Chapter 113: No Rest for the Wary

Xia Qing had already memorized that number by heart.

That number was the reason she kept both SIM cards in her old phone, bringing it back to the Safe Zone.

Taking a deep breath, she anxiously opened the message.

“No need. Xu Pin’s hidden evolved ability is probably advanced sensory evolution – he can sense goodwill or hostility from people or large animals within at least a hundred-meter radius.”

Xia Qing quickly replied with a simple “thank you” and then deleted the conversation for good.

The word “No need” was a response to her question about whether she needed food or vegetables delivered. But it was the information about Xu Pin that really mattered.

Xia Qing had never heard of advanced sensory evolution before, but the message made it clear: this ability was powerful.

Whoever sent this message knew about her grudge with the Sufeng Squad—maybe even her hatred for Tang Sufeng. Not many people knew her father had been thrown to the evolved animals by Tang Sufeng, or even cared.

Though not a hundred percent sure, this person still warned her about Xu Pin’s ability and didn’t want her to recklessly approach Tang Sufeng and get detected.

After her father was killed, Xia Qing had only seen Tang Sufeng up close once—when she collected the death benefit for the families of the fallen at the Mission Hall. Xu Pin hadn’t even arrived at Hui San Base back then or joined the Sufeng Squad.

Since then she’d focused on building up her own strength, never showing up in front of Tang Sufeng again. Otherwise, her urge to tear Tang Sufeng limb from limb would surely have gotten her exposed by Xu Pin.

No wonder Tang Sufeng valued Xu Pin so much, keeping him close even though his evolutionary ability was just endurance at level six. Turns out, Xu Pin was a human-shaped danger detector.

If Xu Pin’s hidden power got out, that early-warning edge would be useless. So very few people must know about it. Returning to her room, Xia Qing pondered who was behind the messages—and what they wanted.

The phone number that sent her those texts had never shown up in any Mission Hall record. The sender clearly knew Sufeng Squad’s inner secrets, knew all about her, and so far showed no ill intent toward her but disliked Sufeng Squad…

There was a good chance this person had ties with her family before the apocalypse, or maybe was a friend her father made at Hui San Base. But who could it be?

Inside the armored vehicle, Xie Yu noticed Xia Qing’s serious expression and pulled his cap low. “Back to the squad,” he ordered.

The driver looked confused. “There’s no one around now. Why aren’t you heading over, Brother Xie?”

“She’s deep in thought. It’s not the right time to bother her.” Xie Yu had come to thank her, not cause trouble. Besides, Yang Jin had just sent back some vital intel—he needed to verify it fast.

As the car passed by, Xia Qing just glanced over calmly and kept walking.

“She’s here.”

“Still alone—didn’t even bring a guard. She’s got guts.”

“Get the canvas bag ready.”

“She’s a lord now—can’t kill her. Just take her stuff and run.”

Hearing voices from the pitch-black hallway ahead, Xia Qing rolled her wrists and ankles. Bring it on. She’d been itching to settle scores with these punks and needed points to buy seeds anyway.

As she reached the corner, a black cloth whooshed down toward her head. She caught it and gave it a fierce yank, then kicked out hard.

“Bang!”

“Ow—”

“Hiss—”

After flooring two thugs, Xia Qing charged into the alley and in a few swift moves took down Zhao Jie’s entire group of ten. Zhao Jie and his gang stared dumbfounded—had Xia Qing really spent six months farming, or in some secret boot camp?

With her foot pressed on Zhao Jie’s neck, Xia Qing asked icily, “You wanna die or live?”

Face red with rage but still defiant, Zhao Jie spat back, “Don’t try to scare me—go on, see what happens if you dare!”

“You’re right. I don’t dare.” Xia Qing calmly stomped and broke Zhao Jie’s right arm. As Zhao Jie opened his mouth to scream, she covered it with her foot, then flung a knife to take down a scumbag trying to escape. Her voice was cold as frost: “My patience is running out. Last chance. Die or live?”

Zhao Jie’s lackey Li Dong dropped to his knees, begging, “Sis, just let us go this once! We underestimated you…”

“Two hundred points each,” Xia Qing named her price.

Li Dong’s voice shot up. “Two hundred? Even if you finish us off—none of us have—”

The cold blade of Xia Qing’s knife touched Li Dong’s throat and he changed his tune immediately. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it…”

Xia Qing pulled out her card reader, making Zhao Jie’s guys swipe their cards one by one. Once they paid, she let them go. Second to last was Old Niu, the one she had kicked into the wall.

Limping and wincing with pain, Old Niu handed over his card. Xia Qing said coldly, “Three hundred for you.”

Old Niu blurted out, “Why?!”

“Because you’re so ugly it makes me sick.”

Old Niu clenched his teeth. “I don’t have it!”

Xia Qing took his card, saw only two hundred and thirty points left, swiped it all and kicked him away. Then she pinned Zhao Jie—who’d tried to crawl away—underfoot. “You—two thousand.”

With a broken arm but still trying to act tough, Zhao Jie growled, “Don’t go too far. Leave us some face—we’ll all see each other again.”

She’d never taught them a lesson before because Zhao Jie sucked up to the local patrol squad leader. But she had left the Safe Zone now—she didn’t care anymore. The moment she pressed down on Zhao Jie’s other arm, he caved, “Fine—I’ll pay!”

With the 3,830 points in hand, Xia Qing could buy even more tomorrow. Satisfied, she headed back to the hotel, finalized her fertilizer deal with Sun Zhe, and returned to her room.

She stared at her phone, hesitating for ages, but in the end didn’t dial that familiar but distant number.

After all, this was a hotel inside the Safe Zone. She might be under someone’s surveillance—no reason to get that person in trouble.

Sighing, Xia Qing put her phone down and was about to wash up when it started vibrating.

She grabbed it quickly. Seeing Hu Zifeng’s name, she answered without hesitating.

Hu Zifeng sounded anxious as he explained the situation. “Boss Sheep is refusing to eat and wants to leave the territory to look for you. No matter what we feed it, it’s throwing a fit—we can barely hold it back. Please talk to it.”

Boss Sheep had evolved incredible strength and a stubborn streak. Hu Zifeng’s squad worried that if they tried to restrain it by force, they’d just end up hurting it, so they called Xia Qing.

“Brother Feng, put me on speaker so Boss Sheep can hear.” Hearing Boss Sheep’s heavy breathing, Xia Qing spoke softly, “Boss, I’m right here. Can you hear me?”

“Baaa—”

The moment Boss Sheep heard Xia Qing’s voice, it started looking everywhere for her. Hu Zifeng held the phone out to it. “Boss, here—Xia…”

Before Hu Zifeng could finish, chaos broke out on the other end. No doubt Boss Sheep had charged right over, making Hu Zifeng scramble away with the phone.