Chapter 52 Intensified Contradictions [Breaking 1000 Thanks!]

Chapter 52: Chapter 52 Intensified Contradictions [Breaking 1000 Thanks!]

At nightfall, from the time they left Rogel Camp until now.

For more than two hours, that Wood Puppet Monster still hadn’t shown up.

It wasn’t just Luo Ming and his team, who were acting as bait, who were upset.

Yang Ning and Li Hu, who had been hiding in the shadows, felt the same way.

This was meant to be the last attempt. If that Wood Puppet Monster didn’t appear again, Yang Ning was ready to take Li Hu and leave Redwood Ridge.

Thinking about the many benefits of hunting the Wood Puppet Monster, if it continuously failed to appear, they would have to leave empty-handed, making them increasingly anxious.

Just then, Li Hu caught wind of some complaints ahead concerning the two of them, and his already troubled mood reached a boiling point.

Lu He heard a slap and Li Hu’s subsequent angry curse and immediately realized something was wrong, quickly rushing to the scene.

Seeing Hong Mu’s mouth full of blood from Li Hu’s slap, Lu He hurried to his side, helped him up, and apologized to Li Hu.

"Please forgive us, sir. Hong Mu is young and naive, and he spoke out of turn."

After speaking, Lu He nodded toward Hong Mu, implying with his eyes that he should quickly apologize to Li Hu.

There were 52 people who came out this time, divided into seven groups. Since there were only five camps involved, the groups weren’t split according to camps but rather mixed randomly.

Hong Mu, the son of Da Chuan Camp leader Hong Gang, indeed was young, in his early twenties, and had been placed in Lu He’s group.

Lu He and Hong Gang were acquainted, and their relationship was quite good, so Lu He treated Hong Mu as a junior, which explained his eagerness to help.

Even though Li Hu’s slap left Hong Mu’s face stinging, the physical pain was far overshadowed by his inner shame.

Though Li Hu was stronger than him, they were around the same age, and being slapped so heavily in front of seven or eight people ignited Hong Mu’s anger, as one might expect.

The impulsive Hong Mu instinctively resisted Lu He’s dissuasion, struggling to stand up and retort to Li Hu.

But before he could stand, Lu He’s hand firmly held him down.

Seeing Lu He gently shake his head towards him, a trace of frustration appeared on Hong Mu’s face, and he swallowed back the words already on the tip of his tongue.

As the son of Da Chuan Camp leader Hong Gang, Hong Mu naturally understood more than others, and he could read the meaning behind Lu He shaking his head.

Never mind the Wood Puppet Monster, which they had to rely on Yang Ning and Li Hu alone to handle—offending them would put the residents of Redwood Ridge at a disadvantage.

He even thought, quite boldly, that it wouldn’t matter if he ignored the Wood Puppet Monster, but what good would it do to have a conflict with Yang and Li?

Yang and Li were both Earth-digging Realm experts, and their strength exceeded that of Redwood Ridge’s strongest, Luo Ming, by a slight margin.

So, considering all of this, even if he was furious, he had to endure!

Even if he felt that what he had just discussed hadn’t actually insulted the two of them, he had no choice but to accept the slap as unwarranted.

Hong Mu suppressed the aggrieved look on his face, nodded at Lu He, and was about to apologize to Li Hu.

But before he could speak, Li Hu spoke first.

"Still young? Looking like this, at least in your twenties, only at Logging Realm cultivation. It’s forgivable to be a useless person, but can’t even control your mouth. Next time, it won’t just be a slap!"

Hong Mu’s face instantly turned red with rage. The anger he had suppressed surged back up, and ignoring Lu He’s restraint, he retorted loudly:

"If you’re so strong, how did you let the Wood Puppet Monster escape four times? Was I wrong? The Wood Puppet Monster’s strength is naturally above yours, those four escapes could very well be it toying with us."

Hong Mu’s retort left Li Hu momentarily stunned.

He clearly hadn’t expected Hong Mu to speak up so loudly against him.

Once he realized, he became even more enraged:

"You little mutt, daring to bark nonsense!"

While cursing, he lunged forward like an arrow towards Hong Mu.

"Sir, please have mercy!"

Ruo Ming’s plea didn’t stop Li Hu’s actions.

Slap...

This time, his slap was even heavier, so loud that everyone approaching with Luo Ming heard it.

Li Hu slapped Hong Mu across the face, and it wasn’t over yet.

While Hong Mu was still reeling, he kicked him, sending him flying five or six meters.

"My son!"

Hong Gang, who was following Ruo Ming, rushed forward to support his son. After checking his son’s facial and bodily injuries, he turned to look at Li Hu, his expression extremely angry, but he did not erupt. Instead, he solemnly questioned:

"Sir, was it really necessary to be so heavy-handed over a few remarks?"

Hong Gang might have thought he was being very restrained by merely questioning him once.

But in Li Hu’s eyes, this question plainly constituted serious provocation.

"You insignificant insect, questioning me?"

"Sir, perhaps you could be more virtuous with your words. Although we’re mere insects, we’re laying our lives on the line to help you hunt the monster. Is it necessary to insult us like this?"

Ruo Ming blocked Li Hu, who was advancing towards Hong Gang, with a deep voice and an extremely unpleasant expression.

From the moment the word "insect" slipped out of Li Hu’s mouth, Ruo Ming knew this ordeal couldn’t end easily.

If it were directed at anyone else, he might have asked Hong Gang to show him some face, but the situation involved Hong Mu, and Li Hu’s verbal tirade even targeted Hong Gang, leaving him with no options.

Hong Mu’s words hadn’t just expressed his personal thoughts; their entire group had been discussing the same things.

With four escapes by the Wood Puppet Monster, everyone already had complaints about Yang and Li, himself included.

Considering the current scenario, if he didn’t take a firm stance, this temporary alliance might quickly collapse.

He hadn’t hoped for Li Hu to understand or cooperate in pretending. Throughout the past few days, his impression of Li Hu had worsened. This person, although strong, was reckless, ill-tempered, and acted without much thought.

And as he expected, Li Hu couldn’t grasp his intent. It even seemed as though Li Hu felt he was personally insulted, and his anger only grew.

"Alright, Hu Zi, don’t go too far."

Fortunately, Yang Ning appeared and stopped him.

Seeing Yang Ning approach, Luo Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Actually, deep down, both Yang and Li clearly looked down on them. Whenever they spoke to them, there was always a strong sense of superiority.

But in comparison, Yang Ning seemed to conceal it a bit more, his personality cooler, and he was far more mature and measured than Li Hu.

His earlier words were ostensibly directed at Li Hu but were truly meant for Yang Ning, knowing that Yang Ning would surely understand the implications, cooperate in putting on a show, and stabilize Hong Gang’s group.

Regrettably, while Yang Ning cooperated, Ruo Ming had evidently misjudged the fury pent up in Hong Gang over these past few days.

Looking at his son’s injuries, Hong Gang couldn’t help but stand up, and with a fist salute to Ruo Ming, he solemnly spoke:

"That’s enough, Leader Luo, no need for further words. We at Da Chuan Camp are merely useless trash, and staying here might only offend the two lords further. We’ll take our leave here."

More troublingly, once Hong Gang spoke up,

Huang Yong, Lu He, and Chen Ying all joined in:

"Same for us; we hope you’ll forgive us, Leader Luo."

"That Wood Puppet Monster probably won’t appear anymore, and we can’t kill it anyways. Staying here is just a waste of time. Leader Luo, I’ll be taking my people to leave as well."

"I feel the same. Leader Luo, Huang Zhao Camp is also taking its leave."

Watching the four camps, which had been so hard to pull together just yesterday, all express their intention to leave, Luo Ming felt his head pounding. He wanted to persuade everyone to stay but found himself at a loss for words and increasingly troubled by Li Hu’s conduct.

"Who is it over there, hiding? Come out!"

In the midst of everyone’s silent tension, Yang Ning suddenly turned and shouted angrily towards the east side.

The others assumed the Wood Puppet Monster had appeared, and all looked in that direction.

But as they looked, they realized it wasn’t so.

A burly young man quickly jumped down from a tree, approached them by over ten meters, looked around, then bowed with his fists together, appearing urgent, and said in a deep voice:

"Leader Xia Hong from Great Xia Camp, may I ask which one of you is Leader Luo Ming? I have urgent information to report to him."