Chapter 1088: Shared Tables, Shifting Tides

A group dinner?

Zhang San lazily asked, “So, did your calf get gored by a sheep, or did a wolf finish it off?”

Xia Qing couldn’t help but mutter, Idol, could you wish me a little luck for once?

“Neither, actually. My little calf is just fine. But during the Devastation Rain I lost a few chickens to fright, so I was thinking of inviting you, Xin Yu, Tang Huai, Chang Li and Hu Zifeng’s squad over for dinner. Just a relaxing chat. Third Brother, do you prefer your sweet potatoes candied or roasted?”

Ever since his trip to Xia Qing’s territory, Zhang San couldn’t think of it without picturing the bird droppings by her front door and animals all over the house. That alone killed his appetite. “Doesn’t matter, I don’t feel like eating anything. Just say what you need to say.”

With her Idol clearly in a bad mood, Xia Qing decided to skip the small talk. She laid out the current situation in Territory Fourteen and shared her plans, then got straight to her request. “If you need to talk to the Hui Three Base Director in the next couple days, could you mention merging Territory Fourteen into the Ninth Center? Will that work?”

“Sure.” Zhang San had already formed an alliance with Xia Qing, so he didn’t bother making excuses. He agreed with no hesitation, then asked, “Where are you putting the calf, in the little house north of the chicken coop?”

There were only two extra rooms in Xia Qing’s yard—one for chickens, the other for straw. So the calf could only go in the straw room.

But the way her Idol asked, so offhand and casual, set Xia Qing on edge. She immediately recalled the lab safety guidelines she’d just learned and answered seriously, “Right now I don’t have enough bricks or stone to build a new barn, so I have to keep the calf in the sheep shed. The lab needs its own space, totally separate from where the animals are housed, so I want to move the lab two hundred meters west. Would that be okay?”

“Make it four hundred meters. Two hundred’s still too close.” Zhang San’s tone did mellow, and then he filled Xia Qing in on something else. “The Pure Spring Water on Fire Mountain has been confirmed destroyed. That’s one less source of clean water for humans.”

So that’s why her Idol was in such a mood today. Xia Qing felt a stab of regret too. Still, since Hui One Base did nothing, letting Fire Phoenix monopolize the spring for bioweapons and dangerous chemicals, maybe losing it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

“Fire Phoenix is disgusting, but losing a pure spring hurts everyone. That Apocalypse Sect is no good either.” That evening during the meal, Xiao Jiang shared his thoughts while roasting corn in the meeting room by Section Three’s fields.

Tang Huai, who had sharp ears and was wearing an apron while prepping grouper in the small kitchen, chimed in, “They literally call themselves ‘Apocalypse,’ how could they be any good? By the way, why are Fire Phoenix and Apocalypse fighting? Got any solid info on your end?”

Er Yong shook his head. “I just heard rumors. They say the Apocalypse Sect’s god delivered an oracle—that Fire Mountain is the source of evil and must be wiped out. Hey, Brother Huai, do you know why Hui One’s deputy base director got arrested?”

Tang Huai also shook his head. “Nope, no concrete info. Sister Qing, have you heard anything?”

With only close friends present, Xia Qing, who was reviewing the seeds Huayang brought back from Gui Five with Xin Yu, gave it to them straight. “I know, but the case is still under investigation so I can’t say anything.”

Since Xia Qing put it that way, curiosity aside, nobody pressed the issue.

After they finished checking the seeds, Xia Qing thanked Huayang, then turned to Xin Yu and Chang Li. “Want to go dig up some sweet potatoes?”

Neither had any objection. The three of them left the meeting room by the fields and headed for Greenhouse 11.

Once they had gone, Tang Huai looked over at Hu Zifeng, who was plucking chicken feathers nearby. He really wanted to ask why Hu Zifeng broke up with Xia Qing. Dying of curiosity, honestly.

Unfortunately, Hu Zifeng’s face was like thunder. Tang Huai had worked hard to get invited into Section Three, so he dared not pick a fight.

Dinner that night was a feast of chicken, fish, and Green Lantern vegetables—everyone ate to their heart’s content. After leaving Section Three, Tang Huai just couldn’t hold back. He threw an arm around Hu Zifeng’s shoulder, dragged him aside, and whispered, “Madman, why did you break up with Sister Qing?”

Hu Zifeng shrugged off Tang Huai’s arm. “None of your damn business!”

“It’s a little bit my business—I care about your drama,” Tang Huai grinned. “You were the one who wanted the breakup, right?”

Hu Zifeng’s eyes flickered, but he kept his tone even. “Why do you say that?”

Tang Huai answered as if it was obvious. “Because it’s plain as day—Xia Qing’s not the kind of person who’d start something she isn’t going to finish.”

Damn, this guy is just begging for a beating! Hu Zifeng twisted Tang Huai’s arm, grabbed his collar, and slammed him straight into the mud by the Northern Barrier, then strode through the North Gate, left Section One, and headed into Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine.

Lying in the mud, Tang Huai huffed, “You throw punches when you lose the argument—clearly guilty!”

Meanwhile, after showing Xin Yu her calf, Xia Qing walked her out of Section Three. Xin Yu dropped her voice and said, “Yu Wenchuang’s coming by tomorrow, probably bringing gifts to pay his respects. I can’t keep him away forever.”

After Xin Yu left, Xia Qing first fed some fresh feed to the calf in the sheep shed, then contacted Yang Jin.

Yang Jin replied promptly: I’ll reach your gate before Chonglian’s helicopter lands, Sister Qing, so let me in.

Chonglian’s helicopter had clearance to enter Hui Three’s northern airspace at 11 a.m., and Yang Jin arrived a bit after 10:30.

Once inside, he hopped onto the Lords’ channel and called out to Section Seven, “Third Brother, you there? It’s Yang Jin. I brought over a few pounds of Green Lantern beef that’s been cured with Green Lantern honey wax for two weeks. Care for a taste?”

Huh? Huh? Huh!

When the others heard Yang Jin brought supplies, even Tang Huai started drooling. Green Lantern beef was treat enough, but cured in honey wax? Trying to make everyone jealous much?!

Two minutes later, Zhang San finally responded, “I want it. What do you want in exchange?”

Yang Jin answered, “Some wound-healing medicine. I’ll bring it to the North Gate now?”

Inside Section Three, Xia Qing shoved the cut pasture grass into a basket and dusted her hands. Wolfdog Number Two noticed the basket was full and grabbed it in his mouth, heading out of the greenhouse to feed the calf at the southern clearing. Old Goat, chewing away nearby, narrowed his eyes and looked thoroughly disgruntled.

After finishing the trade with Section Seven, Yang Jin hopped on the Lords’ channel again. “Xia Qing, where are you?”

What?! Tang Huai, who was busy digging for bugs, froze and cocked an ear. Something’s off—Yang Jin’s tone sounded way too suspicious.

Xia Qing calmly clicked her walkie-talkie. “I’m in the territory.”

“Lunch together?”

“Sure.”

What the—?!

Caught off guard, Tang Huai accidentally chopped the bug he’d worked so hard to find clean in half. What was going on—were Yang Jin and Xia Qing together now?

So was it Hu Zifeng who bailed first, or did Yang Jin steal his girl?

It wasn’t just Hu Zifeng—even the Alliance’s partners were shocked. But shocked or not, nobody dared gossip about the leader in the Lords’ channel.

On her way up the northern buffer woods to open the gate for Yang Jin, Xia Qing heard the drone of helicopter blades from the west.