Chapter 548: Chapter 239: Changing Situation, Great Xia Special Envoy
From the sudden outburst of violence in Long Mountain a day before the alliance meeting, marking the official breakdown of the alliance, to the subsequent turbulent changes on Pingxi Plain, the series of events that took place actually only spanned three days.
Moreover, due to the sensitive point of the alliance’s breakdown, many camps lacked formal communication channels, resulting in extreme information blockage. They dared not rashly send people to each other’s camps to inquire about the situation, fearing to alert the enemy or cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
On such a premise, combined with the deployment of Long Mountain’s large army on the snowfield between White Abyss and Wushuang on April 14th, Hou Tong’s focus was almost entirely on Long Mountain for these three days, with no attention paid to the situation of Beehive, Wushuang, and Yang Lu in the south.
Prior to the alliance meeting, Zhaoyang had already stationed three thousand people at Hanqiong Camp.
Of these three thousand, half were led by Hou Ming to attack Beehive;
The other fifteen hundred were led by Hou Tong to remain stationed at Hanqiong, originally intended to aid either Beehive or Yang Lu should any battle turn unfavorable, allowing for rapid reinforcement.
However, with the arrival of Long Mountain’s army on the 14th, Hou Tong’s fifteen hundred men, along with more than a thousand from Hanqiong, naturally became their target.
In Hou Tong’s view, attacking Beehive and Yang Lu inherently required no aid.
With four Cold Resistance Level individuals, Hou Ming, Hou Bing, Hou Ying, and Lin Ye, alongside fifteen hundred from the Earth-digging Realm, attacking a Beehive without Chen Yingyuan and with a Cold Resistance Level internal agent Wu Tianxing, was an easy feat;
At most, Yang Lu, being closer to Long Mountain, needed some attention, but Wu Xiong and Han Jiuli took a full eighteen hundred men there, so taking Yang Lu shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
On the 11th, Wu Xiong sent word that they had successfully captured Yang Lu. Upon receiving this information, Hou Tong immediately issued the order to attack Beehive to Hou Ming and, after monitoring the situation for two days, turned all his attention to the arrival of Long Mountain’s army.
Hou Tong did not expect that the arrival of Great Xia would disrupt Zhaoyang’s plans for all three factions in the southeast of Longyou.
The plan to mobilize personnel for assembly at Wushuang was doomed to failure, unbeknownst to him.
Hou Tong was unaware of Great Xia’s presence, but others were already in the know.
In the two wooden houses where Long Mountain’s army stationed in the south of White Abyss.
In the core area of the left two-story building, Li Xuanling sat at the head position.
On the left and right sides below sat ten people each, with Li Xuanyan and Li Xuandu among them, all adorned in war armor, with solemn expressions.
In the center, a person was respectfully reporting to Li Xuanling.
From the shock on everyone’s face in the hall, it was clear that the words spoken by this person had caused a great stir among them.
"Great Xia?"
"Captured Wushuang in less than half an hour?"
"How is this possible!"
"Seven Cold Resistance Levels, fifteen hundred Earth-digging Realm individuals, wearing pale gold Ten Forged armor, where did they come from?"
"Great Xia, in our Pingxi Plain, we haven’t heard of such a camp!"
......
Only Li Xuanling and Li Xuandu, among the entire group, had a subtle glow flicker in their pupils. The others all burst out in exclamations, some even couldn’t help but stand up, full of disbelief.
Li Xuanyan, however, maintained a calm expression throughout, almost as if his mind was wandering elsewhere, only showing a slight curiosity when he heard the unfamiliar camp name of Great Xia.
Li Ying in the hall wasn’t surprised at everyone’s reaction at all.
Earlier before dawn, when he saw Wushuang being defeated by Great Xia in the gaps outside the giant stone array, his shock was no less than anyone else’s here.
"What’s there to be surprised about? Doesn’t this confirm Uncle’s suspicion that there is an external force meddling with Pingxi Plain?"
Seeing the room fall into chaos, Li Xuanling spoke up directly. Everyone paused at her words, then instantly recalled what Li Tiancheng had said three days earlier during the meeting at Long Mountain, and their expressions immediately changed.
"Is the Young Master’s meaning that Hong Xia is connected to Great Xia?"
Zhou Yuan’s question expressed the confusion in the minds of everyone in the hall. All turned their heads to Li Xuanling, waiting for her to answer.
During the meeting three days ago, the most significant proof Li Tiancheng cited for suspecting an external force interfering in Pingxi Plain was the abrupt appearance and the crucial timing of rescuing Hou Hu by Hong Xia on the night of the 14th.
It happened right at the critical moment when Hou Hu was about to die, how could there be such a coincidence in the world?
"I’m ninety percent sure."
"One hundred percent!"
Upon hearing the speculative tone in Li Xuandu’s voice, Li Xuanling shook her head decisively, giving a ten out of ten judgment.
The faces of everyone darkened upon her words.
"Wushuang’s Earth-digging Realm has at least 1300, and with Wu Xiong, Wu Ying, and Duan Pingyu, three Cold Resistance Levels, the total population of the camp nears 30,000. Yet, it was taken in less than half an hour. Those 1500 from Great Xia, could they also be a trained force?"
"It’s very likely. Didn’t Li Ying just mention that Great Xia has only seven Cold Resistance Levels? Such few wouldn’t impact battles of over a thousand. To capture Wushuang in such a short time, the strength of those 1500 must be extraordinary!"
"The key issue is we know nothing about this Great Xia Camp. Their precise location, total population, Earth-digging Realm count, Cold Resistance Level count..."