Chapter 605: Spring Surprises and Subtle Encounters

Her shout carried up to the high slope where Old Goat, who’d been watching the Green Lantern Toon Tree, took off at a gallop, racing home. The sound drifted into the sheep shed, making the two Yellow Weasels inside, still groggy from the anesthesia, shiver at the same time. Er Gou poked his head in, sniffing at both Yellow Weasels and their nursing little ones.

Xia Qing opened the security door once more and called toward the sheep shed, “Er, it’s time to eat!”

Er Gou turned tail and left the sheep shed without hesitation, rushing back to the house for breakfast.

After a hearty breakfast, Old Goat hurried straight back to the high slope to guard his precious Toon Tree, while Er Gou didn’t bother with the Yellow Weasel family anymore. Instead, he picked up his small basket and went off to catch bugs for his fish.

Xia Qing poured the pot-washing water into a small bowl to mix feed for the chickens. She grabbed a handful of cornmeal, tossed in some alfalfa and a few big centipedes she’d caught during her morning patrol, stirring them all together before wading through the muddy yard to the greenhouse to feed the chickens.

Overnight, the temperature had crept above freezing, leaving the territory damp and glistening everywhere. The Green Lantern Chickens kept in the greenhouse could finally be moved back to the spacious chicken house for semi-free-range living.

But Xia Qing didn’t dare yet—because next to the chicken house, a family of Yellow Weasels with a taste for chicken had taken up residence in the sheep shed. If she wanted to move the chickens back, she’d have to wait until the weasels were gone.

After feeding the Green Lantern Chickens, Xia Qing headed to the snake box. She pulled a nearly twenty-centimeter long centipede from her animal hide sack, opened the lid, and tried to toss the centipede inside.

Inside the box lived a dozen or so Green Lantern and Yellow Lantern grass snakes, along with a bright green little snake Xia Qing had caught in Valley Two of Section Three. These days, she raised chickens and rabbits and sometimes got fresh game from the Wolf Pack, but she’d always kept these snakes well-fed.

Because, after all, this was meat.

After having gone hungry so many times, stomach burning and mouth dry, Xia Qing wasn’t about to let any edible creature slip through her fingers.

But the moment she lifted the lid, a green flash shot out from the box, aiming straight for her eyes.

Xia Qing clamped the lid shut with her left hand to keep the other snakes inside. Her right hand nabbed the little green snake by the head, while her left foot pinned down the escaping centipede on the ground.

She quickly scooped up the centipede, tossed it and a few more big centipedes and bugs from her bag into the snake box, then took a closer look at the bright green snake coiled around her hand.

Thanks to info she’d found on her laptop, Xia Qing was pretty sure she’d identified this snake—a venomous viper from the Trimeresurus genus.

According to her research, since the disaster, over sixty species of venomous vipers from this genus had appeared. The one she’d just caught was one of them.

When it comes to judging how dangerous a venomous snake is, there are three main factors: toxicity, venom yield, and aggression.

This one wasn’t particularly potent or loaded with venom. Even though its sneak attacks were well-timed, it lacked speed and strength—so it wasn’t all that aggressive either.

Initial impression: a beautiful, but not especially formidable, Trimeresurus viper. Still, Xia Qing couldn’t shake the feeling there was something different about this snake.

Though Xia Qing had a magnetic sense for detecting plant field changes, this was the first time an animal had made her feel like there was “something unusual” about it.

She couldn’t even really say what it was that set it apart.

On a whim, Xia Qing put the little snake back in her waist pouch, planning to show it to Xin Yu when she returned from Territory Seven.

Xin Yu—on her way back from brokering a deal at Territory Seven—got cornered by her ally Xia Qing before entering Section Three. Xia Qing held out the snake as soon as she saw her. Xin Yu’s first reaction: “That’s a beautiful one.”

That was part of why Xia Qing had caught it. “Besides its looks, it knows how to go for vital spots. Maybe it’s got Brain Evolution?”

Since reptiles can’t express emotion through facial muscles, Xia Qing couldn’t use her usual method—reading their faces—to judge whether it had Brain Evolution. She could only go by this snake’s odd behavior as evidence.

Xin Yu, who had a magnetic sense for detecting changes in animal fields, was just the person Xia Qing wanted to consult to see if this little snake was a Brain Evolution type.

If it was, Xia Qing would pamper it—who knows, someday it might become invaluable.

After feeling out the snake’s field, Xin Yu shook her head. “Its magnetic field isn’t any stronger than other snakes of its kind. If you really want to be sure, you can take it to Territory Seven and have Third Brother run some tests with his instruments.”

If not even Xin Yu could sense a difference, odds were it wasn’t a Brain Evolution type. Xia Qing put the snake back in her pouch. “Third Brother’s busy with big stuff. No need to bother him over something like this.”

The truth was, Xia Qing had already woken up Idol a few hours ago over a Yellow Weasel incident and gotten scolded. If she turned up today waving a snake, she’d probably get thrown out for real.

Xin Yu brought up what mattered most to her. “Did you take down the insulation outside the swallow’s nest? The weather’s warmed up, and Jasmine won’t stay in the greenhouse anymore.”

“Took it down right after breakfast. The swallows are out catching bugs now.” Xia Qing explained why she couldn’t bring Xin Yu back home to see for herself. “That evolved Yellow Weasel from Third Peak on Hill Fifty is still in my sheep shed. If you show up, you’ll probably scare it, and if it releases toxic gas, all the straw and kindling in the shed will be ruined.”

Xin Yu instantly dropped the idea when she heard the Yellow Weasel was in the sheep shed. She still remembered, clear as day, the aftermath of Zhou Zhaoping’s encounter with that stink.

After confirming the construction plans for Chonglian, Xia Qing led an eager Xin Yu to the Northern Buffer Forest to look for the Red Squirrel. The little fellow was nowhere to be found, and there wasn’t a sound in the tree hollow.

Xin Yu guessed, “It’s breeding season. The Red Squirrel’s probably off looking for a mate.”

Even after the Great Evolution on Blue Star, wild animals here still stick strictly to the rhythms of nature. Only when the timing is right—with hormones and nerves primed—do they mate and reproduce.

Spring is the season for new life. Not just wolves, Yellow Weasels, and wild boars in Territory One, but even the Red Squirrels in the tree hollows are out seeking mates and raising young.

“She’s bound to find a good match this year. Her fur is looking beautiful and she’s round as a ball—a real big shot among squirrels.” Xia Qing showed Xin Yu a video she’d shot of the Red Squirrel wagging her tail and scratching her little paws.

Xin Yu watched it closely. “Is it a male or female?”

Xia Qing replied, “Female.”

“You’ve got two different animals with ‘mouse’ in their names now. Maybe a real cat will show up.” With that, Xin Yu cracked a smile.

Red Squirrel, Yellow Weasel—both with ‘mouse’ in their names…

Xia Qing thought of this and sighed, “Let’s hope not. If a cat came, there’d definitely be a fight. Like Third Brother said, cats and I just aren’t meant to be.”