Chapter 561: Morning After the Uprising

After getting Xia Qing’s message, the three people at the base of Third Peak moved swiftly up the mountain. Quiet as shadows, they crept toward the bear cave sealed with an iron gate, carefully lifted the three corpses at the entrance, and just as quietly backed off a ways—then tore down the mountain at a full sprint.

Judging from the speed they ran off carrying those corpses, Xia Qing could tell they were all evolved fighters.

Hui Three Base has almost two million people in total, but only three thousand registered evolved fighters. Back when she lived in the Safe Zone, Xia Qing mostly saw ordinary folks. But in this past year of farming, she realized nearly everyone she encountered outside her Alliance was an evolved fighter.

Makes sense though. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare leave their territory, and only evolved fighters were really active beyond those borders.

After thanking the Balding Weasel—still hiding who knows where—Xia Qing took Er Gou on a patrol around the territory before heading home. But Er Gou refused to go inside; with a single leap, he landed on the roof of the two-story rack building, head down, quietly watching below.

Xia Qing looked up and asked, “Er, are you pulling night watch outside tonight?”

Up on the roof, Er Gou bared his fangs. The breath he huffed out turned to white mist, hiding his grin.

“Er, with you around, I’ve honestly never felt safer! Hang tight—I’ll grab you a straw mat.” Even though Er Gou’s coat was thick enough to keep him from freezing, Xia Qing had still dried a mountain of hay and woven plenty of mats. She just wanted her two animal companions to be as comfortable as possible.

She headed upstairs, laid out the mat, and even gave Er Gou a dose of the organ repair agent for his internal injuries. When she finally went back inside, she got a message from Xin Yu:

“I know all three of them. Please don’t tell Captain Tan—I’ll handle this privately. I’ll explain the details to you in a couple of days.”

Sometimes it pays off much more to handle things in private than to air them out in public. Xin Yu was a major shareholder in the Chonglian Group, one of the biggest powers in Hui Two Base. She didn’t live in the Safe Zone there, though—she’d traveled hundreds of miles to farm in Hui Three Base, which was nowhere near as strong. That alone was suspicious.

Xin Yu must have her reasons. Now that she even added a ‘please’ to her message, it showed how much those three corpses mattered to her.

Xia Qing simply replied, “Okay,” set down her phone, and rubbed at a spot behind her ear, trying to calm her ringing ears.

In that moment, she couldn’t help but crave some High-Evolution Spinach. If she’d grown any in her fields, she could squeeze a few leaves for juice, get some sleep, and wake up feeling like new.

If she’d calculated right, and the Base Leader acted quickly enough planting those High-Evolution Spinach seeds, then these next few days would be the critical period for that new batch to mature.

Of all times for someone to provoke the beasts in the Evolved Forest and ignite a beast tide, they had to choose now. The timing was spot on.

She let out a yawn and downed the organ repair agent mixed by her Idol, ready to get some rest. Guarding the spinach was the Base Leader’s job. Her own priority was to recover her strength as soon as possible and protect her own territory.

When Xia Qing drifted off to sleep, Old Goat below seemed to be having a nightmare, kicking and grunting in his sleep. On the straw mat up on the rack building, Er Gou’s ears twitched every so often. Up on the high slope in Section Three, the greenhouse’s tattered rain cover whipped in the wind.

Next door, in Section Four’s greenhouse, Zhao Ze’s mother checked the thermometer with a machete in hand and a flashlight raised. In Territory Six, Zhao Ze, Qi Fu, Shi Du, and Yu Shou, with Zhu Li’s arm hanging uselessly at her side, were cleaning out the burned warehouse. Over in the operating room of Territory Seven, Zhang San was painstakingly stitching up the organ wound Li Kai suffered from that knife attack. And in Territory Fifteen, under a pool of lamp light, Yue Haiying, Tan Junjie, and Luo Pei stared grimly at the surveillance feed playing on a laptop.

On the screen, humans and wolf packs and leopard packs tore into each other across the eastern border of the Safe Zone. The battle brought death on both sides.

“Tap. Tap. Tap—”

Snug in her warm bed, Xia Qing heard that all-too-familiar sound. She shot upright, turned on the light, and rushed to the door—opening it just in time to stop Old Goat from kicking it in.

Old Goat paused at the doorway, one hoof raised, long spiral horns shining as he squinted at Xia Qing with pure annoyance. Just the expression on his face told her he was itching for a fight.

Xia Qing dropped to a squat, grabbed Old Goat’s raised hoof, and launched into her best dramatic plea: “Boss! Last night, humans broke into our territory. The greenhouse on the high slope and the cameras were blown up. Your precious Toon Tree lost a bunch of branches too. Go see for yourself!”

Maybe Old Goat didn’t understand everything she said, but he knew “Toon Tree” and could read Xia Qing’s tone. Whatever itch he had for a fight, he spun around without hesitation and galloped down the stairs, nosing open the security door and charging outside.

Phew—

Dodging a brawl, Xia Qing let out a big sigh, dashed back in, and hurried to get dressed. Just as she started prepping for a new day, a rustle came from outside. Her injured neighbor, the Red Squirrel, showed up right on time, looking for water and a handout.

“Living the easy life, huh? That scare last night must’ve got to you too,” Xia Qing chatted to the Red Squirrel from the window while it sipped its warm water.

With all the food and clean water the Red Squirrel enjoyed while healing in Xia Qing’s territory—not to mention being safe from harm—it had gotten noticeably rounder.

Once it’d had its fill, the little guy sat at Xia Qing’s feet, rubbing its tiny paws together and wagging that big fluffy tail, eyes full of hope.

“Hold on.”

Xia Qing grabbed a few corn kernels from the fridge and laid them out on the windowsill. “Eat up. Call it a celebration for our win last night.”

“Bang!”

Right before Red Squirrel could snatch the corn, a huge bang sent it scrambling.

Xia Qing looked out and saw Old Goat brawling with Guan Tong up on the high slope.

She shut the window quickly, plucked some toon sprouts from the tray by the fireplace, tossed in some dry grass, and crumbled up a bit of ration bar. After mixing it all together, she opened the window and yelled, “Boss, come home and eat!”

Old Goat stopped chasing Guan Tong and doubled back, racing straight for home.

With Old Goat gone, Red Squirrel hopped from the roof to the windowsill, snatched up the corn, stuffed its cheeks, and darted away to the north.

While Old Goat ate at home, Xia Qing brought out all the animals stashed in the underground storage and moved them to the breeding greenhouse. On the way, she waved at Er Gou, who was out hunting bugs with a basket, and took him along to settle the spring fish and yellow lantern mealworms into their new home.

With Er Gou staying behind to feed the fish, Xia Qing was about to go get the chickens and rabbits when she saw Guan Tong rubbing his belly. She stopped to ask, “Did Old Goat butt you in the stomach?”

Head to head, Guan Tong wasn’t as strong as Old Goat, but in an all-out brawl, Old Goat couldn’t really beat him. Still, the way Guan Tong was moving, it looked like he really was hurt.

Guan Tong grimaced. “Old Goat’s getting clever. When we were vying for strength, he jumped up and kicked me twice with his back legs—hard.”

Xia Qing just stood there speechless.

…

…

All that time pedaling the bike had turned Old Goat’s legs surprisingly powerful and nimble. Next time they went at it, she’d have to watch out for those sneaky tricks.

Returning home for the rabbits and chickens, Xia Qing grabbed a small bottle of topical medicine from the medical kit and handed it to Guan Tong, who’d gotten kicked by Old Goat. Old Goat was her companion, so whatever mess he made, it was on Xia Qing to clean up.

After making sure the animals were settled in the breeding house, she checked how the strawberries were growing in the planting greenhouse. With all that done, Xia Qing had a hearty breakfast with Er Gou, then headed to the south gate of her territory just in time to meet the Inspection Team and have them verify the loss in Section Three from last night.

But when she saw Su Ming and Cao Xianyun step out of the patrol truck, her heart skipped a beat.

Su Ming’s bloodshot eyes and hoarse voice said it all: “Sister Qing, Tiger didn’t make it.”