Chapter 813: Bamboo Groves and Unexpected Encounters

What now?

Whatever the reason is, as long as there are evolved animals here that refuse to retreat and don’t attack humans first, Xia Qing and Xin Yu can’t move forward.

Staying calm, Xia Qing gave her orders. “Fall back. Let’s find another bamboo grove for shoots, it’s about three kilometers away so we’ll get there quickly.”

“Got it.”

Xia Qing was the team leader, so Xin Yu followed her lead. “Does that bamboo grove have Green Lantern Bamboo?”

A couple of days ago, Xin Yu had used her tamed bird to scout this mountain area from above. She already knew where the grove Xia Qing mentioned was. It was pretty close to Crocodile Lake.

Maybe it was hearing about Xia Qing wrestling with a crocodile, but Xin Yu didn’t seem so afraid of them anymore.

“I’ve never gone looking there before,” Xia Qing replied, “so let’s give it a shot and see if we’re lucky.”

Xia Qing took Idol’s white sugar and had promised to make shredded bamboo shoots for her. So she had to find Green Lantern shoots. If there weren’t any in that grove, she’d need to trade with the Azure Dragon Squad.

Within the Hill Forty-Nine area, there was a bamboo grove where Xia Qing and Hu Zifeng dug for shoots last year. That’s where the Green Lantern shoots grew.

According to the deal Xia Qing made with Yang Jin back then, she had first dibs on any Green Lantern food found on Hill Forty-Nine. But she wasn’t buying today, not a chance. Yang Jin hadn’t even left yet, and Xia Qing had just taken a hefty compensation from him. If she tried to buy shoots from him now, he’d definitely hike the price.

Hmm?

A few hundred meters from the bamboo grove, Xia Qing tilted her head. She thought she heard… a wolf walking through the trees. From the sound, it had to be Er!

But this wasn’t the usual path from Hill Sixty to Section Three. What was Er doing here?

Could it be another wolf?

“There’s a large predator up ahead. It doesn’t seem hostile, but it’s powerful.” Xin Yu gave a warning. “It’s crocodile egg hatching season right now. The area up ahead is probably where they lay eggs, so there could be mother crocs guarding their nests.”

When the baby crocodiles are about to hatch, they start screeching. Mother crocs dig out the eggs at the sound, help the babies crack their shells and then carry them to the shallows. During this time, mother crocs are extremely aggressive.

“Alright, let’s take a detour.” Xia Qing didn’t know which wolf it was, so she led Xin Yu in another direction. Even though they were using walkie-talkies while wearing protective masks, talking in hushed voices, Xia Qing was sure that if this was Er, he’d recognize her voice. His ears were just that sharp.

“It’s coming. Speeding up. Doesn’t seem hostile, though.” Even knowing the animal didn’t want to attack, Xin Yu still sounded tense.

She hadn’t brought her tamed bird today, so she couldn’t identify the species or drop explosives from above. That left her feeling exposed.

Xia Qing was nothing like Xin Yu. Her eyes sparkled. “From the way the plants are shaking, it’s not a crocodile. Looks like either a wolf or a leopard.”

A wolf or a leopard…

Xin Yu loosened her grip on the knife a bit.

Soon, a tawny evolved wolf poked its head out from the thick grass of the Evolved Forest about twenty meters away, holding two skinny crocodile hatchlings in its mouth. Its clear, rusty-iron eyes focused on Xia Qing.

“Er!”

Telling Xin Yu to wait, Xia Qing sprinted over to the wolfdog, thrilled to see Er show up out of nowhere. “Er, what are you doing here? Where’s your protective suit?”

Er glanced over to where Xin Yu stood in the distance, then dropped the two little crocodiles in front of Xia Qing.

“Are these for me?”

Once Xia Qing took the crocodiles, Er stretched his mouth into a big grin at her. He really couldn’t be any cuter.

Xia Qing rubbed the wolf’s damp head and proposed, “I’ve never eaten young croc before, so I guess I’m in for a treat today. Thanks, Er. How about we go back to Section Three and cook them together? Maybe add some egg and pumpkin to the pot.”

Feeling the shared excitement from Xia Qing and this blood-fanged evolved wolf, then hearing their conversation, Xin Yu found herself

completely rethinking what she knew about evolved wolves.

She already knew that this was the nearly-dead sick wolf Xia Qing saved last year. She also knew the wolf was close to Xia Qing. What she hadn’t realized was just how close they’d become.

After confirming Er wanted to go back to Section Three but refused to team up with anyone but her, Xia Qing sent him on ahead.

“Old Goat is already in the territory. You go back first, I’ll catch up later this afternoon. Whatever you do, avoid that bamboo grove ahead—there are advanced evolved foxes in there…”

Foxes are smaller than evolved wolves, but those two are advanced evolutionaries. Er might not be able to take them.

Xia Qing repeated her warning twice, convinced Er understood that he’d face danger if he followed their path through the grove. Only then did she let him leave. Xia Qing regrouped with Xin Yu and they pressed on toward the bamboo grove.

“Grrr-grrr.” When they reached the edge of the bamboo grove, Xia Qing picked up a low, gravelly sound like something scraping—coming from a crocodile.

Crocodiles lack vocal cords, but when they push air from their lungs they can make a whole range of sounds. This grumbling meant a croc had sensed an intruder in its territory and was growling—a warning to keep others away.

No doubt about it, the croc had found out its babies had been snatched by a wolf and was furious.

Heading in for bamboo shoots now would almost guarantee they’d be chased by a crocodile.

Xia Qing led Xin Yu up to higher ground and watched from a distance. Inside the grove, she spotted a Green Lantern Bamboo at least eight or nine meters tall!

How did she know it was Green Lantern? Because an angry four-meter-long baby crocodile had just snapped a shoot, and the bamboo retaliated by firing out a volley of bamboo-leaf darts.

Those darts couldn’t pierce the thick-skinned mother crocodile, but they dealt fatal blows to two of the little hatchlings. Snarling with rage, the mother picked up the two hatchlings and started dragging herself back to the lake.

In a whisper, Xia Qing told Xin Yu, “This spot’s too high for crocodiles. Stay here and don’t go down. I’ll go dig some shoots.”

Xin Yu nodded. “Watch for those bamboo darts, and be careful of the croc. It’s angrier than ever right now.”

Xia Qing could see for herself how furious that croc was. She moved as quickly as she could, scooping up the broken shoots the croc had knocked off. Popping open her iron umbrella, she dug at the half-buried shoot with her hoe, then dodged bamboo dart attacks. Once she figured out which way the roots ran, she locked onto two more shoots and confirmed none of these bamboos were the aggressive Devastation Evolution type.

“The mother croc is coming back.”

At Xin Yu’s warning, Xia Qing bolted from the grove, scrambling back to the rocks to hide with Xin Yu.

Picking up the scent of other creatures, the mother croc let out another furious roar. After Xia Qing and Xin Yu waited quietly for over twenty minutes, two more hatchlings screamed as they broke out of their eggs. Once the mother croc had gathered them up and left, Xia Qing dashed back down and dug up a large and a small bamboo shoot. She was just about to keep searching when Xin Yu called out, “Hurry up, get back! A giant croc’s coming!”

Xia Qing rushed back to the rocks just in time to spot a massive crocodile, at least twelve meters long, lumbering into the grove.

Meanwhile, as Er passed through the Evolved Forest, he crossed paths with a red fox.