Chapter 378: Spinach Harvest and the Arrival of Yang Jin

The two python skins were plentiful, but since the hardness varied across different sections, their uses weren’t the same. Plus, the critical areas of protective gear needed two or three layers of snakeskin. After making five sets of gear from both pythons, the leftover skins were just enough for Xia Qing to craft five pairs of gloves, two shoulder pads, and two pairs of wrist guards.

Xia Qing carefully stored each piece away, planning to put them all to good use.

When these pieces wore out, she’d just head to the lake north of Hill Sixty, haul back two more pythons herself, and do it all over again.

She was completely confident that five years from now, she’d be just as strong as Yan Long—the woman Yang Jin filmed taking on five giant pythons solo.

Feeling smug, Xia Qing headed back to the terraces on the high slope. She draped the double-layer rain cover over the spinach field’s iron frame, secured the corners, and carefully slipped her long pruning shears inside to snip off a spinach leaf.

This time, things were different.

The spinach stalk shuddered as she cut it, then the seeds at the top burst out in every direction. Xia Qing barely had time to pull out her pruning shears before rushing to pinch the opening of the rain cover shut with her hands.

The exploding seeds tore through other spinach stalks, setting off a chain reaction. The rain cover ballooned out, looking for all the world like an evolved mushroom exploding from the inside.

This time, Xia Qing caught the exact moment the seeds burst: the cut spinach stalk quivered from the outside force, the green skin wrapping the seeds contracted sharply, and the yellow-green spinach seeds shot out like bullets.

She wasn’t at all surprised by the strength packed into that green skin. After all, this was an evolved Blue Star and evolved spinach.

The spinach seeds were finally ripe. Xia Qing curled her lips into a smile and sent a message to Hu Zifeng.

She’d already settled a business deal with Yang Jin for this batch of spinach—once she finished harvesting, the spinach stalks would be sold straight to the Azure Dragon Squad. Some of the seeds would go toward paying off her debt.

But strangely enough, it wasn’t Hu Zifeng who came to Section Three for the pickup—it was Yang Jin himself! The iron rooster brain evolver, captain with a knack for getting his way, and notorious for his pretty face!

Seeing him smile—brighter than cotton turning three colors in a single day—made Xia Qing’s hair stand on end. She worked hard to clear her mind and prepared to deal with this guy head-on.

If she let her guard down, she’d end up getting tricked by him for sure.

The northern gate’s security system didn’t have Yang Jin’s features on record. So Xia Qing stood at the door, formal and serious, scanned her own face to open the door, and let him in. “I didn’t expect you to come in person. I haven’t had time to get our trade items sorted yet.”

Yang Jin pretended not to notice how tense she was, careful not to stare at her, so she wouldn’t get even more nervous. Instead, he picked the topic she liked best. “It’s fine. I came here to learn from you anyway. Those spinach seeds you traded me last time have already sprouted. I heard they explode when they ripen—how do you keep things under control? Mind if I take a look?”

“Of course… go ahead.”

Xia Qing led Yang Jin into the high slope terraces and had him help unfasten the rain cover from the spinach stalks.

Lots of seeds were stuck to the inside layer of rain cover, but Xia Qing didn’t have time to deal with them yet. She bundled up the rain cover and turned around to find Yang Jin examining the spinach stalks, which were riddled with holes from seed explosions. She rushed to explain, “That’s just how Green Lantern spinach is after harvest. I sold this same stuff to Third Brother.”

She worried he’d use the sorry state of the spinach as an excuse to haggle down the price.

Yang Jin just grinned. “Doesn’t matter if they’re a bit battered. As long as we can juice and process them, they’re fine. If we want to keep the active Evolution Element in the spinach juice from evaporating, let’s hurry up and bag these up while we still can.”

“Alright.” Since Yang Jin wasn’t trying to lower the price, Xia Qing jumped right in and started harvesting the spinach stalks.

Yang Jin mimicked her every move—cutting stalks, rolling up the ground cover, yanking out spinach roots. Being a speed evolver, he quickly outpaced Xia Qing.

By the time they finished one terrace, Yang Jin had gathered a whole extra bag of spinach stalks compared to her. When he straightened up, Xia Qing couldn’t hide her envious stare.

For the first time ever, the girl he liked was watching him with admiration—not because he was unbeatable in combat, but because he was insanely fast at farm work.

Yang Jin felt like an invisible hand had squeezed his heart—a tingling rush spread through his limbs and head, completely out of his control. He straightened up, cleared his throat, and tried to sound calm. “Want to weigh these now?”

The combined weight of the spinach roots, stalks, and leaves from the terraces came out to 614 jin. At the agreed price, that was enough credits for Xia Qing to build nearly two full loops of iron mesh fencing.

She was in a fantastic mood, keeping her cool as she saw him out. “Should I have Captain Hu come pick it up, or do you want me to take the spinach stalks over myself?”

Only the three heads of the team and Hu Zifeng knew about Xia Qing trading spinach stalks with the Azure Dragon Squad, so she couldn’t involve any other evolutioners. Still, with just over 600 jin of goods, Hu Zifeng and Yang Jin could handle it easily.

Yang Jin called Hu Zifeng. “Have Hu Zifeng come pick them up. Meanwhile, should we get started on collecting the spinach seeds?”

Still owing the Azure Dragon Squad over six thousand spinach seeds, Xia Qing nodded. She spread out the bundled ground cover and sat on one side, right across from Yang Jin, ready to get to work.

For this job, they’d need a winnowing basket. First, they’d toss the seeds to separate the rotten leaves and dirt, then pick out any pebbles mixed in with the spinach seeds.

Once Yang Jin caught on, his speed advantage kicked in again. Xia Qing’s gaze grew hotter the faster he worked, and he couldn’t help but smile. “Did you block off the exit at the border of Section Three and Hill Forty-Nine’s valley?”

Yang Jin must have just arrived; Hu Zifeng probably hadn’t briefed him on last night’s events. So Xia Qing explained, “The Wolf Pack herded more than twenty wild boars into the valley last night. For a trade, they asked me to block off all three exits to keep the boars from escaping.”

Yang Jin’s grin was dazzling. “So that valley really is where the Wolf Pack raises wild boars. The Alpha and Crippled Wolf jumped the fence at the Wild Boar Breeding Center, killed some of the penned pigs, and then howled as a warning to humans trying to steal their prey. Funny thing is, even though the person who discovered the boars first was a human, they ended up making friends with the wolves.”

Yang Jin’s scar at the corner of his eye still hadn’t faded, but when he smiled, he was handsome enough to make Xia Qing dizzy. She almost wanted to go grab a wild pig and roast it on the spot for him.

No way, though! No matter how good he looks, that’s not happening.

“We’re not exactly friends yet. We just realized the other side had supplies we needed, so we started trading.” Xia Qing added modestly, lowering her head to pick out stones and change the subject. “Honestly, I think the Wolf Pack’s free-range method is way better than the Safe Zone’s cramped pens.”

Yang Jin loved how easy it was to talk with her while they worked. “For now, the breeding center hasn’t developed the right type of evolution boar for free-range raising. Until then, we just can’t use that method.”

Wild boars with low resistance to the Devastation Element, if left to roam the valley eating high-Devastation plants, will build up so much of the element in their bodies that they turn into Red Lantern animals—totally unsafe for people to eat.