Chapter 376: Raising Pigs

"Handsome Wolf Bro, this one really can't be traded."

The next morning, a little past five, before the sky had even brightened, Broken-Waist Wolf arrived at Xia Qing's place with the Use Yishi.

Though she was very reluctant, Xia Qing stuffed the pigeon-egg-sized Use Yishi she had taken out back into the pocket of Broken-Waist Wolf's brand-new protective suit, painfully refusing the deal.

"Broken-Waist, where were you planning to install the automatic door if you traded for it? The wolf den already has a door, and Mountain Sixty doesn't even have a fence—neither spot is suitable for an automatic door."

Broken-Waist Wolf hadn't expected Xia Qing to refuse. He paused thoughtfully for a moment before turning to walk outside, signaling Xia Qing to follow.

"Where are we going? I'm busy—I need to get the chickens into a greenhouse before the weather turns cold, or they'll stop laying." Xia Qing refused with her mouth, but her feet honestly followed Broken-Waist Wolf outside. Sick Wolf trailed behind them, while Ram Boss stayed put on the tatami.

Broken-Waist Wolf led Xia Qing through the north gate to the wire-mesh fence that blocked off the valley, then turned to look at her.

The valley sat at low elevation. To connect with the wire-mesh wall on the hillside and serve its purpose of protecting the territory, the fence here was more than twice as tall as elsewhere. Standing beneath it and looking up gave quite an oppressive feeling.

Xia Qing pushed against the support of the wire-mesh wall with her hand, very satisfied with how sturdy it was.

Broken-Waist Wolf followed the stream through the northern isolation belt to the exit of the Wild Boar Breeding Center valley, then looked up at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing understood. Gesturing as she spoke, she asked, "You want to block this place off and put in an automatic door?"

Clever Broken-Waist Wolf opened his mouth, revealing two adorable little tusk tips.

This guy was an evolved jumper—a fence held zero value for him. Why would he offer a precious Use Yishi to have her build walls here?

Xia Qing discussed it with Broken-Waist Wolf. "If it's just about blocking the valley exit, we don't have to use a wire-mesh fence."

She led Broken-Waist Wolf to the isolation belt north of Territory Four, pointed at a section of thorn-bramble wall that Zhao Ze had led people to build, then pointed at the valley exit and discussed it with the clever wolf. "Building a wall like that over there would work perfectly."

Broken-Waist Wolf closed his mouth and thought for a while, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Xia Qing really wanted that Use Yishi. She hurried home for tools and quickly chopped down a large thorny tree in Section Three of Mountain Forty-Nine. Using the trunk, branches, and some thorny shrubs, she blocked the valley exit. "Broken-Waist, look—doesn't blocking it like this work pretty well too?"

Broken-Waist Wolf stared at the messily blocked valley exit for a while, seeming satisfied. He walked over to Xia Qing and signaled her to reach into his pocket and take something out.

Xia Qing gripped the Use Yishi again, grinning so wide her teeth showed. "Handsome Wolf Bro is really too generous!"

Broken-Waist Wolf mimicked Sick Wolf's action and nuzzled Xia Qing's leg with his body, then whooshed through the thorny wood and brambles blocking the valley and headed back to the wolf den.

"Safe travels, Handsome Wolf Bro—come back anytime you've got business!" After warmly seeing Broken-Waist Wolf off, and to do justice to this precious Use Yishi, Xia Qing chopped down quite a few more thorny shrubs and firmly sealed the valley exit before returning to her territory.

That evening, while Xia Qing was training after listening to the broadcast, she suddenly received a call from Beard Feng.

"Two wolves in protective suits, leading a wolf pack, are herding a group of wild boars—big and small—through the valley between Mountain Forty-Nine and Mountain Fifty, heading toward Valley One." After reporting the situation, Beard Feng asked curiously, "Did you trade for these wild boars with the wolf pack? Are you planning to raise them or slaughter them? Do you need help?"

Xia Qing raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her face and answered as calmly as she could. "I didn't trade for wild boars with the wolf pack. Let them in, Captain Hu."

If they weren't trading with Xia Qing, what were the wolves herding the boars for? Beard Feng stroked the adorable evolved cat on his own shoulder and asked again, "Do you need help? I just counted—eight big wild boars, over twenty half-grown ones."

With that many pigs, even though Xia Qing was a Strength Evolver, slaughtering and processing them all would take a whole busy day.

"No need for now."

Xia Qing had already guessed what the wolf pack was doing. If Beard Feng and the others came over, the wolves would think they were trying to steal the wild boars, which could easily spark a conflict.

The next morning at five, before the red squirrel had even reached the bedroom windowsill for water, Xia Qing was woken by the notification sound from the north gate client.

She watched Broken-Waist Wolf pass in and out of the north gate sixteen times with a blank expression before he walked down the slope to her front door and cheerfully asked her to come to the Wild Boar Breeding Center.

Once she understood what Broken-Waist Wolf meant, Xia Qing stood at the north exit of Valley One speechless for quite a while, then swung her machete and chopped down two evolved elder trees, blocking Valley One's north exit.

Then, without Broken-Waist Wolf having to call her, Xia Qing went and blocked Valley Two's exit as well.

The valleys within Section Three of Mountain Forty-Nine are arranged in a "Y" shape. The intersection of the Y is the Wild Boar Breeding Center, which leads south to Xia Qing's territory. Valley Two at the northwest end was carved out by water flowing down from the mountain—the higher you go, the shallower it gets. Valley One to the northeast leads to the large valley at the border of Mountain Forty-Nine and Mountain Fifty.

After the three exits of the Y were blocked, the wild boars were trapped inside the valleys.

Of course, if the wild boars got desperate and charged upward with all their might, they could escape from the less steep sections on either side of the valley—but that would only be a few. Most of the wild boars wouldn't run.

Because the Section Three valleys had a water source, dense grass, Green-Light Torreya trees, chestnut groves, and abandoned medicinal fields—an ideal habitat for wild boars.

Yang Jin's earlier guess had been correct. The few wild boars Xia Qing discovered at the Wild Boar Breeding Center this spring had been prey raised by the wolf pack.

Later, humans established the Wild Boar Breeding Center here. When winter passed and the lead wolf came to patrol and found the prey had been captured by humans, he broke into the Wild Boar Breeding Center and bit the wild boars to death.

Now winter was coming again, and the wolf pack had herded another group of wild boars to this Wild Boar Breeding Center—occupied and then abandoned by humans—to continue raising prey.

This year, clever Broken-Waist Wolf discovered the wonders of "doors" and "walls." He traded with Xia Qing to have her block the valleys, so even fewer wild boars could escape.

The more Xia Qing thought about it, the more she felt that the Use Yishi Broken-Waist Wolf gave her yesterday wasn't just for trading "walls"—it was also to get her to help raise pigs. Xia Qing felt that if this guy Broken-Waist Wolf kept evolving for a few more years, he might just shove Yang Jin out of the Iron Rooster rankings.

After blocking the valley exits, Xia Qing first protected the chestnut grove and the Green-Light Torreya trees with thorn wood and long-thorned shrubs.

Wild boars love eating plant roots and rhizomes. The two sharp tusks growing upward from their lower jaws can easily break through the soil layer, dig out plant roots, and bite them off. Torreya trees have fleshy roots—root wood is softer than bark and tastes better—which is why they became the top foraging choice for wild boars in the evolved forest, and also why Torreya trees are scarce in the evolved forest.

If this Green-Light Torreya tree in Valley One hadn't been growing on a slope at a ninety-degree angle, it would have been gnawed to death by wild boars long ago.