Chapter 258: Raid

The red squirrel was still useful—she couldn't scare it off—so this time Xia Qing didn't draw her gun. She took out her slingshot and fired a steel pellet at the branch by the pine tree's hollow, calling out sternly, "Red squirrel, hand over the pine cones you stole!"

"Wooo—" The sick wolf pawed the ground and growled low.

"Aoo!!!" The broken-legged wolf went wild circling the pine tree, wildly excited.

Rustling sounds came from inside the tree. The red squirrel, having been taught a lesson by Xia Qing once before, quickly tossed the green pine cone it had just stolen into its nest out through the hollow, then darted back inside.

Knowing when to quit, Xia Qing picked up the pine cone and held it out for the sick wolf to see, coaxing softly, "Lao Er, look, our pine cone is back. No more being angry, okay?"

The sick wolf happily took the pine cone in its mouth. Xia Qing immediately set down her back basket and let it drop the pine cone inside, then praised it enthusiastically, "Good Lao Er, Lao Er's amazing."

The alpha wolf's opulent golden eyes shifted from the pine cone to Xia Qing, then to the tree hollow. It backed up a few steps, then charged forward at full speed, leaping high, its sharp wolf claws slashing at the branch by the pine tree's hollow.

"Crack."

The branch snapped and fell. Even without undergoing a hardness evolution, pine is a hardwood. But that single swipe from the alpha wolf had actually torn through a pine branch as thick as a bowl's rim!

Xia Qing's heart twitched as she watched. "My lord, this tree's fruit can be used as food, so take it easy. I'm keeping the red squirrel around because it's useful—don't scare it to death."

The alpha wolf ignored Xia Qing and struck the pine tree again viciously, tearing off a large chunk of bark from around the hollow. After landing, it growled low at the hollow. The moment the alpha wolf launched its attack, the broken-legged wolf and the sick wolf took their places on its left and right, faces fierce.

Noticing Xia Qing was standing in the wrong spot, the broken-legged wolf and the sick wolf each glanced at her. But Xia Qing, who was looking up at the hollow, didn't notice the two wolves watching her.

The alpha wolf's voice wasn't loud, but even Xia Qing felt her courage shrink hearing it—let alone the red squirrel inside the hollow.

At top speed, it hauled everything from the hollow and dumped it on the ground. Chestnuts, pine nuts, cotton, shredded tobacco, soybeans, the spoon Xia Qing had worn out, the worn protective shell of her yi-stone…

The alpha wolf swept a glance at the dumbfounded Xia Qing, then leaped away and vanished. The broken-legged wolf looked left and right, then chased after the alpha wolf. Left at the scene were only the innocent-looking sick wolf, the red squirrel trembling in the hollow, and the dumbfounded Xia Qing.

Xia Qing didn't want to dwell on what that look the alpha wolf had given her before leaving meant. She reached up and rubbed the sick wolf's head. "Lao Er, pick up the food on the ground. This is justice your companion helped you win back."

After gathering the food off the ground, Xia Qing didn't just leave the random junk lying there—she didn't even plan to harvest the yellow-light pine cones from this tree.

Why not harvest them?

She was worried that if the red squirrel got spooked again, it would move out of this territory overnight. She was counting on this squirrel to lead her to gather peanuts.

In one afternoon, Xia Qing harvested all the pine cones from the four green-light pine trees. Without exception, all four trees had undergone a hardness evolution—no wonder the red squirrel had come to steal the pine cones she'd knocked down. It probably couldn't break them open on its own and could only wait passively for the cones to crack and reveal the pine nuts inside before it could gather them.

The four trees yielded four bags of pine cones, which after drying would produce about ten-plus jin of pine nuts. Not a huge amount, but Xia Qing's heart still sang with satisfaction.

Early the next morning, the red squirrel, badly frightened, didn't dare come to Xia Qing's windowsill to drink. Xia Qing discovered it had moved at dawn to the tree hollow farthest from her—but that hollow was still within Section 3 of Mountain Forty-Nine, so Xia Qing was reassured.

Xia Qing took the sick wolf and gathered all the pine cones from the seven yellow-light pine trees in Section 3. Her pace today was much faster than yesterday—she didn't finish the seven trees until two in the afternoon.

After spreading the pine cones out to dry on the open ground in the greenhouse, Xia Qing called on her companion, Sheep Boss, to help carry the water tank so they could fertilize and water the crops on the hillside terraces.

Of course, the green-light spinach on the hillside terraces got the best manure and was watered with pure mountain spring water. Xia Qing didn't cut any corners with this spinach, following Zhang San's cultivation guide as closely as she could, hoping to raise the spinach's yi-element content as quickly as possible.

After watering the terraces, Xia Qing had picked a basket of vegetables and was about to head home to cook when she heard heavy footsteps coming from the northern isolation belt.

"Cough, cough."

Afraid Xia Qing wouldn't hear the footsteps, the person even cleared his throat loudly and kept stamping his feet hard. Xia Qing told Sheep Boss and the sick wolf to head back first, then walked quickly toward the northern isolation belt.

Tang Huai, who had been both stamping and coughing, was quite pleased to see Xia Qing running over. "What's the rush? You've been waiting for the protective suits, haven't you?"

Xia Qing replied calmly, "Hand it over."

Wouldn't it kill her to speak nicely? Tang Huai grumbled to himself for a moment before handing the protective suits to Xia Qing. "The sizes are all ordered to match that wolf from last time."

Xia Qing took them and opened the bag, discovering the quality of these protective suits was even higher than the set Yang Jin had traded her. What a deal!

While Xia Qing inspected them, Tang Huai prattled on in a low voice, "These suits are Field Grade Four—the kind given to the best military dogs. So? I'm good enough, right? I came alone on purpose. Call your two wolves and one sheep over here and let them try them on. If they don't fit, I'll take them back and exchange them. That wolf that was calling out on Mountain Forty-Nine yesterday—that one's yours, right? I knew it."

Xia Qing packed the protective suits away. "Thanks. I'll take them back and have them try them on. If they don't fit, I'll come find you to exchange them."

Tang Huai got angry. "No! What's wrong with calling your tamed beasts over here to try them on? One look won't kill me!"

"My sheep's mental state isn't good, and the wolves aren't fully trained yet. If you called them all over here, the one who'd die is you." Xia Qing turned around. "It's about to get dark. I'm going back to collect the chicken coop. Safe travels—no need to see you out."

Watching helplessly as Xia Qing hurried into the protective forest, Tang Huai cursed and grumbled, "Damn, I thought she was in a rush for the protective suits, but turns out she's hurrying back to collect the chicken coop. As if raising chickens is something special—I've got over a hundred of them back in the safe zone…"

Hearing Tang Huai's grumbling, Xia Qing wasn't surprised in the slightest. Tang Zhengpo ran a restaurant and needed a stable food supply—his family even had green-light hairy crabs. It would be stranger if they didn't have chickens.

After carrying the heavy chicken coop back to the village, Xia Qing put it straight in the sheep pen. The bigger the chickens got, the more they pooped, and the smell was terrible, making cleanup a hassle. So Xia Qing let the chickens stay with the wolves, letting the wolves keep an eye on them for her.

After harvesting the pine cones from Mountain Fifty, Xia Qing planned to build a dedicated chicken coop in the yard before the migratory birds passed through, so she wouldn't have to haul the chickens back and forth every day.

At six the next morning, Xia Qing set out with Hu Zifeng and Jing Kuan.

The uncut qiang grass on Mountain Fifty had already headed and was full of seeds. As they advanced, they habitually stuffed the qiang grass seed heads they'd cleared from the path into sealed bags.