Chapter 456: Breakfast Before the Harvest

Since she’d be leaving the territory for a foraging run in the Evolved Forest today, Xia Qing decided to treat herself to a proper breakfast.

She planned on rice and sweet potato porridge with pumpkin and snake meat pancakes for herself. Er Gou got snake meatballs in pumpkin soup. Old Goat had pumpkin, cabbage and a nutritious blend.

Pumpkins were high-yield, easy to store, good for both dishes and pancakes. Even better, everyone in the territory—goats, wolves, chickens and rabbits—could eat them. It really was the perfect food.

Xia Qing decided the planting bed where she’d ripped out the High-Evolution Spinach would also be sown with Green Lantern Pumpkin. Even if it was the dead of winter and actual pumpkins wouldn’t grow, the crazy sprawling vines could still feed the goats, chickens, insects and rabbits.

With the dough kneaded and the porridge and pumpkin cooking, Xia Qing greeted Crippled Wolf, who was pedaling on the stationary bike in the living room to generate power, and then headed out to survey the territory.

Ever-diligent, Er Gou was carrying a small basket, searching for bugs in the rubble near the yard. When Xia Qing saw the basket already held a dozen evolved scorpions, each longer than her finger, she rushed over to check his legs and paws, asking, “You didn’t get stung, right? Does anything hurt?”

Crippled Wolf, paws hanging with icy bits, grinned at her to show he was perfectly fine.

What a thoughtful, well-behaved wolf. Xia Qing rubbed his head then quickly ducked back inside to grab his boots. She wiped the ice and dirt off his legs and paws, helped him slip on the shoes and reminded him, “It’s cold now. Every time you come outside, make sure to wear your shoes, Er. And don’t worry if you can’t put them on yourself. When you rest, I’ll take them off for you and slip them back on when you go out.”

Er Gou rubbed against her leg and got right back to digging for scorpions in the rubble.

When Xia Qing reached the edge of the fields, Xiao Jiang rushed over, chattering away. “Sister Qing, those two huge wolves last night were so cool! Are they from the Queen’s wolf pack too? I thought the Queen wasn’t a huge wolf herself, so how did she keep those two under control? She’s amazing!”

Xia Qing was pretty curious too, but she genuinely had no idea. After chatting a bit with Xiao Jiang about the huge wolves, she changed the subject. “Everything alright last night?”

Xiao Jiang delivered the latest scoop. “Nothing happened here, but it was super windy last night. Two shacks in Territory Two blew over and it was chaos for ages. I doubt anyone’s going out to hunt in the Evolved Forest today. Oh, the Base is sending a team over to investigate the helicopter explosion in Territory Two. Captain Tan will put out an announcement soon, asking everyone to cooperate with the investigation.”

Xia Qing nodded. “If the investigators show up and I’m not back yet, have Captain Hu open the South Gate for them and deal with it. Don’t let them into the territory.”

“Got it!”

After making a full circuit without spotting any other wolves, Xia Qing joined Er Gou to feed the animals housed in the greenhouse, then headed home for breakfast.

Once the tough snake meat was minced, half was rolled into meatballs and dropped into cooked pumpkin for Er Gou while the other half got turned into filling with pumpkin cubes, chili peppers and spices for Xia Qing’s pancakes.

While the pancakes cooked, Xia Qing started tidying up.

She laid fresh straw mats on the tatami, took the ones from by the fireplace outside to air out, wiped down the table, chairs and floor until everything was spotless, then tossed a couple more logs into the fireplace so the first floor would be clean, bright and warm.

She set the food out and gently called Old Goat, who was still pedaling the stationary bike, to eat. Then, politely, she turned to Crippled Wolf who’d been watching Old Goat pedal. “Broken Back, want some too?”

To Xia Qing’s surprise, Crippled Wolf really did pad over with Old Goat, ate a few cabbage cores from Old Goat’s bowl, and then stole a couple of Er Gou’s snake meatballs. Judging by his expression, he actually found the cooked food pretty intriguing.

Old Goat and Er Gou didn’t mind Crippled Wolf sampling their food—so Xia Qing was even happier. She was dying for Crippled Wolf to pick up a taste for cooked meals and start bringing Evolution Stones around to trade for her stew.

Seated at her own table, Xia Qing sipped fragrant Green Lantern rice porridge, ate a boiled Green Lantern egg, and finally picked up the snake meat pancake.

The pancake with snake meat wasn’t exactly delicious, but its nutrition was enough to make up for the taste. With every bite Xia Qing encouraged herself silently:

Speed evolution. I need speed evolution…

After eating and rolling up the thermal straw mat on the greenhouse, Xia Qing gathered her gear and told Old Goat and Xiao Jiang to keep guard. She was heading out to harvest peanuts.

Double-checking that there were no surveillance birds in the sky and no people watching, Xia Qing led the two wolves quickly across the buffer zone to Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine. She then pulled out her phone to check the Red Squirrel’s location.

After a busy three seasons, the little guy was curled up fast asleep in his tree hollow, guarding his stash.

Come winter, red squirrels cut way back on activity and slept even more. This was their version of ‘hibernation’—or at least half-hibernation.

Unless the food in their hole ran out or another animal stole it, they’d stay hunkered down all winter long.

The Red Squirrel that had evolved for speed here in Section Three was especially hard-working. His stores could easily last him the whole season. So, he wouldn’t risk venturing out to Hill Fifty for Green Lantern peanuts.

Which meant all those were now Xia Qing’s!

She called out to Alpha, who was lounging atop the stone den in Wolf Valley, “Your Majesty, ready to head out? Have you seen Crippled Wolf and Er Gou?”

Alpha rose, shaking sunlight through her thick fur, leapt down in front of Xia Qing, and greeted Crippled Wolf and Er Gou with playful butt bumps.

Xia Qing got the picture—the rest of the wolves had already returned to the main wolf pack territory. Only the two she’d spoken with last night were sticking close to help her gather peanuts.

Apparently, she hadn’t made herself clear enough last night, so the pack’s two leaders thought she meant only they should stay. Hill Fifty didn’t have any large predators, and with these two brain-evolved wolves along, it was plenty safe.

She gave all three wolves a shot of the painkiller she’d just bartered from Zhang San. One dose of this drug would protect them from any inhaled or injected tranquilizers for three days.

Tranquilizers were humans’ go-to for catching wild animals. With the wolves dosed up and Xia Qing on sniper duty from afar while Alpha handled close combat, even if folks from Territory Two or Territory Nine showed up, Xia Qing wasn’t worried at all.

Er Gou led the way, and the trio moved at top speed toward Hill Fifty.

Winter was the safest time in the Evolved Forest. Xia Qing sprinted through the valley with the wolves. After her sixth medicinal bath, her muscles and bones felt as if they’d been reborn—every inch of her was bursting with strength.

Moisture and icy bits quickly soaked the protective suits and boots she and the wolves wore, but it didn’t matter. They were fully waterproof anyway; only the surface looked wet.