Chapter 959: Return to Hill Forty-Nine: Clash of Companions

The helicopter circled back from Hill Fifty-Eight and touched down on the helipad at Hill Forty-Nine.

Right there on the spot, Xia Qing handed Huo Zhun today’s payment—ten freshly prepped Green Lantern figs—then stepped down from the chopper carrying the wounded Crippled Wolf. Goofball, who’d caught a ride earlier, left with the Bear Pack and Alpha stayed behind at Hill Sixty, so only two people and one battered wolf came back.

Heading over to Hill Sixty to see the walnut trees? Crippled Wolf was having none of it! Hell no!

On the way back to base, Huo Zhun asked, “Sister Qing, is Goofball coming back?”

“No idea,” Xia Qing replied, her face calm. Of course, she hoped Goofball would hurry back with the Red Vein Stone to pay its debt, but return or not—she really couldn’t control that.

“Awooo—”

Crippled Wolf, pressed snug in Xia Qing’s arms, bared its fangs and let out a low growl, warning Huo Zhun to stay clear of its head. With the exception of Xia Qing, any human who got too close made Crippled Wolf tense and on edge—it took it as provocation.

Huo Zhun chuckled and stepped back a couple of paces. He kept talking, “Looks like this wolf’s hungry, Sister Qing—let’s pick up the pace. If Goofball doesn’t come back, one of these days we’ll fire up the chopper and go collect the debt ourselves. More than eighty thousand credits—we can’t just write that off.”

“Mm.” Xia Qing made a sound of agreement.

Crippled Wolf muttered under its breath.

Xia Qing gave the wolf a quick pat, then asked, “Huo, you got plans for tomorrow?”

Huo Zhun, who’d been making faces at Crippled Wolf, snapped back, “Nothing at all! All the work in the territory’s done. Anything you need, Sister Qing, just say the word.”

“Then tomorrow, you and Zhao Ze take the construction and planting teams to Hill Fifty. I need to stay here and get the greenhouse sorted out.”

For the past few days, Xia Qing had been up at dawn leading missions at Hill Fifty. With everything on track now, she could finally step back from micromanaging.

“No problem!” Huo Zhun happily stepped up—missions meant more credits and no nagging from his dad. He’d take it in a heartbeat.

“Maaah!”

Old Goat, left all alone in the territory, spotted Xia Qing’s return. It pawed the ground and dashed toward her.

“Wanna brawl? Come at me!”

Just stepping out from behind the Wild Grass Wall, Xia Qing hollered right back. She set Crippled Wolf down and charged forward.

Er had left. Old Goat was lonely, stuck with more chores and a sour mood. Er and Goofball gone left Xia Qing sour too. So why not? Fight it out—brawl until the energy and frustration both burned away.

“Bang!”

Man and goat slammed together. Xia Qing gripped Old Goat’s spiral horns tight and tried with all her might to fling it aside. Old Goat leapt up, then lashed out—its back hooves aimed square at Xia Qing’s belly. She was ready though, dodged nimbly, and shoved Old Goat to the ground.

“Maaah!”

Old Goat, unbeaten by Flathead in months, just got angrier. It twisted and tossed Xia Qing off, then charged again.

From the edge of the Wild Grass Wall, Crippled Wolf stretched, yawned a long, lazy yawn, and seeing that the tussle was going nowhere fast, began hobbling back home.

It was too hot—it wanted the AC, TV, water, and some melon.

“Xia Qing! What’s up with your Evolved Sheep? Why are you two brawling again?” Tang Huai’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie from inside the greenhouse in Territory Two. Xia Qing and Old Goat hadn’t tangled in ages—he found the noise oddly nostalgic.

What’s going on?!

Perched in a tree on the north edge of Section Three’s buffer forest, Er Yong rubbed his bruised leg, muttering under his breath, “Nothing much. Old Goat doesn’t need a reason to fight—it just does whatever it feels like. If it’s in a mood, someone’s getting decked! With that rotten temper, if it weren’t Sister Qing’s companion, I’d have stuffed it in the stew pot a dozen times by now…”

Xia Qing and Old Goat had no plans to answer the walkie or care about Er Yong’s griping. They kept right on fighting.

“Bang!”

“Boom!”

Xia Qing crawled out from under a chunk of wall—over three meters long—from the abandoned village. She wiped the dirt off her protective mask with her snakeskin glove, charged up, grabbed Old Goat’s spiral horn, and in one fluid twist flung it straight onto a pile of dried straw that hadn’t made it into the warehouse yet.

Old Goat popped back up, bleated, and barreled toward Xia Qing again.

But just a meter and a half away, Old Goat suddenly halted. It used its front legs as a pivot, swinging those back legs like whips toward Xia Qing’s knees.

Xia Qing’s eyes went wide as saucers—damn, that was one of Yan Long’s signature moves!

When did Old Goat pick that up?!

Still, Old Goat was nowhere near Yan Long’s speed.

Xia Qing sidestepped, caught the lashing goat leg, braced herself, and hefted it up. “Not happening!”

“Bang!”

“Crack!”

“Maaah!”

After flattening a sapling, Old Goat clambered to its feet, shook off the dirt, pawed the ground, and charged Xia Qing again. Watching from the tree, Er Yong made a face and slid down, limping his way out of Section Three. Better to escape while he could—if Sister Qing finished with Old Goat and was still itching for a fight, she’d drag him over for a round too.

Over half an hour later, the two lords of Section Three lay sprawled filthy atop a pile of straw, gulping air and squinting at clouds overhead.

“Old Goat, did you sneak some spinach today? That stamina’s unreal.”

Old Goat wrenched its leg free from Xia Qing, gave her a kick, then resumed panting.

Xia Qing kicked back. Using her arms as a pillow behind her head, she said, “I’ll go cut some pasture grass, chop it up, and mix it with the new No. 7 ration from the Safe Zone for you to try. The flour content’s up to thirty percent in this batch—highest of any ration so far. Wonder if you’ll like it.”

“Baa…”

Old Goat didn’t follow what Xia Qing was saying but automatically bleated a reply.

“Come on, grass to cut, food to make. This afternoon we still have to split up that red-leaved bamboo and swap out the poles in the greenhouse.” Xia Qing sat up, brushed weeds off her companion, and together—one person, one goat, both limping—they got moving.

Reaching the edge of the thick grass, Xia Qing grabbed her backpack and slung it over Old Goat’s back, grumbling, “Broken Back’s nothing like Er was. If Er were here, he’d have carried this back for me.”

“Baa.”

“You’re getting chopped feed for lunch; I’m having stewed meat, and Broken Back can go gnaw on some raw.”

“Baa.”

“Brr—”

Xia Qing’s phone buzzed before they even got near the pasture shed. Fishing it out, she saw it was Yang Jin. Clearing her throat, she answered, “Captain Yang.”

Xia Qing’s voice was hoarse, sounding bone-tired. Yang Jin skipped the small talk: “I saw your message. Somebody wants a ride to Lan Five?”

Qinglong Squad had finally secured a deal at the Lan Five oilfield, so they could tap it for fuel directly. Usually, Lan Five sent in their own transport planes, but sometimes the Azure Dragon Squad flew their chopper over for business and picked up pure spring water from the Death Sea on the way back.

Xia Qing lowered her voice. “One of Third Brother’s team— a researcher—needs to do some secret work over there. Third Brother doesn’t want anyone from Hui One or the official Hui Three to know, so he’s hoping you’ve got room on your helicopter?”

Hearing this was a request from Zhang San’s team, Yang Jin didn’t give an answer right away. “Fine. How much gear does he need to bring?”

“I haven’t asked yet. I’ll check and get back to you. When are you flying out, Captain?”

Yang Jin answered, “I’m leading the run this time. Just tell him to be at the helipad on Hill Forty-Nine by six a.m. How’ve you been? Busy lately?”

Xia Qing’s tone stayed calm. “Hanging in there. Same as always.”

Yang Jin dropped it and said, “Alright. I’ll bring you the reward points for killing that second Giant Raptor tomorrow.”

The moment she hung up, Xia Qing messaged Zhang Shi, confirmed the cargo weight, and sent the details to Yang Jin.

This time, Zhang Shi was only bringing a single large suitcase to Lan Five. Little Shiyi was hiding inside it.