Chapter 151: A Risky Venture and Fresh Ambitions

No one from Territory Seven responded.

Zhao Ze sounded disappointed. “When is Third Brother coming back? I can’t relax with him gone.”

After the crisis where Qi Fu got infected by the Evolver Fungus, the nearby lords found themselves sharing Zhao Ze’s worries.

They all hoped Zhang San would return soon so they could trade lifesaving medicine with him.

But to trade with him, you needed something he’d actually be interested in—namely, green-light food. He couldn’t care less about yellow-light goods.

The timing was just right. Xia Qing immediately pressed the button and asked Hu Zifeng, “Captain Hu, are there any missions to clear out the Evolver Forest these days? I’d like to apply.”

Truthfully, Xia Qing spoke up now so she could find Shi Du and ask about rain protection for the greenhouse.

The moment she asked, she knew Hu Zifeng would say yes. Once he agreed, Shi Du would likely sign up too. When they met, Xia Qing could ask whatever she liked in person.

Picking this moment would make the others think she just wanted to venture into the Evolver Forest for green-light food to trade with Zhang San for special medicine.

Letting the other lords think she ran missions to earn points also made it easy to explain how she could barter for supplies and hire people from Plot One to guard Territory Three.

Before Hu Zifeng could answer, Tang Huai jumped in for him. “You want to go? Even if there’s no mission, he’ll invent one for you. Right, lunatic?”

Everyone went quiet for a second…

After shouting out, Tang Huai realized he was holding his dad’s walkie-talkie. He shrank his neck and hurried to explain, “Dad, didn’t you tell me to act like we’re not on good terms with the Azure Dragon Unit? I’m just messing with Hu Zifeng for that.”

Tang Zhengbo nodded. “Good job.”

“Yes, sir.” Relieved to have dodged a bullet, Tang Huai tilted his chin up, giving his little brother a smug look.

Playing the part of Xia Qing’s admirer, Hu Zifeng stroked his cat with one hand and pressed the button with the other, his tone all friendliness. “With all this rain lately, the roads are slick. The day after tomorrow, we’ll go clear Mountain 49, but be warned, this mission’s risky. Why not wait until we’re on a safer one and go together then?”

Hu Zifeng, you hopeless simp.

Tang Huai whispered to his brother, “She’ll definitely go. Xia Qing never listens to advice.”

“I’ll join the mission the day after tomorrow. I’ll be responsible for my own safety, but thanks, Captain Hu,” Xia Qing replied.

Shi Du from Plot Ten chimed in too. “Captain Hu, can I sign up? I’ll handle my own safety. No need for you or the others to watch my back if things go south.”

“Of course,” Hu Zifeng agreed without hesitation.

Everyone could see Xia Qing and Shi Du wanted to hunt for premium goods in the Evolver Forest, probably to trade with Zhang San. Other lords wanted in on the action, but they were all ordinary folks—not eligible.

Yuan Yan discussed with her husband. “Once we have proper masks, I want to check out the area near Mountain 50. I’ve gotten stronger these six months—maybe I’ve reached Level Two in Strength Evolution.”

Back before the disaster, Yuan Yan helped her husband with transport and heavy lifting. She’d always been strong. After everything changed, she went to the Safe Zone for an evolution test. Her strength was 1.8 times above normal, still shy of Level Two, so all she got was an ordinary yellow badge.

Qi Fu had a similar situation—his Strength Evolution was 1.9 times.

Qi Fu knew why his wife wanted to go. His injuries had forced their family to spend what little they had left.

But he wouldn’t let her take the risk. “Even if you hit Level Three, I wouldn’t want you dreaming of danger. I nearly lost my life this time. Let’s just tend our fields. With what we grow, we’ll have more than enough to eat.”

Still, Yuan Yan wanted to go. Even on the way back to the territory with Xia Qing carrying her, she’d already made up her mind. “Xia Qing holds a bigger territory than us all by herself, grows great crops, and still finds time to run into the Evolver Forest for points. Everything she has, she earned with her life. Even if I’m not at her level, I want to step out and try.”

Most of the time, Yuan Yan listened to her husband, but once she’d decided something, not even a high-level evolved bull could drag her back.

Qi Fu gave up arguing and tried negotiation instead. “Let’s wait for my injuries to heal and trade with Plot One and Territory Seven for proper Evolver Forest gear. No point going in without that—it’s suicide. Once we harvest in October, we’ll trade, then check out the forest this winter. Sound good?”

As the couple from Plot Five discussed their next steps, the Lord’s Channel was already buzzing with talk about potatoes.

Zhao Ze said, “I’ve only got eight potato plants. I’ll send the little ones to the Safe Zone storage and eat the rest. They’ll be gone in a few days.”

“Same plan here,” Kuang Qingwei replied. “I think the broadcast about not storing potatoes in our territories is just to scare us into sending or selling them. I’m keeping a few to see if they last ’til next year. Qi Ge, Shi Ge, Xia Qing, what about you?”

Shi Chong replied, “I’m with you—I’ll do the same.”

“Me too. And for the potatoes I send back, I’ll pick the small and sprout-heavy ones,” Qi Fu said, and Xia Qing agreed.

If there’s a bonus policy for lords, of course, you’d be a fool to waste it.

Xia Qing planned to sort out ten pounds of small potatoes to send back to the Safe Zone storage, keeping the rest. Following advice from the farming broadcast, she would first air-dry the potatoes before sealing them for storage. Once her food storage area was set, she’d move them in.

But there was a problem. After a few farm broadcasts, Xia Qing realized that every type of food had different storage needs, especially for temperature and humidity. There were two major categories:

Grains like mung beans, wheat, corn and rice need 15-20°C and humidity under 65%. Tubers like potatoes and sweet potatoes need 2-8°C and 80-90% humidity.

Basically, you can’t store both types in the same place.

Xia Qing put her pen down, worked through strength training while thinking about food storage. When training was done, she wrote down what she needed to figure out, then went out to check her territory before heading home to sleep.

The next morning, Xia Qing was roused early by her chickens and wolves again. After quickly sorting the green-light food delivered by the wolves, she started digging a cellar.

Her house sat three or four meters above the farmland, and the land itself was at least one or three meters above the river. So, digging a cellar three or four meters deep shouldn’t hit water.

Xia Qing planned to dig two cellars—one at home for grains, the other in Luo Pei’s recovery spot in the Ruined Village for sweet potatoes and potatoes. Luo Pei once dug two basement levels there, more than five meters deep. He spent months living belowground with no problems, so Xia Qing decided to dig nearby.

But what if the temperature and humidity still didn’t meet the requirements after digging?

If it doesn’t work, she’d try something else. Xia Qing was never the type to cling to a losing cause. If caves didn’t work, she’d try cellars; if cellars failed, she’d just try the next option.

First things first—get the food preserved. Xia Qing didn’t hesitate to break a Yi Stone into three small pieces. She protected two with special shells, hung one in her storage room, and placed all her potatoes, mung beans, wheat and other supplies inside to isolate them from the Xiang element.

After breaking open the Yi Stone, Xia Qing ran some tests and found the stone was truly incredible. Within a 2.5-meter radius, the Yi element jumped to three times its normal concentration, and the Xiang element dropped to almost nothing.

Inside that invisible bubble, Xia Qing could literally breathe easier, which explained why Tang Lu and Huo Fenghuang always carried Yi Stones even when there wasn’t Xiang Rain.

She never denied herself comfort. Since she liked how it felt, Xia Qing cut one of the smaller stones in two, hanging a piece for herself and another for Boss Sheep around their necks. Still, she’d been too busy digging cellars to polish pearls for Boss Sheep’s necklace.

For the next two days, the wolves woke her every morning. Once the green-light food was sorted and the territory’s chores handled, Xia Qing spent her free time digging cellars at home.

On the day of the mission, the Alpha Wolf brought her four black-maned geese, all freshly killed, and as always, the weary yellow weasel trailed behind to do the plucking.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. You’ve worked hard.”

By now, Xia Qing had given up on asking the Alpha Wolf to deliver green-light animals alive. After taking the geese inside to process, she messaged Ji Li.

She had no time to prep food today—she was headed to clear out the Evolver Forest. Though her hero Zhang San hadn’t come back, Xia Qing still wanted to try exchanging one of the geese with Territory Seven for medicine.

If there was no response from Territory Seven, she’d just hand the green-light goose over to Hu Zifeng. He’d take it for sure—he was raising a cat these days.

Ji Li replied quickly: “I’ll send someone to the north barrier of Territory Three in ten minutes. Password: 258 376. We’ll talk about goods exchange when our lord returns.”

So Ji Li wasn’t in her territory either.

Xia Qing immediately packed the unplucked green-light goose and left it sealed in her bag. She woke Boss Sheep and let him know, then told the Alpha Wolf, who was keeping an eye on the plucking, “Your Majesty, I’m going to patrol the territory. I’m counting on you and Boss Sheep to watch the house.”

The Alpha Wolf sprawled lazily on the floor, barely glancing at Xia Qing before turning back to the yellow weasel. Except for the wounded brain-evolved wolf, all the wolves kept their eyes on the weasel and the game.

The yellow weasel shivered and hurried to pluck feathers even faster.