Chapter 281: Learn a Lesson

"Don't even mention it." Kuang Qingwei sighed. "Sis, do you know Qian Lin, the Level Four Strength Evolver from Sufeng Squad?"

Xia Qing nodded. "We've run missions together before."

A helpless look crossed Kuang Qingwei's face—the look of a man at the bottom of the heap. "To earn a living, I bow and scrape to everyone I meet, play the fool. Over the years, the only person I've offended is him. He squeezed me so hard I couldn't survive in the Safe Zone anymore, so I came out here to farm. I still haven't figured out exactly what went wrong, but it definitely has something to do with him."

Xia Qing didn't need to ask how Kuang Qingwei, who had a pretty wife, had "offended" the lecherous Qian Lin. Still, she said, "I don't think Qian Lin has that kind of brains. Even if he was involved, he wasn't the mastermind."

Kuang Qingwei had also considered that someone might be using Qian Lin as a pawn. Since Xia Qing asked, he told her about his supply channels. "No matter who's behind it, we can't afford to provoke them, but we can afford to avoid them. Debts aren't scary to settle. We'll tough it out a few more years, until the territory can grow enough food."

After saying that, Kuang Qingwei went to other territories to return points and deliver thank-you gifts to Territory One.

If Territory One hadn't made their tamed wolves howl, this territory would have been ravaged by evolved geese, raptors, and fierce beasts. Even if Kuang Qingwei survived, he couldn't afford to compensate the lords for their losses, and he wouldn't be able to keep operating in this territory.

Watching Kuang Qingwei leave, Xia Qing didn't return to her territory right away. Instead, she stared at the wild-grass wall of Territory Two.

Territory Two had the most bugs, and its wild-grass wall was chewed the worst. Xia Qing could already see the color of the sun umbrella behind the wall.

She had previously assumed Tang Huai was squatting in the sun digging for bugs, but it turned out he was squatting under the sun umbrella while he dug.

No one else could hear what Xia Qing and Kuang Qingwei discussed, but Tang Huai certainly heard every word. Xia Qing was waiting for Tang Huai to come out, to see if he was in the know about this loudspeaker incident.

Tang Huai crawled out of the wild-grass wall, pulled off his protective mask, and got straight to the point. "This thing wasn't aimed at you specifically. Don't get involved."

Not aimed at Xia Qing, but whoever did it definitely knew there were tamed wolves on Mountain Forty-Nine, and that the tamed wolves would react to the recording. Xia Qing asked calmly, "Do you know who did it?"

"I can guess. Leaning on a big tree is great for shade, but pick the wrong tree and you go down with it." After vaguely dropping Xia Qing a tidbit as a sweetener, Tang Huai probed her, half-joking, half-serious. "You're so smart, you must see I'm a stock with potential."

A stock with potential for digging bugs? Xia Qing asked expressionlessly, "And then?"

Tang Huai grinned. "The one howling in your territory this afternoon was that missing-eared wolf, right? Why was it crying so pitifully? Take me to see it, will you? Don't worry, I absolutely won't tell anyone."

She listened carefully, confirmed no one was around. Only then did Xia Qing drop her expression, letting her anger show even through Tang Huai's protective mask. "It reacted strongly to the wolf howl from the loudspeaker, and took that old wolf I'd finally saved away with it. All these months of work, wasted!"

The cooked duck flew away…

Tang Huai was first regretful, then suddenly enlightened. "This was a scheme to kill two birds with one stone. That's fucking underhanded!"

Xia Qing patrolled a circuit and returned home, tossed a red-light bird to the snake in its box, fed the chickens and fish, and found Yang Laoda lying on the tatami, looking a bit lonely.

Part of this loneliness was because Xia Qing had widened the tatami. She sat beside Yang Laoda and brushed its fur. "Boss, you missing Lao Er and that Broken-Waist guy?"

Yang Laoda squinted its eyes, not moving a muscle.

Xia Qing comforted her companion. "They came here for treatment and to recover. Once their wounds are healed and their illnesses cured, they'll leave our territory, and no one can stop them. Hungry? How about I make you something good? Look!"

Xia Qing pulled a tender cabbage leaf from the basket. "This is a green-light cabbage leaf. Want me to mix it with Number Three rations for you?"

Yang Laoda's eyes immediately lit up, and it replied in a clipped little bleat, "Maa~"

This little foodie!

Xia Qing stuffed a leaf into its mouth and took the rest of the leaves to the kitchen.

Yang Laoda, savoring the delicious leaf, stood at the kitchen doorway, cheerfully waiting for food.

Xia Qing chatted with Yang Laoda while cooking. "Broken-Waist had its last patch applied this morning. The day after tomorrow morning when the patch comes off, its wound will be completely healed. Lao Er's stomach just got a bit better, and it still needs medicine and cooked food to recover. If it can't digest raw meat, it'll have to come back in a few days for more treatment."

Xia Qing understood but wasn't afraid of Broken-Waist Wolf's anger. Because it was a brain-domain evolved wolf, it knew Xia Qing wasn't behind the recording, and wouldn't take it out on her.

Even taking a step back, even if it did blame her, Xia Qing wasn't afraid. She was only deeply regretful—regretful that she might have lost a very important group of supply trading partners.

Ten years of natural disasters had long accustomed Xia Qing to partings and death; she wouldn't mope over a few wolves leaving. But she had to be more frugal with her yi-stones, because this kind of high-value supply—you couldn't buy them even if you had points and didn't know where to look.

With the refrigerator, Xia Qing's cooking was much faster. Knead dough, roll out noodles, boil them, then take out the meat sauce she'd made a couple days ago from the fridge, ladle on two scoops, sprinkle with freshly picked chives—and a bowl of fragrant minced-meat sauce noodles was ready.

One person, one sheep, each guarding their own food bowl, eating happily.

With a full belly, her mood lifted. Xia Qing leaned back in her chair and briefed Yang Laoda. "After the autumn harvest there'll definitely be an agricultural trade fair. You'll guard the territory then, and I'll head back to the Safe Zone. I have things to handle."

The person behind this incident can't just get away with being a little underhanded. He needs to lose bone and flesh, to learn a lesson.

From what Tang Huai said, this incident was very likely Sufeng Squad's doing. With Xia Qing's current abilities, she couldn't touch Sufeng's core members, but crippling a few direct participants in this incident was still doable.

For example, Qian Lin, who'd tried to take advantage of her several times back in the Safe Zone.

While washing the dishes after the meal, Xia Qing got a call from Tan Junjie. Seeing Xin Yu had asked the inspection team to deliver two green-light mint plants to her.

These two green-light mint plants were the goods Seeing Xin Yu had exchanged with Xia Qing for the evolved eagle. The insect plague in this territory had followed right after the migratory bird season, so the delivery had been delayed until now.

When Xia Qing rushed to the North Isolation Belt and saw Tan Junjie had come alone, she knew he had something to say to her.

Tan Junjie handed the flowerpot to Xia Qing and asked in a low voice, "That wolf didn't cause trouble later, did it?"

Tan Junjie had long known the wolf pack was in Territory Three. Xia Qing told him the truth. "The lead evolved wolf smashed the loudspeaker and led the pack back into the Evolution Forest."

Tan Junjie didn't press further. "Good that they left. They were always a target here. I've already reported the loudspeaker recording matter, but I don't expect any results."

"I understand. Thanks, Captain Tan." The wolf howls recorded on the loudspeaker were pretty creepy too. The person who handled it could wriggle out on grounds of inexperience.

Tan Junjie lowered his voice. "Don't act rashly. Be careful not to fall into someone else's trap. Inside your territory, you're protected by the Lord Law. Outside it, you're not."

Xia Qing smiled. "Don't worry. I definitely won't act rashly."

Not acting rashly doesn't mean not acting at all. Tan Junjie made his point and didn't press further, starting to discuss an exchange with her. "Can the green-light Chinese toon saplings in your territory be traded?"

Xia Qing didn't want to trade native plants from inside her territory anymore and declined tactfully. "After I entered the territory, I transplanted all the saplings under the Chinese toon tree. Not a single one survived. But I got a batch of decent chestnuts before the insect plague. Once I grow chestnut saplings next spring, I can trade with you."

Tan Junjie nodded. "For the reward for jointly defending Territory Four, do you want points or yellow-light rapeseed?"

Xia Qing chose without hesitation. "The rapeseed."