Chapter 281: Hidden Risks Beneath the Surface

“Don’t even get me started.” Kuang Qingwei let out a long sigh. “You know Qian Lin, the Strength-Based Evolution user from Sufeng Squad? Level Four.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Yeah, we did a mission together once.”

A look of helplessness flashed across Kuang Qingwei’s face, the kind that comes from living on the bottom rung. “Just trying to survive, you know? I’ve spent years bowing and scraping just to earn a decent meal. Only person I ever managed to tick off was him. Qian Lin made things so bad in the Safe Zone, I had to get out and start farming. I still haven’t figured out exactly what went wrong, but he’s definitely involved somehow.”

Xia Qing didn’t even have to ask to guess how Kuang Qingwei, with his pretty wife, had ‘offended’ the lecherous Qian Lin. Still, she said, “I don’t think Qian Lin’s got the brains to pull this off, even if he got involved. He’s definitely not the mastermind.”

Kuang Qingwei had considered that Qian Lin might just be someone else’s pawn. Since Xia Qing asked, Kuang explained his supply channels in detail. “Doesn’t matter who’s behind him. They’re all too much for us to handle, so we’ll just keep our heads down. If they want to settle accounts, that’s fine—I’ll keep going until we can grow enough grain in the territory, then we’ll see.”

After that, Kuang Qingwei set off to return the points to other territories and deliver a thank-you gift to Territory One.

If it weren’t for Territory One’s trained wolves howling as a warning, this whole territory would’ve been wiped out by Evolved Geese, raptors, and wild beasts. Even if Kuang Qingwei survived, he could never repay the lords’ losses and would have no place here again.

Watching Kuang Qingwei leave, Xia Qing didn’t head home immediately. She stood there, fixing her gaze on the Wild Grass Wall of Territory Two.

Territory Two had the worst insect problem, so the Wild Grass Wall there was chewed up the most. Xia Qing could even see the color of the sunshade on the other side through the gaps.

She’d thought Tang Huai was out there digging up bugs in the scorching sun. Turns out he’d been hunkering under a sunshade all along.

No one else could hear Xia Qing and Kuang Qingwei’s conversation, but Tang Huai definitely caught every word. Xia Qing decided to wait for him to show, wanting to see if he was in on the loudspeaker incident.

Tang Huai crawled out through the Wild Grass Wall, pulled off his protective mask without any preamble, and got straight to the point. “This wasn’t aimed at you. Stay out of it.”

Maybe it wasn’t targeting Xia Qing, but whoever set this up knew full well about the trained wolves on Hill Forty-Nine and that they’d react to the wolf howls in the recording. Xia Qing asked calmly, “You know who did it?”

“I’ve got a good guess. Sure, leaning on a big tree is shady and cool—but back the wrong tree and you’ll get buried with it.” He tossed Xia Qing a vague hint, then half-joking, half-serious, teased, “You’re sharp. You must know I’m a rising star.”

A rising star at digging up bugs? Xia Qing kept her face expressionless. “So what’s your point?”

Tang Huai grinned. “That wolf that howled this afternoon—is it the one in your territory with the missing ear? Why was it so upset? Want to show me? Don’t worry, I’ll never tell a soul.”

After making sure no one was around, Xia Qing let her face darken—Tang Huai could sense her anger even through his visor. “After it heard the wolf howls from the loudspeaker, it totally flipped out. Took the old wolf I’d spent months nursing back to health and left. All my hard work gone!”

Like watching a cooked duck fly away…

Tang Huai looked disappointed, then suddenly saw the light. “Ah, so it’s killing two birds with one stone. That’s downright nasty!”

After making her rounds, Xia Qing tossed a Redlight Bird into the snake box, then fed the chickens and fish. She found Old Goat lying alone on the tatami, looking a little lonely.

That loneliness, partly her fault—she’d made the tatami even wider. Sitting down beside Old Goat, she started brushing its coat. “Missing Er and that Crippled Wolf, huh?”

Old Goat squinted its eyes, not moving a muscle.

Xia Qing tried to comfort her companion. “They came here to get treated and heal up. Once they’re better, nobody can stop them from moving on. Hungry? I’ll make you something tasty. Look!”

She pulled a tender cabbage leaf from her basket. “Greenlight Veggie leaf—how about we mix it in with your Section Three feed today?”

Old Goat’s eyes sparkled, and even its baaa sounded cheerful. “Baa~”

Such a foodie!

Xia Qing handed it a leaf and carried the rest to the kitchen.

Old Goat, savoring the taste, stood waiting at the kitchen door, tail wagging for dinner.

While she cooked, Xia Qing chatted with Old Goat. “Crippled Wolf got his last patch this morning. In two days, when we peel it off, he’ll be fully healed. As for Er, his stomach’s only just back to normal—he needs medicine and soft food. If he can’t handle raw meat, he’ll have to come back and recover.”

Xia Qing understood Crippled Wolf’s anger, but she wasn’t afraid. As a Brain-Evolved Wolf, he knew the recording wasn’t her doing—no way he’d blame her for this.

Worst case, even if he did blame her, Xia Qing wasn’t scared. Still, it stung to lose such valuable trading partners.

After ten years of disasters, Xia Qing was used to loss and goodbyes—she wouldn’t mope just because a few wolves left. But her stash of Yi Stones was running low, and such valuable goods were impossible to buy, even if she had the points.

With a fridge now, Xia Qing could cook much faster. She mixed flour into dough, rolled out noodles, and boiled them. Then she ladled on a couple spoonfuls of meat sauce she’d made days ago, topped it with fresh-cut chives, and just like that—steaming meat-sauce noodles were ready to eat.

One person, one goat—each dug into their own bowl, eating to their heart’s content.

Bellies full, the mood brightened. Xia Qing leaned back and told Old Goat, “There’ll definitely be a farm market after the autumn harvest. Once it opens, you watch the territory and I’ll make a trip to the Safe Zone. Got some things to handle.”

“Whoever pulled this stunt shouldn’t walk away without a scratch. They need to feel it in their bones if they’re going to learn their lesson.”

Judging by what Tang Huai said, Sufeng Squad was probably behind all this. Xia Qing didn’t have the power to take down their core members—yet—but she could deal with a few of the hands-on troublemakers.

Like Qian Lin, who’d tried to take advantage of her several times back in the Safe Zone.

As she was finishing up the dishes, Xia Qing got a call from Tan Junjie. Xin Yu had sent over two Greenlight Mint plants via the Inspection Team.

These two plants were the result of a trade between Xin Yu and Xia Qing for an Evolved Hawk. The insect disaster hit right before the migratory bird season, so it took until now for them to arrive.

When Xia Qing reached the Northern Barrier, she saw Tan Junjie waiting alone. She knew right away he had something to say.

Tan Junjie handed her a potted plant and lowered his voice. “That wolf didn’t make a fuss, did it?”

Tan Junjie had known all along that the wolves were in Section Three. Xia Qing answered honestly, “The lead Evolved Wolf smashed the loudspeaker, rounded up the pack, and took off back to the Evolved Forest.”

Tan Junjie didn’t press for details. “Probably for the best. They weren’t safe here anyway. I already reported the loudspeaker incident, though nothing will likely come of it.”

“I get it. Thanks, Captain Tan.” The wolf howls on the recording were bone-chilling, and whoever handled the recording would probably just blame inexperience and get off scot-free.

Tan Junjie kept his voice low. “Don’t act rashly. Be careful not to walk into someone else’s trap. You’re safe here in the territory under the Lord’s Law, but once you step outside, that protection’s gone.”

Xia Qing smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to lose my head over this.”

Not impulsive doesn’t mean inactive. Tan Junjie left it at that, then changed the subject. “Would you be willing to trade any Greenlight Toon tree saplings from your territory?”

Xia Qing didn’t want to use native plants in further trades, so she politely refused. “Once I moved in, I transplanted all the Toon saplings under the trees, but none survived. I do have some high-quality chestnuts, though. If I can raise saplings from them next spring, we could trade then.”

Tan Junjie nodded. “For your reward for helping guard Section Four—do you want points or Yellowlight rapeseed seeds?”

Xia Qing answered without hesitation. “I’ll take the rapeseed seeds.”