Chapter 616: Spring Preparations and Territory Quietude

“Sister Qing.” Yu Shou greeted Xia Qing first.

“Sister Qing.”

Zhang Hongda, who was walking beside Yue Haiying, joined in with a respectful bow toward Xia Qing.

He couldn’t reveal his true identity or salute in a military manner, so a bow was his way of showing gratitude.

Zhang Hongda had suffered extensive skin damage from poisoning. Every movement was sluggish and weak, his voice barely audible. It looked like once they left the territory, Yu Shou would have to carry him.

Worried about distant surveillance, Xia Qing simply nodded to him before handing the seeds over to Yue Haiying. She gave her routine instructions: “Check the danger zone carefully with binoculars every two hours. Report any unusual activity right away. And always wear your protective suit when leaving Bear Cave.”

“Understood.” Yue Haiying stuffed the seeds into his bag.

The Hidden Valley had ideal conditions. The leaders of the Alliance weren’t just raising rice and sweet potato seedlings there—each territory reserved space for their own Green Lantern vegetable seedlings too. The bag of seeds Xia Qing gave Yue Haiying was for him to help her start vegetable sprouts in the valley.

Once those seedlings made it through the Devastation Rain period safely and were transplanted back home, their spring vegetables would hit the market ten days before other territories could. That meant a better price.

And it wasn’t just these Green Lantern vegetable seedlings. After the Base distributed High-Evolution Green Lantern Spinach Seeds, the Alliance’s leaders planned to plant some of those in the valley too.

Even though the valley soil didn’t have High Evolution Element, the spinach would be protected by Yi Stone during Devastation Rain. That would stop Devastation Element from lowering their quality.

After watching the trio slowly disappear into the distance, Xia Qing returned to her territory, ate two strawberries to clear her mind, then grabbed her shovel and basket and set out to clear new fields.

Once the first Devastation Rain passed, her plan was to plant two mu of Yellow Lantern Rice, half a mu of Green Lantern Rice, one mu of Green Lantern Wheat, half a mu each of Green Lantern Soybean, Green Lantern Corn, Green Lantern Mung Beans, Green Lantern Cotton, and half a mu of Yellow Lantern Sunflower—a total of six mu.

Last year, Xia Qing had managed to reclaim five mu of farmland, 1.7 mu of terraced hillside, and two mu of greenhouse.

Even though crops grew thin and sparse, the two mu of Yellow Lantern Wheat and one mu of Yellow Lantern Rapeseed still took up space. She also had half a mu of Green Lantern Wheat growing. That left only 1.5 mu of empty farmland, so she needed to clear at least 4.5 mu more in the coming days.

In disaster years, growing crops meant not only fighting off mutated pests but also bracing for the Devastation Rain. That meant she had to build greenhouses, cover them with insect nets and rain covers.

Within the territory, every simple greenhouse covered just one mu. To keep things neat, Xia Qing decided to prepare five mu total.

For Xia Qing, the lord with a Strength-evolved Evolved Sheep, reclaiming five mu of land was no sweat.

But building five greenhouses—digging holes, setting up arched supports, fastening crossbeams, and covering everything with nets and rainproof fabric—was a lot for one woman with just two hands. It would take several days.

Still, Xia Qing wasn’t in any rush.

These days her main focus was to regain emotional balance after the Toon Tree’s volatile vapors, collect Evolutionary Synthetic Element gas, and keep an eye on Old Goat. Clearing new fields and setting up greenhouses fit right into her schedule.

Xia Qing genuinely loved farm work for the sense of accomplishment it gave her. Every barren patch she reclaimed became a place where she could sow hope and watch it grow into food.

This morning, she set out to clear rocks and weeds from her designated plot and level the ground, splitting up the land while she was at it. By afternoon, Old Goat would be harnessed to help her turn the soil.

Xia Qing had always approached farming with dedication and diligence. Whenever she had spare time, she’d weed and clear rocks from the uncultivated land. Now, all she needed to do was clear last autumn’s withered weeds that got buried under snow, picking up small stones as she went.

Right now it was a mild fifteen degrees, neither hot nor cold. The rush of water, warbling birdsong, and clucking chickens created a natural symphony that lifted her mood and fueled her energy.

She’d only been working for about an hour when Er Gou showed up to lend a paw after feeding the fish. Ordinary farm chores were no problem for him; he pulled weeds with his mouth, dug up saplings with his claws, and even picked up stones.

After the two had been busy for a while, Old Goat wandered over from the greenhouse, well-fed and content. He lounged under a tree, munching cud and watching his friends work.

Plenty of birds flew down to the cleared patch, digging through upturned soil for worms and bugs.

So Xia Qing just let the chickens roam free from the greenhouse, letting them scratch around for bugs. The territory was fenced in, so there was no chance they’d run off.

Xia Qing kept eighteen chickens now—one rooster and ten hens of her own, and seven more that Zhang San was housing with her. The chickens Zhang San had placed in Section Three rarely survived longer than two months—Da Ya would snatch and butcher them. These seven were brought over just last month.

The glossy Black-Feathered Rooster was still the boss of the flock, leading with his head held high. He scratched at the soil with sharp black talons, hunting for bugs. If any bird swooped down to steal food, he’d flare out his neck feathers and charge in, wings flapping for a fight.

Xia Qing had Er Gou keep watch for Balding Weasel so he wouldn’t sneak in and steal a chicken, while she kept one eye on the sky.

Half an hour later, an eagle began circling high above Section Three. As it started its descent, lining up for a dive at the chickens, Xia Qing whipped out her slingshot and fired a steel pellet.

“Screee—”

Startled, the eagle gave a sharp cry and beat its wings hard, fleeing the territory as a few feathers fluttered to the ground.

“Cluck cluck cluck!”

At once, the Black-Feathered Rooster sounded a hurried warning, leading the flock to hide in the tall weeds while the wild birds scattered in a panic.

Once Xia Qing confirmed the eagle was gone, both birds and chickens returned to the cleared patch to keep hunting bugs.

She put away her slingshot and went back to clearing weeds. Even though her aim with a slingshot wasn’t quite as good as with a gun, hitting a target as big as an eagle was no problem.

Eagles hunted for survival, and after befriending bird-keepers, Xia Qing had grown a bit more tolerant toward wild birds.

If a raptor tried to hunt her chickens, Xia Qing would first try to scare it off with stones or her slingshot. If it wouldn’t take the hint—either too bold or already corrupted by Devastation Evolution—then she’d have to resort to harsher measures.

While Xia Qing became more tolerant of birds, other predators had no such mercy.

Before long, Balding Weasel—drawn by all the commotion—crept over and lurked in the tall grass nearby.

Xia Qing didn’t chase him away. Since Er Gou, who had already spotted the weasel, made no move to stop him, she figured he wasn’t after her chickens but hunting birds instead.

Within ten minutes, Balding Weasel had snatched up two beautiful songbirds.

A few minutes later, Xia Qing received a feather-plucked bird from Balding Weasel as a gift.