Chapter 196: Sustenance and Survival: A Day in the Territory

After patrolling the territory, Xia Qing picked two fresh cucumbers and snapped off a piece for Boss Sheep, who was busy feeding the fish with big bugs. “Thanks for your hard work, Boss. All our fish rely on you to catch bugs and keep them alive. Here, have some cucumber to soothe your throat.”

Boss Sheep, who never touched fish, immediately took a big bite and started crunching the cucumber. It could fit through the greenhouse door, but all the plants it liked were fenced in with brambles. That meant if Boss Sheep wanted anything from inside, Xia Qing had to pick it for him.

Cucumber was one of Boss Sheep’s favorite treats.

When Xia Qing noticed the Sick Wolf staring at the cucumber in her hand, she broke off a small piece and set it on a stone in front of him. She’d never dare feed it by hand—no matter how weak he seemed, he was still an evolved wolf.

“It’s raw. Can you eat this?”

The Sick Wolf sniffed it for a moment, then really started eating.

Xia Qing had seen the Sick Wolf gnaw on white-hairy chicken-vine before, so watching him eat cucumber didn’t worry her at all. She picked up her small basket and headed home. “I’m going to cook. You two wander around the territory, but don’t go too close to the edge.”

As soon as Xia Qing came back carrying the little basket, the Black-feathered Rooster led his flock charging toward her, clucking wildly at the fence.

Now that the Sick Wolf could move around, he’d started helping Boss Sheep catch bugs. The two of them had been catching more than ever. Inside the basket, there were over thirty evolved locusts, crickets, and mantises. Between the bugs Xia Qing had caught or dug up during patrol, there was more than enough to feed all the snakes, plus plenty left for the poultry.

After giving some evolved insects to the chicks and goslings, Xia Qing carried the rest home to feed the snakes.

Once she dumped the basket of evolved insects into the snake tank, Xia Qing took out her Xiang Tester to check the eight snakes she’d caught today. They came in all sizes—two were evolved. One was lightning fast, but she wasn’t sure about the other one’s abilities. Judging by how it moved, Xia Qing could tell it was different from an ordinary snake.

Out of all eight, only that oddly-evolved little snake was safe to eat. Xia Qing tossed it into the snake tank and kept the rest in a sack, waiting for Zhong Tao to arrive at noon and trade them for points.

Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui brought the supply truck every three days. Last night, Zhong Tao had messaged Xia Qing about buying a batch of her homegrown vegetables, and she agreed—she also asked him to bring five bags of earthworm castings and some daily necessities.

With more vegetables coming out of the territory, Xia Qing and Zhong Tao’s trade volume kept going up. All the points she earned from aboveboard deals went straight into daily goods.

Never one to treat herself badly, Xia Qing was now using new pure-cotton sheets and underwear. Even her toothpaste and skincare were two levels up from before. The pen she wrote with was no longer one of those cheap ones you had to shake to get the ink flowing.

The last time Zhong Tao visited, he’d even tried to sell Xia Qing the latest trendy jewelry from the Safe Zone. But those knickknacks cost thousands of points and were completely useless—Xia Qing didn’t care about them in the slightest.

“Pretty jewelry? For self-admiration?”

Before the calamity, Xia Qing liked cute, affordable stuff like that when she was a teenager. Now, she didn’t see the point.

Bracelets and rings? She spent most of her day wearing protective gloves. Even if she bought them, they’d just sit at home.

Hair clips and barrettes? Her hair was short, so she didn’t need them. And even if she forced one on her head, it’d just get in the way when she put on her safety helmet. If it slipped off in battle and blocked her view, it could be fatal.

Necklaces? She already wore a Yi Stone around her neck worth over ten thousand points. After the calamity, when the Blue Star’s air was thick with Xiang element, was there any necklace better than a Yi Stone?

Once she finished off two steamed buns stuffed with dried roast meat, Xia Qing gave the Sick Wolf an anesthetic.

At 8:40, Xia Qing sealed the Sick Wolf inside a large vacuum bag, stuffed it into her pack, and hefted the sturdy wooden board she’d used to carry wolves to Territory Seven. She turned to the Alpha Wolf and Boss Sheep, telling them, “I’m taking the Sick Wolf and the two injured wolves from the cave for checkups—I’ll be back before noon. Boss, you guard the territory. Your Majesty, want to come with me?”

Follow a human? Not a chance. The Alpha Wolf leaped onto the ruins at the south end of the courtyard and then disappeared with another bound.

Once she was gone, Xia Qing started off with the wolf on her back, chatting with Boss Sheep as they went. “Boss, neither of us is a Speed Evolver, but if we keep up our current training, push ourselves to the max—we could develop our stamina to the level of a Level Four Speed Evolver. Then we’d be fast, strong, and maybe even gang up on Her Majesty someday! With my sharpshooting, we might even leave Yang Jin from the Azure Dragon Unit in the dust!”

“Baa.”

Boss Sheep gave a short bleat and trotted off to graze, clearly not interested in Xia Qing’s ambitions.

With her spirits up, Xia Qing put all her senses on high alert and slipped quickly and quietly toward the abandoned cave in Zone Three.

She called out the two injured wolves, gave them some medicine, then placed both anesthetized wolves and the Sick Wolf onto the sturdy board. Just as she was about to lift everyone and head out of the valley to meet up with Territory Seven’s team, Yan Long called her.

“People from Territory Six are moving through the North Buffer Forest. Stay away from the North Barrier. Where are you? I’ll meet you there.”

Xia Qing never expected Yan Long to pick her up in person, so she replied immediately, “I’m in the valley at the Breeding Center. Yan, wait for me at the barrier on the north side of the valley—I’ll be there in five minutes.”

After the Breeding Center was abandoned, the valley was absorbed into Mountain 49’s Area Three. Officially, it became part of the Azure Dragon Unit’s training base, but in reality it was part of Xia Qing’s private Evolver Forest.

So when Tan Junjie led the Inspection Team on patrol, they didn’t cross through the barrier north of the Breeding Center’s valley anymore. Instead, they used the barrier north of Territory Four and Five’s buffer forests.

Just like the barrier inside Xia Qing’s territory that separated the highland and low slope, the barrier north of the Breeding Center was abandoned too. Still, Xia Qing kept spraying medicated powder and clearing weeds along it, so wild grass and shrubs hadn’t swallowed it up yet.

“No need. Wait for me at the cave entrance.” Yan Long hung up right after she finished.

Xia Qing had heard Hu Zifeng’s squad praise Yan Long’s fighting skills, and since Yan Long didn’t need her to pick her up, Xia Qing didn’t bother arguing. She leaned against a rock and waited quietly.

She hadn’t heard Yan Long approach yet, but suddenly the Alpha Wolf showed up with four other wolves. Two stood right in front of the board holding the wolves, while the Alpha and another stood atop the cave, their golden eyes scanning the distance, full of murderous intent.

Standing by the board were a black and a brown wolf—two Xia Qing had never seen before. She stared in surprise. “Your Majesty, just how many followers do you actually have?”