Chapter 563: Hidden Tracks and Unseen Wounds

After Xia Qing had walked some distance away, the Balding Weasel gave its trembling whiskers a vigorous shake, sniffing the scent of roasted chicken drumstick with visible excitement, then darted forward, snatched up the drumstick and dragged it into a crevice.

Xia Qing checked every inch of the wire mesh around the valley, making sure there wasn’t a single gap between the mesh and the stone where a weasel could slip through. She and Qi Fu had done such a careful job, not even a weasel could break in.

Aside from the wire mesh, there were only two ways a weasel could get into the valley: it could tunnel in underground, or sneak into the Bear Cave and crawl through the passage from there.

She did a full sweep of the valley but couldn’t spot any holes that the weasel might’ve dug.

Returning to where the weasel hid, Xia Qing got down to business with the little guy. “Hey, plucked one, I’ve got some medicine that kills intestinal parasites. Want some?”

Xia Qing broke off a sixth of an antiparasitic pill and placed it on a rock. When she circled back, she saw the weasel hadn’t touched it.

The medicine probably smelled nasty, so it was no shock the weasel didn’t want it. Xia Qing put the pill away, said goodbye to her little friend, and left the valley. After locking up the Bear Cave, she made another round but still couldn’t figure out how the weasel was getting into the Stone Den.

No rush. Next time, she’d bring Er Gou with his super nose—he’d definitely sniff out the secret path the weasel used to reach the cave.

When Xia Qing got back to the Second Peak, the Inspection Team was almost finished with their work. Everyone rode back to Territory, and a bit of good news awaited: Tan Junjie had already brought Yuan Rui to Territory Seven.

The others were all cheerful, but while Xia Qing felt relieved, her thoughts had already jumped to worrying about her idol.

Idol only went to bed near dawn, and after just three or four hours, got up again to operate on Yuan Rui’s fracture. That scrawny body of his—looked as fragile as a chick—was probably running on nothing but high-grade nutrient shakes.

Once home, Xia Qing caught a chicken and, with ten Red Lantern dates in tow, delivered them to Ji Li in Territory Seven before heading off to check in on Kuang Qingwei and his wife in Territory Six.

She didn’t find out until she arrived at Territory Six that Kuang Qingwei and Li Kai were still under observation in Territory Seven.

“The nurse said they lost too much blood and started having breathing trouble and organ failure. When I got there, both of them were unconscious—on ventilators,” Zhu Li explained, her right arm in a sling. Tears sprang to her eyes again. “If it wasn’t to protect me, Old Kuang would’ve never gotten cut by those bastards.”

Last night, Kuang Qingwei stepped between his wife and a hired worker, taking a machete to the back. The two workers weren’t after money; they wanted blood. Trying to save her husband, Zhu Li fought like a wildcat—homemade firearm and machete both—killing both attackers after a desperate struggle.

After recounting the ordeal, Zhu Li—who had taken two lives with her own hands—sounded steadier now, and braver. “Sister Qing, when I recover, could you teach me a few moves? Old Kuang’s not bouncing back anytime soon. I’ll have to hold down the Territory on my own for the next two months.”

“Of course. Just remember to use the medicine Third Brother gave you—take it on time and by the dose,” Xia Qing said, setting down a 20-liter water bucket from her backpack. She also showed Zhu Li some words on her phone:

“Until you’re back on your feet, Alliance members will take care of the drinking water for Territory Six.”

Still sniffling, Zhu Li dug out an old phone with a cracked screen and tapped her reply one-handed: “Sister Qing, I can’t help with seedling raising right now. We’ll contribute Credits.”

Xia Qing wrote her back: “Let’s discuss that at the next meeting. Do you have any plans for the Territory?”

Zhu Li spoke up: “You can never really know what’s in someone’s heart. The two guys who tried to kill us used to run business with Old Kuang back in the Safe Zone. Out of all our workers, we trusted them the most. Who knew that people from Territory Two would offer them each a 5,000 Credit card—and they’d actually try to murder us for it.”

“When they came after us in the cave, not a single worker on the Territory stood up for me or Old Kuang. I already told Captain Tan: as soon as the truck comes to transfer the intruders, I want all of them sent back to the Safe Zone. As long as they’re here, I won’t sleep a wink. Only once they’re all gone will I finally feel at ease.”

“Sister Qing, I’m almost embarrassed to say it—I used to think you were silly for working alone and never hiring any helpers. But after this, I see now the fools were us…”

Zhu Li wept a little more before going on. “I’ll handle as much work in the Territory by myself as I can. If it gets to be too much, I’ll just temporarily hire help from Five or Fifteen. We’ll muddle through until the next Devastation Rain and see how Old Kuang and I are holding up then.”

Territory Six had about twenty acres of winter wheat, half an acre of rapeseed, and two greenhouses. Winter meant not much fieldwork, but when Devastation Rain hit, there was no way two people could keep up.

Seeing Zhu Li already had it all planned out, Xia Qing didn’t linger. She took out a frozen wild chicken and ten pounds of snake meat and typed a message: “Wait until everyone’s gone before you cook these. Stay safe.”

The food was so precious, Zhu Li could barely reach for it. But her husband needed nutrition to recover, so with tears on her cheeks and lips trembling, she accepted the gift, speechless with gratitude.

As for bartering her Territory’s resources with Xia Qing? Everything Zhu Li had, Xia Qing already owned.

Offer Credits? She didn’t have any to give right now. She’d owe Xia Qing for this one.

On her way out of Territory Six, Xia Qing overheard sobbing and curse-laden shouting coming from the workers’ dorm. After greeting Yu Shou and Hu Ningsheng, who were on guard duty, she headed to Territory Fifteen.

The moment Xia Qing arrived, Tan Qi came dashing over from the greenhouse, eager to check up on her. “Sister Qing, is your ear feeling any better?”

Tan Qi’s now-chubby face popped into view, making Xia Qing feel a little at ease. “Much better. How’s your Territory? Did you lose much last night?”

Tan Qi answered the way an adult might, “Five uncles were hurt, but no one died. Some rain covers on two greenhouses and the greenhouse wall in one were damaged by the intruders, but we’re fixing them now.”

As far as Tan Qi was concerned, any attack that didn’t leave people dead was a good outcome.

After Yue Haiying arrived, Tan Qi sensibly left the grown-ups to talk and hurried off to get back to work.

Once inside, Yue Haiying thanked Xia Qing for finding Li Kai in time and having him taken to Territory Seven. “The external wounds are one thing, but he took a sledgehammer hit and tore a hepatic vein. If you hadn’t gotten him there and Third Brother hadn’t stitched him up personally, he wouldn’t have survived the night.”

Medical resources were scarce during this era of disasters, and doctors even scarcer. With an injury as severe as Li Kai’s, if not for Zhang San and the people from Territories Seven and Fifteen providing a ton of blood for surgery, he wouldn’t have made it.

At the last lords’ meeting, Xia Qing had promised: in the fight to defend our Territory, no matter how badly someone was hurt, as long as they had a breath left, Zhang San could pull them back from death’s door.

Back then, Yue Haiying thought she was just trying to boost morale. Now, he believed every word.

Xia Qing always made good on her promises.

What amazed Yue Haiying even more was that Zhang San actually listened to Xia Qing, burning through rare medical supplies and performing surgery on two regular people all through the night.

In Yue Haiying’s eyes, this was nothing short of a miracle.

Even the top dogs at Base, if injured, would have to pray that Fu Tianfeng—Huicheng Base’s best surgeon—was in a charitable mood before requesting his help.

After some polite small talk, Xia Qing got to her main reason for coming. “Tang Huai mentioned the wolves and leopards had a conflict last night with the people guarding the Eastern Territory. Do you know about that, Brother Yue?”

Yue Haiying nodded gravely. “Old Tan and I watched the footage last night. Twenty wolves and four leopards died, along with more than fifty people injured. If the Base hadn’t brought in two attack aircraft, it would’ve been a massacre.”

Wolves hold grudges. With half their numbers slaughtered, they’d sworn a blood feud with humans now—one that would never end.

The weight of it all left Xia Qing heavy-hearted.

Yue Haiying asked, “The remaining wolves and leopards have run off into the Evolved Forest. They’re not about to give up on revenge. With what you know about wolf packs, do you think there’s any hope our Base could settle the score with those wolves through your allied pack?”