Chapter 1376: Divergence

Even though the deepest soil layer here was only 30 centimetres thick, Xia Qing still dug out more than 15 tonnes of soil and rock, filling 250 large reinforced bags.

It wasn't that each bag couldn't hold more soil and rock, but loading too much would make it inconvenient for the wolves to carry. Because among the northern wolf pack, only three non-giant strength-evolved wolves had a load-bearing capacity not much higher than Handsome Giant Wolf, Big Guy, and Second Son.

After filling the bags, Xia Qing sprayed the cleared area once more with a special-effect bactericide. The three yi stones and the rainproof tarp were also left here to isolate excess qiang elements, preventing the high-grade evolved anaerobic bacteria remaining in the rock crevices from continuing to rapidly multiply and release harmful substances.

After checking and confirming the hazardous area was handled, Xia Qing opened the rainproof tarp to let the small amount of hydrogen sulfide lingering in the air be dispersed by the wind. It was just past six in the morning, the qiang snow had stopped, and the sky wasn't fully light yet—perfect conditions for the wolf pack to haul the soil bags.

Xia Qing raised her voice to call her companion, "Handsome Wolf Bro, you there?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf, lying on a large pine tree thirty metres away, stood up and bumped the branch above; dirty snow on the pine needles pattered down, making it very conspicuous.

Xia Qing beckoned, "Handsome Wolf Bro, come over. The hazardous area here is handled."

The Broken-Waist Wolf, wearing a fully enclosed protective mask, leapt down from the tree, bounced twice, and landed handsomely in front of Xia Qing. It poked its head in to inspect the handling of the hazardous area inside the rain shelter, raised a large paw to point at the pile of filthy bags, and let out indistinct "awu awu" sounds from its mouth.

Xia Qing explained to this exacting client, "I know, the dirt on the bags has to be cleaned off, otherwise it'll cause the spread of super-evolved bacteria. I'll handle cleaning the bags during the packing and hauling later. Broken-Waist, call over all the wolves that can carry heavy loads, okay? Best to get all these bags moved to the spot we picked on Mountain Fifty before the next round of qiang snow hits—leaving them here could cause danger."

After the Broken-Waist Wolf raised its head so Xia Qing could remove its protective mask, it let out two long howls.

The wolf pack's second-in-command was summoning the pack members; evolved wolves from Mountain Fifty-Five arrived one after another outside the rain shelter. Xia Qing counted—together with the Head Wolf and the Broken-Waist Wolf, there were twenty-six in total. Even Little Wolf Bro, Little Wolf Sis, and Little Four-Eyes, these half-grown wolves, had been drafted as extra labour.

Handsome Giant Wolf and Broken-Leg Wolf weren't there—those two combative, rowdy bachelors had been sent off again to guard Mountain Sixty.

Xia Qing used the wooden frame she'd set up to hoist two bags filled with soil, quickly cleaned the wet dirt clinging to the outside of the bags, then tied the two bags together.

Adult giant wolves and strength-evolved wolves carried four soil bags each; adult non-giant wolves and half-grown giant wolves carried two bags; non-giant half-grown wolves carried one bag. Once the pack had their bags loaded, the Broken-Waist Wolf led the way, with the Head Wolf and Black Wolf protecting the wolves hauling the soil bags, as they transported the soil to Mountain Fifty.

Xia Qing? She was slow, and with only two legs, her balance was terrible on the wet, rugged mountain paths—even without a load she couldn't keep up with the laden wolf pack's pace, so she stayed on Mountain Fifty-Five with four wolves to guard it.

The twenty-plus wolves made four round trips. On the final trip, Xia Qing also carried two bags of soil, following the pack to move all the contaminated soil to the foot of Mountain Fifty. Because she was slow, Broken-Leg Sis, who was also carrying two bags of soil, grumbled at her in annoyance several times.

After the soil bags were transported, it was already half past eight in the morning, and orange-grade qiang snow began to fall from the sky again.

After sending the wolf pack back to their territory, Xia Qing carefully inspected every bag, put the wolf fur and wet dirt stuck to the bags into a medium-sized bag, stuffed it into her off-road vehicle, then began digging up soil on the spot and scattering it over the bags.

This spot where the bags were placed had been chosen in advance by the Broken-Waist Wolf at Xia Qing's request. The soil condition and scent here were very similar to the area on Mountain Fifty-Five where evolved Bai Mao grass was planted.

To outsiders, Xia Qing could say the soil in the bags was dug from here. To make this digging site look more authentic, Xia Qing dug up a ten-square-metre patch of soil on the spot, and threw all the excavated soil and rock into the bottomless mountain gorge beside it.

While she was busy, two more rounds of qiang snow fell, one of which was a red-grade blizzard. Out-of-control snow-jumpers, insects, and small to medium animals kept charging over, and were swatted away by Xia Qing, who was wearing a special protective suit. By the time she finished, it was already half past eleven, and the qiang snow had completely covered the tracks left by the wolf pack when they hauled the soil and rock.

Xia Qing dusted off the dirt on her body, called the inspection team's snowplough, and borrowed a large truck from friend Xin Yu's Territory Eight fungal powder factory. With the snowplough leading the way and the truck doing the hauling, all 250 bags of soil and rock were transported back to the territory in a single trip.

Having gone without sleep all night and worked at high intensity for eight hours, Xia Qing was exhausted and had no energy to drive her off-road vehicle back and forth, trip after trip, hauling the soil and rock.

The large truck entered through the east gate of Territory One and stopped outside the south gate of Territory Seven, stunning the special-ops team members stationed at Territory Seven.

Zhang San, having received the news, came out and saw the mountain of soil bags. He asked the filthy Xia Qing in a sour tone, "How did you bring back so much?"

Xia Qing, already so exhausted her voice was hoarse, replied with some edge in her tone, "I dug it all exactly as you ordered."

Hearing Xia Qing's tone, Zhang Jingwu and Zheng Chen and the others all froze for a moment.

Zhang San frowned and looked at Xia Qing for two seconds, then turned and went back to the lab.

As if only realizing her tone was wrong after seeing Zhang San leave, Xia Qing immediately dragged her exhausted body after him.

After being rinsed and disinfected at the entrance of the lab building, Xia Qing knocked four times before entering her idol's office.

After closing the door, she took off her protective mask and smiled, her bloodshot eyes crinkling, "Third Bro, did I act convincingly just now?"

"Acting?" Zhang San snorted coldly. "I think you've been dissatisfied with me for a long time and just took this chance to vent."

That's impossible!

Xia Qing immediately shook her head. "Apart from you being nicer to Little Duan than to me, I have no complaints about you at all."

Is that something a normal person would say in a normal way? Zhang San couldn't be bothered to argue with this bizarrely-wired new human, and got straight to the point. "Did you record it?"

"I did."

She had only recorded the process of handling the hazardous area; the parts where she talked with Lao Si and exchanged yi stones with the Broken-Waist Wolf weren't recorded. Xia Qing pulled out the memory card from her protective mask and handed it to her idol. "Make a copy. Broken-Waist also wants to see the footage—I need to keep one for it."

You went into the evolved forest without even bringing Yang Jin, braving qiang snow to shovel dirt for eight hours just for that pack of wolves—and you still have the nerve to say I'm nicer to the wolves?!

Zhang San shot Xia Qing a look, poured a glass of juice and handed it to her, then began copying the video.

"No need, I need this voice of mine later." Xia Qing needed to maintain her outwardly exhausted state and voice, so she couldn't drink the juice. She quickly briefed her idol on the emergency situation at Mountain Fifty-Five. "The qiang grass area over there is about 8 square metres, and the thickest part of the soil layer is 30 centimetres. I brought back the qiang grass, the soil, and the evolved Bai Mao grass. The seven Bai Mao grass roots under thirty centimetres long that Broken-Waist brought back have now spread across the entire qiang grass area, and the quality is still green-light. Third Bro, is the Bai Mao grass in Territory One the same situation?"