Chapter 1071: Night Over the Ruins

Through the camera feed Xia Qing watched Elder Wolf carry his companion’s body to a narrow crevice in the ruined territory. Carefully he used his claws to scrape away the Devastation Grass and thick weeds, pushing aside broken stones and bricks bit by bit until the body was buried.

Then, looking completely disheveled, Elder Wolf stood atop the ruins and gazed up at the night sky, letting out a silent howl full of grief.

Xia Qing got up and pulled aside a corner of the blackout curtains in the living room, peering toward the southern edge of the yard and the ruins beyond.

From this angle Xia Qing couldn’t see the wolf, only the endless sea of Devastation Grass swaying in the breeze, catching bits of starlight atop the ruined ground.

That scene brought an unexpected memory to Xia Qing: the aftermath of the first Devastation Rain in the sixth year of the apocalypse, when she was sent on a mission to clear the grass outside the Safe Zone walls.

That night was just like this one, no moon in the sky, only a few stubborn stars flitting through thick clouds. Xia Qing slung her backpack over her shoulder and gripped her machete, standing beneath the towering wall. No matter how she craned her neck she couldn’t see the spot on the wall stained red with her father’s blood. Devastation Grass rose above her, pressing down so heavily she could barely breathe, let alone make a sound.

Letting the memory go Xia Qing released the curtain and walked into the kitchen. She filled the big iron pot with filtered water, struck a match and lit the firewood underneath.

Er, looking spotless and with fur fluffed out, ambled over and lay down by the fire to watch her. Xia Qing gently stroked his smooth unscarred forehead.

When clusters of tiny bubbles started racing up to pop at the surface, Xia Qing lifted the lid and scooped out the hot water, pouring it into the freshly scrubbed bath barrel. She added in some cool water and medicated wash, then led Er outside, pushing open the battered, overburdened security door that creaked in protest. She pointed toward the ruins by the window. “Er, go bring Elder Wolf inside for a bath. Let’s get those pests off him.”

This Elder Wolf was brought around by Er so Xia Qing could treat his illness. Er even paid a river pebble as a fee. The two of them actually got along quite well.

Even though Er wasn’t a Brain Evolution, he was smarter than any pre-apocalypse wolfdog. He understood Xia Qing perfectly. He climbed up onto the ruins, and soon came back with Elder Wolf in tow.

Just two nights before, Xia Qing had given Elder Wolf—having just endured the Devastation Rain—a good bath and rubbed on the antiparasitic powder, so his fur and skin were in better shape than Er’s.

While Xia Qing cleaned, medicated, and dewormed him, Elder Wolf stayed calm and gentle, as if he’d left his body behind for Xia Qing to handle, while his soul wandered somewhere far away.

For the first time Xia Qing sensed genuine, wholehearted trust radiating from this battered old wolf.

After washing the grime from Elder Wolf’s coat and letting him soak in the barrel, Xia Qing picked up a shovel and headed to the ruins. She covered the wolf corpse’s burial with a fresh layer of earth, tamping it down tightly, then disinfected and aired out Elder Wolf’s den, swapping out the old straw mat for the thickest, driest one she could find. She even went around pulling up the Devastation Grass nearby, before finally returning to bring Elder Wolf out of the water.

By the time Xia Qing finished tidying up both wolves and bathing herself, it was already past three in the morning.

She felt like she’d only just closed her eyes on her pillow when the rooster’s crow rang out. Lying still, she listened for a few seconds to the chorus of chickens, birds, and running water inside the territory, then slowly stretched out her limbs before reaching for her phone to check the latest battle updates from Fire Phoenix and Apocalypse.

Yang Jin still hadn’t contacted her, meaning the fighting was raging on. Meanwhile, Xin Yu, Tang Huai, and Xu Juan had all sent her messages. Though they varied in detail, they all spoke of the same thing:

The Blazing Fire Squad had stolen Apocalypse Sect’s Sacred Stone, sparking a fierce clash. Fire Mountain had been bombed, over two hundred dead or injured, and both sides suffered massive losses. The commotion even drew the authorities’ attention.

Xin Yu’s message included one more detail: the unpolluted Pure Spring at Fire Mountain might have been destroyed.

That spring was the main reason the Blazing Fire Squad had taken up residence at Fire Mountain, a dozen miles from the Hui One Safe Zone. It was the very foundation of Fire Phoenix’s prosperity. If it really was destroyed, Fire Phoenix would have a much harder time improving their crops and pharmaceuticals.

When Xia Qing read that last update, the corners of her lips slowly dropped. Notifications from the Section Three Northern Gate and the north gate of Section One said Elder Wolf had left through both gates at five in the morning.

Maybe it was because she had watched him bury his companion last night, but when Xia Qing saw Number Four’s silhouette now, all she could feel was a deep and determined sadness.

She didn’t know what he was off to do, but she believed he’d be back by evening. His stomach still wasn’t right—he couldn’t handle raw meat yet and needed medicine morning and night.

Flipping through the camera feeds, Xia Qing spotted Old Goat munching grass in Shed Fifteen, while Er trotted around with a small basket catching bugs. Seeing their antics put a smile back on her face.

Looks like Er had finally finished his pup-sitting duties—now he could stay right here in the territory for good!

Xia Qing went downstairs and noticed Little Fei Mao was missing from the house, and in the cage the Freeloader Red Squirrel mom and Qiang Zai were up and about, bouncing everywhere. Mornings were prime squirrel time, and those two clearly wanted to go forage. But since they hadn’t yet passed their post-Devastation Grass digestive test, they were still stuck on a strict fasting-and-medicine regimen and had to stay in the cage.

And it wasn’t just them—even the walking eagles from Territory Eight had been caged by Xin Yu.

Xia Qing pulled on her protective suit and headed outside. She did a lap of the greenhouse, checked the now-quiet red-leaved bamboo grove, and finally stopped by the fish pond. She called out to the wolfdog feeding the fish, “Er, what did Number Four get up to last night?”

Wolfdog Er looked up and flashed her a huge cheerful grin.

Seeing how happy he was, Xia Qing stopped asking. She wiped the bits of grass from his mouth, left him to keep feeding the fish, and went back home to clean out the Devastation Grass from the chicken yard, before letting all the chickens out of the cage.

At the start of spring Section Three had 16 chickens—one rooster, 15 hens. With the warmer weather, from early February to the end of May, 12 of the hens had taken turns brooding and hatched 120 chicks. Subtracting losses from accident and the ones Xia Qing had for dinner, 56 were still alive—18 of them officially belonged to the Idol.

That was part of the agreement Xia Qing made last year when she swapped Devastation Element Antidote for raising fifty chickens for him—this batch just hadn’t made it over to Territory Seven yet.

So the rest of the chickens were hers—not a huge flock, but they laid enough eggs for her needs.

After tidying the chicken yard and eating breakfast, Xia Qing hopped onto her rotary tiller to clear the border between the northern and southern halves of her territory—since people from Territory Fifteen and Territory Seventeen who helped her clear Devastation Grass would be arriving soon.

As if on cue, when Xia Qing reached the northern gate, not only did the helpers from the grass crew arrive, but so did the delivery team.

Earlier that morning, Xia Qing had screenshotted the East Section One surveillance footage and marked off the proposed lab zone, then sent it directly to the Idol with a message: could he trade her a front door like the ones at Territory Seven’s food storage—complete with facial-recognition smart lock?

After how the security door got rammed twice last night—leaving it barely usable even after repairs—Xia Qing decided it was time to get a door that didn’t need kicks to open. A swipe of the face would do.

With a door like that, only Xia Qing and her animal companions could get in. Nobody else could even set foot inside. Her home just got a little safer.