Chapter 21: A Day of Clearing and Quiet Progress

Xia Qing never expected Boss Sheep’s single-track mind to remember how to open the door on the first try. She just propped it open, sprayed an extra dose of repellent around the doorway, and put on her protective mask. “We’re out of water. I’m heading out to clear the path again. Want to come with me or stay home?”

Naturally, Boss Sheep stayed silent. Xia Qing didn’t expect a reply and just slung the insecticide sprayer over her back, heading out once more. As for the destroyed courtyard wall and the ruined sheep pen—thanks to the earlier scuffle with Boss Sheep—those would have to wait until she had time.

As soon as she left the village, Xia Qing was surprised and delighted to find that Captain Tan’s group had entered via the northern hill buffer forest. They’d used a weed trimmer to clear a path over a meter wide. Xia Qing eyed the military’s well-equipped gear with envy, but kept spraying repellent as she made her way up the mountain. Once there, she finally pulled out her sickle to clear the way to the mountain spring’s stone cave.

She pried aside two boulders blocking the cave, filled a jug with spring water, and tested it. The water hadn’t been contaminated by Xiang rain—she was elated. She drank a jugful, hung it at her waist, then started hacking open the path to where the evolved perilla grew. After checking both the perilla and the toon trees to be sure they hadn’t been affected by Xiang, Xia Qing happily harvested the perilla and snapped a few tender toon shoots. Heading home, she found Boss Sheep lounging in the sun by the door.

She tossed the perilla in front of him. “Eat up. Honestly, you’re not just the boss—you’re my ancestor.”

Boss Sheep didn’t hesitate. He got up and went to town on the food.

Xia Qing stowed the sprayer in the workshop and slung four water buckets over her shoulders, grabbing a big water tank to fetch water. After three days of steady rain, she and Boss Sheep hadn’t been stingy with their usage—both the tank and buckets were nearly empty.

Unexpectedly, Boss Sheep tagged along with her this time.

Xia Qing threw him a sidelong glance. “Thirsty, huh?”

Setting aside the attitude, with a sprig of purple perilla hanging from his mouth, the snow-white Boss Sheep actually looked quite charming. Xia Qing turned and kept heading out of the village.

She stopped first at the reservoir, which was now much fuller and wider than before. There, she pulled a chunk of Redlight Snake meat from her canvas pouch, hooked it onto her line, and dangled it on the water’s surface. Only after seeing no evolved aquatic creatures leap out for a snack did she fill the water tank to the brim and leave it by the reservoir, then carried her buckets up the mountain to the spring.

Boss Sheep moved faster than she did—by the time she reached the spring, he’d already had his fill and was munching on grass beside the cave.

Xia Qing lowered her buckets inside the cave to collect water, then pulled up two leafy green plants Boss Sheep had been gnawing on—each nearly as tall as her palm. A quick scan confirmed it: the grass was green-lit, safe to eat.

She was just about to praise Boss Sheep for his keen sense of taste when she spotted an evolved leech wriggling atop a tree branch right above his head. Letting a leech that big latch on would spell trouble. Xia Qing didn’t move, curious how Boss Sheep would handle it.

With all that wool, finding a good spot to bite wasn’t easy, so the leech aimed for Boss Sheep’s head, propelling itself down. At the last second, Boss Sheep simply shuffled aside, then—bam—sent the leech flying with a single hoof.

Typical move. Having suffered quite a few of those kicks herself, Xia Qing knew just how powerful Boss Sheep’s hooves were. She stepped up, finished off the thirty centimeter long leech with a quick slash, then dug a hole and buried it.

Evolved leeches marked as green can be eaten—or even used as medicine if not—but Xia Qing wanted nothing to do with such disgusting things. She’d rather eat grass than squeeze one into her pouch, plus a single leech wouldn’t be worth enough points, anyway.

Times had changed—now that Xia Qing had her own domain, she could afford to turn her nose up at earning a few more points, especially if it meant stomaching something revolting.

With all four water buckets full, she tightened their lids, stuffed them in her backpack, called out to Boss Sheep, and made her way down the mountain. After picking up the big water tank from the reservoir on the way back home, she got straight to work tidying up the yard.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to start prepping the fields for planting grain, but the ground was still far too wet after days of rain—she couldn’t even step in yet. For now, housework came first.

The courtyard walls had been demolished during the tussle with Boss Sheep, so she decided to clear them away and enclose an even larger area, bringing both the building on the east and the vegetable garden on the west inside the perimeter. Xia Qing headed over to the West Yard. Luckily, while the West Yard was a mess too, the little rainproof greenhouse she’d built was still intact and the ginger and garlic sprouts inside were thriving.

She pulled away the tarp, cleared any weeds growing beneath the ginger and garlic, then yanked out all the overgrown grass and saplings that had gone wild through both yards.

As for the five toon saplings she’d transplanted from the new territory? Sorry, every last one was smashed. Things had gotten hectic, and by the time she snapped, she couldn’t remember if it was her or Boss Sheep who did the smashing.

The two toon saplings she’d planted by the spring? She’d forgotten about them earlier—would have to check on them that afternoon.

By the time midday rolled around, Xia Qing had finally gotten her giant yard bright and tidy. She even laid a path of red bricks. No matter how she looked at it, the place felt comforting. A productive morning—time for lunch.

She washed the mud off her protective suit, peeled off her thoroughly soaked clothes, took a shower, then headed into the kitchen to cook. One pot of rice porridge, a plate of cold perilla salad, and compressed rations as the main dish—done.

She’d barely finished setting the food out on her newly crafted table when Boss Sheep strolled in on the brand new brick path.

“Hold up!” Xia Qing stopped Boss Sheep before he could barge inside and gestured for him to wash his dirty hooves in the basin by the door. Boss Sheep fixed his eyes on the food but obediently let Xia Qing scrub his hooves, then headed straight for the table.

Used to his food-focused ways, Xia Qing just put a bowl of perilla salad on the floor for him, with a small chunk of compressed ration mixed in. “This is for you. Too much of that ration and you’ll get bloated—take it easy.”

Even though Boss Sheep was already stuffed from grazing outside, he still dug in. By the time Xia Qing finished eating, Boss Sheep had licked his dish clean and was dozing off on his tatami.

Xia Qing sank onto her new bamboo bed across from the firepit. She was completely wiped out after her morning’s work.

Meanwhile, ten kilometers northwest of Territory Three, in the military camp’s dormitory, Su Ming was lying on his bunk in fits of laughter—shaking the whole bed.

On the lower bunk, Huzi kicked the bunk board so hard it bounced. “How long are you planning to go on like this, you lunatic?”

Su Ming bobbed along with the springy bunk, then poked his head out at Huzi, giggling. “Heh, heh heh… I just can’t help it—haven’t laughed this hard in ten years.”

Thinking back to Xia Qing and the sheep sprawled in what used to be a courtyard, Huzi almost lost it himself, but put on a straight face to lecture Su Ming instead. “Captain said not to spread this around, Mingzi. Keep your mouth shut. Xia Qing’s a girl—she’s got her pride.”

From the neighboring bunk, Cao Xianyun narrowed his eyes. “Mingzi, did you get a good look at Xia Qing’s face today? Wasn’t it pale?”

With his evolved vision, Su Ming started laughing again as he recalled, “It was white at first, but then the sheep smeared her protective goggles with mud. She wiped at it and, bam, turned her whole face muddy… hahaha—”

Huzi caught something off. “White? Not purplish-red?”

After ten years of disaster, with acid rain, poisoning, and battles, lots of people had been left disabled or disfigured. When Cao Xianyun had seen Xia Qing’s purplish-red skin, he’d just assumed she had lingering symptoms of poisoning. Now, though, “She’s really clever.”

Huzi, the strength evolver, agreed. “Strength evolution’s the least valuable ability out there. For her to survive safely without relying on any man, she must be sharp. Must have suffered plenty, too.”

Cao Xianyun nodded. “All I remember is Zhong Tao saying she used to work on the construction crew in the Safe Zone.”

An evolver and a woman, doing the dirtiest, hardest manual labor. Su Ming’s smile faded. “If she’s out farming on her own, odds are her whole family’s gone—she’s the only one left.”

Cao Xianyun summed it up, “She doesn’t want to stand out. She just wants to live a decent life on her own.”

“Old Cao’s right.” Su Ming nodded quickly. “Don’t worry, I won’t breathe a word to anyone.”

“She’s not alone, though—she’s got that interesting evolved sheep. This morning, that sheep stood guard right in front of Xia Qing, like it was keeping us away, or maybe even counting Xia Qing among its own.” After a full morning inspecting the buffer forest, Huzi let out a huge yawn, closing his eyes to catch some sleep.