Chapter 563: A Hatred and Enmity to the Death

After Xia Qing had walked far away, the plucked weasel trembled its whiskers vigorously a few times, as if greedily sniffing the scent of the chicken leg, then rushed over quickly, snatched up the chicken leg, and dragged it into a crevice in the rocks.

Xia Qing inspected the wire mesh around the entire valley, confirming that the weasel had not squeezed in through a gap between the wire mesh and the stone wall. Because she and Qi Fu had done the work very well, they had not left any gap at all that could let a weasel through.

Apart from the wire mesh, there were only two ways the weasel could have entered the valley: one was to burrow up from underground, the other was to first slip into Xiong Dong, then crawl through the passage into the valley.

She patrolled the entire valley, but did not find any hole dug by the weasel either.

Returning to the weasel's hiding place, Xia Qing got down to business with the little fellow, "Plucked one, I've got a kind of medicine here that kills parasites in the belly. Want some?"

Xia Qing took out one-sixth of a deworming tablet and placed it on a stone; when she returned from a patrol of the area, she found the weasel had not taken the tablet.

The medicine didn't smell good, so it was perfectly normal for the weasel not to like eating it. Xia Qing put the tablet away, said goodbye to the little fellow, and left the valley. After locking the door of Xiong Dong, she made another round, but still couldn't figure out how the weasel had gotten into Shi Dong.

This matter wasn't urgent; another day she would bring the sick wolf with the keen sense of smell, and they would surely be able to find the passage the weasel used to get in and out of the cave.

When Xia Qing returned to the Second Peak, the search team's collection work was also winding down. Everyone rode back to the territory and got a piece of good news: Tan Junjie had already sent Yuan Rui into Territory Seven.

The others were in high spirits, but Xia Qing, while relieved, began to worry about her idol.

Her idol had only fallen asleep at daybreak this morning, slept three or four hours, then dragged himself up again to perform surgery and set Yuan Rui's bones. That thin, weak body that looked like a little chick was probably being kept going on high-grade nutrient solution alone.

Xia Qing went home, caught a chicken, and together with ten red lantern dates, delivered them to Territory Seven and handed them to Ji Li, then went to Territory Six to visit Kuang Qingwei and his wife.

When she arrived at Territory Six, Xia Qing learned that Kuang Qingwei and Li Kai were still "under hospital observation" at Territory Seven.

"The nurses at Territory Seven said they'd lost too much blood and were showing signs of respiratory distress and organ failure. When I went, both of them were in a coma and on ventilators." Hearing Zhu Li, with her right arm in a sling, mentioned her husband's wretched state, tears began streaming down her face again. "If it weren't for protecting me, Old Kuang wouldn't have been slashed in the back by that bastard who deserves a thousand cuts."

Last night, Kuang Qingwei had been slashed in the back by a hired hand within the territory while protecting his wife. Those two hired hands weren't after their property—they wanted their lives. To protect her husband, Hearing Zhu Li had used both a shotgun and a machete, fighting desperately before she finally killed the two men.

After recounting last night's heart-pounding events, Hearing Zhu Li, who had personally killed two men, was much calmer and more confident. "Sister Qing, once my body's recovered, can I learn a few moves from you? Old Kuang won't bounce back for a while this time; for these two months, the territory will have to be held up by me alone."

"Sure. Use the medicine Third Brother gave you on time and at the right dose." Xia Qing pulled a bucket holding 20 liters of water out of her backpack and set it on the ground, then showed Hearing Zhu Li the words on her phone screen:

Territory Six's drinking water will be supplied by alliance members until you've recovered.

Hearing Zhu Li, tears still on her face, took out an old phone with a cracked screen and set it on the table, typing with one hand: Sister Qing, Old Kuang and I can't help with the seedling-raising anymore, we'll pay with points.

Xia Qing: We'll talk about that at the meeting. What are your plans for the territory?

Hearing Zhu Li spoke up, "You can never really know a person. Those two men who attacked Old Kuang and me had been running business with Old Kuang back in the Safe Zone—they were the hired hands we trusted most of all. Who would have thought that someone from Territory Two gave each of them a card worth five thousand points, and they'd go all out to take our lives."

"When they came to the cave to kill Old Kuang and me, not a single hired hand in the territory stepped forward to help us. I've already spoken with Captain Tan; once the truck transporting the intruders arrives today, I'll send every last one of them back to the Safe Zone. As long as they're in the territory, I won't dare close my eyes for a second. Only after they're all gone will my heart feel at ease."

"Sister Qing. I feel ashamed even saying this. I used to think you were a fool for not hiring anyone and doing all the work yourself. After what happened, I finally realized the real fools were my husband and me…"

Hearing Zhu Li cried for another spell before continuing, "I'll try to do the work in the territory myself. If I really can't manage, I'll hire people from Territories Five and Fifteen to lend a hand. We'll make do like this until the next Killing Rain, and then see how Old Kuang and I are doing physically before deciding."

Territory Six had 20 mu of overwintering wheat, half a mu of rapeseed, and two greenhouses planted. There was less work in the fields in winter, but when the Killing Rain came, relying on just Kuang Qingwei and Hearing Zhu Li alone, they definitely wouldn't be able to handle it.

Seeing that Hearing Zhu Li had already made arrangements, Xia Qing didn't linger. She took out a frozen pheasant and ten jin of snake meat, and typed for her to see: Wait until the people are gone before cooking it. Stay safe.

These foods were precious, and Hearing Zhu Li didn't dare reach out to take them. But her husband urgently needed nutritional supplements; Hearing Zhu Li took them with tears falling, her lips trembling, not knowing what to say to Xia Qing.

Trade using supplies from her own territory with Xia Qing? Everything she had, Xia Qing had too.

Give points? She couldn't come up with them right now; she could only owe her for now.

When Xia Qing left Territory Six, she heard unbearably vulgar crying, screaming, and cursing coming from the hired hands' dormitory. She greeted Yu Shou and Hu Ningsheng, who were guarding these people, and then went to Territory Fifteen.

Hearing that Xia Qing had come, Tan Qi came rushing out of the greenhouse like a gust of wind, asking with concern, "Sister Qing, is your ear any better?"

Tan Qi's chubby little face appearing before her made Xia Qing feel much more at ease. "Much better. How's your territory? Were the losses last night big?"

Tan Qi reported to Xia Qing in an orderly fashion, "Five uncles were injured, no one died. Also, the rainproof cloth on two big sheds and the earthen wall of one greenhouse were damaged by the intruders. We're repairing them now."

Suffering an incursion with no deaths was, in Tan Qi's view, already very good.

After Yue Haiying arrived, Tan Qi sensibly didn't stay to listen to the adults talk and ran off to work.

After bringing Xia Qing inside, Yue Haiying first thanked her, thanking her for finding Li Kai in time and sending him to Territory Seven. "External injuries are one thing, but he was struck hard by an iron hammer and his hepatic vein was torn. If you hadn't sent him over in time, and Third Brother hadn't personally performed the suturing surgery, he definitely wouldn't have seen today's sun."

Medical resources were scarce in years of natural disaster, and physicians were in critically short supply. With an injury as serious as Li Kai's, if Zhang San hadn't been around, and if the people of Territories Seven and Fifteen hadn't provided the large amount of blood needed for the surgery, Li Kai could never have survived.

At the last lords' meeting, when Xia Qing gave the pre-battle mobilization, she said: In the battles to defend the territory, no matter how serious the injury, as long as you can hold on for one last breath, Zhang San can pull you back from the gates of hell.

At the time, Yue Haiying had thought she was just trying to boost morale, but now he believed it.

Xia Qing kept her word!

Even more crucial was that Zhang San was actually willing to listen to Xia Qing, expending a large amount of scarce medical resources on two ordinary people and performing surgery all night long.

In Yue Haiying's view, this matter was absolutely incredible.

One had to know that even when important figures at the base were injured, to get Professor Fu Tianfeng, the top surgeon at Huicheng Base, to step in and save them, one still had to depend on the professor's mood.

After a polite exchange, Xia Qing got to the main purpose of her visit. "I heard from Tang Huai that the wolves and leopards from last night clashed with the people guarding the eastern territories. Does Brother Yue know about this?"

Yue Haiying nodded heavily. "Last night Old Tan and I watched the video surveillance together. Twenty wolves died, four leopards died, and casualties on the human side were over fifty. If the base hadn't finally deployed two attack aircraft at the end, the casualties would have been even worse."

Wolves are animals that hold grudges fiercely. In this battle, half of their companions were killed, and they have already forged a deadly feud with humanity—a hatred and enmity to the death.

Xia Qing's mood was also exceptionally heavy.

Yue Haiying asked, "The remaining wolves and leopards fled into the Evolution Forest. They definitely won't give up on revenge against humanity. Based on your understanding of wolf packs, do you think our base might be able to use the wolves you're friendly with to resolve the grudge between the base and last night's wolf pack?"