144: Different waiting

For several days in a row, the entire Military Camp was in a frenzy of training. Zong Ze was so busy he couldn't be seen, while Lin Yue was quite leisurely.

Early in the morning, before the bugle call for wake-up sounded in the Military Camp, Lin Yue opened the regional chat system to observe the activities of nearby players.

After observing for these past few days, he discovered that Shang Commandery was garrisoned by tens of millions of Great Qin Soldiers. As the Great Wall Legion's main base, Shang Commandery still had a considerable number of players!

The only difference from most other Great Qin commanderies was that the players here were not as fanatical as those elsewhere.

They now rarely plundered the Great Qin common folk, instead hiding in the mountains. Currently, the mountains were a cruel world of mutual conquest, while below, it was a peaceful and harmonious scene.

In fact, when the server first opened, they were equally frantic, but they were quickly scared witless by the Great Wall Legion's terrifying methods.

So they would warn every new player not to provoke the Great Qin villagers, and this unwritten rule of rarely descending the mountains has been passed down ever since.

But precisely because of this harsh survival environment, they all gathered into guilds, helping each other.

However, wherever there are people, there is conflict. The guilds were very united internally, but extremely ruthless externally. For food, they could be ruthless enough to torture an opponent to death; only then could they survive in such a brutal environment.

Therefore, Lin Yue had not acted rashly these past few days, remaining a 'lurker' in the regional chat.

It wasn't until the bugle call for wake-up sounded that Lin Yue sat up, wrapped in his blanket. The weather was getting colder and colder.

However, after all this time, he still hadn't received the imperial decree of enfeoffment; instead, he was greeted by the first snow of early winter.

Heavy snow fell, blanketing the land of Shang Commandery and dressing it in a layer of white winter attire.

Lin Yue pushed open the window to admire the first snow. The cold current from outside collided with the warm air inside, and Lin Yue could exhale white mist with a gentle breath.

He quite liked this feeling.

It wasn't until the White Horse Righteous Cavalry' Soldiers swept away the snow from his window, revealing the loess-covered ground, that he sighed and closed the window, returning to his warm bed.

As a Captain, he had this privilege... "B-b-brother, it's so cold," a player said, his teeth chattering incessantly.

"I-I'm cold too. Just bear with it a little longer; it'll be better once the sun comes out," another player said.

Last night, the players slept as usual, but it suddenly started snowing heavily during the night. After being woken up by the cold, they couldn't sleep anymore.

So everyone slowly gathered together, building a fire to huddle around for warmth, thus enduring this suddenly cold night.

Even until morning, everyone remained huddled around the bonfire.

"But brother, haven't you heard a saying?"

"What saying?"

"Melting snow is always colder than falling snow, just as ending is always more painful than beginning!

I think it's going to get even colder."

"What time is it for you to be spouting those emo lines?

We are the Tianlong Guild, I am the Guild Leader, and you are the Vice Guild Leader, not those old fogeys from some emo guild!" the Guild Leader said.

"Brother, although the saying is emo, the reason is real.

It will definitely get colder. Why don't we log off? It's too cold!" the Vice Guild Leader said.

"No, this territory we fought so hard for three months to obtain—if we log off now, we will lose everything we've gained and simply make a wedding dress for others!

As the Vice Guild Leader, can you bear to do that?" the Guild Leader said.

"Guild Leader, what should we do then?

You have to think of something!" The Vice Guild Leader thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Brothers, let's bear with it a little longer. Now is the time to compete in willpower. Do you think we're cold, but others aren't?

As long as we outlast them and make them log off, their territory will all be ours!

At that time, all the food, treasures, their NPC subordinates, and warm clothes will all be ours!" The Guild Leader cheered everyone on.

"But I'm so cold!

I'm cold even by the fire. If I go outside, I think I'll freeze into an ice pop. Besides, if they really have clothes, we won't be able to defeat them even if we go there!" the Vice Guild Leader said, shivering, his lips already a little pale.

"Go get those tiger skins and cover up. I'll go outside and take a look myself." The Guild Leader threw two more pieces of wood into the fire, which crackled loudly.

"Guild Leader, when the traveling merchant came last time, we already exchanged the tiger skins for money and food. We don't have any tiger skins now.

And the snow hasn't stopped yet; you won't be able to hunt anything if you go out." The Vice Guild Leader advised.

The Guild Leader sighed inwardly at the words. Their Tianlong Guild had 300 members, and nearly 2,000 refugees followed them.

Now, they only had a week's worth of food left, and not much wood. If they didn't go out to forage and cut wood soon, they would be in great danger.

But now the weather had suddenly turned cold, and they lacked warm clothing. Going out could very well mean freezing to death!

For now, they could only hope to encounter a traveling merchant again, but waiting passively like this made him very uncomfortable.

"Guild Leader, many people have logged off!" the Vice Guild Leader suddenly said.

The Guild Leader watched the online count drop from 302 to 262 in a short time, losing 40 people. He knew he couldn't wait any longer; if he did, more and more people would log off!

After the snow stopped, their Tianlong Guild would be in great danger!

Other guilds wouldn't let such a golden opportunity pass them by!

"Everyone listen to me, don't log off! We are a single entity. Those who logged off have already been kicked out of the guild!

Everyone, hold on a little longer. I guarantee everyone will safely get through this harsh winter!" The Guild Leader shouted loudly, comforting everyone!

At critical moments, decisive action was necessary to deter everyone!

40 players—if he didn't kick them out of the guild, the players in this camp would log off one by one, and after the snow stopped, this guild would also be removed by other guilds.

So, better a short pain than a long one!

He could also take this opportunity to bring the refugees under these people into his fold.

"But my mom called me home for dinner," a chubby boy said weakly.

He looked at the guild member count; those people had indeed been kicked out of the guild. He didn't want to freeze here, but a rogue couldn't survive here!

A rogue without strength had only one path: becoming a servant. If he were expelled from the guild, he would need to go through another struggle, proving his strength before he could join another guild, which was why he had been waiting.

"It's fine, you're so fat you won't starve if you miss one meal," the Guild Leader interrupted directly.

Although he said that, he was very anxious inside. He knew that as time slowly passed, more and more people would become dissatisfied!

He himself needed to think of a solution!