Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 2 - 2 2 Thrilling Moment Comments Please!

Even though Xia Hong and Xia Chuan were encountering the phrase “Deceitful Monster” for the first time, the terror etched on their father’s features instilled a profound sense of dread in their hearts.

Their father, Xia Ding, appeared far too alarmed to clarify their bewilderment, opting instead to urgently command the twelve logging team members to haul six massive logs into the cavern.

In an instant, he directed the camp’s inhabitants to fully block off the cave’s opening.

Once the entrance was secured, Xia Ding gazed at the central campfire, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his expression.

Yet, he resolved himself shortly after.

“Put out the bonfire!

Wear all your layers, cluster together to share body heat.

If someone truly can’t endure, ignite the bonfire—but limit it to ten minutes!”

“What, put out the bonfire?”

“We’ll all freeze solid.”

“Leader, that won’t work.

My boy is too young to handle it.”

……

Proposing to douse the bonfire ignited a storm of opposition, with about sixty percent of the camp voicing their dissent.

The other forty percent, excluding the informed logging team, consisted of those with calmer dispositions, anticipating Xia Ding’s rationale.

Xia Ding lifted his hand, silencing the group, then declared gravely:

“The Deceitful Monster from Redwood Ridge has appeared.

Everyone in Iron Peak and Shenju Camps has been slaughtered!

By extinguishing the bonfire, we might still live.

If that beast detects us, death awaits us all.”

Merely the name Deceitful Monster elicited minimal response from most in the camp.

Clearly, their knowledge of the entity was scant.

But news of the annihilation at Iron Peak and Shenju Camps sent waves of astonishment across every face, Xia Hong’s included.

Those camps each boasted more than three hundred souls.

Redwood Ridge hosts nine camps, Rogel standing as the sole medium-sized one, while the other eight, including Great Xia, qualify as small.

Among small camps, strengths vary.

Iron Peak and Shenju outmatched Great Xia.

Iron Peak’s Lord, Iron Eagle, ranks as a formidable digger-tier warrior.

And now Xia Ding claimed six hundred lives from two camps were lost?

How terrifying must this Deceitful Monster be?

“Dress warmly right away, douse the flames.

Dawn nears—just push through four hours.

If anyone falters badly, I’ll think about relighting, so stay calm.”

The group stood stunned briefly, then obeyed Xia Ding’s directives without delay.

Xia Hong dashed to their family spot in the cave, collecting every garment he could layer on.

He flung the heaviest beast pelt cloak to his brother Xia Chuan.

“Brother, put it on.

I’ve got plenty to wear.”

“I’m tougher than you, my build’s hardier.

No need to fret.”

Preventing Xia Chuan from handing back the cloak, Xia Hong raced to join his father, Xia Ding.

The camp folk moved with urgency; under two minutes later, all were clad and assembled at the cave’s heart.

Observing the gathering, Xia Ding signaled the four by the fire, armed with hides to smother the blaze.

They acted nimbly, quenching the two-meter blaze.

With the entrance already barricaded and no fire glow, the cave plunged into utter blackness.

Darkness brought the chill that swiftly invaded.

Right after the fire died, the cave’s temperature plummeted noticeably, chilling the skin.

Over two hundred members crammed in, not haphazardly, but organized.

The tiniest kids occupied the core, encircled by women; men formed the next ring, and the thirteen logging team members guarded the perimeter.

Elders?

None exist—not in Great Xia alone, but scarce across all camps.

In this harsh winter’s end, typical elders don’t last.

As the leader’s sons, Xia Hong and Xia Chuan got no privileges, positioned on the outer layer.

Minutes dragged on, and after an hour, the cold halved the warmth from the bonfire era.

Central children started chattering teeth against the freeze.

Middle women began quivering too.

Outer men fared slightly better, merely shuddering.

The steadiest remained the thirteen outermost logging team members.

“Leader, perhaps we ought to relight the fire…”

A woman, watching her child’s lips blue with cold, pleaded to Xia Ding involuntarily.

But Xia Ding cut her off mid-sentence.

“Listen while I explain the Deceitful Monster from Redwood Ridge!”

Despite the biting cold, “Deceitful Monster” drew eyes toward Xia Ding in the gloom.

They knew he aimed to divert their minds, easing endurance, yet the enigmas nagging them would soon unravel, so Xia Hong strained to hear every word.

“That Deceitful Monster from Redwood Ridge… I’ve not witnessed it personally, but gleaned tales from a longtime ally in Rogel Camp.

Truth be told, not only me, but across Redwood Ridge’s nine camps…

Just one soul has beheld it and lived.”

“Who?”

Xia Chuan, youthful and curiosity-driven, blurted the query, shattering the tense hush of attentive listeners.

Naturally, he echoed what all pondered.

“Luo Feng of Rogel Camp!”

Wow……

Invoking Luo Feng sparked an immediate buzz among the huddled mass.

Even Xia Hong betrayed astonishment.

Luo Feng, once Rogel’s leader, was said to be Redwood Ridge’s pioneer digger-tier powerhouse.

Over two decades back, Rogel mirrored Great Xia—a modest camp of barely two hundred.

Luo Feng’s guidance elevated it to medium stature.

The crowd’s reaction stemmed from his famed status.

Moreover, whispers claimed he’d lost his sanity.

Fifteen years prior, shocking reports from Rogel alleged Luo Feng’s cultivation derailed into madness, leading him to slay his own child, igniting widespread alarm.

Might his derangement tie to the Deceitful Monster?

“You’re spot on—Luo Feng’s insanity stemmed straight from that Deceitful Monster.

During a hunting expedition he commanded, they crossed paths.

Twenty strong in the group, yet only he escaped alive.

Back at Rogel, one night he abruptly lost control for reasons unknown, slaying his young son.

Awakening, madness gripped him fully.

Prior to his breakdown, he warned Rogel’s hunters against delving deep into Redwood Ridge and revealed fragments on the Deceitful Monster.

Thus, a few in Rogel learned of it, and that’s how it reached me.”

“What form does the Deceitful Monster take?”

Once more, Xia Chuan’s inquisitiveness surged, prompting the query.

Xia Ding hesitated before responding.

“It lacks a fixed form.

They say the Deceitful Monster can shapeshift into any person’s likeness.”

Shapeshift into anyone?

That sounds like an Immortal Technique!

72 Transformations?

Though aware of this mystical realm, such a revelation still jolted Xia Hong deeply.

“Is there truly no way to discern it?”

Even Xia Hong voiced the doubt.

Xia Ding seemed taken aback, pausing before replying.

“Impossible to detect, regardless of the approach.”

“Once it impersonates another, what happens next?”

Another vital inquiry arose, Xia Hong hanging on each word.

Xia Ding’s tone grew ominously serious: “Legend holds it morphs into a trusted figure to earn utter faith.

With your complete belief, you turn into a human post.”

“Human post?”

“A human post—frozen in place, unmoving.”

“What follows?”

“It wields a tiny blade to carve off your flesh, sliver by sliver.

No matter the agony, you linger until all meat is stripped clean.”

Gasp…

The collective intake of icy breath echoed.

Such torment defies endurance, yet demise delays cruelly.

Could the Deceitful Monster prove this sadistic?

Xia Ding’s description terrified all, plunging the cave into dead quiet.

Yet suddenly, a distinct voice rang from beyond the cave.

“Why block the entrance prematurely?

Let us in, we’ve returned.”

In a flash, the clustered figures inside the cave went rigid at the sound.

Including Xia Hong.

“Hurry and unseal it, are you deaf?”

A second voice followed, and in the absolute dark, eyes bulged in horror.

All first stared at the sealed entrance.

Then swiveled to Xia Ding, their storyteller.

Shock morphed to raw terror on their visages.

For the voice outside,

matched Xia Ding’s exactly…