Chapter 500: A Lucky Break Amidst Disaster

A stroke of fortune in misfortune: The day Xia Qing and the Fire Phoenix Trapping Team clashed, a northeast wind swept through, sending the poison gas southwest. That meant the Bear Cave sat safely outside the gas zone, untouched by both danger and the firebreak.

Yang Jin, adapting on the fly, fitted the Bear Cave with a sturdy door and turned it into the on-site disaster management headquarters.

The pair of hefty iron doors really impressed Xia Qing. As she knocked, she made a mental note to remind Yang Jin to bill the cost of this command center to Fire Phoenix’s compensation tab—no way was she paying credits if that miser Iron Rooster tried to stick her with the bill.

After all, if Xia Qing refused to cover the cost, who knows—he might just yank those iron doors off the Bear Cave and haul them away.

When the doors swung open, to her surprise, it was Hu Zifeng who stepped out. Xia Qing greeted him and asked, “Captain Yang’s not here?”

“Our boss went up the mountain to do a patrol. I’m headed over to guard the task team. You can stay here and rest,” Hu Zifeng said, then added a warning. “Be sure to lock the door behind me.”

He was worried someone might barge in, spot that Xia Qing wasn’t inside, and expose the Valley’s location.

After watching Zifeng leave, Xia Qing locked the iron doors and took a look around the dramatically changed cave.

The rock walls were lined with a layer of waterproof reflective film, and sandwich panels split the Bear Cave into two rooms. The outer area worked as an office, while the inner served as a rest spot—surprisingly legit.

She crossed the rest area, past a cot and a storage locker, slipped through the back door and deeper into the stone den. After a struggle to shift the boulder blocking the entrance, she slipped into the Hidden Valley.

Outside, it was below minus twenty, but inside the Valley spring warmth lingered. Scourge Grass, which had sprouted during the Devastation Snow season, now shot up taller than a person.

These were the familiar green Scourge Grass—not those vicious kinds you’d find in the danger zones. Xia Qing hung her backpack on the same stick she’d used for peanuts last time and got to work clearing the weeds.

If she didn’t take care of this sea of Scourge Grass, in just three to five days they’d mature and drop their seeds.

Even though her strength still hadn’t fully recovered, pulling weeds from an entire acre was easy work for Xia Qing. She could have gone even faster if not for all the snakes and insects leaping out to cause trouble.

She also cleared the weeds sprouting atop the grave. Too bad she didn’t catch any rabbits along the way.

Once the Scourge Grass was heaped up in the rocky patch east of the stone hut, Xia Qing washed the dirt and leaves off her protective gloves, stepped inside, wiped down the picture frame on the wall, and hung it back in its rightful place before getting back to work.

With the air detector in hand, Xia Qing checked the Devastation Element levels. Inside the Valley, the concentration was nearly the same as outside.

So, what exactly made the Scourge Grass in this Valley’s fields grow so much sparser than normal?

Was it because the old Evolved Bear used to regularly clear the weeds, reducing the density of Scourge Grass seeds in the soil?

Or maybe the Valley’s soil, just like the soil in Section Three, was rich in Evolution Element—diluting both the quantity and activity of Devastation Element?

She didn’t dare track down the Evolved Bear to ask, so instead she fished a test tube from her backpack, gathered some soil, and planned to test it later.

Next up, Xia Qing started sampling the spring water.

From the springhead, inside the pool, to the channels leading to the fields—she collected samples at every spot, sealing them in a tiny insulated medical kit.

Thanks to Idol, Xia Qing had stockpiled plenty of glass test tubes and even the medical kit itself over the past six months. Keeping the water in the kit meant it wouldn’t freeze on the way out of the Valley.

After finishing the sampling, Xia Qing returned to the pool to double-check her air detector. Sure enough, her eyes hadn’t deceived her: Devastation Element was lower in the air near the hot spring pool than anywhere else.

As she stepped on and squashed a giant locust buzzing by, Xia Qing stood silently by the pool for half a minute. An utterly wild yet oddly logical theory began to take shape in her mind.

She grabbed her backpack off the wall, fished out an Insect Net and a wire, then found a three-meter stick in the Valley—putting together a makeshift fishing net.

When she plunged her homemade net into the square pool, which was about four meters per side, she realized it was deeper than it looked—closer to two and a half meters, with a thick layer of silt at the bottom.

The silt clouded the water as she dragged the net around. With sharp eyes, Xia Qing spotted aquatic creatures darting out of the swirling muck.

There were actually loaches and eels living in this water—and pretty big ones at that!

She couldn’t tell if these fish were wild, raised by Shi Jiayi’s family, or left behind by the Evolved Bear, but she kept raking the silt with her net, not missing a single corner.

The moment she dredged up the first piece of Yi Stone, Xia Qing broke into a grin.

Just as she’d suspected: there was Yi Stone in this pool. That’s why the air here had far less Devastation Element than anywhere else.

But the stones’ effects had already weakened, so they couldn’t completely chase off the Devastation Element.

Still, Xia Qing figured there had to be more than one piece down there. Netting for a while, she was thrilled when she caught a sizable half piece of Yi Stone.

But fishing up the other half made her speechless. This tiny pool had held a whole walnut-sized Yi Stone—what a waste!

Unbelievable.

By the time she’d pulled up pieces number three, four, five, all the way to the thirtieth, Xia Qing was numb.

Inspecting all the fragments, she found only two halves still barely releasing Evolution Element. That’s when she realized something huge:

The swirling black and white patterns on the pool’s Yi Stones were just like the ones the Wolf Pack had traded her.

Looks like the Evolved Bears have their own mines. And they know the value of Yi Stone.

Could the battles between Evolved Bears and Evolved Wolves really be about fighting for control of the Yi Stone mines?

Xia Qing tossed the two half-effective stones back into the pool, bagged up the spent pieces to bring home and crush—perfect for growing Devastationweed.

It’s not that she wanted to leave behind those last two stones. She just worried the Evolved Bear might show up before the stones lost their effect completely.

Though people had designated this area as a research test zone, to the animals of the Evolved Forest, it was still open territory. They could come and go whenever they pleased.

Especially those self-important Evolved Bears. If they still wanted this turf, they’d be back in no time.

Xia Qing honestly hoped they’d both abandon the mountain because of the poison gas bombs but also that they’d keep tossing Yi Stones into the pool.

One day, when those bear fools throw in another split Yi Stone, Xia Qing could just walk off with most of it. Using a full stone for such a tiny pool—it was just criminally wasteful.

After tucking away the stones, she used the net to scoop out a few eels and loaches, giving them a quick once-over to make sure they were safe to eat.

More meat for herself and Er Gou! After all, no matter how smart those Evolved Bears got, there’s no way they could keep track of every last fish in their pool.

Backpack slung over one shoulder, Xia Qing left the Valley in good spirits, sealed the stone entrance behind her, and was just heading out the Bear Cave’s iron doors to check on the task team when she spotted Yang Jin coming down from the mountain.