Chapter 206: Wild Boar Bounty and Bartering Beans

When they reached the abandoned cave at the valley in Area Three, Xia Qing didn’t even have to call out. The sick wolf with the injured waist slowly shuffled out of the cave. Its wounds had clearly started to heal, and Xia Qing couldn’t help but feel delighted—once this wolf recovered, she’d be free from her medicine deliveries.

Right now, the wounded wolf only needed to take its oral medication—five milliliters a day, mixed straight into spring water. Xia Qing prepped the medicine, stirring it into the spring water, and pushed the bowl to the front of the wolf. “It’s all yours, drink it all up.”

Once the wolf had licked the bowl spotless, Xia Qing refilled it with over half a bowl of spring water and stepped back. Today, only a single black wolf crawled out of the cave to drink—since the sick wolf had moved in, this was the fewest protectors she’d ever seen hanging around.

As soon as the black wolf finished drinking, Xia Qing was about to pick up the bowl when she heard something in the distance—a heavy, dragging sound. It had to be a wolf hauling in prey.

Xia Qing still hadn’t seen the sick wolf’s meal from the pack today, so she leaned against the wall and waited patiently.

Half a minute later, the Wolf with the Broken Leg appeared at the mouth of Valley One, dragging a half-grown wild boar toward the Breeding Center. Even that boar looked like it weighed at least a hundred pounds—no wonder it made so much racket.

The moment the Wolf with the Broken Leg spotted Xia Qing, it lifted its head high with the boar clamped in its jaws and bounded toward the cave, still raising its head and glaring at her with fierce, wild eyes.

Show-off—there’s no way that wasn’t intentional.

But honestly? Bringing down such a giant wild boar absolutely earned it bragging rights.

With her softest tone, Xia Qing asked, “Did you bring this boar for the sick wolf and me?”

The Wolf with the Broken Leg didn’t put the boar down, just stared Xia Qing down with an untamed gaze, head lifted high.

Okay, she got the message…

This doofus must’ve noticed that every time she collected prey, she’d praise the Alpha Wolf first before accepting it—so now, it thought compliments were a necessary ritual for any exchange.

Xia Qing mustered up the right amount of awe before speaking in a warm admiring voice. “Broken Leg, not only did you bounce back after recovering, but your bite’s something fierce. Catching something this big? I’m impressed, seriously impressed.”

The wild boars on Mountain 49 had already been wiped out by this pack—hauling one back like this really was proof of the wolf’s jaw strength.

Only after the praise did the Wolf with the Broken Leg drop the boar, then hurry off to gulp down some spring water before vanishing into the cave without a backward glance at Xia Qing. The Brain-Evolved Wolf nudged the boar toward Xia Qing with its front paw, signaling for her to take it.

“Thanks a lot.” Hauling such a massive boar over—Broken Leg was truly generous.

As Xia Qing sealed up the boar she chatted with the Brain-Evolved Wolf, “Is Her Majesty out gathering herbs? Those places are always dangerous. I just hope she comes back safe…”

Once the boar was sealed and stowed, Xia Qing handed her sack to the Brain-Evolved Wolf. “I’ll be heading back now. This boar is enough to last three days—no need to bring more prey tomorrow or the day after.”

Greenlight prey was worth more to her right now than keeping tabs on Evolved Squirrel. Xia Qing grabbed the vacuum bag and hurried back to her territory.

Why was she lugging a sack? Simple—the boar was just too big for her little backpack. If she’d known Broken Leg was going to be so generous, she’d have brought the biggest pack she could find.

Back at her territory, Xia Qing divided the edible cuts three ways:

Half a side of pork, the head, and most of the innards—forty pounds—went to Territory Seven, clearing out most of the seventy-pound Greenlight meat debt she owed them in one go. The other half—ribs, half a heart, and a hoof—she set aside for Hu Zifeng to carry back to Luo Pei for some much-needed nourishment. The rest she kept for herself and the sick wolf.

Half a heart and the pig liver she cooked up right away for the wolves. The ribs and meat were cleaned with spring water, sealed tight, and stashed in the storage room beneath the pantry.

To preserve the potatoes, Xia Qing kept the storage room at four degrees Celsius. With the protection of the Yi Stone, the conditions were on par with the refrigerators families used before the disaster.

Ribs and meat stayed in vacuum-sealed packs in the food storage for up to three days with no risk of spoiling.

Once back in the kitchen, Xia Qing cleaned up the only pig’s trotter left and chopped it into pieces. She tossed it into the clay pot with pure spring water, ginger, and green onions, brought it to a boil, and turned it down to a gentle simmer.

Watching the pot bubble and steam, Xia Qing spent a few moments in thought before pulling her recipe book from the shelf for a quick flip-through. Then she ducked into the storage room beneath the tool shed and brought up a small handful of Yellowlight soybeans, washed them, and dropped them into the pot.

With the soybeans in, it officially became soybean trotter stew—but Xia Qing wasn’t sure if her teeth stood a chance against those beans, even after hours of stewing.

Back in spring, Xia Qing had found twenty-five Yellowlight soybean sprouts in her territory. During the second Xiang Rain, three underwent Xiang Evolution. The remaining twenty-two bloomed and produced pods.

Wild edible plants always had their own way of protecting themselves. When the green fuzzy pods turned brownish yellow and the leaves started to yellow and fall, Xia Qing approached with extreme caution. Only after multiple tests to make sure the soybeans weren’t aggressive did she finally begin the harvest.

After pulling up the vines and picking pods to sun-dry for three days, none of them split open on their own. Xia Qing was shocked when she tried—these pods looked perfectly normal yet were hard as steel. Even as a Level Six Strength Evolver, she couldn’t crack them open by hand.

She’d done her fair share of gathering missions with the squad outside the Safe Zone, and after ten years of disasters, it was the first time she’d encountered pods this tough. It took a knife, a hammer, and serious effort before she finally managed to shell the beans.

No wonder these evolved soybeans survived ten years of apocalyptic chaos. With shells like that, nothing short of a rodent with evolved teeth could even scratch the surface.

From those twenty-two vines, she managed to shell a pound and a half of beans. Originally, Xia Qing was going to save them all as seed stock, but she’d just gotten big news from Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui two days ago—that changed her mind.

The Lords’ Administration at Hui San Base had upgraded the Produce Trade Fair, making it a regular, streamlined event. Now, every lord could submit their specialties and requests to the patrol squads. If two lords’ needs matched, a trade could go through.

On Zhong Tao’s list, Xia Qing found a lord hoping to trade four pounds of Yellowlight soybeans for seven pounds of Greenlight mung beans. On the surface, no one wanted that deal, so it sat unclaimed, waiting for someone to check the box.

But to Xia Qing, it was a fair deal. She’d taken six pounds of Yellowlight mung bean seeds out when she left the Safe Zone, grown twenty-seven Greenlight mung bean sprouts, and in early June, harvested a pound of beans. At the end of June, she planted another half pound of seed.

This time, she had both the experience and cultivation techniques from Zhang San, so the sprouting rate was up and the plants healthier. If the crop survived the third Xiang Rain, she’d have a hundred pounds of Greenlight mung beans by harvest. She was happy to swap seven pounds for four pounds of Yellowlight soybeans.

Yesterday, Zhong Tao messaged her: that lord agreed to trade once Xia Qing’s beans were harvested.

Now that she’d secured both Greenlight and Yellowlight seeds, Xia Qing figured she could afford to try her own tough-as-iron homegrown soybeans.