Chapter 185: Secrets Beneath the Storeroom

Strictly speaking, the third cellar that Xia Qing chose isn’t directly under the storeroom—it’s actually to the south. For cover, she built the entrance inside the storeroom.

This third cellar doesn’t go straight down but takes a slanted, twisting path instead. After discussing it on the Lord’s Channel and combining others’ advice, Xia Qing figured this design would slow the exchange of temperature and humidity between the cellar and the outside, making it easier to control the environment inside.

Of course, Xia Qing planned to install temperature and humidity control equipment in this cellar. Still, even with equipment, energy efficiency matters, right?

Because of the injury to her right hand, Xia Qing didn’t rush into construction. For now, she needed to hide anything in her territory that couldn’t be seen by others.

The spring’s location had always been Xia Qing’s top priority—she kept it hidden so well that even Hu Zifeng’s squad, who were always hanging around, failed to notice it. Neither Zhang Yong nor Xu Juan could find it either.

Grains, potatoes, sealed foods, jars of pickled cowpeas and cucumbers—Xia Qing moved them all down to the cellar beneath the tool shed and protected them with a Yi Stone.

The portable tester for the Yi element was way too bulky to hide discreetly, so Xia Qing just covered it with some heavy, worthless supplies.

Once she got through this tense period and her hand had healed, Xia Qing would start digging the third cellar. If Zhang San still hadn’t returned by then, she’d trade with Yang Jin for the climate control equipment. With his skills, getting the gear would be easy, but he was sharp enough to demand more than Zhang San ever would.

Not that Zhang San wasn’t shrewd, but his weakness was food. If Xia Qing managed to tempt him with some Greenlight food, he’d give her an excellent exchange rate.

A little after noon, Xia Qing dosed the sick wolf with medicine for the second time today.

The sick wolf had been asleep or out of it the whole morning, so Xia Qing simply dissolved the medicated powder in warm spring water and used a syringe to push it down its throat, making sure none was wasted. After that, she gave its eyes another drop of anti-inflammatories.

Xia Qing couldn’t say how well the deworming was working inside the wolf, but the eye the grass seed had stabbed was definitely starting to go down.

A bit past three in the afternoon, the sick wolf woke up and shakily tried to walk out. Xia Qing, never far from the sheep shed, rushed out of the house and opened the mesh door for it. “Hey, you’re up! Feeling any better?”

The sick wolf shuffled off to the side to relieve itself, then came back, legs nearly giving out, and rubbed up against Xia Qing’s leg just like Boss Sheep always did.

For the first time, Xia Qing was on the receiving end of a wolf’s affection. She could sense its good intentions and just how skinny and weak it had become. “Want some water?”

Worried the wolf couldn’t see, Xia Qing tapped the basin. The sick wolf felt its way over, took a few sips, then lay down again.

Xia Qing shut the mesh door and resigned herself to handling the fresh mess—she covered and burned the wolf’s waste. This time there were fewer parasites in what came out, and only a few were still alive.

Around eight that night, Xia Qing gave the sick wolf another dose of medicine. It looked even better than in the afternoon, so she treated it to some rabbit jerky softened with spring water.

She’d asked Chang Li—turns out, like dogs, wolves can eat cooked meat. Given the wolf’s current condition, it was safer to feed it cooked food to prevent any more parasite infections. The rabbits were from the Alpha Wolf. Xia Qing had been too busy to cure them, so she just sliced and grilled the meat before sealing it up.

After five rounds of expelling parasites in a day, the sick wolf was so weak that Boss Sheep had to prop it up just so it could keep standing. To its credit, after forcing down the tender jerky, it didn’t spit any back out.

Seeing that, Xia Qing finally relaxed and called out a quick goodnight to Hu Zifeng. She turned in before nine, skipping even the usual Lord’s Channel chit-chat.

Sometime after two in the morning, Xia Qing woke to check on the sick wolf in the sheep shed, giving it its first dose of medicine for the day. She then spoke to Boss Sheep, sleeping inside the shed. “I’m heading to the back mountain to change the medicine for the injured wolf. Stay home and look after your buddy. If anything dangerous comes up, Hu’s squad is on night watch in the farm shed—take your friend and go find them.”

“Baa.”

Boss Sheep gave a very supportive bleat. Xia Qing snuck past the Sufeng Squad’s surveillance, left Territory Three, and slipped into the Breeding Center’s cave in Area Three of Mountain 49 to tend to the brain-evolved wolf.

The Alpha Wolf wasn’t around tonight, so guarding the cave were two wolves Xia Qing hadn’t seen before. They bared their fangs at her for a second, but a mournful howl echoed from inside the cave and they quickly withdrew.

That howl wasn’t from the Alpha or the brain-evolved injured wolf—it was the fierce wolf with the broken leg. Xia Qing lifted an eyebrow; clearly this one had a solid position in the pack.

From inside came the quiet clatter of a splint on stone. The wolf with the broken leg emerged, glaring fiercely at Xia Qing.

She’d seen that kind of glare plenty of times and barely reacted. Xia Qing took out an iron basin and a water bottle from her pack, poured the medicine into the basin, then topped it with half a bowl of spring water. “Drink up.”

This wolf never needed Xia Qing to change its dressings, but it would always sneak a drink or two of the injured wolf’s medicine. Maybe it just thought it deserved a share.

While the one with the broken leg had its medicine, the wolf with the spinal injury crawled out of the cave using its two front legs. Its forelimbs had grown much stronger, but now even the hind ones could help a bit.

Xia Qing greeted it in a low voice. “Drink the medicine first and I’ll change your dressings after.”

The brain-evolved wolf inched over to the basin and took a few sips, letting out a howl. Another wolf emerged from the cave, watching Xia Qing with sharp suspicion.

Xia Qing stepped back to rest against a boulder, going into a defensive stance and waving the spinal-injured wolf over. “Come here. I’ll take care of your wound.”

When the brain-evolved wolf made its awkward way to Xia Qing, she squatted beside the stone, undid the brace around its waist and belly, and began changing its bandages. The suspicious wolf took the chance to lap at the medicine too.

Pretending not to notice, Xia Qing gave all her attention to the injured wolf’s wound. It had almost healed up, and the bone felt steady, so in theory it shouldn’t need any more medicine. But Xia Qing wasn’t a vet—she couldn’t make that call.

She snapped a picture of the wound on her phone before dressing it and fastening the brace back on.

Just as she was ready to leave, the Alpha Wolf appeared from the cave, carrying two rabbits in its mouth. It set them at Xia Qing’s feet.

Xia Qing had figured out how the Alpha’s mind worked by now. “Your Majesty, you brought these for us, right? One is for my sick wolf at home, and the other’s for me?”

With golden eyes fixed on Xia Qing, the Alpha Wolf made no move to deny it.

Xia Qing poured out the last of the spring water into the basin and gave a heartfelt thanks. “Thank you, Your Majesty. You’ve worked hard. Please, have some water.”

While the Alpha was busy drinking, Xia Qing didn’t hesitate—she packed both rabbits into her bag. They might have almost come to blows with the pack a few days back, but since things hadn’t truly fallen apart, she wasn’t about to turn down free game.

When all the water was gone, Xia Qing put away the basin and slung her pack over her shoulder. “I’m heading back now. I’ll visit again the day after tomorrow. Don’t worry—the sick wolf is looking a lot better. I think it’s out of danger.”