Chapter 642: Midnight Gifts and Kitchen Delights

“Er, is this for me?” Xia Qing’s face lit up as she ran out past the iron mesh wall to greet him.

Er Gou dropped the wild boar he’d carried all the way in front of Xia Qing, lifted his bloodstained head, and nudged her gently. Their foreheads touched in silent understanding.

Wrapping her arms around Er Gou’s thick neck, Xia Qing whispered, “Thank you, Er. Don’t share all your jerky with the others, keep some for yourself. If you ever miss me or Old Goat, come back and visit, okay?”

Er Gou nuzzled Xia Qing one more time before turning and running into Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, heading off alongside Crippled Wolf.

Xia Qing waited until their sounds faded away, then hefted the wild boar and carried it back to the territory.

“She’s back!”

Inside the monitoring room on Hill Forty-Nine, Er Yong tapped Liangzi, who was stifling a yawn.

Leaning forward, Liangzi squinted at the screen, his brow furrowing. “That was a wolf just now, right? But why are there two now? That second one without anything on its back—isn’t that the sick wolf from Section Three’s leader?”

“Going by its eyes, that’s gotta be the one. I thought it’d stay in the territory,” Er Yong replied, more interested in what the first wolf was carrying. “Liangzi, look at the shape of the bundle on that one’s back—doesn’t it look like a whole roasted piglet or something?”

As the two leaned in to scrutinize Crippled Wolf’s bundle, Little Five, the tabby cat stretched out on top of a cabinet, leapt down and managed to land right on the intercom button for the camera covering the wolves’ route.

The red slashed microphone on the surveillance feed suddenly turned green. Liangzi realized something had gone wrong and spun to grab Little Five, fumbling to turn off the intercom.

Meanwhile, Er Yong watched on the screen as both Crippled Wolf and Er Gou looked up, their fierce eyes locking onto the camera. A bad feeling hit him. “Liangzi, hurry—”

He didn’t even finish yelling “Turn off the intercom!” before Crippled Wolf’s image surged up on the monitor—then the screen went black.

Er Yong was left staring, speechless.

Liangzi had just caught the cat and switched off the intercom button when he turned and his eyes went wide. “Not good!”

Right as he finished speaking, they watched, helpless, as Er Gou smashed the next camera to bits. This wolf had never acted so aggressively while in Section Three—why did its whole personality flip after leaving?

Did they mix up the wolves somehow?

“You little troublemaker…” Liangzi shook Little Five in frustration.

Twisting nimbly out of Liangzi’s grasp, Little Five leapt back onto the file cabinet and began smoothing his ruffled fur, as if nothing had happened.

Er Yong fretted, “What are we going to do? Both cameras are dead now. If Old Goat hears about this, he’ll definitely make Sister Qing pay double. And with Er Gou gone from Section Three, she’s probably heartbroken right now.”

Seven days slaving away on the farm, just finished planting and barely caught her breath. She raised those Evolved Wolves for almost a year, only for them to run off—and on top of that, she’ll owe extra credits. Xia Qing just can’t catch a break.

Brushing cat hair off his hands, Liangzi muttered, “It was Little Five who made noise and startled the Evolved Wolves. They only whacked the cameras because they sensed danger. So it’s the cat’s fault—and whoever owns the cat should cough up.”

“Exactly!”

While Er Yong imagined Xia Qing moping over her loss, she was actually cheerfully humming a tune and skillfully butchering a pig in her kitchen.

Er Gou really went above and beyond. He knew she was out of meat, so before leaving, he caught her a wild boar that weighed more than 150 pounds.

Devastation Element content: 3.5 per mille, and it glows green—the whole thing over 150 pounds!

All that pork belly, tenderloin, shoulder, head meat, shanks, ribs, hocks, liver, heart, intestines… They all belonged to her now!

The scent of blood escaped from the kitchen and drifted into the sheep shed. The weasel couple lifted their noses, poking their heads out to sniff.

Energized, Xia Qing neatly divided the meat and bones, then scrubbed the intestines spotless. Her freezer, Crippled Wolf’s double-door fridge, and two big insulated bottles in the storage room were all packed to the brim with fresh cuts and bones.

She couldn’t cram the pig’s head in, so she just cleaned it up and tossed it into the big pot—pig’s head stew for tonight!

Old Goat, who never ate meat, just wrinkled his nose at the pungent air and stared at the bustling house full of noisy little brothers, squinting like he was itching for a fight. He didn’t get at all why Xia Qing was so thrilled about the massive green boar.

Scooping up the leftover meat scraps and bone bits, Xia Qing dumped them into the weasels’ little food bowl and walked over to the sheep shed’s doorway.

“Plucked one, are you there? White Weasel, you here? Plucked one…”

When the balding weasel finally scurried down from the haystack to the door, Xia Qing handed over the bowl to share her delight. “Er brought me a Green Lantern Wild Boar. Are you hungry? Want a midnight snack?”

After smelling meat all night, the balding weasel stood tall and gazed hungrily at the food in Xia Qing’s hands.

Having now lived with his family in Section Three for twenty days, the balding weasel wasn’t as scared of Xia Qing as before. Even White Weasel, who hid atop the haystack with her pups, poked out a little snow-white head.

Seeing the longing in their eyes, Xia Qing set the bowl inside the shed and coaxed the weasels gently. “Plucked one, White Weasel, Er has left the territory. No one’s here to help you watch the kids anymore. Take care of your little ones. If you need my help, you can always pick those two herbs and trade with me.”

She pointed at the pictures of medicinal herbs she’d taped to the wall. To be sure they understood what she wanted, Xia Qing played videos of the herbs over and over and printed six color images, plastering them all around the shed. She bombarded the weasels with them every chance she got.

But after twenty days of effort, she still hadn’t gotten any results.

While Xia Qing returned inside to start the pig’s head stew, White Weasel hopped down for a meal. Only once she’d eaten her fill did the balding weasel take his turn at the bowl.

With the stew simmering, Xia Qing took a moment to tidy up the kitchen, disinfected the living room again, and as the rich aroma of meat filled the air, dawn quietly arrived.

Xia Qing, who hadn’t slept all night, bounced over to wake Old Goat. She handed him the little basket Er Gou used to catch bugs, flashing puppy-dog eyes. “Old Goat, Er and Crippled Wolf just left our territory.”

Not a fan of bug hunting, Old Goat ignored the basket and just squinted at Xia Qing.

Before he could protest, Xia Qing put on her best pitch. “Old Goat, catch a basket of bugs to feed the fish and I’ll make you a special blend of toon sprout rations! There’s so much work here; I know you wouldn’t leave me to handle it alone, right?”

Who knows if he actually understood, or was just tired of her nagging, but Old Goat grabbed the basket, shoved open the door, and headed out.

Xia Qing stood at the door and cheered him on. “Work hard, Old Goat! You’re the greatest Evolved Sheep on Blue Star—the pioneer, the one at the very top of the pyramid! I heard Er’s been feeding the fish crickets and grasshoppers instead lately. Don’t you go the easy route—snag a few big centipedes…”