Chapter 8: Buffer Zone Tensions

“Captain Zhong, don’t shoot, it’s me—Zhao Ze from Plot Four!”

Tall and lanky, Zhao Ze dashed over, bracing himself against the truck to catch his breath. “Captain Zhong, one of us got bitten by a venomous snake. Did you bring the antivenom?”

“I brought it. Where’s the injured person?” Zhong Tao gave Xia Qing a nod, then quickly led Zheng Kui and Zhao Ze to save him.

Plot Four lay just east of Plot Three with a wide buffer forest between. In spring, with everything waking up, it’s no surprise snakes crawled out. But trouble comes if it’s a venomous one that bites.

A little after three in the afternoon, Xia Qing received a text from Zhong Tao:

“An evolver viper killed someone from Plot Four. The base decided to sweep the buffer forest again. Captain Tan Junjie will lead teams to check Plots 1 to 10. Don’t worry, it’s all our people.”

With disasters these years, folks got killed by evolved creatures every day. What weighed on Xia Qing’s mind more was tomorrow’s forest inspection.

She had to find a way to keep people from discovering the spring, and grab that sheep before the inspection team arrived. If the sheep ran outside her territory and got caught, it wouldn’t be her business anymore.

When she climbed the mountain, Xia Qing saw the rocks blocking the cave entrance hadn’t been moved, and there weren’t any new hoofprints on the ground. She set her bucket in place to collect water, then left to track the sheep by following its hoofprints instead of waiting in the cave.

Xia Qing soon discovered the sheep had left her buffer forest and slipped through the barrier into the evolver woods.

The untamed evolver forest was even more dangerous. There was no way she’d catch the sheep today—she could only try again in the morning.

The next morning, Xia Qing was back on the mountain and still hadn’t cornered the sheep when she got a call from Tan Junjie.

The hazard team had started moving out and would reach Plot Three around ten. They asked if she’d found any evolver vipers or other dangerous creatures in her territory.

“There were three evolver vipers. I killed them all myself. No signs of anything else dangerous at the moment,” Xia Qing answered.

After hanging up, she killed two more snakes but still didn’t spot the sheep. With no choice, she sealed up the cave, grabbed her machete and slingshot, then headed for the barrier at the western edge of the buffer to wait for the inspection team.

Before the team even arrived, Xia Qing heard shouting coming from the direction of Plot Two. She listened in. Turned out, people from Plot Two had heard about the fatal snakebite and wanted the inspection team to search their area as well. The team explained their job today was to patrol the barrier and buffer forest, not the farmland.

Plot Two’s folks weren’t having it. Arguments erupted.

This patch of woods curled in a fallen S shape. Plot One sat on the southern bend of a rolling U-shaped slope, with fields and buffer forest just like Plot Three. Plot Two was east of Plot One and made up entirely of farmland.

Plots Three, Four, and Five stretched along the southern edge of an N-shaped bend, with both buffer forest and farmland inside their territories.

So, all things considered, Plot Two was safer than Plots One, Three, Four, or Five. That’s why the person who’d sent Xia Qing those two messages recommended Plot Two.

Tang Lu was the lord of Plot Two, but she would never show up to farm herself. The one arguing with the inspection team was someone sent by the Tang family. The Tang family had always been high and mighty back in Hui San Base, so they looked down on the little inspection squad.

Xia Qing stood quietly and listened, curious how Captain Tan would handle the situation.

“I’m on official duty! If you don’t get out of the way, I’ll have to treat it as obstruction of the law!” Tan Junjie’s voice thundered, followed by the sound of bullets being chambered. That got a smile out of Xia Qing.

Tan Junjie stuck to his principles and followed orders to the letter. That worked in Xia Qing’s favor.

Her mood lightened even more when she spotted seven soldiers in camo protective suits approaching, green badges displayed on their chests.

A team of seven evolvers—plenty tough!

“Captain, look ahead! There’s a girl standing there with a green badge. She has to be Xia Qing from Plot Three. Grade Four Strength Evolver, age twenty-five, single!”

“Shut it!” Tan Junjie growled. “All of you, act like professionals.”

“Yes, sir!” the other six replied in unison.

With this distance, anyone without enhanced hearing wouldn’t catch the exchange, so Xia Qing just stood there and pretended she hadn’t heard a thing.

Tan Junjie led the team up to Xia Qing, pulled off his protective mask and gave her a salute. “Hazard Inspection Team Six, Captain Tan Junjie.”

After checking his credentials, Xia Qing volunteered. “Captain Tan, I’m Xia Qing from Plot Three. Grade Four Strength Evolver. I’ve worked six evolver forest cleanup missions outside the Safe Zone. Requesting permission to join you for the buffer forest and barrier inspection in Plot Three.”

Those cleanup missions had been running for three months, each assignment lasting ten days. Sixty days on those jobs and Xia Qing was still in one piece. Even if she’d started as a junior Strength Evolver only responsible for hauling and disinfecting, she clearly had a knack for handling danger. Plus, she wanted to patrol her own land. Tan Junjie couldn’t refuse. “Stick close, right behind me.”

“Yes, sir.” As they walked, Xia Qing briefed them on the buffer forest. “I checked the north slope twice, killed five snakes, didn’t spot any other threats. The west side of this mountain hasn’t been checked yet.”

Among the fifty lords in the northern sector, Xia Qing was not only the strongest but also ran into danger the most. The stronger you were, the more confident you’d get and the greater the urge to explore—meaning trouble found you first.

Tan Junjie cautioned her to be careful. “Temperatures are rising and hibernating animals are waking up. Stay in the farmland as much as possible. If you get bitten, call me or Zhong Tao right away—we’ll send someone with antivenom immediately.”

“Understood. Thanks, Captain Tan.” Xia Qing answered honestly, taking her own protective mask out of her basket and putting it on. She didn’t really think it was necessary, but since the team all wore theirs, she didn’t want to look like she was making exceptions.

Once they entered the buffer forest, a team member cried out and pointed down the slope. “Miss Xia, that whole stretch by the reservoir—did you turn all that dirt over by yourself?”

Xia Qing recognized the one who’d called her “girl” earlier. “Just call me Xia Qing. I’m a Strength Evolver. All I have is some brute force, so yeah, heavy work is what I’m best at.”

That team member introduced himself too. “Sister Xia Qing, I’m Su Ming, Grade Three Visual Evolver. You tilled the land so well. Did you farm before the disaster?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “I grew up on the outskirts of the city. My family just had a little vegetable patch, nothing serious. But I’ve worked the planting zones in the Safe Zone these past few years, so I picked things up along the way.”

“Nine o’clock direction, forty-five meters out, something’s moving. Probably a snake or a lizard.” The team’s hearing evolver warned everyone to be alert.

Tan Junjie responded at once. “On guard! Xia Qing, behind me! Numbers Three, Four, Five—check it out.”

Xia Qing moved another step behind Tan Junjie, watching as Su Ming and two others headed off at nine o’clock. After a few rustles, the three soon returned, carrying a patterned snake over a meter long.

Su Ming grinned as he handed the snake to Xia Qing. “Sister Xia, it’s a grass snake.”

Xia Qing started to refuse but Tan Junjie laid out the rule. “All resources found in a territory belong to its lord.”

Xia Qing didn’t argue further and dropped the snake into her basket.

By the time they finished sweeping the western buffer, the team had caught six snakes and two evolver venom centipedes as long as a forearm. Just looking at those evolver centipedes made Xia Qing’s scalp crawl.

Once they moved into the northern buffer forest that Xia Qing had already checked twice, the team found no dangerous creatures and said their goodbyes, heading off for Plot Four.

Holding her basket, Xia Qing called after Tan Junjie. “Captain Tan, can I trade some of this meat for your seeds?”