Chapter 812: The Weasel and the Red Fox

This place was one of the weasel family's exits — the spot where, back in early February this year, the plucked-hair weasel had run to Territory Three and brought Xia Qing and Wolf Lao Er to pick up the difficult-birth Little Bai Mao.

"Plucked-hair, Little Bai Mao, are you there?"

"Plucked-hair, Little Bai Mao, are you there?"

"……"

Xia Qing chanted like a Tang monk reciting scripture for over two minutes before a rustling sound came from inside the cave. A round, fluffy white head with a black beard poked out, fixing Xia Qing with a pair of shiny black eyes.

"Little Bai Mao, long time no see, it's great that you're home." Xia Qing's face beamed with a smile as she set out a few pieces of freeze-dried food for Little Bai Mao. "These are an improved version of the freeze-dried food — the texture is better than before, and the freshness-locking effect has been upgraded too. Try them and see if you like them."

Little Bai Mao's whiskers trembled. It came out, ate the few pieces of freeze-dried food Xia Qing had brought, then looked up at her again, as if asking what Xia Qing needed.

Xia Qing did indeed have business. She cheerfully took out a herb illustration and showed it to Little Bai Mao. "Little Bai Mao, have you seen this kind of herb? Can you gather it?"

Little Bai Mao sniffed the printed paper, realized it wasn't food, and looked at Xia Qing again.

Can't read the illustration? Easy fix!

Xia Qing pulled out her phone, opened a video of the herb, played it for it several times, then gestured as she explained, "I want this kind of herb. You can bring it to me and trade it for this kind of freeze-dried food."

Little Bai Mao seemed to understand. It turned around and burrowed back into the cave, and after a while came out carrying a dirty piece of freeze-dried food in its mouth, which it placed in front of Xia Qing.

No need to ask — this freeze-dried food was something Xia Qing had given them before, and they had stored it back in the cave. What did Little Bai Mao mean by bringing it out? Was it saying it didn't need freeze-dried food, so there was no need to trade?

After a brief stare-down with this little brain-evolved weasel, Xia Qing began pulling out other trade goods. "Want some grilled jerky?"

"How about dried bamboo shoots?"

"Dried pumpkin?"

"Grilled jerky?"

"……"

"Gold chain, do you like it? Look, it's all sparkly when you wear it. Queen my lord and Broken-Waist's favorite is gold chains."

"Want a little mirror?"

"……"

After confirming that none of the supplies she had on her could attract Little Bai Mao, Xia Qing sighed. This was a wolf with no needs — it couldn't be counted as a trading partner.

"Alright, Little Bai Mao, I'm leaving. If you need anything, come find me at Territory Three — Territory Three, over there." Xia Qing gestured for a while, and was just about to sling her pack and leave when she heard a sound not far away.

Turning her head, Xia Qing saw the plucked-hair weasel returning with prey in its mouth, followed by two light-brown weasel pups, each also carrying prey. The plucked-hair weasel carried a big rat, while the two pups carried small rats.

Seeing the two little ones bristle with fear, Xia Qing was afraid they might release their toxic gas, so she quickly stepped back to show she had no aggressive intent, and greeted them in a soft, gentle voice, "Plucked-hair, off to teach the pups how to hunt? Your pups are really strong — only three months old and already catching prey."

Hearing Xia Qing's voice, the two bristling little weasels visibly relaxed. They had lived for a month in the sheep shed at Territory Three, and were very familiar with Xia Qing's voice.

The plucked-hair weasel tottered over carrying the big rat, first sniffing noses with Little Bai Mao, then sniffing the jerky, freeze-dried food, and bamboo shoot strips on the ground. After a moment's hesitation, it actually brought the rat it had caught and placed it in front of Xia Qing, then ate the food Xia Qing had left at the cave entrance.

Xia Qing……

I'm not trading my food for your prey……

Watching helplessly as the plucked-hair weasel finished eating everything, Xia Qing picked up the rat and stuffed it into a packaging bag. This was something she had traded grilled meat and freeze-dried food for — it couldn't be wasted. She'd take it back to feed the snakes!

"Thanks, Plucked-hair, for the prey. You're a very particular wolf — thank you for guarding the valley for me. If you need anything, you can come find me at Territory Three."

A small pack of freeze-dried food, a small pack of freeze-dried food, and a small piece of grilled jerky — all traded for just one dead rat. By first glance, this deal was a failure, but Xia Qing still hadn't given up.

She pinned the herb illustration she had brought to the big tree at the weasel family's doorstep, then said to the empty cave entrance, "Plucked-hair, Little Bai Mao, if you see this kind of herb when you go out hunting, remember to dig it up for me. I really need this herb."

This was a herb her idol had sent her only yesterday, asking her to have the wolf pack search for it as soon as possible. Each plant was worth 20,000 points. Posting one here with no telling when it might be found, Xia Qing decided that once she reached Mountain Fifty-Two, she'd contact Broken-Waist Wolf, who had very refined taste in life.

After going down the mountain and meeting up with Xin Yu, the two of them trekked on foot toward Mountain Fifty-Two. To improve her combat ability, Xin Yu hadn't brought her trained bird today.

The post-rain Evolution Forest had a very high danger rating. Unless they had a mission that had to be carried out during this period, ordinary squads wouldn't enter the mountain now.

But for the bamboo-shoot-digging team made up of Xin Yu, who could sense changes in animal magnetic fields, and Xia Qing, who could sense changes in plant magnetic fields, this place was only slightly damper underfoot than usual, with slightly lusher vegetation.

Danger lay entirely within their perception.

The path that alliance members had cleared two months ago when they teamed up to dig bamboo shoots had already been swallowed up by growing shrubs, vines, and wild grass. The road to the bamboo forest had to be re-cut.

One in front, one behind, the two took turns using their black blades to hack a path. Two hours later, when they were only a little over fifty meters from the bamboo forest, Xin Yu, who was leading the way, stopped and warned in a low voice, "Two evolved animals inside the bamboo forest ahead — one is right behind that diamond-shaped big rock at the edge of the forest. They've already spotted us and are putting out strong hostility. Based on the magnetic field, I judge them to be high-level evolvers."

Xia Qing stared at that rock for a while, then spotted the other party. "Red foxes. They must be here catching bamboo rats with their pups. The reason they're hostile toward us is probably because they think we've come to catch the little foxes."

Foxes weren't very large, and unlike wolves they didn't move in packs — when they met humans they generally ran. The fact that these two foxes weren't running meant their pups were here, and couldn't move away quickly, so they had no choice but to fight.

Xin Yu asked, "Red foxes are on the no-provoke list too, right? What do we do now? Retreat?"

Although foxes weren't strictly large aggressive beasts, the state had still placed them on the no-provoke animal list. Every non-large aggressive beast that made it onto that list had a reason.

Red foxes were on the list because in the fourth year of the catastrophe, a small base in Baicheng with over five hundred people had hunted foxes in large numbers to get their pelts, which led two brain-evolved red foxes to join forces with an evolved tiger and launch a beast tide during a blizzard, causing more than half the base's personnel to be killed or injured.

"Fall back first. Once they've left, we'll go in and look for bamboo shoots." Xia Qing gripped her black blade and, back-to-back with Xin Yu, retreated over a hundred meters.

After the two had retreated over a hundred meters, Xin Yu could no longer pick up the magnetic field of the evolved red foxes with her magnetic sense. The two climbed onto a big rock and rested on the spot for over ten minutes, after which Xin Yu asked, "Shall we go over and take another look?"

In fact, Xia Qing had already used her hearing to detect that the foxes in the bamboo forest hadn't withdrawn, but she hadn't told Xin Yu that she possessed hearing ability, so she advanced again together with her.

After advancing a stretch and finding the foxes still there, Xin Yu was puzzled. "Could they have made this their core territory?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "Although there are bamboo rats and snakes here, it's too close to Mountain Forty-Nine. Logically, foxes wouldn't be raising pups here."

"What should we do now?"