Chapter 410: Into the Wilds: Searching for the Green Lantern Peanuts

Even though the fields were already out of Green Lantern Spinach, Xia Qing still had plenty of Premium Nutrient Shake.

She’d traded stalks, roots, and leaves of High-Elevation Green Lantern Spinach grown on her farmland with Zhang San for thirty-eight bottles of Premium Nutrient Shake. Each bottle only lasted for two months before losing its value, so she needed to drink them all up within that time.

A month from now, the High-Elevation Green Lantern Spinach in her greenhouse would be ready to harvest again, so she could continue juicing for more Premium Nutrient Shake. That’s why, while others saw each bottle as two thousand credits’ worth of treasure, Xia Qing used them freely without a trace of heartache.

Hu Zifeng had gotten in touch with Captain Yang Jin to pinpoint the location of Territory Two’s refugees, then called Xia Qing. “There are four teams from Territory Two—forty-five refugees—all entering Hill Fifty. Two squads are hunting in the Evolved Forest below the second peak, the other two are heading back with their haul. If you enter the valley from Zone Seven of Hill Forty-Nine and head for the third peak of Hill Fifty, you’ll avoid any refugee eyes from the second peak.”

After finishing his instructions, Hu Zifeng added, “That’ll only help you avoid being seen.”

If any of those refugees were high-level scent or auditory evolutionaries, they could still pick up her trail by scent or sound.

“Understood, thanks Captain Hu.” Xia Qing hung up and, with Er Gou at her side, circled to Zone Seven of Hill Forty-Nine. They slipped away from the Azure Dragon Squad’s training field, threaded the valley, and entered the Evolved Forest beneath Hill Fifty’s third peak.

Almost immediately, Xia Qing heard gunshots echoing through the forest from a refugee squad hunting on the second peak. Judging by the sound, the guns were homemade.

Without a word, Xia Qing gently patted Er Gou’s back, signaling him to stay quiet. Man and wolf continued on, following the trail of Red Squirrel’s blood.

With Xia Qing’s current strength, she wasn’t afraid of a run-in with any of Territory Two’s refugee squads, but why ask for trouble? Avoiding them was better if she could manage it. After all, her goal today was to find Green Lantern peanuts.

As soon as she entered Hill Fifty, her pace slowed noticeably. Unlike the already-cleared Hill Forty-Nine, Hill Fifty was raw, unspoiled Evolved Forest. It was her first time stepping into this wildland, and every footstep carried its own risk.

Xia Qing kept all her senses sharp, listening to the wind, the flow of water, and the faint rustle beneath fallen leaves. Her eyes darted everywhere, searching for dangers, determined to keep the risk to a minimum.

But some dangers were impossible to avoid.

Keeping close to Er Gou, Xia Qing stepped onto a rock the wolf had just crossed. It held steady for Er Gou, but the moment she stepped on it—a loud ‘squeak’ sounded.

An evolved mouse shot from the edge of the rock, only to be snapped up mid-leap by an evolved centipede lunging from a pile of leaves. The mouse shrieked even louder.

“Screech, screech—”

Before the centipede could inject its venom, a sparrowhawk burst out of the bushes and snatched up both the mouse—much bigger than itself—and the centipede, taking off in a hurry.

Just when Xia Qing thought the hawk had claimed victory, the centipede, still gripped in the hawk’s talons, lashed out and got tangled on a tree vine. Suddenly, all the vines within four meters quivered and wrapped themselves tightly around everything they could reach.

That withered vine, so unremarkable, was actually an attack plant!

With a swing of her knife, Xia Qing hacked at the nearest vines and leaped with Er Gou onto a nearby boulder, dodging the plant’s grasping tendrils.

The sparrowhawk had to let go of its prey to break free.

No matter how fiercely it clawed and pecked, it couldn’t break the vine’s hold, only winding itself tighter. Meanwhile, the mouse tumbled to the ground and bolted for the cover of fallen leaves.

Once the hawk and centipede were fully entangled, more than twenty evolved mice scurried out from the leaves, keeping well clear of the vines as they gnawed away at the trapped hawk and centipede.

That’s the Evolved Forest—until the very end, you never know who’s the hunter and who’s prey.

With the vines blocking their path, Er Gou circled the boulder, sniffing for a spot where he might leap across.

“Er, let me handle these vines.” Xia Qing had already pinned down the roots’ location and picked a landing site. Not wanting to alert the hunters on the second peak, she just lopped the whole thing with her black long blade.

Without the roots, the vines slowed, then stopped their writhing. Xia Qing poked them with her knife to make sure the danger had passed, then motioned for Er Gou to keep moving.

The sun rolled behind the mountain, and the forest shadows deepened. Xia Qing pulled down her protective mask, wiped the sweat from her face, then slipped on her night vision goggles. “Er, let’s search for half an hour more. Whether we find anything or not, we head back after that.”

Half an hour later.

Just as Xia Qing was about to call out to Er Gou, she saw him stop in front of a narrow rock crevice. He sniffed around, growling low to say the scent of blood was thick right there.

Could this be it? Xia Qing’s eyes sparkled as she tiptoed over. “Is it in there?”

Er Gou pressed his side against her leg, using his body language to confirm: Right here.

The crevice was formed by a split in a huge stone, only as wide as a hand. Neither Xia Qing nor Er Gou could squeeze through, but a Red Squirrel could. A gust rushed out, shrieking like a human wail. Somewhere behind, the faint rustle of something slithering—probably a reptile—could be heard.

Peanuts are picky about sunlight, warmth, and moisture, so beyond this narrow crack, there had to be a patch of decent soil that caught plenty of sun.

Xia Qing took out her phone and snapped shots of the towering boulder and the area around it. She also casually squashed a thin snake that leapt out, trying to ambush her.

Snakes that haven’t gone dormant by this season? That’s definitely not normal.

“Er, let’s call it a day. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

Food from Green Lantern is important, but staying safe matters more.

Dusk was fast turning to night. Plenty of nighttime predators were already on the move. Even with her goggles, Xia Qing couldn’t guarantee she and Er Gou would stay safe.

Worse yet, Er Gou’s path was heading uphill. Xia Qing had seen two evolved bears on the third peak herself. They might be hibernating by now, but she wasn’t willing to test her luck in their territory once the sun was down.

“Bzz.”

Suddenly, Xia Qing’s phone vibrated inside her protective suit pocket. She pulled it out—Hu Zifeng had sent her an update:

A squad of ten refugees from the second peak had started their return, four of them heading out along the valley.

Four were moving out; the other six were missing. Maybe they’d died. More likely, the squad had split into groups—she would have heard a serious fight otherwise.

Xia Qing quickly replied to confirm, then put her phone away. Leaning down, she whispered to Er Gou, “If you hear anyone getting close, give me a heads-up.”

Er Gou nudged her leg with his head, then trotted on ahead, leading the way.

The return trip was much quicker than before, but danger was never far. Xia Qing gripped her long blade tightly, picking her way forward with caution.

When they were nearly out of the Evolved Forest at Hill Fifty’s third peak, Er Gou suddenly froze. Body sinking low, tail straight and tense like a drawn saber—

That was a wolf’s stance for sensing danger and preparing to attack.

Night was nearly complete. Xia Qing pressed down on Er Gou’s back and listened closely.

A squad was coming their way—headed straight for her and Er Gou.