Chapter 268: The Eve of Pesticide Spray

Xin Yu explained, “It’s not my tamed beast. Can you trade me this evolved hawk? I want it alive.”

If anyone else had asked, Xia Qing would have made sure to ask for the terms first. But since it was Xin Yu, living in a three-story villa surrounded by roses, Xia Qing agreed right away.

She pressed her foot on the hawk’s neck and hit the button. “How do you want me to hand it over?”

Xin Yu’s voice shifted from reserved to delighted. “Thank you! They’re about to start spraying. Can you take the hawk back to your territory for now? Hand it over to the Inspection Team once it’s done.”

“No problem.” Xia Qing tied up the hawk’s talons and beak and stuffed it into a cloth sack, then hurried on toward the abandoned cave.

On the Lords’ channel, Tang Huai piped up again. “Xin Yu, what do you want with a live evolved hawk? Planning to tame it? Adult hawks are way too proud for any human to break.”

As expected, Xin Yu ignored Tang Huai, and the channel fell silent.

Xia Qing walked another few dozen meters north and spotted Lame Wolf having the time of his life with a fat mudfish.

This wolf seemed to have endless energy.

Xia Qing asked, “Hey, Lame One, are you the only wolf here? Where’s the Queen?”

Lame Wolf bounded over with the thirty-centimeter-long mudfish dangling from his jaws, circling Xia Qing in excitement.

Xia Qing let him go wild. “So the Queen’s not here? The pesticide spray’s about to start. This stuff’s for bug extermination, so the dose will be strong and the helicopter will fly very low. You’d all best stay in the cave, especially you—don’t do anything stupid like leaping up to mess with the chopper.”

Every year, the Base sends helicopters out a few times to spray Scourgebane over the Evolved Forest. So, most of the smarter animals have grown used to helicopters.

Xia Qing made this trip because, unlike the Scourgebane runs, bug-killing sprays need the helicopter flying below ten meters. At that height, the noise and downdraft are intense, and Xia Qing didn’t want the wolves in the old Hill Forty-Nine cave to panic and be exposed.

Why don’t they fly that low when spraying Scourgebane over the Evolved Forest?

Because when helicopters hover under ten meters above the Evolved Forest, the evolved beasts inside see it as a challenge.

Eight years after the disaster, a careless pilot dipped below fifteen meters while spraying Scourgebane above Sector Thirty-Two and a giant python leaped up, wrapped around the chopper, and sent it crashing.

The wolves that gather herbs, dig for Yi Stones and hunt Red tag animals are crucial trading partners for Xia Qing. She really didn’t want them spotted by the choppers. Besides, Hill Forty-Nine is Azure Dragon Squad’s training ground, where big predators are strictly forbidden.

With her warning to Lame Wolf done, Xia Qing hurried back to her own territory to find Old Goat, who was anxiously circling the toon tree on the hillside.

Xia Qing stepped up. “What’s up, Boss?”

“Baa!” Old Goat rushed over and started nudging her toward the trunk.

It was then that Xia Qing noticed swarms of stinging caterpillars crawling up the trunk and felt her own skin crawl.

This toon tree was Old Goat’s main food source, so no wonder he was losing his mind with the caterpillars crawling everywhere.

Speaking softly, Xia Qing tried to calm him. “It’s okay, the spraying’s about to start. These bugs won’t last long. Let’s head home, alright?”

“Baa!” But Old Goat held his ground, clearly insisting Xia Qing do something.

Xia Qing didn’t argue. “Hang tight, Boss. I’ll grab the sprayer and handle the tree.”

This edible toon tree was just as precious to Xia Qing as it was to Old Goat. If she wanted fresh shoots in the spring, this tree was her only hope—the last hailstorm had wrecked her saplings by the spring.

Xia Qing raced down the slope, locked the evolved hawk in a shed by the fields, filled the sprayer with pesticide and water by the river, then climbed back up the hill. “Boss, go wait upwind. I’ll spray the tree down,” she called.

Old Goat obediently trotted to where she pointed, watching as Xia Qing set up the ladder, scrambled up, and gave the entire toon tree a thorough spraying. She even hit the clearing around it for good measure. Only when she was sure there’d be no problems did she call Old Goat to come down with her.

This time, Old Goat didn’t make a fuss and followed her downhill. They’d just reached the base when they heard the rumble of a helicopter. Xia Qing looked up at the chopper coming in from the south and yelled, “Boss, run for home!”

“Baa!”

Old Goat let out a cry and bolted faster than Xia Qing.

As they passed the shed, Xia Qing stashed the sprayer inside, grabbed the sack with the hawk, locked the door, and sprinted after Old Goat. Together, they made it home before the chopper roared overhead.

Xia Qing shut the empty goat pen as she ran inside, only to find two wolves and Old Goat laid out on the tatami, all staring right at her.

Old Goat was acting like he’d been with the wolves all along and hadn’t left the house at all…

Xia Qing laughed and greeted them, then hurried straight to the loft without even cleaning off her suit, peeking through the window to check outside.

She saw the helicopter hovering over Sectors One through Twenty-Eight, spraying pesticide over the southern lands, and felt a little more at ease.

Xia Qing’s territory sat at the far north of this area. There was no way the people in the helicopter had seen Old Goat’s wild dash for home.

She drew the curtains and scrubbed off the pesticide in the bathroom. When she came back down to check on the hawk, she saw the two wolves nosing around the sack.

“The evolved hawk inside’s my prey. I’ve already traded it, so no eating,” Xia Qing scolded as she lifted the heavy bag. The hawk was twice the weight of the Red tag goose she’d sold before, definitely over twenty jin—it must have a wingspan of more than four meters. Even with one wing broken, it was still ferocious, snapping its hooked beak out of the sack, aiming right for Xia Qing’s eyes.

Prepared for this, Xia Qing grabbed its neck and used a syringe to shoot oral tranquilizer down its throat. In minutes, the hawk was limp and harmless.

She checked it over closely. Only fear showed in its bright, feathered face—no sign of cunning intelligence. Xia Qing breathed a little easier; if this was one of those brain-evolved hawks, she’d be worried about it coming after her for revenge once Xin Yu nursed it back to health.

While checking the hawk’s wounds, Xia Qing explained to her audience of one goat and two wolves, “This hawk tried to steal prey from the half-plucked weasel. The weasel asked me for help, so I shot the hawk down.”

The hawk’s stomach was empty. It must have been starving for two or three days. No wonder it risked coming near human territory to snatch a meal.

In the end, it forgot this was human territory. It didn’t watch for Xia Qing and paid for it—one shot broke its wing.