Chapter 188: Crisis Averted

Xu Juan picked a tomato and took a bite. "Not bad! The last time I ate vegetables this fresh was when you went back to the safe zone for the trade fair."

That time, Xia Qing had given her a cucumber. The Dongyang Squad wasn't a top-tier squad, and Xu Juan had spent a huge amount of points on her appearance, so she couldn't bear to buy fresh vegetables or fruit to eat.

Apart from the spinach she had traded with Zhang San, everything else in this shed was yellow-light vegetables. Xia Qing grew this shed of vegetables specifically to trade with others; what she was eating now all came from the terraced fields.

Xia Qing handed Xu Juan a basket directly. "Sister Juan rarely comes by, pick whatever you want to eat."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you." Xu Juan said she wouldn't stand on ceremony, but she only picked one or two of each vegetable, and the basket was only half full.

Xia Qing also picked half a basket for Zhang Yong, and Xu Juan "curiously" asked, "Can I take a look at the wolf you're raising?"

"As long as you don't mind the smell." Xia Qing took Xu Juan home, and after opening the door to the sheep shed, the stench hit them in the face—the sick wolf had diarrhea.

This wasn't the wolf's fault, because Xia Qing had closed the door, and it didn't have the strength to push it open. Ram Boss had been anesthetized and couldn't help it either.

Ram Boss, lying on the other side, gave Xia Qing a weak look, then squinted at Xu Juan, staring at her in a dumbfounded way.

Although it was obvious Ram Boss was unhappy, Xia Qing didn't explain anything, nor did she introduce who Xu Juan was to it. Because Xia Qing couldn't let the people from Sufeng know that Ram Boss had evolved not only in strength but also in brain capacity.

Because the sheep shed was too smelly, and because the scene of the wolf and the ram lying in the same room was too shocking, Xu Juan took one look and retreated several steps, advising Xia Qing, "This wolf is sick like this, it's probably a goner. Keeping it is just a waste of points and medicine, you should dispose of it as soon as possible. If it attracts a super evolved virus, you'll be ruined."

"It's infected with parasites. The team doctor of the Qinglong Squad said there might be a chance to save it." Xia Qing told Xu Juan to go rest in the house; she had to clean up the sheep shed.

Xu Juan stood in the yard without moving. She often went in and out of the Evolution Forest on missions too; she'd encountered every kind of situation. Although the smell was unpleasant, she could endure it, and she continued to inquire, "How did the ram get the wound on its face?"

"It crashed into something itself during the ultrasonic attack. It's also taking medicine." Xia Qing skillfully dragged the sick wolf aside, cleared out the soiled grass, and set it alight.

Only then did Xu Juan bring up the matter of her being forced into Territory No. 3 today, the question she wanted to ask. "By the way, do you know about the two pangolins that escaped from the Sufeng Squad?"

Xia Qing answered calmly, "They've already searched the entire territory."

Xu Juan sighed. "Sufeng posted a bounty mission of three hundred thousand in the mission hall. I wonder who can get that windfall. Our squad members go out on missions and keep an eye out everywhere, tapping on food bowls."

Xia Qing asked, "Sister Juan came over to look for clues about the pangolins?"

Xu Juan threw Xia Qing a flirtatious glance. "Well, you're here, aren't you? If there's a chance to get rich, of course I had to come take a look. So, any news? If we earn points, we split it fifty-fifty."

Xia Qing pointed the wooden stick she used for raking straw toward Mountain No. 49. "The Sufeng Squad found pangolin scales by the swamp on the north side of this mountain. They're searching around there."

Xu Juan pressed on. "Isn't Mountain No. 49 the Qinglong Squad's training ground? Could the disappearance of the pangolins be related to the Qinglong Squad? Aren't you close with Beard Feng? Didn't he tell you anything?"

Xia Qing said nothing, watching her quietly.

Although she was mentally prepared, Xu Juan still got creeped out by Xia Qing's stare, and explained in a small voice, "Why are you looking at me like that? I was just asking casually."

The moment Xu Juan finished speaking, Tang Huai's call came over the lord channel. "Xia Qing, are you there?"

Xia Qing stopped looking at Xu Juan, pressed the lord walkie-talkie, and answered calmly, "Here."

"The equipment is fine, right?"

"No problems."

Tang Huai replied, "Good, we're even. The cargo truck returns in twenty minutes."

The second half was said to Xu Juan—she had hitched a ride on the cargo truck to get here, so naturally she had to hitch a ride back. Xu Juan breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm off. I'll come visit again when I get the chance."

Xia Qing saw Xu Juan off at the Territory No. 3 bus stop. When Zhang Yong and the others drove out, she handed the half basket of vegetables to Zhang Yong. After watching their car drive away, she ignored Tang Huai standing nearby and went straight back to Territory No. 3.

Tang Huai muttered, "I've really never seen a woman like this, keeping a straight face even with friends."

Zhou Xun speculated in a low voice, "Boss, could it be that her facial nerves were damaged after being poisoned?"

"Possible."

Xia Qing turned her head and gave the two of them a cold look. The two immediately shrank back behind the wild grass wall of Territory No. 2.

After Xia Qing returned to Territory No. 3, she greeted Liang and the others, then immediately went home to check on Ram Boss.

Inside the surveillance room of Territory No. 2, Sufeng's vice-captain Xu Pin politely asked the brain-evolution expert Zhang Taining, whom he had invited from the Hui-3 Base Research Institute, "Professor Zhang, based on Xia Qing's performance, do you think the pangolins are inside Territory No. 3?"

Professor Zhang, whose head was reflecting the light from the lamp overhead, pushed his glasses up and answered cautiously, "Based on the performance of the lord of Territory No. 3 in these two surveillance videos, the pangolins should not be inside Territory No. 3."

Xu Pin thought so too. He dragged the video forward, found the clip of Xu Juan asking Xia Qing whether Beard Feng had told her anything about the pangolins, and Xia Qing staring at Xu Juan. He pressed pause and asked, "Do you think Xia Qing's behavior at this point could indicate that the disappearance of the pangolins is related to the Qinglong Squad?"

Professor Zhang shook his head again. "Based on the information you gave me in advance, Xia Qing is unsociable, violent, and extremely protective of her privacy. So, I am more inclined to believe that Xu Juan's inquiry made Xia Qing think Xu Juan was prying into her personal relationship with Beard Feng, which triggered an emotional reaction from Xia Qing."

Xu Pin suppressed his displeasure. "Since we didn't get any useful information, why did you issue the order to have Tang Huai call Xu Juan out?"

Professor Zhang explained, "Because Xu Juan sensed Xia Qing's emotional reaction and began to panic. If she stayed in Territory No. 3 any longer, Xia Qing might discover her true intention."

Hearing this reason, Xu Pin found it even more baffling. "Xia Qing is nothing but a laborer doing construction work. Even if she figured it out, so what?"

In Xu Pin's view, the unknown Xia Qing from the safe zone was now daring to act so arrogantly simply because she had attached herself to Beard Feng of the Qinglong Squad—a fox borrowing the tiger's authority, nothing more.

Professor Zhang took off his glasses and wiped them, saying nothing more.

After seeing Professor Zhang off, Xu Pin called the captain Tang Zhengsu to report the investigation results.

Tang Zhengsu's roar was so loud that even Tang Huai outside the room could hear it. "I told you long ago, the pangolins were definitely taken by the Qinglong Squad! You bastard still didn't believe me, insisting on checking this one and asking that one! From this moment on, send every single person out to search! If you can't find them, don't you fucking come back alive!"

Hearing Xu Pin being scolded by Tang Zhengsu, Tang Huai openly gloated outside the room. But when he heard Tang Zhengsu say that if they didn't find the pangolins, this group wouldn't be allowed back, he started getting annoyed again.

Although Xu Pin was the vice-captain of Sufeng, when Tang Zhengsu was furious, he didn't dare to offer opinions or talk back. Soon, the Sufeng team members who had been staking out outside Territories No. 3, 7, and 9 were quickly withdrawn and rushed toward the swamp area where the pangolin scales had been found.

The crisis triggered by the wolf picking up a stone and smashing the pangolins to death was still continuing to ferment, but the crisis for Territory No. 3 had already ended.