They are now located southeast of the hill, and the west side happens to be directly south of the hill. Below the deep ditch to the south, there hangs a raised drawbridge.
"That drawbridge is their only entry and exit point. It’s controlled by iron chains and can be pulled up from the hill side, directly reaching the opposite side. When not in use during the day, it’s retracted."
Being the only access route, there will definitely be guards stationed there!
The group nodded slightly, followed the drawbridge with their gaze, and sure enough, faint flickering firelight could be seen from the cliff wall behind the drawbridge.
"Don’t waste time, let’s move up, be careful!"
Xia Chuan looked up at the sky, found that the sun was already in the mid-sky, realized there were only two hours left, and immediately urged everyone to move up the hill.
The hill was only around four or five kilometers around. The group crossed the icy surface and only ascended about a kilometer before they saw a large area of buildings.
Their eyes gleamed slightly at their first sight of Yangluo Base.
"The outer buildings are made of iron, while the inside is wood. This means the outer part serves as defense, and ordinary people live inside. The leader of Yang Lu seems to have a bit of conscience!"
Xia Chuan said softly, feeling somewhat favorable toward Yanglu Camp.
"Speed up, keep it quiet!"
Though it’s daytime, a normal camp would definitely have people on alert.
Xia Chuan ordered, and the eight moved swiftly.
Taking advantage of the moment right before arrival, Xia Chuan quickly scanned around and noticed a row of houses on the left with weaker firelight, suitable for hiding, and motioned to everyone.
The eight understood tacitly, followed him swiftly over the snow, and quickly reached the bottom of that row of buildings.
Each time Xia Chuan reached a house, he paused for a moment, then slightly furrowed his brow and continued until he stopped at the fourth house.
"Seven people, no cold resistance level, this house!"
Xia Chuan squatted under the eaves, turned his head, and spoke softly to the group: "Control the people first as soon as we get in, don’t alert the others."
The purpose of this trip was to gather information for future actions against Yanglu and shouldn’t alarm anyone. The group understood and nodded in response.
The house had three floors, and since it was daytime, the doors and windows were shut tightly.
Seeing the other six were in position at the windows on the second and third floors, Xia Chuan, standing in front with Chen Yingba at the main door, signaled with a wave.
The faint sound of doors and windows breaking occurred simultaneously, and the eight rushed in.
Eight at the cold resistance level easily handled seven at the earth-digging realm. The ease was expected.
Two on the first floor, four on the second floor, one on the third floor; in just three breaths, all were subdued and gathered in the first-floor hall.
The mouths of the seven at the earth-digging realm were stuffed with beast skins, and they looked at the eight strangers before them with eyes full of fear.
"These aren’t Yanglu people!"
Chen Yingba saw the attire of the seven and frowned in confusion.
Before he finished speaking, Wu Tianxing took over.
Seeing the confusion on Xia Chuan and the others’ faces, Wu Tianxing quickly spoke up as if taking credit: "You may not know, Lord, Yanglu is close to Redwood Ridge, so they mostly wear beast skin clothing, mainly Snow Mane and Frost Wolf Skin, so most of them are black or blue. Look at these seven..."
The seven lying on the ground wore iron armor on the outside, but their inner clothing was a kind of soft textile similar to cotton cloth.
This discovery made Xia Chuan’s eyes light up, and he immediately signaled Chen Yingba beside him with his eyes.
Chen Yingba nodded, walked up, tore away the beast skin from one person’s mouth, and asked in a deep voice: "Who do you belong to, what’s happened to Yang Lu?"
After having his mouth uncovered, the person glanced around at the eight, subconsciously tensing his veins, and opened his mouth with an obvious intention.
But before he could make a sound, Chen Yingba spoke first.
"Life is only once, don’t gamble it away. Before you utter a sound, I can ensure you die first. If you don’t believe, you can try!"
The person shivered violently, and his mouth immediately closed.
Humans from the Ice Abyss, who have long fought the environment, naturally have a strong will.
Seeing the person about to speak, the other six reacted violently, clearly trying to stop him.
Yuan Cheng couldn’t hold back, especially after getting a nod from Xia Chuan, and directly swung his giant axe, splitting one person’s head.
"I’d like to see how tough you are, go on, keep moving!"
Among the six remaining, there were indeed four not afraid of death, continuing to glare angrily at Yuan Cheng, still twisting their bodies, clearly saying they’re not afraid.
After two axe swings, the four unafraid were all dead, leaving two who did not move, their eyes full of fear.
The person Chen Yingba questioned was among them, and now he didn’t hesitate at all, directly responding.
"We are all from Hanqiong Camp. Five days ago, we allied with Hanqiong Camp to attack Yanglu. After taking Yanglu, we’ve been stationed here since."
Upon hearing this news, Xia Chuan and the others’ faces changed drastically.
"Wushuang and Hanqiong didn’t go to Long Mountain for the alliance? Who brought you to attack Yanglu, how many in total came?"
"I don’t know about the Long Mountain alliance, but to attack here, we had 800 from our camp, led by the leader Wu Xiong himself. Hanqiong had over 1,000, also led by the leader Han Jiuli personally. Additionally, our camp’s hunting team leader Wu Ying and Hanqiong had someone named Wu Lin; they also came."