Chapter 594: A Night of Unexpected Fortune

At last, Xia Qing was home. The sick wolf in her arms looked up at her, tail wagging in pure happiness. The sight left Chang Li and Hu Zifeng, watching from a distance, utterly speechless.

Since when do wolves wag their tails? And if it wags its tail, is it still a wolf?

Letting go of the sick wolf, Xia Qing strode quickly toward the two keeping watch over her territory. “Captain Hu, Li Jie.”

Once all three were back at the little house by the fields, Hu Zifeng finally asked, “When Guan Tong told me you crossed Hill Forty-Nine alone, it freaked me out. Where are Wang Liang and the others?”

Hu Zifeng’s Squad handled the surveillance on Hill Forty-Nine’s route—tracking both Xia Qing and the wolf pack’s comings and goings. So as soon as Xia Qing entered, Hu Zifeng got the message.

Xia Qing explained, “I didn’t trouble them. I had the wolf send me home.”

Sent home by a wolf? Did she run back with the wolves or… ride on one? Xia Qing wasn’t a Speed Evolver—there’s no way she’d return so fast unless she’d ridden. Only the giant wolves could carry a person. Had her relationship with the wolf pack gotten that close?

Chang Li, who’d witnessed Xia Qing’s gradual bond with the wolves, couldn’t help but sigh. “You made the right call, saving that wolf last year.”

Xia Qing, a heavy backpack of Yi Stones slung on her back, nodded. It really was the right decision. “Li Jie, thanks for covering for me these past days.”

Chang Li just laughed. “All I’ve done is eat and drink in your territory—what’s hard about that? You should go home and get some sleep.”

Only then did Hu Zifeng say, “I’ll walk Chang Li home then come back later.”

Chang Li might have both enhanced sense of smell and voice, but she wasn’t much of a fighter. Wandering around alone at night was risky.

Xia Qing got her phone back and checked in with Yang Jin, letting him know she was safe and mentioning the backpack and Yi Stones.

Even though she found the backpack herself, tonight was a team operation—so her loot still needed to be run by the group.

Of course, Xia Qing could totally keep silent and pretend she found nothing. But that risked ruining the trust and cooperation between her and the Azure Dragon Squad—not worth it over some Yi Stones.

According to post-disaster, unofficial resource distribution rules, at least half the Yi Stones in that bag belonged to Xia Qing’s side—she found it, she brought it back. Since she was there as an individual, half the Yi Stones were hers.

Fifty Yi Stones!

With the sick wolf in tow, Xia Qing headed home and saw Old Goat lounging on the tatami mat downstairs, lazily chewing his cud. Happily, she called out, “Boss, I’m back!”

Old Goat just squinted his eyes and ignored her, continuing to chew.

This guy, really…

Laughing it off, Xia Qing dropped the heavy bag from her backpack onto the shoe rack and noticed Yang Jin had already messaged her:

“Those Yi Stones were probably Tang Zhengsu’s private stash. You have two options: one, keep them all, but you can’t claim any other loot from tonight. Two, hand over half, and you can split tonight’s rewards based on contribution.”

Xia Qing replied instantly: I’ll take option one!

Su Feng was Hui One’s top squad. Anyone running must’ve carried loads of hidden valuables. Xia Qing could exchange half her Yi Stones for more credits or supplies—but to a farmer like her, nothing beat Yi Stones.

She’d gladly claim the whole stash. She wasn’t tempted by other loot at all.

If Old Goat wouldn’t grumble about the noise, Xia Qing would have yelled at the top of her lungs:

Today’s a good day—!

Everything I hoped for is coming true—!

After a quick wash and tossing a few sticks into the fireplace, Xia Qing sat down cross-legged on the straw mat and cheerfully opened the bag of Yi Stones.

The moment she started rummaging, Old Goat hopped off the tatami and trotted over to the fireplace. Once he saw there was no food in the bag, he lost interest and lay beside Xia Qing to nap.

The sick wolf, too, stayed by her side, eyes fixed on the bag in her hands.

Sharing her excitement with her companions, Xia Qing said, “These are Yi Stones, tons of them! Boss, Er, we hit the jackpot! Look, some are the size of goose eggs—I’ve never seen ones this big before…”

She talked as she sorted the Yi Stones from the bag into packaging bags in front of her. Out of eighty stones, fifty were walnut-sized, twenty the size of pigeon eggs, ten as big as goose eggs.

Judging by their shape and color, the walnut-sized and pigeon egg-sized stones must be mid-grade Yi Stones, just like the wolf pack’s trades.

The goose egg-sized ones had a darker outer shell. According to the info Xia Qing had exchanged from the wolves, these were likely high-grade or premium.

She weighed one in her palm—it had to be at least three hundred grams.

Jackpot. This was a windfall, plain and simple.

No wonder so many people resorted to robbing their own kind for big scores. After a year of bartering and running errands for the wolf pack, she’d only managed to get fifteen Yi Stones. Tonight alone she picked up eighty!

For the first time, Xia Qing knew what it felt like to get rich overnight—and mostly by looting her enemies’ fortune. Absolutely thrilling.

Now she had over a hundred Yi Stones. Over a hundred! Forget the fields—she could repair even her bracelet with the biggest pieces.

Of course, she couldn’t bear to use them frivolously. Best to keep her wealth hidden and only use it when it truly counted.

Grinning from ear to ear, she pulled out her phone to calculate the credits all these Yi Stones were worth, but realized both her companions had dozed off beside her.

She’d been away from the territory for two days and a night. No wonder they hadn’t rested well.

Yawning, Xia Qing climbed onto a nearby lounge chair and pulled a thin blanket over herself. Looking at Old Goat and the sick wolf watching her, she said, “Sleep. When we wake up, I’ll make us something delicious.”

With that, Xia Qing closed her eyes and drifted off.

After all that battle, revenge, and a bagful of Yi Stones, she expected her excitement would keep her awake. Yet as she listened to her two companions breathing, she quickly started snoring herself.

At half past five in the morning, Old Goat nudged Xia Qing awake with his head. She blinked groggily. “Hungry, Boss?”

“Baa.”

“It’s Lunar New Year’s Day. Want dumplings stuffed with Chinese toon shoots and alfalfa? I made them just for you.”

“Baa—”

“Alright. Er, how about pumpkin dumplings for you?”

“Awoo.”

“Perfect, let me get them started.”

Still a bit sleepy after just over an hour’s rest, Xia Qing freshened up. Luckily, thanks to the premium nutrient shake, her body and spirit felt great.

After brushing her companions’ coats, she stashed the Yi Stones upstairs, softly humming as she fetched frozen dumplings from the fridge.

It was Lunar New Year’s Day, and her hometown tradition called for sweet glutinous rice balls at breakfast. But without glutinous rice flour, and like other lords, she had prepped dumplings and frozen them in advance.

While Xia Qing cooked, the sick wolf and Old Goat waited eagerly at the kitchen door. After missing meals and sleep for two days, they were starving.

Soon a small table was set—one bowl of nutritious blend with a few dumplings, and another of pork and pumpkin dumplings with soup. While her companions dug in, Xia Qing grabbed a large bag of frozen dumplings and headed to the little house by the fields.

Hu Zifeng was up, so Xia Qing decided to eat with him and catch up on everything that happened while she was away—just in case she needed to cover for herself.

Stepping outside, she noticed the clouds overhead were thicker than ever.