In such a situation, Han Feng wasn’t clear about the actual circumstances on Yangyuan Peak. If he wasn’t willing to defect to Zhaoyang, he would have had no choice but to escape.
Now it seems, Han Feng obviously didn’t run away but has been hiding in the shadows the whole time.
"The most commendable thing about Jiuli is probably that he raised a remarkable son. At twenty-eight years old, he reached the late stage of Cold Resistance Level, and looking across all of Longyou, apart from that monster Li Xuanling, probably no one can match him!"
Recalling Hou Hu’s evaluation of Han Feng during the time in Zhaoyang, Xia Hong’s eyes lit up with interest. He then noticed the flickering light from a passage behind Han Feng and praised:
"It seems you took advantage of the chaos and rescued quite a few people. Hou Tong and Li Xuanling have all run away. Those whom your father took out were slaughtered by the monstrosities on Yangyuan Peak. With these people, where can you go? Why not join the Great Xia Camp with them, what do you think?"
Han Feng’s talent, in Xia Hong’s opinion, would only earn a decent evaluation. The Great Xia has many stronger than him: Yuwen Dao, Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, Lin Kai, Yue Feng, Lu Yang... The list goes on.
What truly sparked Xia Hong’s interest in recruiting was Han Feng’s outstanding character.
Han Feng, though unwilling to defect to Zhaoyang, also didn’t escape alone; instead, he stayed hidden in the dark path for days, waiting for a chance to rescue people. Judging from the footprints left in the path, it’s likely he proactively went out to rescue people when Wu Xiong was killing in the valley.
This alone is enough to prove his pure and good nature.
Moreover, staying hidden in the dark path for so many days without being discovered by Hou Tong and others shows he’s also intelligent and agile.
Such a young Cold Resistance Level with great talent and exceptional character was enough for Xia Hong to develop recruitment intentions.
Besides, the Hanqiong Camp is gone, and the area of Gourd Valley, including the more than ten thousand survivors from Hanqiong, should logically be under the Great Xia. If Han Feng, as the son of the leader, could be recruited first, it would save a lot of trouble in the future.
However, it seems the other party is not interested in being recruited.
In the dark path, aided by the flickering light, Xia Hong saw the wariness in Han Feng’s eyes. Xia Hong’s brow furrowed slightly, and he asked in a deep voice, "Judging from those footprints, you at least saved over a thousand people. With your abilities, leading over a thousand people to live like before is basically impossible..."
Noticing the evident resistance on Han Feng’s face, Xia Hong paused and frowned, "The ones who destroyed Hanqiong are Hou Tong. At least you should blame Zhaoyang and Hou Hu for it. If you looked more deeply, the one who killed so many in Hanqiong was Wu Xiong, controlled by White Dew Gu. I killed it; I should be considered your benefactor, shouldn’t I? You have no reason to be wary of me, right?"
"Hou Tong and Hou Hu are not good people; that White Dew Gu which killed so many of my Hanqiong is also no good. But essentially, you’re no different from them, even harsher in some respects..."
Hearing Han Feng’s words, Xia Hong was momentarily stunned, but the following sentence from him made Xia Hong’s expression slightly harden, plunging him into silence.
"You deliberately waited until Li Xuanling, Hou Tong, and those eleven Cold Resistance Levels all escaped before you killed that White Dew Gu, wasn’t it all to annex our Hanqiong Camp?"
Although Han Feng was speaking, his gaze would occasionally flick back, watching the group he rescued run far along the dark path, he finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Then he turned back to look at Xia Hong, with a hint of a cold smile on his face.
Xia Hong had just stood motionless at the entrance to the valley, and only after seeing Li Xuanling and others escape, did he suddenly act to kill White Dew Gu. This entire process was clearly visible to Han Feng from the hole halfway up the cliff face.
He’s no fool, he quickly figured out Xia Hong’s intentions at the time.
No more than wanting the monstrosities to kill Li Xuanling and the others, but this intent clearly wasn’t achieved as all eleven of them escaped.
And after all eleven Cold Resistance Levels had escaped, Xia Hong appeared in the guise of a savior, rescuing the Earth-digging Realm from Long Mountain, Zhaoyang, and Hanqiong as well as all other normal people, becoming the biggest winner of the night.
Others didn’t know; upon seeing Xia Hong appear, they regarded him as a savior. But Han Feng, seeing everything clearly, had only vigilance and strong resistance in his eyes towards Xia Hong.
Even the opposing Li Xuanling and Hou Tong, upon realizing the danger of White Dew Gu, immediately set aside their animosity to join forces against the monstrosity;
But the Xia Hong before him had the power to slay the monstrosity, yet for the sake of maximizing benefits, chose to stand by idly until all eleven had escaped before saving people.
He didn’t exactly hate Xia Hong, after all, if not for Xia Hong, more people at Hanqiong Camp would have died, and Han Feng wouldn’t have had the chance to rescue so many.
But the issue is, Xia Hong’s actions left a significant impact on Han Feng, and at the very least, in his view, whether Li Xuanling or Hou Tong, when it comes to ruthlessness, are probably no match for Xia Hong before him.
So he resisted Xia Hong’s recruitment.
"You’re a kind-hearted person!"
Xia Hong, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.
His face showed no remorse, understanding the reason behind Han Feng’s reluctance towards his recruitment, only made him more appreciative. After such praise, Xia Hong’s expression slightly darkened and continued, "Hiding in the dark path for days without running away, daring to come out to save people when things got dangerous, proves you’re not just looking out for yourself, you still have compassion for others. Given that, I’ll tell you a very simple truth, as well as the reason for my actions just now!"