Chapter 1029: A Day of Strategy and Curiosity

After breakfast, Xia Qing made a careful round of her own little building, the rack building, warehouse, sheep shed, and chicken house, checking every door, window and roof to be sure no rain would seep through. Only then did she leave the house in Old Goat and Number Four’s hands, the territory to Liangzi and Chen Zheng, grab her backpack and set off toward the chestnut grove in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine.

By now the sun was high in the sky and the valley had warmed to twenty-two degrees. The evolved wasp swarm had finished their morning feeding and were now in a calm phase—the perfect window for a little sneaky business.

She wasn’t here to pick chestnuts today and certainly not to mess with that rare, high-evolution giant wasp. Today Xia Qing’s mission was to set up a surveillance robot.

She sprayed herself with insect repellent and, after weaving herself a big camphor-branch sunhat, hunched down in the weeds along the edge of the wasp territory, camouflaging herself as a little tree. Using her remote, she guided the soccer ball-sized robot to slowly roll into the chestnut grove.

The little orb, bristling like a hedgehog, didn’t catch the wasp swarm’s attention—but it drew stares from the small animals perched in the trees nearby. Little Fei Mao’s sturdy nestmate darted down, eager to pounce on this strange ‘prey’.

“Squeak—”

That plucky critter moved fast, but it hadn’t counted on the ‘prey’ being spikier than any hedgehog. Yelping in pain, the little guy beat a quick retreat up the pine, rubbing its fuzzy cheek with tiny front paws.

Hearing her sibling’s cry, Little Fei Mao wriggled out from Xia Qing’s pocket and scampered up the big pine.

Once she’d checked that the little squirrel’s face wasn’t actually punctured, Xia Qing stopped worrying about the pair and refocused, guiding the spiked orb as it trundled through the chestnut grove to the edge of the rocky crevice.

“Bzzz—”

At last, the giant evolved wasp inside the rock crevice was roused. It buzzed out, circled the motionless spiked ball once, then made a quick sweep of the chestnut grove, double-checking for threats. Finding nothing amiss, it hovered above the leaves, wrestled down a fat struggling insect, and got right to eating.

Thirty yards away, crouched on the far bank of the creek, Xia Qing held her breath and steered the spiked robot up a rubble-strewn slope, into the rock crevice and up to the enormous wasp nest. She hit the activation button.

“Zzz—”

A faint metallic noise whirred out as the ball activated its camera. Watching the lens rotate, Xia Qing was about to text her Idol when her gaze snagged on something on a nearby rock… a pile of giant wasp droppings. She couldn’t look away.

Giant wasps are high-evolution Green Lantern creatures—so their dung was even better quality than the Green Lantern chickens or sheep over in Section Three. If she used it to fertilize her Green Lantern spinach, she could surely boost its Evolution Element content!

The more she thought about it, the more excited she got. She shot her Idol a message to confirm he’d received the robot’s video feed, then asked: Third Brother, can I use giant wasp droppings as fertilizer to grow Green Lantern spinach?

Over in the lab, Zhang San was closely studying a wasp nest when the message appeared. He froze for two seconds, then couldn’t help but laugh: Worth a try. Get to the chestnut grove before dark and bring back any droppings the robot collects.

Tonight, the Devastation Rain is coming.

Now this is what it means to be a top-tier Blue Star Idol! Xia Qing thanked him, packed up her remote, slipped quietly out of the valley and set off for Hill Fifty.

As the administrator of Hill Fifty, she had to finish her rounds before the Devastation Rain hit.

She checked the lab’s seal in the intermediate contamination zone, inspected the rainwater-collection pits Zhao Ze’s team had dug, then headed into the Hidden Valley. Xia Qing handed over the Evolution Stones she’d brought to Li Kai and Cheng Ping, who were on duty in the valley. She instructed them to activate the Yi Stone Protector and install the Evolution Stones as soon as the Devastation Rain started to shield the territory’s crops, also reminding, “When you enter the peanut field, wear all your protective gear and always walk on the ridges. Don’t touch the peanut leaves.”

Green Lantern peanut leaves have needlelike veins that’ll draw fluids from any animal—this is no joking matter.

Li Kai, with only one leg, couldn’t do this task, but Cheng Ping, who was down to one arm, nodded: “Don’t worry, Sister Qing.”

Four seriously wounded people from Territory Fifteen were still recovering in the valley. Whether lying down or sitting, they put on their best faces to greet Xia Qing as she passed. Even the two who couldn’t speak made the effort to lift their hands in greeting.

All four were taking the Devastation Element Antidote Xia Qing had traded to them, giving them a much better chance of survival. She didn’t know their names or faces, but she nodded back and kept walking until she reached the half-acre field near the Bear Cave side of the Hidden Valley.

This field belonged to Xia Qing and held 4,488 matured peanut plants. If luck held, she’d be harvesting in another month.

She scattered the bugs she’d brought over the peanut field. Instantly, countless needle-veins shot from the leaves, pinning down the fleeing insects and drinking them dry.

Zhang Shi—bespectacled and lab coat-clad—stepped out of the lab. “Three more Yellow Lantern peanuts turned red. I pulled them up already,” he reported.

“Thanks for the hard work, Ten.” Xia Qing said with a smile. She still had 4,485 peanut plants left.

Zhang Shi adjusted his glasses. “It’s nothing. Just doing my part.”

Xia Qing asked, “How’s Shiyi doing lately? Any better?”

This Little Shiyi here was actually the real Ye Shiyi. Last time Xia Qing came by, the little girl had still been unconscious—so she didn’t know how she’d be after waking up.

“She’s inside reading. Come, have a cup of tea,” Zhang Shi invited, waving Xia Qing indoors.

Xia Qing followed Zhang Shi into the cozy wooden house beside the field. Sitting by the window with a picture book, Ye Shiyi saw Xia Qing walk in and shrank back, but at least she didn’t scream—better than Xia Qing had braced herself for.

Zhang Shi’s voice was gentle. “Yaya, Aunt Qing is here.”

Yaya was Ye Shiyi’s nickname.

Xia Qing fished a plush Goofball toy—sewn by Xin Yu—out of her pocket and placed it softly on the windowsill, keeping her voice gentle and slow. “Yaya, I brought you a present. See if you like it.”

After leaving the toy on the sill, Xia Qing didn’t stare but moved over to sit and chat with Zhang Shi over tea.

With Xia Qing’s attention elsewhere, Yaya at last turned her head toward the toy. Sipping her tea, Xia Qing glanced from the corner of her eye, noticing how much healthier the girl looked—her cheeks brighter and rounder, her forehead smooth…

The scar at the corner of her eye was gone. Had Zhang Shi healed her with Recovery Factor or just covered it with makeup?

Zhang Shi’s voice was especially warm. “I’ve given Yaya some medicine and she’s slowly getting better, body and mind. If she’s ready for it next year, I want her to go to school.”

Since her daughter had used Ye Shiyi’s identity to enroll, Zhang Shi would prepare a new identity for Ye Shiyi to make sure she got her right to an education too. Every child who survived the Calamity Years deserved that chance. Zhang Shi would never rob Yaya of hers just to benefit her own daughter.