Chapter 226: The Weasel in the Evolution Forest

Two and a half hours later, the sky began to brighten.

When Tan Junjie led his team to Territory Three to check whether the dangerous Qi-evolved plants had been completely cleared, they found the entire grove of wild paulownia trees had turned into a mud pit, with branches and roots piled several meters high beside it. Especially conspicuous was the canopy with its many twisting vines.

After inquiring about the Qi-evolution process and attack capabilities of the plants, Tan Junjie discussed with Xia Qing, "Leaving the canopy and roots like this, they'll very likely take root and sprout again. Should I call headquarters and have them send a truck to haul the trees away? The ones in Territory Ten need to be removed too."

Xia Qing naturally agreed, "Sorry to trouble you, Captain Tan."

After contacting the military headquarters, Tan Junjie immediately posted an announcement in the lord channel: "The mid-risk Qi evolutions appearing in Territory Three and Territory Ten are all wild paulownia trees. Please check your own territories for repeatedly cut paulownia, and if you find any, clear it as soon as possible. All lords please report your situations."

The wild paulownia's rapid-growth trait led lords, without prior arrangement, to treat it as a species for harvesting firewood. Lords One through Nine reported in succession—Territories Four, Five, and Six all contained paulownia groves of varying sizes.

Compared to herbaceous plants, woody plants in their mature stage had far stronger resistance to Qi rain. But though the repeatedly cut paulownia groves didn't look tall, the roots underground had already tangled into a dense network, occupying a considerable area. Because of the repeated cutting, the energy absorbed by the roots could only keep sprouting tender shoots.

Once roots in such a stifled state received two rounds of red-grade Qi rain, anything was possible.

Xia Qing felt vexed—such a simple principle, how had she failed to anticipate it in advance?

Half an hour later, a military truck entered Territory Three, loaded up the entire paulownia canopy and roots, and hauled them away.

Standing under the Territory Two signpost with an umbrella, Tang Huai looked at the thickness of the tree and the half-severed vines, and finally understood what that burst-of-beans gunfire in Territory Three last night had been shooting at.

If such a fearsome Qi-evolved tree had grown in Territory Two, Tang Huai could only have run far away and used the walkie-talkie to call for backup.

After completely resolving the paulownia crisis, Xia Qing dragged her weary body and had only walked a few steps toward home when she received a call from Yuan Yan: "Xia Qing, I've steamed several pots of mantou. I'll have your Brother Qi bring them over right now. Don't make breakfast—eat them and get some rest. This rain's going to last a while yet."

Xia Qing didn't stand on ceremony with her own alliance member: "Thanks, sis-in-law. I'll come get them myself—don't let Brother Qi make the trip."

Xia Qing called out to Hu Zifeng, went home to grab a side of pork ribs, and headed for Territory Five. Walking through the buffer forest and the northern isolation belt wasn't safe now, so Xia Qing switched to the path between the two territories. She truly had no strength left to fight the evolved bugs in the Qi grass, so she simply drove out the micro-tiller.

Tang Huai, amid the wild-grass wall, gaped in astonishment, suspecting Xia Qing's head had been knocked silly by the tree vines.

The path was also submerged by Qi grass, but the micro-tiller rolled along the truck ruts and moved along smoothly. When Xia Qing reached Territory Five, the Qi Fu couple were already waiting under the signpost with umbrellas, each holding a large basket covered with white cloth and steaming hot. Seeing Xia Qing drive up, their first reaction was not envy but worry.

Such a short distance—why had Xia Qing driven? Could she be hurt?

When Xia Qing got out of the vehicle and they saw her protective suit was undamaged and she moved quite nimbly, the Qi Fu couple finally relaxed and asked about the situation in Territory Three.

Xia Qing briefly explained: "Quite a few crops and vegetables Qi-evolved, but nothing dangerous appeared, and no one was hurt. Just clearing that big tree last night took a lot of effort."

Yuan Yan sincerely admired Xia Qing: "Only you could pull it off. If it had been any of our territories, none of us would have dared handle it alone."

"If I were alone, I'd have called for backup immediately. Sis-in-law, you'd best clear your paulownia grove as soon as possible." After explaining, Xia Qing took a vacuum-sealed side of ribs out of the micro-tiller.

Seeing such fresh ribs, the Qi Fu couple were stunned.

Yesterday they had heard Hu Zifeng mention that Territory Three was stewing a pig's head, so they knew Xia Qing had gotten a wild boar, but they hadn't expected her to bring them an entire fresh side of ribs.

That was worth several hundred points!

Once Xia Qing had taken it out, she certainly wouldn't take it back. Qi Fu took it directly: "Haven't had ribs in years—can't even remember the taste. I've got plenty of people on my side. If you need hands, sis, just say the word."

Xia Qing agreed, placed the two baskets inside the vehicle cover, turned around, and headed back. The hunger worms in her belly were growling, lured by the fragrance of the mantou.

After the micro-tiller entered Territory Three, Tang Huai finally picked up his basket of bugs and headed home to eat.

Last night, the six people who cleared the paulownia grove were exhausted, and the five protecting the greenhouse had it no easier. They had to clear the Qi-evolved plants inside the greenhouse as well as the Qi grass outside. Still, Er Yong had found time to use the meat Xia Qing brought over last night to stew a big pot of meat and vegetables, planning to eat it with compressed rations.

Seeing the steaming, fragrant white mantou Xia Qing brought back, everyone's eyes turned green.

The group quickly rinsed their hands, each served themselves a big bowl of potato-and-green-bean stew with meat, and ate at top speed—mantou in one hand, meat in the other.

Xia Qing ate two mantou and a bowl of meat, then drank a bowl of hot tea broth, and her desire to keep Er Yong on her territory grew stronger. The temptation of coming home to steaming, fragrant food after a tiring day of work was simply too great.

But keeping Er Yong would mean exposing the spring water's secret to Hu Zifeng's squad. The more people who knew, the greater the chance the spring would be exposed. It would be far simpler to ask the wolf pack for a weasel that could pluck hair.

That wasn't right either—a weasel couldn't help releasing its stench bomb when in danger, and any prey it had sprayed would definitely be inedible.

Better to learn cooking from Er Yong, Xia Qing sighed, and drove the micro-tiller home.

Looking at the Qi grass filling the courtyard, Xia Qing felt a pang of frustration, so she simply circled the yard a few times and mowed the wild-grass yard into a lawn yard.

She inspected the inside and outside of the house, fed the wolves, sheep, and chickens, then went upstairs, showered, and checked her shoulders and arms in the mirror—they could barely lift.

Knocking down a tree with hard, sturdy wood was nowhere near as easy as Xia Qing had made it look.

Sheep Boss had hard spiral horns; she was the opposite—hard bones wrapped in flesh.

The first time, Xia Qing rammed it with both arms. The second time, she used her right arm plus her left hand. The third time, her left arm plus her right hand. Fortunately, three hits were enough to topple the tree. Fortunately, she had the special-grade nutrient solution—otherwise she wouldn't have held out until now.

After applying the swelling-and-pain-relief medicine, Xia Qing went inside to sleep and recover her strength. Next, she still had at least one tough battle ahead.

According to the weather forecast, the third Qi rain wouldn't end until 2 a. m. tomorrow. Over the next twenty hours, the concentration of Qi elements in the air and soil would remain at high-risk levels, peaking during the third red-grade Qi rain. Xia Qing was now hoping the third red-grade Qi rain wouldn't last too long, otherwise the crops in the greenhouse would certainly lose more than half.

Territories were already this hard—Yang Jin and the lead wolf, searching for medicinal herbs deep in the Evolution Forest, faced risks unknown times greater than here. The safe zone must be in chaos too. She hoped the person who had sent her that text message was all right.

"Ding."

As Xia Qing drifted in and out of sleep, she heard her phone buzz beside her. She pulled off her eye mask, picked up the phone, glanced at it, and immediately sat up.

Yang Jin had sent her a photo: the Evolution Forest, damp and glistening, and among the colorful dense grass, a weasel with round ears and dark eyes was peeking outward, using the Qi grass as cover.