Chapter 79: Doesn't It Hurt?

She evolved accelerated wound healing again?

The protective suit she traded from the Azure Dragon Squad was so effective that it blocked most of the damage, so her tendons and bones weren't injured?

Or was it because she only ate green-light food, so her body's recovery ability was enhanced?

Although she still couldn't figure out the reason for now, Xia Qing was very happy about no longer having to endure extreme pain. She put on her clothes and protective suit, and began the first must-do task of every day: patrolling the territory and clearing out bugs.

Under sunlight, the concentration of Qiang elements in the air dropped, and the probability of plants undergoing Qiang-ification decreased significantly.

After one night passed, no crops in the territory had undergone Qiang-evolution again. Looking out toward the buffer forest, no large tree had suddenly shot up a section or bizarrely changed color or twisted. Everything was normal.

Ram Boss was grazing in its exclusive pasture, no longer limping. It seemed the first possibility could be ruled out—she hadn't evolved accelerated wound healing.

Because she was too tired last night to catch the weather forecast, Xia Qing wasn't sure if she could take down the rain cloth today. She turned on the walkie-talkie, wanting to ask about the weather.

The surrounding lords were all up too, currently exchanging information about the losses their territories had suffered in this Qiang rain.

Year Ten of the Calamity, the second Qiang rain lasted fifty hours with a precipitation of one hundred milliliters. The two red-level Qiang rains each lasted less than an hour, so they wouldn't cause significant casualties or property damage within the safe zone.

But the territories outside the safe zone suffered heavy losses.

Territory Four lost more than half its crops, three injured, two dead; Territory Five reported no crop losses, six personnel injured, one dead; Territory Six lost a quarter of its crops, five injured, three dead.

The other territories stayed silent, but they all had ability users in their territories, so casualties probably wouldn't exceed those of Territories Four, Five, and Six.

Territory Three's highest crop loss was yellow-light potatoes at forty percent, followed by newly transplanted sweet potato vines at twenty-five percent. One person and one sheep injured, no deaths.

Xia Qing cleared the snakes and bugs around Ram Boss's pasture, gave Ram Boss's head a good rough rub, and said in a voice so gentle you could squeeze water from it, "Boss, take your time eating. I'm heading home for a meal too."

Ram Boss, who was eating, naturally wouldn't pay attention to its little underling. Xia Qing pulled up Qiang grass as she walked toward the fish pond, when she heard Zhao Ze ask in a teary voice, "Blue Star really doesn't leave any way for ordinary people to survive. Xia Qing, how are things on your end?"

Xia Qing dumped half of the evolved insects she'd caught into the fish pond, watched the water surface boil, and answered, "Crop losses exceeded one-third, and I got injured too. I was too tired yesterday to listen to the weather forecast. Will there be more rain in the next few days?"

Anyone could tell that the personnel casualties each territory reported were definitely true, but the crop losses were definitely exaggerated. Xia Qing certainly wouldn't honestly report her own losses either, to avoid attracting jealousy.

"The weather forecast says the next five days will all be sunny." Zhao Ze's envy and jealousy spilled out, "A Level-4 ability user is really impressive. One person can guard so many farm fields and still keep two-thirds of the crops. Unlike us ordinary people, who fight tooth and nail and can't even hold on to half."

The last insect scraps were swallowed by the fish in the pond, and the water surface returned to calm, but Xia Qing's voice was cold enough to drop icicles, "Whether you can keep your grain and vegetables has nothing to do with being an ability user. I spent two months preparing to guard against the second Qiang rain. How long did you prepare? To protect my crops, I hired seven people to help me patrol and keep night watch. What about you?"

Hearing Xia Qing get angry, Zhao Ze didn't dare make a sound.

Qi Fu spoke in a hoarse voice, "Xia Qing's right. I also prepared for two months to keep most of the stuff in my fields. Zhao Ze, if you don't want to starve to death, and you don't want to give up your territory, then settle down and work hard. Blue Star has evolved, but land is the same as before—it doesn't lie. You get out what you put in. Third Brother, are you there? I want to trade green-light vegetables with you for wound medicine and antidote."

Zhang San's voice was still lazy, "What level are you trading?"

Qi Fu, Zhao Ze, and Kuang Qingwei immediately reported what green-light supplies they could offer and the condition of the wounded in their territories, and traded Zhang San for the appropriate medicines.

Tang Huai also begged Zhang San to trade him some medicine, but Zhang San ignored him and instead proactively asked Xia Qing, "Does Xia Qing need wound medicine?"

Xia Qing pressed the button, "The common medicines I traded for earlier haven't run out yet. Thanks, Third Brother."

Everyone...

Other lords had to beg Zhang San to trade for medicine; but with Xia Qing it was the opposite—Zhang San actively wanted to trade medicine to Xia Qing, and Xia Qing didn't even want it.

Several lords secretly resolved that they absolutely had to grow the green-light spinach seeds they'd traded from Xia Qing, then trade them to Zhang San for supplies!

Tang Huai, who was groaning in bed, pressed the button, "Xia Qing, you were whipped by an aggressive Qiang-ified potato vine, weren't you?"

Xia Qing answered, "Yes."

"How many lashes did you take, and what medicine did you use?"

Xia Qing had no spare time to count how many lash wounds were on her body, but she had to downplay the injuries, to prevent anyone from taking advantage of her being wounded and unable to protect her territory to come steal her grain. "A dozen or so lashes. I used painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine I brought out from the safe zone."

Pfft!

Tang Huai, who had been whipped three times, used special-effect painkillers and swelling medicine, and was groaning in bed, didn't believe Xia Qing used ordinary medicine. She must have used the special-effect medicine Beard Feng gave her!

Tang Huai suppressed his anger and asked, "What are you doing now?"

Xia Qing, who was testing the Qiang element content of the captured snakes, answered very crisply, "Patrolling the territory, clearing Qiang-ified plants."

Kuang Qingwei pressed the button in disbelief, "Xia Qing, don't you feel any pain? Or are the Qiang-ified potatoes in your territory weak in attack?"

A worker in his territory had been whipped to death by an evolved potato vine!

Xia Qing pressed the button, "The thick bamboo poles I used to build the shed were snapped by the potato vines, so they're not weak. Of course I feel pain, but I can still bear it. If the Qiang grass isn't cleared soon, it'll start seeding."

Normal-grade Qiang grass with no attack power grew rapidly during Qiang rain. After the Qiang rain ended and the sun came out, its growth slowed and it seeded. The seeds only needed a few days to mature, then fell into the soil waiting for the next Qiang rain, after which the plants slowly withered.

So the Qiang grass had to be cleared before its seeds matured. If not cleared, the density of Qiang grass would grow greater and greater, and the higher the density, the greater the chance of inducing aggressive Qiang evolution.

Xia Qing could bear it, but Qi Fu, whose arm had been snapped, couldn't, "Xia Qing, let me have my wife come over and look after you for a few days?"

Qi Fu's wife, Yuan Yan, lived in the territory with him. When Xia Qing was working in the safe zone, she'd seen Yuan Yan delivering meals to Qi Fu. Yuan Yan was about the same age as Qi Fu, with a few acid rain burn scars on her face, looking very fierce.

After the calamity, everyone armed themselves with their fiercest side. Xia Qing certainly wouldn't judge by appearances, but because she was used to hiding and keeping silent, she had never interacted with Yuan Yan.

Xia Qing was about to press the button to refuse, when she heard Zhang San speak up, "Xia Qing, I'll send dedicated medical personnel to look after you. Just give me a few spinach leaves."

Is spinach really that delicious? Or...

Xia Qing pressed the button, "Thanks for the concern, Third Brother and Brother Qi. I'll trouble you when I really can't hold on anymore."

Tang Huai questioned, "Fake, right? How can you bear taking a dozen lashes?!"

Before Xia Qing could answer, Beard Feng jumped in, "Xia Qing is an Evolver, of course her body's recovery ability is better than yours, an ordinary person."

Tang Huai, who was pretending to be an ordinary person, cursed at Beard Feng, "Have the potatoes in your territory sprouted yet? As a lord, you can't even grow potatoes, and you still have the nerve to talk about me!"