On the newly acquired hillside were five abandoned farmhouses. The first time Xiaqing came up, she only did a quick search. Today, she was going to conduct a thorough sweep.
Collapsed stone walls and houses—all moved aside and carefully inspected.
Rusted farm tools with broken wooden handles? Keep them. ’If I fix them up and sharpen them, they might still be usable.’
Dented stainless steel basins? Keep them. ’I can hammer them back into shape to hold things. If they’re cracked? I’ll patch them up.’
Broken kitchenware? Keep it. ’Even if I can’t fix it, I can take it apart for spare parts.’
Fabric items that haven’t rotted yet? Keep them. ’After boiling and disinfecting them, I can use them to make mops.’
Evolutionary centipedes that crawl over to bite me? Keep them! ’Dried, they can be exchanged for points.’
Evolutionary fleshworms? Burn them!
...
After clearing out the five farmyards, the supplies she was taking back were piled higher than she was tall. Xiaqing felt a great sense of accomplishment.
What excited Xiaqing the most was her discovery of three patches of scallion seedlings in a vegetable bed buried under a collapsed stone wall. There were more than thirty in total, and it looked like even more might sprout!
’Scallions,’ she thought. ’Just as expected, they’re a vegetable every household would plant.’
Xiaqing finished cleaning and packing the supplies, then immediately washed her hands to test the Harmful Element content of the scallion seedlings. Two patches showed a Yellow Light and one showed a Red Light. This was more than enough to make her happy.
Xiaqing really wanted to take off her Protective Mask and taste a flavor she hadn’t experienced in so long.
But her reason won out. Xiaqing fenced off the two patches of seedlings to protect them, watered them with mountain spring water, and sprayed them with Insect Repellent.
She hoped that after a while, when the temperature rose again, other vegetables might grow on the High Slope and the terraces.
Xiaqing called over Sheep Leader, who was chewing his cud under the toon tree, gave him some rations, and had him carry two bags, each weighing over a hundred pounds.
"You’re the best, Leader. Without you, I’d never be able to carry all this stuff back." Xiaqing had discovered that Sheep Leader was not only gluttonous but also loved hearing flattery. To get him to work more, Xiaqing would praise him every day in a soft, gentle voice.
Gradually getting lost in Xiaqing’s praise, Sheep Leader gave her a haughty side-eye before shouldering the bags and starting back. His expression seemed to say that without him, this whole family would fall apart.
Suppressing a laugh, Xiaqing shouldered the largest bag herself. She carried the Asparagus Chrysanthemum and Perilla in one hand and gripped her machete in the other, following behind Sheep Leader, ready to strike down any Evolutionary Animals that might attack them.
As the two of them—one person, one sheep—crossed the buffer zone between her new and original territories, the Danger Investigation Team happened to be walking toward them from the buffer zone north of Land No. 4.
Sheep Leader immediately dropped the bags, moved to shield Xiaqing, and adopted an attack stance.
’Tan Junjie’s team...’
Xiaqing raised her machete and gave it a little wave as a greeting to the investigation team.
’At this distance,’ she thought, ’it would be too much effort to shout through my Protective Mask.’
The man leading the team, a Visual Evolution user named Su Ming, waved back enthusiastically. After reaching the boundary between Land No. 4 and Land No. 3, they didn’t enter the buffer zone between Xiaqing’s two territories. Instead, they turned to continue their patrol along the wire fence of the wild boar breeding center.
After "driving them off," Sheep Leader relaxed his attack stance and squinted at Xiaqing.
Xiaqing immediately started buttering him up in a soft voice, "You’re still the best, Leader. You knew to protect me and our territory when you saw people approaching. What would I ever do without you?"
Sheep Leader raised his head and glanced at the bags on the ground.
Xiaqing immediately put them back on his back and continued her praise, "You’re so amazing, Leader, you even remembered our supplies. It’s getting dark. Shall we go home and eat?"
Only after the person and sheep had entered the Buffer Forest did Cao Xianyun, the one with Auditory Evolution, speak up. "They’re far enough away."
Su Ming immediately exclaimed, "Sister Qing is incredible. She actually got a sheep to carry things for her."
"That’s not all," Hu Zi said. "She’s plowed thirty mu of land in her territory, all with that sheep pulling the plow."
Everyone...
They were full of admiration!
That sheep was more useful than their military dogs!
Tan Junjie, who usually didn’t participate in such trivial discussions, asked Cao Xianyun, "What does she call the sheep?"
"Leader. Sheep Leader," Cao Xianyun said with a mischievous grin. "I’d love to drag Brother Jin over here to hear this."
The members of the Green Dragon Team also called their captain "Leader" or "Yang."
In a surprisingly good mood, Tan Junjie replied, "Different spelling."
"Exactly," Cao Xianyun said, laughing even louder.
Su Ming looked back and asked, "Old Cao, what are you laughing at?"
"None of your business. Just lead the way."
"Hmph!" Su Ming scoffed, walked to the buffer zone north of the wire-mesh fence, and then turned east, entering the buffer zone north of Xiaqing’s new territory.
When Xiaqing got home, she eagerly connected her phone to the charger. The screen lit up, and her spirits soared. ’Finally, there’s power!’
Just as excited as she was were the Lords of Lands No. 4, 5, and 6, who had also installed solar panels and received walkie-talkies.
After listening to the base broadcast while her phone charged, Xiaqing turned on her fully charged walkie-talkie. She tuned the frequency to 439.500, the private channel for the Lords, and sure enough, she heard a rough voice calling out.
"Brothers and sisters of Lands Number 3, 4, 5, and 6, are you there? Are you there?"
"Here, I’m here."
With her keen hearing, Xiaqing identified the voice as Zhao Ze from Land No. 4.
The person who had asked was instantly delighted. "Oh man, it’s been over half a month! Besides the patrols in their camo gear, I’ve finally heard the voice of someone from outside my territory. I’m on Land Number 6, Kuang Qingwei. Which lands are you guys on?"
Zhao Ze replied, "Number 4, Zhao Ze."
"Number 5, Qi Fu."
Hearing this voice, Xiaqing raised an eyebrow. Qi Fu was also from the construction team, though not from her squad. Xiaqing knew he had also claimed land, but she hadn’t expected him to be so close.
Kuang Qingwei from Land No. 6 began to share information. "Brothers, have you heard? Everyone on Land Number 1 is dead. It’s a good thing I have plenty of people and good equipment, otherwise I would’ve been in trouble too."
Xiaqing smiled silently. ’Kuang Qingwei is sharing information, but he’s also warning everyone not to get any ideas about him. As expected, no one who has survived to the tenth year of the Natural Disaster is a simple person.’
"What?" the men from Land No. 4 and Land No. 5 exclaimed in unison.
Kuang Qingwei sighed. "I heard it from the soldiers who installed the solar panels. I was hoping you all might know how they died."
The channel went silent for a moment. Then, Xiaqing heard another familiar voice. "They were bitten to death by highly venomous evolutionary caterpillars."
Hearing a new person, Kuang Qingwei quickly asked, "Brother, which land are you on?"
"Land Number 2. Tang Huai."
The channel fell quiet again for a moment before Kuang Qingwei spoke. "I remember Land Number 2 doesn’t have a Buffer Forest. Brother Tang, is that your own walkie-talkie?"
Just a moment ago he had called him "brother," but upon hearing he was from Land No. 2, Kuang Qingwei immediately switched to the more respectful "Brother Tang."
Tang Huai’s reply was a classic humblebrag. "Yeah. I wasn’t paying attention while packing when I left and just grabbed one."
The channel went quiet again for a while. Then, an unfamiliar voice spoke slowly:
"I grabbed one too. Land Number 7. Zhang San."
Xiaqing...
’That name... Is he serious?’
It was Kuang Qingwei who spoke up again. "Brother San, how do you charge your walkie-talkie? This is Kuang Qingwei from Land Number 6. We’re neighbors. I have solar panels, you can come over to charge it."
Xiaqing poked at the fire and chuckled. "Did you hear that, Leader? The guy on Land Number 6 just got solar panels installed and he’s already trying to do business."
Sheep Leader didn’t make a sound, just squinted at the walkie-talkie.
Xiaqing warned him sternly, "You absolutely cannot bite or kick this thing. If you do, I’ll cut off your rations and kick you out of the house!"
Sheep Leader continued to stare at the walkie-talkie, and Xiaqing stared at Sheep Leader. Neither was willing to back down first.
While the person and the sheep were in their standoff, Zhang San’s voice came slowly over the walkie-talkie, "I have solar panels too. What seeds did you all get? Anyone want to trade?"
The moment she heard "seeds," Xiaqing immediately forgot about Sheep Leader, her ears perking up to listen.