Chapter 830: Bargaining With Weasels and the Pursuit of Rare Herbs

“Yes.”

Xia Qing quickly pulled off her gloves and rolled up the sleeve of her protective suit, revealing an arm several shades paler than her face. She let Idol draw a vial of her blood. Even if she trusted Fire Phoenix not to poison her, having Idol run a check brought peace of mind.

Idol probably felt the same way. Otherwise, he would’ve called her over for a checkup as soon as Fire Phoenix left.

Zhang San brought the blood sample into the lab and, a dozen minutes later, came out and dropped a test report on the table. “No poison. Your Evolution Element is up by 0.1 point. Not bad.”

“Thanks, Third Brother.”

Xia Qing scanned the report Idol tossed onto the table, eyes landing on the lines: “Yi Element Content 6.6, Devastation Element 12 per mille.”

Compared to last autumn, her Evolution Element had gone up by 0.1 point, while the Devastation Element hadn’t budged. Sure, these numbers were still miles away from an Advanced Evolutionary like the Alpha, but Xia Qing was more than satisfied.

After the battle with the Fire Phoenix Trapping Team last year, Xia Qing had gambled on drinking an Evolution Element stim shake to save herself and the wolves, all while poisoned. By the time she made it to Territory Seven, her Devastation Element hit 28 per mille and her Evolution Element had plunged to a terrifying 0.5—almost out of control.

If it weren’t for Idol’s Devastation Element Antidote working instantly, plus her own plentiful Green Lantern food stores, there was no way she’d have bounced back in six months.

Once Idol shredded her report, Xia Qing started telling the full story of her meeting with Fire Phoenix.

Zhang San listened, then asked, “Did you take the eggs and insects from your own territory?”

Of course not—she wasn’t that clueless. “As soon as I heard Deng Yufeng was coming I let Hu Zifeng know ahead of time. The insects were from Territory One and the eggs came from you.”

Zhang San’s face relaxed a bit after that. “Your performance wasn’t bad this time. Next time you can afford to be tougher. When dealing with Deng Yufeng you’ve got to keep your wits about you. If you feel yourself slipping up, just think about Li Si. Oh, and prod the Wolf Pack. I need that purple herb I asked for—someone’s waiting on it and they can’t last another week.”

“Understood.” Xia Qing might not be Idol’s equal in research, but after scraping through eleven years of calamity, her instincts for reading people and avoiding trouble were sharper than his.

With Idol backing her up, she could definitely show a little backbone in front of Fire Phoenix. Still, posturing only made Fire Phoenix annoyed and maybe brightened Idol’s mood; it didn’t do Xia Qing herself any real good.

Idol was strong, the Wolf Pack was fierce, but she was just a perfectly ordinary territory lord, dreaming of living off the land. Facing Fire Phoenix with bravado made neither sense nor difference—at least, not right now.

But a true fangirl never slacks for her Idol. Once out of Section Three, Xia Qing slung Broken Back’s laptop over her shoulder and set out with Er.

Idol had said that, based on its natural environment, this kind of medicinal herb should be found in the evolved forest on Hui Three’s northern perimeter. Xia Qing and Er trekked all the way to Third Peak, Hill Fifty—no luck, not a single plant.

This was no surprise. Rare herbs like these always seemed to grow in places humans would never think to look—that’s why they’re rare.

Man and wolf stopped beside a big tree plastered with herb photos. When it came to foraging for herbs, yellow weasels were more reliable than evolved wolves. Xia Qing got out a wooden bowl and the laptop, ready to call for backup.

“White Weasel, are you there?”

“Hey, Plucked One, are you there?”

“White Weasel…”

…

A minute later, White Weasel finally poked its black-mustached, snow-white head out of the burrow, looking reluctant. It spotted Er, and only then crept out of the hole to greet her with a nose-to-nose sniff.

Xia Qing immediately fired up the laptop and greeted the brain-evolved yellow weasel like an old friend. “White Weasel, long time no see! Has Plucked One taken the kids out hunting again? Thanks for staying behind and watching over the valley for me. Look what I brought you!”

With that, Xia Qing pulled an egg from a box lined with soft quilt batting. “Look!”

White Weasel, fond of eggs, shuffled a bit closer to Xia Qing, leaving Er’s side.

Xia Qing held the laptop up to White Weasel. “That’s the herb I need. Take a close look—do you know where it grows? If you can find it, I’ll give you three eggs!”

But White Weasel ignored the screen, eyes locked on the egg in Xia Qing’s hand.

Not willing to give up the egg meant no herb in return.

Xia Qing cracked an egg into the wooden bowl and tried to reason with the clever weasel. “This egg is your deposit. You help me find that herb.”

Once she set the bowl down, White Weasel took a bite, then began dragging the bowl toward the burrow. Noticing it was too big to fit inside, it let out a few low chirps.

A faint rustle came from the hole. A white-furred baby appeared at the entrance—White Weasel’s only albino kit from five spring-born pups this year. Xia Qing just watched quietly from where she crouched.

The little one glanced warily between Xia Qing and Er. Only after its mother’s encouragement did it poke out its head and gulp down some egg. When it had its fill and vanished, White Weasel licked the bowl spotless and fixed those bright black eyes on Xia Qing.

Still hungry, apparently.

Xia Qing, having already paid the deposit, pulled out two more eggs and struck a deal. “If you find that herb for me, you get both these eggs.”

But White Weasel, seeing she wasn’t going to break the eggs right away, gave the laptop screen—where the herb video was looping—a few glances, then disappeared into the burrow.

Xia Qing left the video playing by the hole for half an hour, making sure White Weasel understood, then finally closed the laptop and prepared to head home.

Heading downhill, she ran into Balding Weasel, who was coming back from hunting with two light brown kits. Upon spotting Xia Qing and Er, Balding Weasel grew timid and dropped a squirrel at their feet.

Er didn’t hesitate—she gulped down the squirrel in two bites, not leaving Balding Weasel a single tuft of fur.

Xia Qing took out a small pack of freeze-dried meat, tore it open, and poured it onto a rock. “Balding Weasel, thanks for the squirrel. These jerky pieces are for you and your kids.”

She didn’t bring up herbs—Balding Weasel was strong in a fight but nowhere near as smart as White Weasel. Even if she explained, it probably wouldn’t understand.

Back in early February, White Weasel had a C-section, birthing eight kits, five of which survived. A month later, it and Balding Weasel led the five kits away from Section Three to Hill Fifty. Now it’s late May—one albino kit lives in the burrow, Balding Weasel has two light brown kits.

The other light brown kit and the white-bellied kit had probably died.

If not killed by sickness, they, like the squirrel Balding Weasel dragged home, became prey for something else.

Humans had their tall walls for protection. Animals, though, fought to survive in the wide-open evolved forest—a world where only the toughest carved out rich territory of their own.