Chapter 909: Return to Territory One: The Rulebreaker’s Punishment

Xia Qing’s helicopter landed on the helipad at Territory One, bathed in the glow of the setting sun. The hatch swung open—Wen Nengjie and Huo Zhun jumped down first, helping everyone else disembark before racing toward their families.

Xia Qing came out last. She shouldered a massive backpack stuffed full with supplies she’d picked up at the mall, along with the 2,000 rounds of ammunition she’d traded for with Yang Jin.

In front of Wen Nengjie, Xia Qing traded 300 rounds with Yang Jin, but later she used her phone to buy another 1,700, since 300 just wasn’t enough. By making such a big deal of trading the ammo in front of Wen Nengjie, she wanted to give the impression that after half a year’s hustle, her credits only covered 300 rounds.

Yue Haiying still carried Yan Yue on her back and hurried back to Territory Nine with Zhong Tao and his wife.

Seeing his wife return safe and sound, Kuang Qingwei finally relaxed. He thanked Huo Zhun and Shi Du repeatedly.

Huo Zhun and Shi Du had come out for the test. With no one to see them off or pick them up, they still wore big cheerful grins.

Qi Fu instantly noticed something was wrong with his wife, but he didn’t say a word. Instead, he held her cold hand tight and laughed with the others as they walked out.

As the first to reach her territory, Xia Qing greeted everyone, opened the South Gate, and stepped inside. Cutting through the wild grass wall, she saw Er, Old Goat, the Monkey clinging to Er’s back, and the vast stretch of land behind them. Her body instantly relaxed.

Just twelve hours away from her territory, but it felt like an eternity.

With two Auditory Evolutionaries on the passage outside, Xia Qing kept silent. She stepped up, ruffling Old Goat and Er’s heads, then grabbed the Monkey in green shorts off Er’s back and marched, all business, straight toward the northern greenhouse.

Chen Zheng and Chen Cheng, on guard duty, saw Xia Qing hauling the monkey their way. They greeted her quickly and then left Section Three. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to see what Xia Qing would do, but after Old Goat and Er—now that Xia Qing had returned—gave them an even fiercer look, they knew better than to hang around.

Stick around, and you’d get a beating.

Once the Chen brothers left, Xia Qing tossed the Monkey on the ground, her glare as sharp as a blade. “Goofball, which greenhouse did you steal that sweet potato from?”

Er caught on right away, spinning around to lead Xia Qing there, but she called him back. “Er, stay here.”

Xia Qing pulled out her phone and found the video of the Monkey gnawing on a sweet potato. She shoved it in the face of the white-faced snub-nosed monkey, her voice low and cold. “Where did you dig up this sweet potato?”

Sensing Xia Qing’s anger was real, the Monkey dropped the act. It rolled over and dragged itself north, taking a whole ten minutes just to crawl past Sheds 11, 10, 9, and 13.

Old Goat, getting impatient, trotted off to graze. Er stayed glued to Xia Qing’s side. By the entrance to the Western Buffer Forest, two little red squirrel heads poked out from the hollow of a dawn redwood tree.

The Monkey crept past the breeding greenhouse, shuffled across the stone bridge over the river, and headed up through the northern buffer forest, finally stopping next to Shed 2. Xia Qing, who’d trailed behind, barked again, “Where did you dig up the sweet potato?”

The Monkey lifted a small black paw and slowly pulled open the door to Shed 2. It scurried inside, headed straight for the sweet potato terraces ringed with thorny branches, pushed through the thorns, and stopped at the exact spot where it had dug up the sweet potato.

Xia Qing got even angrier at the sight.

The Monkey hadn’t just dug up one sweet potato—no, it had yanked out the vines as well. After drying all afternoon, the sweet potato vines were shriveled, and there was no hope of replanting them.

This particular terrace was the one Xia Qing used for breeding. She’d spent months fertilizing, watering, and caring for it, never even thinking of harvesting the young sweet potatoes for herself.

Xia Qing swung open the thorny fence and marched in, leveling her sheathed Black Blade right at the Monkey, fury rising. “I’ve told you, no stealing food from the greenhouses. So what, you think my words are just empty wind?”

This wasn’t the first time Xia Qing had warned the Monkey. Each time, she’d made sure the Monkey understood.

And it wasn’t just the Monkey. Old Goat, Er, the Wolf Pack, the Red Squirrel family, and Red Fur’s bunch—they’d all been warned. Everyone followed Xia Qing’s rules. Even Alpha and Crippled Wolf only grabbed food from the fridge if they came by. This Monkey, ignoring her warnings to steal food, had to be taught a harsh lesson, or next time it’d be even bolder.

Using her knife, Xia Qing scooped up the terrified Monkey and carried it out of the territory, straight into the Northern Barrier. Flathead—his belly swollen, clearly stuffed from a big meal—was waiting to brawl with Old Goat, but when he saw Xia Qing bringing food, he rushed over, strutting like he owned the place.

The Monkey shrank back, wrapping its long arms tightly around the blade sheath.

One look at Flathead’s belly and you could tell he’d had a feast. Still, Xia Qing rummaged in her pack and pulled out the dried snake meat she’d bought for him. “Flathead, thanks for looking after Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine and cleaning up all the snakes and rats. Here—eat this.”

Knife still hooking the Monkey, Xia Qing kept moving forward. Old Goat stepped in too, charging and knocking the little honey badger—who still had jerky in its mouth—clear out of the way.

Er didn’t follow Xia Qing any farther, stopping to protect Old Goat instead.

Unlike the well-groomed territory, the Evolved Forest teemed with wild creatures. The Monkey held the knife sheath tight, eyes wide with fear, letting out soft whimpers.

Now you’re scared?

Xia Qing jumped down into Wild Boar Valley, shoved open the Wolf Den door, and threw the Monkey inside. “You didn’t pay your medical bill and you stole from me. You’re not fit to stay in my territory anymore.”

No water or food in the Wolf Den?

Of course not! Lock-up is for misbehaving animals. Hungry? Find your own food. Thirsty? Figure it out.

After slamming the door, Xia Qing set off to find any wild boar carcasses the Wolf Pack might have hunted down.

She entered Wolf Valley, crossed into Valley One, and walked along the river, passing a patch of poisonous flowering plants wild boar never touched. A few hundred meters farther, she finally spotted a boar skeleton surrounded by ravens, vultures, and a striking white-bellied sea eagle.

Jasmine, in the middle of a meal, saw Xia Qing approaching and flew over, circling her. “Shrimp, shrimp, shrimp!”

“Gua Gua, out hunting with Little Jade? Nice work.” Xia Qing called out, grinning at the brain-evolved crow with nothing in her beak.

The raven hopped onto a nearby rock and croaked, “Xin Xin, Xin Xin!”

“Xin Yu knows you all are here? Gua Gua, you’re such a thoughtful raven. You even tell Xin Yu when you go hunting, so she doesn’t worry.” Smiling, Xia Qing shot a short video to Xin Yu along with a dinner invite for tomorrow night, then continued on her way.

By the time she reached the end of the valley, dusk had fully set in. Most of the hornets guarding the chestnut grove had returned to their nest. A few, still hungry, buzzed around the chestnut trees, scraping insects off the sticky leaves.

Two little red squirrels perched on the big pine by the chestnut tree. One scampered away on seeing Xia Qing, while the other dove straight into her pocket.

Xia Qing felt the bulge through the fabric, her tone softening. “Fei Mao, want a chestnut? They’re not ripe yet. In two months, we’ll come back and pick them together.”

After a quick circuit, Xia Qing confirmed that the Wolf Pack had killed three wild boars, but there were only two carcasses left in the valley. Judging from the fly-, ant- and scorpion-infested remains and fresh blood elsewhere, the third had most likely been carted off by wolves or a large bird.

She didn’t take those hundreds of pounds of meat herself, but nothing went to waste: all kinds of creatures feasted well. Flathead probably gorged in the valley before Er carried him out.

In the northern woods, the honey badgers thrived under the Wolf Pack’s protection.

Xia Qing immediately left the Evolved Forest and returned to the Northern Barrier. She found Old Goat and Er already back in the territory, and Flathead, full and done fighting, sprawled fast asleep in his dirt nest.

Hearing Xia Qing approach, Flathead only cracked open one eye, then went right back to sleep.

Smiling, Xia Qing returned to her territory, gave the three plump foxes by the reservoir a good rubdown, and headed home to pull out gifts for her companions.

As for the Monkey—he could get his gift after he finished his time in lockup and learned his lesson. Xia Qing wasn’t about to tolerate anyone, whether person or animal, stealing her hard-earned grain or vegetables.

That night, Crippled Wolf passed by the Wolf Den on his way through Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, a basket clamped in his jaws. He paused to sniff at the entrance.