Chapter 161: After the Birds: Victory Amidst Blood and Shattered Glass

With shards of broken glass crunching beneath her feet and bird blood coating her from head to toe, Xia Qing kept her voice calm. “I’m not injured. No need for backup. How’s everyone else holding up?”

Hu Zifeng’s voice came through the line with a hint of a smile. “No one’s hurt. We’re already cleaning up the battlefield.”

No injuries—that was the best news she could have hoped for.

“Copy that.”

Looking down at the splintered glass, Xia Qing spotted Boss Sheep tied up on the floor in a mix of blood and glass, alongside two wolves cowering in the corner, spared from the bloodbath. She grinned. “Boss, wolves, we did it. The fight’s ours.”

Over the lord’s walkie-talkie, Kuang Qingwei asked nervously, “Captain Tan, were all the raptors attacking Territory Six killed? Do we have to handle the bodies ourselves?”

Tan Junjie replied, “You can take care of them, or have the Inspection Team do it.”

Kuang Qingwei responded instantly, “Please ask the Inspection Team to handle it.”

Yuan Yan chimed in too. “Inspection Team, please help clear out the evolved bird bodies in Territory Five as well.”

Zhao Ze’s voice still trembled with tears. “Same for Territory Four.”

These vicious evolved raptors were all flagged as red-alert creatures, and plenty of them were carrion eaters, crawling with all sorts of bacteria—a nightmare to clean up. So, even though bagging bird corpses could be exchanged for points in the Safe Zone, the lords didn’t dare touch them themselves.

Shi Chong asked, “Sister-in-law, how’s Qi Fu doing?”

Yuan Yan replied, “He’s been in the cellar the whole time, totally fine. How about you, Shi Ge?”

Shi Chong answered, “No big losses. Just let me know if you need anything.”

From the walkie-talkie came the voice of Tiger Hu, the Inspection Team’s Strength Evolver. “Qing-jie, two evolved birds that were shot down by Territory Three landed in the passage between Territory Two and Three. Want to clear them yourself, or should we handle it?”

Fighting off a wave of dizziness and nausea, Xia Qing clicked her walkie-talkie. “Please take care of them. Thanks.”

There were still plenty of dead birds littering her own territory, after all.

Tang Huai called out, “Xia Qing, I heard gunfire going wild in your territory. Did you hire guards again?”

Who asked you to meddle in my business?

Xia Qing replied with an icy edge. “Looks like the ultrasound didn’t affect you much.”

Tang Huai, head pounding and stomach churning, could only suffer in silence…

Then Tang Zhengbo’s voice cut in over the radio. “Xia Qing, sorry about that. Tang Huai, focus on defending Territory Two and stop prying into other people’s business.”

“Ugh—”

Back in Territory Two, Tang Huai had to stop and vomit twice before he fumbled for the button. “Dad, got it. Sorry, Xia Qing. Didn’t mean to eavesdrop—my hearing’s just too sharp, can’t help it.”

The stench of blood and piles of corpses would soon attract hordes of evolved insects and breed all sorts of mutant fungi. Inside Territory Three, Xia Qing pushed aside her fatigue and stood up, getting ready to clean the battlefield.

Covered in blood, Xia Qing pressed her hands to the low wall in the attic, climbed up to the roof, and jumped down into the backyard. She rolled on the ground to let the dirt soak up as much blood as it could, then hurried to the front yard, washed herself clean in the shower, grabbed her gear, and sealed up four evolved bird corpses near the house in the largest vacuum bags. She scrubbed away all traces of blood as well.

Next, she made her way to the tool room, rolled up the grass mat, and hauled the chicken and goose cages up from the cellar.

Some of the chickens and geese weren’t moving, but at least it wasn’t a total loss. Working quickly, Xia Qing picked out the dead ones, dropped them in a basket, and refilled the rest’s water with some spring water.

While adding water, the black-feathered rooster pecked her, but Xia Qing just ignored it. She lugged a big water bucket, the grass mat, and rainproof tarp back up to the attic, scrubbed the bird blood off the roof, then used the tarp to cover the shattered window. Finally, she rescued Boss Sheep from the blood and glass, set him down on the grass mat, and removed the protective masks from the two wolves and Boss Sheep.

“Baa~” Boss Sheep bleated weakly, struggling with the ropes.

Xia Qing soothed the sheep. “Hang tight, boss. I’ll bring the wolves down first, then help you get cleaned up.”

Once she’d carried the two wolves downstairs to the tatami, Xia Qing dashed back up, wrapped the blood-soaked Boss Sheep in the grass mat, and dragged him straight into the shower. Only then did she untie him and rinse off the blood. Boss Sheep just lay there, too weak to even stand.

“You did amazing today, boss. When danger struck, you even thought to drag both wolves over to me,” Xia Qing said as she cradled his head, washing the blood from his wool and praising him. “That ultrasound attack was brutal, but you didn’t hurt me—you just rammed your head into the ground instead.”

“It’s fine you cracked the floor. Don’t worry about the busted mask, either. But this cut on your face? That’s a problem. We need to deal with it right away.” Once Boss Sheep was clean, Xia Qing lifted him, shook the water from his wool, and wrapped him tight in the absorbent grass mat before carrying him back to the living room.

She pulled out some special healing powder she’d just bartered for from Territory Seven, smothered Boss Sheep’s wound with it, then wrapped it up in bandages. After that, she placed a basin of spring water beside him. “I’m going to finish cleaning up the territory first. When I’m back, there’ll be something yummy waiting for you.”

As Xia Qing turned, she noticed the brain-evolved wolf quietly watching her, so she fetched another basin of water for the two injured wolves, gently wiping the dirt from their mouths. “I know you’re both feeling rough. The anesthesia’s almost worn off. Drink when you can—I’ve got work to do.”

She didn’t waste time cleaning the attic and hurried out of the village to regroup with Hu Zifeng’s squad.

Since Hu Zifeng’s squad had no clue Xia Qing was a Hearing Evolver, they didn’t realize the ultrasound attack had affected her too.

Spying Xia Qing in her protective mask, the Olfactory Evolver Chen Cheng waved her over excitedly. “We took down thirty-four evolved birds—seven of them were yours, Qing-jie! Just one less than Jian-ge. So badass!”

Guan Tong added, “Plus the two that landed in the passage between Territory Two and Three.”

“I just got lucky with my weapons. One of those two was taken down by Captain Hu anyway.” Xia Qing’s sniper rifle simply outclassed the rest—longer range, better accuracy, not that her skills were that much above theirs.

Xia Qing switched topics. “How’s Plot One?”

Hu Zifeng replied, “A few people have minor injuries, but nothing serious.”

Hearing there were injuries in Plot One, Xia Qing urged Hu Zifeng’s squad to head back at once. She took the bird corpses sealed in vacuum bags to the edge of Plot One’s buffer forest, handed them over to Guan Tong, and hurried back to assess the damage to her own territory from the evolved bird assault.

Hu Zifeng’s squad had top-notch marksmanship and gear. They’d all taken up positions near the farmland, so the evolved birds attacking Territory Three were shot down before they even touched the ground, leaving the territory facilities unharmed.

Only three managed to fall hard enough to break over twenty support rods in the greenhouse and crush patches of corn seedlings, mung bean sprouts, and cotton plants.

The farmland losses turned out to be way smaller than Xia Qing had feared.