Chapter 258: Ransacking the Home

Chapter 258: Chapter 258: Ransacking the Home

The Red Squirrel was still useful, so she couldn’t afford to scare it off. This time, Xiaqing didn’t pull out her gun. Instead, she took out her slingshot and fired a steel ball at a branch near the tree hollow, shouting sternly, "Red Squirrel, give back the pine cones you stole!"

"Grrr—" Sick Wolf slapped the ground with a paw, letting out a low growl.

"AWOOO!!!" The broken leg wolf circled the pine tree in a frenzy, extremely excited.

A faint rustling sound came from inside the tree. Having been disciplined by Xiaqing once before, the Red Squirrel quickly tossed the Green Light pine cone it had just brought to its nest out of the hollow, then rapidly scurried back inside.

Xiaqing knew to quit while she was ahead. She picked up the pine cone, showed it to Sick Wolf, and coaxed him softly, "See, Second? We got our pine cone back. Don’t be angry anymore, okay?"

Sick Wolf happily snatched the pine cone in its jaws. Xiaqing immediately set down her back-basket, letting him drop the pine cone inside, then lavished him with praise. "Good boy, Second! You’re so amazing, Second."

The Head Wolf’s brilliant gold eyes shifted from the pine cone to Xiaqing, and then to the tree hollow. After backing up a few steps, it charged forward, leaped high, and slashed its sharp Wolf Claws at the branches around the hollow’s entrance.

CRACK.

With that single swipe, the Head Wolf had snapped clean through a pine branch as thick as a bowl!

Xiaqing winced. "Queen, the fruit from this tree is food, so please take it easy. I’m keeping the Red Squirrel around for a reason. Don’t scare it to death."

The Head Wolf ignored Xiaqing and swiped the pine tree viciously again, tearing off a large chunk of bark from around the hollow. After landing, it let out a low growl at the opening. As soon as the Head Wolf attacked, the broken leg wolf and Sick Wolf had flanked it from behind, their expressions utterly ferocious.

Noticing Xiaqing wasn’t in formation, both the broken leg wolf and Sick Wolf shot her a glance, but Xiaqing, her head tilted up at the hollow, didn’t see them looking.

The Head Wolf’s growl wasn’t loud, but even Xiaqing found it chilling, to say nothing of the Red Squirrel inside the hollow.

At an incredible speed, it started pulling things out of the hollow and throwing them onto the ground. Chestnuts, pine nuts, cotton, shredded tobacco, Soybeans, a spoon Xiaqing had broken, a worn-out Yi Stone Protection Shell...

The Head Wolf glanced at the dumbfounded Xiaqing and vanished in a single bound. The broken leg wolf looked around before chasing after the Head Wolf. All that remained at the scene was the simple-looking Sick Wolf, the Red Squirrel trembling in its hollow, and the still-dumbfounded Xiaqing.

Xiaqing didn’t bother trying to figure out the meaning behind the Head Wolf’s parting glance. She raised a hand and rubbed Sick Wolf’s head. "Second, go ahead and pick up the food on the ground. Your packmate got justice for you."

After gathering the food, Xiaqing not only left the miscellaneous junk on the ground, but she also decided not to harvest the Yellow Light pine cones from this tree.

Why not?

She was worried that if the Red Squirrel was provoked any further, it would move out of the territory overnight. She was still counting on this squirrel to lead her to some peanuts.

Over the course of the afternoon, Xiaqing finished harvesting all the pine cones from the four Green Light Pine Trees. Without exception, all four trees had evolved to become harder. No wonder the Red Squirrel had come to snatch the pine cones she knocked down. It probably couldn’t get them loose itself and could only wait passively for the cones to crack open and reveal the nuts for it to collect.

The four trees yielded a total of four bags of pine cones. Once dried, they would produce over ten pounds of pine nuts. It wasn’t a huge amount, but Xiaqing was still delighted.

The next morning, the terrified Red Squirrel didn’t dare come to Xiaqing’s windowsill for water. Xiaqing discovered that it had moved first thing in the morning to a tree hollow as far away from her as possible. However, the hollow was still within Zone Three of Mountain No. 49, so Xiaqing was relieved.

Xiaqing brought Sick Wolf along and harvested the pine cones from the seven Yellow Light Pine Trees in Zone 3. Her speed today was much improved from yesterday; she finished all seven trees by only two in the afternoon.

After spreading the pine cones to dry on an empty patch of ground inside the greenhouse, Xiaqing called her companion, Sheep Leader, to help her carry the water tank to fertilize and water the crops on the hillside terraces.

Of course, the Green Light Spinach on the terraces received the best manure and was watered with pure mountain spring water. Xiaqing wasn’t cutting any corners with this patch of spinach. She did her best to follow the cultivation Guide from Zhang San, hoping to raise the spinach’s Yi Element content as quickly as possible.

After finishing watering the terraces, Xiaqing picked a basket of vegetables and was about to head home to cook when she heard heavy footsteps approaching from the Northern Isolation Zone.

"Ahem, ahem."

Afraid Xiaqing hadn’t heard the footsteps, the person cleared their throat loudly and continued to stomp their feet. Xiaqing sent Sheep Leader and Sick Wolf back ahead of her and walked quickly toward the Northern Isolation Zone.

Seeing Xiaqing run over, the stomping and coughing Tang Huai said smugly, "What’s the hurry? You’ve been waiting for these Protective Suits, haven’t you?"

Xiaqing replied calmly, "Give them to me."

’Would it kill her to speak nicely?’ Tang Huai grumbled to himself before handing the Protective Suit to Xiaqing. "The sizes are all based on that wolf from last time."

Xiaqing took the bag and opened it, discovering that the quality of these Protective Suits was even higher than the set Yang Jin had traded her. ’Score!’

While Xiaqing inspected the suits, Tang Huai began to ramble in a low voice, "These are Level 4 field-grade Protective Suits, the kind they use for the best military dogs. How about that? Pretty good of me, right? I even came alone. Why don’t you call your two wolves and your sheep over to try them on? If they don’t fit, I’ll take them back for an exchange. The wolf howling on Mountain No. 49 yesterday, that was yours, wasn’t it? I knew it."

Xiaqing packed up the Protective Suits. "Thank you. I’ll take them back for them to try. If they don’t fit, I’ll find you to exchange them."

Tang Huai grew angry. "Hey! What’s the big deal with calling your tamed beasts over to try them on? It’s not like a quick look is going to kill me!"

"My sheep is not in a good state of mind, and the wolves aren’t fully trained. If I call them all over, you’re the one who’s going to die." Xiaqing turned away. "It’s getting dark. I’m going to go collect my chicken coop. See yourself out."

Watching helplessly as Xiaqing strode into the shelterbelt, Tang Huai started cursing. "Damn it, I thought she was in a hurry for the Protective Suits, but she was just rushing back to collect a chicken coop. Big deal, raising chickens. I’m raising hundreds of them in the Safe Zone..."

Hearing Tang Huai’s grumbling, Xiaqing wasn’t surprised in the least. Tang Zhengpo ran a restaurant and needed a stable food supply. His family even had Green Light Crabs; it would be stranger if they *didn’t* have chickens.

After carrying the heavy chicken coop back to the village, Xiaqing placed it directly inside the sheep pen. The bigger the chickens grew, the more mess they made. The smell was strong, and cleaning up was a pain. So, Xiaqing put the chickens and wolves together, letting the wolves keep an eye on them for her.

After she finished harvesting the pine cones from Mountain No. 50, Xiaqing planned to build a dedicated chicken coop in her yard before the migratory birds passed through. That way, she wouldn’t have to lug the chickens around every day.

The next day at six in the morning, Xiaqing set out with Hu Zifeng and Jing Kuan.

On Mountain No. 50, the uncleared Injurious Grass had already tasseled and was full of seeds. As they advanced, they habitually cut down the seeded tops of the Injurious Grass and stuffed them into sealed bags.