Chapter 1375: Contacting the Old Wolf of the Southern Wolf Pack

After confirming the location, Xia Qing first took three twenty-centimetre-long bamboo segments from her backpack, then pulled a plain-looking Yi-stone protective case from her pocket, opened it and took out three small pieces of Yi-stone granules, stuffed them into the small holes on the bamboo segments, and then tossed the bamboo segments into the dense patch of Calamity Grass according to direction.

These Yi-stone granules had previously been used to protect the animals and plants inside the concealed valley during the Calamity Rain period. Now that the concealed valley had been converted into a standardised greenhouse that could isolate Calamity elements, the Yi-stones were no longer needed, so Xia Qing had sealed them inside a few protective cases for later use.

After placing the Yi-stones, Xia Qing confirmed that these Calamity Grass, which released a sharp magnetic field, had not evolved physical attack methods like whipping or coiling, and then began to set up a shelter.

She first used a machete to chop down a few small trees as support poles, then put a layer of antibacterial shoe covers over her protective shoes, entered the Calamity Grass to set up the support frames, then tied ropes and installed a rainproof tarp to block the falling Calamity Snow, set out six air-toxin adsorption boxes to prevent the spread of toxic gas, and finally, Xia Qing hung an illumination lamp on the tallest support frame.

A few minutes later, the concentration of Calamity elements in the air inside the shelter dropped below 3‰, and the activity of the advanced Calamity-evolved microorganisms in the soil and the Calamity Grass that had grown both decreased, indicating that Xia Qing had already established a safe and efficient disaster-clearing site.

But she did not immediately begin clearing the disaster. Instead, she took out her phone, took a few photos from various angles, and began to dial the old wolf of the Southern Wolf Pack.

After the old wolf's green-glowing wolf eyes appeared on the phone screen, Xia Qing endured her headache and greeted it warmly, "Old Four, what are you busy with?"

Outside the rainproof shelter, more than thirty wolves large and small on Mountain No. 55, and over a hundred animals of various kinds hiding in the mountain crevices by Python Pool, all pricked up their ears at the same time, listening to the sound made by the human.

The old wolf on Mountain No. 22 did not know how to answer Xia Qing's question, so it simply turned sideways to let Xia Qing see where it was.

The sky-filling Calamity Snow lit up the night sky. Xia Qing saw the shape of the distant mountain peak on her phone screen, but she was not familiar enough with the Southern Wolf Pack's territory to judge which mountain peak Old Four was on.

But that did not matter. As long as she confirmed it was safe there and she could communicate with the old wolf, that was enough. "Old Four, the Calamity Snow period is very dangerous. Are you wearing Yi-stones when you're out and about?"

Old Four, who did not have a single bit of Calamity Snow on its body, nodded solemnly.

"Old Four's safety protection is done very well. Truly worthy of a long-lived wolf standing at the top of Jin Zita." Xia Qing first offered a compliment before getting down to business.

She placed her phone at about the same height as Old Four's head, stepped back a few paces to stand beside the Calamity Grass that was not much shorter than her, and introduced the current situation. "I'm in the territory of the Queen and the Broken-Waist Wolf. Look at this very dangerous Calamity Grass behind me. It can release toxic gases similar to a weasel's toxic gas. Digging the soil at the roots of the Calamity Grass might cause an explosion with a 'boom'…"

After introducing the Calamity Grass in detail, Xia Qing explained her reason for contacting the old wolf. "This kind of Calamity Grass is very likely a self-protection measure used by blue-skinned human wanderers during the Calamity Rain and Calamity Snow periods. Old Four, are there any such Calamity Grass thickets in the Southern Wolf Pack's territory?"

The solemn old wolf did not nod this time.

Calamity Rain and Calamity Snow are disasters that occur at fixed times every year. During the disasters, evolved wolves that have not lost control will find safe places to hide, so it was quite normal that Old Four had not discovered such Calamity Grass.

Xia Qing continued, "Old Four, when you feel it's safe, go patrol your territory and look for Calamity Grass thickets like this. After you find them, remember the locations of the Calamity Grass, then contact me. The two of us will team up to catch the blue-skinned wanderers and split their supplies. How about it?"

Hearing Xia Qing's words, the Broken-Waist Wolf on the big tree tilted its head, lost in thought.

After confirming that the evolved Bai Mao grass would cause anaerobic bacteria in the soil to evolve and give rise to aggressive Calamity Grass, Xia Qing confirmed that the blue-skinned wanderers carried these grass roots not only as food, but also as a self-protection measure during the Calamity Rain and Calamity Snow periods.

According to the statements of captured wanderers, they had at least three more accomplices fleeing in the Evolution Forest. If these fleeing wanderers used Bai Mao grass roots to build protective walls during the Calamity Snow period, it would mean exposing their hiding places.

Because temperatures are low during the Calamity Snow period, ordinary Calamity Grass does not grow this fast. As long as they were still within the Southern Wolf Pack's territory, the old wolf would definitely find them.

Xia Qing certainly would not let this excellent opportunity to search for the wanderers slip by, and her best partner was Old Four, who had a grudge against that group of wanderers.

She would help Old Four take revenge, and she wanted payment. Lovely.

If they had fled into the Evolution Forest of other areas of Huiyi Base, Xia Qing would have no way to deal with it, because she was not familiar with the other brain-domain evolved animals of Huiyi.

What if the wanderers fled into the Evolution Forest of Hui Three?

Then Old Four would not be needed. The Broken-Waist Wolf would definitely search every place it could find. Xia Qing did not even need to bring this up with the Broken-Waist Wolf. That fellow was nearby and was certainly wearing a shrewd, thoughtful expression right now.

Old Four did not nod again. Xia Qing knew it was dissatisfied with the split ratio, but now was not the time to discuss the split. "We'll talk about the split ratio later. I need to clear this Calamity Grass now. Old Four, stay safe too. Goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing began to dig an isolation trench.

On the cliff above Mountain No. 22 of Hui Three, a grey-white old wolf used its paw to swipe at its phone screen, which was crawling with small insects. After carefully examining the Calamity Grass photos Xia Qing had sent it, it turned off the phone, hid it in a cave, put on a human protective mask, walked out of the cave, rolled around a few times in the Calamity Snow, and ran toward the area it thought might be hiding the blue-skinned human wanderers.

On Mountain No. 55 of Hui Three, the temperature in the Evolution Forest during the Calamity Snow period had dropped to minus three degrees. The soil layer had not yet frozen solid, and the strength-evolver Xia Qing used thirty minutes to dig the isolation trenches around the danger zone.

Then, she pulled out all the aggressive Calamity Grass in the danger zone, shook off the soil from the roots, and packed them into sealed bags for storage. The sharp magnetic field that had been causing Xia Qing's brow to ache finally receded.

After collecting the Calamity Grass, Xia Qing took out a small watering can, mixed in a suppressant, and sprayed the danger zone, letting the agent flow along the loosened soil from the grass-pulling down into the depths to suppress and transform the advanced evolved sulfate-reducing bacteria. The harm from the advanced evolved methanogens was lower, so they could be left alone for now.

Ten minutes after spraying the suppressant, Xia Qing took out a shovel made of hardness-evolved bamboo strips and dug up the soil containing two kinds of advanced evolved anaerobic bacteria.

The reason she did not use an iron shovel was that the methanogens in the soil had undergone advanced evolution, rapidly breaking down organic matter and releasing methane gas. By now, the methane concentration inside the rainproof shelter had already reached 4%, and the methane concentration in the soil was certainly higher.

When this gas reaches a concentration of 5%-15%, it will explode upon encountering an ignition source. Using an iron shovel to dig the soil might produce sparks if it hits stones in the soil, triggering an explosion and causing the advanced evolved bacteria to spread.