saw Luo Yuan, with his left arm covered in blood and his face pale, running towards him. He had three huge claw marks on his chest, oozing blood.

At the same time, two silver figures swiftly and agilely moved among the branches above the tree, so fast even their shadows were hard to perceive. One figure leapt down from a branch, its target clearly Luo Yuan.