Chapter 1205: Southern Sour Jujubes and the Base Boundary

After teaching the old wolf to make a video call, Xia Qing gave it a power bank and a sling bag matching Wolf Elder's, and taught it how to use the power bank to charge the phone, and how to put the phone into the bag's pouch and hang it around its neck.

The old wolf didn't like having an obstructive beast-hide bag hanging around its neck. After it pushed the phone and power bank inside, it carried the bag into the cave in its mouth, then turned back and signaled Xia Qing to follow.

This was a karst cave facing southeast. The entrance was only a little taller than Xia Qing, but she couldn't see the end from inside. Judging by the echo, Xia Qing determined the cave was very long, with quite a few smaller caves as well.

In the years before the Catastrophe, Blue Star experienced frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, and the surface changed dramatically. Xia Qing guessed this place had been lifted up by the internal force compression during a major earthquake that fractured the strata, forming this unique landform.

The cave was very dry, so parking a power-generating bicycle inside wouldn't get damp or cause a fire. Xia Qing felt much more reassured after seeing it.

After surveying the environment, Xia Qing took out her tools and went clang-clang against the cave wall, chiseling out a stone hook. She picked up the beast-hide sling bag that Old Four had casually tossed into the hay nest and hung it up. "Old Four, the phone can't get wet, can't be dropped, can't be stepped on, can't be bitten. From now on, when you're not using it, hang it here."

The old wolf glanced at it, then turned and walked outside.

Xia Qing followed Old Four, chattering as she walked. "Does Old Four like the protective suits that Broken-Waist Wolf and the others wear? The suits have pockets that can hold a phone. If you like them, you can trade me a Yi stone for a set. Does Old Four still have the blue-skinned wanderer humans' cave? I can go get their Yi stones myself, and once I have them I'll trade you a protective suit…"

The old wolf said nothing, just kept leading the way.

Xia Qing glanced at the setting sun in the west, pointed south, and negotiated with the old wolf. "Old Four, it's getting dark. Will you escort me for a while? Get me out of the southern Evolution Forest, to that hill over there, and I can call a helicopter to take me back to Territory Three to cook for Elder and Wolf Lao Er."

Seeing Old Four about to take her under the dense Evolution Forest and through the cliff crevices again, Xia Qing suggested, "Old Four, let's jump down from the cliff. Take the same path you used to get to the pool earlier. I want to take that route."

The old wolf glanced back at Xia Qing's claws that had no sharp nails, then looked at the bag and gun on her back, turned around, and walked into the Evolution Forest.

Xia Qing…

Fine.

After entering the Evolution Forest, Old Four let out two low howls. Xia Qing soon saw Lord Cui Yan, the Wolf King of the southern pack, Scarface the little wolf, and an adult male wolf approaching.

Xia Qing had seen this male wolf before too—it was one of the three wolves she and Old Four had rescued from the Number Twenty-Six Mountain wanderer cave. After two months apart, this wolf looked much sturdier, its whole body radiating the aura of a powerful beast.

Xia Qing sized up its appearance and asked, "Hey, Scarface—is this your dad?"

None of the three wolves paid Xia Qing any attention; they just followed the old wolf forward.

Xia Qing switched on her low-light night-vision goggles and followed the four wolves into the dim Evolution Forest. The forest wasn't quiet at all—insects chirping, birds calling, snakes hissing, beasts roaring rose and fell one after another. Every corner here was waging a battle for survival.

Xia Qing dodged a small snake over four meters long that hissed at her, then stepped over a venomous scorpion bigger than her palm, its stinger raised. She confirmed the temperature here was much higher than in the mountains near Territory Three, because the snakes and scorpions here were far more active than those there.

What was causing the high temperature here?

While Xia Qing was carefully observing her surroundings, she stepped on a few round little fruits. She bent down and picked them up, finding they were a few ripe southern sour jujubes. The skin had been crushed under her foot, revealing the pale flesh inside; two of the fruits were also badly chewed up by insects.

Xia Qing habitually took out her Qi-element detector to test them, and her eyes lit up along with the green light.

High-quality wild fruit!

"Old Four." Xia Qing called out to the old wolf, who was still walking ahead. She waited until all four wolves turned to look back, then pointed at the towering tree dozens of meters tall and asked, "Can I pick the fruit from this tree? This kind of fruit is something I can eat."

The other three wolves showed no reaction; the old wolf bared its fangs briefly.

"Thanks, Old Four!"

Xia Qing immediately took out her cat-claw shoe covers, strapped them on, and with her pack on her back scrambled up the tree with quick clawing sounds.

The higher she climbed, the better the light became. Xia Qing removed her low-light night-vision lenses and looked around, discovering there were six tall southern sour jujube trees here. Unfortunately, her luck wasn't great—she'd climbed a red-light one.

Carefully observing the color of the leaves and the pecking marks animals had left on the fruit, Xia Qing quickly found the tree with the best quality. She climbed down from the red-light tree, climbed up the other one, and tested it—sure enough, it was a green-light tree.

Jackpot!

So many ripe southern sour jujubes—she could take them back and make lots of sour jujube cakes… Drooling at the thought, Xia Qing immediately pulled out a packaging bag and started picking.

Scarface the little wolf below saw Xia Qing chattering and leaping around in the tree like a monkey, with no sign of coming down, so it chased after a rabbit that ran past the base of the tree.

Lord Cui Yan sniffed the old wolf, then went after Scarface the little wolf. Under the tree, only the old wolf and that sturdy gray male wolf remained.

The old wolf looked at the layer of fallen fruit on the ground, then looked up at Xia Qing in the tree, its expression puzzled.

Xia Qing picked a big bag of ripe fruit she could reach, then moved from this tree to another green-light tree and picked another big bag.

Weighing it, she had at least a hundred jin!

The old wolf pawed at the layer of fruit on the ground and looked up at Xia Qing, who was laughing happily.

Xia Qing understood and explained to Old Four, "These six trees are different in quality. Those two have Qi-element content that's too high to eat. The fruit on the ground is all mixed together—taking it back would mean testing each one individually, which takes a lot of time. These two trees have the best quality; the fruit picked straight from them can be eaten as soon as I get back. See, Old Four, the flesh on these sour jujubes is pretty thick. These hundred jin of fruit should yield about 40 jin of flesh."

The old wolf understood, let out a howl to call back the companions that had wandered off, and continued onward.

Because picking fruit had taken some time, and Xia Qing wasn't running fast, by the time she followed Old Four through this dim stretch of Evolution Forest, it was already seven in the evening and the sky was nearly pitch dark.

But even with insufficient light, the experienced Xia Qing still noticed something was off. Because Old Four hadn't followed her request to head north toward Hui-Three Safe Zone, but was taking her south instead.

Xia Qing called the old wolf to a halt and communicated with it again. When she found it was still leading her south, anticipation rose in her. "Is Old Four taking me to find the blue-skinned wanderers' cave?"

Old Four bared its fangs briefly and kept leading the way.

Though excited, Xia Qing was more cautious. She quickened her pace to catch up with the old wolf and lowered her voice. "How many blue-skinned wanderers are in that cave?"

The old wolf, which had already learned to count, didn't answer. Seeing how determined it was, Xia Qing kept following.

Half an hour later, panting Xia Qing took out her phone, connected to the satellite to confirm her position, and didn't dare go any further.

Because going any further would mean leaving Hui-Three and entering the Hui-One Evolution Forest.

The wolf pack could freely cross the base boundary; she could not. Stepping into the Hui-One Evolution Forest without permission would make her an intruder.