Chapter 194: A Trade, a Wolf, and a New Guest

At the front door stood a gorgeous rooster. Its feathers were far more stunning than the one the yellow weasel had been plucking.

When Xia Qing came out, the Alpha Wolf glanced at her, then pressed its paw down on the sick wolf’s paw.

“Thank you for the rooster, Your Majesty. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble.” Xia Qing smiled at the Alpha Wolf. “Your companion is much better after taking the medicine. When the sun comes up, I’m going to take it, along with the two wolves in the cave, to the other territory for a checkup.” Xia Qing gestured to the wolf’s waist. “You remember—the one injured before, the same place we went for surgery last time.”

After finishing, Xia Qing picked up the wild chicken and showered the Alpha Wolf with praise, then headed inside to message Ji Li. She didn’t even pluck a single tail feather, instead sealing the bird up whole and getting it ready to deliver to the North Barrier of Territory Three.

People from Territory Seven were always punctual. Ji Li and a person Xia Qing had never seen before were already waiting with four large crates. Xia Qing greeted Ji Li warmly, “Ji Ge, long time no see.”

Ji Li nodded and asked, “Here’s the equipment you wanted. Do you know how to install it? If not, let Ya Ge help you. He handles our territory’s food storage, so he really knows his stuff.”

Xia Qing wasn’t about to pass up a chance to learn from an expert. “I’ve actually never installed this kind of thing. Thanks so much, Ya Ge.”

Ya Ge nodded.

Since he was wearing a protective mask, Xia Qing couldn’t see his face clearly. The most she could tell was that he was a short, middle-aged man—or perhaps not even that old. It was impossible to guess anyone’s age just by their looks these days.

Ji Li accepted the sealed wild chicken and handed Xia Qing a small medicine pouch. “This is anesthetic. Our Lord wants you to head over at 9:45. Need a hand?”

Xia Qing nodded. “Could you have someone at the Breeding Center’s abandoned cave by 9:20 to help me carry the wolves?”

Xia Qing might be strong, but the road was rough. There was no way she could steady three wolves on a wooden board by herself.

Once Ji Li left with the wild chicken, Xia Qing grabbed the two large crates Ji Li had brought and led the way. “Ya Ge, the path in my buffer forest isn’t paved, so watch your step.”

“Will do,” Ya Ge replied, hauling the other two crates behind her.

At the village entrance, Xia Qing reminded him, “I have two wolves at home. They won’t attack. Just follow me inside.”

“Alright.” Ya Ge didn’t seem the least bit afraid of these wolves, famous for delivering Greenlight prey. Instead, he looked at them with curiosity and envy.

He was honestly a little jealous—he’d love to have a wolf pack like this.

As they got close to Xia Qing’s home, she wasn’t surprised to see the Alpha Wolf standing on the ruined building outside her courtyard, watching them. Xia Qing called out first, “Your Majesty, these are the goods I just traded for. I couldn’t bring them back alone, so Ya Ge here is helping me carry them.”

Ya Ge listened to the introductions with genuine interest. He straightened up and seriously greeted the wolf perched on the ruins. “Nice to meet you.”

Ya Ge just couldn’t bring himself to use an even sillier title than “Princess Cat.”

Only after watching the wolf leap away in a single bound did Ya Ge feel a chill run down his spine. “That’s…a high-level Speed Evolver, isn’t it?”

“That’s my guess too.”

Guiding Ya Ge past the sheep shed, Xia Qing wasn’t surprised to see the sick wolf lying inside, with the Alpha Wolf standing guard in front. The yellow weasel had already scampered off after finishing its plucking job, and now a freshly cleaned chicken sat at Xia Qing’s door.

Xia Qing greeted the two wolves again, picked up the wild chicken, and unlocked the security door. “Ya Ge, the cellar’s right under this house.”

“Got it,” Ya Ge said, his muscles tense as he carried the crates past the sheep shed.

Once inside, Xia Qing flicked on the lights and called out to Boss Sheep, who was lying on the tatami. “Boss, this is Third Brother’s friend, here to help us set up the equipment.”

After being rattled by wolves twice in a row, Ya Ge’s nerves were shot. Faced with the notorious “mad sheep” snoozing in the living room’s grass mat, he could only nod numbly. “Boss Sheep, pleasure to meet you.”

This time, he genuinely meant it. The legendary Strength Evolution Sheep of Territory Three was famous throughout the neighboring territories. Xia Qing had nearly started a brawl with Territory Two over it.

Still, since the sheep never left its own territory, most only heard stories and never saw it in person. Ya Ge hadn’t expected it to be so fat—pity it wasn’t a Greenlight animal, or Third Brother could have feasted for days.

“Baa—”

Boss Sheep wasn’t thrilled by Ya Ge’s stare. It pawed at the floor, ready to start a fight. That loud baa was clearly a call for the Alpha Wolf and Xia Qing to come back it up.

Ya Ge instantly shielded the crates, afraid the sheep was about to go nuts.

“Enough! Ya Ge is here to help us out.” Xia Qing quickly scooped Boss Sheep up and carried it to the sheep shed. “Your Majesty, keep an eye on Boss for me. I’ve got to install the equipment.”

One look from the Alpha Wolf, and Boss Sheep dropped the attitude, quitting the pawing and glaring, suddenly as docile as a lamb.

Back inside, Xia Qing switched on the tool room light. “The cellar’s under this room. Can you help me move one set of equipment in? I need to get the chicken cooking before it’s no good anymore.”

Xia Qing quickly cleaned out the mess inside the chicken, dropped the whole thing in a pot with water, and set it to boil. Then she headed down to the cellar, where Ya Ge was already unpacking boxes in the food storage room.

Xia Qing asked, “Ya Ge, do you think this storage room is still usable?”

To set up the equipment, Xia Qing had built a wall in the underground storage room with a door separating it from the outside hallway. She’d brushed two coats of insect-repelling wall putty on the interior, so it looked bright and spotless.

She’d already removed the Yi Stone that used to hang in the cellar. The only thing left inside was a bag of grain sealed in a vacuum bag on the shelf against the wall.

Compared to the food storage rooms in Territory Seven, Xia Qing’s cellar was far from standard. But for Territory Three, she’d done pretty well. Ya Ge nodded. “It’s good enough.”

First, Ya Ge widened the hole in the wall two sizes to run wires—neutral, compressor, fan, and four-way valve lines—through, connecting the interior and exterior units.

With the hole ready, Ya Ge installed the temperature and humidity monitor and the indoor unit. Then he fixed the outdoor unit to the exterior wall, hooking it all up to the battery Xia Qing brought.

When the machine started up, Xia Qing was over the moon.

The sound from the outdoor fan was less than thirty decibels—so quiet that unless you had level four hearing evolution or above, you couldn’t even hear it running!

After teaching Xia Qing how to use the monitor, Ya Ge explained, “Once you set the temperature, humidity, and ventilation frequency, it’ll control everything automatically. The unit only runs when the air quality drops or it’s time to ventilate. Just keep it powered—these two setups are brand new. Unless water, bugs, or someone damages them, you shouldn’t have problems for at least five years. If something does go wrong, just tell Third Brother.”

When talking about Zhang San, Yan Long, Ji Li, and the others always called him “Our Lord,” but Ya Ge said “Third Brother.” Judging from that, he must be part of Third Brother’s inner circle.

Eager to learn, Xia Qing pressed on. “Thanks, Ya Ge. Any tips on how I can improve the cellar even more?”