Chapter 512: Sunshine After the Scuffle

“What do you want?!” Tang Huai shot back, clearly annoyed.

Zhou Xun looked up, eyes watery. “Boss, are you feeling any better?”

Damn it, how many times is he going to ask? Is this ever going to end?

Tang Huai answered again, irritation obvious. “No, I’m not! I’m still limping with this cane. What’s going on in Xia Qing’s territory, why are they fighting?”

Vision-evolved Zhou Xun replied, “They installed a jammer in Section Three to block electronic surveillance. The new guy, Liu Jing, doesn’t have ears as sharp as yours. The wild grass wall is just as thick as before in Section Three. I can’t see a thing, still don’t know why those two started fighting.”

“Xia Qing can’t beat that sheep.” Tang Huai stood on his side of the passage, gossiping with his old subordinates across the way. Although the side effect of Xia Qing’s Evolution Element stim shake had passed, she still hadn’t regained her peak physical strength. The fight would probably end soon.

Tang Huai really wanted to run over and watch the fight in Section Three.

But Zhou Xun saw it differently. “I think Xia Qing is going easy on that crazy sheep. She still wants it to pull the plow and work the fields for her.”

Tang Huai shot Zhou Xun a look but kept listening intently.

Zhou Xun took the chance to suggest, “Boss, it’s too far out here. Want me to carry you back, so you can listen in properly? I dug out a snow nest at the old spot—it’s real warm in there.”

“Get lost!”

As Tang Huai guessed, Xia Qing’s stamina ran out and she quickly lost the fight. She sprawled out on the ground, arms and legs wide, panting beneath the gloomy sky—yet looking pretty content.

Old Goat, still itching for more, circled Xia Qing twice, realized she wasn’t getting up, then turned and charged at Er Gou.

Probably the only evolved sheep on the whole Blue Star that dares to actively challenge evolved wolves.

Wolves have sleek builds, long legs, and are made for running. Their sharp fangs and claws are deadly weapons. A wolf will either sink its teeth into a prey’s throat or spine to suffocate or paralyze it, or use those claws to open up deep wounds and bleed it dry.

Sheep, on the other hand, keep things simple—they charge headfirst with those horned skulls.

No contest who’d win between a wolf and a sheep, but Xia Qing, still sprawled on the ground, watched with interest as the fight unfolded.

Er Gou leaped lightly into the air, dodging Old Goat’s iron-headed charge. Old Goat’s skull slammed into a nearby tree.

Dead leaves and snow piled up on the branches rained down, nearly burying Xia Qing as she spectated. She was too tired to move, so she just swiped the snow off her protective mask and was surprised to see that Er Gou was now bumping heads with Old Goat for fun.

Clearly, neither animal was using their full strength, but they were having the time of their lives. Turns out Er Gou’s pretty good at humoring others. Even the two short-legged wolf siblings were always gentle around it, but this was Xia Qing’s first time watching Er Gou play with Old Goat.

Maybe after using the Devastation Element Antidote, Er Gou’s body is slowly recovering. With more strength, its confidence is back, too.

Xia Qing reached into her pocket to pull out her phone and capture the moment—then remembered she was wearing her snakeskin jacket, not the protective suit, and hadn’t brought her phone at all.

After a long round of play, Er Gou finally led Old Goat over to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing leaned her head right and knocked it against Alpha’s, then tilted left and bumped into Old Goat. The three sprawled out together on the muddy, uneven ground, soaking in the peaceful afterglow.

The sun peeked out from behind the thick clouds, shining down on the girl, the sheep, and the wolf.

With her breathing even again, Xia Qing closed her eyes, basked in the sunlight, and chatted idly with her companions. “Old Goat, Er Gou, do you like your protective suits? These are top-quality, made from hardness-evolved snakeskin. Pretty comfy, right?”

“Er Gou, you did great just now—not biting Old Goat. Remember, Old Goat is your friend, not your prey.” Xia Qing turned to the left where Er Gou was lolling, tongue out, and laughed. “But honestly, even if you nipped at it, it wouldn’t matter. That sheep’s wearing a snakeskin jacket now, too.”

Er Gou kept panting, obviously not getting a word. Old Goat, collapsed on the other side, looked expressionless—who knew if it understood.

Xia Qing glanced at the clouds, now brightened by sunlight. “Queen and Broken Back’s snakeskin jackets are ready, too. Wonder when they’ll come by to try them on. Queen’s always hard to figure, but Broken Back’s definitely going to love hers…”

Then Xia Qing suddenly remembered—she still owed Broken Back a generator bike.

She struggled to sit up, wanting to swap into her protective suit and head for the Northern Barrier to catch the Inspection Team on patrol. She’d have to ask Tiger to order a bike.

Er Gou beat her to it, jumping up and circling Xia Qing before bolting toward the Northern Buffer Forest.

Watching Er Gou’s disappearing figure, Xia Qing nudged Old Goat next to her. “Where’s Er Gou going? Checking on wild boar in the valley, or going back to the pack with a message?”

Old Goat lay beside her, chewing cud, still blank-faced.

“Get up, Old Goat. If you keep lying there, snow javelin bugs will crawl into your suit and bite you.” Xia Qing stood up and slowly headed back for the village.

Old Goat waited till Xia Qing was a ways off, then stood up, shook off the dirt, and trotted after her.

Before Xia Qing even reached home, Jing Kuan from Hu Zifeng’s Squad reported in over his earpiece walkie-talkie. “Sister Qing, a wolf in strange protective gear just ran out from Valley One, left Hill Forty-Nine, and headed for the northern sector.”

Now Xia Qing realized where Er Gou was going. “That’s Er Gou. It’s heading back to the pack. Soon a whole group of wolves will come through, probably sticking to their usual route. Please let Captain Yang and Captain Hu know, okay Jing?”

With construction going on at Hill Fifty, the wolves would need to pass by. Yang Jin or Hu Zifeng would have to arrange things so the construction team and Second Disaster Elimination Team didn’t spot the pack.

Back home, Xia Qing cleaned the mud off her snakeskin jacket, changed into her protective suit, then left for the Northern Gate to wait for the Inspection Team.

No luck today—it was Su Ming and the others on duty. Tiger had gone to Hill Fifty for a security assignment.

Su Ming readily agreed to Xia Qing’s request, then asked curiously, “Sister Qing, did you just fight with Old Goat again?”

Xia Qing nodded and explained, “Just wanted to see how much of my strength is back.”

“Don’t rush things, Sister Qing. Take your time to recover. We won’t see any beast tide threats here within the month,” Su Ming reassured her. The weakness after the Evolution Element stim shake couldn’t pass that quickly.

Yuan Rui, the driver with enhanced sense of smell, caught a faint scent of yellow weasel on Xia Qing but didn’t mention it. He just shared some good news: “We got notified this morning—once the beast tides pass, a team will come set up a ground-based mobile communications station for our territory. It should be installed and working before the end of the year.”

“That’s fantastic!” Xia Qing’s phone could connect directly to the satellite, but those calls were expensive, so she avoided them when she could. With a mobile comms station, she could finally get in touch with her allies with her cell phone.