Chapter 287: A Sudden Storm and New Discoveries

Xia Qing thought this was important—she needed to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. If she couldn’t figure it out herself, she’d ask someone who could. So she messaged Ji Li:

“Brother Ji, the Green-Lamp Pine Cones I gathered before the insect disaster finally produced pine nuts today. They taste pretty good. Should I send some over for Third Brother?”

Ji Li replied quickly, “I’ll come pick them up in fifteen minutes.”

After clearing the weeds from under the green tag Sichuan pepper and passion fruit trees, Xia Qing grabbed the two pounds of Green-Lamp Pine Nuts she planned to have the Inspection Team deliver to Territory Eight. She waited near the barrier.

It was almost dark. With someone like Jiang Xiong ignoring the rules, the Inspection Team needed to keep a close watch. They definitely wouldn’t have time to help deliver supplies today. So Xia Qing sent a message to Xin Yu, explained, and suggested sending the goods tomorrow instead.

Now that the pine cones were back, Xia Qing had already planned to send some to Zhang San. Today was the perfect chance.

Ji Li arrived right on time at the north border of Section Three. Xia Qing handed over the two pounds of pine nuts and asked him for advice, hoping to find out how the evolved dogs tracked her.

Ji Li explained, “Scents are caused by volatile compounds released from living things, food or chemicals. The deodorizer just keeps the sprayed area from releasing those for a while, but it can’t stop smells from unsprayed areas from coming in. If you’ve picked up scents that don’t belong in the Buffer Forest, the Scent Evolution dogs will notice.”

Xia Qing finally understood: Even if the sprayed spots didn’t release any scent, unsprayed areas still could. Her protective suit had picked up new odors along the way, leaving traces everywhere she went—it just smelled different from before.

She’d sprayed deodorizer after returning from Territory Eight, but had never used it on Old Goat. Lately she’d spent all her time with Old Goat and even collected pine nuts together. So the evolved dogs must’ve sniffed out goat smell and pine nut aroma.

No wonder those dogs got so worked up…

After Ji Li left, Xia Qing picked some Green Lantern Vegetables from the terraces, planning to head home and cook. That’s when she heard Zhao Ze’s voice blaring from a megaphone, calling toward Section Three.

“Xia Qing, turn on your walkie-talkie! Shi Du’s looking for you—”

Looks like the lords who owned high-powered loudspeakers had unlocked a brand-new way to contact people.

Xia Qing turned on her walkie-talkie. “Brother Zhao, I hear you, thanks. Shi Du needs me?”

Shi Du replied right away, “Sister Qing, the quilts are all fluffed up! Should I bring them over now?”

When Xia Qing made it to the signpost, she noticed Tang Huai wasn’t standing by the signpost across the passage. She actually felt a little out of sorts.

Shi Du, seeing her out, rushed over lugging a big bundle, flashing a dazzling white grin. “Sister Qing, the cotton you gave me made twenty-seven pounds of batting. I made two five-pound winter quilts, two three-pound quilts for spring and fall, and the remaining eleven pounds are packed in this blue bag—I fluffed it into a piece one meter wide.”

“Thanks,” Xia Qing said, accepting the cotton. Then she lowered her voice, “Did you already deliver some to Territory Two?”

“Not yet,” Shi Du replied in a low voice. “Tang Huai was irritated earlier and told me to deliver it another day. When I brought quilts to Brother Zhao, I saw Kou Fanming leading a team into Territory Two. Be cautious these next couple of days, Sister Qing.”

Kou Fanming was an Evolved Elasticity, wearing a protective suit covered in blades. His brutal fighting style made him notorious at Hui Three Base. Xia Qing realized right then that Shi Du had called her to pick up quilts mainly to pass on this message.

Of course Tang Huai was upset—Kou Fanming must’ve gotten on his nerves.

It was nearly dark. The Evolved Forest turned dangerous at night. Jiang Xiong’s two squads had split from Su Feng’s and definitely weren’t planning to spend the night at Territory Two. Their real overnight stop was probably Azure Dragon Squad’s Territory One.

Xia Qing didn’t head home right away. She strolled over to the western buffer forest with her quilts and sure enough spotted Jiang Xiong’s dozen-strong crew standing at the entrance of Hill Forty-Nine, negotiating with the Azure Dragon Squad about camping there for the night.

Xia Qing heard Tang Zhou repeatedly bring up the rules and hardships of climbing the hill, without directly refusing. She guessed Tang Zhou was setting a trap for Jiang Xiong. Who came up with it, though, she didn’t care—she just carried her quilts home to make dinner.

She wasn’t the least bit worried about Jiang Xiong’s squad causing havoc at night. Tan Junjie would definitely have them watched. Honestly, Xia Qing thought Tan Junjie’s talents were wasted on just patrolling and hazard-checking ten territories.

Back home, she spotted a whole line of swallows perched under her porch eaves on the bamboo pole. Seemed like they weren’t migrating tonight. The swallows always picked good spots—her place was kept clean and safe, better than anywhere else in the territory.

She went inside and switched on the light. She held up an ear of corn for Old Goat to see. “This is the biggest one from our greenhouse. Tonight, we’re having pine nut corn.”

Xia Qing had been waiting ages to make this dish.

She took two frozen mantou from the fridge and set them in the steamer, stripped the corn husk, revealing kernels that were a dark red underneath. She wasn’t surprised—they’d already seen this earlier.

This cob came from the same field she planted with two pounds of corn seeds Luo Pei had given her. Since this batch was planted twenty days before the one from the Safe Zone, it sprouted, flowered, and produced corn sooner. In another ten days or so, she’d be ready for a full harvest.

Before picking it, Xia Qing had already peeled open the husk a bit to check if the kernels were plump and juicy. Only then did she pick it.

Why did bright yellow seed corn turn out dark red? Xia Qing had no idea. Ever since the Great Evolution, plants had become stranger than ever. As long as the heavy metal content stayed below fifteen-thousandths, with no excess radiation or toxins, any edible crop was a good crop.

Stir-frying dark red corn with golden pine nuts didn’t look all that appetizing, to be honest. But the ingredients were so fresh, the taste turned out better than she expected.

Across the table, Old Goat was gnawing on corn husks and stalks. Xia Qing asked, “What do you think, Boss? Pretty tasty, right?”

Old Goat really did love it—he even looked up and gave a, “Baa.”

Xia Qing took a sip of her instant gruel, something she hadn’t eaten in ages. The familiar flavor and rough texture made her a little nostalgic. “You like it? No problem. When we’ve harvested all the corn, you can have every last stalk.”

Old Goat stayed quiet, focusing on his food.

“And now for a breaking weather update: Between 8:30 and 9:00 tonight, Hui Three Base will be hit by a thunderstorm and short bursts of strong wind, with gusts reaching level seven in some areas. Lords, please make your windproofing preparations as soon as possible.”

After Blue Star’s Great Evolution, the weather shifted so fast that forecasts were tough to make. Only in the last couple years could they predict disasters more than an hour ahead; before, ten minutes was the best they could do.

But unpredictable micro disasters still slipped through. Like back in July, when hail slammed Xia Qing’s territory with barely any warning.

A weather update on the Hui Three Base news channel, interrupting programming, meant tonight’s thunderstorm was going to be a big one. It was almost 7:30 now—just one hour left until the rain arrived!