Chapter 1063: After the Calamity Rain

At 5 p. m. on August 29, the third Calamity Rain of Year Eleven of the Calamity — which had been falling on and off for fifty hours — finally came to an end.

A brisk west wind tore open the thick rain clouds, and the sun, pent up for three days, poured down a sheet of light, illuminating the three blood-red passages within Northern District One's territory, and also illuminating the red-leaf bamboo roots in Territory Three, which were flailing about like mad demons.

Half an hour later, the atmospheric Calamity-element concentration began to drop; the maddened red-leaf bamboo roots stopped growing, and their frenzied dance began to slow.

"Finally over, I'm beat…"

Eryong let go of the chopping blade in his hand, leaned back, and slumped heavily against the big elm tree behind him.

The trunk vibrated along with the leaves; the water droplets clinging to the leaves were shaken loose and splattered onto the pile of chopped bamboo roots — each over two meters tall — beside Eryong.

The severed bamboo roots twitched like beaten bristle-worms, making one's scalp crawl.

Yesterday afternoon at two, shortly after harvesting the third cut of red-leaf bamboo, the red-leaf bamboo in Territory Three evolved again and sprouted many bamboo shoots.

To make the bamboo's main stalks grow quickly, Xia Qing decided to break off the shoots. But the moment she broke off the first shoot, she felt the red-leaf bamboo's roots begin to tremble, showing faint signs of breaking through the soil, and the bamboo's magnetic field grew more aggressive.

Xia Qing immediately gave up breaking off the shoots and let the red-leaf bamboo keep growing.

Because the shoots had stolen large amounts of nutrients the roots drew from the soil, the bamboo's main stalks grew slowly; by the third day of the Calamity Rain — that is, six o'clock this morning — they still hadn't reached the height and diameter required for cutting.

During the red-grade Calamity Rain at eleven this morning, the red-leaf bamboo's root system spread outward at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the area it covered quickly expanded from one mu to two, then three.

Xia Qing had anticipated this possibility beforehand, so she had reserved enough blank space around the bamboo grove; the spread of the red-leaf bamboo roots would not cause any danger.

But she hadn't expected that a group of rats living on Mountain Forty-Nine would lose control during the red Calamity Rain. Several small rats in the group, lured by the scent of the red-leaf bamboo shoots, squeezed through the mesh of the iron-net wall into Northern District One's territory, then burrowed into Territory Three and gnawed through several red-leaf bamboo shoots that had just broken the soil surface, triggering the red-leaf bamboo's attack response.

The roots, trailing fibrous rootlets, swung about like giant spiked clubs, wantonly battering the surrounding hillsides and trees.

To keep these spiked clubs from destroying the iron-net wall at the northwest corner of Territory Three, the power-evolvers in Territory Three — Xia Qing and Guan Tong — swung their blades and hacked at the red-leaf bamboo roots.

Although the things grew more frenzied the more they were cut, if they weren't cut, the hardness-evolved bamboo roots would quickly reach the wall and lash the iron-net fence, warping it.

So they had to be cut!

From eleven until now — six hours — Xia Qing and Guan Tong took turns hacking at the hardness-evolved bamboo roots, and later Xiao Jiang, Chen Zheng, and Peng Jian also came to help. Eryong didn't know how Xia Qing felt, but his own arms and hands were so sore and aching he couldn't even grip the chopping blade anymore.

Xia Qing had been holding back her strength the whole time and hadn't been worn out. Because her role was different from Eryong's — she was a sniper, and under any circumstances she kept enough stamina to snipe her target accurately.

After sheathing her black long blade, Xia Qing raised her hand and pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Territory Three red-leaf bamboo has stopped growing. Territory Five, what's the situation over there?"

Yuan Yan came online. "Here in Territory Five, the red-leaf bamboo roots have also slowed down. A section of thorn wall was smashed apart. One worker's arm was lashed and injured — no evolved bacteria infection."

Hearing that no one had died because of the red-leaf bamboo's re-evolution, Xia Qing let out a breath of relief.

Hearing Zhu Li also came online. "In Territory Six, the fourth-cut bamboo has currently grown to thirty meters tall; no shoots have broken through the ground."

Zhao Ze came online. "Territory Four is the same as Territory Six."

"Same here." Wen Nengjie also came online.

After the red-leaf bamboo in Territories Three and Five underwent Calamity-evolution again, the lords didn't dare cut the red-leaf bamboo in their own territories. So during this Calamity Rain, the lords who had planted red-leaf bamboo roots all cut only three cuts of bamboo, and had to wait until the atmospheric Calamity-element concentration dropped to normal levels before they could cut the fourth cut.

Looking at the piles of bamboo chopped down from the red-leaf bamboo, and then at the bamboo still standing at thirty meters tall, the lords were both happy and shaken.

Tang Heng guessed, "Sister Qing, did you plant these bamboo roots in the same spot as during the second Calamity Rain?"

Xia Qing answered, "Yes."

Yuan Yan understood what Tang Heng meant. "We planted ours in the same spot as last time too. That might be the reason the red-leaf bamboo evolved again."

Xia Qing spoke up. "Everyone take soil samples from near the bamboo roots inside the red-leaf bamboo groves. Samples from territories south of the North Passage go to Territory Nine; samples from north of the passage go to the inspection team and get sent to me. We need to test the changes in soil composition and confirm the reason for the red-leaf bamboo's re-evolution."

"Just send them all to me." Zhang San came online lazily. "Let me see what's going on."

The big shot was online, so of course everyone was happy; after expressing thanks, they all started asking what the big shot wanted for dinner. Zhang San sounded lazy, but you could tell he was in a good mood. "Porridge, and a steamed bun with an egg in it."

Everyone: The big shot's dinner tonight is pretty simple.

Xia Qing: Idol!

"Did you guys hear?" Wen Nengjie excitedly came online to share news. "Just now, Hui-1 Deputy Base Leader Xie Ping and Research Institute Deputy Director Kang Lian were taken from their offices, just like Tang Zhengrong was back in spring! Something big is going down — definitely something big!"

Xia Qing raised an eyebrow. It seemed her idol's good mood wasn't because the eggs she'd sent tasted good, but because the case had made substantive progress.

The mastermind who launched the beast tide during the Calamity Rain and scattered aggressive Calamity-grass seeds, intending to destroy their territory — was it Hui-1 Deputy Base Leader Xie Ping? The one who fished Peng Yuancai out of prison to keep doing research — was it Hui-1 Research Institute Deputy Director Kang Lian?

Were these two the real masterminds, or just the ones taking the fall? What role did Liehuo play in this operation?

Xia Qing had just picked up her phone, about to ask her idol, when she received a message from Yang Jin:

Word from the Hui-1 side: in this attack against our territory, Liehuo's involvement wasn't high, but Xie Ping and Kang Lian have close ties with Liehuo — worth looking forward to what comes next.

What Xia Qing wanted wasn't just something to look forward to: Liehuo was busy distancing itself, and she hoped the Annihilation Cult could seize this opportunity.

Yang Jin replied quickly: The Annihilation Cult leader is giving a pre-battle动员 right now — earliest tonight, latest the day after. During this period you must show up frequently inside Northern District One, so everyone knows you've been staying in Northern District One's territory handling post-disaster matters and never left.

Xia Qing replied with a single "okay," and put down her phone.

It seemed the plan to go to West District Mountain Thirty-Seven to farm goodwill would have to be postponed too.