Chapter 101: Yan Long

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Yan Long

"Please wait a moment, you two."

Something was wrong with the Cat Princess. Ji Li took out his phone to call for backup. "Yan Long, come to the North Buffer Forest. Yes, right now."

Yan Long? A startled Hu Zifeng turned his head and looked down the hillside.

When he saw a capable-looking woman with short hair in camouflage fatigues walking over, Hu Zifeng snapped to attention and gave a military salute. "Captain Yan."

Xiaqing followed Hu Zifeng’s lead, saluting the young soldier who was as beautiful as a drawn sword.

Yan Long returned the salute, her voice crisp and clear. "I’m retired."

"Yes, ma’am." Hu Zifeng remained standing ramrod straight.

Ji Li explained the situation to Yan Long. "This is Miss Xia, the Lord of the Third Territory. Brother San invited her to pick out a kitten, but the Princess is extremely hostile toward her. Do you see anything unusual about Miss Xia?"

Yan Long replied, "Miss Xia has the scent of an Evolutionary Wolf on her. It’s very strong."

’This is so unfair!’ She hadn’t seen a single strand of wolf fur in half a month.

Just as Xiaqing was about to explain, Yan Long pinpointed it more clearly. "The scent is concentrated on your right hand and your hip. Besides the Evolutionary Wolf, there’s also the scent of a sheep."

"I groomed my Evolutionary Sheep before I left, so it’s not strange that I smell like a sheep. But I haven’t encountered any wolves in half a month..." Xiaqing stopped abruptly, her expression like she’d been struck by lightning.

From her expression, it was clear she understood where the wolf scent came from. Ji Li explained to Xiaqing, "Our Princess has had several clashes with Evolutionary Wolves, which is why she’s reacting so strongly. Miss Xia, you won’t be able to take a kitten home."

Xiaqing tried to argue. "What if I go back, wash up, and visit again?"

Ji Li shook his head. "Even if you took one, the Princess would just go and carry the kitten back."

The adorable kittens were right in front of her. How could Xiaqing bear to give up? She continued to press, "But Brother San already accepted the supplies I traded for the cat..."

Ji Li was apologetic. "I’ll report this to Brother San once he’s free."

"Thank you for your trouble." Xiaqing gave one last look at Little Fifth, who was hissing at her, then followed Hu Zifeng out of Territory Land No. 7.

Seeing how miserable Xiaqing was, Hu Zifeng naturally felt too embarrassed to pick a cat today. He quietly discussed it with Xiaqing, "Captain Yan is a Level 9 Olfactory Evolver. Her judgment is definitely correct. Should I have Chen Zheng and Chen Cheng search the Third Territory and Zone 3 for an Evolutionary Wolf?"

The Green Dragon Team had divided Mountain No. 49 into ten zones. Zone 3 referred to the non-rented area of Mountain No. 49 north of the Northern Isolation Zone, bordering Territories One, Three, and Four. It was Xiaqing’s exclusive Evolution Forest.

After Xiaqing nodded, Hu Zifeng immediately made a call to rally his men. By the time Xiaqing returned to her territory, the two brothers, Chen Zheng and Chen Cheng, had already begun using their sense of smell to inspect the area. Da Jiang, who was guarding the territory for Xiaqing, was weeding in the greenhouse.

Seeing Xiaqing and his captain return, Da Jiang rushed over and asked excitedly, "Brother Feng, Sister Qing, what did the kitten look like? Did you take a picture? When are you bringing it back?"

He just had to touch a sore spot. Hu Zifeng shot Da Jiang a dark look. "Get back to your weeding!"

Da Jiang saw that something was off and immediately shrank back, quietly resuming his weeding.

Xiaqing walked straight over to the Sheep Leader, who was lying under a tree. The Sheep Leader squinted at Xiaqing, and the two of them began a battle of wills with their eyes.

Hu Zifeng also silently backed away and squatted down with Da Jiang to pull weeds.

Chen Zheng, who had just patrolled the Third Territory, came over to report his findings. "Sister Qing, the only places in the entire territory with an Evolutionary Wolf’s scent are under the grapevine and on the Sheep Leader. The scents are identical, so it must have been left by the same Evolutionary Wolf last night. It probably used something to mask its scent, so we can’t smell where it entered the Third Territory."

Hu Zifeng came closer and asked Xiaqing, "Should we ask Captain Yan to come over and help check?"

Xiaqing shook her head. "No need. You don’t have to go to Zone 3 either. Thank you for your trouble today."

Every night, Xiaqing set up more than thirty traps with noise-making devices around her territory. There were two of them under the grapevine. To make it easier for Wei Chengdong to fetch water, Xiaqing hadn’t placed any traps near the large rock blocking the spring.

Besides Hu Zifeng’s team and Wei Chengdong, who came for water, no one knew the locations of the traps.

Last night, a wolf had entered her territory, slipped into the netted greenhouse, and stayed under the grapevine for a long time, yet it hadn’t touched any of the tripwires. When Xiaqing inspected her territory in the morning, she hadn’t noticed anything unusual either.

’A wolf this clever would never leave a scent trail in Zone 3 of Mountain No. 49 for people to track its comings and goings.’

After Hu Zifeng and his team left the Third Territory, Xiaqing hung the bag of dried fish and roasted snake meat on a tree, then pointed at the Sheep Leader. "You, get up!"

Seeing that Xiaqing wanted a fight, the Sheep Leader stood up, showed off its spiral horns, and pawed the ground, striking a full battle pose.

Xiaqing questioned it furiously, "When the fuck did you start hanging out with an Evolutionary Wolf? Why wouldn’t you tell me something so important?"

The Sheep Leader just squinted and continued to paw at the dirt, looking more punchable by the second.

"You still dare to paw the ground?!" Xiaqing’s anger, which had been building all morning, finally exploded. She charged forward, and the Sheep Leader met her head-on without any sign of weakness.

"BANG!"

A High Level Strength Evolution human and a Strength Evolution Sheep collided with full force, the impact making the very air around them tremble.

Hu Zifeng’s team, who hadn’t yet left the Third Territory’s Buffer Forest, turned back to see Xiaqing get sent flying by the Sheep Leader. She did a flip in mid-air and aimed a vicious kick at the Sheep Leader’s horns.

"MOO!" Kicked back several steps by Xiaqing, the Sheep Leader charged forward again.

"BANG!"

Da Jiang winced just hearing it and asked quietly, "Captain, what’s wrong with Sister Qing?"

Hu Zifeng said grimly, "The Sheep Leader has a wide social circle."

Besides the wild boars from the breeding center, it was actually friends with an Evolutionary Wolf too...

That’s not a sheep, that’s a bull—and a badass one at that.

"BANG!" Xiaqing kicked the Sheep Leader, sending it flying several meters, followed by another loud crash.

Chen Zheng took the opportunity to lecture his younger brother. "See that? Don’t be so flippant around Sister Qing all the time, you’ve got no filter. If you piss her off and she thrashes you like she’s thrashing the Sheep Leader, you think you could take it?"

Chen Cheng and Da Jiang, who got a secondhand lecture, both shook their heads. They couldn’t take it. They really couldn’t.

After shaking his head, Da Jiang turned and asked Hu Zifeng, "Captain, the Captain Yan you just mentioned, is that Captain Yan Long?"

Hu Zifeng shot him a glare. "You want to see if you can take a punch from me?"

Da Jiang flinched. He did not...

After returning to their territory, Hu Zifeng reported the matter of fetching the cat from Territory Land No. 7 to Luo Pei.

Luo Pei couldn’t help but laugh after hearing the story. Although Xiaqing couldn’t get a kitten, she might have gained a wolf to trade with. It wasn’t a total loss.

What concerned Hu Zifeng the most wasn’t whether Xiaqing—or even he himself—could get a cat, but Yan Long’s appearance in Zhang San’s territory. "Brother Luo, Captain Yan actually left Hui Yi Base One with Zhang San. She said she’s retired. How is that possible?"

Luo Pei, however, was calm. "Is Zhang San not worthy of the military sending Yan Long to protect him?"

Hu Zifeng...

He was worthy. Of course, he was worthy.

Luo Pei poured a cup of tea. "Ji Li, the one who runs errands and delivers supplies to all the territories every day, do you know what level ability user he is?"

Hu Zifeng guessed, "Level 5?"

"Level 7. He’s a Level 7 Speed Evolver."

Hu Zifeng...

A Level 7 Speed Evolver... Was there any place he couldn’t hold his own? Yet here he was, in Zhang San’s territory, running errands and raising cats...

"BZZ... BZZ..."

The phone vibrated.

Lying on the ground, Xiaqing ordered weakly, "Blockhead, Blockhead, answer the phone."

The phone replied cheerfully, "Yes, Master. Connecting your call now."

"Xiaqing, it’s me, your Brother San." The calm voice of her idol, Zhang San, came from the phone, and Xiaqing immediately sat up.

The Sheep Leader, which had been lying flat on the ground, saw Xiaqing sit up and jumped to its feet as well, getting ready to continue the fight.

"I heard from Ji Li that a wolf entered your territory?"

"Yeah, it was a friend of the Sheep Leader’s that came to visit. I just found out myself. Brother San, is the Cat Princess okay?" ’Please don’t have a stress reaction,’ she prayed. ’The Cat Princess is still nursing two little kittens.’