Chapter 625: Hail

During the Calamity Years, the climate was changeable and weather forecasts were not very accurate. But for killing rain and killing snow that swept across thousands of miles, the predictions were fairly reliable — if they said it would come this afternoon, it wouldn't drag on until the next morning.

After finishing lunch, Xia Qing took her fully armed Sheep Lao Da and Sick Wolf and left the house. The moment she felt the wind turning cold, she immediately sped up and rushed into the greenhouse. Checking the thermometer inside, she saw the temperature had already dropped from seventeen degrees to six, and her heart gave a sudden lurch.

"The temperature is dropping fast!" After posting the announcement on the Lord Channel, Xia Qing ran out of the greenhouse and began lowering the cold-proof straw curtains. Lowering the curtains now wasn't for insulation, but to guard against hail. "

"Surely it's not going to start with a bout of killing snow first?" Zhao Ze asked.

Xia Qing didn't hear anyone respond on the Lord Channel, but she did hear Zhao's mother in the neighboring territory loudly urging her son and the hired hands to hurry and lower the cold-proof straw curtains.

While lowering the curtains, Qi Fu asked, "Captain Tan, is hail in the forecast?"

Tan Junjie replied, "No related notice received. Please stay vigilant and stand under sturdy roofing wherever possible. Territory One, have you identified the cause of the rapid temperature drop?"

Large hailstones could not only punch through the rainproof cloth, but could also crack the protective masks people wore. Last year, Qi Fu had nearly died in a hailstorm.

Hu Zifeng answered, "Monitoring now."

Is hail terrifying when it comes crashing down? Terrifying. But the hail hadn't fallen yet, and not a single lord was going to run back indoors. Everyone was busy on their territory — some were sealing up the sheds, others were lowering the straw curtains.

Xia Qing rapidly cranked the handle to lower the curtains while keeping her eyes on the strange yellow clouds roiling in the northwestern sky.

The wind was blowing from the northwest now, and that massive killing-rain cloud was gathering right toward them! Xia Qing immediately called her companions over the walkie-talkie. "Lao Da, Lao Er, come out quick!"

Ten years of Calamity had forced humanity — once standing proudly atop Blue Star's food chain — to relearn nature's terror and begin to reclaim its reverence for the natural world. Sheep Lao Da and Sick Wolf, who had lived in the Evolution Forest their whole lives, had been battling the Calamity from the moment they were born, and they were even more sensitive to changes in the weather.

When the weather changed violently, animals instinctively sought out safe places to take shelter.

But upon hearing Xia Qing's call, the two animals waiting by the greenhouse wall immediately ran out and dashed toward her.

With one hand on the curtain crank and the other checking the fully enclosed protective masks of her two companions, Xia Qing spoke softly, pointing at the small hut beside the greenhouse. "Go into that little hut and wait for me there. Don't come out unless I call you."

If the hail was heavy enough, even with the cold-proof straw curtains added on top, the greenhouse could still be smashed through. The small hut beside it was cramped, but it had a roof over it and was safer than the greenhouse.

Once her two companions were inside the hut, Xia Qing finished lowering and securing the cold-proof straw curtains, then turned and ran to seal the ventilation openings on the three sheds — the Yellow-Lamp Wheat, the Yellow-Lamp Rapeseed, and the Green-Lamp Wheat.

If the wind picked up any further and the vents weren't sealed tight, the sheds would be flipped and carried off by the gale, smashing into the neighboring sheds. If the crops inside got hit by hailstones loaded with excess killing elements, everything would be finished.

Guan Tong and Chen Zheng, who weren't supposed to arrive until two in the afternoon, hurried over from Territory One to Territory Three to help Xia Qing seal the sheds.

Hu Zifeng's calm voice came through the walkie-talkie over the howling wind. "Attention all lords: a large area of cumulonimbus clouds carrying excess killing elements has appeared in the northwest and is climbing rapidly along the mountain slopes under the gale. The cloud layer is over six thousand meters thick, the temperature at the cloud's center has dropped to minus fifteen degrees, and hail has already begun falling on Mountain Fifty-Five. Please take precautions."

Xia Qing immediately relayed the message to the three people in the hidden valley, warning them to take precautions.

"Shit!" Tang Huai cursed as he worked on sealing the shed. "If the bastard heavens want to wipe out humanity, just do it clean with one snap — don't torture people with Calamity after Calamity!"

Tan Junjie reminded them calmly and sternly, "All lords and agents, please make sure your protective suits and masks are worn properly. Control your emotions to avoid losing control."

Tang Huai……

Hu Zifeng announced calmly, "Hail has already begun on Mountain Fifty-Two and is spreading southward."

South of Mountain Fifty-Two was Mountain Forty-Nine, and south of Mountain Forty-Nine was the human territory! Xia Qing sealed the last ventilation opening, then ran into the reception room beside the shed with Guan Tong and Chen Zheng.

"Guan Tong, Chen Zheng, shelter in here. No matter what happens, wait until the hail passes. I'm going to the greenhouse to check on Sheep Lao Da and the others."

After saying this, Xia Qing picked up the iron umbrella she had made last winter — over thirty jin — from the wall. She only opened it once she was outside the room, clipping the two fixing rings under the frame onto her shoulders, then pulling out a securing cord on the canopy and fastening it to her belt.

"Sister Qing, you've modified this umbrella?" Guan Tong's eyes lit up at the sight.

"Had nothing to do last winter, so I modified it a bit — frees up both hands to work." After saying this, Xia Qing bent her head against the wind and ran at top speed into the small hut beside the greenhouse. After checking in with Sheep Lao Da and Sick Wolf, she immediately entered the livestock greenhouse, quickly carrying the rabbit cages and chicken coops to the base of the greenhouse's north wall, then putting lids on the fish tank and the wooden trays of Green-Lamp Worms — making sure that even if the greenhouse was smashed open, the animals wouldn't be killed.

The snake enclosure? She'd already brought it home and set it under the eaves.

After moving the animals, Xia Qing went to the planting greenhouse to relocate the potted strawberries and mint when she heard Tang Huai's exclamation over the walkie-talkie. "The shed at Territory Eleven has been blown apart, and a huge piece of rainproof cloth got caught by the wind and is blowing toward Territory Twenty-Two."

Territory Eleven's lord, Zhao Huisheng, had already died, and the new lord hadn't been appointed yet — it was currently unoccupied. With a wind this strong blowing through, the sheds that had been damaged during the beast tide invasion that night were bound to be flipped by the gale.

Hopefully Territory Twenty-Two wouldn't suffer for it.

Hu Zifeng posted another announcement on the Lord Channel. "The hail has reached the northern foot of Mountain Forty-Nine. The largest stones are fist-sized. Please take precautions."

"Heaven protect us…" Overcome by despair and helplessness, Zhao Ze couldn't help but begin to pray. "Don't let the hail cross Mountain Forty-Nine."

The hail had already reached Mountain Forty-Nine, so Mountain Fifty had probably already started. Having finished relocating the potted plants, Xia Qing immediately opened her phone and checked the camera at the entrance of Xiong Dong.

The moment she opened it, she saw a fist-sized, dirty-yellow hailstone sweep past the lens and smash into the rock, turning into a puddle of dirty snow.

This thing was less a hailstone and more a balled-up clump of killing snow — the killing-element content wasn't low, but the destructive power wasn't great.

"Bang!"

Xia Qing had just breathed a sigh of relief when she watched helplessly as a hailstone slammed hard into the rock in front of Xiong Dong and shattered to pieces.

Damn!