Chapter 687: Must Never Set Foot in Territory Fifteen

The green lantern bamboo shoots Xia Qing brought back—she decided to give two to Xin Yu.

There were bamboo groves within the bounds of Mountain Forty-Nine, so Luo Pei wasn't short on shoots, and Xia Qing didn't send her any.

Zhou Zhaoping drove over to collect Xia Qing's green lantern shoots and gave her a new-model hair dryer. This was the goods Xin Yu used to trade for the green lantern shoots, and Xia Qing happily accepted.

Although her short hair had no use for a hair dryer, Boss Sheep and the wolf pack had thick fur and would certainly find it useful when the weather turned cold. After Boss Sheep treated the power-generating bicycle as a toy to pedal, Xia Qing had never lacked electricity again.

After a hard day with a big haul, Xia Qing ate bamboo shoot-stewed snake meat tonight. The lords who went out digging shoots with Xia Qing—apart from the Tan family—every household ate shoots, and the lord channel was as lively as New Year.

However, Qi Fu and his wife from Territory Five weren't online; the two of them had already finished eating their shoots and were lying on the kang, snoring in their sleep.

Inside Territory Ten, Shi Mu and Shi Du sat at a humble dinner table; although they were so tired they could barely lift their arms, they smiled with utter delight.

Shi Zhong had also made bamboo shoot and snake soup, feeding it to his wife and son chopstickful by chopstickful. Shi Du ate the fragrant snake meat, his heart full of sweetness: "Subtracting the cost of two nutrient fluids, we earned one point this trip—enough for Dad's medicine for two years."

Because his father's health was poor, Shi Du had been following combat teams on missions to earn points since he was seventeen. In seven years, the most he had ever earned in one go was just over 700 points.

So many points—before going, Shi Du wouldn't even have dared to imagine it.

Shi Mu was excited too: "Lucky we moved to the territory. If we'd earned this much in the Safe Zone, the people who came to rob us tonight might have warped our doorframe out of shape."

Shi Zhong began planning how to use these points: "My medicine will last two more months. Xiao Du's protective mask needs a new one. We should trade with Third Brother for another batch of the best filter cartridges, and trade with Territory One for more bullets too."

Shi Mu nodded, pulling the muscles and skin on her shoulder, wincing in pain: "Right, we can't skimp on these. Lord Huo Lei of Territory Eleven traded Xia Qing a sharp machete suited for strength-type Evolvers today. Old Shi, when you go over to repair the farm tools, ask if we can trade for one too."

"Alright." Shi Zhong noted this down and began feeding his family soup: "When you two go to sleep, I'll use the green lantern shoots to trade with Third Brother for some medicine for body aches. Third Brother was in a good mood today and had them send two extra herbs for you two to soak in."

A medicinal herb bath, of course, had to use the warm spring water Shi Du had carried back from Mountain Fifty—but this was a top-secret of the Lord Alliance, not to be spoken of. The family of three exchanged knowing glances and all smiled.

Only, Shi Mu and Shi Du, aching all over, laughed on one side and winced in pain on the other.

Inside Territory Eleven, Huo Zhun, holding his bowl, couldn't figure it out: "Being able to dig so many shoots today was pure luck. The combat team people thought it was too far and didn't come. The Qinglong people were right next to the bamboo grove, yet they didn't go dig either. Something's a bit off about this."

Huo Lei, lying on a recliner, shot his son a look: "Why wouldn't they go? Qinglong just took over Sufeng's operation. The people left in the Safe Zone wish they could split themselves in two. How many people do you think they can spare for the territory and Mountain Forty-Nine? These people have to farm over a thousand mu of fields and guard the mountain too—where would they find the time to dig shoots?"

His old man's words made some sense, but Huo Zhun felt his father hadn't covered everything. Still, he didn't dare talk back and obediently fed his father meat: "You're right."

Huo Lei ate the fragrant snake meat, so comfortable he closed his eyes: "When are you retiring?"

How many times had this been discussed? Huo Zhun answered obediently: "Next September."

"Before then, you work hard with Third Brother at Territory Seven. I'll get you in line with Xia Qing first. Don't just stand there like a fool—hang around Xia Qing more when you've got nothing to do!" After lecturing for a while, Huo Lei's fiery temper flared up and he started cursing: "Almost thirty years old and you don't keep an eye on your own future—still need your old man to worry for you…"

Huo Zhun quickly stuffed a mouthful of meat into his dad's mouth to shut him up: "Don't worry, Dad. I'm already half a member of Sister Qing's combat team."

Huo Lei swallowed the meat, satisfied: "Calling her 'Sister' is right. Following her, you'll definitely have a future. Once you've made something of yourself, find a high-level Evolver who doesn't mind you being dumb, marry her, give me a granddaughter like Tan Qi to inherit my territory, and I'll be content."

Inside Territory Four, Zhao Ze ate the yellow lantern shoots he'd traded for, also daydreaming about how wonderful it would be to evolve an ability and go make money in the Evolution Forest with Xia Qing.

Zhao Mu doused him with a bucket of cold water: "Lazy as you are, even if you evolved you'd absolutely not be combat-type. What would Xia Qing bring you along for—hold her back? Stop muttering this useless stuff. Finish eating and go to bed early. Tomorrow morning take the people and give the alfalfa field a thorough watering, then pull the corn poppies out of the wheat field."

Zhao Ze…

Inside Territory Six, Kuang Qingwei hung up the phone and immediately went to claim credit with his wife: "Done! We earned half a point per jin on the yellow lantern shoots, and five points per jin on the green lantern shoots!"

Most of the shoots the gathering teams dug up were sold to Kuang Qingwei and his wife, who then marked them up by half a point per jin, sold some to the lords, and sold the rest to their old business partners. After flipping them inside and out… Zhu Li calculated the exact figure: "Hubby, we earned 1,087.5 points!"

Kuang Qingwei smiled so hard his eyes squeezed into slits: "The truck will come to haul goods tomorrow. Once we have the points, first pay back what we owe Brother Wu. For the rest, when Zhong Tao and the others come by again, you trade for what we need."

On the night of the beast tide, Territory Six was invaded and suffered heavy losses of life, property, and goods. The couple threw in everything they had and still couldn't pay off Zhang San's medical fees for saving them and Li Kai, so they had to borrow points to keep things turning over.

Thanks to their allies' good fortune today, they had made a killing, and the couple could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Too bad everyone sold too few green lantern shoots—otherwise we could've earned even more." Zhu Li closed the ledger: "Oh, why do you think Xia Qing held back a few hundred jin of yellow lantern shoots? Her territory definitely isn't short on green lantern vegetables either."

Kuang Qingwei smilingly picked up a chopstickful of cold-dressed yellow lantern shoots for his wife: "Definitely not for her to eat herself, but it must have some big use."

Zhu Li ate the shoots, curious again about Territory Fifteen: "You didn't see it—Tan Qi came back carrying dozens of jin of supplies. Her grandma didn't ask if the kid was tired, but asked first how many shoots she'd dug and whether any were green lantern. When Tan Qi heard her grandma's voice, the whole girl wilted. This child must have suffered plenty in the Safe Zone. But the little toughie didn't hold back a single shoot—sold them all!"

Kuang Qingwei sighed: "On one side her own mother, on the other her own daughter—Captain Tan is probably feeling terrible right now."

Inside the inspection team's dorm, Tan Junjie came in and saw his daughter lying on the bed, asleep without even taking her clothes off. He walked over quietly, took off her shoes and jacket, tucked the blanket around her, and tiptoed back out.

Tan Mu, clearing the dishes in the outer room, complained to her son: "Two thousand mu of territory given to outsiders to live in, and you father-and-son are squeezed into this tiny dorm room. What kind of sense does that make!"

Tan Junjie explained: "The buildings here are solid—safer than the territory. Once we're past the busy spring planting, I'll start building a house."

Tan Mu immediately got excited: "A single-story house or a small building? If you ask me, a small building is better—first floor for storage, second floor for living."

Tan Junjie gestured for his mother to keep her voice down: "First build a two-story small building, three rooms on each floor. Once it's built, you can move in too."

"Good, good! I'll call your brother in a bit and tell him to send Xiao He over as soon as possible. The vegetables here are much fresher than in the Safe Zone. Once Xiao He eats them, maybe it'll trigger an Evolved ability…" The more Tan Mu spoke, the more excited she got, and her voice rose again.

"Mom." Tan Junjie gestured again for his mother not to speak so loudly, his face darkening: "You can live here, but Tan Junchao and his family of three must never set foot in Territory Fifteen."

Tan Mu frowned: "Ajie, what did Qiqi tell you? She's a little kid listening to outsiders blabbering nonsense, coming home overthinking things. You're a grown man—how can you believe a child's…"

Tan Mu, made uneasy by her son's gaze, looked away and couldn't finish her sentence.