Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely-Chapter 167 - 123: Arrow Bamboo Forest, Rat King, New Camp

Chapter 167: Chapter 123: Arrow Bamboo Forest, Rat King, New Camp

Swoosh...

"Close in and drive them further north!"

Xia Hong had already reached the rear of the mouse swarm. After confirming that the swarm was retreating, he swiftly severed a fleeing rodent in two without even looking back and issued his command.

The two groups, who were already converging toward the south, immediately slowed their arrow-shooting speed and closed in faster upon hearing Xia Hong’s order.

On the eastern mountain wall, Zhao Long and his brothers led the group, sliding down the slope along the stone wall. Though the summit was over a hundred meters above ground, it posed no threat to those in the Logging Realm.

Upon landing, they shot arrows while quickly moving toward Xia Hong’s position.

On the western side of Redwood Ridge, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan led their group, continuously shooting arrows to fend off the rodents and accelerating toward Xia Hong.

In no time, the two groups had converged.

They were now just over ten meters away from Xia Hong, who was at the forefront.

Xia Hong charged too fast; the dozen or so rodents surrounding him had already been halved by his strikes. Whether he was completely immersed in the battle or simply unsatisfied, he continued to pursue relentlessly.

"Zhao Long, you three continue leading the team, don’t get too close. Luo Yuan and Yuan Cheng, come with me to support our leader!"

Seeing Xia Hong had caught up with the rear of the mouse swarm and was directly charging in, Xia Chuan couldn’t stand by any longer. He shouted at Zhao Long and his brothers, then rushed over with Luo Yuan and Yuan Cheng to assist.

Xia Hong had already merged with the rear of the rodent swarm, making it impossible for those behind to shoot arrows in his direction.

This meant Xia Hong no longer had the cover and support of bowmen.

The three of them had to rush in to help.

The trio, confident in their Earth-digging Realm strength, underestimated the poisoned rodents. But once within the swarm, they realized their naivety.

Xia Chuan, the first to charge in, felt a strong sense of danger, reflexively drawing his Black Blade to block behind his head.

Whoosh...

Two red glows, each an inch long, suddenly attacked, colliding fiercely with the Black Blade.

Though the Black Blade blocked the red glows, Xia Chuan’s arm trembled violently, and he was flung back two or three meters. If not for Xia Hong’s timely support, he would have hit the ground. freёnovelkiss.com

"Be cautious, these red glows have strong penetrative power but a short range of just one or two meters. Use threads to disrupt them, and with Yuan Cheng and Luo Yuan’s help, the three of you can easily defeat them!"

"Understood, leader!"

Luo Yuan and Yuan Cheng approached, both looking slightly disheveled. Yuan Cheng even had a wound on his arm, evidently suffering from the rodents’ red glows.

Earlier, being too far away and it being nighttime, they hadn’t seen clearly and mistakenly thought the poisoned rodents couldn’t emit red glows.

They now realized that the pressure Xia Hong faced, slaying the rodents with ease, was far greater than they imagined.

"Our leader is incredibly strong. With his Yi Blade, which has a wide and long attack range, dealing with the rodents is easy. We’re slightly weaker, so we must cooperate. I’ll distract, and you two attack."

"Got it!"

Xia Chuan manipulated his threads, entangling the nearest rodent. Luo Yuan and Yuan Cheng quickly followed with large blades. Having previously suffered losses, the rodents’ red glows posed no further threat to them. Just as Xia Hong said, together they found it easy to slay the rodents.

The rodents left here were already few in number, mostly chased down by Xia Hong. The three only needed to deal with four or five in total.

Even as Xia Hong conversed with the trio, he continued fighting. In moments, another three or four rodents lay beheaded by his Yi Blade.

Having cleared the nearest wave and seeing the remaining rodents twenty meters away, Xia Hong hesitated slightly, decided not to pursue further, and instead eliminated nearby slower rodents.

Behind, Zhao Long checked his arrow quiver, then glanced at Zhao Hu and Zhao Bao’s quivers. Discovering they had only six or seven arrows left, his brows furrowed slightly. He loudly asked the group:

"How many arrows do you have left? Report your count!"

"Seven arrows."

"I have six left."

"Only two left."

"Seven arrows."

"Five arrows."

"Six arrows!"

...

No surprise!

Hearing the group’s responses, Zhao Long’s expression grew more solemn.

He had estimated how many arrows everyone had left.

Most here tonight were from the Logging Realm, with similar skill levels and archery practice durations, making their archery skills fairly comparable.

Xia Hong gave the three brothers fifty arrows each, and their shooting speed was double that of the others. Having just six or seven arrows left, most others, aside from a few more skilled, likely had six or seven arrows as well.

"You can pause now; the rodent swarm is retreating. Follow me to pursue a bit more and be ready to shoot at any moment," Xia Hong instructed as he focused on this side after Zhao Long’s question and heard the group’s responses.

Six or seven arrows meant they could muster one or two decent rounds of attack at best.

The rodent swarm was retreating, and knowing they couldn’t trap them all here, it was wise not to deplete all arrows, saving some for unforeseen needs.