Chapter 1624: Spring Has Come

After Hu Guangdong handed over the binoculars and the two-thousand-point fine, slamming the door with a dark face, Sheep Boss and Xia Qing, who had finally fought to their heart's content in Zone 3 of Mountain 49, collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

Little Crew Cut looked left and right, bared his small teeth, and lunged to bite the meat on Sheep Boss's leg. Sheep Boss leaped up and the battle began again.

Even though Sheep Boss was tired, Little Crew Cut—who had no combat-type evolution ability—was no match for it. Xia Qing leaned against a rock and watched for a while before feeling reassured. She pulled a small packet of freeze-dried treats from her pocket, fed them to Red San Mao, who was whimpering around her, then took out the bag of deworming powder from her pocket and started petting the foxes.

Red San Mao was already a half-grown fox; after the dull grey fur fell out, the newly grown coat was also a reddish-brown, very beautiful.

Red Da Mao, whose hunting ability was very strong, was not tempted by Xia Qing's food, but it needed the deworming powder, so this fellow also ran over whimpering.

Xia Zhou Wang welcomed all comers, petting Red Da Mao while instructing, "Red Da Mao, I'll be coming here often these next few days. You family don't go to my territory—it's dangerous."

The red fox family's courage and leaping ability were a notch higher than the plucked-fur weasel family's, so they often roamed the evolution forest within Xia Qing's territory looking for food, helping her clear it out. As payment, Xia Qing regularly groomed their fur.

In the coming period, sixty-five researchers from various base research institutes would come for inspection. Among them, twelve researchers whose names had been bolded by the idol on the list needed special attention. Xia Qing didn't want the wild animals she had dealings with to be discovered and captured by these people.

The red fox family's brain evolution level wasn't high; the pregnant Red Er Mao should be giving birth soon. Xia Qing uneasily instructed twice before turning to ask the weasel family standing ramrod-straight in the distance, "Little Bai Mao, how many pups are you carrying this time?"

Little Bai Mao, whose belly was swollen, stared at Xia Qing with those round black eyes, whiskers trembling.

Xia Qing instructed, "Don't run around lately, let the plucked-fur one hunt for you. If you really can't catch prey, go find Broken-Waist Wolf and ask for a few bamboo rats to eat… Is your belly uncomfortable? Do you need a prenatal check? If you do, go find Broken-Waist Wolf and have it take you for an examination."

After finishing petting the foxes and instructing Little Bai Mao, by the time Sheep Boss had beaten Little Crew Cut until it refused to get up, the sky had also grown dark.

Xia Qing enthusiastically praised Sheep Boss, then carried it back to the territory, chatting as they walked, "Our power-generating bicycle is almost broken. I gathered some materials and asked Jiang Ying to make you a treadmill-style power generator. Pedaling the treadmill, Sheep Boss will become even stronger and more handsome!"

This was Zhang Song's idea. After learning that all the electricity in Territory Three was generated by a sheep pedaling a bicycle, he suggested Xia Qing switch to a different power-generating tool. Because pedaling a bicycle for long periods would wear down Sheep Boss's knee and hip joints.

Xia Qing certainly wanted her companion healthy. Even though Sheep Boss, having soaked in the bone and muscle injury treatment potion specialty of Territory Seven with her, was healthier than she was, Xia Qing immediately decided to replace the equipment. So, she consulted Lord Huo Lei and Jiang Ying, and on their advice, decided to switch to a treadmill-style power generator.

"Baa." Sheep Boss, thoroughly relaxed, replied casually.

Next, the problem Xia Qing needed to solve was how to make Sheep Boss fall in love with this new piece of equipment.

This wasn't a difficult problem for Xia Qing, because she already had Sheep Boss's personality and preferences figured out completely. "Boss just beat me up, and still had the energy to beat Little Crew Cut again—getting more and more amazing! If Boss switches to the new power generator, Boss will definitely become even more amazing. Living in the same territory as Boss, I feel so safe!"

"Baa."

"Once Boss gets even stronger, let's go challenge that male honey badger in Zone 8 of Mountain 49, how about it? It's way stronger than Little Crew Cut…"

"Baa!"

Seeing Sheep Boss leave, Little Crew Cut, grumpily lying in a snow hollow, climbed up and gnawed the tree with a crack-crack; the red fox and plucked-fur families sniffed each other, then scattered.

White-Eye Raven spread its wings and landed on the honey badger, pecking a few snow-jump bugs hidden in its fur for dinner, then spread its wings and flew into Zone 3 of Mountain 49, landing on a big tree, tilting its head to watch the person and sheep walking downhill.

After noticing the person and sheep walking away, and the sky growing darker, White-Eye Raven looked left and right and decided to rest on this tree tonight. By coincidence, the tree White-Eye Raven landed on was again the one Qiang Zai lived in, and the spot it had chosen to spend the night was again Qiang Zai's nest.

Qiang Zai, who had been holding back all along, finally exploded. It let out an angry cry, burst out of the nest with its fur puffed up, and pounced straight at White-Eye Raven.

White-Eye Raven, whose night vision was poor, immediately took flight, letting out angry "ga-ga" cries. Qiang Zai, whose night vision was equally poor, after driving off the raven, stood on the branch cursing and grumbling.

Hearing that White-Eye Raven and Qiang Zai had gotten into a conflict, Xia Qing turned and sprinted up the slope at top speed. But she didn't expect a red squirrel to jump onto the big pine tree even faster, stand beside Qiang Zai, puff up its fur together with it to declare territory, and drive off the raven.

Although dusk had already fallen, Xia Qing still judged from the running speed, posture, and body size that this red squirrel that had just run over was neither Chi Bai Shi nor Little Feimao. Immediately after, another red squirrel she didn't recognize arrived!

Now Xia Qing understood—Qiang Zai must have entered its mating period, and the male squirrels living nearby had been attracted over to compete for mating rights.

The squirrels were in the middle of courtship, damn it, and you, a raven, came over to ruin their good time—no wonder they're angry. Xia Qing looked up to mediate, "Qiang Zai, White-Eye…"

Before Xia Qing could finish speaking, Qiang Zai on the tree directly leaped, landing on Xia Qing's protective mask, then hopped back and forth between her mask and her two shoulders, cursing and grumbling at the sky.

Although White-Eye Raven was a big client, Qiang Zai was born in the sheep shed and grew up right under Xia Qing's nose. So, of course Xia Qing had to side with Qiang Zai, sternly denouncing White-Eye Raven along with it.

Xia Qing raised her hand, pointing toward Zone 5 of Mountain 49, "White-Eye, go to a big tree over there, don't invade Qiang Zai and Chi Bai Shi's territory!"

"Ga, ga—" White-Eye Raven let out angry cries, flapped its wings, and turned toward Zone 5 of Mountain 49.

After driving off White-Eye Raven, Xia Qing pulled a packet of dried mealworms from her pocket and handed it to Qiang Zai, "Calm down, don't take it personally with White-Eye—it's new here and doesn't know the rules. Qiang Zai, go up the tree and pick a male squirrel with high combat power, a good brain, and good looks."

"Squeak." Qiang Zai took the dried mealworms in its mouth and ran back up the tree.

After feeding Qiang Zai, Xia Qing asked the companion beside her, "Lao Er, where's Chi Bai Shi?"

Although Lao Er wasn't a brain-evolved creature, it had lived with Xia Qing long enough to understand basic conversation. So, Lao Er led Xia Qing on a circuit through the buffer forest, finally stopping by the iron mesh wall.

Xia Qing understood, "Chi Bai Shi left the territory?"

Lao Er grinned, smiling very happily.

Xia Qing scratched its neck, "Looks like spring has come for Chi Bai Shi too. Hope it can find that male red squirrel from last year again this year, and have another litter of smart and capable little squirrels like Little Feimao and Qiang Zai."

Little Feimao? Its territory was Xia Qing's home, so there were no unrelated female squirrels nearby. If it wanted to breed, it would have to leave the territory to explore the evolution forest. At least for now, Xia Qing hadn't seen any sign that it intended to explore the evolution forest.