On the newly acquired hillside, there were five abandoned farmhouses. The first time Xia Qing had come up here, she had only done a quick search. Today, she was going to conduct a thorough, carpet-style sweep.
Collapsed stone walls and houses—she moved everything out of the way to inspect them carefully.
Rusty farm tools with broken wooden handles? Keep them. Once repaired and polished, they might still be usable.
Dented stainless steel basins? Keep them. They could be hammered back into shape to hold things. Cracked? Patch them up.
Broken kitchenware? Keep them. Even if they couldn’t be fixed, they could be dismantled for spare parts.
Fabric items that hadn’t gone moldy or rotten yet? Keep them. She could scald, wash, and disinfect them to make mops.
Evolved centipedes that tried to bite her? Keep them! She could dry them in the sun to exchange for points.
Evolved grubs? Burn them to death!
…
After cleaning out the five courtyards, the supplies she wanted to take back actually piled up higher than she was. Xia Qing felt an immense sense of accomplishment.
What excited Xia Qing the most was that she discovered three patches of small green onion seedlings in a vegetable plot covered by a collapsed stone wall. There were over thirty of them in total, and it looked like even more might sprout!
Green onions were indeed a vegetable that every household used to grow.
After cleaning up and packing her supplies, Xia Qing immediately washed her hands to test the Qiang Element content of the green onion seedlings. Two patches were yellow-light, and one was red-light. This was more than enough to make her happy.
Xia Qing really wanted to take off her protective mask and taste that long-lost flavor.
However, reason prevailed. Xia Qing protected the two yellow-light patches of onion seedlings with a makeshift fence, watered them with mountain spring water, and sprayed them with insect repellent.
She hoped that once the temperature rose further in a while, other vegetables would grow on the high slopes and terraced fields.
Xia Qing called over Yang Lao Da, who was chewing cud under the Chinese toon tree, stuffed some rations into his mouth, and had him carry two bags weighing over a hundred jin each.
“Laoda, you’re the best. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to bring back so many things.” Xia Qing had discovered that Yang Lao Da was not only a glutton but also loved hearing flattering praise. To get him to do more work, Xia Qing spoke to him daily in a soft, gentle voice, showering him with all kinds of compliments.
Gradually losing himself in Xia Qing’s flattery, Yang Lao Da gave her a haughty side-eye before walking back with the bags on his back. His expression looked as if he were saying that without him, this household would fall apart.
Suppressing her laughter, Xia Qing carried the largest bag on her back. Holding Chinese toon sprouts and perilla in one hand and her machete in the other, she followed behind Yang Lao Da, ready at any moment to strike down any evolved animals that might attack them.
As the person and the sheep crossed the isolation belt between the new territory and her original territory, the danger investigation team happened to walk over from the northern isolation belt of Territory No. 4.
Yang Lao Da immediately shook off the bags, blocked Xia Qing behind him, and assumed an aggressive stance, ready to attack.
Tan Junjie’s squad: “…”
Xia Qing raised the machete in her hand and waved it to greet the investigation team.
At such a distance, trying to shout through her protective mask would be too exhausting.
Su Ming, the visual evolver leading the investigation team, waved back warmly. Upon reaching the boundary between Territory No. 4 and Territory No. 3, they didn’t walk through the isolation belt between Xia Qing’s two territories. Instead, they turned and continued patrolling along the wire mesh fence of the Wild Boar Breeding Center.
Having driven them away, Yang Lao Da withdrew his aggressive stance and squinted at Xia Qing.
Xia Qing immediately coaxed him with a soft, sweet voice, “You really are the best, Laoda. You even knew to protect me and our territory when you saw people coming. What would I ever do without you?”
Yang Lao Da raised his head and glanced at the bags on the ground.
Xia Qing immediately hoisted them back onto his back and continued to praise him, “You’re so amazing, Laoda, still remembering our supplies. It’s getting dark, let’s go home and eat, okay?”
Once the person and sheep entered the Buffer Forest, Cao Xianyun, who possessed hearing evolution, spoke up, “They’ve gone far.”
Su Ming immediately marveled, “Sister Qing is incredible. She actually got a sheep to carry things for her.”
“That’s nothing,” Hu Zi spoke up. “She tilled thirty mu of land in her territory, and it was all plowed by that sheep.”
Everyone: “…”
Impressive!
This sheep was more useful than their military dogs!
Tan Junjie, who usually never participated in such pointless discussions, asked Cao Xianyun, “What does she call the sheep?”
“Laoda. Yang Lao Da,” Cao Xianyun said with a mischievous smile. “I really want to drag Jin Ge over here to listen to this.”
The members of the Azure Dragon Squad also called their captain “Laoda” or “Yang Lao Da.”
Tan Junjie replied in a very good mood, “It’s not the same Yang.”
“Exactly,” Cao Xianyun laughed even louder.
Su Ming turned back and asked, “Old Cao, what are you laughing at?”
“None of your business. Just lead the way.”
“Tch!” Su Ming snorted. Upon reaching the isolation belt north of the wire mesh fence, he turned east, entering the isolation belt on the north side of Xia Qing’s new territory.
Returning home, Xia Qing, full of anticipation, plugged her phone into the charger. When the screen lit up, she was thrilled. Finally, she had electricity!
Equally excited were the lords of Territories No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6, who had also installed solar panels and received walkie-talkies.
After listening to the base broadcast while her phone was charging, Xia Qing turned on her fully charged walkie-talkie. She tuned the frequency to 439500, the private chat channel for the lords. Sure enough, she heard a gruff voice calling out.
“Brothers and sisters of Territories No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6, are you there? Are you there?”
“We’re here, we’re here.”
With her sharp hearing, Xia Qing identified this as the voice of Zhao Ze from Territory No. 4.
The person who had asked immediately cheered up, “Oh my god, it’s been over half a month. Aside from those patrollers in camouflage, I’ve finally heard another human voice outside my territory. I’m Kuang Qingwei from Territory No. 6. Where are you guys from?”
Zhao Ze replied, “I’m in No. 4, Zhao Ze.”
“I’m in No. 5, Qi Fu.”
Hearing this voice, Xia Qing raised an eyebrow. Qi Fu was also from the construction team, though he hadn’t been in the same squad as her. She knew he had claimed territory, but she hadn’t expected him to be so close.
Kuang Qingwei from Territory No. 6 started sharing news, “Brothers, have you heard? The people in Territory No. 1 are all dead. Fortunately, I have a lot of people and plenty of equipment on my side, so nothing happened to us.”
Xia Qing smiled silently. Kuang Qingwei was sharing news, but he was also warning the surrounding people not to try anything with him. Indeed, no one who had survived to the tenth year of the natural disaster was simple.
“What?!” the people from Territory No. 4 and Territory No. 5 cried out in unison.
Kuang Qingwei sighed, “I heard it from the soldier brothers who installed the solar panels. I wanted to ask if any of you knew how they died.”
The channel fell silent for a moment before Xia Qing heard another familiar voice, “They were bitten to death by highly toxic evolved caterpillars.”
Hearing another person join, Kuang Qingwei quickly asked, “Brother, which territory are you in?”
“Territory No. 2, Tang Huai.”
The channel was quiet for another moment before Kuang Qingwei asked, “I remember Territory No. 2 doesn’t have a buffer forest. Did you bring your own walkie-talkie, Brother Tang?”
He had been calling him “brother” just a second ago, but the moment he heard it was Territory No. 2, Kuang Qingwei immediately switched to calling him “brother” respectfully.
Tang Huai responded with a humblebrag, “Yeah, I wasn’t paying attention when packing my things before coming out, and just happened to bring one along.”
The channel went quiet again before an unfamiliar voice slowly drawled:
“I also happened to bring one along. Territory No. 7, Zhang San.”
Xia Qing: “…”
Was that name for real?
Kuang Qingwei spoke up again, “San Ge, how do you charge your walkie-talkie? I’m Kuang Qingwei from Territory No. 6, we’re right next to each other. I have solar power, you can come over and charge it.”
Xia Qing poked at the fire and chuckled, “Did you hear that, Laoda? Territory No. 6 just got solar panels installed, and they’re already starting to do business.”
Yang Lao Da remained silent, squinting as he stared at the walkie-talkie.
Xia Qing warned him solemnly, “You absolutely cannot bite or kick this thing. Otherwise, I’ll cut off your rations and kick you out of the house!”
Yang Lao Da continued to stare at the walkie-talkie, and Xia Qing stared at Yang Lao Da. Neither was willing to back down first.
As the person and the sheep locked horns, Zhang San’s voice slowly drifted out of the walkie-talkie, “I also have solar panels. What kind of seeds did you guys receive? Anyone up for an exchange?”
The moment she heard the word “seeds,” Xia Qing immediately forgot about Yang Lao Da and perked up her ears to listen.