Chapter 373: Beimen

Wolves and sheep—one is a carnivorous beast, the other a herbivore—but they still have plenty in common.

Sheep Elder's food is the territory of big toon tree leaves, green-perilla, edible pasture grass, and pollution-free spring water. So, upon discovering that the wall didn't separate it from its food, Sheep Elder calmed down and happily dug in.

Although Sick Wolf is now an evolved wolf that cannot eat raw meat and can only survive on human-processed meat, most of the meat it eats is brought by its companions, and a small portion is caught by it in Territory Three and Mountain 49 Area Three—snakes, rats, and other small animals—which it trades to Xia Qing.

There aren't enough prey in Territory Three, so when Sick Wolf noticed the wire-mesh wall gradually closing in and trapping it inside, it grew uneasy.

At this moment, the carnivorous beast that had grown up in the Evolution Forest bared its fangs and raised its sharp claws, intending to break the wall standing between it and its prey.

"Wolf Lao Er, no."

Xia Qing stepped forward and earnestly told it how important the wall was. "This is a wall I traded a great deal of food for. Both Sheep Elder and I need the wall's protection."

Sick Wolf probably couldn't understand what Xia Qing was saying, but it understood the meaning behind Xia Qing's action of standing in front of the wall. It sheathed its fangs and claws and stepped back a few paces, but its posture and eyes were full of resistance.

This evolved wolf, which had nearly been done in by parasites, was about to fall out with the only human it trusted—all over a ring of wall.

Xia Qing wasn't disappointed by Sick Wolf's reaction, because if any other creature dared to come between her and her food, she would be furious too.

"Wolf Lao Er, look." Xia Qing walked a dozen or so meters east and stood before the Beimen. "This is a door. From now on you can go in and out of the territory through here."

Sick Wolf, which had lived in Xia Qing's territory for several months, was no stranger to doors, but this iron-pipe "door" was completely different from the entry door at home, so Sick Wolf stood in place without moving.

Xia Qing called over the grazing Sheep Elder and demonstrated for the two evolved animals how to go in and out of this door. "This is an automatic dual-passage turnstile iron-bar gate I traded at great cost. Watch."

This gate is equipped with cameras that recognize facial features, pupils, height, and other characteristics. When a human or evolved animal entered into the system enters the recognition zone, the gate opens.

This is the kind of gate installed on the outer walls of important locations in the Safe Zone. After deciding to install the wire-mesh wall, Xia Qing had also decided to install a gate like this, to make it convenient for the Hu-Zifeng Squad and the wolf pack to come and go.

Xia Qing came to the gate. The camera mounted on the doorframe scanned Xia Qing's facial and pupil features, emitted a "beep," the iron bars turned, an opening appeared, and Xia Qing walked out through this door.

Sheep Elder's narrowed eyes suddenly flew wide open. Sick Wolf, which had been about to follow Xia Qing out of the enclosure, also came over to observe this door.

"Beep."

The camera on the doorframe recognized that Xia Qing had entered the designated zone, turned the iron bars again, and the door opened once more.

Xia Qing entered the territory and called to her companions, "Elder, Wolf Lao Er, do you want to come over and try it?"

Sick Wolf's furry face was full of vigilance. Xia Qing took out a compressed ration and, in a gentle voice, called to Sheep Elder:

"Elder, you are the bravest, smartest sheep on Blue Star. As long as you can walk out through here, you will have made new history for Blue Star's evolved sheep. You are the pride of the sheep race, the pride of our Territory Three! Come on out, and once you're out I'll reward you with a compressed ration. This is a new version—the flavor is much better than before."

Sheep Elder, who had been watching the fun with a grass blade dangling from its mouth, saw the compressed ration, immediately opened its big eyes wide and dashed to the gate. After the gate beeped and opened, Sheep Elder charged out and received its reward.

After Sheep Elder could also go in and out through this door, Sick Wolf also came to the gate. Once the door opened, it immediately charged out and ran far away.

Xia Qing didn't call it back, but instead led Sheep Elder—who was enjoying its retirement—in and out of the Beimen repeatedly.

When Sick Wolf finally believed that this door would not block it from coming and going, that it wouldn't be penned in by the tall wall, its anxious mood eased, and it happily wagged its tail at Xia Qing a few times.

This behavior is very dog-like.

Xia Qing smiled, rubbed its head, and explained with gestures and words, "Wolf Lao Er, make a trip to the wolf den and bring the Queen and Broken-Waist over. I need to teach them how to use this door."

Those two are Xia Qing's big customers. Xia Qing needs their yi-stones and absolutely cannot afford to lose big customers just because of an extra door.

Sick Wolf nuzzled Xia Qing's leg with its body, walked out through this new door, crossed the isolation belt, and ran into Mountain 49 Area Three.

Although it was daytime, Xia Qing wasn't worried about the wolf pack being discovered by others.

Because it was the grain-harvesting and sowing season, everyone was very busy and had no time to wander around.

Because Territories One through Ten had taken in 250 refugees, the Hazard Inspection Team's tasks were heavy. So, after Tan Junjie discussed it with Luo Pei, they temporarily handed over the patrol duty of the northern isolation belt—adjacent to Territories Three, Four, Five, Six, and Seven and Mountain 49—to the Azure Dragon Squad.

So these days, the inspection team won't come patrol here. This place is very safe.

Sick Wolf quickly returned with two brain-domain evolved wolves. Xia Qing first demonstrated how to use the door, then had Sick Wolf demonstrate twice, and then warmly called to the two clever wolves, "my lord, Broken-Waist, you try it too? This door is very safe. From now on you can come and go through here—it's no trouble at all."

Xia Qing had already entered the detailed appearance characteristics of these two wolves into the access-control system. When they passed through this door into Territory Three and moved about under the surveillance cameras, the system would not send any alert to Xia Qing.

Under Xia Qing's expectant gaze, the lead wolf in the center of the isolation belt suddenly accelerated and charged over. When it was four or five meters from the wall, it pushed off the ground and leaped, easily clearing the wall Xia Qing had spent 250,000 points to build, and landed steadily inside Territory Three.

Broken-Waist Wolf followed close behind and entered in the same way. Then the two clever wolves simultaneously raised their heads and calmly looked at Xia Qing.

……

……

……

Damn it!

Xia Qing didn't want to deal with these two unconventional wolves, so she turned to patrol the territory. She had to kill a few evolved insects or catch a few evolved snakes, dig out two nests of evolved rats, before she could vent the pent-up frustration in her chest.

"Beep."

After walking out a hundred-plus meters, Xia Qing heard the automatic door make a sound. She was too lazy to go back and check, so she took out her phone and saw a message notification on the screen:

Broken-Waist Wolf passed through the Beimen and left Territory Three at 17:21 on November 9.

"Broken-Waist Wolf's brain really works!" Xia Qing, who was carrying a blade, was just about to put her phone away when she heard another "beep." The phone screen quickly refreshed with another notification:

Broken-Waist Wolf passed through the Beimen and entered Territory Three at 17:22 on November 9.

Then:

Broken-Waist Wolf passed through the Beimen and left Territory Three at 17:22 on November 9.

And then:

Broken-Waist Wolf passed through the Beimen and entered Territory Three at 17:23 on November 9.

And then again:

Broken-Waist Wolf passed through the Beimen and left Territory Three at 17:24 on November 9.

……

……

……

Damn it!

Xia Qing gritted her teeth, wanting to slaughter wolves!