Chapter 1009: Harvest Time in the Evolved Forest

Early the next morning, Xia Qing traded the Devastation Element Antidotes for Points Cards and specialties from different territories. Then, holding another vial of antidote, she turned to the Elder Wolf. “Number Four, look, this is a medicine that can make you even stronger. Interested?”

The Queen had 7 units of Evolution Element and 4 per mille Devastation Element in her body. This old wolf was also an Advanced Brain Evolutionary, but his body currently held only 1.2 Evolution Element and a whopping 16 per mille Devastation Element. Taking the antidote would improve his constitution and boost his combat strength.

The Elder Wolf gazed calmly at the tiny syringe, never taking his eyes off it.

Grinning, Xia Qing drew 2 milliliters from the vial and mixed it with Pure Spring Water, placing it in front of the Elder Wolf. “Drink up. It’ll make you stronger. After you finish, come with me to the Evolved Forest on Hill Forty-Nine. I need to pick some fruit and could use your help.”

The Elder Wolf lowered his head to sniff the drink. After finishing it, his eyes lingered on the rest of the medicine still in Xia Qing’s hand.

“Drinking too much at once will give you a stomachache. All of this is yours—just split it over five days.” Xia Qing left four more doses of antidote, one for Number Four, and the rest for Monkey and Little Fei Mao.

Both Goofball and Little Fei Mao had suffered severe injuries before. The antidote was perfect for improving their health. They were so small that a single ten-milliliter dose was enough for both of them to share.

Once the antidotes were sorted, Xia Qing handed responsibility for the territory to Hu Zifeng’s Squad, who’d come to dig pits, and solemnly asked Old Goat to keep an eye on things. Only then did she set out with the Elder Wolf and Monkey, Little Fei Mao tucked in her pocket, heading out the Northern Gate and making her way to the chestnut grove at the northernmost end of Valley One, in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine.

Why bring along Monkey?

Because after hearing Xia Qing was going to pick fruit, Monkey clung to her leg and stubbornly refused to let go. As for Little Fei Mao, it was happy living in Xia Qing’s pocket. As long as she didn’t take it out, it went wherever she went.

Hu Zifeng noticed Xia Qing seemed just as calm as ever. Thinking back to how she’d gone wild the night before, causing chaos for everyone and every creature on the hill, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her.

In Xia Qing’s eyes, she probably couldn’t care less whether the person pretending to be her boyfriend was the big boss of the Azure Dragon Squad or just a small team leader like him.

As they entered Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, Xia Qing took Goofball out of her backpack and let Little Fei Mao out of her pocket to walk on its own. Whether Little Fei Mao wanted to tag along or not—Xia Qing left it up to him.

Noticing the Elder Wolf staring at the wild boars rooting around the pond in the valley, Xia Qing stopped. “Number Four, this is Northern Wolf Pack territory. The wild boars here belong to them. If you hunt those boars, the Queen, Broken Back, and Big Wolf won’t forgive you.”

She was different, though. As the fourth-ranked fighter among the wolves, she could kill a wild boar whenever she wanted. Xia Qing secretly delighted in that thought.

The Elder Wolf tore his gaze away from the boars and followed Xia Qing onwards.

They hiked all the way to the cliffs beside the chestnut grove at the valley’s end, but Xia Qing didn’t spot Flathead or Red Fox’s entire family.

Red Fox’s family was smart enough to avoid the Elder Wolf, but not Flathead. That little troublemaker was probably off fighting somewhere else on the mountain.

The Elder Wolf stared at a cloud of evolved hornets buzzing in the valley, looking serious.

Xia Qing was brimming with satisfaction. “Look, Number Four—see those fruits on the trees? All mine. And the evolved hornets are guarding these woods for me.”

Last year, when she and the Freeloader first discovered this grove, there were 31 chestnut trees: 19 Yellow Lantern Chestnut Trees older than a year, and 4 Green Lantern Chestnut Trees. There were also 3 Green Lantern saplings, 2 Yellow Lantern saplings, and 3 Red Lantern saplings from the same year.

After collecting the chestnuts, Xia Qing cleared out the Red Lantern saplings and dug up a Green Lantern Chestnut Sapling with its soil, sending it off to Territory Seven.

She then planted a sturdy ring of stumps and wove a thorny fence around the grove, keeping the valley’s wild boars out, and fertilized the trees with high-quality nutrients.

The fertilizer had been specially made for her, using a formula Zhang Tao created after testing the grove’s soil and seedlings.

That spring, Xia Qing dug up two Green Lantern saplings from last year and traded them to Territory Five for two Green Lantern Orange Saplings. Since then, she’d fertilized the grove three times and watered it with Pure Spring Water.

Thanks to her careful care, the five Green Lantern and two Yellow Lantern saplings that emerged this spring didn’t turn into Red Lanterns.

Now, Xia Qing owned 32 edible chestnut trees: 17 Yellow Lantern and 4 Green Lantern trees bore fruit, and by her estimation, the harvest should be a hundred or two pounds higher than last year.

There was still a month before the bulk of the chestnuts would ripen. Most of the outer shells on the trees were still green and sticky with bugs. Only a few had started to turn tawny brown, their spines drying up and splitting open at the tip to reveal the nuts inside.

The chestnuts gave off a scent that Xia Qing couldn’t smell, but it attracted birds, squirrels, hedgehogs, and other small creatures.

If the leaves of this grove weren’t sticky and there weren’t thousands of evolved hornets guarding it, those chestnuts would’ve been eaten long ago.

Following an animal trail along the steep hillside into the valley, Xia Qing paused just before entering the hornets’ territory. She pulled out her phone, adjusted the zoom, and snapped a rare group photo of the Freeloader’s family, Goofball, and Jasmine perched on the nearby Pine Tree. She sent it to her friend.

Xin Yu quickly video-called her. “That litter of snowfield squirrels born this spring—only two are left now.”

The hornets’ buzzing was deafening, so the animals in the trees couldn’t hear Xia Qing and Xin Yu’s conversation. Otherwise, Gua Gua would’ve swooped over by now.

Xia Qing aimed the camera at two young Red Squirrels. “Right, see the bigger one? It’s gotten its own territory here in Section Three of this mountain. The smaller one is Little Fei Mao. The other two who used to live in my territory with Big Squirrel are missing—who knows where they ended up.”

Life in the Evolved Forest was tough. The two missing snowfield squirrels could have claimed territory elsewhere or ended up as prey.

Watching her tamed bird perched on White-Faced Little Monkey’s shoulder, Xin Yu was delighted. “Didn’t expect Gua Gua and Goofball to get along so well. Next time, let’s bring them both to explore the Evolved Forest together. Do you think Goofball will ever move back here?”

“Doesn’t look like it. He’s in no hurry to leave these days. I’m about to pick some ripe chestnuts—I’ll bring you a batch later.”

Once their call ended, Xia Qing sprayed insect repellent on herself and the Elder Wolf. Since he wasn’t wearing a Protective Suit, she had him stand guard at a distance. Fully armed with long pruning shears, Xia Qing crossed the stream and entered the chestnut grove.

“Bzzz—!!!”

The hornets feeding on insects around the trees spotted an intruder and charged, buzzing angrily but shrinking back, deterred by the pungent smell covering Xia Qing.

The Elder Wolf backed off cautiously, while the animals in the nearby trees eyed the proceedings with excitement.

Xia Qing ignored the swearing hornets circling her and quickly used the pruning shears to harvest the ripe chestnut burrs.

Because of the angle, one chestnut burr missed the net at the end of her shears and fell to the ground.

“Thunk!”

When the chestnut burr hit the ground, the spiny shell split open, sending three clay-red nuts bouncing across the dirt.

A Speed-Evolved Red Squirrel launched itself off the tree trunk and shot forward in a blur of red, grabbing a nut at Xia Qing’s feet and darting away just before the hornets swooped down.

Freeloader’s strongest baby from this spring had snatched the prize snack from Xia Qing yet again.

“Ah—”

“Woof—”

As Goofball and the Elder Wolf sounded simultaneous alarms, Xia Qing, who’d been bending down to pick up the chestnuts, shot upright. She spotted an evolved hornet the size of a human palm quivering its wings as it lifted off a rock and charged right at her.

These hornets—damn it, they’ve evolved again!