Chapter 391: Entering Mountain No. 50

Chapter 391: Chapter 391: Entering Mountain No. 50

If the Broken Waist Wolf didn’t listen to or understand Xiaqing’s warning and left her territory to be discovered by Yan Meng, then the grudge between the Wolf Group and the Wind and Cloud Team would be for them to resolve.

The grudge between Xiaqing and Yan Meng, however, would be resolved by Xiaqing herself.

Of course, she had to wait until her main business was done. For a farmer, the main business right now was digging yellow clay and building a greenhouse.

At five o’clock the next morning, after finishing breakfast and inspecting her territory, Xiaqing opened her garage and drove out the tiller. After much persuasion and a bribe of two compressed rations, she finally coaxed the Sheep Leader off its designated seat. Then, she stuffed a handful of dried meat jerky into the Sick Wolf’s mouth, reminding them both to watch the house. Only then did she drive the tiller out of her territory to meet up with Hu Zifeng and two others, who were waiting outside the South Gate.

"Are you sure you don’t need me to send a few men with you?" Hu Zifeng asked again. As he spoke, he glanced at the Wild Grass Wall of the Second Territory, signaling to Xiaqing that there were people inside.

Xiaqing nodded slightly to show she understood. "No need. Let Eryong and the others continue their training. I have enough people on my end. Just have two of your men, Captain Hu, help me guard the gate and watch over the unloading of the clay. There will be sixteen truckloads in total."

The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky was already bright. As Xiaqing drove the tiller east, she looked through the Second Territory’s Wild Grass Wall, its leaves riddled with insect bites. She spotted six people squatting where Tang Huai used to dig for insects, their gazes greedy and disgusting.

Xiaqing was all too familiar with that kind of stare. She calmly drove the tiller to the signpost for Territory No. 4 and called out to Zhao Ze, who was about to climb into the rear cargo bed. "Brother Zhao, sit up here with me."

The tiller’s rain cover offered some protection. Zhao Ze was an ordinary person with no combat experience, and this trip was to the Evolution Forest. Letting him sit in the open cargo bed was too dangerous.

"Alright!"

Carrying a machete on his back and holding a briefcase, Zhao Ze answered loudly and let out a long sigh of relief after sitting down next to Xiaqing.

As an ordinary person, Zhao Ze hadn’t been back to the Evolution Forest since he and his mother fled the disasters and entered the Hui San Safety Zone. Even living in a territory bordering the Evolution Forest, he didn’t dare venture in to "strike it rich."

Because not just anyone could get that "rich." The Evolution Forest was home to ferocious beasts, Poisonous Insects, Evolved Plants that could attack and parasitize humans—even an inconspicuous little bug could be fatal.

Now he was heading into the Evolution Forest to survey the terrain, and he would likely be spending most of his time there for the next few days. Zhao Ze was scared to death.

If he weren’t afraid of Xiaqing beating him up, he would have stuck to her side as closely as possible.

Xiaqing reassured the "project manager" of this operation. "Brother Zhao, don’t be nervous. Once we enter Mountain No. 50, as long as you don’t wander off, I’ll guarantee your safety."

"Don’t worry, Xiaqing. I’ll stay right inside the circle you draw for me. I won’t go anywhere."

With Xiaqing’s promise, Zhao Ze relaxed and immediately tried to curry favor with her. "After we’re done hauling the clay and don’t need so many people on Mountain No. 50, I’ll have Brother Qi and the construction team start on the greenhouse’s earthen walls the day after tomorrow. We’ll build yours first."

"Okay." Xiaqing accepted without any qualms.

She had been the one to discover the Thorny Wood Forest and the yellow clay. She had also arranged for three of the five transport trucks. And in the Evolution Forest, she was responsible for their security. Therefore, it was only right that the yellow clay be hauled to her territory first and that her greenhouse’s earthen walls be built first.

Without cooperation, no matter how strong Xiaqing was, she wouldn’t be able to finish the earthen walls for two greenhouses in half a month. By working with her allies, she could get the walls up within ten days. Once the second-hand steel pipes she was buying from Yang Jin arrived, she could install them, cover them with plastic sheeting, fertilize, water, till the soil, and plant vegetable seeds.

The tiller stopped at the road sign for Territory No. 5. Xiaqing had Zhao Ze take the wheel, with Qi Fu sitting next to him. She climbed into the rear cargo bed, which was pulling a bulldozer blade and an excavator bucket. Using the height advantage, she surveyed Territory No. 14 to the south.

Yan Meng, who wanted to kill Xiaqing to avenge his sister, was right there in Territory No. 14. Qi Fu glanced back. Xiaqing’s expression was as calm as ever, betraying none of her emotions.

’The ones who can kill you in a single move aren’t the boisterous types, but the silent, expressionless, ruthless ones.’ Anyone who had survived to the tenth year of the Natural Disasters knew to stay far, far away from people like that.

Qi Fu thought, ’Right now, Xiaqing is radiating killing intent.’

Xiaqing was 1.77 meters tall. Standing on the cargo bed, which was over a meter high, she was now taller than the territory’s Injurious Grass Wall and could see into Territory No. 14.

Territory No. 14 was overgrown with wild grass and shrubs. A winding path, less than half a meter wide, stretched from the signpost at the territory’s southern edge to two large greenhouses in the center. Next to the greenhouses was a house made from a worn-out shipping container.

Hearing the tiller, a tall, thin figure in a Protective Suit emerged, hunched over, from the container and looked in their direction.

There was a thin fog, and the path was over three hundred meters away from the container house in Territory No. 14, but Xiaqing recognized the person in a single glance.

Yan Meng.

The man who, last summer in the Evolution Forest, had stared wide-eyed while clawing at his own neck, wanting to crush her to death like an Evolved Insect.

At this distance, Yan Meng, not being a Visual Evolver, shouldn’t be able to recognize her. Even if he could, Xiaqing didn’t care.

After confirming his identity and condition, Xiaqing turned her gaze to Territory No. 15, east of Territory No. 14.

Territory No. 15 had four shipping containers and a dozen neatly arranged greenhouses. The uncultivated areas were also clean and orderly. This was what an occupied territory should look like.

The road below the northern signpost of Territory No. 15 had just been cleared last night. It was built over four meters wide and led straight to an open space beside the greenhouses.

Yue Haiying and a man about 1.8 meters tall and around thirty years old, the left side of his face covered in scars and his left eye missing, walked out from behind the Wild Grass Wall. Yue Haiying greeted everyone and made the introduction. "This is Yu Shou from our territory, a Level 4 Strength Evolver."

Xiaqing extended a hand. "Brother Yu, shall we stand in the cargo bed?"

"Alright." Yu Shou handed the shovel, pickaxe, machete, and other tools he was carrying to Xiaqing, then grabbed the side of the cargo bed and leaped nimbly up, landing beside her.

Only then did Xiaqing notice that his left hand was only half a palm. Fortunately, it was his ring and pinky fingers that were missing, so it didn’t affect his daily life much. He would certainly have no problem with farm work.

The reason he had retired from service was because he’d lost an eye.

Yue Haiying had said last night that Yu Shou was a construction vehicle driver before his retirement. After losing an eye, a person can no longer form an accurate stereoscopic image and is unable to drive motor vehicles.

After passing Territory No. 15, the vehicle crossed an intersection and a median strip, officially entering Mountain No. 50.

"Brother Yu, the rear is yours."

As soon as she spoke, Xiaqing leaped onto the tiller’s rain cover. She steadied her feet using two fasteners she had just welded onto the top of the cover last night, and aimed her gun forward.

Seeing how Xiaqing held her gun, Yu Shou instantly understood why she had become the leader of the northern territories.

It had little to do with Hu Zifeng, the Level 5 Visual Evolver from the Green Dragon Team. The main reason was simple: she was strong enough.