Chapter 994: Harvesting Pecans and Escaping Danger in Hill Sixty

Alpha had already disappeared into the distance, running so fast he was out of sight. Even the bear on Hill Sixty-One had gone quiet. After trailing Broken Back Wolf over another ridge, Xia Qing finally reached the halfway point of the Second Peak of Hill Sixty.

This was where Xia Qing had gathered Green Lantern Pecans last year.

That old pecan tree, knocked down during the wolf-bear-python battle last year, still lay there. Several saplings had sprouted from the stump, now over three meters tall, but none were bearing fruit yet.

Standing atop the fallen pecan trunk, Lame Wolf spotted Xia Qing and bolted straight toward her, howling all the while.

“Lame Wolf, it’s been a while! How’s Four-Eyes from your sister’s litter? Have you seen Er lately?” Xia Qing grabbed Lame Wolf’s big paw, not letting him smear mud on her, then dug a pack of freeze-dried meat from her pocket, tore it open and handed it over.

Lame Wolf gobbled the treat quickly and ran back for more mischief.

Ready for this, Xia Qing gave him a boar skin chew toy to gnaw on off to the side, then turned to Broken Back Wolf. “Broken Back, where’s the pecan tree with fruit growing?”

Broken Back Wolf signaled for Xia Qing to follow and took off northwest.

With a pack of wolves watching, Xia Qing followed Broken Back Wolf over another hill. Puffing and panting, she arrived on a sun-drenched gentle slope. There, she immediately spotted Er, surrounded by four adolescent wolves, practicing snatching Speed Evolution Rabbits beneath a towering pecan tree over twenty meters tall.

Er must have caught Xia Qing’s scent, because while pinning a rabbit under his paw, he looked back over at her.

“Er!”

Xia Qing cheered and dashed over, and Er, just as ecstatic, wagged his tail before dropping the rabbit and bounding to greet her.

Queen’s little sister leaped forward, snatching the fleeing rabbit and darting toward Broken Back Wolf.

Four-Eyes and two other wolves, called by voices echoing from the den, retreated into the wolf den just ten meters from the pecan tree.

“So this is where you ended up, Er! No wonder you haven’t been in the medicinal bath lately.” Xia Qing plucked a blade of grass from Er’s head and dug into her backpack, pulling out a massive boiled egg. “This is the biggest one our chicken has laid lately—I cooked it just for you. Who knows, maybe it’s double-yolked.”

Despite her protective mask now coated in wolf fur, Xia Qing peeled the egg quickly. Even after cracking it and finding it wasn’t double-yolked, she was all smiles. “Guess not, but try it anyway, Er. Let me know if it’s good.”

Er scarfed down the egg in two bites and promptly left Xia Qing’s gloves bristling with fur.

Seeing his fur coming out in clumps, Xia Qing felt bad and pulled out a homemade premium nutrient shake to feed him, giving Er a quick health check too.

After confirming Er was in top shape, Xia Qing dripped a few drops of antiparasitic pill onto the back of his neck. “Go have fun, Er. I’m going to check out the pecan tree.”

Instead of returning to the den, Er happily followed Xia Qing to the base of that towering pecan tree.

This big, leafy tree wasn’t as laden with pecans as last year’s tree that got knocked down. Maybe it’s due to where it grew or maybe a late cold snap in spring and all the summer rain.

Xia Qing bent down and picked up a small, shriveled, unripe pecan that had fallen to the ground. She had plenty of these at home—Broken Back Wolf always brought her a couple as gifts from Section Three when he visited.

These little nuts had already gone bad and couldn’t be used to test Devastation Element content.

Gesturing as she spoke, Xia Qing asked, “Er, Broken Back, is it safe if I pick a leaf to test this tree’s quality?”

Er, barely listening, just grinned blissfully no matter what Xia Qing said.

Broken Back Wolf, still playing with his pups, bared his little fangs to show picking leaves posed no danger.

Xia Qing picked a leaf, pulled out her Lethal Element Detector, and checked the Devastation Element content—4.5‰!

“Green Lantern! Awesome!”

Overjoyed, Xia Qing rummaged through her backpack and took out a telescoping pole and a metal hoop rigged with a net. The iron hoop bristled with three-centimeter long iron teeth, spaced two centimeters apart. Xia Qing had custom-welded this pecan-picking tool. Once the metal rake-net was screwed onto the pole, any pecans within fifteen meters could be snagged straight into her bag.

But what about pecans higher than fifteen meters? Well, that’s when you climb.

First, though, she had to check just how dangerous this tree’s defenses might be.

“Broken Back, Er, head back in the den. I’m about to start picking pecans.”

Green Lantern Pecans are notoriously aggressive trees. Having already talked it through with Broken Back, Xia Qing knew these trees attract insects and had come well prepared.

Neither Broken Back nor Er wore protective suits, so they needed to stay clear of the tree’s attack zone.

Once Broken Back rounded up his pups and their rabbit and vanished into the den, Er nuzzled Xia Qing one more time and retreated inside too.

Seeing the wolves had fully retreated, Xia Qing realized this tree was even more dangerous than she’d guessed. She double-checked her protective suit, facemask and boots for any gaps, doused herself with a special insect-repellent spray from Idol, then extended her pole, hooked a pecan, and tugged gently.

Nothing budged—the pecan’s stem was tough.

Putting in a bit more effort, a pecan finally dropped into the net. Xia Qing switched to full alert, listening for any hint of trouble.

Green sap oozed from the snapped pecan stem—a normal sign. Xia Qing glanced at her Air Toxin Detector. No toxins nearby, so she kept picking.

When her net was stuffed with pecans and she’d just dumped them in her bag, a howl from Er echoed out of the den.

Xia Qing snapped her head up. She saw tiny insects, less than a centimeter long, buzzing around where she’d snatched the pecans.

Those bugs looked… very familiar.

Using her net, Xia Qing scooped a few closer. Up close she could see scarlet and black stripes on their bodies, and her heart dropped.

No way!

These were Evolution Blister Beetles—the infamous bugs that leave permanent scars the moment they touch your skin! And they’re drawn to pecan sap?

If Evolution Blister Beetles show up, poisonous Evolution Yellowjackets can’t be far behind. And once those arrive, it’s only a matter of time before mid-sized mutated predators who feed on toxic bugs follow too.

It only took one look at the blister beetle-corroded hole in her net for Xia Qing to grab her bag of pecans, clamp the opening tight, and sprint for safety.

The branch she stripped of pecans was soon swallowed by a black cloud of Evolution Blister Beetles. Right after, Evolution Yellowjackets buzzed in from the north, with a Crowned Honey Hawk right behind them…

Because Xia Qing only snagged a handful of nuts, the whole feasting frenzy died down within about ten minutes.

She figured she’d never seen such chaos last year because by late October, temperatures had already dropped and insect activity had slowed down.

When Broken Back Wolf finally emerged, Xia Qing asked, “Broken Back, if I wait till the pecan leaves fall should there be fewer bugs?”

Broken Back Wolf grinned, baring his little fangs to show Xia Qing had guessed right.

Xia Qing was speechless.

Did that mean she’d come all this way for nothing?!