Chapter 267: Predators and Plots in the Territory

“I’m worried about that too,” Xia Qing said, on the same page as Qi Fu.

The pesticides used after the disaster are all targeted biological solutions. The special pesticide from Territory Nine works on all Lepidoptera insects, but there’s a chance it’s a chemical agent, which would definitely be more toxic than specialized pesticides.

If insects are killed off, will a bunch of birds die from eating the poisoned bugs, sparking a terrifying chain reaction?

Xia Qing works hard in the fields to enjoy good food and live a steady life. Of course, she’s extra cautious with any chemicals. Even when trading pesticides with Zhang San, she’s always careful to ask all the details.

When it comes to this stuff, Zhang San’s a lot more reliable than Li Si. Just recently, the soil pesticide Xia Qing got in exchange from Territory Seven was formulated by their own agri-specialists, who first tested for the exact types of pest eggs in the soil. It’s effective against most local bugs and eggs, though not every single kind.

That’s the kind of pesticide you can actually feel safe using.

Since they were allies, Xia Qing was straightforward with Qi Fu. “Qi, tonight if you get the chance, ask San about it. I sprayed my greenhouse with the special pesticide we traded for, and wiped out all the corn borers.”

Hearing Xia Qing lay it all out made Qi Fu feel a lot better. “Was it the same pesticide Chief Luo swapped with San for deer meat under the yellow lamp? I was going to get some after this harvest, but I guess I was still too slow.”

“No, it’s something San never mentioned in the lord channel. The stuff Luo traded with San was a soil pesticide—I got a few kilograms too, already worked it into my fields. That’s why you won’t find many leafroller or slug larvae in my crops.” After using the soil pesticide, Xia Qing noticed a corn borer infestation and called Idol for advice, trading for a specialized solution.

Thankfully, Xia Qing always takes action the second she thinks of something, never dragging her feet. This time, she kept ahead of the bug outbreak, so her greenhouse crops escaped any loss.

Once she’d packed up the pine cones from the roof and stashed them in the warehouse, Xia Qing mixed some chicken feed, planning to lure the chickens into the coop. But all her green-light chickens were stuffed full of bugs—they couldn’t care less about regular feed.

With no other option, Xia Qing grabbed a stick and hopped into the chicken yard to herd them inside. The black-feathered rooster at the front, not happy at all, fluffed up and jumped, flapping his wings, trying to go at Xia Qing.

Old Goat, trailing right behind her, saw the tiny thing dare challenge his authority and rushed over. And so the chase was on in the chicken yard—a goat chasing after a flustered black rooster.

Once Xia Qing had gotten all the other chickens into the coop, the black-feathered rooster tried to scramble in to rejoin the main flock, but Xia Qing snatched him by the neck.

“Old Goat really is the leader of our territory—nice job. Without you lending a hoof, I don’t think I could’ve caught that one,” Xia Qing praised the goat with real gratitude, then pinned the rooster’s wings, glaring at its scruffy black head with mock ferocity.

“Let me make this clear, I’ve got five roosters in this territory. At most, two will make it to spring next year. If you keep acting up, you’ll be the very first one with your neck on the chopping block!”

With that, Xia Qing tossed the rooster into the coop, shut the window securely, and chatted with Old Goat, “This one’s over five pounds—plenty big enough to butcher. We can use the feathers to make a duster—the small ones’ll make a nice cushion for you, Old Goat.”

With the chickens squared away, Xia Qing reminded the Crippled Wolf and Er Gou in the sheep shed, “In a bit I’m spraying pesticides. If you don’t want to get locked in, better wait in the living room. Let me tell the Queen, then I’ll be right back. Old Goat, you should go inside and rest too.”

As Xia Qing headed out, she saw Old Goat following. “Still hungry? Want to graze? Just wait at home and I’ll bring you a couple handfuls of grass later.”

Old Goat squinted, keeping pace beside her. Xia Qing didn’t bother arguing. Together, they walked by the river, until Old Goat veered uphill. Xia Qing kept to the valley between Section Three and Section Four, heading north toward the abandoned cave in Section Three.

Just as she reached the border zone, Xia Qing heard something east of her and quickly ducked behind a tree to watch.

She barely glanced out and the bizarre scene left her gaping.

Under some shrubs about a hundred meters away in Section Four, an evolved wild rabbit was crouched, making exactly the same bewildered face as Xia Qing.

A weasel, just four or five meters in front of the rabbit at the border, was leaping and twisting—rolling around and pulling stunts no normal weasel ever would, like it was completely possessed.

A few moments of watching were enough for Xia Qing to figure it out, but the evolved wild rabbit still wasn’t getting it, sitting there with bulging eyes.

The seizing, convulsing weasel rolled closer and closer. When it was barely a meter away, it suddenly lunged and bit down hard on the wild rabbit’s neck—catching prey more than twice its own size.

The whole scene was so brilliant Xia Qing almost wanted to clap for the patchy weasel. Who knew it had skills like that? No wonder Alpha doesn’t have any weaklings in his crew.

Still, Xia Qing held back, worried the weasel would get startled and gas her in self-defense.

Dragging the wild rabbit fast, the weasel sprinted toward the Evolved Forest on Hill Forty-Nine. But barely halfway through the fifty-meter buffer zone, a black shadow on the ground expanded—an evolved eagle swooped down at full speed, wings clamped, shadow swallowing up both the weasel and the rabbit.

The eagle’s sights were on the wild rabbit the weasel had caught!

The evolved weasel and evolved eagle weren’t even close in strength. Not willing to lose its meal, the weasel panicked and let go, shrieking at the top of its lungs toward the tree Xia Qing was hiding behind.

“Kaa! Kaa-ka!”

Originally Xia Qing hadn’t planned on interfering with animal turf wars, but the weasel’s desperate call made her step forward, raising her gun.

“Bang!”

The eagle never stood a chance—caught mid-dive, the bullet hit home, sending it fluttering and crashing to the ground.

Danger eliminated, the weasel dragged its wild rabbit into the deep woods of Hill Forty-Nine.

As Xia Qing walked toward the twitching eagle, her walkie-talkie crackled—Tang Huai’s voice came through. “Section Three, Xia Qing, what’s going on over there?”

Xia Qing replied, partly to answer Tang Huai and partly to update the Inspection Team. “An evolved eagle attacked my animal companion. I shot it down.”

Tang Huai immediately pressed, “Which companion? The goat or the squirrel?”

Before Xia Qing could answer, an unexpected message popped up from Territory Eight’s lord, Xin Yu, in the lord channel. “Xia Qing, did you kill that evolved eagle you shot down?”

Xia Qing raised an eyebrow and pressed the button. “No, but I busted one of its wings. Was it one of your trained birds? I didn’t see any foot ring on it.”

Trained birds usually wear foot rings, markings to show who owns them.