Chapter 1158: A Day in the Territory: Bonds, Lessons, and Hidden Strengths

“Sister Qing!”

When Xia Qing left Territory Seven and returned to the Ninth Center to pick up her car, she happened to arrive just as the school let out for lunch. Spotting her, Tan Qi, who was leaving with Little Shiyi in tow, ran across the schoolyard full of excitement to greet her. Little Shiyi’s eyes sparkled, and she called out to Sister Qing too.

Over the past six months, Tan Qi had grown taller right before everyone’s eyes. After spending a month in Territory Fifteen, Little Shiyi now looked more and more like a regular child instead of the wild little beast from the Evolved Forest. Blending in with the other kids, she seemed perfectly at home.

Before Xia Qing could say a word, Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo also walked over to say hello.

Two months ago, Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo, both members of the Liangqing Squad at the time, were ambushed by Chen Dongyang on a mission. They were captured, tortured, and poisoned, their lives used as leverage against Chen Deng, the squad leader.

Taking on a mission as Qinglong Night Heron, Xia Qing went to rescue them herself. Still, Lu Fangchun’s mother, She Xing, recognized her right away. Later, She Xing used Xia Qing’s connections to get both kids into Territory Seven for detox treatment. Their families told them everything, so in Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo’s hearts, Xia Qing was not just their savior but their idol too.

After withdrawing from the Liangqing Squad to recover inside the territory for over a month, fourteen-year-old Wang Bo and thirteen-year-old Lu Fangchun returned to school. Now in the advanced class, they were classmates with Tan Qi.

Looking at these children who were growing up strong and bright within the territory, Xia Qing gave a nonchalant nod and handed her car keys to Tan Qi. “The four of you hop in my car. Once I’m done here, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Across the territories of Section One in the north, twelve kids attended the Ninth Center School. Once the pesticides on the territory roads were cleared, they would either walk or pedal battered old bikes back and forth. With the start of the migratory bird season, though, the Inspection Team worried the kids might get attacked by raptors on their way, so the Patrol Team put their beat-up old truck back in service to drive the kids home.

During the years of disaster, vehicles and fuel were in short supply, so nobody talked about overloading. It was safer for over a dozen children to crowd together in the truck bed than for them to risk walking along exposed roads, vulnerable to swooping raptors.

“Thanks, Sister Qing!” Tan Qi accepted the keys with a beaming smile and led her friends on a run toward Xia Qing’s off-roader.

Xia Qing then made her way over to Wang Jun, who was waiting for his son to come out of school so they could eat together in the staff cafeteria.

Wang Jun had been waiting for a chance to greet her. The moment he noticed Xia Qing glance his way, he hurried over in a half-jog, bowing his head in respect. “Director.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Brother Jun, during today’s lecture, Third Brother noticed Shunkang seemed mentally off and said he needs psychological help. This afternoon, after school, take him to Territory Seven for a checkup and to work out a treatment plan.”

Nearby staff who had been eavesdropping turned to look, shocked, completely puzzled about how Wang Jun’s son could possibly be qualified to get checked at Territory Seven.

Wang Jun could hardly contain his joy. “Absolutely! Thank you, Director, and trouble for Third Brother too!”

Xia Qing added, all serious, “Territory Seven is a national top-level lab. Once you go in, don’t gawk or poke around. If you break the rules, you’ll get kicked out, and if you miss this rare chance, you’ll have to take Shunkang to the Safe Zone Hospital for treatment instead.”

Wang Jun knew better than most the kind of place Territory Seven was and how formidable its leader could be—after all, he worked at the Ninth Center. He nodded repeatedly. “Understood, Director. I’ll keep a tight grip on Shunkang and do whatever Third Brother says, go wherever he wants, pay whatever points are needed. I brought my salary card—however many credits it takes, I’ll pay.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Your work record has been excellent for three straight months, and with Third Brother discovering something’s off with Shunkang, I was finally able to secure this rare treatment opportunity for him. If you don’t have enough credits to cover the medical fee, just call me.”

Once she’d finished giving instructions, Xia Qing didn’t wait for Wang Shunkang to come out. She got behind the wheel and drove off with the four kids.

Tan Qi, always the most energetic around Xia Qing, chattered on about the amazing experiment Zhang San performed in class that day. “All he did was pour some clear liquid onto a tiny bottle of stuff that looked like white sand and—bam!—a mountain of foam erupted!”

“It was just like the volcano eruptions in videos—foam spraying everywhere!” Little Shiyi added, her excitement matching Tan Qi’s. “Uncle Zhang San even made a rainbow in a cup. It was just as pretty as a real rainbow in the sky!”

Zhang San had come to school for the lecture, but he didn’t use his national-level medicine expert identity as Fu Tianfeng. Instead, he introduced himself as Leader of Territory Seven. So the kids all called him “Uncle Zhang San.”

Hands on the steering wheel and her face calm, Xia Qing nodded. “Once you’ve learned the science behind it, you’ll be able to do those experiments yourselves.”

“Uncle Zhang San said the same thing!” Tan Qi kept chatting. Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo, a bit more reserved around Xia Qing, just sat in the back listening quietly, too shy to speak up.

It wasn’t until Xia Qing dropped off Tan Qi and Little Shiyi outside Territory Fifteen’s North Gate and drove on that the two boys in the back finally spoke, thanking her sincerely.

“I was just completing a mission.” Xia Qing, now known as a top sniper, didn’t deny that she’d led the rescue team—she simply explained it straight.

Wang Bo, who dreamed of becoming a level-five vision-evolution sniper, seized the moment to ask, “Sister Qing, how do you train your core muscles?”

Xia Qing patiently shared her methods. “Plank, dynamic plank, side plank, hanging leg raises, Russian twists—do these every morning and night, as long as you can, until you can’t go on anymore…”

After dropping off both Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo, Xia Qing headed to Territory Eleven to see Huo Lei. She asked him to use some high-grade hardness-evolved snakeskin to reinforce the neck guard she’d just picked up from Territory Seven.

Even though she’d been kicked out of Territory Seven this time, Xia Qing still managed to grab some new top-grade gear. Her face didn’t show it, but she was pretty pleased inside.

Huo Zhun’s group watched the famed main character calmly standing before them. No matter how curious they were, they kept to the rules and stayed silent, not daring to ask Xia Qing about her latest mission.

But Tang Huai was never one to let things go. When Xia Qing drove back through the South Gate of Section Three, he bolted over from Territory Two and cheerfully opened the gate for her, eagerly asking, “Sister Qing, you recorded the fight with Phantom, right? Mind copying it for me? I’d love to watch and learn.”

Xia Qing refused outright. “No can do. It was a military operation.”

Tang Huai just chuckled. “Are you going on a mission tonight? Could you take me with you?”

“Not my team, not my call,” she replied.

Still smiling, Tang Huai pressed on, “Well, after migration season, let’s find a chance to team up for a hunt, okay?”

Xia Qing nodded. That, she could agree to.

Back in the territory, Xia Qing joined Hu Zifeng’s squad in the afternoon to snipe the fat birds flying over the territory. That night, she pretended to get on a helicopter for a mission, but it was all a ruse to fool her enemies—she hadn’t actually left at all.

In fact, Xia Qing hadn’t just stayed; she even called over her ‘student,’ Crippled Wolf.