Chapter 445: Frost, Fallout, and the Pursuit of Happiness

It was close to midnight.

Inside the inner office of the Safe Zone at Hui Three Base, Tang Zhengfeng rubbed his temples in exhaustion. “Don’t get worked up. Fire Phoenix has no reason to target us, and they definitely wouldn’t risk one of their tamed evolved eagle owls just to kill Xu Pin.”

Right now, Tang Zhengsu was a hair-trigger—touch him and he’d explode. “It was Fire Phoenix! Our people saw it. When Yang Jin and Xu Pin were negotiating, an evolved eagle owl suddenly swooped down and dropped a bomb. Yang Jin got out just in time, but Fire Phoenix sent three more after him. If Azure Dragon Squad hadn’t shown up first, Yang Jin would’ve been snatched away!”

Tang Zhengfeng pulled the phone away, frowning. “Who exactly saw it? Could they have been bribed by Azure Dragon Squad?”

Tang Zhengsu was adamant. “Langzi and Ligen saw everything. They followed Xu Pin to intercept Yang Jin and both got beaten up for their trouble. No way they’d stick up for Yang Jin!”

“Didn’t you say that reconnect girl from Territory Eight has an eagle owl too? Maybe she and Yang Jin teamed up?”

“Nope. The one from Territory Eight is small. Last night’s was big.” Tang Zhengsu itched to crack open his brother’s skull and see what Fire Phoenix had filled his head with. “And anyway, Xin Yu definitely had nothing against Xu Pin.”

With his younger brother’s shouting ringing in his ears, Tang Zhengfeng lost patience. “The Inspection Team’s already handed over footage of the Territory Two refugees attacking the evolved bear. Territory Management Department will send people to investigate tomorrow, so handle that first. Say it was all Xu Pin’s idea.”

No one to contradict the story now—the dead make perfect scapegoats.

“Already done.” Tang Zhengsu jumped on the chance to keep brainwashing his brother. “Xu Pin told me before that he had a brother in Fire Phoenix, and he’d already gotten evidence of their human experiments. He was definitely planning to use it to trade with Yang Jin last night, get him not to hand over refugee evidence to the Inspection Team. When Fire Phoenix’s surveillance bird noticed something was off, that’s when they dropped the bomb.”

“Bro, we really can’t work with Fire Phoenix anymore. Even if Xu Pin wasn’t killed by them, that evolved bear was clearly sent by their people. Every mess gets dumped on us! We might be top dogs at Hui Three, but to them, we don’t even matter.”

“Fire Phoenix is obsessed with creating dual-type high-level evolved humans—strength and speed. I think they’re after me this time. If we keep cooperating, who knows, maybe I’ll wake up on a Fire Mountain basement operating table someday.”

So that was what his brother feared. Tang Zhengfeng pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright, I get it. But even if we break off, don’t burn all bridges with Fire Phoenix. Making enemies of them does us no favors. Handle the refugee issue, leave a couple of guys to dig into the helicopter bombing, and get back here as soon as you can.”

Tang Zhengsu brightened. “Got it. Bro, can you ask Qi Zhongye for another helicopter? It’s such a pain without one.”

“We’ll talk about that after the cold snap passes.”

That night, a fierce wind kicked up. Temperatures plunged to minus ten degrees. Dead leaves and brittle grass swirled everywhere.

At dawn, Xia Qing crawled out from her warm bed, dressed, and opened her window to find leaves piled over a meter deep behind the building.

This was… perfect!

She gathered the leaves to pack into insulation ditches, sprinkling them with compost starter. As the leaves fermented, they’d generate heat and better protect the greenhouse and hothouse.

The wild boar manure from the valley in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine needed to be brought back and composted too. Come spring, she’d have plenty of organic fertilizer ready.

Downstairs, Xia Qing noticed neither Er Gou nor Old Goat were in the house. Checking the cams on her phone, she spotted Er Gou with a little basket, busy catching bugs for the Green Lantern Chicken and Pure Spring Fish. Old Goat lounged under the Green Lantern Toon Tree, nibbling leaves.

Seeing them so content, Xia Qing knew the territory was safe for now. No rush to head out. She went to the tool shed’s basement food storage room and brought up some Green Lantern Chestnuts and the Green Lantern Rice she’d just bartered for.

The food storage’s temperature and humidity controls worked perfectly. The chestnuts, stored for over two months, were still fresh.

Xia Qing rinsed the rice in pure spring water to soak it, then peeled and washed the chestnuts. For breakfast, she planned Green Lantern Chestnut Rice Porridge with two Green Lantern Eggs, all cooked in pure spring water.

On this freezing morning, the glow of the fire soothed her. She felt peaceful and happy—a happiness she’d waited ten years to taste.

Worried about your enemy being too strong to deal with?

No rush.

Tang Zhengsu was already forty-eight. No chance of evolving further.

She was only twenty-five, with another ten years to evolve. With high-quality Green Lantern food and hard training, she’d just keep getting stronger. One way or another, she’d get revenge.

But she wasn’t living for revenge alone.

She and her parents once promised each other that no matter what, even if only one survived, they’d chase happiness. She’d found hers—now her main goal in growing stronger was to protect it. That’s why every day, she lived with focus and purpose.

Once the porridge came to a boil, Xia Qing set frozen mantou and washed eggs in the steamer over the stove, letting the wood fire burn slow and steady. Then she pulled on her Protective Suit, patched winter boots, and mask and headed out to patrol the territory.

Today was even colder than yesterday. Frost slicked the grass, every step crunching underfoot. Swallows huddled in their nests beneath the eaves, their chirps faint and small.

The swallows should have flown south for winter, but they’d missed the main flock. A solo migration would mean getting snatched by hawks. As tough as this winter was, it beat being eaten.

Before Xia Qing could check the tracker on the Red Squirrel, she spotted the little creature poking its head out the door, staring at her with hopeful eyes.

Last night had been too cold. The spring water in its jar on the windowsill froze, so the poor thing hadn’t had a drink and was waiting for her.

Xia Qing grinned, taking pity on the scrappy survivor. She fetched a little basin, set it by the sheep shed, and poured out fresh spring water. “It’s freezing—aren’t you going to hibernate? Here’s your water. If you’re hungry, just eat the nuts you stashed in your tree hole. You’ve saved enough to last winter.”

Red Squirrel, wary as ever, waited until she left before darting out for a quick drink, then sprinted off for its tree hole in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine.

With the squirrel gone, the swallows left their nest and fluttered down.

Still inside the village, Xia Qing heard her motion detector sound off. She checked her phone and laughed at the sight—swallows all lined up on the rim of the basin.

Even when she wasn’t home, the place stayed lively.

Inside the breeding greenhouse, it was a balmy 15 degrees Celsius. The chickens, rabbits, and Pure Spring Fish were perfectly comfortable, but the Yellow Lantern Mealworms weren’t—refusing to eat a single leaf.

“Bzz.”

Xia Qing pulled her phone from her pocket. It was Tang Huai. The guy had way too much free time:

“Hey Xia Qing, did your breadworms freeze to death? If they did, just tell me, I’ll bring you two more trays. As long as you let me cuddle Er Gou for a bit. Just once!”