Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1261: Chapter 417: Yanze Lake and Blood Miasma Plain, Wang Yuxiu, and the Xiang Family’s Reversal (Part 2)

“You are a smart person, so I won’t waste words. You come from a decent background, killing you carries some risk. While I’m not afraid of Chen Cang, I don’t want to casually make enemies with them, so I won’t do anything to you.”

Hearing these words, Chu Yan’er immediately felt relieved, but noticing Xia Hong’s gaze shifting to the six people with Chu Dongning, her expression instantly turned tense.

“I am not a bloodthirsty person. As long as you tell me the route to Chen Cang, all six of them can leave safely.”

Hearing Xia Hong’s uncompromising tone, even though Chu Yan’er wore a slightly solemn expression, she made her decision almost instantly and directly clasped her hands and spoke: “Starting from the northern border of Beishuo Town, walking north along Moao Mountain for about 50 kilometers, you will see a giant lake called Yanze Lake. We usually circumnavigate along the lakeside. Of course, Lord Xia Hong can fly directly over it. At the other end of Yanze Lake, you will see an area shrouded in red fog, named the Blood Miasma Plain. Passing through the Blood Miasma Plain, you can reach Chen Cang…”

At this point, Chu Yan’er paused for a moment before continuing: “Of course, both Yanze Lake and the Blood Miasma Plain are dangerous. Every time we go, we must have two Xianyang Level escorts. Lord Xia Hong is very powerful and is probably not afraid of those dangers.”

After saying this, she lowered her head and pondered for a moment, showing a strong sense of apology on her face. She then looked up at Xia Hong, speaking earnestly: “I just tried to make a move on those kids, which was really inappropriate. If Lord Xia Hong truly goes to Chen Cang, you must enter from Yanling. At that time, I sincerely invite you to be a guest in the County City, and I will surely make amends to Lord Xia Hong!”

Xia Hong revealed a trace of strangeness on his face, staring at Chu Yan’er until she felt a little embarrassed, then waved his hand slightly: “Alright, you all can go now. Don’t linger within the Great Xia Territory. If you are caught by me a second time, things won’t be so pleasant.”

“Yan’er takes her leave!”

Chu Yan’er dared not delay any longer, clasped her hands in farewell, and immediately hurried to the south with Chu Dongning and the six others toward the Snow Forest, clearly intending to abide by Xia Hong’s wishes and leave the Great Xia Territory via the North Bank of the Xing River.

Xia Hong shook his head as he watched the seven figures disappear and returned to Xia City.

Great Xia Inner City, Prison Department Main Hall

“This Chu Yan’er loves to be clever, revealing everything so quickly isn’t like her character. I suspect the route she gave us, with just the names Yanze Lake and Blood Miasma Plain being real, the rest is unreliable!”

Listening to Xia Hong recount the events outside the city, Xia Chuan shook his head repeatedly.

Xia Hong smiled and said, “After all, she comes from a Feudal Town. Since it didn’t lead to any dire consequences, it’s better to have fewer problems. Besides, we still need her to help us figure out the real route to Chen Cang.”

Xia Chuan immediately nodded with a smile, stating: “Yanling County should be the sub-district name for Chen Cang. This Chu Yan’er carries the title of Little Princess and even welcomes you, big brother, to visit Yanling County, as if she regards herself as the host. It seems her status in Chen Cang is genuinely high.”

“If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have let her go so easily!”

Xia Hong’s eyes gleamed slightly before he spoke in a deep voice: “Gather all the paintings she made in the city over the past half month and have the Camp Supply Department use the Yellow Candle to thoroughly inspect them. Destroy any problematic ones and return the rest.”

“Yes, big brother!”

Chu Yan’er’s paintings aren’t cheap, each costing over a thousand taels of silver, and those paintings all have owners, as they are personal belongings. He can’t just randomly confiscate and destroy others’ property.

The torch and solidified fire oil can only work directly on deceitful monsters; however, the Yellow Candle is a new redeemable item that appeared after the Ancestral Spirit Stele reached the fifth level. Though its description only mentions that within its illumination range, all deceitful means become ineffective. In reality, it can also detect some extraordinary means, which is very suitable for this situation.

The painter industry in Xia City is gradually rising, and women becoming fashionable with portraits, these two matters Xia Hong already knew. Whether it is women starting to appreciate beauty or pursuing art like paintings, it marks the vigorous development of material culture in Great Xia. Of course, Xia Hong would not stop it.

“As for Chu Yan’er, I will personally keep an eye on it. You should focus all your efforts on the Eight Towns, hastening the integration of Jiangxia and Muyin people into the Great Xia system, and work on dividing and enticing the remaining Six Towns, facilitating the alliance of the Nine Towns early on.

I estimate this Chu Yan’er is merely acting on her own cleverness, likely not specially sent by any significant figure in Chen Cang to negotiate with us, which shows that Chen Cang probably cannot move south to the Nine Towns Territory on a large scale any time soon, granting us some leeway.”

Hearing this, Xia Chuan was slightly taken aback, but after thinking for a moment, he quickly understood, turning to look at Xia Hong with admiration in his eyes.

Indeed!

This is the correct conclusion. If Chen Cang were about to move south quickly, generally, there would be two choices: either send important figures to formally negotiate, or not allow anyone to appear to avoid alerting the masses.

The situation with Chu Yan’er is clearly unusual.

“In that case, though Chu Yan’er seemed to only visit Xia City once and did nothing, she actually did us a great favor!”

Confirming that Chen Cang cannot move south any time soon has certainly rendered a great service to Great Xia!

Xia Hong chuckled twice, saying: “That’s why it’s crucial to properly educate the young people in the camp, otherwise, if they all develop inflated egos in the future, overlooking everyone, they’ll end up making big blunders outside without even realizing it. I certainly don’t wish for Great Xia to produce a bevy of young people like Yang Ning and Chu Yan’er.”