Chapter 74: Red Xiang Rain, Mouse Invasion and the Lucky Sheep

Xia Qing coaxed gently, “It’s the most dangerous red Xiang Rain right now. The plants outside could start attacking at any moment if they undergo Xiang Evolution, so we can’t take off our protective masks. Let’s wait for the rain to stop before we eat, okay?”

After speaking, Xia Qing took out a small piece of compressed rations to distract Boss Sheep.

Boss Sheep immediately forgot about the evolved perilla and trotted over to Xia Qing. “Baa—”

Boss Sheep’s whiny voice came through the headset, making Xia Qing grit her teeth and resist the urge to turn this fat sheep into lamb chops. She stuffed the compressed biscuit into Boss Sheep’s suit pocket and kept walking uphill with it in tow.

When they passed the alfalfa, Boss Sheep tried to stop again. Xia Qing was out of patience and yanked its horns, forcing it forward into the terraced fields of Green Light Pumpkin.

Thankfully, none of the five pumpkin plants had undergone Xiang Evolution. Farther up were fields of green onion, ginger, garlic and chives—still nothing evolved. Another stroke of luck. Then came three terraced fields of peanut, all safe. She was endlessly grateful.

Afterward, Xia Qing turned back to the field below the peanuts, where a hundred sweet potato vine cuttings were growing. She had to clear twelve seedlings that had evolved, and once again it was only those along the edges of the shelter that were affected.

Once she’d reinforced the drains outside the shelter, Xia Qing headed back to the cabin with Boss Sheep in tow.

She sealed the doors and windows, pulled out the air tester and only when she confirmed the air was clean did she finally remove her own and Boss Sheep’s protective masks. She praised Boss Sheep thoroughly, then took the bit of ration from its pocket, crushed it, and mixed it into its feed.

While Boss Sheep munched on feed, Xia Qing chewed on a compressed ration to stave off hunger and replied to Luo Pei, Hu Zifeng and Sun Zhe, letting them know she was safe. It was just past 3 p.m., and the red-level Xiang Rain had finally stopped.

Xia Qing set an alarm for thirty minutes. She needed to recharge—there was more Xiang Rain to face soon.

The walkie-talkie was quiet. Like her, the lords of Plots Three, Four and Five were all grabbing what rest they could.

Xia Qing reminded Boss Sheep, “Boss, I’m tired—I need a nap. Watch the window for me. If anything looks wrong, wake me up right away.”

Judging by how Boss Sheep behaved around the evolved pumpkin vine, Xia Qing was certain this gluttonous sheep had a real sense for judging how dangerous evolved plants were.

No wonder this one sheep had managed to survive in Evolver Forest for so long.

After finishing its feed, Boss Sheep trotted to Xia Qing’s bedside and watched her for a while before turning to stare out the window, chewing silently.

When Xia Qing’s alarm woke her, Boss Sheep hadn’t budged from sentry duty at the window. She rubbed its head and said, “Thanks, Boss. I’m rested up now. I’m off to check the rain shelters again—are you coming?”

With Boss Sheep’s ability to sense danger from evolved plants, taking it along was like having a living warning system.

Boss Sheep shot a look at the protective mask, making it clear it wanted to go too. After all, patrol meant tasty rewards.

The two suited up in protective gear and, during the second patrol round, cleared more than twenty evolved crops.

Then came the third round; and then the fourth.

By dusk, the rain had stopped. A beam of sunlight shot out in the west and, as if clocking out after a long day, the hidden sun finally revealed itself.

With the sun out, it shouldn’t rain again for at least two hours.

Seizing this last light, Xia Qing climbed onto the cabin roof, senses alert, and checked the buffer forest inside Territory Three. She saw no sign of any big trees having evolved, so she headed home with Boss Sheep.

The path home was still covered in Xiang Grass up to her knees, but compared to the first Xiang Rain two months ago, there were fewer now. That made sense—the roots and seeds in the soil had been mostly cleared away last time.

Wearing thick gloves made from rain tarps, Xia Qing pulled up Xiang Grass as she walked, stuffing it into the two huge baskets Boss Sheep carried. She didn’t stop until they reached the small rain shelters.

Here were two patches of Red Light Peanut. Even though the fruit of Red Light plants can’t be eaten, Xia Qing was still curious if they’d flower and bear nuts, so she’d set up a couple small five- or six-square-meter shelters for them.

Lifting the tarp, Xia Qing found that almost a quarter of the Red Light Peanuts had mutated. Unfortunately, all evolution had done was make the leaves grow wild—no flowers. After making sure the evolved peanuts weren’t dangerous, she cleared them and stuffed them in Boss Sheep’s basket and continued toward home.

By the time Xia Qing and Boss Sheep returned to a yard full of Xiang Grass, all her tension finally melted away.

“Damn!”

She barely had time to feel relieved before cursing out loud—she’d spotted four evolved rats chewing on the rain tarp covering her solar panels!

When the rats saw her, they didn’t flee. Instead, they flashed those big, white, menacing teeth right at her, practically taunting her.

Mess with my house? You’re dead meat!

With a practiced motion, Xia Qing pulled out her handgun, taking aim at the biggest, cockiest rat—almost as big as a goose—perched atop the solar panel.

“Pfft!”

With the suppressor on, the gun didn’t sound loud, but it was more than enough to blow the rat’s head to pieces.

The giant evolved rat was dead before it even fell off the panel. As its body hit the ground, Xia Qing fired again and again—each shot taking down another rat.

Facing off against such large evolved rats at close range, her ninefold vision didn’t let a single bullet go to waste. The last rat, seeing its friends dead, made a dash for the north.

North—that’s where the farmland was!

“Boss, hold the fort—I’ll go hunt the rats.” Xia Qing raced after the fleeing rodent. She wasn’t as fast, but as long as it was still within her field of view, she could still shoot.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!”

Five shots rang out from the submachine pistol, unsuppressed. It took four wasted bullets to finally put down the last evolved rat. Xia Qing shoved its body into a vacuum bag to mask the bloody smell and hurried home.

Skipping even a look at the solar panels, Xia Qing cleaned up, spraying deodorizer everywhere—she wasn’t about to let the scent of blood attract any other evolved creatures.

Once everything was spotless, she finally checked her panels. Four of them had half a panel chewed through. The wires under the steel pipes were fully exposed.

Good thing she’d come home in time—or the rats would’ve gotten inside via the wiring hole. Xia Qing did a full sweep of the cabin just to be sure.

Having completely renovated the house, it was clean and tidy. Xia Qing confirmed that no rats had broken in and pressed the walkie-talkie. “Attention everyone, four rodent-type evolved rats entered Plot Three—each one about as big as a grown goose. They chewed up half a solar panel.”

Hardly had she finished when the channel filled with static. Tang Huai from Territory Two cursed, “We’ve got over fifty of the same evolved rats here in Territory Two!”

Zhao Ze panicked. “Xia Qing, where exactly did you spot your evolved rats? Are they close to Territory Four?”

Xia Qing pressed the button. “In the village, about a kilometer from Territory Four.”

A kilometer was too close for comfort. Zhao Ze blurted, “I’ll have my team patrol at once!”

Tan Junjie’s voice came next. “Evolved rodents are a huge threat. We have to eliminate them ASAP. The Inspection Team requests permission to enter Plots Two and Three to help clear the rats.”

Tang Huai refused. “Plot Two can clear them—we don’t need help.”

“Plot Three grants permission,” Xia Qing answered.

Zhao Ze chimed in, “Captain Tan, could you check whether any evolved rats have entered Territory Four as well?”

“Copy that. We’ll clear Plot Three first, then head to Territory Four. If you can’t eliminate all evolved rats from Plot Two within half an hour, the Inspection Team will request authorization from the Territory Management Agency under Article 13 of the Territory Act for a forced entry and extermination.” Tan Junjie replied calmly. After that, the channel went dead silent.

Hu Zifeng from Plot One spoke up. “A bunch of rats just ran from Plot Two into Plot One—Plot One is busy exterminating rats. Tang Huai, you’d better hope we don’t cross paths!”