After listening for a while, John quietly descended, his waxy and emaciated face showing threads of despair.
The two people below saw his expression and clearly realized something, their expressions gradually becoming hopeless as well.
"They're still there, they're not planning to leave. What's on the North Slope? Are these beasts planning to stay here forever!"
"Even if they leave during the day, it doesn't matter. We can't get out. As soon as night falls, they come back and rest above, and we still can't escape."
"The Crystal Fruit ran out three days ago. The leather, dried grass, and tarpaulin we used before in the cave, everything edible is already eaten, and there are already children fainting from hunger."
"We can't go on like this, Father."
"The wood is about to run out too, the camp is about to start eating people, Father."
"Shut up, quiet!"
John interrupted his two sons' discussion.
Although his tone was slightly more severe, he still tried to keep his voice down, fearing being discovered by the Cold Beast above.
But after interrupting them, John didn't know what to say either.
Thinking of the current situation, the despair in his pupils grew stronger.
This group of rodents came over more than half a month ago, and for some unknown reason, they entrenched themselves on the North Slope of the mountain wall and refused to leave.
Today marks a full seventeen days.
The Brocolli Camp was originally just a small camp with little strength.
The reserves of Crystal Fruit and wood were not substantial, and the logging team has not gone out for seventeen days.
The current situation is easy to imagine.
John had considered a desperate attempt, but the problem is that with their strength, even a desperate attempt was an extravagance.
If they exposed themselves even a little, it would basically mean becoming this group of Cold Beasts' food.
Last time during the Wood Puppet Monster incident at Rogel Camp, Brocolli Camp lost five people from the Axeheart Realm.
Now with only the three of them in the Axeheart Realm, with such little strength, any one of the myriad rodents on the North Slope could easily kill them.
John once hoped that this group of rodents had some purpose and might leave once they achieved it.
But up to now, there were no signs of the rodents leaving.
"Let's go back and have a look!"
John led his two sons, walked more than ten meters towards the south of the cave, and knocked on a stone wall, immediately receiving a response from behind.
A stone was moved aside, and light immediately poured out from inside.
The three quickly squeezed in and sealed the stone wall behind them.
Behind the stone wall, there was actually a secondary cave that spanned twenty to thirty meters.
In the center of the cave was a small bonfire, with two to three hundred people crowded around it, their faces full of despair and helplessness.
The arrival of John and his two sons caused a slight stir among the crowd.
Yet upon noticing the expressions on the three's faces, the crowd visibly fell back into despair, their spirits utterly crushed.
"Wuwuwu, my child, my child…"
Suddenly, the low sobs of a woman came from the crowd.
John followed the sound and found a grown woman by the bonfire, holding a three or four-year-old child, weeping quietly.
John reached out and touched the child's neck, discovering that the pulse had already stopped, his face turning even grimmer.
Those closest to the bonfire were children and women.
John stood up and looked around, finding that most of the children had their eyes closed, barely breathing, with even some already unconscious.
On the third day of fasting, in normal circumstances, it would not be enough to starve anyone to death.
The problem is, the heating system also broke down.
With the Cold Beasts directly above, they couldn't risk stoking the fire too much.
Furthermore, with the wood supply running low these past few days, warming up has become an even greater strain.
Surviving hunger alone could barely be managed, but if you add the cold, even adults wouldn't hold, let alone children.
If this continues, the children will definitely be the first to die of starvation and cold, then it will spread to the adults.
John clenched his fists tightly for a moment, seemingly making a decision, the despair on his face gradually shifting to resolve.
He turned to the crowd and spoke in a deep voice:
"Tonight, once night falls, Freddy and I will charge out of the cave entrance, running north to distract the Cold Beasts. Bryan will lead the others south. If you can run, then run, if not, then we'll all die together!"
After speaking, John ignored the crowd's reaction and sat directly on the ground, closing his eyes to rest, waiting for the night to come.
Bryan and Freddy, hearing his words, also showed no emotional response, only nodded slightly in despair.
Upon hearing Brocolli's plan, the others reacted similarly, if not more hopelessly than them.
It's not just these ordinary people; when Brocolli made this decision, he knew in his heart that of the 278—no, 277 people left in Brocolli Camp, none were likely to survive.
The problem is, doing nothing only guarantees death.
Taking action may at least allow a more dignified death.
When he confirmed the child's death a moment ago, he noticed the gleam in many adults' eyes.
If they continued to stay inside, not only would they die without dignity, but scenes of inhuman tragedy might occur, which he was unwilling to see.
Thus, aside from death, there is no other path!
Being weak is the original sin.
Who let them be at the bottom layer of this icy world?
Since death cannot be avoided, they might as well accept it calmly.
Ah…
With eyes closed, John's heart sighed slightly, involuntarily recalling Lex and another he met at Rogel Camp some time ago.
"If only we were born in a place like Manhattan Town, it would be great!"
The night silently crept in.
In fact, during these seventeen days trapped deep in the cave, for fear of being discovered by the Cold Beasts, even the smoke from the bonfire was being vented through wooden pipes to the depths of the cave, let alone opening the cave to see whether it was day or night outside.
Even daring to make a small hole to peek, he didn't dare.
He could only judge based on the noises made by the Cold Beasts above.
During the daytime, the Cold Beasts would crawl up the North Slope mountains, and at night, they would crawl back to the mountainside to rest.
Hearing the noise above intensify, John realized it was already dark.
After waiting for a moment, John first extinguished the campfire, then led everyone out of the hiding place within a cave, through a three-meter-high passage, to the outer area where they had previously camped in a large mountain cave.
"Open the cave!"
John was mentally prepared and didn't dawdle, instructing his two sons and some adults to begin clearing the entrance of the cave.
To avoid alarming the Cold Beasts above, they moved as quietly as possible.
Considering they hadn't eaten for days and were weak, the clearing process was extraordinarily slow.
Nonetheless, everyone was not impatient, likely knowing that stepping outside meant facing death, so their mindset remained calm.
When only a final layer of branches remained at the cave entrance, John signaled for everyone to stop and exchanged a meaningful look with them, clearly bidding farewell.
Just as he was raising his hand to push away the last layer of branches.
Thud, thud...
Suddenly, there was a violent trembling from above.
John looked upwards, his expression changing in shock, thinking they had been discovered by the Cold Beasts, and instinctively told everyone to retreat back to the previous cave.
"Wait, father, the Cold Beasts, they seem to be leaving!"
"They're not heading for North Slope; they are moving toward Redwood Ridge."
Freddy and Bryan had already pressed their ears to the ground, and after listening for a while, they immediately looked up, their faces filled with joy.
John was stunned for a moment, then quickly lay on the ground, and after listening, his face also showed joy.
He quickly pried open a small part of the cave entrance to look outside.
"Fire?"
He was momentarily stunned by what he saw.
On the western side of the mountain wall, over a hundred meters away, although the view wasn't clear, John could ascertain a small flame was burning.
At the same time, countless Silver Cold Beasts were leaping down from above, fervently charging towards the flame.
No, there's more!
Beyond that flame, another one started to burn, followed by more and more, until four or five small flames were burning close to the outskirts of Redwood Ridge—too far for John to see clearly.
"Everyone, hurry outside and run south!"
Until all the Silver Cold Beasts had jumped down and headed west, continuously moving away from the mountain wall while chasing the flames, realizing this was an excellent escape opportunity, Brocolli immediately pushed open the branches covering the cave entrance and shouted to those behind him.
He did not escape first, but instead let the others run ahead.
"Run, run!"
"Hurry, run, quickly, those with strength, carry the children, quick!"
Freddy and Bryan did the same; not only did they not run first, but they actually went to the back and each picked up a child, urging everyone to run quickly.
With over two hundred people, it was certainly unrealistic to expect all of them to run out quickly.
But under the coordination and organization of John's family, father and sons, and with the cooperation of many adults, the speed was surprisingly fast.
In under two minutes, everyone had escaped the cave and was desperately fleeing south.
The Chen family father and sons followed at the back of the group, constantly keeping an eye on the Cold Beasts that had moved to the outskirts of Redwood Ridge, while also watching the dangers behind them.
Unfortunately, a group of two or three hundred people was simply too large.
When squeezing out of the cave, with their coordination, the speed was quick; but once outside and running south, the speed immediately slowed down.
"Ah…"
At the same time, a scream suddenly erupted from the group, causing it to split in half, with those in the front running frantically forward and those in the back actually starting to retreat.
The trailing trio of John immediately rushed to the middle, their expressions changing drastically.
Seeing the scene in the middle, their hearts turned cold.
Three half-meter diameter holes appeared on the ground, where three Silver Tailed Cold Beasts had already killed seven or eight people.
One of them even had a person's upper body clamped in its mouth; with a light chew from its gnawing teeth, the person was crushed and swallowed.
"Hold them back, the rest, keep running, quick!"
John didn't hesitate, pulling out a stone axe and bravely charged forward, with Bryan and Freddy closely following, rushing up as well.
The three were clearly planning to sacrifice their lives to create a chance for the rest to escape.
The ordinary people reacted quickly, most circumventing to escape, while a few adults gritted their teeth and followed John and his sons, charging toward the Silver Tailed Cold Beasts.
"If we're going to die, let's fight these beasts!"
"Everyone else, keep running."
"Yes, let's fight it."