Chapter 568: Did You Run Into a Skunk These Past Two Days?

Li Kai had ruptured internal organs and needed isolation and rest to avoid infection, but Old Kuang only had external injuries plus excessive blood loss—logically, after suturing the wound and applying Zhang San's special medicine, it should have healed quickly, so why would he still need isolation?

Could it be that he was infected with super-advance bacteria after being injured?

Zhang San explained, "When I examined him, I found his brain neuron activity was higher than normal, so I added some medication."

Xia Qing's worry turned to joy, "Third Brother, does this mean Brother Qing's brain domain has evolved?!"

A rare brain domain evolution ability!

Zhang San shook his head, "It could also be caused by excessive anxiety—we'll need to test further after the medication takes effect. Don't tell Hearing Zhu Li about this."

The idol's caution made sense—Xia Qing immediately nodded, "You really do think things through. It's better to wait until it's confirmed."

Xia Qing was led by Yan Long to the isolation observation room next to the operating room, and saw Kuang Qingwei and Li Kai both unconscious, on ventilators and hooked up to various instruments.

Although she knew this was the idol's territory, Xia Qing's heart still couldn't help tightening. Having learned about the underground experiments and seen Shi Jiaran's miserable state, Xia Qing—a four-system evolver—had an instinctive fear of such scenes.

When she saw another room, where Yuan Rui lay on a hospital bed with his right leg suspended, holding up a book to read, Xia Qing felt much better.

Yuan Rui heard the door, turned his head and saw Xia Qing had come, immediately put down his book and smiled, "Sister Qing, you're here."

Xia Qing sat on the stool by the bed and asked, "How do you feel?"

Yuan Rui was in good shape and still in the mood to joke, "I thought this time I'd be discharged and sent to Territory Fifteen to farm with Brother Yue and the others—I didn't expect I'd still have a chance to recover."

"As long as you do what Third Brother says, you'll definitely recover." A comminuted thigh fracture was much milder than the lumbar fracture of the waist-breaking wolf. After the waist-breaking wolf recovered, its leaping ability wasn't affected at all. Yuan Rui would definitely be even less of a problem.

"You're right, I'll definitely recover." The Yuan Rui who could recover thought again of his sacrificed comrades—sadness flashed across his face—and then he smiled and said, "Recovering here at Third Brother's place is really friendly for an olfactory evolver. Sister Qing, did you run into a skunk these past two days?"

Xia Qing……

No wonder Sister Yan kept staying far away from her—she hadn't even exchanged a word with her. She'd only said a couple of sentences to the plucked skunk, so how did she end up picking up the stench?

Those three corpses on the third peak of Mountain Fifty—could they have been killed by the skunk releasing toxic gas and stinking them to death?

When Xia Qing followed Yan Long from a distance as they left Territory Seven, she felt an inexplicable surge of emotion.

Yuan Rui said she smelled like skunk, and Yan Long also kept her distance—but Sheep Boss and Sick Wolf, with their keen sense of smell, hadn't shunned her. Once she got back, she'd make something good for her two companions!

After Xia Qing returned home, she immediately took the air toxin detector and held it close to the sleeve of her protective suit—and found that there really was a trace amount of Class C toxic gas—ethanethiol residue—on her suit.

Xia Qing took off her protective suit, took out the leftover deodorizing agent and incense from last time and used them, then smelled her sleeve—and sure enough, caught that familiar faint, nauseating stench.

Xia Qing lay back in the recliner by the fireplace, and suddenly understood a little why the plucked skunk, though a member of the wolf pack, hadn't been able to move into Mountain Sixty……

"Buzz—"

Xia Qing picked up the phone on the table and saw it was a call from Xin Yu. After answering, Xia Qing really wanted to ask Xin Yu first: the three corpses you had people bring back—were they smelly?

Seeing Xin Yu asked, "Xia Qing, I'll come to your place in an hour—is that convenient?"

"Sure, I'll wait for you at the south gate."

When the appointed time came, Xia Qing had Sheep Boss and Sick Wolf go stay in the greenhouse, and she waited in the small gatehouse by the south gate to greet her "good friend" Seeing Xin Yu.

The small gatehouse Xia Qing had built inside the south gate, imitating Seeing Xin Yu's, had never yet served its purpose as a "reception room." It wouldn't be used today either, because although Seeing Xin Yu was coming mainly to discuss the melee, she would certainly take the opportunity to visit the swallows living under Xia Qing's eaves.

Xia Qing listened carefully and confirmed that today no one in Territory Two was lying in the wild-grass walls spying on other territories' movements. After last night's beast tide, Territory Two had been unusually quiet—no matter how much Tang Huai cursed in the lord channel, Zhou Xun stayed completely silent.

This time, the 26 refugees from Territory Two had violated regulations by leaving the territory and invading other territories. Lord Tang Lu and the Sufeng Squad behind her could find excuses to wriggle out, but Zhou Xun, the acting proxy of Territory Two, could not—he had to bear responsibility for lax oversight. As for the punishment, they'd have to wait until the investigation was complete.

Seeing Xin Yu's car arrived right on time, pulling up beside the gatehouse and entering Territory Three. Seeing Xin Yu, wearing a brand-new protective suit, got out of the car. After going home with Xia Qing, Seeing Xin Yu indeed stopped under the eaves and looked up at the swallows.

Xia Qing pointed at the ladder leaning nearby, "You can go up and look."

The swallows' nest was covered by a "cold-proof shelter" Xia Qing had made from thermal cloth—nothing could be seen from below, only the occasional chirping of the baby swallows inside.

Seeing Xin Yu asked, "Will it scare them?"

"No." Xia Qing answered very firmly.

Seeing Xin Yu climbed the ladder and, through the opening of the rainproof cloth shelter, observed the swallows' nest and the few baby swallows crouching inside. After coming down, she asked, "They flew here from the north. When the migratory birds head north after the first killing rain, they might fly north. Will you seal up this opening then to stop them from migrating?"

Xia Qing shook her head, "No."

If she sealed it up she'd have to feed them water and food—Xia Qing didn't have that kind of time.

After Seeing Xin Yu followed Xia Qing inside, she took off her protective mask and hung it on the hook by the door, and immediately saw the family portrait of Xia Qing's family of three hanging on the living room wall. In the photo, Xia Qing wore her school uniform and held a big bouquet of flowers, standing between her parents—all three smiling extraordinarily brightly.

Xia Qing introduced it to her, "This was taken when I graduated from middle school."

After Xia Qing traded for a printer, she picked this photo from her phone album, printed it out, and hung it on the wall. She made the frame herself, cut the glass herself, and the paper for printing the family portrait was just ordinary A4 paper. Even so, Xia Qing already felt very happy.

Seeing Xin Yu nodded, "You look a lot like your mother. You're luckier than me—at least you finished the nine years of compulsory education."

The year the catastrophe struck, Seeing Xin Yu had only just started seventh grade.

"My mom says I look like my dad, my dad says I look like my mom." Xia Qing invited Seeing Xin Yu to sit in the chair by the fireplace, "Looking at that photo in the pocket watch, you smile a lot like your mom too. By the way, that time last summer when you accidentally entered my territory—was it because you were out looking for the pocket watch?"