Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1241 - 412: Outer Realm People, Demon Dragon’s Power, The Confident Chu Yan’er, Hou Ming’s Skills_5

In the dangerous depths of the Ice Abyss, people have grown used to facing death and thus speak of it without hesitation.

Yet, this varies based on how close the bonds are.

These thirty-two bodies lying on the ground belong to the fallen members of the Chambers of Commerce from Beishuo, Yangqu, and Dragon Valley in the Three Towns, slain one after another on the first, third, and fifth days of the previous month.

Thirteen came from Beishuo, nine from Yangqu, and ten from Dragon Valley, making a precise total of thirty-two.

On the eighteenth day of last month during daylight hours, Xia Hong issued a ten-day ultimatum to the Three Towns. Just five days prior, they had delivered every body of their fallen members to Hongmen City.

Though the town Lords' opinions on Great Xia's push for a full investigation remained unclear, those gathered from the various towns saw it plainly as an act of oppression.

After Xia Hong triumphed over Yang Zhun in combat on the eighteenth of last month, the twelve Beast Kings of the Eight Towns were completely cowed, so much so that even Yang Zhun, in his fear, admitted there might be hidden truths behind the deaths of Beishuo's thirteen Chamber members—how then could Yangqu and Dragon Valley risk pressing the matter?

When Yang Rong, Cao Tianying, and Long Wenbai delivered the corpses on the twenty-eighth of last month, they had already steeled their minds, ready to play their roles in Great Xia's scheme.

What sort of scheme?

Obviously, one where Great Xia would conclude that Yuwen Dao was not the true perpetrator!

Still, the trio never anticipated Great Xia going to such extremes.

Right now, every one of the thirty-two bodies scattered across the ground lay in ruins; someone had deliberately torn open all their prior injuries.

"After five days of probing the incident, they end up wrecking these thirty-two bodies like this—Great Xia truly wields impressive tactics!"

"Do they really have to go this far in ruining the evidence?"

"Since the Great Xia Lord possesses such overwhelming might and astonishing abilities, our Three Towns never intended to challenge it from the start—why resort to desecrating the dead in this manner?"

Seeing Xia Chuan stay quiet for so long, Yang Rong, Cao Tianying, and Long Wenbai could no longer hold back their fury and voiced their sarcasm outright.

Xia Chuan shot a look at the three but offered no reply, instead pivoting to Hou Ming on his left and gesturing with his hand: "Hou Ming, you mentioned the findings are ready—begin!"

"Yes!"

Hou Ming acknowledged and emerged from the group, scanning the eight institute heads in attendance along with the Cold Resistance Levels from the Eight Towns trailing them, then turning toward Beishuo, Yangqu, and Dragon Valley's Three Towns as he cupped his hands in a respectful bow: "I am Hou Ming, Golden Order Prison Warden of Great Xia, and I offer my first apologies to the three institute heads."

The faces of Yang Rong, Cao Tianying, and Long Wenbai stiffened.

"Over these five days of examining the case, I've inflicted significant harm on the bodies without informing the three institute heads, which was indeed over the line—please, the three of you, forgive me, as it was solely to reveal the facts."

At Hou Ming's statement, Yang Rong let out a scoff but said nothing, while the looks on Cao Tianying and the rest eased somewhat.

Hou Ming wasted no more time on the matter, striding straight to the thirteen Beishuo bodies and pointing at Yang Ning standing behind Yang Rong as he interrogated: "Yang Ning, earlier you claimed you saw Lord Yuan slay your thirteen Beishuo companions single-handedly on the night of September first—is that accurate?"

Yang Ning's features burned with rage right then, and he advanced boldly, fearless, affirming with a nod: "Correct, I witnessed it myself."

"Then tell me, what tool did Lord Yuan employ in the slaughter?"

"His Double-edged Giant Axe!"

All eyes snapped instantly to Yuan Cheng.

More accurately, to the Silver Double-bladed Giant Axe resting nearby.

Yuan Cheng's countenance flickered briefly, yet he remained mute.

"Alright! Let's set aside for the moment if Lord Yuan could dispatch Yang Fan's thirteen men with such swiftness—all of you, first examine Yang Fan's body."

A deep axe gash marked Yang Fan's brow, with nearly his whole visage cleaved open, plainly indicating death by axe blow.

As the crowd locked their stares on Yang Fan's head, Hou Ming crouched down and, to everyone's shock, tore away the skin from the frontal bone using only his fingers.

Yang Fan had perished long ago, his remains iced over for days, rendering the tissue rigid beyond measure, yet Hou Ming, with his 25 tufts of power, effortlessly stripped it free.

Splat...

The noise of meat parting from skeleton made every brow crease deeply.

Once the brow flesh was removed, Hou Ming propped Yang Fan's body up straight, holding the exposed frontal bone for all to view.

Now that the forehead meat was gone, the inner bone's state became vivid to all, freezing their faces in an instant.

A narrow fissure, about a thumb's breadth, scarred the frontal bone.

"Does anyone spot something here?"

The attendees weren't novices, and after a brief reflection, comprehension dawned, twisting their features in shock.

That fissure in the brow bone plunged far deeper than the surface slash on Yang Fan's face, pointing strongly to the bone crack as the true killer blow, not the facial chop.

It wasn't merely likely—it was over ninety percent definite!

From the cleave lines across Yang Fan's features, that axe hit alone ensured his end; if Yuan Cheng had truly done it, adding a sword thrust to the brow would serve no purpose.

"Naturally, a single body won't suffice to confirm it..."

Hou Ming pressed on, signaling to Great Xia's side, where over a dozen Silver Order Prison Wardens advanced to assist, hoisting the other twelve Beishuo Chamber corpses—some flaying the torsos, others the rear craniums, and more the backbones...