Chapter 121: The Battle of Mountain Fifty-Five

Hearing that the pumpkins in Xia Qing's territory had bloomed, the usually quiet channel immediately boiled over. Lords who had been plagued by pumpkin vines for months eagerly asked how many buds there were, what the buds looked like, whether they seemed normal, how Xia Qing had been managing them, and so on.

Xia Qing tapped the bud on the pumpkin vine with a stick, glanced at the air toxin detector on her wrist, then pressed the button. "From what I can see, it's normal. I didn't do anything special—just chopped a basketful of pumpkin vines to eat the day before yesterday."

Although Xia Qing hadn't said who ate them or how, the lords all understood. After a few seconds of silence, Zhao Ze pressed the button. "You really are willing to part with them."

A power-evolution sheep that couldn't be eaten, yet Xia Qing was willing to feed it yellow-light crops.

Inside Territory One, Guan Tong whispered, "What's so great about feeding pumpkin vines to a sheep? Even if Sheep Bro wanted to eat cucumber, Sis Qing would chop it down without a second thought and feed it to him."

Hu Zifeng, who had personally heard how Xia Qing coaxed Sheep Bro, agreed. "Even if Sheep Bro wanted green-light stuff, she'd still be willing."

Green-light cucumber…

Guan Tong and Hu Zifeng exchanged a silent look. Their urge to go to Territory Three and be a sheep grew even stronger, but neither of them had the nerve to say it out loud.

On the lord channel, Zhang San spoke lazily. "Xia Qing just got lucky by accident. After cutting part of the vines, the pumpkin started growing buds—probably because the vines were growing too vigorously before and stealing too many nutrients."

Xia Qing, ever the diligent student, asked, "Third Bro, have your pumpkins bloomed?"

"Don't like them. Didn't plant any."

Xia Qing… well, that reason was very Third Bro.

Qi Fu seized the chance to ask for guidance. "Third Bro, should we cut some of our vines too?"

Zhang San replied, "You can give it a try."

Qi Fu was overjoyed at Zhang San's affirmative answer. "Thanks, Third Bro. Xia Qing, once my pumpkins grow, I'll have your sister-in-law fry you some pumpkin cakes."

Xia Qing was just feeling happy when she heard Zhang San speak again. "Is Hu Zifeng here?"

Hu Zifeng immediately pressed the button. "Third Bro, I'm here."

Zhang San said coolly, "Come over and pick up your kitten. Raise it well. If I find out you've mistreated the little fellow, whatever you do to it, I'll return to you a hundredfold."

"Yes, Third Bro, don't worry, I'll definitely raise it well!" Hu Zifeng was so excited his voice shot up an octave.

Xia Qing's happy bubble burst with a pop.

Just when Xia Qing was feeling most heartbroken, someone had to pour cold water on her. Zhao Ze asked, "Third Bro, doesn't Xia Qing need to go pick up a cat?"

"Xia Qing has no fate with this litter of kittens. We'll talk about it next litter."

Xia Qing teared up. Truly worthy of being her idol—Zhang San's answer saved her face.

Li Si spoke up immediately. "Third Bro, can I adopt one of the other kittens? I'll definitely take good care of it."

Zhang San refused. "I like the other little fellow—no trades. If my cats wander into anyone's territory and cause trouble, please don't hurt them. Any losses caused by the cats, I'll compensate double. Captain Tan, please pass this message on to all the lords in this area."

"Captain Tan's not here. Investigation team copy that, we'll pass it along." Su Ming's voice came through the lord channel. Xia Qing guessed Tan Junjie was probably playing with his daughter.

Speaking of Tan and his daughter reminded Xia Qing of the frogbit flowers Tan Qi had given her. To be honest, she'd added frogbit flowers and sugar to her porridge, and besides the sweetness, she couldn't taste anything else. She wondered whether Zhang San liked the taste. She'd find a chance to try someday—if he liked it, Xia Qing would have a new green-light plant.

At the mention of double compensation, Kuang Qingwei spoke up at once. "Cats coming over to roam are just catching mice. Don't worry, Third Bro, I won't get in their way."

Qi Fu, who raised a chicken, was cautious. "What do Third Bro's cats look like? I'm afraid I'll mix them up with mountain cats or wild cats."

Zhang San answered, "Two brown tabby cats, one big and one small, wearing gold tracking collars."

Hu Zifeng quickly followed up. "My kitten is also a tabby, with four little white paws and white fur on its neck. It also wears a collar. Just like Third Bro, I'll compensate double for any losses caused by my kitten wandering into anyone's territory."

Xia Qing, who had wandered into the vegetable garden, bit viciously into a green-light cucumber. Her little fifth one had become Hu Zifeng's cat. As for the wolf—she wanted to beat it up!

In the afternoon, Xia Qing asked Hu Zifeng to send some team members over to guard her territory. She was feeling depressed and wanted to go to the private training ground to work it off.

When Luo Pei arrived at Area Three of Mountain Forty-Nine and saw Xia Qing looking so glum, he couldn't help but laugh. "Want a cat that badly? I'll find you one from the Safe Zone?"

If Xia Qing really wanted a cat or wanted more green-light plants, she could simply trade with the Qinglong Battle Team. But for safety's sake, Xia Qing didn't want to conduct more transactions with the Qinglong Battle Team that others might notice. "My territory smells like wolf. A cat wouldn't stay even if it came. Brother Luo, I want to keep learning combat today."

After going back to the Safe Zone and taking down Zhao Jie and his gang in a few moves, Xia Qing's interest in combat had shot straight up—she was tired of getting beaten up in front of Luo Pei every day.

Luo Pei grew serious. "Fight Chengdong first. Let me see how many moves you can last against him now, then we'll talk."

"Okay." Xia Qing set aside the knife and gun she was wearing on a rock, loosened up, and engaged Wei Chengdong.

Wei Chengdong was a Level Four impact-resistance Evolver—put plainly, he could take four times the beating of an ordinary person. Add his years of training and real combat experience, and Xia Qing was obviously no match for him. Five minutes later, Xia Qing had her arms pinned behind her back and was pressed to the ground by his knee, unable to move.

After Wei Chengdong let go, Xia Qing got up and stretched her arms and legs. She noticed Luo Pei looking at her knife, so she explained on her own. "I bought this new from the Huo Family Blade Shop when I went back to the Safe Zone."

Luo Pei gripped the medium-sized knife, over thirty centimeters long, gave it a swing, and felled a pine tree as thick as an arm beside him. "This is a handmade knife crafted by Lord Huo Lei himself. You're pretty lucky."

Xia Qing smiled and nodded. "My luck has always been pretty good."

Someone who'd endured ten years of natural disasters and still stayed this optimistic was truly rare. Luo Pei sheathed the knife and began coaching Xia Qing. "Your strength is sufficient, but your speed is still too slow, your strike placement isn't precise enough, and your prediction of your opponent's actions is lacking…"

Xia Qing trained hard all afternoon under Luo Pei's guidance. When she collapsed exhausted on the ground to rest, she heard Luo Pei's phone ring.

Her Level Six hearing let Xia Qing clearly hear the voice on the other end. "Brother Luo, the brothers stationed at Area One of Mountain Forty-Nine have detected several hundred birds flying out simultaneously from the southern slope of Mountain Fifty-Five."

Luo Pei asked, "Any disaster weather warnings from the Meteorological Bureau?"

"None."

Luo Pei replied, "Then it's probably a fight between large evolved creatures inside Mountain Fifty-Five. Send two squads over to check. Stay safe and report any developments."

"Yes, sir."

After the other party hung up, Xia Qing stood. "Brother Luo, go handle your business. I can practice on my own."

Luo Pei nodded. "Don't go north. Keep your phone line open. From now on, I'll double the guards on the mountain."

North of Mountain Forty-Nine was Mountain Fifty-Two, and northeast of Mountain Fifty-Two was Mountain Fifty-Five. It sounded far, but if a large-scale evolved animal fight really broke out, the losing side would flee outward—and at an evolved animal's speed, they could reach Mountain Forty-Nine within an hour.

If the animal group was powerful enough, it could trigger other animals to stampede in panic, escalating into a beast tide. Anyone who'd lived through a beast tide never wanted to face that fear and despair again.

After Luo Pei left, Xia Qing, her muscles aching all over, did recovery exercises while pondering the situation at Mountain Fifty-Five.

By instinct, she felt the fight on Mountain Fifty-Five was related to the wolf pack—she just didn't know who had won or lost.

If by chance it was the wolf pack led by the wolf missing a chunk of its left ear, and they lost and fled their territory, would they come seize hers?

That possibility was far greater than a beast tide.