Chapter 236: Teaming Up to Pick Chestnuts

Chapter 236: Chapter 236: Teaming Up to Pick Chestnuts

The Broken Waist Wolf, while still not fast, was now moving no differently than a normal wolf. After its next dressing change, it should recover quickly. The herbs for the Sick Wolf had also been gathered, which would also speed up its recovery. This meant Xiaqing’s days of having both wolves and meat were coming to an end.

To get more food, she would have to rely on herself. As Xiaqing headed out with a chicken coop, she pulled out her phone to check on the Red Squirrel. It had gone northeast again.

The Red Squirrel, having survived the Harmful Rain, would come to Xiaqing’s window every morning for a few sips of spring water before setting off to gather food.

Xiaqing placed the chicken coop in the new chicken run and began patrolling her territory, all the while keeping an eye on the Red Squirrel’s location.

A few minutes later, the Red Squirrel came back. It stayed for less than a minute before leaving again. On her phone, the red dot quickly moved four kilometers away, turning into a red arrow.

Xiaqing quickly entered Zone Three of Mountain 49. Treading through the dense Injurious Grass, she climbed a Big Pine Tree and shone her flashlight into a hollow inside.

They say a sly rabbit has three burrows, but this little squirrel in Zone Three of Mountain 49 was even craftier—it had six different hollows, although they were all inside Zone 3.

Xiaqing quickly pulled a fresh chestnut, its skin just starting to blush red, from the hollow and left immediately. When she checked the app again from her new position, the locator on the Red Squirrel no longer showed an arrow, but a red dot.

Nine minutes later, the red dot started moving. Hidden in the Injurious Grass, Xiaqing saw a flash of red. The little creature appeared on a pine branch, cheeks bulging with Chestnuts and its two little paws clutching even more. It flicked its big, fluffy tail, cautiously scanning its surroundings with a turn of its head.

Xiaqing lay motionless in the Injurious Grass. Her Level 3 field-issue Protective Suit was camouflaged, making it perfect for concealment.

The squirrel returned to drop off its supplies, then left again.

Originally, Xiaqing had thought the chestnut trees were on Mountain No. 50. But after this period of observation, she discovered they were actually in Zone Three of Mountain 49. They were located in the upper-right branch of the Y-shaped valley in her private training ground—the one she had named Valley No. 1.

This valley didn’t just have Chestnuts; it was also the corridor the Wolf Group used to enter her territory from the Evolution Forest.

After testing the chestnut and finding it to be a Yellow Light edible, Xiaqing decided to form a team to go gather them the very next day.

The valley in Zone Three of Mountain 49 had streams and dense vegetation, and it was an area Xiaqing had yet to explore. However, the Green Dragon Team had already swept through it once, clearing out high-risk plants and beasts, so the danger level wasn’t high.

While there were no large beasts, hundreds of Evolutionary Water Rats could still emerge from their burrows. Combined with the fact that the Evolution Forest was in an active state after the Harmful Rain, the risk was still quite high. She would have to go in with a team, and Xiaqing already had the perfect candidates in mind.

At ten in the morning, Xiaqing packed the anesthetized Broken Waist Wolf into her backpack, picked up the feather-light Sick Wolf, and headed for Territory Land No. 7.

The Danger Investigation Team had already cleared the Injurious Grass from the isolation zone and sprayed Insect Repellent. The zone now looked just as it had before the Harmful Rain.

What was different was the northern part of the Evolution Forest, where the Injurious Grass remained thick. That northern forest was part of Zone Three of Mountain 49—Xiaqing’s private training ground—and she was responsible for clearing the Injurious Grass there.

When Xiaqing arrived at Territory Land No. 7, Ji Li was already waiting at the edge of the Buffer Forest.

Following Ji Li onto a stone path, they walked through the Buffer Forest, now clear of Injurious Grass. Xiaqing lowered her voice and asked, "Brother Ji, is Sister Yan around?"

Ji Li nodded. "She is. Are you looking for her?"

Xiaqing was in more frequent contact with Ji Li, so she decided to ask for his opinion first. "I found some Yellow Light Chestnuts and wanted to invite Sister Yan to form a team to gather them. Are you guys able to leave the base? Do you think she’d agree?"

’The Red Squirrel had been sprayed with a Tracking Potion, and Yan Long was a formidable Level 9 Olfactory Evolver. She was the perfect person to team up with to collect the Chestnuts.’

Ji Li, walking ahead, hadn’t expected Xiaqing to invite Yan Long on a mission. He asked, "When do you want to go?"

Xiaqing immediately replied, "Tomorrow."

Walking ahead, Ji Li pressed his lips together, hiding a smile. "Tomorrow won’t work. Five days from now should be fine, though."

Xiaqing assumed Yan Long had a mission and couldn’t leave the territory. She was disappointed. "In five days, the Chestnuts will probably have been snatched up by all the little animals. I’ll have to think of another plan."

After the two wolves were taken into the operating room, Xiaqing, the designated "family member," waited in the hallway. Ji Li returned to the monitoring room, trying to stifle a laugh as he told Huo Zhun, "Xiaqing wants to team up with Yan Long tomorrow to go gather Chestnuts in the Evolution Forest."

"PFFT—"

Huo Zhun muffled a few laughs, terrified Yan Long would hear him and beat him up. He rubbed his aching jaw and asked, "What did you tell her?"

"I said the next few days won’t work," Ji Li said with a smile. "Xiaqing was pretty disappointed."

Tomorrow really was impossible. The stench clinging to Yan Long hadn’t completely faded, and it was limiting her tracking abilities.

Remembering Yan Long’s wretched state when she got back, Huo Zhun covered his mouth again, shaking with laughter. "High Level Olfactory Evolvers really have it rough sometimes. Still, for Xiaqing to dare and invite Yan Long to her team... she’s getting bolder and bolder."

Ji Li stared at the monitor, where Xiaqing was waiting quietly. "Among Strength Evolvers," he commented objectively, "she’s very strong."

During the third Harmful Rain, Xiaqing had single-handedly dealt with three flowering Huang Nai Trees and exterminated over a hundred Evolutionary Water Rats. Accomplishing all that required more than just brute Strength.

An hour later, Ji Li returned to the hallway and waited with Xiaqing for Zhang San to emerge. Even though Xiaqing was an acquaintance, Ji Li and his team wouldn’t let her be alone with Zhang San. Protecting the non-combatant Zhang San was their mission.

Never mind Xiaqing—even if the Hui San Base Commander himself showed up, they would have to ensure Zhang San’s safety at all times.

When Zhang San pushed open the operating room door and walked out, he pulled off his mask. His face was as pale as a Vampire’s, but he looked much better than he had the last time he’d just gotten back from a trip outside.

Inside the dispensary, he gathered the medications while explaining the two wolves’ conditions to Xiaqing. "The one with the back injury is recovering well. Take fifteen of these plaster patches. Apply one every two days, and it should be fully recovered in a month. The one with the parasite infection hasn’t gotten any worse, either. It’s starting to recover on the new medication. It’ll expel the parasite eggs from its system, and its appetite should slowly increase."

When he finished, Zhang San placed the medicine on the table in front of Xiaqing. "The capsules are made from the herbs you gathered. One a day. Bring it back for a check-up after it finishes them. This bottle is probiotics—give it five milliliters daily, but no more. The refrigerator has arrived; you can take it with you later. Keep all the medicine refrigerated."

"Thank you, Brother San." Xiaqing collected the medicine and asked, "The one with the back injury doesn’t need any oral medication?"

"It doesn’t. If you don’t mind the extra work, you could put some effort into the diet of the one with the parasite infection. Feed it pumpkin and chicken porridge or other easily digestible foods."

Xiaqing was surprised. "Brother San, aren’t Evolutionary Wolves carnivores? They can eat porridge?"

She had asked Chang Li, the Green Dragon Team’s doctor, about this before. Chang Li had told her that wolves are carnivores and it was best not to feed them the grains that humans eat.