Chapter 300: Predator’s Feast in the Wilds

Most of the leaves had already fallen from the chestnut trees, leaving behind dozens of big, spiky chestnut burrs dangling from the branches. But to Xia Qing, they were nothing more than bait laid out by hornets for catching birds. She had no intention of collecting them. The last thing she wanted was to set off a swarm of evolution-mutated hornets and risk her life.

Xia Qing felt certain now that neither migratory birds nor lightning had wrecked the chestnut grove. She decided to retreat and track down the animal that left those hoofprints on the trail. She’d just stepped back when a noise in the branches above made her pause—a sound she knew well. It was the familiar scurrying of a squirrel moving through the trees.

Every morning Xia Qing woke to that very sound, before a little critter would appear on her windowsill to drink water and snack on the food she left outside.

She turned her head and, sure enough, spotted her adorable pathfinder squirrel perching on a nearby branch, shaking its bushy tail, rubbing its tiny paws, and fixing her with those hopeful eyes.

Anyone could see what it wanted—the little guy was hoping for a free treat. It wasn’t even trying to hide it, looking at her so expectantly because it wanted her to pick some chestnuts for it.

Xia Qing couldn’t help but laugh. “You really think that’s enough to sway me? If you ever grow white fur and sprout nine tails, maybe I’d be enchanted enough to do something foolish for you.”

With that, Xia Qing stopped paying attention to the freeloading squirrel and focused on tracking the beast prints along the path instead. The red squirrel, clearly annoyed, jumped wildly among the branches and even plucked a few leaves to toss at her in protest.

The leaves fluttered down to the trail, but Xia Qing ignored them and pressed on, following the tracks. After about five hundred meters, she was forced to halt.

Moving forward from here meant leaving Hill Forty-Nine’s Section Three and stepping into the Azure Dragon Squad’s training grounds. Xia Qing cupped her hand to her ear and listened—no sign of any large animals within three hundred meters ahead. The cloven-hoofed creature she’d been tracking lucked out and would live to see another day.

Letting go of the hunt, Xia Qing headed back the way she came, scanning the valley below for edible plants as she descended the slope.

From south to north, the elevation of Hill Forty-Nine increased, and the slope grew ever steeper. Standing at her current spot, Xia Qing estimated a three-hundred-meter drop from where she was to the bottom of the valley. Looking down, the little creek at the valley floor snaked its way through the grass and trees, resembling some kind of giant evolved centipede crawling through the undergrowth.

Rainstorms had hit just last night, leaving the slopes wet and slick. Xia Qing had no plans to risk a full sweep of the valley. Instead, she’d make good use of her keen Vision Evolution skill, scouting from above.

After trekking another fifty meters or so, Xia Qing came to a stop. On this side of the slope stood a tree over four meters tall. From her vantage point, she could see that the tree’s leaves were long and narrow, growing in pairs along each twig, and clusters of oval-shaped green fruits hung at the ends of the branches.

A Chinese torreya tree!

The nuts of the Chinese torreya take three years to mature: fluff in the first year, then flowers and fruit the next, finally ripening in the third. Because one tree can bear nuts at all three stages, locals often call it the ‘ancestral and descendant tree.’

Once the torreya nuts split their shells in the third year, they’re ready to pick. The seeds are true nuts, rich in flavor and nutrition with a wonderful aroma. Since edible torreya trees were scarce within Base Three, torreya nuts were even pricier than pine nuts.

Whenever a squad out foraging found a torreya, it was a cause for celebration all week.

So far, Xia Qing had found eight torreya trees in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, but only one of them—claimed by the Yellow Lantern—produced edible nuts. And even then, the largest nuts were still at the two-year mark and wouldn’t ripen until next year. But here, she’d spotted a tree in Valley One with several nuts already split open. If these were actually edible, Xia Qing figured, she’d have a feast for weeks—otherwise she’d be letting this four-meter-tall tree down.

First, she grabbed a rock and tossed it at the torreya and surrounding trees. Nothing attacked, no animals startled and bolted. That meant the danger here was low. Satisfied, she decided to make her way down and check the tree’s toxin levels.

She checked her Air Toxin Detector—green light. A quick scan showed no large animals within two hundred meters. Then, she gave the base of a big tree at the top of the slope a good spray of pesticide before tying her rope to it. The climbing rope was sturdy, sure, but you never knew if an evolved rodent might chew through it. Pesticide just gave her extra peace of mind.

She also applied a healthy layer of insect repellent to herself. It couldn’t be helped—between the slippery slope and dense growth, Xia Qing needed to focus on every step and couldn’t risk being distracted by a swarm of evolved bugs.

Double-checking her gear, she gripped the rope and started down the incline, aiming for the torreya about twenty meters below.

The ground was slippery and thick with plants, but Xia Qing was no rookie at this. Trusting the rope, she quickly covered fifteen meters. Just five more to go and she’d be at the tree.

The red squirrel that had been trailing her—not too close, not too far—leapt along the branches, cheering her on with excitement.

Why excitement and not anger? When the little guy was mad, its tail bristled sharply, standing on end. Excitement, though, made the big bushy tail wave back and forth, soft and fluffy.

Watching the squirrel’s antics, Xia Qing came to a sudden stop.

The nuts were right there, but the red squirrel wouldn’t go near them. And the way it was freaking out at her side made it obvious—it was too scared to try.

Maybe this Chinese torreya had given the red squirrel a painful lesson. Or maybe it had watched some other animal suffer for getting too close.

So how did this torreya protect itself?

Xia Qing remembered her time in the Safe Zone, where she’d seen edible torreya trees during foraging missions. After they evolved, the flesh of the nuts became highly toxic—no longer edible.

The juice from the nuts could be absorbed right through animal skin, cutting off nerve signals in no time. How long they stayed paralyzed depended on just how strong the toxins were.

Put simply, these evolved torreya nuts had all the potency of a topical anesthetic—one of the post-disaster world’s main sources for such medicine.

The lower the torreya’s toxin element reading, the higher the sap’s concentration and the stronger the paralysis. Since the red squirrel didn’t dare pick any, this tree probably produced seriously toxic juice and was likely an edible plant.

But as she moved another two meters, brushing through a thicket and finally getting a clear look at the torreya, Xia Qing had to swing her knife fast to sever a snake lunging at her—and then she stopped cold.

Because she could hear at least two hawks and over thirty crows landing not far away. As she looked closer, there were even a few little squirrels hiding among the leaves and underbrush. Small holes on the slope revealed the heads of mice or snakes peeking out, all waiting.

Every animal waited in dead silence. What were they waiting for?

Waiting for her.

Seriously—before Xia Qing made a single move, an entire food chain had already formed up. As soon as she touched the torreya nuts and fell rolling to the bottom of the valley, the snakes, mice and squirrels would rush in to scavenge. Their noise would set off a feeding frenzy as the hawks and crows swooped down, fighting over the spoils—hedgehogs, mice, and squirrels all included. Even the two hawks were glaring murderously at her; they weren’t just after rodents and snakes. They’d take Xia Qing too if given the chance.

The crows lurking beside the hawks, waiting for their turn at the carcass, would soon pick every scrap of flesh from Xia Qing’s bones. In less than a few hours, she’d be nothing but a pile of bones.

Maybe not even that—some evolved rodents could even gnaw through bone.

In the eyes of these animals, she—Xia Qing, a human—was definitely the star course at this banquet.