Chapter 170: Secrets Beneath the Territory

After swapping Greenlight plant seeds and wheat, Shi Du pulled out her phone. “Qing-jie, I recorded a video showing how to dismantle the greenhouse. Did you bring your phone? I can send it to you.”

“Yep, I have it.”

Xia Qing knew Shi Du’s real reason for coming was to share the Rainproof Tarp trick she’d traded for with water caltrop plants. When the video finished transferring via Bluetooth, Xia Qing saw how thoughtful Shi Du was—a five-minute video of Shi Chong by the greenhouse, explaining and demonstrating the technique for Xia Qing.

Xia Qing gave a heartfelt thanks. “Thank you both for this.”

“No trouble, it’s what we should do,” Shi Du replied, her eyes crinkling with a smile behind her protective mask. She lowered her voice to ask, “Qing-jie, is your little gosling still alive?”

Xia Qing dropped her voice too, but made sure Tang Huai could hear. “Don’t mention it. The Greenlight and Yellowlight ones are both dead. Only the Redlight gosling survived.”

Shi Du let out a sigh. “At least you still have one left. Both of mine are gone. When I heard about the ultrasonic attack, my mom wrapped the goslings up in blankets, but it didn’t make a difference.”

Xia Qing shared her own lesson. “I wanted to save my seed potatoes, so I dug a cellar and put the gosling in there during the ultrasonic attack. Didn’t expect it to actually work!”

As soon as they heard that, not just Shi Du—Tang Huai was all ears too.

“Qing-jie, how deep did you dig the cellar for it to work?” Shi Du asked.

Xia Qing continued sharing, “I dug it three meters down, but I thought that wasn’t enough, so this morning I went another two meters deeper. Just hauled home the bricks, planning to finish reinforcing the bottom…”

The more Tang Huai listened, the more convinced she was that Xia Qing was a workhorse—an old ox that never knew when to stop.

Shi Du kept nodding. “Alright, I’ll dig one at my place too. I’m sure it’ll come in handy.”

After their chat, Shi Du took her wheat and left. Xia Qing made her way back through the wild grass walls, feeling satisfied—her alibi for not leaving the territory that morning was secure, now that Sufeng Squad’s Tang Huai could vouch for her.

“Bzzzt—”

She had barely gotten far when her phone vibrated, making her stop in her tracks.

“Captain Xu? Yeah, I’m on surveillance duty… What? A pangolin? Haven’t heard a thing. Got it… okay, understood.”

After hanging up, Tang Huai turned to Zhou Xun beside her. “Xu Pin says our squad lost two pangolins on the north side of Mountain 49. Since when did we have pangolins?”

Zhou Xun replied, “First I’ve heard of it. Are we supposed to look for them?”

“Not exactly. He says someone’s coming to search and wants us to arrange lodging and food. Damn, when’s the last time the squad resupplied us? We barely have any food as it is.”

Zhou Xun nudged Tang Huai. “Why didn’t you just ask Deputy Captain for supplies earlier?”

Tang Huai paused a few seconds. “He sounded like he wanted to kill someone, so I figured I’d keep my head down. Let’s go eat. Seriously, what’s the point of it raining now—I need to get back to digging bugs…”

Once the coast was clear, Xia Qing—now certain the pangolins belonged to the Sufeng Squad—cheerfully bundled up some grass and slung it over Boss Sheep. “Come on, Boss, let’s head home. Once this grass is dry, I’ll braid you a new pillow.”

“Baa.” Boss Sheep bleated, then followed Xia Qing on the slow walk home.

Back at home, Xia Qing passed along what she’d overheard to Luo Pei.

Luo Pei quickly replied: Sufeng Squad has sent twelve search squads out of the city. Don’t leave the territory—you shouldn’t even go to Area Three until they’re back. As for the wolf pack’s tracks in Mountain 49, Hu Zifeng will handle the cleanup.

After acknowledging the message, Xia Qing stored away the Greenlight seeds. After lunch, she ran out to the yard to check in with the Alpha Wolf, who was still napping in the sheep shed.

“Your Majesty, the animals we caught today—the two pangolins—already have an owner. Their humans are sending a ton of people here to look. You’ll need to be extra careful coming and going these days. Don’t let yourself get spotted by humans.”

Alpha Wolf, who’d spent the afternoon snoozing after a spinach juice treat, just flicked his ears—otherwise unmoved. The Wolf with the Broken Leg watched Xia Qing’s waving hands with deep suspicion, while the injured brain-evolved wolf stared quietly at her, as if trying to grasp Xia Qing’s meaning.

So Xia Qing switched her attention to the brain-evolved wolf. “The prey you traded me this morning for medicine—they were owned animals, and their humans are looking for them. There’ll be a lot of people on that side of the mountain for the next few days…”

She pointed north, tracing an arc with her finger. “That whole stretch will be crawling with humans. They’re armed and dangerous and on the hunt. Tell your pack to be extra careful and avoid running into them.”

After saying her piece, Xia Qing locked eyes with the wolf for several seconds, still unsure if it understood her. So she called out Boss Sheep and repeated her warning, “Boss, tell your wolf friends to watch themselves.”

She tucked a piece of compressed rations into Boss Sheep’s pouch. “Off you go.”

Boss Sheep trotted off to the sheep shed and curled up beside Alpha Wolf, chewing cud with his eyes half-closed—absolutely no sign of wolf diplomacy.

Xia Qing let out a sigh. She’d done everything she could. Now all she could do was improvise and get back to work.

No need to ask—if Sufeng Squad was searching for pangolins around Mountain 49, then Hu Zifeng’s plans for collecting edible water caltrop or catching geese would have to wait. Xia Qing needed to finish building her cellar and stash her supplies before then.

She changed the bandage on her right hand, hauled some cement out of the storeroom, mixed up mortar, and started laying bricks for the cellar walls.

Animals like rats, mole crickets, ants, and pangolins are all expert diggers, not to mention evolved microorganisms that flourish in damp soil. Without proper reinforcement, a cellar won’t keep food safe at all.

With only one good hand and no help, Xia Qing couldn’t even finish laying all six cellar walls before dark fell.

She was anxious, but didn’t work by lamplight. When it was time to rest, she rested. When it was time to train, she trained.

Around 2 a.m., Xia Qing heard familiar noises from the courtyard. She got up right away to check—it looked like the wolf pack was delivering food two hours earlier than usual.

Seems like the wolves had understood her message. Relieved, Xia Qing immediately let Hu Zifeng know the pack had come to deliver prey.

“Surveillance cameras on Mountain 49 caught the wolves’ movements. Sufeng Squad’s search teams have already returned to Territory Two. We’ll sweep away all the tracks before sunrise. The Hazard Inspection Team’s set to spray down the Barrier first thing in the morning to mask any scent. After sunrise, get Chang Li to help you out in the territory. Just say the word in the channel.”

“Thanks for all your help,” Xia Qing said gratefully.

Hu Zifeng chuckled, “Help? This is the best thing to happen to us lately. We’re over the moon.”

Watching their rivals panic over losing expensive tamed animals had Hu Zifeng grinning ear to ear. And after the wolf pack pulled off this stunt, he couldn’t help but look at them with newfound admiration.

Hiding tracks? No big deal. Heck, he’d even take a page from Xia Qing’s playbook and sing the praises of ‘Your Majesty’ the Alpha Wolf.

After hanging up, Xia Qing stared down at the giant python the Alpha Wolf had dragged over and sighed. “Your Majesty, is it because all the prey ran off, thanks to the humans, you had to settle for catching snakes? That must’ve been tough.”

Otherwise, why else would the sick wolf get a wild chicken, and she gets a python?

Xia Qing wasn’t really a fan of snake meat, but Greenlight meat should never go to waste. She bent down to grab the python, only for Alpha Wolf to slap a massive paw down, pinning the snake’s tail.