Chapter 349: Investigation Group

Perhaps it truly understood Xia Qing's words, for over the next two days the brain-evolved smart broken-waist wolf sent no more food into the territory, and the three wolves ate nothing but thawed python meat each day.

The hardness-evolved python meat was tough and not the kind of food wolves liked. "Server" strength-evolver Xia Qing would slice the snake meat, then add a few slices of freshly squeezed spinach juice, so the two SVIP client wolves ate with relish and healed in peace.

The sick wolf still ate meat porridge, and the dish Xia Qing ate most often these past few days was grilled snake-meat slices. Once the snake-meat slices were cooked on a flat pan, she brushed on the secret barbecue spice mix she'd traded from Er Yong's father, rolled them up with shredded cucumber and shredded radish — simply too delicious.

After eating the chewy snake-meat vegetable rolls and finishing a bowl of rice and Chinese yam porridge, Xia Qing felt she was about to ascend on the spot.

The rice was something she'd traded from Tan Junjie a while back using green-light chestnuts — only ten jin. If she steamed it as rice, it wouldn't last many meals, but used sparingly, cooked into porridge with mung beans, corn, pumpkin, and sweet potato, it could last a long stretch of days, and Xia Qing was already quite content.

After eating and drinking her fill, Xia Qing found everything looked pleasing to the eye.

"Queen my lord looks in good spirits today — the leg wound is much better, isn't it?" Xia Qing stepped out and greeted the top SVIP resident in the sheep pen. After eating the antidote to the synthesized Qian venom twice, the lead wolf was completely cured of the Qian-snake poison, with only the external leg wound remaining, which would heal up soon.

Also fed and watered, the lead wolf lay lazily on the soft dry hay basking in the sun, in a fine mood as well. It turned its head and looked at Xia Qing with its gilded eyes, gaze calm and gentle.

Xia Qing got excited at once, rushed into the chicken coop, pulled the rabbit out of its cage, and said, "Once Queen my lord's leg heals, can you catch me a few rabbits like this? I want them alive."

The lead wolf glanced at the yammering Xia Qing, then at the trembling rabbit in her hand, turned its head away in disinterest, and went on sunbathing.

What Xia Qing wanted was not an immediate reaction from the lead wolf, but to keep emphasizing to the wolf pack that she liked live rabbits, reinforcing their impression.

Once the reinforcement was done, Xia Qing stuffed the rabbit back into its cage and tossed it a few vegetable leaves along the way. Xia Qing had noticed this rabbit wasn't very bright — once inside the chicken pen it immediately felt safe, and trembling, began to eat.

After Xia Qing picked up today's four eggs and left, the black-feathered rooster immediately hopped over to the rabbit cage, poked its sharp beak and claws into it, found it couldn't reach the vegetable leaves, and let out a few disgruntled crows.

After eating and finishing her bonding session with the lead wolf, Xia Qing called to her companions, "Boss, Wolf Lao Er, let's go — time to work the fields."

After using the special medicine from Territory Seven, the sick wolf's leg had shed its swelling in three days and could walk normally, and it began bustling about with Xia Qing harvesting the crops.

The broken-leg wolf's little sister?

This one ate the snake-meat shreds Xia Qing gave it every day, drank the polluted spring water and anti-inflammatory medicine, yet still acted fierce. Whenever Xia Qing approached the sheep pen, it bared its fangs and growled low.

This was what a normal evolved wolf raised in the Evolution Forest should be like, and Xia Qing had no intention of changing the broken-leg sister's attitude.

She'd brought this wolf back inside the territory to heal its wounds because she'd accepted the broken-waist wolf's Yi stone; once the wound healed, it would naturally leave.

In the tenth year of the Catastrophe, humans and the large intelligent Yi-evolved beasts on Blue Star were in a "neither side touches the other's well water" phase. As long as the other party didn't come invade one's territory, no fighting would break out.

If the two sides met inside the public-hunting Evolution Forest and both took a liking to the same prey, then it came down to who was stronger.

Taking advantage of the rare fine weather, Xia Qing pulled up all the mung bean plants, picked every pod — green, yellow, or black — and laid them out on a plastic sheet to dry in the sun. Sheep Boss and the sick wolf were in charge of hauling the mung bean plants.

Xia Qing's second planting had been one mu of yellow-light mung beans and half a mu of green-light mung beans. Judging by the number of pods, the yield should be about the same as the spring planting — meaning she could harvest roughly 133 jin of yellow-light mung beans and 75 jin of green-light mung beans.

There were many ways to eat mung beans, and Xia Qing's heart sang with joy as she picked the pods.

"Wooo—"

Hearing the sick wolf's low growl, Xia Qing looked up and saw the red squirrel had come again. The pretty little thing was squatting on a rock outside the shed, flicking its fluffy beautiful big tail, staring longingly at the pile of mung bean pods on the plastic sheet.

Every time Xia Qing harvested anything, it would come to test the waters, trying to freeload.

Although it failed every time, it still kept at it. Xia Qing rather admired its thick skin. "Wolf Lao Er, ignore it — it doesn't dare come in and rob us."

In truth, Xia Qing would love nothing more than for the red squirrel to come in and steal her crops. That way she could justifiably take up her blade and head up to Area Three to raid the red squirrel's home.

The red squirrel, wearing a locator, bustled about every day and had already stuffed food into four tree hollows, one Shi Dong, and one dirt hole.

It had no family, no companions, and the food it gathered couldn't possibly be eaten in a single winter. So the black peanuts it had buried in the dirt hole last winter were left until spring and sprouted.

The red squirrel hadn't gone to collect its peanuts this year, and Xia Qing couldn't tell whether the timing wasn't right or the peanuts simply hadn't grown this year — she could only wait.

"Xia Qing, you there?" Tang Huai asked over the lord channel.

"Here," Xia Qing replied.

"Your late-planted corn should be ready to harvest, right?" Tang Huai asked hopefully. "How about I come help you harvest the corn? Free of charge — just let me fish by the reservoir for a while when we're done."

Xia Qing figured the oil press must have arrived, and replied calmly, "You can only help harvest the corn — fishing is not allowed. If you agree, come over tomorrow at eight in the morning."

So stingy! Tang Huai muttered, and agreed.

Assistant Xiao Liu from Territory Nine also came online. "Young Lady Xia, the green-light soybeans have been delivered — are you ready on your end?"

"Ready, we can trade anytime." Xia Qing had traded fifteen eggs with Territory Seven yesterday, and had been waiting for Territory Nine to come online.

Because these were extraordinary times, the two territories chose to have the inspection team hand over the supplies.

Under the Territory Three road sign, Cao Xianyun took the bag containing ten eggs and handed the soybean bag to Xia Qing.

After Xia Qing crushed a soybean between her fingers to confirm it wasn't a hardness-evolved variety and tested the Qian element content, Tan Junjie introduced the woman soldier beside him — wearing camouflage and flanked by two aides — to Xia Qing: "This is Lu Ying, Group Leader Lu, in charge of the Territory Three intrusion case."

Lu Ying removed her protective mask, saluted Xia Qing, and showed her credentials: Lu Ying, Hui-3 Base, Criminal Investigation Unit One, Investigation Group Two.

According to the post-Catastrophe administrative division and organizational structure, Unit One was the main unit. Anyone who could serve as a group leader in Criminal Investigation Unit One's investigation group — this woman soldier in her forties — was certainly very capable.

Given Tan Junjie's cautious and methodical style, he would normally have notified Xia Qing in advance and gotten her consent before bringing the investigation group over. The fact that these three people had come directly meant this matter wasn't Tan Junjie's call to make.

Xia Qing removed her protective mask, calmly greeted Lu Ying, and gestured for the investigation group to enter the territory.