With the window installed, the room was now secure, and she slept especially soundly.
After a good night’s sleep, Xiaqing dreamed that a High Level Evolution Bull had wandered onto her territory and refused to leave. She hitched it to a plow, and it could till fifty mu of land in a single day.
When she woke up, Xiaqing couldn’t help but laugh. ’If only I really had a bull. Bulls eat grass and don’t need fuel.’ Diesel and gasoline were exorbitant now, a price that ordinary people couldn’t afford.
After freshening up with the spring water and eating a ration bar for breakfast, Xiaqing shouldered three water barrels and went to fetch more.
Yesterday, between drinking, cooking, and washing up, she had used one 20-liter barrel of spring water. The two extra barrels were ones she’d found the day before in a half-destroyed kitchen cabinet in a house in the village up ahead. Their lids screwed on tightly, and they were still usable after a good scrubbing.
After killing three venomous snakes on the way, Xiaqing arrived at the stone cave, only to find that the rock she had used to block the entrance had been pushed aside.
She gripped her machete, listening intently and scanning her surroundings. Only after confirming that there were no large animals within a fifty-meter radius—besides herself, a few sparrows, and some snakes—did she relax slightly.
Her ability to perceive her surroundings within a fifty-meter radius was because Xiaqing was, in fact, a Three Systems Evolver.
In addition to Strength, her vision and hearing had also evolved. Although she’d never gone to a research lab for an official rating, by comparing herself to similar Evolvers, Xiaqing judged her auditory and Visual Evolution to be no lower than Level 4. Furthermore, her Strength wasn’t the reported Level 4, but Level 6.
Therefore, Xiaqing was not a Primary Level Evolver, but a Three Systems High Level Evolver.
Multi-system Evolvers were extremely rare. Among the entire two million population of Hui San Base, there were only twelve dual-system Evolvers, and only two Three Systems Evolvers. Moreover, these two Three Systems Evolvers had not publicly revealed their identities or evolutionary paths. Xiaqing only knew that one served in the military and the other had gone to the research institute at Hui Yi First Base.
After that, there was no more news about those two. Rumor in the Safe Zone had it that they were dissected for research and had died long ago.
After Xiaqing’s Three Systems Evolution manifested, Mr. Xia, fearing she would be captured for research, had only reported her least conspicuous ability: Strength Evolution.
Her Three Systems Evolutionary Ability was what she relied on to avoid danger time and again, and it was the source of her courage to leave the Safe Zone to farm alone.
At the cave entrance where Xiaqing had placed the water barrels yesterday, there were clear tracks from three types of animals: birds, a weasel, and a sheep or deer.
’If even I could find the spring, how could the animals in the mountains not know about it?’ After the water in the reservoir at the foot of the mountain became contaminated, it was only logical that the clever animals would come here to drink.
’Forget the birds. Weasels are the natural predators of rats, so I’ll leave them be. As for the sheep or deer... *I’m* their natural predator. They’re mine!’
Her eyes shining, Xiaqing scanned her surroundings and quickly made a new discovery: a few strands of white fur were snagged on a branch two meters away.
’This length, this curl, this toughness...’ Combined with the tracks, it was undoubtedly a sheep. Xiaqing wished she could drop everything for the day and just lie in wait by the cave for it.
It had been many, many years since she had eaten mutton.
Not a drop of spring water had collected in the pit Xiaqing had cleared out beneath the spring; it had all drained away through cracks in the rock. Xiaqing wasn’t surprised. If the cave could retain water or if the spring flowed openly, this place would have been discovered and cordoned off by search parties long ago.
She placed the barrels in the pit to collect spring water, then tested the meat of the three venomous snakes. To her delight, one of them showed a Green Light.
This discovery overjoyed Xiaqing, making her even more determined to lie in wait for that sheep.
But for today, this snake would be enough. While her barrels were filling, Xiaqing took the opportunity to pick and test the wild vegetables she recognized.
By the time all three barrels were full, she had only found seven small wild vegetables. Although they would only amount to a single mouthful after being blanched, Xiaqing was very satisfied with this harvest.
She washed the wild vegetables with spring water, chose an even larger stone to block the cave entrance, took her things back to her shelter, and then grabbed a shovel to go work on the fields.
Once she leveled four mu of land, she could plant all the seeds provided by the base. Xiaqing chose a plot of land only a hundred meters from the reservoir’s flood wall. Irrigation would be convenient there, and with the wall, she wouldn’t have to worry about the river flooding her crops.
The first step to preparing the land was to turn over the soil and clear out the large rocks, tree roots, grass roots, and any visible pests. Xiaqing adjusted the straw hat on her head and got to work.
She hadn’t realized it before, but the moment she started digging, she was in for a shock.
Beneath the thick layer of wood ash covering the ground, numerous tender sprouts had already pushed through. Xiaqing couldn’t identify them, but after a test revealed they were all Red Light, she treated them all as weeds and cleared them out.
Farming purely by hand, with no machinery or draft animals to help, was where the advantage of a Strength Evolver truly shone. Xiaqing broke four shovels in a single morning but managed to clear out two mu of land.
At this rate, she would be able to clear all four mu in one day. Xiaqing was filled with a sense of accomplishment.
"Sister Xiaqing! Sister Xiaqing!"
Hearing Zhong Tao’s voice amplified by a megaphone, Xiaqing wiped the sweat from her face with a towel, went back to her shelter to grab the edible venomous snake, and then hurried over to the road sign.
When he saw Xiaqing approaching, Zhong Tao hopped down from his vehicle and waved. He abided by the rules, standing just outside her territory without setting foot inside. "Hey, sis!"
Xiaqing smiled and walked up. "Making your rounds, Brother Tao?"
Zhong Tao looked at Xiaqing, who was looking much cleaner and refreshed, and smiled. "That’s right. Yesterday we checked the plots closer in, so today we’re making a round at the foot of the mountain. How’s it going? Everything okay?"
"Everything’s fine," Xiaqing said, holding out the woven grass bag with the snake inside. "I got lucky this morning and caught a snake while I was clearing the hillside. Take it, Brother Tao, it’ll make a nice extra dish."
Zhong Tao quickly waved his hands in refusal. "I can’t take this. Snake meat is a rare treat. You keep it for yourself."
Xiaqing insisted, holding it out firmly. "I don’t eat snake."
Seeing she truly wasn’t just being polite, Zhong Tao accepted the grass bag and passed it to Zheng Kui, who had a cigarette dangling from his lips. He then asked with concern, "I remember this mountain being cleared out pretty thoroughly. Are there a lot of snakes? I can report it and have a team come out for another sweep if you want."
"There aren’t many. No need to send anyone," Xiaqing refused outright. She then handed a slip of paper to Zhong Tao. "This is my phone number. What’s yours, Brother Tao?"
As a squad leader, Zhong Tao was equipped with a satellite phone. He recited his own number, then lowered his voice and asked, "You have a sat phone, sis?"
When Xiaqing nodded, he immediately broke into a grin. "Well, that makes things a lot easier. Call me if you run into any trouble, sis. There are two other things I need to tell you. First, be sure to listen to the base broadcast every night from seven to eight. Second, the military sends troops to patrol the mountain’s quarantine zone and the Buffer Forest. They’ll hail you when they pass by and will only enter your land if you give them permission."
Xiaqing followed up, "Are these the troops patrolling from the regimental garrison?"
"Yes. Huh?" Zhong Tao looked around nervously, realizing he’d accidentally let a secret slip. He lowered his voice and asked, "How did you know there were still people at the garrison, sis?"
Xiaqing shook her head, her expression dead serious. "Just a guess. I don’t know anything."
Zhong Tao scratched his head and chuckled. "Well, it’s no big deal that you know, just don’t go spreading it around. How about I give your number to the patrol squad? That’ll make it easier for them to contact you when they’re in the area."
"Deal." In the ten years since the Natural Disaster began, the military had made enormous sacrifices to protect the people, making them the most trustworthy group of all. Xiaqing then added, "But don’t tell anyone in the Safe Zone I have a phone."
"Got it." Just as Zhong Tao was about to say his goodbyes, he saw someone sprinting wildly toward them from the east. He immediately raised his gun, moving to shield Xiaqing behind him. "Stop right there! Get any closer and I’ll shoot!"