Chapter 236: Forming a Team to Gather Chestnuts

Xia Qing's eyes went wide as she struggled to hold back her laughter and asked Yang Jin how he knew the weasel stench was so foul — and Yang Jin answered right away:

"It released its stench inside the Evolution Forest and made several people vomit. The one hit directly passed out cold."

Xia Qing quickly asked, "Is the person all right now?"

Already killed by him under the pretext, Yang Jin replied, "Not one of my people."

Xia Qing figured that, since it wasn't anyone from the Azure Dragon Squad, it must have been a member of another squad or faction who'd gone into the Evolution Forest to fight over herbs. Relieved, she grew curious again — had that person passed out from the poison, or from the stench, or from both at once?

On second thought, something struck her as off. "Don't they all wear protective masks inside the Evolution Forest?"

Could the weasel's stench really be strong enough to punch right through the air filters of a protective mask?

Yang Jin answered calmly, "The fight was too intense. The mask broke."

Hearing Yang Jin's words, Luo Pei couldn't hold it in any longer. "Ha, haha, hahaha—"

Hearing Brother Luo's wild laughter coming through Yang Jin's phone, Xia Qing thought about what could make the normally even-tempered Brother Luo laugh like that — and she couldn't hold it in either.

The image of a weasel unleashing stench that knocked humans out and made them vomit was impossible to dwell on — the more she thought about it, the funnier it got. Sorry, she really couldn't hold it. Xia Qing hung up the phone and laughed herself silly, slapping the table.

Having endured the noise attack was one thing, but getting slapped several times on top of it was too much. Ram Boss flew into a rage, leapt up, and butted Xia Qing's chair over with his horns.

Xia Qing lay sprawled on the floor, still slapping the ground and laughing.

Inside Territory One, Yang Jin — his head full of Xia Qing's bright, clear laughter — couldn't help smiling either. In better spirits, he looked out the window at Brother Luo tapping on the glass and acting crazy, and didn't find him quite so punchable anymore.

Two mornings later, when Xia Qing saw the weasel — being stared down by three wolves and a ram, squatting in her yard plucking feathers with its whole body trembling — her first reaction was to put her protective mask on immediately.

While putting on the mask, Xia Qing still couldn't stop laughing. The total number of times she'd laughed in the ten years since the Catastrophe didn't add up to what she'd laughed in these past two days. Her cheeks ached from it.

Hearing Xia Qing's laughter, the weasel — a few wild chicken feathers stuck to its head — trembled its little whiskers and raised a pair of shiny black eyes to look at her.

Such a tiny, timid little animal, and yet it could release a stench strong enough to knock out an evolved human. It was truly unbelievable.

Xia Qing first paid her respects to the she-wolf. "Thank you, my lord, for the rabbit. I'll clean it right away and cook it for Wolf Lao Er. Not a single one of your companions eats for free — even this weasel is a hidden master. Impressive, truly impressive."

After mentioning the rabbit by the door, she noticed the weasel tremble twice more at her movement. Xia Qing greeted it with a smile. "Morning! You've got quite a few chicken feathers on you today, huh?"

She'd been thinking of asking the Wolf Queen if she could have this little feather-plucker for herself. Now? She didn't dare. She just wanted it to feel her friendliness.

The weasel trembled once and plucked faster — clearly, it had not felt a thing.

Why hadn't it felt a thing?

Sender: Human

Receiver: Weasel

Transmission method: Emotion carried in the voice and expression hidden behind the protective mask

Anything that can pick up on that accurately isn't an evolved weasel — it's a weasel immortal.

Xia Qing went inside and tested the rabbit — it came back green-light safe — and didn't contact Territory Seven about trading it away, because this rabbit belonged to the sick wolf and her. She cleaned it thoroughly, boiled the offal for the sick wolf, and stored the rest in the underground cellar.

Once the refrigerator arrived, she could freeze the meat and extend its shelf life considerably.

Of course, she could also adjust the underground cellar's constant-temperature, constant-humidity system below zero, but dropping the temperature too low would ruin the grain and potatoes — not worth it.

After the offal was cooked and cooled, Xia Qing laid two spinach leaves on top and carried it outside to feed the wolves. When the pack returned, the sick wolf moved back to the ram shed, and Xia Qing resumed feeding them outside the shed.

The weasel had already finished its work and left. The she-wolf was eating a plucked chicken outside the ram shed door, and Xia Qing noticed the wound on her flank had already scabbed over.

Xia Qing called the sick wolf to eat and the broken-backed wolf to take its medicine.

Though the broken-backed wolf still moved a little slowly, its actions were basically back to normal, and after one more dressing change it should recover quickly. The sick wolf's herbs had also been gathered, so its recovery would speed up too — which meant Xia Qing's days of having wolves and meat were nearly over.

To get more food, she'd have to rely on herself. As Xia Qing headed out with the chicken coop, she pulled out her phone to check the red squirrel's location and saw it had gone northeast again.

The red squirrel, having safely weathered the Harmful Rain, stopped by Xia Qing's window every morning for a few sips of spring water before heading out to gather food.

Xia Qing set the chicken coop inside the newly built chicken run, then began patrolling the territory, keeping a constant eye on the red squirrel's location.

A few minutes later, the red squirrel returned, stayed less than a minute, then left again. The red dot quickly covered four thousand meters and became a red arrow.

Xia Qing hurried into Area 3 of Hill 49, climbed a tall pine through the thick Harmful Grass, and shone her flashlight into the tree hollow.

A wily rabbit has three burrows — and this little squirrel living in Area 3 of Hill 49 was even craftier. It had six tree hollows, though all of them were within Area 3.

Xia Qing quickly pulled a fresh chestnut out of the hollow — its skin already starting to turn red — and left at once. Checking her phone app from that spot, the tracker on the red squirrel no longer showed an arrow but a red dot.

Nine minutes later, the red dot began to move. Hidden in the Harmful Grass, Xia Qing saw a flash of red streak past — a little fellow with cheeks stuffed full of chestnuts and two small paws clutching more chestnuts appeared on a pine branch, swishing its fluffy big tail and turning its small head to cautiously scan its surroundings.

Xia Qing lay motionless in the Harmful Grass. Her protective suit was Field Grade 3, in dedicated camouflage colors — absolutely perfect.

It came back, dropped its load, and left again.

Xia Qing had originally assumed the chestnut tree was on Hill 50, but after watching it for a while she realized it was actually in Area 3 of Hill 49 — in the upper right portion of the Y-shaped valley that served as her private training ground, in the valley she'd named Valley One.

This valley didn't just grow chestnuts; it was also the passage the wolf pack used to enter her territory from the Evolution Forest.

After testing confirmed the chestnut was a yellow-light edible food, Xia Qing decided to form a team tomorrow to go gather chestnuts.

The valley in Area 3 of Hill 49 had streams and dense vegetation — an area Xia Qing hadn't explored yet. However, the Azure Dragon Squad had cleared it once, removing all high-risk plants and fierce beasts, so the danger level wasn't high.

Although there were no large fierce beasts, over a hundred evolved water rats could burrow out, and with the Evolution Forest in an active period after the Harmful Rain, the danger level was still quite high. She had to go in as a team — and she already had her team picked out.