Chapter 609: Half a Frog and a Kindness Returned

Er Gou, who’d been lying near the cardboard box, got up and left the sheep shed. Now that the Balding Weasel had come back, there was no need for him to keep watch, so he went off to do his own thing.

The Albino Weasel, having eaten its fill, couldn’t even finish one Green Lantern Frog before it was stuffed. It gently groomed its partner’s fur. The wound on White Weasel’s belly must still hurt, so it moved very carefully.

Watching all this, Xia Qing suddenly thought of three sayings: ‘Surviving after disaster,’ ‘Helping each other through thick and thin,’ and ‘Peaceful days at last.’

She… was honestly kind of envious.

When it finished grooming, the Balding Weasel picked up the leftover half of the Green Lantern Frog and hopped out of the box. After eating the half snake from the small bowl, it started chewing on some vegetable leaves.

Xia Qing couldn’t quite figure out what the weasel was up to with this behavior.

After all, Green Lantern Frog was tastier and more nourishing than veggie leaves. Was the Balding Weasel leaving the meat for its mate to eat later?

Logically, that didn’t add up. Any weasels living in the Evolved Forest should know that meat left exposed above freezing in the Devastation Element air would spoil fast and become inedible.

Curious about the Balding Weasel’s intentions, Xia Qing sipped her tea and kept watching.

After gnawing some veggie leaves, the Balding Weasel picked up the half frog and headed out of the sheep shed. Xia Qing instantly switched on the yard’s camera and watched as the weasel actually set the half frog right in front of her security door, then stretched its long body up and stared at the door.

Xia Qing froze.

So… that half frog was for her.

Xia Qing was speechless.

“Balding Weasel… I can’t believe you, thanks a lot!”

Last time, Xia Qing shot down an Evolved Hawk and helped the weasel keep its food. In return, it had brought her two Green Lantern Frogs.

This time, after she saved its wife and kids, it brought her… half a frog.

Xia Qing knew food was getting scarce, but honestly, this was next-level stingy. Compared to him, Alpha and Crippled Wolf were downright generous, and Handsome Huge Wolf was basically a saint on Blue Star. If Handsome ever patched the Blue Star pyramid with Balding Weasel, he’d probably find it an embarrassment…

Still, Xia Qing couldn’t turn down the half frog. In the weasel’s eyes, this was already a huge offering.

If she refused, that weasel family probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

Downing the rest of her tea, Xia Qing suited up in her protective gear, opened the security door, and gently lifted the half frog that barely weighed a few ounces. Then she spoke softly to the little brown head peeking out from the sheep shed door, “Balding Weasel, thanks for the half frog. But it’s not enough to cover White Weasel’s medical bill. You’ll have to help me find some herbs.”

After that, she opened her laptop and showed the weasel pictures and videos. “It’s these two kinds of herbs. If you know where to find them, dig them up like in this video, and bring them to me.”

The Balding Weasel twitched its whiskers and stared at Xia Qing with shiny black eyes. The laptop didn’t interest it at all.

Not interested? That wouldn’t do.

Xia Qing simply left the laptop running a looped video on the sheep shed shelf, used both gestures and words to get her point across to the two weasels, then left.

Once she’d walked off, the Balding Weasel inside the box nervously licked its mate, then closed its eyes to rest. Laptop? Can’t eat it, not interested.

The Albino Weasel finally relaxed and poked its snowy little head with round ears out of the box. It stared at the laptop for a while, then mustered up the courage to climb out, circled it a few times, and climbed back in. The pair herded their five pups into the middle, curled around them, and went to sleep.

Leaving the village, Xia Qing spotted Er Gou sunbathing on a big boulder by the entrance. With the temperature at fifteen degrees and clear skies, it was a perfect day for soaking in some rays.

As soon as he saw Xia Qing, Er Gou jumped down, padded over the soft, damp earth, and followed her into the breeding greenhouse.

Xia Qing fed two frog legs to the Black-Feathered Rooster and the White-Feathered Hen in the chicken yard.

Now that it was warming up, the hens would start brooding chicks soon. Xia Qing had stockpiled plenty of eggs, waiting for them to hatch. If all went well, she’d have dozens of Green Lantern Chickens pretty soon.

Both the White-Feathered Hen and Black-Feathered Rooster were evolved breeds—their offspring were sure to be better, tastier, and more capable than any others.

Happy with her work, Xia Qing tossed the last bits of frog meat into the fish tank. She watched the fierce Pure Spring Fish tear into the feast alongside Er Gou and dreamed aloud about the future. “Once it gets warmer, these fish will start spawning. In a few days we’ll dig a couple of ponds. When the eggs hatch, we’ll use Pure Spring Water to raise them in the small pond. After a few months, we’ll have plenty of fish to eat.”

The reason she needed new ponds was that last year, with not enough experience, she’d put the old fish pond too close to the river. Heavy rains broke the levee, and the pond merged with the river.

Er Gou propped his front legs on the edge of the tank and looked up at Xia Qing, grinning.

He could tell Xia Qing was happy, so that made him happy too.

Xia Qing gave him a fond rub and said softly, “Even though we’ve got great water, our fish still don’t taste as good as those in Territory Five. Er, this year let’s try feeding them something tastier.”

Who knew if Er Gou actually understood, but he nudged Xia Qing’s hand, then turned his happy gaze back to the swimming fish.

With the nice weather, Xia Qing also changed and disinfected the water in the aquarium. Once done, Er Gou headed back to the sheep shed to check on the weasels, while Xia Qing went up the high slope to visit Old Goat.

After all the snow melted, the river’s water level had risen a lot. The iron bridge Xia Qing had set up got washed away. She didn’t bother rebuilding it—just leapt over the water herself.

For both Xia Qing and Old Goat, whose stamina had improved, it wasn’t a problem at all—and for Er Gou it was even less of an issue.

Once across, Xia Qing headed for the Lower Slope Greenhouse to check on the Pure Spring Water. Just as she’d hoped, after a month of running dry, the pristine spring had started flowing again.

She pulled out the Lethal Element Detector from her backpack and double-checked the spring’s Devastation Element levels—still so low as to be negligible. It was still Pure Spring Water. Finally, she could relax.

Counting Xia Qing’s, there were three active springs at Hui Three Base still producing Pure Spring Water. The other two would run slower in winter but never completely dry up.

The spring in Xia Qing’s territory was average quality and went dry for a month in winter, but she wasn’t picky. If not for that month’s dry spell coinciding with peak human activity in the safest part of the Evolved Forest, it would’ve been discovered by now and she’d be out of luck.

Now that the spring was flowing again, the whole cave seemed alive once more. Xia Qing filled a cup—half she poured on Devastationweed, half she drank herself. The freshness left her whole body feeling refreshed and comfortable.

She filled another bottle and made her way along the muddy mountain path, up the high slope, and over to Old Goat, who guarded the great Toon Tree. “Chief, have some fresh water.”