Chapter 215: Installing the Yi Stones

Xia Qing carried the rainproof cloth back to the small hut beside the farmland.

As tools and supplies kept growing, Xia Qing simply built another room next to the hut using the bricks and stones she'd cleared out — the outer room served as a parlor and storage, the inner room as a rest area. In the rest area, a small portion of the space held supplies, while the larger portion held three wooden plank beds for the Bearded Peak squad members who came over for night watch.

In the hut, Xia Qing cut the rainproof cloth into suitable sizes and placed them in each greenhouse. Then she began inspecting the bamboo strips, bamboo poles, and iron frames of the greenhouses. Any with cracks were replaced immediately, loose ones were tied firmly, and a bundle of replacement materials was placed in each greenhouse, ensuring that if an aggressive Devastation-evolved plant destroyed the rain shelter during the Devastation Rain, the shelter could be repaired within three minutes.

After inspecting the greenhouses, Xia Qing cleaned out the drainage ditches around them once more, making sure that no matter how heavy the rain, the runoff wouldn't burst the ditches and flow into the greenhouses, causing the crops to undergo Devastation Evolution.

After finishing these farm chores, it was three in the afternoon, thirteen hours before the Devastation Rain.

Xia Qing still had three tasks unfinished: delivering Yi Stones to the injured wolf, installing Yi Stones in the greenhouses, and pulling up the sunflowers.

Once the Devastation Rain started, she definitely wouldn't be able to deliver medicine to the injured wolf on time. This was an unforeseen situation caused by the weather, and she had to go explain it clearly in advance to the VIP guest living in the cave.

When Xia Qing arrived at the abandoned cave with the sprayer on her back, she found that the Black Wolf and the Broken-Leg Wolf were both gone — only the Brain-Domain Evolved Wolf remained.

Those two — and they just feel that at ease about it?

After the injured wolf finished drinking the medicine, Xia Qing asked, "Broken-Back, the Queen hasn't come back yet? The third Devastation Rain is coming tonight — what's the plan for the three of you?"

The Brain-Domain Evolved Wolf watched Xia Qing quietly, lost in thought.

Why didn't Blue Star let humans evolve some kind of ability to communicate with animals? Xia Qing sighed. "I'll spray the cave with medicine first to keep the bugs out and get rid of the smell. During the Devastation Rain, stay in the cave as much as you can. Don't run outside."

When the Brain-Domain Evolved Wolf was lying immobile in the sheep pen, Xia Qing cleaned it every day, so it was very familiar with this routine — it squatted at the cave entrance, watching Xia Qing work.

Only when she went inside this time did Xia Qing notice a circular exit at the very back of the cave, leading straight up. It must have been a ventilation shaft drilled by machines when humans built the wild boar breeding center. The Head Wolf came and went through this ventilation shaft.

As expected of an evolved wolf — what great jumping ability.

When the humans pulled out, they didn't seal the ventilation shaft. When it rains, water will definitely pour down this shaft into the cave, and the cave interior will be contaminated by the Devastation Rain.

After Xia Qing finished spraying the medicine, she climbed to the top of the cave, found several large stones to block the opening, then called the Brain-Domain Evolved Wolf into the cave. Avoiding the camera at the entrance, she took out a pendant bag identical to Boss Sheep's and whispered to it, "Wear this. Don't take it off when it rains. Return it to me after the rain stops."

Boss Sheep often wore a pendant bag like this, and the Head Wolf had one too — the injured wolf recognized it. It obediently lay down and stretched out its neck, letting Xia Qing put it on.

Facing this evolved wolf whose back injury hadn't fully healed but was extremely clever, Xia Qing had always been very careful. Clever creatures have too many tricks; she had to stay on guard at all times.

If it weren't so clever, would it have thought to lie down?

If this wolf were standing or crouching, its teeth and sharp front claws would pose a threat to Xia Qing. But lying down, the danger was much less — Xia Qing only had to watch out for being bitten.

A wolf that can think of this is absolutely clever. Xia Qing even suspected it had more tricks than the Head Wolf.

If this one teamed up with Yang Jin, they'd absolutely sweep Blue Star without a rival.

Xia Qing quickly fastened the pendant bag on it, then took out a small piece of Use Yishi from her pocket to show it, and in a very low voice explained, "This stone is what you fellows traded to me. You must know what it does. I'll tuck it into the pendant bag. Broken-Back, you must survive this Devastation Rain safely. If there's danger, come to the territory and find me and Boss Sheep."

After saying that, Xia Qing tucked the Use Yishi into the hidden pocket of the pendant bag, then added uneasily, "Don't take the pendant bag off, don't let other humans discover the Use Yishi exists, or you'll be in danger."

After saying that, Xia Qing left the cave and returned to her territory.

To be honest, giving the Brain-Domain Evolved Wolf a small piece of Use Yishi pained her. But there was no helping it — that fellow's injury hadn't healed, and its ability to withstand the Devastation Rain was poor. If it went berserk in the red Devastation Rain, the hundreds of thousands of points Xia Qing had sunk into this wolf would all go down the drain.

So this small piece of Use Yishi, she had to spend.

Leaving the abandoned cave and returning to the territory, she gazed at the large, large patches of white clouds gathering in the western sky. Although the Devastation Rain hadn't arrived yet, Xia Qing already felt the pressure.

She entered the greenhouse and tucked a small cut piece of Use Yishi into a small hole in the greenhouse support frame at the center of Gao Po's Green Lantern terraced field.

This Use Yishi in the Green Lantern terraced field was twice the size of the one on the Brain-Domain Evolved Wolf. Xia Qing had calculated that the protective sphere formed by the Yi Element this stone released outward could envelop the six hundred-plus spinach plants in the terraced field.

With this Use Yishi's protection, as long as the rainproof cloth of the terraced-field greenhouse didn't break and the spinach wasn't directly drenched by the Devastation Rain, no Devastation Evolution would occur.

After installing the Use Yishi in the spinach terraced field, Xia Qing installed the second cut Use Yishi in the Green Lantern sweet potato terraced field, where the sweet potatoes were densest. Sweet potatoes were her favorite food — she had to preserve enough Green Lantern sweet potatoes to ensure she could plant at least three terraced fields next year.

The third small piece of Use Yishi was installed by Xia Qing on the support frame in the Green Lantern rice paddy.

A Zhang San product is always a premium product. Xia Qing had traded a hundred rice seedlings with Zhang San, and ninety-five were still alive. Whether in growth or leaf color, these rice plants were better than the rice seedlings she'd bought from the Safe Zone — they were the rice Xia Qing planned to save for seed, every single plant a treasure that had to be protected.

Whether the remaining crops could survive the third Devastation Rain depended on their fate. Even if these crops lost more than half during the Devastation Rain, the food produced by the surviving portion would still be enough for Xia Qing to eat.

After installing the Yi Stones, Xia Qing came to the small shed not far southeast of where the Devastation-evolved cotton was planted. The Devastation-evolved cotton plants in this area had been smashed bare by the hailstones and cleared out by Xia Qing. The single Di Pao Zi originally growing in the small shed had also been killed by the hail; now four sunflowers were planted there.

It was five in the afternoon. The two sunflowers in their flowering period were facing west. The flower heads of the two sunflowers past their flowering period no longer tracked the sun, but faced the direction where Xia Qing was now standing.

She stared silently at these four Yellow Lantern sunflowers, her face solemn.

The Sick Wolf stood beside Xia Qing, also staring at the sunflowers. Boss Sheep, growing impatient, nudged Xia Qing with its head.

It was getting late — time to round up the chickens and head home to cook.

Xia Qing, deep in thought, was nearly knocked to the ground by Boss Sheep's nudge. After steadying herself, she continued staring at the sunflowers.

Should she pull them all out, or leave one to see exactly what this thing would do during the Devastation Rain?