Meanwhile, somewhere 500 meters east of the Harper Camp cave, on the edge of Redwood Ridge, a heart-wrenching scream rang from a big tree.
At the very moment Mimicking monster-controlled Conan was burnt to ashes by Solidified Fire Oil,
"Ah...ah...…"
A hunched black-robed elder, no taller than 1.5 meters, clutched a strand of white thread in his hand.
One end was in his grasp, the other extending far to the west.
The thread was originally white, so within the snowy surroundings, it was nearly invisible, with only the direction indicating it connected to the cave housing Harper Camp.
But now, the thread spontaneously combusted.
The elder's scream resulted from the flames on the thread scorching his palm, as he frantically slapped his arm, unable to extinguish the domineering fire.
Realizing he couldn't douse the fire in his hands, the elder's blood-red eyes suddenly turned ruthless.
He extended his right palm, then raised his left hand.
With a swift downward slash.
Snap...
He used the small knife clenched in his left hand to sever his burning right hand at the wrist.
Though he severed his own right hand, there wasn't a trace of pain on his face; instead, he exhaled in relief.
The right hand was incinerated to ashes by the domineering flames before touching the ground.
Watching the whiff of black smoke, a flicker of dread crossed the elder's blood-red eyes.
Turning to stare at the cave housing Harper Camp, his eyes filled with venom and hatred, instead of dread.
"Wait for me, you can't escape, you won't escape.
Your lives, they are mine, all mine…"
---
On the snowy night, the dense white trees pieced together the outline of Redwood Ridge.
The main themes of this forest are the fierce winds and solitude, never changing.
Despite being surrounded by nine camps, with an early total population of three to four thousand, this number is still too few for such a vast place like Redwood Ridge.
When the territory was initially divided, even the powerful Taylor Camp only dared to operate within a one-kilometer radius on the outskirts of Redwood Ridge, let alone the other eight camps, whose activity ranges were limited to just five hundred meters on the outskirts.
This standard was not set arbitrarily, but was determined by Rogel Camp's former Leader Steve, who led the Hunting Team to explore it at the cost of human lives.
The outermost five hundred meters of Redwood Ridge are basically occupied only by low-level Cold Beasts; going further in, the number of intermediate Cold Beasts increases; if one ventures further, penetrating within a thousand meters, it's mainly intermediate Cold Beasts.
The logic is simple: the further into Redwood Ridge, the larger the trees grow, and since Cold Beasts are creatures that like to perch on trees, those capable of occupying these large trees inside are certainly not easy to deal with.
So, despite knowing that the depths of Redwood Ridge hold endless resources, none of the camps have dared to cross the line over the years.
Even the Rogel Camp, the only one qualified to hunt.
Even low-level Cold Beasts typically have strength exceeding eight thousand kilograms, and some stronger adult Cold Beasts have more than ten thousand kilograms of strength, and humans need at least Earthripper Realm cultivation to confront them head-on.
Not to mention the intermediate or even high-level Cold Beasts.
This is considered one of the dilemmas for humans.
Compared to them, Cold Beasts seem to be the species favored by this world.
Fifteen years ago, George took over the leader position from his father Steve; although he's ventured out with the Hunting Team countless times, he's always adhered to the rules, never venturing a thousand meters into Redwood Ridge.
So, the first time he crossed that thousand-meter boundary, he couldn't help but feel a bit excited.
On the surface, the difference between the inside and the outskirts doesn't seem significant, but by carefully observing the surrounding trees, many details reveal considerable differences.
In the outskirts, the predominant tree species is Vermilion Frost, followed by Gold, with the least being Ice Tree, while here, Gold is predominant, followed by Vermilion Frost, with the fewest being Ice Tree.
Besides these three, there are seven or eight types George hasn't seen in the outskirts.
Additionally, the density of Cold Beasts is different.
George looked up and, with his keen experience, immediately noticed there were at least three Cold Beasts perched on more than a dozen trees around him.
And judging by their size, two of them were intermediate level.
This unconsciously made George proceed more cautiously, trying to minimize noise.
Even though Cold Beasts sleep deeply at night and generally won't wake up without provocation, an unexpected incident involving intermediate Cold Beasts could still pose a danger.
George turned back to look at William, who was following behind him, his face still sullen, he immediately stopped and walked to his side, patting his shoulder:
"William, don't worry, we're this close, and with those two adults watching, your brother will be fine. Even if that Wood Puppet Monster really comes, they have the Bone Whistle, and we'll rush over to help once it's blown."
William first forced a smile, then an expression of hesitation appeared on his face, just as he was about to speak.
Suddenly. Beep…
As if to verify George's words, just as William was about to speak, a crisp Bone Whistle sound came from the left side.
Both their faces changed drastically, William reacted first, drawing his bow from behind, and as he ran towards the left, he already had an Iron Arrow ready on the drawstring.
George quickly followed him, and within a few breaths, they reached the location where the Bone Whistle sounded.
But upon arrival, their expressions immediately changed.
Not far away, Barry was limping towards them, while two figures were relentlessly pursuing him from behind.
The reason for their shocked expressions wasn't due to Barry being chased, but the two figures chasing him—they recognized them both.
"Aiden, Mason, what's going on, why are you attacking Barry?"
"They're not Aiden and Mason, they've been swapped, they suddenly ambushed me just now."
Barry's voice was full of shock and anger as he ran and awkwardly shot arrows at the two behind him, although his foot was injured, and he was in a state of panic, making his aim far from precise.
Whoosh…..
Whoosh…
Fortunately, by this time William had already realized what was happening.
Aiden and Mason's expression were wooden, clearly abnormal, and William confirmed something was wrong.
He rapidly shot two arrows, stopping them from getting closer to Barry.
After William's two arrows, Barry was successfully rescued, reaching his and George's side.
Barry, sweating profusely, lifted his leg to reveal a seven or eight-inch long wound that was bleeding profusely.
He randomly grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and slapped it on the wound, then lifted his head to speak to the two:
"Earlier, in the forest, those two said they needed to relieve themselves, and in less than fifteen minutes, they were swapped by that Mimicking Monster. My leg was wounded by them."
George and William exchanged glances, both with expressions of seriousness.
"Vile creature, where do you think you're going!"
Just as they were about to speak, Lex and Matthew's shouts suddenly resounded not far away, prompting all three to look in that direction.
Two or three hundred meters away, Lex and Matthew, wielding swords and sabers, had already charged to the base of a big tree with a thickness of six or seven meters.
Matthew's brows furrowed slightly, exchanged glances with Lex, then gripped his saber tightly.
With a sudden inhale, his arm muscles bulged as he raised the saber behind his back, fiercely swinging it horizontally at the tree before him.
Could he possibly... intend to cut down that tree?
How could he possibly sever it in one slash?
That question flashed through George's mind, but he immediately arrived at an answer.
"Impossible!"
Matthew's Saber was less than two meters.
And that tree, its diameter alone was six to seven meters.
Crack…..
Boom…..
However, even at a distance of two or three hundred meters, the crisp sound of the tree breaking reached this side.
The tree with a diameter of six to seven meters was severed with one slash.
After the tree collapsed, a figure in black leaped out from the tree crown—it was the Wood Puppet Monster that had appeared last time.
Lex and Matthew quickly flanked the Wood Puppet Monster and engaged it in combat.
Meanwhile, George was still in shock over Matthew's earlier slash, unable to recover for a long time.
"How could he possibly accomplish that?"
Matthew and Lex's strength is indeed stronger than mine, but they both claimed to be only in the Earthripper Realm as well.
Could there really be such a vast disparity among those of the same Earthripper Realm?
"Leader George, we've arrived."
The still-shocked George was roused by the voice of someone nearby.
Turning his head, he realized that besides William and Barry, there were four other groups who had joined them.
Meanwhile, Aiden and Mason, as the Wood Puppet Monster was besieged and lost control, fell to the ground as corpses.
There were four leaders among the groups, two of whom, upon seeing the corpses of Aiden and Mason, wore extremely grim expressions.
"I lost four people on my side, adding these two, six have died."
"This is already the fourth wave, if this goes on, our camps' Axeheart Realm combat strength will all perish here!"
"Leader George, if we still can't kill that Wood Puppet Monster this time, forgive us for no longer accompanying you. Your Rogel Camp is large and wealthy, with plenty of Axeheart Realm combat power, losing a few doesn't matter, but we smaller camps can't afford it."
All four spoke out, even William couldn't hold back:
"Leader George, it really can't go on like this, those two adults are indeed capable, we know, but it can't always be our brothers sent out as bait. If we fail to kill that monster again, please forgive Taylor Camp for not keeping company either!"
Hearing the complaints from the five, a hint of guilt flashed across George's face, and he began to waver internally.