Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1129: Chapter 388: Eight Towns’ Scouts and Spies, Xia Chuan’s Bearing, News from the Outer Realm

Lu Yang led his men to clear the Cold Jade Secret Tunnel and heard news from Beishuo again. This happened in August of the third year of Da Xia, which is exactly five years ago.

During these five years, Lu Yang and his people established a base in East Ridge, relying on Great Xia to either control or infiltrate Beining Mountain and the entire Jingxi District, creating not insignificant achievements;

However, to avoid alerting the higher-ups in Beishuo and to ensure the absolute security of the Cold Jade Secret Tunnel, Lu Yang maintained a respectful distance from Beishuo City, always being extremely cautious even in intelligence gathering.

Yet even so, within those five years, through indirect inquiries, Lu Yang gained a clear understanding of much of the situation inside Beishuo City.

Information about Yang Ning and Li Hu was already gathered and sent back to Xia City by September of the sixth year of Da Xia.

From their backgrounds and ages to their approximate cultivation and strength, and even their positions in Beishuo City, everything was clear to Xia Chuan and the others.

Qiu Peng reacted strongly because he was one of the witnesses back then. Yang and Li’s arrogant demeanor at Redwood Ridge, their insolence towards Lord Xia Hong, their severe wounding of Xia Chuan, and almost taking him away from Redwood Ridge—all these details are vividly remembered by him.

People generally remember deeply the humiliations suffered during their humble beginnings, and Qiu Peng is no exception. His impression of Yang and Li is exceptionally profound; when Lu Yang sent back their information last year, he indeed suggested he go to Beishuo City himself to kill them, but at that time, his strength was still not enough, plus both Xia Hong and Xia Chuan stopped him, so he had to abandon the idea;

Notably, nine years ago on the night the Wooden Puppet Monster was slaughtered in Twin Dragon Valley, Xu Ning was absent because his right eye was blinded by a Demon Sheep.

Even though he wasn’t present, he was later informed about everything that happened that night by Yuan Cheng and others after they returned to the camp. Therefore, he knew all about how Xia Chuan almost died at Li Hu’s hands, including how he almost got taken to Beishuo City by Yang Ning and the others.

Considering Xia Hong and Xia Chuan’s status in his eyes, the actions of Yang and Li back then were enough for him to sentence them to death; exhibiting the same reaction as Qiu Peng was perfectly normal.

"No need to get so worked up, have a seat first!"

Unlike the others, Xia Chuan was unusually calm upon hearing the news. There wasn’t even the slightest ripple on his face; he simply gestured for the two to sit down with a smile, then turned to Yuan Cheng and asked, "Did they sneak in with Han Peng using fake identities?"

Yuan Cheng nodded and responded, "They used identities from Jinyang Village, even assuming simple pseudonyms, directly named as Liu Ning and Liu Hu. When I saw their names and appearances, I was already eighty percent certain. Just now, I went to the Guardian Department to check all Cold Resistance Level information from the nine villages in the Yinhe Valley area and found no matching details for them, which confirmed it."

"Then it can definitely be concluded that it’s those two!"

Qiu Peng immediately picked up the conversation, nodding emphatically.

Before entering Hongmen City, everyone had to register their personal information strictly, not just for easy management within the city but more importantly, so that the Guardian Department could verify the register’s real identity based on this data.

Lu Yang had been in Beishuo for five years, and with spies dispatched to various towns by Xia City last October who had begun taking effect, while accessing the core situations in eight towns might be challenging, they had no difficulty grasping all basic data about village-level camps within the eight-town territories.

They knew clearly how many districts each town governed, how many villages in each district, how many Cold Resistance Level individuals in those villages, and even details of some individuals’ strength. As the intelligence network became increasingly perfected, Xia City had long been well informed.

Since Great Xia announced the opening of the Hongmen Port two months ago in July, people have been coming from various towns endlessly, already exceeding twenty thousand. While the vast majority came openly and honestly for trade with Great Xia using their real identities, a small portion harbored ill intentions and sneaked in using fake identities.

Yuan Cheng had been stationed at Hongmen for these two months. Relying on Great Xia’s dense intelligence network across the eight towns and personally leading the Hongmen Guardian Department, he had already uncovered over three hundred individuals who snuck in using fake identities, a testament to his rich experience. Recognizing Yang Ning and Li Hu at a glance today was partly due to this experience, undoubtedly.

"I remember the two of them were commanders of Beishuo Town Defense Army, unrelated to the chamber of commerce. What are they doing in Hongmen?"

Hearing Xia Chuan’s question, Yuan Cheng immediately responded, "What else could it be? Surely, like the others before them, sent by Beishuo Town as spies to probe our Great Xia’s strengths and weaknesses."

Xia Chuan didn’t respond verbally, just slightly shaking his head.

Qiu Peng, having calmed down by now, thought for a moment before also shaking his head and saying to Yuan Cheng, "What’s the point of sending people to Hongmen City to probe Great Xia’s strengths and weaknesses? Hongmen is already open to the eight towns, no need for a fake identity to enter."

Yuan Cheng immediately picked up on this, with a slight change in his expression.

Hongmen City is not only a trade port and the northern gateway but also a showcase of Great Xia’s strength to the outside world, making its position crucial. It houses not just the entire eight-thousand-strong forces, including the Cloud Dragon Army and Dragon Slayer, but also Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and other high-ranking officials of Great Xia sitting in presence.

Yet, no matter how important, at the end of the day, it’s just one of Great Xia’s outposts; trying to understand Great Xia’s strengths and weaknesses through Hongmen is simply unrealistic.