Chapter 289: Lightning Strike and Judgment in the Storm

Shortly after the two armed men passed by Xia Qing’s hiding spot, a flash of lightning lit up the sky. Xia Qing quickly snapped a photo with her phone to keep as evidence.

The two had trespassed into the territory, violating the Territorial Law and committing the crime of unlawful intrusion. With her abilities, Xia Qing could have easily shot them both.

But by legal procedure, a lord is supposed to warn and try to drive off intruders first, as long as their own safety is guaranteed. Only if the intruders refuse to leave and stop violating the territory can force be used.

If Xia Qing skipped the warning and killed them outright, and it was caught on their cameras or recording devices, Jiang Xiong’s squad would definitely latch on and never let it go.

So Xia Qing chose to stay hidden and set a trap for them to fall into.

The two men followed the road and soon reached Xia Qing’s little courtyard. They noticed an extra West House that wasn’t on the video they’d seen, hesitated for a moment, then entered the yard and headed straight for the sheep shed.

After making sure no one was around, they slowly opened the half-closed door. With night vision goggles, they saw bundles of hay on one side inside the shed, and something shaped like a huge cage covered by a straw mat on the other. They couldn’t see what was inside, but two piles of wolf dung on the ground beneath the cage caught their attention.

The two from Jiang Xiong Squad got excited. One of them pulled out his phone.

“Awoooo—”

The phone let out a wolf’s howl, but there was no movement from the cage. One of them grew uneasy. “Xi, why is it so quiet? Do you think the wolf already got out?”

Zhang Xi whispered, “Didn’t you see the dung? Maybe it’s been drugged and can’t move. Let’s go in and check.”

“I smell a trap.”

“What are you scared of? That woman’s in the small house at the edge of the territory. Come on.”

They slipped into the sheep shed, pulling out their stun batons and cautiously edging toward the cage. Just then, Xia Qing slammed the door shut with a bang and locked it tight.

Now, trapped inside, their crime was no longer just unlawful intrusion.

Panicked, the two tried kicking open a hole in the back wall to escape, but the shed was built too sturdy. Neither of them had strength-based evolution—no matter how hard they kicked, the wall didn’t budge.

“Blow the lock! That woman’s probably called the inspection team. If we get caught, we’re screwed! Step aside!” Zhang Xi yanked out his gun and fired at the chain lock, breaking it open—but froze right after.

In the pouring rain, Tan Junjie stood outside holding them at gunpoint, his voice stern. “Your actions are already illegal. The inspection team is now arresting you. If you resist, we’ll use deadly force.”

With the choice between getting shot or caught, Zhang Xi and his partner dropped their weapons and threw up their hands—an obvious decision.

Hidden in the shadows, Xia Qing smirked. According to the Territorial Law, breaking into a lord’s house and causing damage or theft is a serious crime, punishable by over ten years of forced labor.

With the intensity of forced labor and these horrible conditions, almost nobody makes it past three years, let alone ten. This is a real death sentence, only slower—a drawn-out demise.

Better than a quick bullet: saves ammo and makes them work for the base’s development—a win-win.

After Tan Junjie’s team escorted the two away, Su Ming, who was at the rear, whispered to Xia Qing, “Qing, did you hear what happened in Territory Two? Kou Fanming from the Su Feng Squad got struck by lightning!”

Huh? Justice from the heavens at last!

Xia Qing lowered her voice. “Is he dead?”

“Not yet.” Su Ming winked. “These two were caught by us, the inspection team, after tracking them in. You’ve been by the fields the whole time and don’t know a thing, right?”

“Got it. Thanks.” Xia Qing played along with the cover story.

The inspection team had arranged things this way not just to protect Xia Qing from Jiang Xiong Squad’s retaliation, but for their own interests too.

Jiang Xiong’s squad has over a hundred people and ranks fifth in fighting strength. In her own territory, they wouldn’t dare touch Xia Qing—but if she entered the Safe Zone or the Evolved Forest, an ambush was possible. By pretending ignorance, she made sure their rage wouldn’t turn solely on her.

On the flip side, if they’d let outsiders break in, it would’ve been called dereliction of duty higher up. By catching and tracking the intruders themselves, they completed their mission perfectly.

For everyone’s sake—hers and the inspection team’s—Xia Qing, a law-abiding level-four strength-based evolution, knew nothing at all and just kept farming.

Once Tan Junjie’s squad left with the prisoners, Xia Qing headed straight for the small house by the fields to meet Old Goat. She gave a report, “The humans who broke in have been taken by Captain Tan’s team. Take a break, I’ll go check if the greenhouse is leaking in the storm.”

That said, Xia Qing sent Hu Zifeng a message to say the two from Section Three had been caught.

Hu Zifeng quickly replied: Jiang Xiong’s squad is still pretending to patrol outside Hill Forty-Nine, but they haven’t come in.

Xia Qing guessed Blind Jiang was sure the tamed wolf was in Section Three, which was why he’d split his forces. One group made a show of drawing the Azure Dragon Squad’s attention to prevent them from sending reinforcements, while the other snuck into Section Three to steal the wolf.

It was a smart plan, but they underestimated the strength of Section Three’s lord.

Xia Qing took a sip of spring water, strapped on her protective mask and was about to head out—when Old Goat blocked her path, refusing to let her go.

Just as Xia Qing was about to coax him, she saw a lightning bolt strike the empty ground right next to the greenhouse on the north side of the Buffer Forest’s low slope!

But the lightning didn’t stop after hitting the ground. It snaked down the hillside like a fire dragon all the way into the reservoir and set off a huge explosion. Water shot up over six meters high, and in seconds the reservoir began to boil over, spilling past the dam.

Hugging Old Goat’s head, Xia Qing stared wide-eyed at the scene in shock.

In all ten years since the disaster, she’d never been this close to a lightning strike.

Her ears rang. That was way too damn scary.

She gave up on going out. Until this lightning storm was done, she’d just stay safely indoors.

“Section Three, Xia Qing, are you okay? Where did that lightning hit? That was insanely loud!” Tang Huai asked, ever the gossip.

Xia Qing pressed the button. “It hit the reservoir.”

Zhao Ze chimed in, “No wonder the river’s gone wild. Xia Qing, your greenhouses near the reservoir, are they alright?”

Xia Qing answered, “Definitely got caught in the surge. I won’t know the full damage until after the storm.”

Qi Fu worried for her, “Yeah, don’t go out now. Everyone should just stay in buildings with lightning rods and wait it out. This storm’s too dangerous.”

Kuang Qingwei prayed, “Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into acid rain. Otherwise, we won’t have many seedlings left.”

But unlike everyone else, Tang Huai was excited. “The fish and loaches in the reservoir must have been electrocuted! Xia Qing, after the storm, I’ll help you collect fish, alright? No way you can handle it alone!”

Who knows if Tang Huai was more eager to scoop up fish or gloating that Kou Fanming got hit by lightning.

Xia Qing just pressed the button and rejected him outright. “No need.”