Chapter 20: A Muddy Reunion: Trouble at the Territory

Bzzz—Bzzz—Bzzz—

The buzzing sound of the phone vibrating filled the air. Xia Qing lay flat on the ground, not wanting to move a muscle, and called out weakly, “Dumbbell, Dumbbell, answer the call.”

“Yes, Master.” That rare cheerful voice, these days, came from the pocket at Xia Qing’s chest.

“Hello.”

Captain Tan’s voice sounded urgent, and there was the sound of running. “Xia Qing!”

Sweat poured down Xia Qing’s face as she blinked beads of sweat from her eyelashes, gazing up at the bright blue sky. “Captain Tan.”

“The Evolution Tree in the west buffer forest of Plot Three has been cleared; all buffer woodland checked. I heard sounds of fighting coming from your village. Where are you? What’s going on?”

“…The fight’s over. I’m fine. Captain Tan, there’s no need to check in. Everything’s under control.”

“Under control?”

“Yes.”

As soon as Xia Qing answered, she realized Captain Tan’s voice wasn’t just coming through the phone! She stiffly turned her head and found Captain Tan standing not far away, phone in hand, leading a whole group staring straight at her.

Su Ming slowly pulled off his protective mask, eyes wide and mouth agape, as if he could fit a goose egg inside.

…

…

…

Boss Sheep, still panting as it lay on the ground, finally noticed there were intruders. It jumped up, flinging mud from its head, and leapt in front of Xia Qing, baring its muddy horns at the group of evolutionary creatures charging into the territory.

Xia Qing lifted her hand to wipe off the splatters of mud Boss Sheep had flicked onto her goggles. The mud on her glove only made things worse, turning her goggles into a full-on mud mask. Now she really didn’t have to show her face to anyone.

She repeated to herself three times, “If I’m not embarrassed, it’s everyone else who has to feel awkward.” Taking a deep breath, Xia Qing climbed to her feet and stood by Boss Sheep, wiping her muddy gloves off on its horns like it was the most natural thing in the world. She hadn’t expected Boss Sheep’s first instinct would be to protect her when it noticed company had arrived.

Guess it’s got a conscience after all.

“Hahaha—” Su Ming couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Ha—haha—ah—”

A doubled-over Su Ming was swiftly kicked into the mud. That set everyone off; masks came off and laughter erupted all around. Only when Tan Junjie barked twice at the unruly bunch did they get themselves under control.

From behind her mud-crusted goggles, Xia Qing spotted the only two who hadn’t bent over laughing in the crowd—Yang Jin. Her brain short-circuited at the sight. What was he doing here?

Tan Junjie turned back to Xia Qing, cutting to the point. “What sort of creature was it? Did you deal with it, or did it get away?”

From the looks of the fierce fight, the enemy had been no joke. Tan Junjie’s eyes scanned the area for a threat, but as he took a single step forward, the evolved Mud Sheep at Xia Qing’s side pawed a muddy line on the ground, letting out a warning bleat.

This evolved sheep clearly had a sense of territory—it didn’t want him getting closer. Tan Junjie paused and looked to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing replied stiffly, “No dangerous creatures—just my sheep acting out of line. I had to set it straight.”

Tan Junjie’s gaze took in the flattened front gate, the caved-in shed, and the muddy mess that used to be a courtyard. “As long as it’s nothing, all right. Just be careful over the next while. If you find anything truly dangerous again, don’t try to handle it alone. Contact me at once.”

Xia Qing straightened up at once. “Yes, thank you, Captain Tan.”

Tan Junjie nodded and turned away. “Squad, withdraw!”

“Captain Tan…” Xia Qing called out in a small voice, “Um, can we not…tell anyone about today?”

As she spoke, Xia Qing glanced over at the expressionless captain of the Azure Dragon Unit, Yang Jin, beside Tan Junjie. Right now she was seriously grateful for him—he was the only other person besides herself who hadn’t taken off his protective mask. If he had, she’d have felt even more like a fool.

She could still recognize him, though, thanks to those calm eyes behind his goggles, and…that standout physique—some things just stick in your mind.

Still, gratitude aside, she really didn’t want to draw attention. The last thing she needed was for Tang Lu, master of Plot Two, to find out Yang Jin had been to her territory. Or worse, to let this whole fiasco become the laughingstock of Hui San Base.

“Don’t worry.” Tan Junjie led his squad out of Plot Three along the freshly trodden straight path Xia Qing had carved, his shoulders shaking just like the others—except for Yang Jin, still ramrod straight.

Once they were gone, Xia Qing let herself fall flat on her back again, eyes fixed on the mud-smeared sky.

Squelch. Squelch. Squelch. Thump. Thump. Thump. Clatter. Clatter. Clatter…

Listening to Boss Sheep’s hooves trekking through mud, over the gate, and finally into the house, Xia Qing rolled over and looked up. She saw Boss Sheep heading for her vacuum-packed rations, which she’d thrown under the steps in a fit of anger. She scrambled over, half rolling, half crawling. “No, don’t—you need to open the vacuum pack—”

She didn’t get the words out in time. Boss Sheep tossed its head and gulped down the compressed rations in one go, vacuum pack and all, then trotted off to the bathroom.

A moment later, Boss Sheep came trotting out again, squinting at Xia Qing.

Was it…asking for a bath?

Xia Qing let out a sharp laugh, yanked off her mask and just kept laughing—louder and louder—until Boss Sheep got impatient, started pawing at the ground, and jabbed at the air with its spiral horns. Only then did Xia Qing shut up and say, “All right, all right. Hold on.” She went off to heat up some water.

When she brought the warm water into the bathroom, she didn’t even have to say anything. Boss Sheep stepped right into the giant metal basin and started washing itself. Dressed in her suit, Xia Qing rinsed the mud from herself first, then set about bathing Boss Sheep. “Honestly, I was at fault at the start today. I didn’t know you were outside, and when I rushed back, I slammed the door shut in a hurry. Still, you really shouldn’t have busted the door down with your head!”

At the time, Xia Qing’s whole attention had been on the Xiang Evolution Tree. She hadn’t noticed where Boss Sheep was. In Xia Qing’s mind, the house, the yard, and the territory were hers. But to Boss Sheep, it belonged to it—so if it wanted in, locked doors meant nothing.

Door closed? Just open it.

But, “It’s just rained Xiang. Do you know how many dangerous evolved creatures are out there? With no front door, how are we supposed to sleep safe at night? Do you want to get infested with parasites again?”

As Xia Qing stacked up complaint after complaint, Boss Sheep just shut its eyes contentedly and enjoyed its bath.

“You really need to work on that temper…well, I need to work on mine too.” Xia Qing muttered, drifting into a self-reflection spiral. The very idea was absurd.

Over the years, she’d suffered so many infuriating things. She’d always handled them with a cold calm. So why today, of all days, had she blown up at Boss Sheep and fought with it—completely forgetting Captain Tan was meant to bring his team to clear the Xiang-tree?

Something was definitely off. That tree must have affected her!

After washing Boss Sheep, Xia Qing hurried to fix the battered door. Thank goodness for sturdy security doors and the cracks in the wall—after some cleaning up and refitting, it would hold for now.

She pulled out her tools, hammering and tinkering. Then, using the small bag of premium cement she’d brought from the Safe Zone, Xia Qing skillfully got the door back in place.

This special cement had insect-repellent additives and doubled corrosion resistance—a rare material. Xia Qing, a team leader on the Safe Zone construction crew, only had this one tiny bag. She meant to save it for emergencies, but ended up using all of it to fix her door.

Once the door was in, she propped it with two or four wooden sticks just in case. Then she called Boss Sheep back from its spot under the awning, where it was drying its wool and grazing. “Boss, come try this out.”

Boss Sheep narrowed its eyes at Xia Qing but didn’t budge.

Xia Qing fished out a ration bar. “Come on, try it out.”

“Baa.” The sheep, bright white as snow, came over at once. Xia Qing broke off a bit of ration for it, demonstrated the new door handle, pressing down and pushing so the door opened. “See? You only need to open it—the door will close by itself. Just open, and don’t worry about closing. Give it a try.”

The foodie sheep ignored the door, eyes glued to Xia Qing’s hand.

She broke off another bit of ration and stuffed it in its mouth, then grabbed a front hoof to help Boss Sheep open the freshly closed door by itself. “Just like that. Got it?”

With a mouthful of ration, Boss Sheep squinted at the door handle, watching intently.