Chapter 377: New Gear and a Showdown in the Valley

After securing the Chinese Torreya trees and the chestnut grove, Xia Qing beat the wild boars to the punch, gathering Green Lantern wild ginger from Valley One and Yellow Lantern radix peucedani, as well as White Atractylodes, from Valley Two.

With her backpack full of herbs, Xia Qing headed back from Valley Two toward the Wild Boar Breeding Center. She spotted Crippled Wolf and Er Gou sprawled on the rocks above the Wolf Den, both staring intently at a few half-grown wild boars rooting for roots and grass near the pond.

Xia Qing found herself just as entertained. Sure, wild boars were filthy, but just look at their size and how thick their meat was…

Braised pork, pork ribs, juicy dumplings… The mouthwatering dishes danced before her eyes. Xia Qing couldn’t resist anymore. She dropped her backpack and took a spot on the rock beside Crippled Wolf, pulled off her protective mask for a few gulps of spring water, and tried to tamp down her cravings and the sudden urge to catch a pig.

Spotting Xia Qing drinking water, Crippled Wolf tore his eyes from the boars and turned to look at her.

Xia Qing shook her empty bottle. “It’s all gone. If you’re thirsty, head to the water basin in the den—it’s the one I just refilled for Lame Wolf’s sister this morning. Don’t go prying up the rocks at the Spring Cave, though. There are life-saving herbs growing inside—Queen herself was cured with them.”

Crippled Wolf knew exactly where the pure spring was—Xia Qing had caught him hanging around there before. He must have been drinking there even before she arrived in the territory.

Once Crippled Wolf realized Xia Qing’s bottle was empty, he turned back, resuming his watch over the wild boars.

Er Gou sat beside him, tongue lolling happily, his joy plain as day.

Xia Qing understood why. Those wild boars below were Er Gou’s food.

Xia Qing was happy too—after all, those boars looked just as tasty to her. “Crippled, I’m the human lord of this whole valley, y’know. I even built this pigpen for you. So if I eat a boar or two, you’re not going to mind, right?”

Xia Qing was certain that in this pack the wolves always picked out the best wild boars—ones with the Green Lantern or Yellow Lantern traits. The pack could always tell quality prey apart.

Crippled Wolf just kept staring at the boars, ignoring her.

“Not saying anything? I’ll take that as a yes.” Xia Qing grinned, put her mask back on, and headed out of the Evolved Forest, contacting Ji Li along the way to arrange a herb trade with Territory Seven.

Herbs are only truly valuable in professional hands, after all.

Xia Qing waited outside the northern gate for a while. The moment she saw that it was Huo Zhun coming to pick up the goods, her face lit up.

Huo Zhun beamed as he took the herbs, handing over a bag. “These are some new protective gear my old man sent just yesterday. Take them home and try them on. If anything doesn’t fit, just call him directly—he’ll sort your measurements out for you.”

Don’t you worry your dad might bludgeon you if he finds out you call him ‘old man’?

Xia Qing thanked him with a straight face. “Thanks, Huo-ge.”

Huo Zhun passed along a message from Yan Long. “When I left, Yan Long wanted me to ask if you’ll be too busy at the end of the month. She wants to invite you to go hunting in the Evolved Forest.”

Yan Long wants me to go hunting? And during the Snowfall period at that?!

Seeing Xia Qing’s surprise, Huo Zhun laughed and explained, “It’s not just you two. Tan Junjie’s daughter, Tan Qi, will join too. She’s visited your territory before, remember her?”

Now Xia Qing understood. “I do—Tan Qi’s a promising evolution user. Could you tell Sister Yan for me—just let me know the day before and I’ll be there.”

Tan Junjie’s wife and Yan Long were comrades, so Yan Long doted on Tan Qi. Her way of showing care was to train Tan Qi’s survival skills with strict discipline. No matter why Yan Long was inviting her along, Xia Qing would never miss a valuable learning opportunity like this.

“Got it, I’ll let Yan Long know.” Huo Zhun added, “All the gear’s been soaked in medicinal mixtures made by our lord. They’re tougher, more breathable, and more resistant to wear and tear. Follow the manual for storage and you’ll get five good years out of them, easy.”

After thanking Huo Zhun, Xia Qing raced back to the territory with her new bag. Old Goat was in the middle of grazing and had no idea what was going on, but the moment she started running, he raced after her all the way home.

“Boss, check this out! I got new gear—protective gear made from snake skin, look! Wait ‘til I put it on for you!” Xia Qing dashed upstairs and slammed her bedroom door shut behind her, quickly swapping out her protective suit for the new gear crafted especially for strength-based evolution, made from hardened snake skin.

The full set had eight pieces: neck guard, gloves, wrist guards, elbow pads, shoulder pads, waist guard, knee pads, and ankle guards—all tailored to Xia Qing’s measurements. Wearing it felt like having a second skin, shifting with her every move and supremely comfortable.

“Boss, what do you think?” Xia Qing bounded downstairs and strutted around in front of Old Goat, making sure he saw from every angle. The goat grew more and more annoyed, squinting and pawing at the ground.

That was exactly what Xia Qing was waiting for. She quickly pulled her protective suit on again and called him out. “Come on, Boss, let’s go have a match!”

She bolted outside—if she and Old Goat, both high-level strength evolvers, started fighting in the house, there’d be nothing left standing.

Once out of the village, Xia Qing spun around and charged toward Old Goat with everything she had.

For the first time with real armor, Xia Qing gave it her all, squaring up with both hands against Old Goat. With the triple-layer snake skin protecting her palms, the force of the collision barely stung. Her wrists, elbows, and shoulders were shielded too—no injuries at all.

Bang!

Xia Qing’s hands met Old Goat’s spiral horns—and a deep, solid thud echoed out.

Then, for the first time ever, Xia Qing sent Old Goat flying with her bare hands.

Shaking tingling hands, Xia Qing burst out laughing, wild and triumphant. “Let’s go again!”

“Moo!”

Knocked through the air by his little underling, Old Goat was fuming. He scrambled out of the pit, bellowed in outrage, and barreled right back at Xia Qing, bringing those deadly spiral horns to bear.

Xia Qing braced and met him again, hands to horns.

Bang!

But this time Old Goat went all out, and Xia Qing was the one flying.

When it came to raw power, even at evolution level six Xia Qing was no match for the Boss.

She flipped and landed, then charged right back, this time slamming shoulder-first into Old Goat’s rock-hard horns.

Bang!

Woman and goat collided and this time neither budged. The real contest of strength began.

Over in Territory Two, Tang Huai was exchanging a few words with refugees when his ears perked up. The sounds outside were both familiar and a bit off. Tang Huai was sorely tempted to ditch the troublesome refugees and dash over to spectate Xia Qing’s match with the goat.

After a sweat-soaked, all-out scuffle, Xia Qing lay spread-eagle on the ground, gasping for breath and grinning from ear to ear.

Old Goat, sprawled next to her, noticed she was still smiling. He shot up, still seething, and lunged at her, hell-bent on knocking that smile off her face.

Xia Qing snapped her mouth shut at once and surrendered. “No more, I’m beat… You’re the strongest, Boss. I can’t win against you.”

Old Goat snorted, laid back down, and panted for breath. Xia Qing crawled over, bumped her forehead against his, then sprawled out again, still giddy.

Crippled Wolf, who’d been watching the fun, saw they’d finished fighting and let out a big yawn.

Catching her breath, Xia Qing lifted her arm to show Old Goat her new gear. “You see why I got stronger, Boss? It’s all thanks to this armor—my ability to take a hit has skyrocketed. Plus, every single time I took a medicinal bath, no matter how much it hurt, I forced myself to last the full hour. My body healed, my bones grew stronger. You always quit when it gets tough, so your muscles and bones never healed as well as mine…”

While Xia Qing gabbed away, Old Goat kept a straight face, but Crippled Wolf eyed those snake skin gloves and wrist guards on her hands, deep in thought.