Chapter 623: The Sudden Arrival of Devastation Rain

“Attention all lords, attention please. The meteorological station issues an emergency notice: the year’s first Devastation Rain will arrive two days earlier than expected—possibly this afternoon. Forecast: it will last at least fifty-two hours, with no fewer than two waves of red Devastation Rain. All lords, please acknowledge upon receipt.”

Xia Qing paused mid-message, lifting her gaze to the cloudless sky overhead.

“Territory One, acknowledged,” Hu Zifeng replied.

From the border of Territory Two, Tang Huai’s voice rang out with barely hidden pride. “Tang Huai, acting agent for Territory Two, acknowledged.”

Xia Qing quickly followed up behind Tang Huai, pressing the walkie-talkie button. “Section Three, acknowledged.”

After sending her reply, Xia Qing ignored the bickering between Hu Zifeng and Tang Huai, and immediately contacted Yue Haiying, who was stationed at the Bear Cave. Since the Devastation Rain would arrive two days early, the Yi Stone, which was scheduled for delivery tomorrow to protect Hidden Valley’s crops, needed to be rushed over right now.

When Xiao Jiang and Da Jiang from Hu Zifeng’s squad arrived at the north gate of Section Three, they called out, “Sister Qing, any more jobs left to do in the territory?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “Everything’s done—go ahead and rest. I’ll be back before noon for sure.”

With Xia Qing gone, Guan Tong entered her territory, gazing at the five newly-built greenhouses—all lined up and equipped with drainage ditches—then looked to the newly tilled high slope, ready for another greenhouse.

Xiao Jiang let out a sigh. “Sister Qing is seriously amazing.”

If only Old Goat and Er Gou could talk, Xia Qing wouldn’t have even needed these two to help keep watch over the territory.

The tireless Xia Qing hopped over the foundation trench for the iron mesh wall at the Northern Barrier and plunged straight into Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, racing north along the Valley One route.

Back when Xia Qing led the Alliance members to the Third Peak of Hill Fifty, they’d set out from the northeast exit of Territory Seven, following the valley north. Now, pressed for time with delivering the Yi Stone and getting back to prepare for the Devastation Rain, she was cutting across the shortcut.

By the pond a short way outside the wolf den in Section Three, two massive wild boars snuffled the earth for food, trailed by a pack of a dozen striped piglets.

The sight was almost identical to what Xia Qing had found not long after entering her territory last year when she first came across piglets out in the Evolved Forest, though her mood was completely different now.

Last year she’d been wide-eyed and ecstatic at the thought of a bunch of piglets; this time, seeing them made her want to snap a photo and send it to Alpha and Crippled Wolf and let them know: the wild boar have bred—time for a feast.

Back then, it was pure ignorance and fearlessness that spurred her to try catching wild boar. Luckily, she’d traded all of them to Tan Junjie—otherwise, when Alpha came hunting pigs, he wouldn’t have just wiped out the Wild Boar Breeding Center stock. He might have pushed into her territory, slaughtered her domesticated pigs, and held a grudge against her afterward.

When Xia Qing appeared, the two big wild boars in the valley only grunted a few times and didn’t bother fleeing with their piglets. After all, she’d spent most of the past winter showing up in this area—never once harming the boars. She was either training on the mountain or, more often, collecting pig manure…

Following her own well-worn trail towards the northeast, Xia Qing sprinted on. Almost out of Section Three, she paused and looked down the hillside at a patch of bare chestnut trees.

The chestnut trees hadn’t sprouted yet, but the snow beneath them had already melted, revealing dead leaves and the first sparse shoots of grass. On close inspection, there wasn’t a single spot of earth overturned by wild boar.

Just as she suspected: thick-skinned wild boars hadn’t set hoof in the chestnut grove, since this was claimed by the colony of evolved hornets nesting in the rock crevices.

Ready to run again, Xia Qing glanced up at a tall tree not far outside the chestnut grove, where a flash of fiery red fur marked the presence of the Red Squirrel.

Ever since it had stolen the wild frog meat Balder Weasel left as a gift for Xia Qing—and then got chased away by her after she broke a tree—it hadn’t dared sneak onto her windowsill for water or food again.

Clearly, the Red Squirrel was waiting here, hoping to grab some of last winter’s chestnuts from beneath the trees while the hornets weren’t paying attention. Since it was trying not to get noticed, Xia Qing pretended she hadn’t seen it and jogged on by.

The Red Squirrel clung to the tree trunk, poking its little head out to follow Xia Qing’s receding figure, then darted after her.

“Boss, Sister Qing’s on her way,” said Chen Cheng in the monitoring room atop the hill after spotting Xia Qing on the surveillance feed, nudging Hu Zifeng—who was halfheartedly arguing with Tang Huai—to take a look.

Hu Zifeng had already gotten Xia Qing’s report and knew she was going to check on the Third Peak of Hill Fifty. So he just glanced at the screen, scooped up the tabby cat Little Five from in front of the feed, and kept petting it while still taking verbal shots at Tang Huai. “Frogs like to dig for bugs and eat bugs, too!”

Little Five wriggled free from Hu Zifeng’s grip and went right back to watching the screen.

Chen Cheng made a move to stroke the cat, but Little Five slipped away in a flash. Chen Cheng just laughed. “You really like Sister Qing, don’t you, Little Five? How about I take you over to Section Three to play one day?”

Moments after Xia Qing had passed, a flash of fiery red streaked across the screen. Little Five’s slit pupils instantly widened to full circles, then he leaped off the table and bolted outside.

“Little Five!” Hu Zifeng’s cat had scrambled off; there was no way he could keep bantering with Tang Huai now. He dashed out to chase after it.

As Xia Qing sprinted through Section Six, she caught the rustle of small animals darting through the thick grass.

Knowing this area was under surveillance, Xia Qing acted like she hadn’t heard a thing, not wanting to expose her Evolved Hearing. But when she saw a graceful tabby cat with white boots leap out of the grass, she froze on the spot.

Li…ttle Five?!

A whole year. I finally—finally!—see a real cat again!

Xia Qing fumbled desperately in her pockets. No jerky, of course. She could have slapped herself. She stretched a hand out, “Kit…”

Before she could even finish, Little Five shot straight past her, the brown-gray figure marked with fishbone stripes vanishing into the underbrush.

Kit. Xia Qing shut her mouth and took off running again.

“Squeak—”

Hearing the familiar startled cry somewhere behind her, Xia Qing slowed for a beat, but then pushed forward again.

The Red Squirrel that had been up in the chestnut grove was probably tailing her. Little Five’s sudden appearance must have scared it silly. But honestly, with that Red Squirrel’s Speed Evolution, Little Five had no chance of catching it at that pace.

So the Red Squirrel squeaked once, then fell silent—nothing to worry about.

With one breath, Xia Qing made it out of Section Six of Hill Forty-Nine, crossed the valley, and when she reached the base of the Third Peak on Hill Fifty, she waved at the solar-powered camera perched on a rock.

All of Hill Forty-Nine’s surveillance—except near the Bear Cave—had already been integrated into the monitoring room at Territory Seven. Which meant they were in charge. When the camera beeped, Yan Long stood in the monitoring room, face expressionless, still lifting dumbbells straight out to the sides. At the desk, Huo Zhun smiled, still engrossed in messaging his dad.

Xia Qing followed Yue Haiying through the tunnel in the Bear Cave and entered the Hidden Valley. Breathing in the sight of lush rice seedlings in the fields, she finally felt herself relax.