Chapter 376: Bargains and Barriers

“Sorry, Wolf Bro, but I really can’t trade this.”

Early the next morning, just after five and before sunrise, Crippled Wolf showed up with a Yi Stone, looking for Xia Qing.

Though it pained her, Xia Qing shoved the pigeon-egg-sized Yi Stone back into the fresh pocket of Crippled Wolf’s new protective suit, struggling to say no to the deal.

“Crippled, where are you even planning to put that automatic door? The Wolf Den already has one. Hill Sixty doesn’t even have a wall—doesn’t make sense to install a door there.”

Crippled Wolf hadn’t expected Xia Qing’s refusal. He paused in thought for a moment before turning and signaling for Xia Qing to follow.

“Where to? I’ve got stuff to do, you know. The chickens need to be in the greenhouse before it gets cold, or they’ll stop laying eggs.” Xia Qing sounded like she was protesting, but her feet kept pace with Crippled Wolf anyway. Er Gou trailed behind, while Old Goat stayed sprawled on the tatami, unmoved.

Crippled Wolf led Xia Qing through the northern gate, stopping near the iron mesh wall that blocked off the valley. He turned to her expectantly.

The valley was set low, so the wall here had to connect with the iron mesh on the slope above. It made this section well over twice as high as elsewhere, adding real weight to its presence when you looked up from below.

Xia Qing pressed her hand against the support frame of the wall, pleased by how sturdy it felt.

Crippled Wolf followed the little stream through the Northern Barrier, arriving at the exit of the Wild Boar Breeding Center’s valley. He looked up at Xia Qing, waiting.

Xia Qing caught on, gesturing as she asked, “You want to fence this spot off and put an automatic door here?”

The clever wolf flashed a grin, showing off two adorable little fangs.

But for a jumper like Crippled Wolf, walls were pointless. So why was he offering up a precious Yi Stone just to get one built here?

Xia Qing suggested, “If you only want to block the valley exit, you don’t have to use a heavy iron mesh wall.”

She took Crippled Wolf over to the north side of Territory Four and pointed at a section of thorn wall Zhao Ze’s team had put up. Then she gestured at the valley exit, offering, “Something like that would be perfect over here.”

Crippled Wolf clamped his mouth shut and thought it over, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Desperate for the Yi Stone, Xia Qing ran home for tools. She quickly felled a big thorny tree from Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine. With the trunk, branches, and more thorny brush, she blocked the valley exit. “Check it out, Crippled. This does the trick, right?”

Crippled Wolf eyed the messy barrier she’d built, seeming satisfied. He padded over and signaled for her to reach into his pocket again.

Xia Qing grinned wide enough to show her teeth as she grabbed the Yi Stone. “You’re the best, Wolf Bro. Seriously, you’re awesome!”

Imitating Er Gou, Crippled Wolf gave Xia Qing’s leg a friendly nuzzle before leaping smoothly over the patchwork barrier of thornwood and brambles, heading off toward the Wolf Den.

“Take care, Wolf Bro. Don’t be a stranger! Come visit anytime,” Xia Qing called out with genuine warmth. Wanting to honor the value of that precious Yi Stone, she cut down extra thorny bushes to really secure the valley exit before returning to her territory.

That evening, just after listening to the radio and during training, Xia Qing suddenly got a call from Hu Zifeng.

“Two wolves in protective suits are leading their pack and herding a bunch of wild boars, big and small, through the valley between Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty. They’re heading for Valley One.” After reporting, Hu Zifeng couldn’t help but ask, “Did you trade for those boars with the Wolf Pack? Are you planning to raise them or butcher them? Need help?”

Wiping the sweat from her face, Xia Qing kept her cool. “I didn’t trade any wild boars with the Wolf Pack. Captain Hu, just let them pass.”

If Xia Qing wasn’t trading, what was the Wolf Pack doing herding wild boars? Petting his adorable evolved cat on his shoulder, Hu Zifeng pressed again, “Need any help? I just counted—eight big boars and over twenty young ones.”

Even with Strength Evolution, Xia Qing knew slaughtering and cleaning that many pigs would take her an entire day.

“Not for now.”

Xia Qing already had a good guess what the Wolf Pack was up to. If Hu Zifeng and his team went over, the wolves might think they were trying to steal the boars, which would mean trouble.

The next morning, just before five and before Red Squirrel came for a sip on her bedroom windowsill, Xia Qing was woken by an alert from the northern gate client.

Expressionless, she watched Crippled Wolf come and go through the northern gate sixteen times before he finally came down the slope and stopped at her doorstep, clearly in a good mood as he called for her to visit the Wild Boar Breeding Center.

Once Xia Qing figured out what Crippled Wolf wanted, she stood at the northern exit of Valley One, speechless for a long time. Then she took her knife and chopped down two Evolved Kalopanax trees to block up the exit.

Without being told, she then went and blocked the exit to Valley Two as well.

The valley in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine was Y-shaped. The crossing point of the Y was the Wild Boar Breeding Center, leading south to Xia Qing’s territory. The northwest arm, Valley Two, was carved out by water flowing down from the mountain, getting shallower the further up you went. The northeast branch, Valley One, led to the giant valley at the border of Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty.

With all three Y-shaped exits blocked, the wild boars were trapped inside.

Of course, if pressed, some of the boars could scramble up the less steep sides of the valley to escape. But most wouldn’t make a run for it.

After all, this area had water, dense grass, Green Lantern Torreya Nuts, chestnut groves, and even an abandoned herb field—a wild boar paradise.

Yang Jin’s original theory proved spot on. The wild boars Xia Qing found at the Breeding Center last spring were actually livestock penned in by the Wolf Pack.

Later, people had set up the Wild Boar Breeding Center. When winter ended and the Alpha came to check, finding their prey had been trapped by humans, they broke in and killed the boars.

Now, with winter coming again, the wolves returned, herding a fresh batch of boars into the abandoned, human-claimed Breeding Center for another round of stockpiling.

This year, clever Crippled Wolf figured out the value of ‘doors’ and ‘walls’. By striking a deal with Xia Qing to close off the valley, even fewer boars could escape.

The more Xia Qing thought about it, the clearer it seemed—yesterday’s Yi Stone wasn’t just for a wall. Crippled Wolf wanted her help raising boars too. Give him a few more years and he might just knock Yang Jin off the Top Stingy list.

With the exits closed, Xia Qing added protection to the chestnut grove and Green Lantern Torreya Tree using thornwood and thorny bushes.

Wild boars love to dig up roots. With those sharp lower fangs curving up, they can break through soil easily and bite off plant roots. Torreya trees have fleshy roots, softer and tastier than the bark, making them the wild boars’ top pick—no wonder Torreya are rare in the Evolved Forest.

If the Green Lantern Torreya Tree in Valley One hadn’t taken root on a steep ninety-degree slope, it would’ve been eaten long ago.