Chapter 1651: The Patient Who Can Only Run Up a Tab

Zhang San stepped along the winding, uneven beast trail in the Evolution Forest, following Xia Qing forward.

Although only a fifty-meter-wide isolation belt separated them, walking in the Evolution Forest was completely different from walking in the buffer forest within the territory—especially the buffer forest of Territory Seven.

Territory Seven's buffer forest had been thoroughly cleared; there were almost no snakes, bugs, rats, or ants in it, and paths had been laid out specifically for the territory's researchers to stroll and exercise. Here, weeds and shrubs ran riot, snow covered the ground, and walking was slippery, yet Zhang San's mood was exceptionally good.

He had gone out with Xia Qing several times before, and each of those times had been carefully arranged in advance before setting out. This time they had left on the spur of the moment, leaping over a wire-mesh wall to enter an entirely different world. Zhang San loved this feeling far too much.

When they were still 150 meters from the blue-faced little monkey's treehouse, Xia Qing, walking ahead, spoke through the walkie-talkie to the two security captains of Territory Seven. "Brother Zhang, Brother Zheng, that little monkey ahead is timid, and any stress will worsen its diarrhea. Why don't you two rest here while I take Third Brother over to check on it?"

Zheng Chen nodded. Zhang Jingwu asked, "Should we both stay here, or should one of us go guard another direction?"

As a die-hard, bone-ash-level superfan, Xia Qing took her idol's safety just as seriously as the two captains did, not daring to be careless in the slightest. "I've arranged high-level Evolvers from our alliance to guard the other directions. The one circling in the sky is Guagu from Territory Eight. Sister Yan, Brother Huo, are you there?"

"Here." Yan Long's voice came through the walkie-talkie channel. "Within a one-kilometer radius north of the wire-mesh outer wall, there are no other humans."

Yan Long was the first security captain appointed after the big shot moved into Territory Seven, and her strength surpassed that of Zheng Chen and Zhang Jingwu. Hearing that she was leading a team to guard the other directions, the two men immediately felt reassured.

The two security captains stayed where they were, leaving only Xia Qing leading the way at a leisurely pace ahead. Zhang San walked along, habitually observing the surrounding ecology, which caused his recently overloaded brain to begin aching faintly again.

Just then, a clear, melodious bird call—like an ice-breaking hammer—shattered all the pain and halted all thought. Zhang San stopped walking and reached up to push the slider next to his protective visor.

This action made the two captains, who had stayed behind, instantly tense up. Why had the big shot opened his protective visor?!

It was indeed a fine day, but the temperature in the forest was still close to minus twenty degrees. The instant the visor opened, the cold stabbed straight into Zhang San's gaunt face; the cold air rushed into his nostrils and instantly filled his lungs. He could clearly feel the sharp pain from the stress-induced contraction of the capillaries in his nose, the involuntary defensive spasm in his throat, and the subtle change in tension in his alveoli upon contact with the ultra-low temperature.

What followed was the faint astringency of humus, the cold fragrance of frost-coated pine needles, and a kind of "emptiness" that made Zhang San's whole body feel wonderfully refreshed but which he could not put into words.

His highly evolved brain domain instantly found an accurate description for this feeling:

The emptiness of a vast sky and boundless earth, of an infinite universe. The emptiness of the individual merging into Blue Star's ecology, of the self's boundaries being blurred.

He opened his eyes and saw the New Human walking ahead—who had long since removed her one-way transparent protective visor—turning back to grin at him with a wild, wolfish air. Zhang San smiled too.

He reached up and closed his protective visor, then continued walking forward. He had been ravaged by the Devouring Element for twelve years; his body's resistance was far worse than that of the New Human ahead, and he could not face the bitter cold of winter head-on.

Seeing that her idol seemed quite happy walking alone, Xia Qing didn't disturb him, leading him all the way to the base of a large pine tree. "It's this tree. Look up from this angle."

This lush, leafy pine had been carefully chosen by Xia Qing; from any other angle, it was impossible to spot the treehouse above.

Zhang San looked up and quickly found the small treehouse at a height of about fifteen meters. The moment he opened his mouth, the New Human beside him began to call out.

"Blue-face! Are you there? Blue-face, are you in the treehouse…"

Hearing the New Human shout this ridiculous name right beside him with his own ears, Zhang San very much wanted to pull out a scalpel and do something. But when he saw a small head peek out from the little treehouse above, Zhang San's irritation vanished instantly.

Blue sky, white snow, green pine needles, black branches, a golden-furred little head and big pitch-black eyes—Blue Star was truly magnificent…

Before Zhang San could finish sighing in admiration, he heard the New Human beside him bring him up. "Blue-face, you're home. How was your day? Feeling any better? This human is Third Brother; the medicine you're taking was provided by him."

Not me! Zhang San pressed his lips tightly shut, refusing to utter that awful name.

The golden-furred little monkey, poking half its head out from the treehouse, gave no response at all.

Xia Qing pulled out the bag containing food and medicine. "This is tonight's food and medicine. Blue-face, are you coming down to get it yourself, or should we bring it up to you?"

The blue-faced little monkey pulled its head back in.

"Third Brother, Blue—" Xia Qing caught her idol's icy glare and, with an extremely strong will to survive, corrected herself, "…the little monkey doesn't dare come down, so we need to bring the food and medicine up. I brought two pairs of cat-paw shoes. Would you like to go up together and have a look? This tree has lots of branches, so the climbing isn't too hard."

Not too hard? Zhang San, who had a clear understanding of his own climbing ability, shook his head. "You go. I'll wait under the tree."

"Okay, I'll be down soon." Xia Qing slipped on the cat-paw shoes, swiftly tied the laces tight, and in a flash had scrambled up to the little wooden house in the tree.

She first had the blue-faced little monkey take its medicine, then left the food for it, and pulled out a printed picture to ask, "Blue-face, what would you like to eat tomorrow morning? You can pick anything on here."

Zhang San down below……

"Want sweet potatoes? Green-light sweet potatoes have gone up to 70 points a jin because the cost of storing them from autumn until now is very high. Are you still going to eat them? …Good, Blue-face, your choice is absolutely correct—you should eat well when you're sick. How about a few leaves of Gao Yi Element spinach? High nutrition, good taste…"

After this patient—who could currently only run up a tab—had finished choosing tomorrow's food, Xia Qing casually tidied up the sickroom, placed a fully charged magnetic pillow into the little sleeping bag, and said, "The temperature will drop tonight. You can hug this while you sleep; this one isn't charged separately."

After a few more instructions, Xia Qing stuffed the garbage she'd cleaned out into the bag for feces, nimbly climbed down the tree, and, facing her idol's gaze as sharp as a scalpel, grinned broadly. "Third Brother, your medicine really works wonders. This pretty little monkey's diarrhea has clearly eased, and its spirits are much better too. Where else would you like to go for a look?"

Zhang San turned and headed west. "Are those blue jays still around?"

"They were here this afternoon. I don't know about now—let me ask." Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Xin Yu, are those four blue jays near me and Third Brother?"

Xin Yu, who was in charge of aerial defense, replied, "No, they followed the White-eyed Raven away this afternoon. There's a honey badger 400 meters to your west, gnawing on the big tree where Huo Zhun is hiding; and a weasel 150 meters to your northwest."

"Copy that."

Xia Qing had just been about to ask her idol whether he wanted to see the weasel or the honey badger when a voice announcement rang through her Bluetooth earpiece: "Lao Si is calling you on a video call."

Xia Qing immediately switched her walkie-talkie from talk mode to monitor mode, then pulled out her phone to show her idol the name on the screen.

A call from Lao Si, the former Wolf King of the South, was bound to be something extremely urgent.

Zhang San quickly adjusted his walkie-talkie mode and nodded to Xia Qing.

?? Today is the last day of 2025. Thank you to all the readers for your subscriptions, votes, and comments throughout this year. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and all the best in the year ahead.