Chapter 830: Think of Li Si When You're About to Do Something Stupid

"Yes."

Xia Qing immediately pulled off her glove and rolled up the sleeve of her protective suit, exposing an arm several shades paler than her face, and let her idol draw a vial of blood. Although she knew the Fire Phoenix probably wouldn't poison her, having her idol run a check would put her mind at ease.

Her idol probably meant the same thing; otherwise, once the Fire Phoenix left, he would have called her over for a check.

Zhang San took the blood sample into the lab, came out a dozen or so minutes later, and set the test report on the table. "No poisoning. Yi element went up 0.1 points. Not bad."

"Thanks, Third Brother."

Xia Qing quickly scanned the long page of test data her idol had tossed on the table and found the two figures: "Yi element content 6.6?, Qiang element 12‰."

Compared to last autumn, the Yi element in her blood had risen by 0.1 points, and the Qiang element content hadn't changed. Although this number was still a long way from the normal level of an advanced Evolver—say, the Head Wolf's—she was already very satisfied.

After the battle with the Fierce Fire Hunting Team last year, Xia Qing had, in order to save herself and the wolves, recklessly taken a Yi element stimulant while poisoned. When she was sent to Territory Seven, the Qiang element content in her body had reached 28‰, and her Yi element content had dropped to a startling 0.5?, putting her on the brink of losing control.

If it weren't for her idol's Qiang-Reducing Agent working with immediate effect, and her own ample stockpile of green-light food, she couldn't possibly have recovered to her current level within half a year.

After her idol fed her test report into the shredder, Xia Qing began to give a detailed account of her meeting with the Fire Phoenix.

After hearing her out, Zhang San asked, "The eggs and bugs were taken from your territory?"

Of course not—how could she possibly be that stupid. "When I learned Deng Yufeng was coming, I gave Hu Zifeng a heads-up in advance. The bugs are from Territory One; the eggs were traded with you."

After hearing her out, Zhang San's expression could almost be called genial. "Your performance this time was passable. In the future, you can be a bit more assertive. When dealing with Deng Yufeng, you need to keep all twelve wits about you. When you can't help wanting to do something stupid, think of Li Si. Oh, right—give the wolf pack another nudge. Hurry up and find that purple herb I asked you to find. Someone needs it; they can't hold on for another week."

"Yes." Although Xia Qing couldn't match her idol in research, after eleven years of hard knocks during the Calamity years, when it came to reading people and avoiding danger, she was definitely stronger than her idol.

With her idol backing her now, she could indeed afford to act a bit more assertive in front of the Fire Phoenix. But aside from giving the Fire Phoenix a bit of grief and making her idol look better, acting assertive brought her no benefit at all.

Her idol's strength was her idol's strength; the wolf pack's fierceness was the wolf pack's fierceness. She was just an ordinary lord who wanted to survive by farming. Right now, she simply didn't have the strength or the need to act tough in front of the Fire Phoenix.

Still, a die-hard fan never brushes off her idol. After leaving Territory Three, Xia Qing immediately shouldered the Broken-Waist Wolf's notebook and set off with Wolf Lao Er.

Her idol said that, based on the growth-environment requirements, the evolved forest in northern Hui Three should have this herb. Xia Qing and Wolf Lao Er searched all the way to the third peak of Mountain Fifty without finding a single plant.

That was perfectly normal. This kind of medicinal herb must grow in nooks and crannies that were very hard for humans to find; that was why it was so scarce.

When the human and the wolf reached the big tree with the herb picture taped to it, when it came to finding herbs, a weasel was more reliable than an evolved wolf. Xia Qing pulled out a wooden bowl and the notebook and began to call for backup.

"Little Bai Mao, you there?"

"Plucker, you there?"

"Little Bai Mao…"

……

A little over a minute later, Little Bai Mao reluctantly poked a snow-white little head with a black mustache out of the burrow. Spotting Wolf Lao Er as well, Little Bai Mao came out of the burrow, and the two sniffed each other in greeting.

Xia Qing immediately opened the notebook and warmly greeted this brain-domain-evolved weasel. "Little Bai Mao, long time no see! Has Plucker taken the kids out hunting again? Thanks for staying here to guard the valley for me. Look what I brought you!"

Saying that, Xia Qing pulled an egg out of a box lined with soft cotton. "Look!"

Little Bai Mao, who loved eggs, immediately shuffled a few steps from Wolf Lao Er's side toward Xia Qing.

Xia Qing held the notebook up in front of Little Bai Mao. "It's this herb, Little Bai Mao. Take a good look—where does it grow? If you find this herb, I can give you three eggs!"

Little Bai Mao ignored the screen and just stared at the egg in Xia Qing's hand.

Reluctant to part with the eggs, she couldn't trade for the herb.

Xia Qing cracked an egg into the wooden bowl and gestured as she communicated with this clever weasel. "This egg is the deposit I'm paying. You have to help me find this herb."

After Xia Qing set the wooden bowl on the ground, Little Bai Mao took one bite, then began dragging the bowl toward the burrow entrance. Finding the bowl was bigger than the opening and couldn't be dragged in, it let out a few low calls.

A faint rustle came from inside the burrow, and a white kit appeared at the entrance. This was the only albino kit among the five Little Bai Mao had given birth to this spring. Xia Qing squatted quietly in place and watched.

The little one warily stared at Xia Qing and Wolf Lao Er. Only after its mother's urging and encouragement did it poke its head out and gulp down the egg. After the little one had drunk its fill and retreated inside, Little Bai Mao licked the bowl clean, then fixed its shiny black eyes on Xia Qing again.

It wasn't full yet. It wanted more.

Having already paid the deposit, Xia Qing pulled out two more eggs and bargained with Little Bai Mao. "As long as you bring me this herb, I can give you two more eggs."

Little Bai Mao realized Xia Qing wouldn't crack the eggs into the bowl. It glanced a few times at the herb video playing on a loop on the notebook, then turned and went into the burrow.

Xia Qing aimed the notebook screen at the weasel's burrow entrance and played it for half an hour, making sure Little Bai Mao understood before closing it and preparing to head home.

After walking downhill for a stretch, Xia Qing ran into Plucker the weasel returning from a hunt with two light-brown kits. Spotting Xia Qing and the evolved wolf, the timid Plucker dropped the squirrel it was carrying in front of them.

Wolf Lao Er didn't stand on ceremony at all—in two bites the squirrel was gone, not leaving Plucker so much as a single hair.

Xia Qing pulled out a small packet of freeze-dried meat, tore it open, and poured it onto a rock. "Plucker, thanks for the squirrel. This dried meat is for you and your kits."

Xia Qing didn't mention the herb, and just left with Wolf Lao Er. Although this weasel had powerful attack ability, its brain wasn't as clever as Little Bai Mao's; even if she told it, it might not understand.

Little Bai Mao had a C-section in early February, and five of the eight kits in her belly survived. A month later, she and Plucker left Territory Three with the five kits and came to Mountain Fifty. It was now late May; there was one albino kit in the burrow, and Plucker the weasel was out with two light-brown kits.

The other light-brown kit and the white-bellied kit had probably already died.

If not from disease, then—like the squirrel the weasel had carried back—they had become prey for other animals.

Humans had tall walls to protect them. All kinds of animals lived out in the open, vast evolved forest, where the struggle for survival was even more brutal. The animals that could grow up in such an environment and successfully claim a rich territory of their own were the strong ones among their kind.