Chapter 391: Entering Mountain Fifty

If the Broken-Waist Wolf doesn't heed—or can't understand—Xia Qing's warning, and walks out of her territory where Yan Meng spots it, then the grudge between the wolf pack and the Wind Cloud Squad will be settled between those two parties.

The grudge between Xia Qing and Yan Meng will be settled by Xia Qing.

Of course, she has to finish her main business first. The farmer's current main business is digging yellow clay and building a greenhouse.

The next morning at five, after breakfast Xia Qing patrolled her territory, opened the garage and drove out the micro-tiller. After much coaxing and two compressed rations, she finally persuaded the ram boss squatting on its special seat to get down, then stuffed a handful of roasted meat jerky to the sick wolf, told the two of them to guard the house, and only then drove the micro-tiller out of her territory to meet up with Beard Feng and the others waiting outside the south gate.

"You sure you don't need me to send a few people with you?" Beard Feng asked again, and after speaking, he swept his eyes toward the wild-grass wall of Territory Two, hinting to Xia Qing that there were people inside.

Xia Qing gave a slight nod to show she understood. "No need. Let Er Yong and the others keep training; I've got enough hands on my side. Captain Hu, just send two people to guard the gate and watch the unloading—sixteen truckloads in total."

The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was already light. Xia Qing drove the micro-tiller eastward, and through the wild-grass wall of Territory Two, whose leaves had been chewed to shreds by insects, she spotted six people squatting at the spot Tang Huai had been digging bugs, staring at her with greedy, sickening eyes.

Xia Qing knew that look all too well. She calmly drove the micro-tiller slowly to the signpost of Territory Four, and called out to Zhao Ze, who was about to climb onto the rear cargo bed, "Brother Zhao, sit beside me."

The micro-tiller's rain cover had a certain protective function; Zhao Ze was an ordinary person with no combat experience, and this trip was to enter the Evolution Forest—letting him sit in the open cargo bed would be very dangerous.

"Hey!"

Zhao Ze, carrying a machete on his back and a briefcase in his hand, answered loudly. After sitting down beside Xia Qing, he let out a long breath.

As an ordinary person, after Zhao Ze and his mother fled famine into Hui-Three Safe Zone, he never went to the Evolution Forest again. Even living in a territory adjacent to the Evolution Forest, he didn't dare go there to "get rich."

Because not just anyone can get that "rich." The Evolution Forest has fierce beasts, poisonous insects, evolved plants that can attack and parasitize people—even an unremarkable little bug can kill you.

Now he had to survey the terrain in the Evolution Forest, and for most of the next several days he might have to stay inside it. Zhao Ze was scared to death inside.

If he weren't afraid Xia Qing would beat him up, he'd really want to stick by her side the whole time, as close as possible.

Xia Qing comforted the "project manager" of this construction job. "Brother Zhao, don't be nervous. Once we're inside Mountain Fifty, as long as you don't run around, I'll guarantee your safety."

"Don't worry, sis. I'll stay right inside the circle you draw, won't go anywhere."

Getting Xia Qing's promise, Zhao Ze felt at ease and immediately tried to curry favor with her. "After we're done hauling the dirt, once Mountain Fifty doesn't need this many people, the day after tomorrow I'll have Brother Qi bring the construction crew to start building the greenhouse earthen walls—yours first."

"Good." Xia Qing accepted it with a clear conscience.

The thornwood grove and the yellow clay were her discoveries; three of the five dirt-hauling trucks were arranged by her; and once in the Evolution Forest she'd have to handle the security and defense. So, hauling the yellow clay to her territory first and building her greenhouse walls first—those were only right.

If she didn't cooperate, no matter how strong Xia Qing was, she couldn't build two sets of greenhouse earthen walls in half a month. Working with her allies, she could get the walls up within ten days. Once the second-hand steel pipes she'd bought from Yang Jin arrived, she could install the pipes, clip on the plastic film, fertilize, water, till, and plant vegetable seeds.

The micro-tiller stopped at the signpost of Territory Five. Xia Qing had Zhao Ze drive the micro-tiller, Qi Fu sat beside Zhao Ze, while she climbed onto the rear cargo bed carrying the bulldozer blade and excavator bucket, and using the height advantage, looked out over Territory Fourteen to the south of the road.

Yan Meng, who wanted to kill Xia Qing to avenge his sister, was inside Territory Fourteen. Qi Fu glanced back; Xia Qing's expression was as calm as ever, impossible to read her current mood.

The ones who can really kill you in one move aren't the loudmouths, but the stone-faced, expressionless tough ones. Anyone who'd survived to the tenth year of the Calamity knew that when you met someone like that, you had to stay far away.

Qi Fu felt that, at this moment, Xia Qing was brimming with killing intent.

Xia Qing was 1.77 meters tall; standing on the cargo bed that was over a meter high, she was already taller than the territory's wild-grass wall, and could see the situation inside Territory Fourteen.

Inside Territory Fourteen, wild grass and shrubs ran rampant. A winding path less than half a meter wide stretched from the signpost at the territory's south end all the way to two greenhouses at the very center. Beside the greenhouses was a house made from a battered shipping container.

Hearing the micro-tiller's noise, a tall, thin person in protective gear shuffled out of the shipping container, hunched over, and peered in this direction.

There was a thin mist at this hour; the corridor was over three hundred meters from the container house in Territory Fourteen, but Xia Qing still recognized who this person was at a glance.

Yan Meng.

The one who, last summer in the Evolution Forest, had goggled his eyes, clutched his own throat, and tried to kill her the way you'd crush an evolved insect.

At this distance, Yan Meng, a non-visual Evolver, shouldn't be able to recognize her. Even if he could, Xia Qing didn't care.

After confirming his identity and condition, Xia Qing turned her gaze to Territory Fifteen, east of Territory Fourteen.

Territory Fifteen had four shipping containers and a dozen or so neatly arranged greenhouses; the uncultivated areas had also been cleared very cleanly and orderly. This was what a territory with an owner should look like.

The road under the north signpost of Territory Fifteen had been cleared just last night, over four meters wide, running straight to an open area beside the greenhouses.

Yue Haiying and a man about 1.8 meters tall, around thirty years old, with scars covering the entire left half of his face and his left eye gone, walked out from the wild-grass wall. Yue Haiying greeted everyone and introduced him: "This is Yu Shou from our territory, a Level Four Strength Evolver."

Xia Qing reached out her hand. "Brother Yu, shall we stand on the cargo bed together?"

"Good." Yu Shou handed the shovel, pickaxe, machete, and other tools he was carrying to Xia Qing, gripped the side of the truck bed, and nimbly hopped up onto the cargo bed, standing beside Xia Qing.

Only then did Xia Qing notice that his left hand had only half a palm left. Fortunately, what he was missing was his ring finger and pinky, so it didn't affect daily life much—farm work would definitely be no problem.

The reason he was discharged was that he'd lost an eye.

Yue Haiying had said last night that before his discharge Yu Shou had been an engineering vehicle driver. After losing an eye, a person relying on one eye can't form an accurate stereoscopic image, and can no longer drive motor vehicles.

After the vehicle passed Territory Fifteen, it went through an intersection and an isolation strip, and officially entered Mountain Fifty.

"Brother Yu, the rear is yours."

After Xia Qing finished speaking, she leaped up onto the micro-tiller's rain cover, steadied her feet using the two fixing devices she'd welded on top of the rain cover the night before, and pointed the muzzle forward.

Seeing how Xia Qing handled the gun, Yu Shou immediately understood why she could become the leader of the few territories to the north.

It had little to do with the Level Five Visual Evolver Beard Feng of the Azure Dragon Squad. Mainly, it was because she was strong enough.