Chapter 626: Freezing Rain

Soon, one hailstone after another slammed at the entrance of Xiong Dong, covering the ground in a dirty yellow. Xia Qing immediately dialed Yue Haiying's number. "Brother Yue, how's it looking on your side? I'm seeing hail now."

Yue Haiying, who was patrolling inside the valley, replied, "The wind is strong right now, and the hail is coming in at an angle, so it isn't hitting the iron mesh covering the crack directly. No problems for the moment."

It's not hitting the iron mesh — it's hitting the rock walls on either side of the mountain crack, which absorbs the impact of the hail. It won't threaten the mesh.

"We're lucky this time." Xia Qing instructed, "Brother Yue, stay on guard. If anything dangerous comes up, notify me right away. Save the people first, the seedlings second."

Seedlings can be raised again, but people absolutely cannot have problems.

"Understood."

The wait for the disaster to arrive was especially grueling. Xia Qing squeezed together with her two companions, doing her best to stay calm and steady.

The wind died down a little — good news.

Ten minutes later, Kuang Qingwei exclaimed over the lord channel, "It's coming down as ice chips now!"

Freezing rain?

Xia Qing stepped out of the cabin, caught some of the ice chips with her Devouring element detector, and breathed a sigh of relief after checking them. She pressed the talk button on the walkie-talkie on her shoulder. "Yellow-grade freezing rain, and the wind has died down too. The hail shouldn't reach our side."

Hu Zifeng answered, "Should be fine. Xia Qing, do you need more hands over there?"

"Don't need them for now. Thanks, Brother Feng."

Tang Huai, who had just finished a huge rush of work and then anxiously waited for the hail, finally getting some good news but not yet having time to feel happy, was force-fed a mouthful of dog food by Hu Zifeng and Xia Qing, leaving him feeling sick and blocked up.

When you feel bad, you have to vent it — make others feel even worse!

But before Tang Huai could press the button, Zhang Shiyi's joyful voice rang out over the lord channel: "Our plot has Wang Dashan shielding it on the east, west, and north sides. Any clouds blowing in from those three directions can't form a major disaster here. This is a treasure spot!"

Tang Huai snorted. "If these mountains hadn't blocked the clouds, the hail wouldn't have formed in the first place, got it? Treasure spot, my ass!"

Without the mountains blocking the clouds, the gale would probably have already flipped the greenhouses over — but everyone was too lazy to argue with Tang Huai.

Wen Nengjie spoke up. "Brother Huai makes a good point. Brother Qi, do we need to light a fire in the greenhouse? Mine has already dropped to zero degrees."

Qi Fu wasn't sure either. "Captain Hu, how long will this ice-chip shower last?"

Hu Zifeng consulted the weather staff and gave an answer: "About half an hour."

After getting the answer, Qi Fu replied to Wen Nengjie, "Let's see after half an hour. If the temperature drops below minus five, we'll need to keep them warm."

Wen Nengjie acknowledged, feeling deeply relieved. "Lucky we handed the rice seeds Liehuo compensated us over to the territory management department for seedling raising. Otherwise, after this freezing rain, the seedlings would be dead or damaged for sure."

Yellow-grade freezing rain — sudden temperature drops plus a surge in Devouring element content — would definitely lower the quality of the evolved rice seedlings, which demand very strict temperature and humidity, and send the Devouring-evolution rate climbing.

"Rice seedlings at the seedling stage just can't take this kind of abuse." Kuang Qingwei added worriedly, then moved the topic along, reminding everyone, "Keep an eye on the rapeseed in the sheds. Watch out for aggressive Devouring evolution."

Aggressive Devouring evolution is the greatest threat plants pose to humans after absorbing excess Devouring element during Devouring rain. But now, that threat had been greatly reduced for Xia Qing, because she could use her magnetic-sense ability to detect plants in the fields about to undergo aggressive Devouring evolution and remove them in advance.

This ability was practically tailor-made for a farmer!

Using her magnetic-sense evolution ability, Xia Qing checked the three crop sheds and the planting greenhouse. After confirming there was no danger, she lifted the curtain and called to her companions, "Boss, Wolf Lao Er, it's fine — no more hail. Let's head to the greenhouse."

Once Sick Wolf entered the greenhouse, he went to check on his fish first. Sheep Boss, meanwhile, stared at the iron umbrella Xia Qing was carrying.

Xia Qing laughed. "Boss likes this? This one isn't great. When I have time, I'll make you one that covers your whole body."

Twenty minutes later, the ice chips turned to Devouring rain, and the temperature slowly rose. The ice layer covering the straw curtains on the greenhouse began to melt. Forty minutes later, the sound of rushing water came from outside, and the temperature began to climb.

At the same time, inside the dangerous zone of Mountain No. 50 — hidden from cameras and human eyes — beneath the soil covered by a thick layer of hail, large numbers of Devouring grass seeds were rapidly taking root.

Inside Territory No. 3, Xia Qing confirmed the hail crisis had completely passed. She stood up, about to go out and patrol, but was stopped by Sheep Boss.

Sheep Boss raised his head high, signaling Xia Qing to take off his protective mask — he wanted to eat.

Sheep Boss was wearing a Yi stone, so he really didn't need the protective mask as long as he stayed inside the greenhouse. After Xia Qing removed it, she asked Sick Wolf, "Wolf Lao Er, do you want yours taken off?"

Sick Wolf didn't walk toward Xia Qing, but instead headed toward the greenhouse exit. Xia Qing understood. "You want to go home and check on the weasel family? I'll take you back."

Although Sick Wolf was wearing a protective mask and a snake-skin protective suit, his tail was still exposed — getting it soaked would definitely be unpleasant.

Xia Qing slung Sick Wolf onto her back, opened the iron umbrella, and stepped out into the Devouring rain. Seeing this scene, Guan Tong in the reception room was full of envy.

Xia Qing pulled back the rainproof cloth covering the sheep shed and pushed open the door, only to see the plucked weasel's damp little head poking out from the haystack.

"Plucked, once you're back, don't go out again. It's dangerous outside." Xia Qing put Sick Wolf inside, then opened the lid of the snake box and reached in to feel for snakes.

The gloves Xia Qing wore were made from high-hardness evolved snake skin, so she wasn't afraid of being bitten. But she hadn't expected that this feel would bring out that bright-green little snake again!

Xia Qing, holding the iron umbrella, locked eyes with the little snake's bright-red eyes, her brow furrowing slightly. Something's off. This little snake is very off.

This "off" feeling was different from plants about to undergo dangerous Devouring evolution, and also different from that big Chinese toon tree. Out of caution, Xia Qing should have pinched this little snake to death on the spot, but she still put it back into the snake box.

No matter how capable a little snake is, it can't flip the sky. Xia Qing decided to keep raising it and see what was going on with this snake.

After feeling out another yellow lamp snake weighing over three jin from the snake box, Xia Qing sealed the lid tight, then opened the sheep shed door again, pinched the snake's head flat, and placed it in the food trough. "Plucked, little Bai Mao, this is your food for today. You ate what I provided, so don't forget to help me find herbs."

After Xia Qing closed the sheep shed door and walked away, little Bai Mao came down from the haystack. While burying his head in the food, the faint outline of a Yi stone necklace could still be seen hanging around his neck.

The yellow lamp wheat and rapeseed in the big shed were being watched over by Chen Zheng; the green lamp wheat was protected by the Yi stone — Xia Qing didn't need to worry. She headed straight for the greenhouse and saw Sheep Boss had already eaten his fill, lying in the greenhouse listening to the rain while chewing cud, looking quite pleased with himself.

Xia Qing smiled, left the greenhouse, and headed for the West Buffer Forest.

The Devouring rain period was the perfect time to train and get familiar with her magnetic-sense ability. Xia Qing, wearing protective gear and holding the iron umbrella overhead, stood beneath the West Buffer Forest, quietly sensing the changes in the plants under the Devouring rain.

The temperature had already risen. The Devouring grass seeds were sprouting and growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, but Xia Qing couldn't sense their magnetic fields.

Because their magnetic fields were too weak.

Xia Qing moved from the West Buffer Forest to the North Buffer Forest. She casually slashed with her blade at some unknown thing that had leapt out of the reservoir to attack her, then her gaze fell on a clump of shrubs in the North Buffer Forest.

Although it hadn't started yet, the magnetic field of this clump of small Jue grass was changing rapidly, giving Xia Qing an uncomfortable feeling.