Chapter 497: The Great Red Squirrel Heist

Still dealing with the aftereffects of the Evolution Element stim shake, Xia Qing circled the big pine where the tracker was hidden, but found not a single sign that the Red Squirrel had been out and about.

That was seriously odd.

Squirrels usually pick a spot within their territory to do their business, and it’s typically pretty far from their nest. It has nothing to do with hygiene or habits—just pure survival instinct.

For one, squirrels are territorial. They use their droppings to tell others the area’s claimed—trespass and be ready to fight.

Then there’s their predators—hawks, owls, martens, and snakes—all of which hunt by sight, smell or sound. So, squirrels avoid leaving any scent near their dens, and even try to mask their trail by rolling in smelly stuff or stuffing their hideouts with it. Take this Red Squirrel in Section Three for example—it lines its nest with strong-smelling tobacco shreds and sprinkles bits of snakeskin on its fur.

While squirrels sleep more and move less in winter, going half-torpid, they still have to eat and take care of business. So, in theory, Xia Qing should’ve seen fresh tracks on the Devastation Snow around its nest.

With no clues to chase, Xia Qing just stood under the tree and called softly to her neighbor inside the den. She kept her voice down—not to avoid people, but not to spook the timid little guy inside.

“Hey Red Squirrel, you home? I brought peanuts. Want some?”

“Freeloader, are you in there? Thirsty? Want some water?”

She called a few more times, but got nothing in return. Xia Qing pulled out her cat’s claw climbing shoes from the backpack and carefully climbed a dozen meters up to the Red Squirrel’s door, calling again—still no answer.

She shone her flashlight inside, breathing a sigh of relief when she spotted the tracker but not the squirrel.

Since she was already here, Xia Qing used a metal hook to poke around the Red Squirrel’s place. Turns out, the food stash inside was nearly gone. Little guy sure could eat.

Honestly, the Red Squirrel lived way better than Xia Qing. While she only had one home, the squirrel had six nests scattered across the territory, plus two stone dens just for food storage. This fall, it’d worked overtime, filling all six with supplies. If it wasn’t here, it must be in one of its other stash spots.

Still, Xia Qing’s hearing hadn’t fully recovered. After listening to all the noises of the Evolved Forest, she picked out a spot where she figured the Red Squirrel might be. But when she got there, the squirrel was still missing. On the ground, though, were scattered nutshells and plenty of fat rat tracks.

The Red Squirrel’s house had been raided by rats!

Xia Qing sped up, heading to the closest den. About five hundred meters ahead was a stone den—the biggest food stash the Red Squirrel kept for winter.

Crunching across the Devastation Snow towards the northeast, Xia Qing had covered over three hundred meters when she heard the frantic chirrs and hisses of the Red Squirrel.

Red Squirrels almost never make a peep, so if it was screaming now, that meant it was either hungry, scared, or furious beyond reason.

Xia Qing raised her gun and picked up the pace, shouting, “Freeloader, what’s going on? Freeloader—”

“Churr—” The Red Squirrel’s screeches grew even louder. After dealing with its tricks for months, Xia Qing could tell it was both angry and desperate. Since the sound wasn’t moving, it was probably trapped in the den by the rats!

Before Xia Qing could rush over, the sound of something else barreling through the snow caught her ear. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a squirrel.

She froze, gun trained ahead—and soon enough, a marten over half a meter long burst through the snow, snarling and coming right at her. The look and way it moved screamed ‘berserk animal’.

An animal this size—berserk or not—wasn’t worth wasting ammo on. Xia Qing put away her gun, drew her knife, and took it down in a few moves before hurrying on toward the Red Squirrel’s den.

A golden eagle swooped down from the sky, snatching up the marten’s corpse and flapping off in a flash—just like that, Xia Qing’s prize was gone.

“Freeloader, you in there?” Xia Qing called softly at the den’s entrance.

“Churr hiss—!”

“Squeak squeak, squeak squeak—!”

It wasn’t just the Red Squirrel replying—a gang of rats squealed back, too. Judging by the noise, there had to be at least ten of them inside.

The Red Squirrel could run, but it wasn’t much of a fighter. Outnumbered by rats, there was no way it’d win—especially after losing so much blood to that Green Lantern peanut attack half a month ago.

Xia Qing was about to call the squirrel out when the little guy bolted out on its own.

“Churr, ch-churr—!” High up on the pine, the Red Squirrel shrieked in anger and anxiety, darting up and down, drops of fresh blood spattering the filthy Devastation Snow. Meanwhile, the rats inside kept gnawing at pine nuts and chestnuts, the crunching loud and clear.

Even if that stash wasn’t hers, Xia Qing found herself getting nervous, too. Without a word, she grabbed a fistful of dry straw from her backpack, set it alight, tossed it into the stone den, and then used a big animal hide to block the entrance.

“Squeak squeak, squeak—!”

No animal sticks around for smoke or fire. Sure enough, the big evolved field rats squealed and bolted from cracks in the stone. These guys were as big as the Red Squirrel—no wonder it couldn’t win against them.

When one of the rats tried to escape, the Red Squirrel pounced like lightning, sinking its teeth into the rat’s neck. In the snow, the two wrestled—a flash of gray and a streak of red in a fierce battle.

Some field rats blundered straight into the hide trap instead. Xia Qing stomped down, killing three of them, while the Red Squirrel took out one. The rest managed to escape.

Xia Qing packed up her animal hide, shoveled some Devastation Snow into the den to smother the flames, but the thick smoke inside wouldn’t clear for a while yet. The Red Squirrel circled the stone den in a panic, darting up and down.

Once Xia Qing was sure there was no danger, she cleared a patch of Devastation Snow and set a pile of peanuts on the ground. She called out, “Don’t worry. Come here so I can check out your wound, then I’ll dig the food out of the den for you.”

The Red Squirrel spotted the peanuts, snatched them and vanished, moving so fast Xia Qing only glimpsed a flash of red. She was still too weak to use her enhanced vision, so she couldn’t see where the squirrel was bleeding from.

So Xia Qing dug a bottle from her backpack and poured warm pure spring water into the squirrel’s usual drinking bowl on the stone ledge. “Little guy, come get some water.”

In the twenty-below weather, the spring water cooled fast and was about to freeze. Clutching its peanuts, the Red Squirrel hesitated only a moment before sprinting over to drink.