Chapter 115: Returning Home, Warm Reunions and Unspoken Bonds

A fellow territory lord pressed, “No way, that’s got to be fake. How could the difference be that huge? If we buy your ‘Guide’ and can’t reach the yields you claim, what happens then?”

Assistant Liu smiled with a gentle calm. “That would mean your cultivation conditions haven’t met the standards outlined in our guide.”

Another woman, a territory lord in her forties, asked, “Young lady, what exactly are the required cultivation conditions you’re talking about?”

“That’s part of our territory’s patented technology. You’ll find out after you buy the guide.”

“Scammer, this is definitely a scam!” The rest of the territory lords lost all interest in buying. Only those from plots one through ten, who’d dealt with Li Si before, were still tempted.

Ji Li, representing Plot Seven, wasn’t interested—she knew her territory’s cultivation techniques were at least on par with those of Plot Nine.

Zhao Ze turned his attention to Xia Qing, tone sour. “Xia Qing, you bought so many rice seedlings but aren’t investing in the guide to improve your yield?”

“I’m out of points,” Xia Qing answered flatly. Even if she had the points, she had no intention of buying; she’d be able to trade privately with her idol anyway—for her, it’d just cost a fish.

Hearing Xia Qing say she was out of points, Qi Fu, Shi Chong and Kuang Qingwei all sighed together. They’d drained their points dry trying to squeeze every bit they could out of the Safe Zone. They really couldn’t afford that ‘Guide.’

Quiet settled over the truck again. Xia Qing quickly noticed the lord from Plot Fifteen casting glances at Tan Junjie, who was maintaining order. After a small shake of the head from Tan Junjie, the other finally looked away.

What was the deal between the lord of Plot Fifteen and Tan Junjie? Or could it be that Plot Fifteen was actually under Tan Junjie’s control? The more Xia Qing thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

After the lords from plots twenty-nine to fifty got off one by one, the military truck sped up and drove through the ruins of the town. Leaning back with her eyes closed, Xia Qing listened intently to the sounds outside. The truck made it from the ruins out to the wild fields, but she never once heard a child’s cry.

When Xia Qing opened her eyes, most territory lords were dozing off, hugging their supplies. Only Assistant Liu beside her kept her head low, busy scribbling away in her notebook. No wonder the girl was nearsighted. Even with evolution, the human optic nerve could only take so much abuse.

Finishing her notes, Liu nudged Xia Qing’s shoulder, signaling her to look down. Only then did Xia Qing realize Liu was writing for her to see. She glanced down to find Liu was asking if the stuff on her skin was evolved wild grape juice.

Xia Qing gave a nod, confirming her guess. Liu could sniff out every spice in Tang Huai’s fried cicada—she was clearly a scent evolver. It was no surprise she could tell what Xia Qing had smeared on her skin. This trick might fool the untrained, but not someone like her.

Liu quickly jotted down two more lines, pushing the note over. Her pitch: specialty medicinal juice from their territory—good for both skincare and coloring. “Need any? 1,000 points for 20 milliliters. Just the face, neck, and hands is enough for a month.”

A thousand points? Xia Qing took Liu’s pen and scribbled three words: “Can’t afford it.”

Even if she could, Xia Qing wouldn’t want to part with so many points. A thousand points for a month’s use? That would run twelve thousand a year. Way too steep.

Liu tucked away her pen and paper with a trace of regret, then carefully examined the rice seedlings in her hand—checking every leaf and root in fine detail.

Xia Qing didn’t ask what she was looking for—she wasn’t about to give Liu a chance to pitch the ‘Guide’ directly at her.

When the truck rolled into the area covering Plots One through Twenty-Eight, it slowed down and the lords got off one after another. When only Wei Chengdong, Tan Junjie, and Xia Qing remained, Xia Qing gave them a quick farewell and took her haul back to her territory.

She’d been gone only two days, but Xia Qing was aching for home—especially for Boss Sheep.

She hurried down her own path, cutting across the grassy farmland. First, she dropped her things off at home, then sprinted straight for the little hut by the fields.

Da Jiang, the hearing evolver, had already heard the truck coming and was waiting by the hut. “Qing-jie, Boss Sheep’s waiting for you over by the edge of the North Barrier.”

“Thanks, you guys have worked hard these past two days.” Because Xia Qing entered the Private Training Ground through the North Barrier so often now, Boss Sheep had assumed she was off training again and was waiting at the barrier.

Spying Boss Sheep in the distance—filthy, with wool ragged and uneven—Xia Qing called out, voice brimming with excitement, “Boss!”

Boss Sheep turned and spotted Xia Qing climbing up from the hillside, hooves digging in and spiral horns glinting as it charged full speed. Guan Tong shouted, “Qing-jie, watch out!”

“It’s fine, just step back,” Xia Qing replied without flinching, running up to meet it head-on.

“Bang!” Woman and sheep crashed together—and then Xia Qing went flying.

Guan Tong winced just watching. He’d tussled with Boss Sheep twice yesterday, so he knew too well how much that hit could hurt.

Sailing through the air, Xia Qing twisted mid-spin, landing solidly on both feet. As Boss Sheep barreled in again, she stood ready.

This time, Xia Qing didn’t try to block. Instead, she slid in close and wrapped her arms around Boss Sheep’s neck. “Boss, I brought you snacks!”

She dug out a piece of compressed ration from her pocket, tore open the pack, broke off a chunk and stuffed it into Boss Sheep’s mouth. “It’s the new version of your favorite flavor. How is it? Good, right?”

Boss Sheep chewed a few times, squinting up at Xia Qing.

She quickly gave it another bite, and, savoring the flavor, Boss Sheep finally calmed down.

Guan Tong, impressed, said, “Qing-jie, you were gone for two days and it wouldn’t eat anything we gave it.”

Of course not. It’s my sheep and my companion. Xia Qing rubbed the hard bony spot on Boss Sheep’s head. “Thanks for your help these two days.”

“No trouble at all.” In fact, it had been eye-opening. Who would’ve thought Qing-jie’s attitude facing people versus facing sheep was totally different? Watching that head-on collision, Guan Tong figured Xia Qing’s strength evolution was well above level five.

Not only was she strong, Luo Ge had taught her techniques hands-on too. Guan Tong, never much of a talker, realized now he probably couldn’t beat Xia Qing anymore. Best to stay on her good side—he didn’t want to get beat up by a sheep, then her too.

After seeing Da Jiang and Guan Tong off, Xia Qing wandered her territory and fields with Boss Sheep, chatting away. Then she returned to the low slope planting area, rolled away three huge stones blocking the spring, and collected pure, uncontaminated spring water.

While drawing water, Xia Qing praised Boss Sheep. “You’re so clever—not once in the past two days did you dig up those rocks for a drink. You’ve kept our territory’s biggest secret safe. Your friends didn’t come by looking for you, did they?”

Since Hu Zifeng’s Squad didn’t know about the spring, Xia Qing had drilled it into Boss Sheep—again and again—that only she was allowed to uncover the spring for water. Otherwise, no drinking.

Who knows how much of it Boss Sheep actually understood, but it remembered: when thirsty, drink from the basin at home—never go pawing at rocks up on the hillside.

Once she’d gathered water, Xia Qing picked some fresh vegetables. Then, with Boss Sheep by her side, she headed home. The sun was setting, its glow turning the sky crimson and washing Boss Sheep with golden-red. To Xia Qing, the sunsets in her own territory would always outshine those in the Safe Zone, a hundred times over.