Chapter 108: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Chen Zheng examined the pale brown fur and the cucumber in the sealed bag, then confirmed, "This is wolf fur. The cucumber also carries the scent left by a wolf—the same one that left its scent under the grapevine more than half a month ago."

Hu Zifeng felt the situation was extremely serious. "This wolf is very cunning. Why not report this to Brother Luo and have him send scent-evolved humans or scent-evolved dogs above level seven to track the wolf's trail?"

Chen Zheng, a level-five scent evolver, was unable to determine where this wolf had come from or gone.

Xia Qing also noticed one thing: Hu Zifeng said to report to Brother Luo rather than to Captain Yang Jin. Could it be that Yang Jin was not at the Third Base right now?

She shook her head. "This wolf should be a friend of Boss Sheep. It means no harm, so for now don't alert Brother Luo, and there's no need to send extra people. I'm going to attend the agricultural products trade fair, so please help me guard the territory. If this wolf shows up again, as long as it doesn't attack, don't get into a conflict with it."

Huh?

Hu Zifeng and Chen Zheng, who always prided themselves on being mature and steady, gaped wide enough to stuff an egret egg into their mouths at the same time.

Boss Sheep isn't just friends with pigs—she's also on good terms with wolves?

Is this an evolved sheep, or an evolved wolf in sheep's clothing?

If Xia Qing could hear their thoughts, she would surely tell them: Boss Sheep is, of course, a sheep—a sheep standing at the very pinnacle of Blue Star's pyramid, the sheep who opened a new era of evolved sheep on Blue Star.

Xia Qing added another reminder. "I won't be back tonight. Boss Sheep might throw a tantrum. If she acts up, just call me and put it on speaker for her to hear."

When it was time to gather, Xia Qing slung her heavy large backpack over her back, hung her big machete on, and put on the ordinary evolved-person badge she hadn't worn in five months. The handgun, however, she hid away at home. She wasn't a combat-team member, so she wasn't allowed to bring a firearm into the safe zone.

Before leaving, Xia Qing said goodbye to Boss Sheep. "Boss, I'm off. Guard the house well. I'll definitely bring you something delicious back tomorrow."

"Baa!"

Ever since she had the private training ground, Xia Qing often left the territory to "get something delicious," so Boss Sheep was very receptive to this line—her call came out excited.

"Mm, I'll definitely bring you something delicious back. This time I'll be gone longer than before—I won't be back until tomorrow evening." Xia Qing pointed toward the sun, explaining to Boss Sheep. "It's when this bright ball moves from here to here. You go home and take a nap, and when the sun moves from here to here again, I'll be back."

Boss Sheep squinted her eyes; who knew whether she understood or not.

"Beep beep, beep beep."

The honk of a car horn sounded—Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui had arrived. Xia Qing, carrying her things, arrived beneath the Number Three Territory stop sign and found that what was parked there wasn't the light truck that usually delivered lords to their territories, but a military truck whose cargo bed was wrapped tightly in green military canvas. An armored vehicle rode in front and another behind, escorting and protecting the lords' safety.

Fully armed Tan Junjie and Zhong Tao jumped down from the vehicle. Tan Junjie, still wearing his usual solemn expression, said, "Number Three Territory lord Xia Qing, welcome to the Third Base Agricultural Products Trade Fair. Please get on board."

After speaking, Zhong Tao winked at Xia Qing and walked ahead to lead the way.

Xia Qing, wearing her protective mask, followed behind Zhong Tao into the empty cargo bed, chose a seat right in the center close to the cab, and hugged her large backpack to her chest.

After a short while, Xia Qing heard Tan Junjie invite the Number One Territory's representative onto the vehicle in the same manner. The Number One Territory's representative turned out to be Wei Chengdong, who walked straight over and sat down beside Xia Qing, explaining in a low voice, "I haven't been back to the safe zone for several months. I'm taking this chance to go back and have a look."

Sitting beside Wei Chengdong, Xia Qing immediately relaxed quite a bit.

Right after that, the Number Two Territory's representative got on. The moment this fairly upright-looking man opened his mouth, Xia Qing knew who he was.

"Wei Chengdong? Why aren't you sticking by Luo Pei's side—what are you doing here?"

Toward members of the Tang family, Wei Chengdong, just like Hu Zifeng, had no pleasant expression. "Does this old man need to report to you what he's doing?"

Tang Huai shot a glare at Wei Chengdong, then swept his eyes over the green badge Xia Qing wore. "Number Three Territory, Xia Qing?"

Xia Qing gave a slight nod.

"I'm Tang Huai."

"I could tell." Xia Qing replied.

Seeing that Xia Qing was neither warm nor cold, Tang Huai snorted, picked a spot on the long bench fixed to the east side of the vehicle, sat down, and began sorting through the things in his backpack. After the vehicle had driven east for a while, Zhao Ze, Qi Fu, Shi Du, Assistant Xiao Liu from Number Nine Territory, and Ji Li, the "delivery man" from Number Seven Territory, got on one after another. The moment they boarded, Xia Qing recognized each of them—because she already knew Zhao Ze, Qi Fu, Shi Du, and Ji Li, and the moment the remaining two opened their mouths, she could tell who they were too.

A group of familiar strangers identified each other by voice, and the distance between them instantly closed. Xia Qing first asked after Qi Fu's arm, which was no longer in a sling, then fell quiet.

Shi Du, sitting beside Xia Qing, had just been about to make small talk with her when Assistant Xiao Liu, wearing a snow-white protective suit and seated diagonally across from him, suddenly spoke. His voice remained gentle and firm, the kind one simply couldn't refuse. "Mr. Shi, may I swap seats with you? I'm timid. Sitting next to Young Lady Xia would put my heart much more at ease."

Assistant Xiao Liu looked refined and fair-skinned, with a pair of black-framed glasses perched on his nose—clearly a researcher with no ability to protect himself. Shi Du had no choice but to stand up and swap seats with him.

Qi Fu and Zhao Ze held back their laughter. Kuang Qingwei, with his small eyes and square face, laughed heartily and patted the seat beside him. "Shi, come sit here. It'll get crowded later. Let's sit together and look out for each other, so our stuff doesn't get swiped."

"Look out for each other with you lot?" Tang Huai, sitting beside Zhao Ze, snorted, then turned to cozy up to Ji Li from Number Seven Territory. "Brother, want some fried green-light cicadas? They're delicious."

Cicadas are at their tenderest and cleanest right after they've shed their outer skin, before the new skin has had time to darken and harden.

Ji Li's expression and voice were both stiff. "Number Seven Territory doesn't trade with Number Two Territory."

Xia Qing……

Tang Huai's smile didn't waver. "It's not a trade—it's free."

"Thanks." The moment he heard it was free, Ji Li speared one with a toothpick and popped it into his mouth.

He just ate something from a stranger? Truly worthy of being Zhang San's delivery man.

Seeing that Ji Li had eaten, Tang Huai was very pleased. He held out the takeout box of fried cicadas with both hands in front of Assistant Xiao Liu. "Assistant Liu, would you like one too?"

"Thank you." Assistant Xiao Liu pushed his black-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose, speared one with a toothpick and examined it carefully, then gave it a sniff. "Freshly emerged, shed-shell cicadas—protein content 58.58%, fat content 10.23%, also containing total phosphorus, calcium, and zinc. A rare delicacy that's high in protein and low in fat. The frying oil is premium pure peanut oil, the temperature was well controlled, and the cicadas were fried just right. The dried chili, ginger, and garlic added when they came out of the pot are all green-light grade. Mr. Tang doesn't stint on ingredients, and his cooking skills are excellent too."

"Assistant Liu really is a connoisseur—you got it all exactly right. We've always communicated on the lord channel before; today is our first meeting. Please, everyone, have a taste of Number Two Territory's specialty." After saying this, Tang Huai held out the fried cicadas in front of Xia Qing. "Young Lady Xia?"