Chapter 118: The Woman Who Strayed Into Territory Three

On the lord channel, Tang Zhengpo of Territory Twelve began explaining how to roast peanuts: "Don't put oil in the pan, just pour in the washed peanuts, stir-fry on low heat for three to four minutes. When you can rub half the peanut skin off, take it out of the pan, let it cool, then rub the skins off and winnow them away, then grind it up with a flour mill…"

After Tang Zhengpo finished, Zhao Ze immediately jumped in: "As expected of Boss Tang—even a peanut sauce gets so much craft from you."

A big shot who once dominated the business world before the Catastrophe, and now after it he can only hole up in his territory lecturing them on how to make peanut sauce—what's there to flatter? Zhao Ze's flattery this time missed the mark and even carried a hint of mockery.

Xia Qing, who had just finished eating her noodles, pressed the button: "Boss Tang, would the sauce taste better if the peanuts are roasted a bit more?"

Tang Zhengpo spoke at an unhurried, even pace, very pleasant to listen to: "Xia Qing is right—I didn't consider that point just now. Before the Catastrophe, we kept the heat low so the peanut flavor wouldn't completely mask the other seasonings. But now we're short on seasonings, so roasting until you can rub all the skins off before taking it out and grinding it will indeed make the sauce taste better."

"Thank you, Boss Tang." Xia Qing thanked him sincerely.

Xia Qing has a grudge against Tang Zhengsu, not against Tang Zhengpo. Tang Zhengpo had a solid business reputation before the Catastrophe. After it, he was squeezed out by Tang Zhengsu, and though his days were far worse than before, the Tang Family Restaurant he ran with his daughter Tang Ning remained honest and fair to all. If Xia Qing weren't afraid of being recognized by Tang Zhengsu, she would definitely have gone to apply at the Tang Family Restaurant to pick up a few practical cooking skills and live a more comfortable life.

Li Si suddenly spoke up: "Xia Qing, I remember you asked whether peanut vines could be composted—do you have peanuts in your territory too?"

The fact that there were peanuts inside Territory Three—Xia Qing had never mentioned it on the lord channel.

Without a flicker of panic, she pressed the button: "Fourth Sister has a great memory. I did indeed find two small patches of red-light peanuts in my territory—over eighty plants in all. More than half of them underwent Qiang evolution during the second Qiang Rain. The Qiang element content in the rest has risen too. When I heard you say they could be composted, I pulled them all up to compost."

Li Si didn't speak again, and the topic naturally shifted to the seeds and seedlings everyone had just brought back from the Safe Zone.

After washing her dishes, Xia Qing took Sheep Boss for a stroll into the low-slope planting zone, moved the big stone blocking the spring and caught the spring water with a bucket, then left Sheep Boss—who was grazing by Shi Dong—to guard it. She headed toward the high-slope planting zone to check whether the passionfruit and Sichuan pepper seedlings she'd planted the night before had wilted in the sun.

She had just reached the old quarantine belt when she heard footsteps from the west. There was only one person; the footsteps were light, the pace unhurried, as if observing something.

Xia Qing immediately hid behind a tree and listened intently.

After pausing for a few seconds at the three-way junction of the north quarantine belt between Territory One and Territory Three, the person actually entered Territory Three directly. Trespassing on a territory without the lord's permission is grounds for immediate killing.

Still, she needed to find out the woman's purpose before acting. Xia Qing gripped her gun and leaned against the tree, but heard the person stop less than ten meters from her, and their breathing grow rapid. The person had probably spotted her—this might be an olfaction Evolver.

Xia Qing slowly raised her gun, ready to fire.

"I was passing through to chop firewood; I didn't intend to enter your territory." The visitor stated her purpose calmly.

It was a woman, and from her voice, not old. Xia Qing paused a few seconds, stepped out from behind the tree, and pointed the muzzle at the visitor: "You've already trespassed into my territory."

Seeing that Xia Qing had a gun, the woman in protective gear immediately held her machete in front of her body and calmly stated the facts: "You're Xia Qing, lord of Territory Three? I'm the lord of Territory Eight. Where I'm standing is the quarantine belt, not your territory."

So this was the lord of Territory Eight, who never spoke on the lord channel? The lord of Territory Eight had only received a walkie-talkie after the second Qiang Rain. She was probably holding the original territory division map and didn't know the high slope had been incorporated into Territory Three, so today's accidental trespass was understandable.

Though Xia Qing hadn't holstered her weapon, her killing intent had largely faded. She explained: "This used to be the quarantine belt, but it's already been incorporated into my territory. If you head north from the three-way junction to the west, that's the current quarantine belt."

"I really didn't know—my apologies." The woman thanked her, used her blade to shield her body as she slowly backed out of Territory Three, then headed north from the three-way junction.

After the woman had gone some distance, Xia Qing finally holstered her gun and took the machete off her back. Although Uncle Huo had said this machete had been clawed too deeply by cat claws and wouldn't last much longer, Xia Qing couldn't bear to throw it away and had brought it back to use as a wood-chopping blade.

Because only the inspection team and Ji Li walked the north quarantine belt, and they both knew the high slope belonged to Xia Qing, she hadn't bothered to block off the east and west ends of the old quarantine belt.

It was Xia Qing's own oversight. Since there was a gap, she had to seal it immediately. She hacked down two thigh-thick small trees with a few chops, laid them across the road from the western three-way junction into the old quarantine belt, and blocked that passage. Then she carried her blade to the eastern three-way junction, about to chop a tree, when she heard footsteps again.

After a while, the woman from earlier came back along the quarantine belt between the Wild Boar Breeding Center and Territory Three.

Xia Qing frowned. There was a quarantine belt on the north side of the Wild Boar Breeding Center, yet this person didn't take the north-side belt and kept walking along the edge of her territory—was she truly lost, or doing it on purpose?

The firewood-chopping excuse was also a stretch. Even if Territory Eight wasn't near the mountains and had no buffer forest, a territory of over a thousand mu would surely have plenty of trees—why would she need to risk coming out to chop wood?

Though she had her suspicions, the Wild Boar Breeding Center had been assigned by the Safe Zone to the Qinglong Squad and wasn't counted as part of Xia Qing's territory. The woman was walking along that quarantine belt; no matter how close she got, she hadn't trespassed into Xia Qing's territory, and Xia Qing had no right to interfere.

Soon, two women of similar height, each carrying a machete, met at the three-way junction. Xia Qing looked the stronger of the two, because she was a Strength Evolver and her machete was bigger than the other's.

Unlike the caution she'd shown during their earlier encounter, the woman merely gave Xia Qing a slight nod, then continued east along the quarantine belt with her machete, exposing her entire back to Xia Qing.

It's been ten years since the Catastrophe—how could anyone casually expose their back to a stranger armed with a weapon?

This woman was either far too strong or far too weak. After watching her walk away, Xia Qing hacked down a tree with a few chops and laid it across the three-way junction at the east end of the old quarantine belt, sealing off the possibility of "accidentally" entering Territory Three from the old quarantine belt.

Her territory wasn't fenced in with hedges or wire mesh, so if someone wanted to break in, it would still be easy. But trespassing on a territory is tantamount to placing one's life in the lord's hands—those without sufficient strength wouldn't dare trespass. Those with sufficient strength wouldn't be interested in the few things inside a territory and wouldn't risk being hunted down by the base for trespassing. So the territory was safe for now.

But she ought to give serious thought to having the Hu Zifeng squad patrol and guard the area around her territory.

Xia Qing crossed the high-slope planting zone and reached the vicinity of the big Chinese toon tree.

Although this was the high slope, the soil layer was thick enough, so Xia Qing had planted the apple tree, jujube tree, passionfruit vine, and Sichuan pepper tree all here. There were only five fruit trees in total—the Chinese toon and Sichuan pepper trees were also green-light, but they didn't bear fruit, so they didn't count as fruit trees. Still, Xia Qing decided to name this place: Green Fruit Garden.

In Green Fruit Garden, only two jujube trees—which could eat branch worms on their own—had borne over a hundred green jujubes. If she wanted true fruit freedom, she'd have to keep planting fruit trees: loquats, oranges, snow pears, Li Zi, and more—she wanted to grow them all. Ten years into the Catastrophe, she was nearly forgetting what these fruits even tasted like.

The Sichuan pepper and passionfruit were a bit wilted, but they hadn't dried out—they would definitely recover. Xia Qing was reassured.

A burst of orderly footsteps came over, and Xia Qing strolled to the edge of her territory to wait.