Chapter 179: Sowing and Scheming: Waters Run Deep on Territory Three

After releasing the chickens and geese, Xia Qing thanked Hu Zifeng and his two teammates, saw them out of Territory Three, then heard the Sufeng Squad member monitoring her report back via walkie-talkie:

“Hu Zifeng and his two teammates have left Territory Three. Yes, currently, only the lord of Territory Three remains inside. Copy that.”

Xia Qing calmly returned home, hauled out her water pedal-bike from the garage and called out, “Boss, let’s get to work!”

Even though it rained a few days ago, she’d covered the greenhouse in time, so the crops inside hadn’t gotten any of that rain. That meant she needed to fetch water from the reservoir for irrigation.

Boss Sheep, who’d stayed curled up beside the sick wolf, didn’t budge. It seemed this sick wolf meant more to Boss Sheep right now than its favorite hobby—riding the pedal-bike.

Xia Qing chuckled, hoisting the pedal-bike onto her shoulder as she headed outside.

She hadn’t truly wanted Boss Sheep to pedal anyway. Sufeng Squad’s sentries were hidden in the barriers north, south and west of Territory Three—Xia Qing had no intention of blowing Boss Sheep’s cover by letting them see it could pedal and pump water.

With practiced ease, Xia Qing assembled the water pedal-bike, opened up the water channel, adjusted the bike seat a bit higher, then hopped on and started pedaling at full speed.

River water rushed through the triple pipes into the channel, flowing toward strips of farmland covered by the greenhouse. Xia Qing glanced at the vibrant rice seedlings nearby and felt her spirits lift.

Unfortunately, her good mood didn’t last half an hour before Boss Sheep returned from grazing in the village, standing by Xia Qing’s side and letting out a disgruntled “baa.”

That was its toy, after all.

Xia Qing tried to work out a deal. “Boss, why don’t you go look after your sick friend, and let me play for a bit?”

Boss Sheep narrowed its eyes and began pawing the ground like it was spoiling for a fight. With those scabbed-over wounds on its face, it really looked off.

Just as Xia Qing was about to coax Boss Sheep further, Hu Zifeng called. “Everyone stationed outside Territory Three, Seven and Nine has withdrawn. You’re in the clear now.”

Xia Qing was surprised. “That fast? They’re already gone?”

“Yeah,” Hu Zifeng replied, amusement in his voice. “Yesterday in the swamp north of Plot Forty-Nine, they found a couple of pangolin scales. Today, the whole squad is out searching the swamp.”

No need to ask—those scales were obviously placed by the Azure Dragon Unit. If Sufeng Squad wanted to find a pangolin in the swamp, they’d first have to clear out the dangerous evolved creatures lurking there.

Yang Jin truly lived up to his frugal reputation—even when diverting attention, he still managed to dig a pitfall.

Still, the edible water caltrops in that swamp and the Greenlight Geese possibly still there were no longer within Xia Qing’s reach.

Xia Qing jumped off the pedal-bike, adjusted the seat to Boss Sheep’s preferred height. “Go ahead, Boss. I’m off to patrol the territory and catch bugs for the fish.”

Boss Sheep liked pedaling the water bike way more than catching bugs. It gleefully hopped on and started spinning the pedals like mad.

After checking the water channels once more, Xia Qing went to inspect the farmland crops.

The corn seemed to grow by the hour—plants in the field she’d sown a month and a half ago now had eight leaves and stood seventy centimeters tall; the seeds she’d recently swapped for at the Safe Zone had shot up to forty centimeters in just twenty-two days.

If only her Greenlight Spinach could grow that fast and get that tall, too.

Half a month ago, Xia Qing planted three spinach patches: 612 plants in the terraced plot on the highland, and two more inside the vegetable greenhouse south of the reservoir—one with 200 plants grown from Zhang San’s regular Greenlight Spinach seeds, and another with 200 more plants sown from 300 special spinach seeds she would have to return to Zhang San.

Those future seeds for Zhang San—spinach leaves rich in Yi Element—were grown in the greenhouse instead of the terraces because Xia Qing worried that continuing to plant there would give away her secret of having clean, unpolluted spring water in her territory.

Idols might be important, but nothing trumped the essentials for survival here.

Xia Qing always kept her word. She’d promised Zhang San he’d get half the harvest of that spinach, so even though he wasn’t around now, she hadn’t touched a single one of those hundred plants.

Every other one of the seven hundred plants, though, had been picked for at least two leaves, and she seriously couldn’t take any more. That’s why, two nights ago, she’d refused to trade with the Alpha Wolf.

Without the Yi Stone in hand, Xia Qing wouldn’t have dared harvest so aggressively. Otherwise, before the spinach could recover, a single Xiang Rain could send half the plants into Xiang Evolution.

It had been over two months since the second Xiang Rain, and the third was on the way. Even with the Yi Stone, Xia Qing needed to let her spinach rest and bolster its resistance.

Aside from the battered spinach, the rest of the crops in the farmland and terraces looked great.

Rice, mung beans and corn were all flourishing. The yellowlight soybean pods had turned from fuzzy pale green to smooth brown—almost ready to harvest. The roots of the greenlight and yellowlight sweet potatoes had started to swell with new tubers. Over a dozen greenlight pumpkins growing in the terraces were already bigger than her fist.

The yellowlight pumpkins in the farmland that had taken a beating were recovering, now blooming with golden flowers. The Jerusalem artichokes stretched over two meters high, topped with sunflower-like clusters of small yellow blooms. Xia Qing had even raised the greenhouse roof another notch for their sake.

Even her ginger had blossomed with pale yellow and purple-tinted flowers, looking unexpectedly lovely. The smelly greenlight perilla and alfalfa seeds were nearly ready for harvest. The yellowlight and greenlight chives had started growing scapes—almost ready to flower. The groundnut pegs of the yellowlight and greenlight peanuts were thickening underground, promising a hefty crop.

The second batch of cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and beans was already ready for the table. Radishes, onions, sunflowers and Chinese cabbage were all thriving under her care. Xia Qing had made two types of pickles: pickled cucumbers and spicy red oil cowpeas. She stored the pickle jars with potatoes, wheat and other grains, safely protected by her Yi Stone, and nothing had spoiled yet.

After making her rounds, Xia Qing tossed a few evolved insects to the Greenlight Peanuts, feeling positively elated.

It was time to water the terraces, but the terrain meant she and Boss Sheep had to haul water up by hand. And since the precious greenlight crops needed only filtered water—sometimes mixed with spring water—they couldn’t rely on the water bike. Today was out. She’d have to wait until at least tomorrow, when her hands weren’t so sore, to team up with Boss Sheep and lug water up there.

Once her crops were harvested, she’d need proper storage. Setting up a cellar for grain and vegetables had to be her next big task.

Watching the Greenlight Peanuts use their vein-like needles to suck an evolved insect dry before leaving only a shriveled shell, Xia Qing exited the greenhouse up on the highland and headed off to pick toon leaves for Boss Sheep.

Boss Sheep had worked hard pedaling the water bike this morning—it deserved a reward.

Xia Qing had barely reached the big chinquapin tree when a flash of red darted past—it was the little thief, the evolved squirrel, infamous for stealing tobacco leaves and green jujubes. Even with her Level 9 Vision Evolver eyes, Xia Qing couldn’t make out if it had anything hidden in its paws or mouth.