Chapter 403: Accidental Injury

In the whistling cold wind, Xia Qing strained her ears to listen. No one in Territory Two responded on the lord channel, and Tang Huai's screams inside the territory grew louder and louder.

"Click."

"Click."

The hazard investigation squad released their sidearms' safeties in succession, chambering rounds, ready to handle any sudden situation.

Cao Xianyun, the hearing-evolved who had leapt off the patrol vehicle at the first moment and run to the Territory Two signpost to listen, returned and reported, "Captain, it sounds like Tang Huai brought out a batch of weapons, but the people in the territory thought the distribution was unfair and started a scramble, which led to Tang Huai getting slashed."

"Just slashed?" Hu Zi didn't quite believe it. "He's screaming that badly—it sounds like he's lost control and gone berserk."

Cao Xianyun replied, "Not out of control. I heard Tang Huai cursing, his thoughts are perfectly clear."

A wolf and a sheep stood at the kitchen doorway, listening to Xia Qing continue her muttering.

Through the night-vision goggles, Xia Qing saw that the leaves on the sweet potato vines had lost their vitality from the cold, contracting. This phenomenon showed that although the evolved sweet potatoes' cold resistance had increased, they still couldn't grow in a natural environment approaching zero degrees.

So, losing mobility from "accidental injury" and sidestepping the trouble ahead was a pretty good plan. As for whether Tang Huai would die from this wound, Xia Qing wasn't worried at all.

To avoid disturbing the chickens' rest, Xia Qing didn't turn on the light. She led the sick wolf inside to check that the temperature and humidity were fine, then tiptoed back out.

The sick wolf wagged its tail once, turned around, picked up its food bowl in its mouth, and followed behind Xia Qing. Sheep Boss also picked up its bowl and followed.

The green-light beef jerky smelled so good that Xia Qing took a bite and squinted her eyes in bliss.

Xia Qing went home, soaked some dried Chinese toon buds, and took frozen meat from the fridge to cook pumpkin and meat porridge for the sick wolf. She herself ate scallion egg pancakes and fragrant beef jerky.

The sick wolf swallowed the beef jerky in one gulp without even tasting it, then continued gazing at Xia Qing with eager eyes.

Tucking the last bit of jerky into her mouth, Xia Qing spread her hands. "All gone. If Wolf Lao Er still wants some, go talk it over with Broken-Waist, pick a green-light wild boar from the Three-Zone valley and kill it, bring it back, and I'll roast it into jerky for you. How about it?"

Tan Junjie nodded and pressed the walkie-talkie to ask again, "Territory Two, Tang Heng, please report the situation."

Although she had no proof, Xia Qing felt Tang Huai's wound was probably taken on purpose.

Xia Qing took out her phone, recorded today's temperature and the sweet potatoes' changes in the "Complete Planting Guide," took photos to save the condition of the sweet potato vines, then told the sick wolf, "The sweet potato leaves have turned out like this—tomorrow's sunshine won't bring them back. We'll come over as soon as it's light tomorrow morning. You and Sheep Boss clear the vines, I'll dig up the sweet potatoes. When we're done I'll make you sweet potato and meat porridge—better than pumpkin porridge."

Xia Qing broke off a fingernail-sized piece of jerky, soaked it in warm water, and handed it to the sick wolf. "There's salt in this jerky, so you can't eat much—just a taste is fine."

"Besides the chickens in the greenhouse and the green-light chestnuts we won't harvest until next autumn, we don't have anything left that can tempt Third Brother. Wolf Lao Er, next time you see Queen or Broken-Waist, mention it to them—ask them to catch us a few quality green-light animals from the Evolution Forest. Live ones are best, dead ones are fine too…"

Xia Qing patted the sick wolf's back, which had put on a little flesh. "Let's go, third stop."

"Approved. Captain Tan, get in here fast and drag these beasts away, or I'll fight them to the death—damn a bunch of animals…" Tang Huai panted and cursed furiously. Probably from excessive blood loss, his voice had already grown weak and hoarse.

"Captain Tan, Dad, people in the territory fought over the weapons and slashed my brother's femoral artery—he urgently needs medical rescue." Against the backdrop of Tang Huai's screams, Tang Heng's plea sounded extremely urgent.

Right after that, Tang Zhengpo of Territory Twelve also asked anxiously on the lord channel, "Tang Huai, what happened?"

Tomorrow morning, two big things would happen in Territory Two: first, Tang Zhengsu and Xu Pin would enter the territory; second, the Territory Two refugees would go out hunting. Tang Huai lacked experience and was emotionally unstable—easily led by the nose—and couldn't handle such a complicated situation.

Sheep Boss, who ate grass, wasn't interested in the smell of jerky and buried its head in its food. The sick wolf, who had drunk just over half a bowl of meat porridge and eaten a boiled egg, was lured by the smell to the edge of Xia Qing's table, gazing at her with eager eyes.

The sick wolf wagged its tail and nuzzled Xia Qing's leg with its body.

Running quickly to the south end of the territory, Xia Qing stopped and strained her ears to listen.

First stop, the greenhouse.

Watching the investigation squad drive into Territory Two, Xia Qing turned and went home.

Although Territory Two had been blacklisted by Zhang San, Territory Twelve hadn't. Tang Zhengpo definitely had Zhang San's special medicine on hand. Tang Huai was an evolver with stronger resistance than ordinary people in the first place—as long as he wasn't slashed directly by a weapon carrying super evolution bacteria, he definitely wouldn't get infected.

After washing the dishes and finishing her indoor training, Xia Qing said goodnight to Sheep Boss, who was lying on the tatami, then went outside for weighted running training and to patrol the territory. The sick wolf, with its excellent night vision, naturally followed.

"I hope Third Brother's green-light cow gives birth to two calves next year—then we can trade for a green-light cow." Xia Qing rubbed the sick wolf's chin with the back of her hand to keep it from being too disappointed, then carried her own bowl and chopsticks toward the kitchen.

Tan Junjie immediately pressed the button. "Investigation squad requests entry to Territory Two—please have the Territory Two proxy approve."

Second stop, the planting greenhouse on the buffer forest.

The sick wolf sniffed Xia Qing's hand, disappointment practically spilling from its eyes. Clearly, compared to the valley wild boar, it preferred the taste of beef jerky.

That meant it wasn't stupid—Xia Qing liked it too.

Xia Qing set her own rice bowl in the sink, took the sick wolf's and Sheep Boss's bowls and set them beside it, and continued muttering, "If that cow only gives birth to one, we'll have to wait till the year after. Because someone has already used supplies that can tempt Third Brother to reserve next year's first calf."

"Tang Huai, quiet—take the people and withdraw to a safe spot first." Tang Zhengpo calmly instructed his son. "Tang Heng, Dr. Sun is on his way. You stop your brother's bleeding first."

It was now nine at night. Even in the howling cold wind, the chaos inside Territory Two was still audible. Though she couldn't make out what they were saying, Xia Qing could distinguish the voices of Tan Junjie, Tang Heng, and Zhou Xun. Tang Huai must have already been carried off for treatment by now.

Tan Junjie hadn't come out, which meant Tang Heng couldn't keep the refugees in the territory under control. Looking at the situation, the note Xia Qing had given Tan Junjie wouldn't reach the lord alliance's allies until tomorrow morning.

Besides the matter of the supplemental lights, that note also urged the allies to absolutely not leave their territories tomorrow. However, after hearing Tang Huai's cursing and Tang Heng's plea on the lord channel, apart from Territory Fifteen, the other ordinary lords definitely wouldn't leave their territories tomorrow.