The rain made her feel restless before it even began to fall. Xiaqing didn’t need to test it to know; the Harmful Element content in this downpour would be off the charts.
To be safe, she put on the new Protective Mask she had recently acquired. While the mask couldn’t filter out the Harmful Element in the air, it could block over ninety-nine percent of toxic gases, preventing people from being poisoned by fumes released by creatures that suddenly evolved or went berserk during a Harmful Rain.
This was where one of the major advantages of a Safe Zone became apparent. Because Safe Zones were repeatedly and thoroughly cleared, there was no need to worry about large-scale attacks from toxic gases or Poisonous Insects during a Harmful Rain. Aside from the personnel on perimeter duty, no one else needed to wear a Protective Mask.
But if the Harmful Rain reached its highest level, another deadly danger would emerge within the Safe Zone: an excessive amount of Harmful Element would cause people with low resistance to lose emotional control. If a red-level Harmful Rain lasted for more than an hour, those with low resistance could get injured or even die from brawling and self-harm if they didn’t take Relaxing Capsules in time. Many others would use the Harmful Rain as a cover to feign madness, rampaging, smashing, and looting.
In the summer of the eighth year of the Natural Disaster, a sudden red-level Harmful Rain lasted for an hour and a half. At that time, Hui San Base, which still had a population of 2.2 million, saw over eight hundred people die from brawling and self-harm.
During that rain, Xiaqing had killed two men who tried to take advantage of her.
The memory made Xiaqing feel restless again. She took two deep breaths to steady herself, then collected some rainwater to test it. As she expected, the Harmful Element content of this rain had indeed reached the highest danger level: red.
’The base must be on high alert right now, with everyone fearing for their lives.’
Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry about anyone plotting against her within her own territory. She only needed to deal with attacks from suddenly Evolved Creatures.
Xiaqing went to check on Sheep Leader under her umbrella. She found it lying comfortably on a bed of dry hay; the Harmful Rain didn’t seem to be affecting it much. Sheep Leader’s Evolution Level was no lower than her own, so its resistance to the Harmful Rain was surely strong. Otherwise, it never would have survived this long in the treacherous Evolution Forest.
Reassured, Xiaqing returned to her building, shut the door tightly, and started working on a bamboo chair. Although she was a High Level Evolver with strong resistance and wouldn’t lose control due to the Harmful Rain, finding something to do helped ease her mind.
Time ticked by. An hour and a half later, Xiaqing’s chair was still unfinished, and the sky had turned completely dark. A Harmful Rain lasting this long must have turned the Safe Zone into a living Purgatory.
Xiaqing tossed a ruined chair leg into the fire. She remembered the person who had sent her a text message and pulled out her phone, but there were no new messages. So, she took out her night-vision goggles to inspect the courtyard.
In her meticulously cleaned courtyard, a dense layer of grass shoots had sprouted! Plants that grew explosively during a Harmful Rain always had excessive Harmful Element levels and could even evolve unexpected and dangerous traits. ’In three days, who knows what a mess this courtyard will become.’
Xiaqing cursed, put on her Protective Suit and mask, and went to check on Sheep Leader.
The moment she pushed the door open, she heard Sheep Leader from the pen, breathing heavily and pawing at the ground.
’Is it about to lose control?’
Xiaqing immediately turned back, went inside to grab a blister pack of Relaxing Capsules, and came out again to find Sheep Leader standing in the rain. Its normally narrow eyes were wide and round, its square pupils glowing faintly red in the firelight.
Xiaqing tried to soothe it in her calmest voice, "Easy there, Leader. Don’t get agitated. It’s time to take your medicine..."
"MOO!"
Before Xiaqing could finish, Sheep Leader let out a loud cry and charged. A headbutt from it could definitely punch a hole in the building. Xiaqing couldn’t dodge; she braced herself and rushed forward to meet it.
"BANG!"
The woman and the goat collided, sending mud and water flying. Xiaqing seized the opportunity to wrap her arms around Sheep Leader’s neck, trying to trip it. But the out-of-control goat was more than twice as strong as usual. It flung her off, sending her crashing onto the newly sprouted grass.
Seeing Sheep Leader charge again, Xiaqing rolled away to dodge, only to realize it wasn’t coming for her. It smashed through the newly built courtyard wall and ran outside, crashing into things randomly with loud bangs.
’If it keeps this up, even if it doesn’t get hurt, every wall in the village will be knocked down.’
Xiaqing went back inside for a thick rope, rushed out, and trussed up the wall-banging Sheep Leader like a pretzel. Then, as it struggled and howled with its mouth wide open, she shoved a Relaxing Capsule inside and poured half a flask of spring water down its throat.
Relaxing Capsules were a special medication for alleviating emotional breakdowns caused by the Harmful Element. They acted like a powerful nerve sedative. After taking one, the user would quickly become drowsy and weak, which alleviated depression and anxiety, thus reducing the potential for harm. However, improper use or overdose could lead to various adverse reactions, poisoning, and addiction. If it wasn’t absolutely necessary, Xiaqing wouldn’t have wanted to give one to Sheep Leader.
Five minutes later, Sheep Leader went limp and collapsed onto the muddy ground, motionless. Xiaqing carried it back under the eaves of her building. As she untied the rope, she muttered, "I have no idea how you survived all those Harmful Rains before you met me. The houses and walls on Chunshu Hillside are all wrecked... you didn’t do all that when you lost control, did you?"
Sheep Leader’s eyes were closed, and it showed no reaction.
Xiaqing felt its bones all over to make sure none were broken. Only then did she relax. She first took a bucket of purified water to rinse the mud off her Protective Suit, then she started boiling a large pot of water.
Sheep Leader, whose fur was already so dirty its color was hard to see, was now completely caked in mud. Xiaqing decided to take advantage of its immobility to give it a bath.
What Xiaqing didn’t notice was that Sheep Leader, lying on the ground, had already opened its eyes slightly, its gaze following her movements.
After filling a large aluminum basin with water and adding disinfectant and insecticide, Xiaqing carried the limp Sheep Leader into the bathroom and gently placed it in the basin.
The moment it touched the water, Sheep Leader’s eyes snapped open. It tried to cry out, but no sound came. Its limbs twitched faintly, a pitiful sight.
Seeing its eyes were bright, Xiaqing felt much more at ease. She let its head rest on the edge of the basin and began to wash the goat. "Relax. I’m not cooking you. I’m just washing off the Harmful Rain and killing some parasites while I’m at it."
Perhaps sensing Xiaqing’s kindness, or perhaps because the bath felt good, Sheep Leader’s wide-open eyes slowly returned to their normal shape before gently closing.
Sheep Leader wasn’t just dirty. Xiaqing picked eight soft-bodied Evolutionary Ticks and two other types of common animal parasites off its body. The Evolutionary Ticks didn’t just suck blood; the neurotoxin they secreted could paralyze the host’s muscles, eventually leading to death by respiratory failure. It seemed these ticks had been on Sheep Leader for some time, which had weakened it to the point that it couldn’t even withstand the Harmful Rain.
It was a good thing Sheep Leader had caused such a scene today; otherwise, Xiaqing would never have discovered these parasites on it.
It took four large pots of hot water before Xiaqing finally had Sheep Leader completely clean. She brought it back to the living room to dry its fur. "I found this bath towel at the little store. I haven’t even used it myself. You’re lucky."
The large towel could only get the goat half-dry. Xiaqing gave it a deworming pill, tossed two more logs on the fire, and let it dry slowly by the hearth.
After all the commotion, it was already eight in the evening. The rain outside had stopped at some point. Xiaqing put on her protective gear, took her night-vision goggles, and did a patrol around the house. After confirming there were no major threats lurking nearby, she got out a pot to make dinner.
She made a fragrant pot of Perilla dough drop soup with white flour and Perilla. The steaming hot soup dispelled the cold and dampness. Xiaqing sat by the fire, stroking Sheep Leader’s soft and springy fur, so happy she could cry.