Chapter 204: The Smart Red Squirrel

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: The Smart Red Squirrel

The Green Dragon Team had spent over four months searching all over Hua Country for the herbs on Zhang San’s antidote prescription. Now, they were only two herbs away from having everything they needed.

One of these two herbs grew within the territory of Hui City Base. The Green Dragon Team had already pinpointed the general area, a region teeming with swamps, lakes, poisonous insects, and venomous snakes. The other grew in the Evolution Forest of Bai City Base in northern Hua Country, the territory of the Evolution Tigers. Its harvest time was in October.

Yang Jin was leading a team to collect the herb. Not only would they have to deal with venomous snakes and poisonous insects, but they would also have to contend with other teams vying for the same prize.

Whichever team managed to acquire the precious herb would not part with it easily. If the Green Dragon Team failed, they would likely have to wait until this same time next year to try again.

If Luo Pei’s condition was left to deteriorate until next year, he would never be able to return to his peak strength. The Green Dragon Team had to succeed this time. Failure was not an option.

Wei Chengdong, who was on guard duty, knocked lightly on the door. "Boss, Brother Luo, Mr. Tan is here."

After Tan Junjie came in carrying a basket of vegetables, Yang Jin asked with a grin, "Are these vegetables from your territory, Mr. Tan?"

"Yes, Green Light lettuce. It tastes pretty good." Tan Junjie handed the basket to Yang Jin, then turned to his old, visibly weakened comrade with concern. "How are you feeling?"

Luo Pei replied, "I’m okay."

’Okay’ meant not okay.

After all, at his peak, Luo Pei would never have let an Evolutionary Ape-eating Eagle escape right under his nose. Tan Junjie turned to Yang Jin. "Which herbs are you still missing? I’ll go talk to the Base Commander. At a critical time like this, we have to pull every string we can."

The Base Commander Tan Junjie was referring to was Qi Zhongye, the current commander of Hui San Base. He was incredibly busy every day, and they wouldn’t have brought this to him unless it was a last resort.

"We’re still missing two. I already asked the Base Commander; none of the research institutes in Hui City have them. However, we’ve basically locked down their growing areas." Since they were among trusted friends, Yang Jin didn’t hide the details from Tan Junjie. "One of them is in the region of Mountains No. 62 to 65. I’m leading a team out tomorrow. For the next few days, I’ll have to ask you, Mr. Tan, to come check on Brother Luo when you have a moment."

Mountains No. 62 to 65 were deep within the Evolution Forest, and entering during the Harmful Rain season was incredibly dangerous. Tan Junjie asked, "Is your intel reliable?"

Yang Jin showed a picture to Tan Junjie. "We’ve ruled out every other area. That’s the only one left."

Seeing that the herb grew in water, Tan Junjie asked, "How many of you are going?"

"Six of us. I’m leading."

’Six is too few,’ Tan Junjie thought. He turned to Luo Pei. "You should ask Yan Long. When it comes to fighting in water, no one is more skilled than her."

Luo Pei shook his head. "Yan Long is on a mission."

Tan Junjie explained, "Yan Long mentioned she gets four vacation days a month, which are cumulative. She’s planning to save them for winter break to take Qiqi on a trip."

If Yan Long could go with Yang Jin, they would be guaranteed to return alive, whether they got the herb or not. Luo Pei immediately called her.

Tan Junjie lowered his voice and asked Yang Jin, "Are you bringing a tamed beast?"

Yang Jin nodded. "An Evolutionary Snake Eagle."

A Snake Eagle was the perfect choice for a territory full of poisonous insects and venomous snakes, so Tan Junjie said no more. His question, however, had piqued Yang Jin’s curiosity. "Mr. Tan, is there a tamed beast in one of the nearby territories?"

Tan Junjie replied gravely, "I haven’t asked for the owner’s permission, so I can’t give you an answer right now."

Even though Tan Junjie didn’t elaborate, Yang Jin was pretty sure he knew what was going on: Lord No. 8, Xin Yu, had a very successfully tamed Evolved Beast.

After all, if the taming of an Evolved Beast wasn’t successful, even the tamer wouldn’t be able to control it, let alone lend it to someone else.

At that moment, inside the Third Territory, Xiaqing—still unacquainted with her own "tamed beast"—was pinning the little creature to the ground to attach a locator. "Don’t move! I’ll let you go as soon as it’s on. Don’t move."

After attaching the locator and spraying the Red Squirrel with Tracking Potion, Xiaqing carried it into the house and up to her bedroom on the second floor.

She opened the window and tied the little creature’s water dish—a small metal can—to the outside of the sill. Next to it, she placed a piece of cucumber, a few green beans, and a wad of Red Light Smoke. She spoke to it coaxingly, "See? I’ve put spring water, food, and the smoke you like right here. When you’re hungry or thirsty, you can come here to eat and drink. You can get your smoke here, too. I promise I won’t grab you. But don’t go stealing from other territories. If someone else catches you, you’re finished."

Xiaqing figured the little creature probably didn’t understand. She pressed its little head down to make it drink some water, stuffed a small piece of cucumber in its mouth, and tucked the wad of smoke into its tiny paws before letting go.

The instant she released it, the Red Squirrel scrambled onto the roof and vanished.

Xiaqing immediately opened an app on her phone. She watched the locator’s red dot move several hundred meters west before turning north. It finally stopped when the straight-line distance between the green dot representing her phone and the red dot on the squirrel reached 3,500 meters.

Judging by the distance, the little creature had stopped in Zone Three of Mountain 49. Xiaqing put her phone away and looked toward Mountain No. 49 with a happy smile.

After getting the locator and Tracking Potion, the safest approach would have been to keep the Red Squirrel in a cage and only release it when she was ready to set out with a team.

But Xiaqing chose to release it right away. It was a riskier move, but she believed that if she kept the Red Squirrel caged, the moment it was freed, it might abandon its current territory and simply run away.

If that happened, even if she managed to recapture it, she’d never be able to track it back to the source of the edible chestnuts.

By releasing it now, though the squirrel was frightened, it hadn’t fled its territory and was still within her tracking range. This was the ideal outcome.

If the little creature could be lured back to her windowsill by the spring water, food, and smoke, that would be even better.

Xiaqing went downstairs cheerfully and went back to weeding her fields. During a break, she pulled out her phone to check the app and discovered the Red Squirrel was now in the West Buffer Forest of the Third Territory, only 1,200 meters away from her in a straight line.

’What’s it doing over there? There are only a few Red Light chinaberry trees. Eating the chinaberries? It has that strong of a stomach?’

Xiaqing returned to her vegetable greenhouse and, using the plants for cover, quietly searched for the little creature’s position.

As a Level 9 Visual Evolver, Xiaqing quickly spotted the Red Squirrel’s figure in a tall chinaberry tree. The little creature was perched on a branch, but it wasn’t holding chinaberries in its paws. It was holding a shed snakeskin—the skin of a highly venomous Evolutionary Snake native to her territory.

’The little thing is actually chewing on a snakeskin!’

Xiaqing looked closer and saw the Red Squirrel spitting the chewed-up bits of snakeskin onto its big, fluffy tail. It looked like its tail had a bad case of dandruff.

The sight made Xiaqing’s own scalp itch, but she understood the Red Squirrel’s purpose.

It was using the highly venomous snakeskin to arm itself, to make itself smell like a venomous snake. Or perhaps it was trying to use the scent to mask the smell of the Tracking Potion she had sprayed on it.

’This little fella is pretty clever.’