Chapter 358: A Show of Force at the Exchange

With the quantity settled Xia Qing got down to business. “These hickory nuts were picked on the 22nd. Third Brother bought green husk hickories on the 23rd for 400 credits per pound. The sun’s been strong for the past three days, so they’ve lost a lot of moisture. Let’s set the price at 420 credits per pound. Does that work for you?”

“That’s fine,” Yang Jin agreed without hesitation. “Four months of spring water and sixty pounds of Green Lantern hickories comes to a total of 198,000 credits. Can we make the trade now?”

After confirming the credits had come through, Xia Qing stood. “I’ll go grab the hickory nuts and spinach seeds. Captain Yang, have some tea and make yourself comfortable for a bit.”

Yang Jin didn’t insist on tagging along to help with the hickories. He stayed put in the little cabin, quietly enjoying a cup of chrysanthemum tea brewed with pure spring water.

Cleanse the mind and soothe the fire.

Xia Qing left alone but didn’t come back by herself. In addition to the half bag of hickory nuts she carried, a string of animals followed behind.

At the front was her ever-so-arrogant evolved sheep. Xia Qing took great care of this one—it looked even fatter than last time and its gaze was even more infuriating.

Right behind the sheep came the Alpha. Its left ear was missing a small chunk, and all four legs were wrapped in bandages. The way it walked, you’d think those bandages were just for show.

Trailing after Alpha was a small, yellow, round-eared creature with a long body that crept forward timidly.

The moment Yang Jin saw that seemingly harmless—yet terrifyingly powerful—little animal, he shrank back inside, careful not to provoke it.

Alpha stood about fifteen meters outside the cabin, accompanied by its powerful lieutenants and the goofy Old Goat, all staring down the battered Yang Jin at the door.

This distance was even farther than last time Yang Jin visited, and Alpha had brought reinforcements: Old Goat and the yellow weasel.

The meaning couldn’t be clearer. Alpha was displeased, but since it was injured and preferred not to fight alone, it brought two helpers for backup.

But why was it upset?

After their joint herb-collecting mission during the third Devastation Rain, Yang Jin hadn’t really dealt with this wolf again. So, there were only two possible reasons for Alpha’s mood: Xia Qing or her sheep.

Yang Jin glanced at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing kept her cool on the surface, but inside sweat trickled down her back. She pretended nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

There was no easy way to explain this. Could she just say that when she went home to fetch goods for the exchange, she got sentimental and vented to the honored guests in the Sheep Shed?

Alpha might not have understood her exact words, but it clearly picked up on her tone—how distressed and aggrieved she felt. So this SSSVIP guest had let out a low growl, got up, and brought along the yellow weasel—who knows how long it’d been hiding in the front yard—and Old Goat to come back her up.

If Er Gou hadn’t stayed home to guard the corn on the roof, Xia Qing would have shown up with two wolves, a sheep, and a yellow weasel all supporting her.

The troop wasn’t large, but the combat power was off the charts. Honestly, the whole scene looked alarmingly like they were planning to teach Yang Jin a lesson on Xia Qing’s behalf.

Xia Qing was touched—but definitely not about to start a fight.

Both the wolf pack and Azure Dragon Squad were her key trading partners. If they ended up brawling just because she grumbled a little, the losses would be huge.

Clearing her throat discreetly, Xia Qing explained why things had turned out this way. “Captain Yang, I brought the Queen along because I wanted to review our last joint herb-collecting mission with both you and her present.”

Seeing Xia Qing’s serious demeanor, Yang Jin could only follow suit. He nodded. “Alright.”

Xia Qing asked, “After the third Devastation Rain, the Queen brought back a bundle of muddy herbs and two sealable bags. I sent all of it to Territory Seven. Third Brother said the herbs in the sealable bags were picked by you, right?”

Yang Jin explained, “My squad picked those—with support from the Wolf Queen and the evolved yellow weasel—and the Queen brought them back.”

Xia Qing nodded. “There are two types of herbs in the sealable bags. One’s useful to Luo, and one’s for Er Gou. Since you and the Queen worked together to obtain them, let’s just call it a win-win. Neither side owes the other compensation. Is that fair?”

Yang Jin smiled. “That’s fine by me.”

Xia Qing turned and asked Alpha earnestly and gently, “Does that sound good to you, Queen?”

Please don’t attack him, Your Majesty. I’ve already got his credits, and if you beat him up, I’d have to pay for it. I swear, I’ll stop whining about my precious supplies in front of you…

Alpha didn’t respond, the yellow weasel stayed tucked behind, but the evolved sheep bleated out loud.

Turning back to Yang Jin, Xia Qing said with a straight face, “The Queen also is in agreement.”

Yang Jin…

“Here you go, forty pounds of hickory nuts and six hundred spinach seeds.”

Yang Jin took the bag. “When it’s time to harvest the spinach seeds, just let Hu Zifeng know. He’ll pick up the spinach stalks as soon as possible.”

“Got it,” Xia Qing nodded. She’d already worked out a deal with Yang Jin: after harvesting the spinach from the terraces, they’d sell high-element spinach stalks to the Azure Dragon Squad for six hundred credits per pound, and send the greenhouse’s top-grade spinach stalks south to Territory Seven.

Producing premium nutrient shakes from spinach stalks took specialized equipment and complex processes. Section Three didn’t have the means, so Xia Qing traded the stalks away in exchange for credits or the nutrient shakes themselves.

“One more thing,” Yang Jin put the hickories aside, pulled out his phone, and brought up a picture of a python. “Did you take a photo of that Hardness Evolution python the wolf pack delivered? I want to see if it’s one of the ones I ran into while foraging. These were all Hardness Evolution pythons.”

The place where Yang Jin gathered herbs for Luo Pei was at a lake south of Hill Sixty-Two. Beyond that lake, even further south, was where wolves, bears, and pythons clashed at Hill Sixty.

The picture Yang Jin showed displayed four giant pythons with vivid markings lunging from the water, mouths agape to reveal rows of jagged teeth. Most striking of all, several smaller, venomous snakes were coiled around the larger one’s body—the colors and heads alone gave away their toxicity.

Forming a team of powerful Hardness Evolution pythons and deadly little snakes made for a dangerous combination—each covered the other’s weaknesses. Together, they were a nightmare to face.

But facing off against these huge pythons was an evolver wielding a sharp dagger, charging ahead fearlessly.

Xia Qing’s eyes flew wide. “Wait—that’s Yan Long from Territory Seven?!”

Yang Jin nodded, “I invited her to join my team.”

No wonder, on that stormy night when she was fishing in the reservoir at Section Three, the folks from Territory Seven all seemed totally calm. Yan Long going up against four pythons alone was like using a forty-meter machete to slice ginger—a little overkill, honestly.

After admiring Yan Long’s heroic stance, Xia Qing looked more closely at the pythons. While they were similar, there were subtle differences in their markings.

It didn’t take Xia Qing long to spot the pattern. “The third one from the left died at the foot of Hill Sixty. The first on the left was sent to my territory by the wolf pack the morning after the wolf-bear-python battle. The Devastation Snake that bit Alpha was one I brought back and handed to Doctor Wang. Did you and Sister Yan notice the Devastation Snake when you fought the snake swarm?”