Chapter 967: Spring Water Secrets and Nutty Deals

Xia Qing examined the video closely and asked, “Are all six seeds like this?”

The documents Zhang San gave her said the germination rate for Devastationweed seeds was 35%. Statistically, out of the six seeds Yang Jin took, at least two should have been viable.

“All six ended up like this, just varying degrees of softening. I’ve collected soil and air samples along with the ruined seeds, and I’ll bring everything to Territory Seven in a bit for Third Brother to check them out,” Yang Jin said, rubbing his temples. “No wonder Third Brother sent people to investigate Lan Five. Things aren’t looking good over there.”

Xia Qing, still looking down at the video on her phone, acknowledged him with a quiet response. She didn’t pick up the topic and instead asked, “Did you bring back spring water?”

“I brought a sample, but I’m not sure if it’s usable yet.” Yang Jin glanced at Xia Qing, “Just to be safe, maybe we should use your uncontaminated water for breeding the Cordyceps fungus next?”

“That’s fine.” Xia Qing, of course, had no objections. In another two weeks, this batch of Cordyceps would be ready to harvest. If the water caused their quality to drop—or if they melted away like the Devastationweed seeds—the loss would be disastrous.

Yang Jin kept massaging his aching head, leaning on the table, and continued discussing, “You’d better start storing spring water from December. That way you’ll be prepared for the dry season.”

Growing Cordyceps with hydroponic spinach takes four months per cycle. Their underground cultivation room raised 4,000 High-Evolution Spinach plants per batch, which required 2,000 liters of uncontaminated spring water.

With Lan Five’s spring water unusable and Xia Qing’s Pure Spring drying up from mid-January to mid-February, they needed to stockpile spring water ahead of time to avoid any interruptions in Cordyceps cultivation.

Xia Qing nodded calmly.

Yang Jin observed Xia Qing’s steady expression, then joked with a smile, “Sister Qing, you’re so unflappable! Makes me think you’ve got another Pure Spring somewhere that doesn’t dry up.”

Xia Qing shot him a look. “If your head hurts, try not to overthink things.”

Never missing a chance, Yang Jin, who’d been rubbing his temples all this time, gave her a pitiful glance. “Sister Qing, could you give me a few Green Lantern Pecans early? I’ve been overusing my brain these days, and my head’s about to explode.”

Back at the start of July, Xia Qing had made a deal—ten catties of Green Lantern Pecans in exchange for information on a Type B Magnetic Sense Evolver discovered in the Hui Three Safe Zone. They’d agreed the nuts would be delivered between September and November. By September, the hickory nuts at Hill Sixty would be ripe.

Noting the bloodshot eyes, purple-black fingernails, and bruised wrists, Xia Qing didn’t even ask who Yang Jin had fought this time. She just stood up and went home to get the nuts.

Once Xia Qing’s figure disappeared, Yang Jin lay across the table, grinning at the spotless floor.

Soon, Xia Qing returned with a bag of pecans. She set it on the table and said evenly, “That’s five catties. The rest, at the earliest, you’ll get in September. Pecans are good for the brain, but they’re not medicine. Maybe you can swap with Third Brother for something to ease your headache later.”

As a Four-type Evolved Fighter, Xia Qing needed to eat five Green Lantern Pecans a day to keep her brain sharp, and Little Fei Mao had one a day too. She made sure there was enough for both of them for two months, then brought Yang Jin all the extra five catties.

If Yang Jin wasn’t looking so rough, Xia Qing wouldn’t have handed them over early. Hunger had left its mark on her; not having enough in storage made her deeply uneasy.

Composed, Yang Jin weakly accepted the bag and stood up to leave. “Thank you, Sister Qing. No need to bother Third Brother for something this minor. I’ll just tough it out.”

Hiding his Brain Evolution abilities was more benefit than burden for Yang Jin. He dealt with all sorts of people daily, and if they knew about his observation and analytical skills, they’d be extra careful around him. That would make it harder for him to read their true intentions.

He only told Xia Qing because he didn’t want to lie to her. Telling Zhang San wasn’t even an option.

Xia Qing nodded and, without a trace of emotion, saw Yang Jin off as he left the territory.

Just now, Xia Qing almost slipped and let Yang Jin discover her secret—a Pure Spring in her territory she could still draw water from. This close call reminded her that even at home, she couldn’t let down her guard. Aside from Yang Jin, who knew how many hidden Brain and C-Class Magnetic Sense Evolvers might show up at her doorstep?

With the pecans slung over his shoulder, Yang Jin left Section Three for Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, moving light-footed and full of cheer. Xia Qing had actually cared about him today! Their relationship had just taken a step forward.

He spotted a pair of amber wolf eyes in the weeds up ahead, but Yang Jin just smiled and greeted warmly, “I’m Yang Jin. Hope we get to team up someday, Handsome Wolf.”

Crippled Wolf tensed, adopting an attack stance and glaring fiercely at the suspicious human. Only after Yang Jin was gone did he rise, limping off with the bag in his mouth.

Dragging the bag all the way back, Crippled Wolf stopped on a little path down the slope outside Greenhouse Two, then looked inside at Xia Qing.

“Broken Back, you already caught a whole bag of bugs? You’re incredible!” Xia Qing beamed and showed him a bunch of grapes. “Look, I’ve been growing these for two years and they’re finally ripe—ready to eat!”

After Yang Jin left, Xia Qing went to check on the Devastationweed seeds in the Spring Cave. Once she confirmed they were safe, she did her routine inspection of the vineyard trellis. To her delight, one grape had turned fully purple.

It was the very first grape to ripen in her territory!

Crippled Wolf felt Xia Qing’s excitement and happily placed his rock-hard left paw on the bulging bag.

Xia Qing got the message. “I hear you. Tonight I’ll make noodles for you!”

Crippled Wolf grinned, flashing his sharp little fangs in utter joy.

Crippled Wolf had fallen in love with noodles lately. He’d insisted on having some for lunch today and, in exchange, promised to catch a whole bag of bugs for Xia Qing to feed the fish and chickens.

Xia Qing washed a grape with spring water and popped it into her mouth. The burst of tart and sweet flavors sent her taste buds into overdrive. She even ate the skin and seeds before leaving the greenhouse. The hefty bag Crippled Wolf had brought back was clearly not filled with bugs.

Bugs weren’t this heavy or this oddly shaped. What could it be—piglets, maybe rabbits?

When she reached the Fish Pond, Xia Qing loosened the cord and dumped the contents: Two giant bamboo rats and six snakes. The snakes counted as long worms, but as for bamboo rats, they had nothing to do with insects.

“Who helped you catch these bamboo rats, Broken Back? Was it Lame Wolf?”

Crippled Wolf kept his mouth shut.

“Black Wolf?”

Crippled Wolf bared his teeth, showing those cute little fangs again.

Xia Qing laughed too. She unzipped her own backpack and asked, “Even though bamboo rats aren’t bugs, the fish in the pond love them. You did a great job. Now let’s test their quality. Broken Back, which tool should we use for that?”

Crippled Wolf’s eyes sparkled as he pulled out the Lethal Element Detector from the bag with perfect accuracy.