Chapter 171: Evolved Python

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Evolved Python

Xiaqing thought she understood the Head Wolf’s intention. She immediately perked up and began to lay on the flattery.

"To think the Queen could catch a python this thick! The Queen is both beautiful and badass! The Queen has made history for the Evolutionary Wolves of Blue Star, opening up a new era for them..."

Who knew that after she finished her flattery, the Head Wolf still wouldn’t move its paw. Xiaqing couldn’t help but yawn. "Sis, are you giving me this snake or not? If not, I’m going back inside to sleep."

Seeing that Xiaqing didn’t understand, the Head Wolf turned, fetched the water basin, and placed it in front of her. Then, it pinned the python’s tail with its paw again.

This time, Xiaqing understood, and she was frustrated. "Sis, wasn’t this snake supposed to be rent for your packmates? Why is it for trading for medicine now?"

The Head Wolf didn’t move, just stared at Xiaqing. Considering the creature’s combat prowess, Xiaqing had no choice but to agree. "Fine, you can trade it for medicine. I’ll give it to you after sunrise."

Only then did the Head Wolf move its paw, signaling that Xiaqing could take the python.

Xiaqing carried the python back into the house. After confirming it was Green Light, she immediately skinned it, cut off a section, then turned on the dehydrator and started drying slices of snake meat.

A python weighing over forty pounds was far too much to process in time with just her small dehydrator. Steeling herself, Xiaqing sent a message to Ji Li.

She had wanted to wait until dawn to send the message, but in two hours, the snake meat wouldn’t be as fresh. Given Zhang San’s picky nature, he might refuse the trade.

It seemed Ji Li didn’t need sleep. Xiaqing’s message, sent in the middle of the night, received a quick reply:

No need to wait until five. Please deliver to the North Isolation Zone of No. 3 Territory within fifteen minutes. We need the snakeskin and Snake Gallbladder as well. Thank you. Nine seven six, three five four.

After receiving the reply, Xiaqing immediately packed up the snake, put on her Night Vision Goggles, and delivered it to the North Isolation Zone of No. 3 Territory. She exchanged the code phrase with the person waiting and handed over the snake meat.

After returning, Xiaqing slept until dawn, then woke up and stretched with satisfaction.

Last night, she had shut the chicks and goslings in the cellar, so she was finally not woken up at four in the morning by their chirping and squawking. After getting up, Xiaqing inspected her territory, then juiced thirty milliliters of spinach juice for the Wolf Group.

The wolves drinking the spinach juice were different today. The Head Wolf still got the first share, followed by a wolf Xiaqing had never seen before, one so thin you could count its ribs. Not only was it skinny, but there was also something wrong with its eyes; it could barely open them.

’Was this also one of the wolves that brought the python last night?’ Xiaqing hadn’t noticed if it was among the wolves at the back of the pack during the night.

Although a strange wolf had come to her territory, Xiaqing wasn’t afraid at all. The wolf was simply too thin, its eyes were cloudy, and it didn’t look like it had any fight left in it.

It seemed the Wolf Group acknowledged the "medicinal properties" of the spinach juice and were now bringing their sick members over to "drink medicine."

This was a good sign—a very good sign. Xiaqing’s eyes lit up, as if she could already see countless Yi Stones raining down on her.

After drinking the "medicine," this wolf also followed the others back to the sheep pen to rest. Xiaqing scrubbed the water basin clean, refilled it with fresh water, and turned on the Lord intercom. "Captain Hu, are you there?"

Hu Zifeng replied, "I’m here."

Xiaqing feigned anxiety. "I couldn’t get through to your phone. Is Doctor Chang in the territory? My Evolutionary Sheep isn’t eating this morning and doesn’t seem well. Could I trouble Doctor Chang to come take a look? I’ll pay for the consultation and any medicine."

Hu Zifeng, who was currently "pursuing" Xiaqing, agreed at once. "She is. I’ll send her over right away. Don’t worry."

After Xiaqing thanked him, Qi Fu came online. His voice sounded a little stronger than it had the past two days. "Xiaqing, could your sheep have been injured in the ultrasound attack?"

Xiaqing pressed the button. "It has been listless since then, but it was still eating, so I didn’t pay it much mind."

Tang Huai also spoke up. "It’s normal for symptoms to appear slowly after an ultrasound attack. It damages the ears, brain, and stomach."

Kuang Qingwei added, "Xiaqing, don’t you have medicinal herbs in your territory? Try feeding it some and see if it eats."

Xiaqing replied, "The Chicken Shit Vine was damaged by the hail and hasn’t recovered yet. I’ll go get some to try. Thanks, Brother Qing."

Chang Li arrived at Xiaqing’s territory shortly after. The moment she and Xiaqing saw each other, they both smiled.

"Sister Li, I have to trouble you again today."

Having gotten the scale armor that could detoxify the third-in-command from Xiaqing, Chang Li was nothing but grateful. How could she possibly find this a bother? "The path the Wolf Group took, including the isolation zone, has been cleaned up. Captain Hu and I will go clean up the tracks inside the territory. You just go do what you need to do."

And Xiaqing really did have things to do. Her underground food storage room wasn’t finished yet.

Despite the injury to her hand, Xiaqing spent a day finishing the interior walls of the cellar beneath the tool shed.

She had originally planned to build a cube-shaped underground storage room, but a flat ceiling is difficult to tile. So, Xiaqing changed the plan and built the roof of the storage room into a sturdy arched structure.

After laying the bricks, Xiaqing lit a wood fire below to smoke and cure the cellar walls. She then used this time to go work on the cellar in the Deserted Village.

Even while busy building the cellar, Xiaqing didn’t neglect the training regimen Luo Pei had arranged for her, carrying it out meticulously and strictly.

Since she couldn’t go to Zone Three of Mountain 49 to train, Xiaqing did the outdoor exercises, like frog jumps and full-speed sprints, within her own territory. When she did frog jumps, the Sheep Leader would lie to the side, chewing its cud and watching her with narrowed eyes.

When she ran, the Sheep Leader would follow.

And so, Tang Huai, who was already at his wits’ end with the teams from the Safe Zone, couldn’t take it anymore. "Xiaqing, didn’t you say your sheep was sick? Why are you making such a racket with all that THUMP THUMP THUMPING?"

Hearing Tang Huai’s complaint, the other Lords who had their intercoms on began to count silently.

One, two, three, four, five.

Five seconds passed, and Tang Zhengpo began to scold his son. "Tang Huai, what have I warned you about?"

Hearing the familiar sound of a son being lectured, the Lords let out cheerful laughs in their respective territories.

Tang Huai explained, "Dad, I’m not prying into our neighbor’s business. I’m showing concern for our neighbor, and concern for our neighbor’s Evolutionary Animal."

Xiaqing wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied coldly, "It’s precisely because my sheep is sick that I need to exercise with it."

Tang Huai was speechless. "Is Chang Li really a professional doctor? Who treats patients like this? You’re supposed to rest quietly after an ultrasound attack!"

Before Xiaqing could answer, Hu Zifeng came online. "You, with the surname Tang! Just because you need to rest quietly after an ultrasound attack, you think a sheep needs to? Are you the same as a sheep, or is a sheep the same as you?"

Tang Huai was already fuming with nowhere to vent, and he immediately started cursing. "You psycho, are you looking for a death wish?"

The Lord channel once again became a stage for the two of them to trade insults. Although Xiaqing kept her intercom on, she remained focused on her training. This was something Luo Pei had taught her: to learn how to maintain focus amid chaos.

For the next two days, the Wolf Group continued to deliver prey at one or two in the morning. Regardless of whether the injured wolves ate wild chickens or rabbits, the Head Wolf always traded a Green Light Python to Xiaqing in exchange for Green Light spinach juice.

To trade for the spinach juice, the pythons the Head Wolf brought Xiaqing were never small. Xiaqing no longer suspected the Wolf Group couldn’t catch other prey; now, she suspected the pack had a vendetta against pythons.

Green Light meat, even if not fresh, could be sold in the Safe Zone for one hundred and fifty points per jin. The prey the Head Wolf brought her had increased from a few jin to dozens of jin, and the extra weight was enough to trade for two servings of Special Level Nutrient Liquid.

But it was so much meat that Xiaqing couldn’t process it all, forcing her to make a trip to the Northern Isolation Zone every night.

Xiaqing spent her nights busy processing dried meat and her days building another cellar under the Deserted Village. Two days later, the cellar under the Deserted Village was excavated, and the walls of the underground storage room in the tool shed had dried. Xiaqing installed ventilation pipes in the storage room, applied a coat of cement mortar to the walls, smoothed it out, and then applied a pest-resistant topcoat.

After the topcoat was applied, the cellar construction was complete. It would need to cure for seven days. If the walls didn’t crack, she could start storing food in it.

After applying the topcoat, Xiaqing monitored the temperature and humidity in the cellar daily, only to discover that controlling the climate in the underground storage room was more difficult than she had anticipated.

That evening, after dinner, while Xiaqing was worrying about the cellar, Tang Huai suddenly brought up the matter of the Pangolin on the Lord channel.