Chapter 132: A Noisy Morning, A Fresh Start

In the middle of the night, Xia Qing was jolted awake by the chickens.

Since the wolf had taken over the sheep shed she’d set up for the chickens, Xia Qing had no choice but to move them into the house she shared with Boss Sheep. She laid down a board, covered it with a rainproof tarp, and set it up in the tool room on the first floor.

Even though the chicks were barely a month old and couldn’t crow yet, seventeen of them squawked and pecked at the cage all together. For someone with evolved hearing, it was way too loud.

Groggy from being awoken, Xia Qing reached for her phone and squinted at the screen. It was barely past four in the morning.

The sun wasn’t even up yet, so what are they making such a fuss about? Xia Qing took a deep breath, tugged the blanket over her head, and tried to go back to sleep.

But she barely shut her eyes before the noisemaker trap in the yard started clanging away. No question, the wolf had come again.

Seriously, is nobody in this place capable of sleeping through the night?

With her hair a mess, Xia Qing struggled into her clothes, headed downstairs, and opened the security door. Before she could say a word, the Alpha Wolf showed up in the yard with two of its subordinates, each of them carrying a rabbit in its jaws.

Three rabbits were for the wolves, one rabbit was for her.

Xia Qing didn’t have the energy left to be annoyed. She picked up the still-twitching rabbit, smiled sweetly at the Alpha Wolf, and thanked her, “Thank you, Queen, for the gift. You really went out of your way for me.”

The Alpha Wolf stared at Xia Qing with her golden eyes, seemingly pleased with this display of gratitude.

No wonder she’s Boss Sheep’s friend—they both love being flattered. Xia Qing pressed on, “Your Majesty, when you come back next year, could you please bring me a live rabbit? I mean…”

She showed the Alpha Wolf the bleeding wound on the rabbit’s neck and gently explained, “Like one without injuries here, still breathing and able to eat grass. Thank you so much, Your Majesty. You work so hard.”

The Alpha Wolf narrowed her eyes at the rabbit, turned, and slipped into the sheep shed. A moment later, she came out dragging the brain-evolved wolf by the neck, hauled it over to the other two rabbits, tore open one rabbit’s hide for it, licked the pup’s neck and head, and glanced back at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing understood instantly. “Rest assured, Queen, I’ll take excellent care of these two wounded ones for you.”

Once the Alpha Wolf leapt away, Xia Qing brought the heavy rabbit inside. While the two injured wolves dug into their meals, she quickly cleaned up the sheep shed, sprayed disinfectant, swapped in a fresh grass mat—determined to make their stay as comfortable as possible.

With the shed tidy, Xia Qing headed inside and asked Boss Sheep, sprawled on the tatami, “Hey, aren’t you going out to greet your friend?”

Boss Sheep didn’t move a muscle. His head rested on a sheep-shaped ergonomic pillow, eyelids half-shut. Not even an ear twitched—he must have still been dreaming.

Xia Qing ignored him, flicked on the kitchen light, and started processing the rabbit.

Drain the blood, check the meat, greenlight. Standard Queen Wolf stuff by now—nothing surprising.

This rabbit was even heavier than yesterday’s egret, at least fifteen pounds. Xia Qing sliced up the meat and tossed it in with chili powder, bay leaf powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, salt, minced garlic, ginger, and green onions—all ground up fresh with her flour mill.

In short, she used every single spice she had left. Next came more salt, a splash of white wine, soy sauce—all left to marinate for two hours before being loaded into the food dehydrator to make jerky.

She pulled out her stash of collected recipes and found a method for braised rabbit ribs. She was missing three of the listed spices—star anise, cinnamon, and tsaoko—but she made do.

First, she washed the rabbit bones, blanched them, then put them in a pot with Sichuan peppercorns, two dried chilies, and four bay leaves. She boiled it with water, then added the blanched bones, salt, wine, and soy sauce, covered the pot, and let everything stew on low for a couple of hours.

Once she lowered the heat, Xia Qing checked the clock—it had just hit five. The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky in the east had begun to brighten.

She mixed up the chicken feed with wheat husks, grabbed the noisy cage, and stepped outside. Boss Sheep trailed after her, finally leaving the house.

“Heading out for breakfast already? The dew’s still thick out,” Xia Qing said offhand to Boss Sheep, then turned to greet the two wolf guests, who’d already eaten their fill and gone back to the shed.

“You two all set? Get some rest, I’m off to put the chickens in their pen. After that, I’ll tidy the yard and check the territory. Don’t forget to drink some water—there’s anti-inflammatories mixed in, good for your recovery.”

The wolf with the broken leg didn’t bare its teeth at her, but its eyes were as fierce as ever. The brain-evolved wolf with the broken back just stared at Xia Qing—then shifted its gaze to Boss Sheep, as if trying to say something Xia Qing couldn’t quite read.

Xia Qing didn’t expect them to answer anyway. She put the chickens in their pen, added feed and water, cleaned the bloodstains from the floor back home, and got ready to patrol the territory.

Boss Sheep still followed after her, making Xia Qing laugh. “Boss, I really think you understand every word I say. Why else would you be joining me on patrol today just because I mentioned feeling down yesterday?”

Boss Sheep, impatient with her pause, nudged her on with his head.

Xia Qing dropped the questions, grinning as she began her rounds.

Today’s patrol wasn’t just about catching bugs and checking traps or tracks for signs of humans or big animals. Xia Qing also had an important task: scouting her chosen spot for digging a cave.

She’d picked a piece of land to the south of the western shelterbelt—rocky, not much soil, hardly any tall trees. Even if the trees were mutated by Xiang Rain, their roots couldn’t ruin the cave.

Plus, it was far enough from the spring to risk no contamination.

Best of all, the cave entrance could be hidden by a big rock and some brush. Even if people from Territory Four climbed a tree with binoculars to spy on Territory Three, they’d never spot her cave.

Once she made up her mind, she got to work.

Xia Qing gave Boss Sheep a chunk of rations, told him to carry the basket of bugs to feed the fish, then hacked down brush with a knife, cleared away dirt and stones, and started digging the cave.

Digging was mostly prying up rocks and scooping out dirt.

She didn’t need a huge storage space, just enough for her needs. In a little over an hour, Strength Evolver Xia Qing had carved out an east-facing cave, about two meters high and three meters deep. It sloped gently uphill, so no water would flow in when it rained, and if any did, it could drain right out.

Three meters wasn’t deep enough, but her stew was ready. Xia Qing shouldered her shovel and headed home for a meal.

The rabbit was fresh, but she’d overdone the salt, making the flavor a bit strong. Still, Xia Qing polished off every bite.

Greenlight-approved food had low Xiang element content, which was good for her health and evolution. That made it too precious to waste.

She didn’t toss the bones either. Once cleaned and sealed, she planned to dry them after the rabbit meat, then pound them into powder for the chickens. One of her poultry books said chickens need a varied diet and proper sanitation to stay healthy.

She couldn’t keep germs away, but she could try to keep the chickens as healthy as possible.

After cleaning up, Xia Qing checked in with the injured wolves, then went back to keep digging out the cave.

She didn’t carve it straight in, instead letting the tunnel bend in a 7-shape to follow the rock’s natural formation. It ended up more than seven meters deep. The bend would help manage temperature and humidity.

After finishing up, Xia Qing went home to wash off the dirt and came back to measure the cave’s temperature and humidity.