Chapter 1028: Preparations Before the Killing Rain

Xia Qing didn't know the leader of the northern wolf pack, so she went straight to the western wolf pack's territory. She ate dinner while listening to the broadcast, and after listening to the weather forecast and tidying up the kitchen, she began her regular training for the night.

Strength, shuttle runs, spinning kicks, rapid punches, accuracy, breath-holding... Xia Qing completed every item according to quality and quantity, without cutting a single corner. This was a year of natural disasters; every bit stronger she became, the higher her chance of survival. Slacking off just because no one was supervising was tantamount to seeking death.

If she hadn't trained seriously and meticulously every day, she wouldn't have been able to crawl out alive from the collapsed water pool on Mountain 55 today, nor would she have been able to precisely shoot dead those two blue-skinned undead on Mountain 44.

After completing her nighttime training tasks, Xia Qing also patrolled the territory. She greeted the old wolf on the house ruins and the boss wolf in the first-floor living room, told them to protect the territory well at night, then went upstairs, showered, and fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

The next day, the freeloading red squirrel arrived on time at the windowsill of Xia Qing's bedroom. Xia Qing stretched lazily with her eyes closed, confirmed that the pain in her abdomen and thighs had lessened, then got up, got dressed, drew the curtains and opened the window, and poured pollution-free spring water for the big red squirrel on the tree that was waving its fluffy big tail at her, placing over a dozen yellow-light sunflower seeds beside it.

"Freeloader, the third Killing Rain is about to come. I hope you can get through it safely."

Then, Xia Qing gazed at her lush green territory, confirmed there were no abnormalities within sight, washed up and went downstairs to knead green-light white dough, chopped some green-light vegetable leaves, mixed them with yellow-light cornmeal and poured it into the chicken trough, before picking up her basket and heading out to begin patrolling the territory.

After Xia Qing left, the red squirrel immediately jumped onto the windowsill, stuffed all the sunflower seeds into its mouth before the birds rushed over, and carried them back to its tree hole.

The amount Xia Qing gave was just right; it couldn't fit even one more seed.

Because Xia Qing had given the old wolf a day off, today's tasks of catching insects to feed the chickens and fish fell on her shoulders.

"Xia Qing, is that you?"

When Xia Qing was patrolling the southern wasteland grass wall of the territory carrying her basket, she heard Tang Huai's shout, so she walked out through the grass wall and came to the south gate.

Tang Huai ran over with a grin, chatting casually with her. "I could tell it was you from the footsteps! Did you listen to the weather forecast last night? The Killing Rain will start in 19 hours."

Xia Qing nodded. It would start past 1 a. m. tonight. Because this year's third Killing Rain was 20 hours shorter than last year's estimated time, the lords were overjoyed.

Tang Huai had long been used to Xia Qing's expressionless face and silence, and continued with a grin, "I got two green-light Small-Tailed Han sheep and one green-light small dairy cow. I want to raise the Small-Tailed Han sheep myself. Do you want the small dairy cow? Five months old, female, supposedly with a decent milk yield, but it's only a common evolved breed."

Of course she wanted it! Xia Qing asked, "How many points?"

Tang Huai knew Xia Qing would definitely want it, and his smile grew even brighter. "You know how popular green-light dairy cows are. I only managed to get this one with great difficulty. 150,000 points, and I'd be losing money for even one point less."

"Deal, thanks." A kitten from the strength-evolved cats of Territory Seven sold for 20,000 points each. If this were an ability-evolved dairy cow, the price would be at least 250,000 points or more.

"No need to thank me, just give me the points."

Tang Huai understood Xia Qing's bad temper, so he didn't mention that this cow was bought at a high price from Lan Yi Base through connections by the Tang family to thank Xia Qing. He only asked with a cheerful smile, "The cow and sheep are in the standardized greenhouse in my safe zone right now. Get the cow shed ready first, and once the roads are clear after the Killing Rain, I'll have them sent over. When the time comes, I'll bring my sheep over to have a match with Sheep Boss, how about it?"

"Sure."

Sheep Boss liked to fight. With a same-species entering this territory, it would of course want to have a go to confirm its unshakable position at the top of the pyramid. Xia Qing asked, "Are both sheep male?"

Tang Huai answered, "There's also one female sheep, also a common breed. I couldn't get a green-light strength-evolved breed. When the female sheep goes into heat, can I raise her in your territory for a few days?"

"Sure." This was something Xia Qing had agreed to long ago.

Tang Huai also wanted to ask her what was going on between her and Hu Zifeng, but the Killing Rain was about to come, and she was the only person in Territory Three. She must be incredibly busy. So Tang Huai didn't annoy her at this moment. "Nothing else, carry on with your work."

"Okay." Xia Qing, who continued catching insects and patrolling the territory with her basket, found her steps growing lighter.

She was about to have a cow that could produce milk just by eating grass! Raising a high-quality green-light dairy cow during a year of natural disasters wasn't easy, and green-light fresh milk was selling for sky-high prices. If she could raise this small cow successfully, she'd soon have high-quality milk to drink.

Xia Qing stopped, took out her phone and scrolled through it, then calmed down again.

Dairy cows had a much longer growth cycle than sheep; they needed to be raised for over 18 months before reaching breeding age. In other words, she would have to raise this cow for over a year before it could produce milk.

During this process, who knew how many things would happen, and whether the cow could grow up smoothly was uncertain. Still, buying it and raising it to produce green-light manure would be good too.

Xia Qing patrolled the territory once, caught two baskets of insects, poured one basket into the green-light fish in the pond, and poured the other basket to the green-light chickens at home.

This spring, the three green-light and four yellow-light female fish she had carefully raised in the water tank laid tens of thousands of eggs. Even with the boost of pollution-free spring water, the hatching rate of the eggs wasn't high. Fortunately, the base number was large; Xia Qing got densely packed, countless fry—at least several thousand.

She divided the fry into two fish ponds according to the quality of the female fish to feed them. The feed was insects, animal offal, and chopped green-light grass and vegetable leaves.

When Wolf Dog Lao Er was in the territory, the frequency of feeding insects was higher. During the period when Lao Er was away, Sheep Boss and Lao Si were merely going through the motions. When Xia Qing was too busy, the fish in the ponds survived by eating grass. Because Territory Three had few people and no one specifically looking after the fish ponds, birds like egrets stole quite a bit of free food.

Therefore, although Territory Three had no shortage of fry, when the fish were caught and sold at the end of the month, the total weight of fish harvested ranked fourth from the bottom in the territory alliance.

Who was in the bottom three? Of course it was Territory Two, which specialized in raising insects; Territory Seven, which specialized in research; and Territory Eight, which specialized in raising birds.

Xia Qing, the top sniper who had partnered with Yang Jin to breed cordyceps, taken shares in Hui Three Pharmaceutical Factory, and managed Center Nine and Mountain 50, had harvested over three hundred red-light fish, over five hundred yellow-light fish, and over two hundred green-light fish. She was already very content.

A few days ago at the territory alliance meeting, Yuan Yan proposed that during the Killing Rain period, each territory should send the high-quality green-light female fish in their ponds to the hidden valley for safekeeping to ensure the quality of the female fish didn't decline. Xia Qing had also voted in favor.

Although she didn't rely on selling fish to make a living, she also wanted to eat high-quality fish. She certainly wouldn't give up a way to ensure the quality of her fry without wasting energy.

After feeding the fish and green-light mealworms, Xia Qing carried a basket of green-light celery home. Chop-chop-chop, she diced green-light pork and celery, added seasoning and mixed it well. Xia Qing used the already fermented dough to steam fifty meat buns—this was the food she had prepared for the Killing Rain period.