Chapter 218: Red Qiang Rain

So many wolves and sheep squeezed together like this—what a nostalgic sight.

Xia Qing smiled and was about to speak when she saw all three wolves' ears swivel at once; a flash of light streaked past, followed closely by a muffled rumble of thunder.

Two rain clouds had met above this territory—Qiang Rain was about to arrive. Probably because none of them were wearing Yi stones, among the three wolves and one sheep, the broken-leg wolf reacted most strongly to the thunder.

Xia Qing went back into the house and brought out a set of canine protective clothing and three protective masks. She waved Sheep Boss over first. "Boss, come here. Qiang Rain is about to start—put on the protective suit."

Although Sheep Boss, Sick Wolf, and Broken-Waist Wolf all had Yi stones hidden in their packs that could isolate Qiang elements, those stones couldn't block the toxic gases released by dangerously Qiang-evolved plants. Although the big trees near the house had all been cleared by Xia Qing, and the chance of the newly sprouted Qiang grass undergoing dangerous Qiang evolution was very low, since the house had protective gear, of course they had to gear up—just in case.

Animals' senses are all extremely sharp; even little ants know perfectly well how dangerous Blue Star Qiang Rain is. Sheep Boss obediently let Xia Qing put the protective suit and mask on it, then puffed out its chest and strutted back and forth in front of the three wolves.

Xia Qing rolled her eyes at it and waved Sick Wolf over. "Wolf Lao Er, come here."

Sick Wolf slowly walked up to Xia Qing and squatted properly.

Xia Qing put an old canine protective mask on it. "This is the protective mask that got broken by Sheep Boss during the last ultrasonic attack. I've already fixed it, and the filter cartridge is brand new—it can block toxic gases. Don't be afraid, you'll get used to it in a bit."

Although Sick Wolf had never worn a protective mask before, after Xia Qing put it on, it happily wagged its tail.

Xia Qing raised an eyebrow. "You've seen this kind of mask before? When?"

"Woof." Sick Wolf's voice was muffled by the full-coverage mask, and Xia Qing couldn't understand what it was saying. The Brain Domain Evolved Wolf stared at Sick Wolf's nimble tail, lost in thought.

Xia Qing picked up two more protective masks. "Broken-Waist, Broken-Leg, you two come here too. I've already washed the masks you wore last time and replaced the filters—put them on."

During the last ultrasonic attack, both injured wolves had worn protective masks, so they weren't strangers to them, but their impressions weren't great either. Broken-Waist Wolf slowly walked up to Xia Qing and squatted down, then let out an "Awoo" to call over Broken-Leg Wolf, who was baring its teeth and glaring from behind.

Xia Qing put the protective masks on them, then put one on herself, turned on her earpiece walkie-talkie, and said very solemnly, "Qiang Rain is coming. My human companions and I are going to protect the territory. Boss, Wolf Lao Er, Broken-Waist, Broken-Leg—you all watch the house. If anything happens, call me."

"Baa." Sheep Boss answered.

Among the three wolves and one sheep, Xia Qing only turned on Sheep Boss's walkie-talkie, because it was familiar with the protective mask and knew to keep its voice down after putting it on.

As for the wolves, who would howl whenever they encountered danger, Xia Qing didn't dare turn theirs on, afraid her sensitive ears would be deafened.

Xia Qing went back into the house, strapped on her weapons, air toxin detector, and toxic gas adsorbent, then shouldered the large back-basket she had prepared and hurried to the small hut by the farm.

Beard Feng's squad was already all present, and the small hut was lit up and bustling.

Guan Tong took the large back-basket from Xia Qing. "Sister Qing, didn't we agree not to prepare food?"

Xia Qing explained, "The wolf pack just brought over two prey animals, weighing about a hundred jin together. The wolves ate some of it, and I didn't have time to process the rest—if we don't eat it, it'll go bad."

Xia Qing couldn't be sure whether the black wolves would bring more prey during the Qiang Rain, so she set aside the meat the wolves needed to eat and stored it in the underground cellar.

Guan Tong, holding the back-basket…

Nothing to say about it—he was envious!

Chen Cheng asked curiously, "Sister Qing, what did the wolf pack catch?"

Xia Qing answered, "One Yellow-Lamp wild boar, and the other was a Yellow-Lamp sheep or deer."

Everyone…

Envious. Want to raise wolves. Want to join Territory Three!

Watching Xia Qing take out two pig legs stored in sealed bags, Speed Evolved team member Er Yong asked, "Sister Qing, are you still keeping the prey's heads?"

"I've got them." Xia Qing didn't know how to process prey heads. She'd traded all her previous Green-Lamp prey heads to Territory Seven, but for these recent Yellow-Lamp prey, she simply skinned them and boiled them to eat.

Beard Feng discussed with Xia Qing, "The pig legs can wait a bit, but pig brains spoil easily. How about we have Er Yong stew a pig head for us tonight? His dad is a head chef at the Safe Zone cafeteria—Er Yong learned from his dad, and his skills aren't bad."

Er Yong, with his round head and round face, really did look quite the part of a chef when he smiled. "My skills are way worse than my dad's, but I'm a bit better than the average person. Sister Qing, go get the pig head, I'll go back and get the seasonings."

Never expecting to find a chef, Xia Qing was overjoyed. "You don't need to go back for seasonings—I brought them all."

Xia Qing went home, called out to the three wolves and one sheep in the sheep pen, went down to the basement to switch to the sealed prey heads, and was heading out when she heard another muffled rumble of thunder. This time the thunder and lightning weren't far apart, which meant Qiang Rain was about to start.

The lord walkie-talkie crackled with Kuang Qingwei's voice. "Brothers and sisters, time to get up and work."

"We're up. Everyone be careful—we all need to stay safe." Qi Fu responded.

Xia Qing pressed the button and answered her ally. "Okay."

"Right, we'll definitely get through this Qiang Rain period safely this time." Zhao Ze, who had hired three Evolvers from Territory One, was full of confidence.

Shi Zhong reminded them, "The rain's definitely going to be heavy later—everyone should check the drainage ditches one more time, see if any animals have dug them open anywhere."

Based on past years, the first few hours of Qiang Rain wouldn't be too heavy—the level would be the relatively safe Blue or Yellow. Xia Qing looked up at the pitch-black night sky when she heard Tang Huai ask, "Shi Zhong, how do you know the rain will be heavy?"

Shi Zhong answered, "I have rheumatoid arthritis. All my joints are already starting to ache—I'm not wrong."

Rheumatoid arthritis aches on rainy days—it's always accurate.

Xia Qing also grew tense. She put the pig head in the small hut and began checking the drainage ditches of the greenhouses one by one with Beard Feng's squad.

The lord walkie-talkie crackled with Zhang San's feeble voice. "Shi Zhong, what medicine are you using now?"

"Evolved Notoginseng powder and ground cockroach powder. Third Brother, do you have medicine for treating rheumatoid arthritis?" Shi Zhong's voice was urgent. His illness was truly tormenting—his son often took risks on missions and gathering herbs to scrape together enough points to buy medicine for him.

Xia Qing had gone on missions with Shi Du plenty of times. From how Shi Du always paid attention to and gathered herbs, but didn't sell all of them when returning to the Mission Hall, Xia Qing guessed his family had a patient who needed regular medication.

From the quick rain-cover pulling tutorial video he had sent last time, Xia Qing noticed that Shi Zhong's finger joints were all swollen, so she knew Shi Du gathered herbs for his father to use. She had thought Shi Zhong had been poisoned, but didn't expect it to be a wearing chronic illness like rheumatoid arthritis.

Zhang San responded, "For these kinds of immune system diseases, there's still no way to cure them. My medicine can ease your symptoms, but the price is quite a bit higher. Xia Qing, I remember there's Paederia foetida in your territory?"

Thanks to Da Yu'er for the tip, and thanks to everyone for your subscription support. The third Qiang Rain is about to begin.