Chapter 1534: The Collared Macaque and the Brain-Domain Evolved Raptor

"Boss! Lao Er! Come quick and see what delicious thing I've brought back!" Xia Qing entered the territory through the north gate, and rounding the wild-grass wall, she spotted one sheep and one wolf leading a little yellow calf on patrol through the north buffer forest.

"Maa~~~"

Hearing there was something tasty, Sheep Boss opened her mouth and let out a nine-turn-eighteen-bend squeaky bleat, clip-clopping over to Xia Qing and gazing up at her with enormous doe eyes.

Wolf Lao Er held the calf rope in his jaws, leading the little yellow calf—who already stood a head taller than both him and Sheep Boss—toward Xia Qing.

The little yellow calf's brain-domain evolution wasn't advanced, but it had already memorized Xia Qing, who often fed it, and willingly followed Wolf Lao Er over, even letting out a "moo" in her direction.

Wolf Lao Er bared his teeth in a happy grin.

Xia Qing reached up and brushed the snow off the three companions' heads, then opened a sack and pulled out a handful of fermented sugarcane bagasse to show them. "Smell—does it smell good?"

"Maa~~~"

"Moo—"

Wolf Lao Er didn't think it smelled good, but he still gave Xia Qing a warm smile. Xia Qing rubbed his head and handed him a pack of freeze-dried wild boar meat. "The forage is for Boss and the little yellow calf; the freeze-dried meat is for you, Lao Er. Come on, let's head to the greenhouse and mix up some tasty feed for Boss and the calf. A sack of forage this heavy—who could possibly carry it?"

Sheep Boss immediately raised her big spiral-horned head and put on a very dependable look.

"Boss! I knew I could count on you. You're truly worthy of being the evolved sheep standing at the pinnacle of Blue Star's pyramid, worthy of being our territory's lead sheep…"

After lavishly praising Sheep Boss, Xia Qing had her fetch the pannier, then loaded both sacks of fermented sugarcane bagasse onto Sheep Boss's back.

The stuff was light—even stuffed full into the largest sack Xia Qing had, each one weighed only a little over eighty jin. For Boss to carry that little was a complete waste of her labor.

Still, Boss liked it, and Xia Qing was happy, so that was enough.

Boss carried the two sacks of sugarcane bagasse ahead, while Xia Qing scooped up the little yellow calf from behind. Wolf Lao Er skillfully picked up the end of the calf's lead rope in his jaws and trotted along beside them.

Going uphill is easy, downhill is hard. The little yellow calf was the treasure of Territory Three—if it walked down on its own and its hoof slipped on ice, snow, or a smooth stone and broke a bone, Xia Qing would suffer an unbearable loss.

"Moo—"

Once all four hooves were off the ground, the little yellow calf only gave one startled cry and didn't struggle.

After four months living in Territory Three, this little calf's courage had been trained out of it. Whether being held by a person, fed grass by a wolf, butted by a sheep, or stared down by a pack of wolves, it no longer panicked and bounded about.

Seeing Xia Qing carry the calf down the slope, Guan Tong up in the tree was envious. But the little yellow calf was protected by Sheep Boss and the wolf-dog Lao Er—he couldn't even touch it, let alone carry it.

After exchanging greetings with Xia Qing, Guan Tong left Territory Three and returned to Mountain Forty-Nine.

After getting Boss and the little yellow calf their feed, Xia Qing took Wolf Lao Er along, chatting as they did the day's farm work.

Once she finished watering the beekeeping greenhouse, she heard her phone buzz in her pocket and begin a voice message: "10:23, message from Huo Zhun: Qing-jie, a macaque wearing a collar has appeared at the edge of the basin on Mountain Sixty-Seven. I suspect it's an advance scout for the Blue Blood Alliance. We haven't yet tracked down whoever's directing it—they're probably hiding very well. Should we capture this macaque alive or take it out?"

The group coming to meet up with Liao Wen actually has trained macaques?! Where did these people come from—could it be Hui Er?

Xia Qing immediately set down her work and, amid the three-dimensional hum of the bee colony, sent a message asking: Is the macaque a brain-domain evolver?

Huo Zhun replied quickly: Da Min, Da Zi, and I aren't sure. Wolfie says no. Guagu didn't say anything.

Currently, Wang Man of Territory Eleven has gone on a mission to the eastern mangrove shelterbelt, and Di Ming has been invited by Yang Jin to help interrogate Liao Wen. So besides comrade Wu Lianmin, Huo Zhun called Zhang Hongda of Territory Fifteen over, and together with two wolves and one raven, they're lying in wait on Mountain Sixty-Seven.

The raven wasn't sent by Xia Qing Sect—Huo Zhun borrowed it from his good neighbor Xin Yu on his own, at a cost of 200 points per day.

As a visual evolver, Xia Qing could tell at a glance whether any animal appearing before her was a brain-domain evolver. For evolvers without visual or brain-domain observational abilities, confirming this was still somewhat difficult.

Xia Qing replied: Tell Broken-Leg Wolf and Wolfie to hide. Send Guagu up to a tall tree to scout. Once the macaque is within range, take a shot and deliberately miss—make it bleed a little. Then have Wolfie track its scent. You all must stay safe; if anything seems off, retreat immediately.

Huo Zhun: Understood. Broken-Back sent Handsome Giant Wolf over, and Yan Long who's on leave is also coming. They'll rendezvous with us in twenty minutes. Don't worry, Qing-jie.

Yan Long and Handsome Giant Wolf? We're solid!

Xia Qing sent Yang Jin a message and went back to work.

When Yang Jin came back at noon to cook, he asked Xia Qing how things were going on Huo Zhun's end.

Xia Qing, who was preparing Wolf Lao Er's lunch, answered, "About twenty minutes after that wounded macaque fled into the northern raptor territory, the collar around its neck exploded and it died on the spot. Its body was carried off by a giant raptor that wasn't wearing a collar or leg band. Guagu said that raptor was extremely powerful—she didn't dare chase it."

After saying that, Xia Qing pulled out her phone and showed Yang Jin the photo of the giant raptor with a cockscomb on its head, feathers black all over, but a ring of white feathers around its neck. "This is the one. I sent the photo to Broken-Back Wolf, and he confirmed it's a member of the northern raptor territory—and a brain-domain evolver."

Yang Jin, who had begun tidying the freshly cut celery stalks, analyzed, "A collar exploding sounds very much like the Fierce Fire Squad's style. The macaque's collar being detonated was probably those people being afraid their hiding spot would be discovered."

Xia Qing set Wolf Lao Er's dedicated cooking pot on the fire, then picked up a celery stalk and began plucking the leaves off. "Yan Long thinks so too. She's following the traces the macaque left when it fled toward the valley, tracking down where those people are hiding."

Yan Long was a Level Nine olfactory evolver—tracking scents was her forte—but carrying out a mission alone in the Evolution Forest was still very dangerous. Yang Jin asked, "She went by herself?"

"She and Wu Lianmin together." Xia Qing asked, "How's the interrogation of Liao Wen going?"

"He still insists we trade him Pan Yuanwen's head for information and won't say a word. But Di Ming and Xie Yu have already picked up from his micro-expressions and heartbeat changes that the Fire Phoenix is hiding inside the Evolution Forest—Liao Wen doesn't know the exact location." Yang Jin poured oil into the heated wok.

Xia Qing reasoned, "That monkey might have been released by the Fire Phoenix who's hiding in the Evolution Forest."

"Right. Even if we can't find her this time, we've confirmed the general direction. She can't hide much longer."

After swiftly stir-frying the sliced pork with celery, Yang Jin made another dish—stir-fried leek sprouts with eggs. Once Xia Qing delivered Wolf Lao Er's meal to him, Yang Jin had already brought two hot dishes and a pork leg bone and radish soup to the table, and the two ate and talked as they went.

Yang Jin asked, "Qing-jie, what are we doing this afternoon?"

Hm? Xia Qing was surprised. "You're staying in the territory this afternoon?"

Yang Jin smiled brightly. "Di Ming and Xie Yu are interrogating Liao Wen. I'm staying to protect you."

Xia Qing…