Chapter 1044: Rain, Roots, and Red Bamboo: Feast Before the Harvest

Xia Qing shook the water off the grass root and handed it to her eager companion. “Old Goat, try this! These grass roots are sweet. Third Brother loves eating them!”

Old Goat, who couldn’t wait any longer, gave the grass root a chew, then fixed his big, shining eyes on the rest in Xia Qing’s hand. Smiling, Xia Qing placed all the grass roots into Old Goat’s food bowl. “These are all yours, take your time. I’m heading out to deliver something. I’ll come back to get you and then we can go cut bamboo together.”

Old Goat munched his grass roots and stared at the bowl, far too occupied for Xia Qing.

From the plush wooden nest hanging on the wall, Little Fei Mao poked out his fluffy head, his dark eyes watching Xia Qing expectantly.

Xia Qing broke off a piece of evolved white grass root and offered it to him. “Here, Little Fei Mao, try this—it’s sweet, too. I went out on a mission today and brought back a bunch of tiger fur. Once it’s washed and disinfected, you can use it to pad your nest.”

Little Fei Mao, who loved lining his nest with the fur of powerful beasts, barely understood Xia Qing’s words—his full attention was fixed on the tasty grass root in his tiny paws.

Xia Qing gently patted his little head, grabbed an umbrella, and ran up to the ruins of the house. She handed a cleaned grass root to Elder Wolf who was nestled inside a lean-to. “Number Four, this is a great find from my trip—premium food. Try it and see if you like it.”

Elder Wolf glared at Xia Qing, growling in annoyance.

“I know this is your turf, but it’s raining and the food will get soggy,” Xia Qing chuckled, placing the grass root in a food bowl already filled with freeze-dried meat. Only then did she gather the antelope and the sample, hopped on the rotary tiller, and drove to the small house by the fields to pick up two bags of squirming insects, handing one off to Zheng Chen who was waiting outside the northern gate.

When Xia Qing returned, she was carrying a large black bag.

Before she could speak, Da Jiang—bursting with energy—urged her to go rest. “Sister Qing, you should take a break. We’re keeping an eye on the greenhouse and hot house.”

“Alright,” Xia Qing replied easily. She did a quick sweep of the main greenhouses, then stopped by the monitoring room near the fields to check eight screens and make sure her territory was safe, before taking the rotary tiller home.

Why were Da Jiang and the others so enthusiastic today?

Well, that’s because Territory Seven was about to deliver roast lamb! Even Third Brother, a notorious picky eater, had hired a top-notch chef for the feast.

To go with the main dish, Er Yong had already darted off with a veggie basket to Greenhouse One to pick side ingredients. The crops grown for breeding in Greenhouse One and Two of Section Three were never for outside exchange, but Xia Qing was never stingy.

Since Hu Zifeng’s Squad guarded Section Three for her, whenever Xia Qing didn’t make it back in time for meals, she’d let them pick vegetables from the greenhouse—just so long as they left the marked breeding crops alone.

But Hu Zifeng’s Squad was well-disciplined; Xia Qing paid them for their services. While stationed in Section Three, they mostly ate their own food. Today was different, though—today Xia Qing was dining with them, and they were all in for a treat!

Back at home, Xia Qing didn’t immediately inventory the supplies she’d brought back. Instead, she carried them and the day’s spoils upstairs to the storage room.

Though she never locked her doors thanks to all her animal companions, Xia Qing didn’t worry about intruders. Her territory was under complete surveillance—any unfamiliar creature would be flagged for warning. Plus, south of her yard on top of the ruins, a silent, formidable old wolf lay in wait, ever watchful and fiercely loyal. He’d promised to guard her home, and nothing unusual would slip past him.

After putting everything away and getting cleaned up, Xia Qing—each holding an iron umbrella—ventured out into the rain with Old Goat by her side.

The patch of red-leaved bamboo in the northwest corner of the territory had shot up to eighteen meters high—finally ready for harvest.

These bamboo roots, planted before the last Devastation Rain, had evolved again. If attacked, the roots could now burst from the ground like wild tung tree vines, bristling with needle-like root hairs to lash out indiscriminately.

With the upgraded red-leaved bamboo now so dangerous, after the second Devastation Rain, Xia Qing dug up all the roots and transplanted them to bamboo-suitable spots on Hill Fifty. The ones here had originally been brought back from there.

Before the second Devastation Rain, Xia Qing, Qi Fu, and Yuan Yan had collected evolved bamboo roots from Hill Fifty-Two. Some were planted in her territory, the rest up on Hill Fifty. During the storm, those roots had gone wild. Afterward, Xia Qing moved some, and so did the Alliance and the others from Territory Seventeen.

Everyone in the northern section had sat through over six hours of Devastation Rain. So, when Xia Qing’s red-leaved bamboo was ready for harvest, her allies’ were too. Fueled by nutrient shakes, each lord grabbed a machete and, with their friends or hired help, charged into the evolved bamboo forest.

In Territory Fifteen, seeing her daughter switch on the headlamp of her protective mask and head out with an umbrella and portable stove, Jiang Ying’s mother hurried over. “Yingzi, let me help you carry it.”

Jiang Ying started to shake her head but her mother cut her off. “This is a Level 3 Wilderness Protective Suit—nothing’s going to hurt me out there. Come on, let’s go.”

Teaming up with Huo Lei and Shizhong to invent several new farm tools had earned Jiang Ying thousands of credits. She had sent a five-thousand-credit card through Zheng Kui to the Safe Zone and asked her mother to keep it safe for her.

Through her brother’s connections with his squad, her mother spent 4,900 credits to buy her daughter a Level 3 Wilderness Protective Suit. She brought it to Territory Fifteen just in time for the storm.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Ying had used the leftover credits to buy her mother the same advanced protective suit, while she still wore her old level two.

They each pulled out their brand-new protective suits—smiling through tears.

Now, with top-grade gear, Jiang Ying’s mother wasn’t about to let her daughter risk anything alone. Together, they left the yard, joined up with Tan Qi who was already carrying a machete, and made their way to the evolved bamboo forest.

Little Shiyi, upstairs in the bedroom, waited until they had walked far off. She pulled the blackout curtain shut, locked the door, and double-checked with Magnetic Sense for anyone or any big animal nearby. Satisfied, she grabbed her smart watch and tapped on her mother’s profile picture.

The call went through. The tiny screen flickered, and when Little Shiyi saw her mother—someone she’d missed for so, so long—her tears flowed instantly.

Tan Qi followed behind the Jiang family, curious. “Sister Yingzi, are you two carrying that fire-forged chopper you made the other day?”

Jiang Ying, who’d been learning blacksmithing from Huo Lei, nodded. “Yeah, we’ll see if it works when we get there.”

If it does, it’ll slash the time and effort needed to chop down all that red-leaved bamboo.