Chapter 91: Trouble on Mountain Forty-Nine

June 5th. After finishing up the cleanup of the Xiang Grass that sprouted after the second round of Xiang Rain, Xia Qing checked the remaining crops in her territory. Though most survived, some now carried more Xiang elements, dropping their status from green-light to yellow-light.

The biggest loss was among the green-light sweet potato seedlings—four of them slipped down to yellow-light. If she hadn’t managed to root one hundred and forty sweet potato vines earlier, Xia Qing would’ve marched back to the Safe Zone with a hammer to smash up the meteorological station herself!

No matter if they were green-light or yellow-light crops, once they made it through the second Xiang Rain, each plant stretched out, growing according to its own unique evolutionary traits.

Now that tending her crops didn’t take much time, Xia Qing started following Luo Pei up Mountain Forty-Nine to learn the basics of long-distance shooting. Whenever she headed up the mountain with Luo Pei, Hu Zifeng sent two teammates into Territory Three to keep an eye on her home.

Mountain Forty-Nine had been chosen as their training ground, but there was no need to clear it out completely. As long as they handled the higher-grade aggressive Xiang-evolved insects and snakes, it would do—though danger was everywhere, it wasn’t deadly.

Today, Luo Pei brought Xia Qing along as part of her food-tracking project: long-distance sniping of venomous snakes.

“Ah!”

Tang Huai, lying atop a bunker on the roof of the house in Plot Two, couldn’t hold in a startled yelp and quickly ducked down. Hearing that Luo Pei was heading out to patrol Mountain Forty-Nine, Tang Huai had raced to the roof with binoculars to spot him. When he adjusted the focus toward some shaking tree branches, instead of Luo Pei he found himself staring right down the icy barrel of a gun.

Luo Pei, the legendary sharpshooter of Hui San Base, had truly risen from the ashes.

Beside him, Tang Heng asked in a low, anxious whisper, “Big bro, did you spot Luo Pei?”

“If you’re feeling brave, take a look yourself!” Tang Huai snapped, shoving the binoculars into Tang Heng’s hands.

Tang Heng knew his brother was still mad, so he didn’t explain himself and just asked quietly, “Did Luo Pei regain his peak skills?”

Tang Huai’s expression darkened. “His reflexes are razor-sharp. He caught me watching him from two kilometers away and aimed a sniper rifle right back at me.”

“That’s a headache. I’d better go report to Captain Xu.”

“Go on, go, hurry up!” Tang Huai scooted backward off the roof, too annoyed to answer and went out to dig for bugs in the field.

Tang Heng could only sigh and head back inside to report to Xu Pin.

Xu Pin, urgently recalled to the Safe Zone and now drowning in chaos after the Sufeng Squad headquarters had been blown apart, barely kept it together. “Got it, keep an eye on him.”

“Yes, sir.” Picking up on Xu Pin’s bad mood, Tang Heng didn’t dare bring up the need for supplies or people in Plot Two and hung up right away.

Standing atop Mountain Forty-Nine, Luo Pei asked Xia Qing, “After the first Xiang Rain, where exactly was that giant tree in your territory that evolved due to the Xiang element surge?”

“It was in the buffer forest on the west side—you can’t see it from here.” Xia Qing pointed out the spot for Luo Pei. “It was a huashu tree. Captain Tan led people to uproot it, roots and all. During the second Xiang Rain, a Xiang-affected huashu sapling sprouted there again, but I already cleared it out.”

Last winter, Luo Pei himself had led the team to clear the western buffer forest in Territory Three, but nothing about that place stood out to him back then. That huashu tree must have seemed completely normal just months ago.

Luo Pei brought Xia Qing up to five hundred meters elevation, teaching her the basics of aiming with a sniper rifle.

With over two months’ experience handling guns now, Xia Qing was no longer a clueless rookie. On her first shot she clipped the tail of an evolved Qi Snake on a branch five hundred meters away… The snake fled, dragging its wounded tail.

“Not bad,” Luo Pei commented, though his tone betrayed his dissatisfaction. “The wind speed is under five meters per second, but it still affects mid- to long-range shots. Adjust your aim and fire at the same spot as before.”

“Understood.” Xia Qing fine-tuned her aim and kept shooting.

By noon, she’d gone through a hundred rounds of ammo and strutted back to her territory, brimming with pride, showing off to Boss Sheep: “Boss, I’m one step closer to becoming a sharpshooter!”

Boss Sheep just squinted and kept chewing, ignoring her.

Luo Pei was a busy man and couldn’t coach Xia Qing every day. The next day, after making her rounds, Xia Qing climbed up the high ground in Territory Three and entered the Evolver Forest north of the North Barrier.

According to her lease contract with the Azure Dragon Unit, the one, three, and four territories north of the North Barrier (stretching 1.5 kilometers upward for a total of 13,500 mu of Evolver Forest) weren’t included in the rental.

That meant all the dangerous aggressive Xiang-mutated creatures in this area were her own responsibility. If she didn’t have better protective gear and firearms, Xia Qing wouldn’t even dare step into the Evolver Forest alone after two waves of Xiang Rain.

This was Xia Qing’s personal training ground and her own wild gathering base. If she wanted to get stronger, she had to really push herself—no faking it.

But there was no rushing it. You had to be careful and take things step by step.

Within fifty meters of the Barrier, the Evolver Forest was pretty safe—Hazard Inspection Team came by all the time, spraying pesticides and repellents. Go further than fifty meters, though, and it was a totally different world.

Within moments, a green vine as thick as her finger wrapped tightly around Xia Qing’s ankle. Low-risk aggressive vines didn’t even require a gun. She hacked the vine off with one swing of her machete, then followed the vine with quick, steady chops, cut it to pieces, dug out its roots, cleared it completely, and kept moving forward.

Two hours later, faint rustling reached her ears—the sound of a large animal on the move.

Xia Qing immediately sheathed her machete and drew her handgun, taking aim.

In her sights was an adult, evolved porcupine armored with sharp spikes. Xia Qing couldn’t help but beam. Mountain Forty-Nine really did have a ton of wildlife!

Spiky or not, a porcupine was still a pig. Xia Qing targeted its front leg, determined to bring it back alive.

“Yes!”

But before she could pull the trigger, a wild boar’s agonized squeal echoed from the foot of the mountain. Xia Qing’s heart dropped—something had happened at the Breeding Center again!

“Bang!”

Xia Qing fired, catching the porcupine’s front leg. She dodged a barrage of sharp quills as she rushed in, pinned the stunned beast, taped its mouth and wound shut, then tied it up and stuffed it into a sack.

“Yes!”

Another wild boar scream rang out. Xia Qing slung the sack over her shoulder and started sprinting back the way she’d come.

“Qing-jie, Qing-jie.” Chen Cheng, who was watching over Xia Qing’s home, radioed in over the walkie-talkie.

Xia Qing answered right away, “I’m on my way back. Watch over Boss Sheep.”

“Got it. Be careful, Qing-jie. If you run into a wolf pack, radio in your location immediately.”

“Understood.”

Half a month had passed, but the wolves were back.

She didn’t get far when Xia Qing suddenly stopped, quickly clambered up the nearest tree, and aimed her gun ahead. An evolved wolf, gray-brown, streaked into view.

The wolf zeroed in on Xia Qing’s position, leaping back to put the tree between them, baring half its face and flashing bloody fangs. Its mouth and teeth were still smeared with fresh blood.

It must’ve just killed the two wild boars at the Breeding Center.

Xia Qing didn’t want to make it an enemy. She lowered her weapon and gave a little “please, go ahead” wave. The wolf seemed to get it, gave a quick leap, and vanished.

Xia Qing stayed alert, made sure it was safe, dropped down from the tree, and raced home.

“Qing-jie.” Chen Cheng hurried over, sniffed the air and grinned. “Porcupine scent—you caught one?”

It wasn’t until Xia Qing saw Boss Sheep working the waterwheel that she finally relaxed. “Got lucky and found one. Any idea how many wolves showed up this time?”

“No news yet. Captain Tan and Brother Feng took a team over.” Chen Cheng sighed. “From the sound of it, it’s another two adult wild boars the Breeding Center lost. The staff must be heartbroken.”

Xia Qing nodded, set down her pack, pulled out the sack with the porcupine, and drew some blood to test for Xiang elements.

Chen Cheng, peering over her shoulder, looked glum. “Red-light. What a waste. What are you going to do with it, Qing-jie?”

“Zhong Tao’s coming by tomorrow. I’ll trade it in for supplies.” Xia Qing quickly tied a tourniquet on the porcupine’s wound—alive was worth more than dead.

Tomorrow, Xia Qing and Sun Zhe had arranged to bring in the second batch of earthworm castings. The Xiang Rain had passed nearly half a month ago, and the roads that had been overrun by Xiang Grass were open again. Zhong Tao was military security for Hui San Base and part of the convoy that transported supplies; he wasn’t about to call off his patrol just because an evolved wolf killed two wild boars at the Breeding Center.