Chapter 344: Alliance in Times of Scarcity

After digging cellars and trying various ways to store food all failed, the lords had to accept a frustrating reality—there was simply no way to keep vegetables fresh in their territories, unless they dried them all into shriveled strips.

Originally, grains like wheat, mung beans and corn, with their hard shells, could be sealed and stored for three or four months. But now that invaders have started raiding territories, stealing food and killing, no lord dares leave their precious harvests unguarded outside a strong wall.

If intruders broke through the Inspection Team and forced their way in, regular lords wouldn’t stand a chance. Even if those invaders were punished later, it would be too late—the lord would already be dead.

So now, the safest bet is to either trade away all your food or store it in the Safe Zone.

“I think the same,” Qi Fu replied, clearly not wanting to talk more about it. He switched topics and asked, “Captain Tan, can we move between territories tomorrow? I need to use Territory Six’s corn thresher and borrow a big sledgehammer from Territory Ten to fix up our tools.”

Tan Junjie replied, “You can, but don’t linger outside too long. Stay within this territory’s isolation belt and don’t set foot in the Evolved Forest.”

“Understood, thanks Captain Tan.”

After listening to Qi Fu, Xia Qing knew exactly what he was plotting.

Sure enough, Qi Fu called soon after. “Sis, I’m thinking of getting Aunt Zhao, Old Kuang and Shi together tomorrow. The five of us can figure out how to store food for the next few days and how to get through the winter. What do you think?”

Xia Qing agreed, “I was just thinking about that too, so we’re on the same page. Where should we meet tomorrow?”

With things so chaotic outside, the more people still in this stretch of territory, the safer it is. As for Territories One, Two, Eight, Seven and Nine, those folks aren’t really on the same level and wouldn’t mesh with their five—no point in more talk.

Feeling Xia Qing’s support, Qi Fu finally relaxed. “Is two in the afternoon at my place okay? No one’s far, so it’s a short walk for everyone. If it goes well, maybe our five territories can form an alliance. It’s always easier when there’s more of us.”

Two in the afternoon happened to be the hottest part of the day, bad for fieldwork but perfect for discussions.

With the meeting set, Xia Qing headed outside to check on the three wolves. Since Alpha arrived, Old Goat and Er Gou have curled up in the sheep shed to sleep with him, leaving the living room tatami completely empty.

Seeing the four pairs of bright eyes glowing in the dark sheep shed, Xia Qing felt a surge of calm. With the wolves and sheep keeping watch tonight, she could finally get some real sleep.

After checking Alpha’s condition and warning him not to run off, Xia Qing examined Er Gou’s leg and fitted Old Goat with night vision goggles. “I’m catching up on sleep tonight. Queen and Lame Wolf should rest up too. Old Goat, Er—territory security is up to you two tonight. If anything happens, come upstairs and wake me, but please don’t howl.”

Alpha’s recovered, golden eyes locked on Xia Qing, clearly doing his best to understand every word.

No matter how smart evolved animals are, they can’t fully grasp human language—just like Xia Qing can’t decipher their howls and bleats either.

But after living together for so long, these evolved animals learned to pick up on people’s gestures, moods and simple commands. So Xia Qing used a mix of words and signals to brief the whole crew about the current situation, making sure they really got it before heading back inside to sleep.

Lame Wolf’s little sister was still feisty and suspicious, glaring at Xia Qing. But with Alpha and Er Gou right there, it didn’t matter if she understood or not—there was no way she’d be making trouble tonight.

After a wild, nerve-wracking day, Xia Qing stashed away the corn and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

At five the next morning, before the roosters even crowed, the wolves were already at her door with breakfast. Crippled Wolf and a Black Wolf dragged in a giant python and appeared on the monitor.

Xia Qing’s eyes lit up immediately.

Given how clever Crippled Wolf is, any python she brought over had to be at least a Yellow Lantern-grade. With more than 300 pounds of snake, those three wolves would eat for ten days, and Xia Qing could treat herself to a few good meals too.

When Xia Qing came down to check, she was even happier. This python wasn’t just a regular Yellow Lantern, it had hardened scales!

Crippled Wolf’s handsome brother really was clever after all—he totally understood what Xia Qing needed.

Knife in hand, Xia Qing expertly peeled off the tough snake skin in one piece, set aside the wolf-rejected gallbladder, moved the other organs into one basin and cut up the snake meat for another, placing the chunks right in front of Alpha.

“Queen, pick your favorites and dig in.”

As the leader, Alpha always ate first. Only when he was full could Lame Wolf eat. Er Gou only ate cooked food and never touched raw meat.

Once the injured wolves were fed, Xia Qing asked, “Crippled Wolf, can I put away the rest of the snake? It’ll keep you three fed for ten days if I store it in the basement, so you don’t need to bring food for a while. It’s too dangerous now anyway.”

Worried Crippled Wolf might not get it, Xia Qing brought him inside, showing how she stored the snake meat. “Meat stored like this won’t spoil. You can stop bringing food now.”

Crippled Wolf eyed the fridge thoughtfully.

There was no way all three hundred pounds would fit in the freezer, but Xia Qing had already long figured out how to deal with big hauls of fresh meat.

Any meat that couldn’t fit in the fridge was cut into smaller pieces, frozen solid, then taken out with the ice blocks and packed into insulated bottles before being moved to the underground vegetable cellar.

An insulated bottle worked just like a thermos you’d fill with hot water—except these held twenty times as much. Xia Qing had traded for two such bottles from Territory Seven, perfect for any food the fridge couldn’t handle but still needed to stay frozen.

Each could hold nearly 40 pounds—so two bottles took 80. Once the fridge’s freezer and bottles were full, any extra meat was sealed, frozen, then packed into foam coolers in the vegetable cellar.

She’d already tested this—so long as the coolers stayed intact and the ice packs inside were changed out daily, the meat would keep for up to half a month.

So now, Xia Qing’s two underground food storerooms weren’t just storing grain and vegetables—they could keep fresh meat too, giving her a huge sense of security.

During these turbulent disaster years, food and clean water meant survival. With the ability to store both, Xia Qing’s odds against danger were way higher than most lords.

So, when the lords gathered at Territory Five at two that afternoon, Xia Qing was easily the least anxious of the five. She just kept her face neutral as usual, so the others had no clue what she was really feeling.

Qi Fu and his wife had prepped thoroughly for this meeting, setting the table with hot water and food. Xia Qing was surprised and delighted to see freshly popped corn and roasted seeds among the snacks.

Qi Fu greeted everyone as they sat down. “Nothing fancy—all just food we grew ourselves.”

Old Kuang bit into two pieces of popcorn, his eyes lighting up. “Qi, you mean this was popped from our corn?”