Chapter 268: The Big Chuntun Tree Besieged by Insects

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: The Big Chuntun Tree Besieged by Insects

"It’s not my tamed beast," Xin Yu explained. "Can you trade this Evolutionary Eagle to me? I want it alive."

If it were anyone else asking, Xiaqing would first ask for the terms of the trade. But since it was Xin Yu—who lived in a three-story villa and grew roses—asking, Xiaqing agreed immediately.

She pinned the Evolutionary Eagle’s neck with her foot and pressed a button. "How do I get it to you?"

Xin Yu’s somewhat reserved voice turned joyful. "Thank you. The spraying is about to start. Could you please take the Evolutionary Eagle back to your territory first and hand it over to the patrol team after the spraying is done?"

"I can do that." Xiaqing bound the Evolutionary Eagle’s talons and beak, stuffed it into a cloth sack, and continued toward the abandoned cave.

On the Lord channel, Tang Huai continued to ask, "Xin Yu, what do you want a live Evolutionary Eagle for? Are you trying to tame it? Adult eagles are very proud; they can’t be tamed by humans."

As expected, Xin Yu ignored Tang Huai, and the Lord channel fell silent.

Xiaqing walked a few dozen more meters north and saw the broken leg wolf toying gleefully with a loach it had caught.

’This guy seems to have endless energy.’

Xiaqing asked, "Broken Leg, are you the only wolf here? Where’s the Queen?"

The broken leg wolf, with a thirty-centimeter-long loach in its mouth, bounded over to Xiaqing and frolicked around her.

Xiaqing let it have its fun. "So the Queen isn’t here? The spraying is about to start. Since it’s for pest control this time, the pesticide concentration will be high, and the helicopters will be flying very low. You all should hide in the cave and not come out. Especially you, you brainless thing. Don’t you dare jump up and provoke the helicopter."

Several times a year, the base would dispatch helicopters to spray Weed Killer over the Evolution Forests under its jurisdiction, a chemical agent that reduced the seeding of Injurious Grass. Therefore, animals in the Evolution Forest with a degree of intelligence and Memory were no strangers to helicopters.

Xiaqing had made this special trip because, unlike when they sprayed Weed Killer, the helicopters would descend to below ten meters for precision pest control. At that altitude, the helicopter’s noise and the downdraft from its spinning rotors were immense. Xiaqing was afraid the Wolf Group in the abandoned cave in Zone Three of Mountain 49 would be startled and expose their location.

So why didn’t the aircraft descend below ten meters when spraying Weed Killer over the Evolution Forest?

Because if a helicopter circled over the Evolution Forest at that altitude, it would be seen as a provocation by the various Evolved Fierce Beasts within.

In the eighth year of the Natural Disaster, while a helicopter was spraying Weed Killer over Mountain Domain No. 32, the pilot was careless and dropped below fifteen meters. A massive Python leaped up and coiled around it, destroying the aircraft and killing everyone on board.

This Wolf Group, capable of gathering medicinal herbs, digging for Yi Stones, and hunting Green Light animals, was a very important trading partner for Xiaqing. She didn’t want them to be discovered by the helicopters. Besides, Mountain No. 49 was the Green Dragon Team’s training ground, and according to their agreement, there shouldn’t be any large carnivorous beasts there.

After warning the broken leg wolf, Xiaqing quickly returned to her territory. She went to the High Slope to find her companion, Sheep Leader, and found him circling the Chuntun Tree, his movements clearly agitated.

Xiaqing went over and asked, "Leader, what’s wrong?"

"BAA!" Seeing Xiaqing, Sheep Leader immediately started nudging her toward the tree trunk.

Xiaqing saw a large swarm of slug caterpillars crawling up the trunk and was startled as well.

This Green Light Big Chuntun Tree was Sheep Leader’s main food source. Discovering it was covered in bugs, his frantic anxiety was understandable.

Xiaqing gently tried to calm her companion. "It’s okay, don’t worry. They’re about to start spraying. After they spray, all these bugs will be dead. Let’s go home."

"BAA!" Sheep Leader got stubborn and insisted that Xiaqing do something.

Xiaqing didn’t argue with him. "You wait here, Leader. I’ll go get the sprayer and get rid of the bugs on the Chuntun Tree."

This edible Green Light Big Chuntun Tree wasn’t just Sheep Leader’s treasure; it was Xiaqing’s too. Whether she could eat Asparagus Chrysanthemum in the spring depended entirely on this tree. The last hailstorm had destroyed all the Chuntun tree saplings she had moved to the spring’s edge.

Xiaqing rushed down the slope, placed the Evolutionary Eagle in the small hut by the farmland, then took the sprayer and medicine to the riverbank to mix with water. She ran back up the slope, pointed upwind, and said to Sheep Leader, "Leader, go wait over there. I’m going to spray the Chuntun Tree."

Sheep Leader obediently ran in the direction Xiaqing pointed, tilting his head back to watch her set up a ladder, climb the Big Chuntun Tree, and spray the pests. Xiaqing quickly sprayed the entire tree, not even sparing the empty ground around it. Once she was sure everything was taken care of, she called Sheep Leader to go down the mountain with her.

This time, Sheep Leader didn’t make a fuss and followed Xiaqing down the mountain. Just as the two of them reached the bottom, they heard the roar of an aircraft. Xiaqing looked up at a helicopter appearing in the south and shouted, "Leader, run for home! Quick!"

"BAA!"

Sheep Leader let out a cry and ran even faster than Xiaqing.

As she passed the hut, Xiaqing put the sprayer inside, then grabbed the sack with the Evolutionary Eagle, shut the hut door tight, and sprinted after Sheep Leader. The human and sheep finally dashed back into the yard just before the helicopter flew over their territory.

Xiaqing casually shut the door to the empty sheep pen and rushed back into the house, where she found two wolves and a sheep lying on the tatami mat, all staring at her in unison.

From Sheep Leader’s posture and expression, it was as if he had been with the two wolves the whole time and had never gone out at all...

Xiaqing smiled and greeted them, then, without bothering to wash the insecticide off her Protective Suit, she climbed directly up to the attic to check outside through the window.

She saw a helicopter fly over the area of territories one through twenty-six, then begin spraying the twenty-odd territories to the south, and felt a little relieved.

Xiaqing’s territory was at the northernmost edge of this area. The people in the helicopter probably hadn’t seen Sheep Leader’s mad dash.

Xiaqing closed the curtains and went to the bathroom to rinse the insecticide off herself. When she came downstairs to check on the Evolutionary Eagle in the sack, she found the two wolves circling it.

"The Evolutionary Eagle in here is my catch. It’s already been traded to someone else, so you can’t eat it." Xiaqing lifted the sack. This Evolutionary Eagle was more than twice as heavy as the Red Light Goose she had just sold; it had to be at least ten kilograms. Its wingspan was over four meters, a truly massive creature. Although Xiaqing had broken one of its wings, it was still fierce. Its sharp, hooked beak poked out of the sack, trying to peck at Xiaqing’s eyes.

Already prepared, Xiaqing grabbed the eagle’s neck and quickly used a syringe to inject an oral anesthetic into its beak. A few minutes later, the Evolutionary Eagle lost its ability to fight back and went completely limp.

Xiaqing carefully observed the eagle. Seeing only fear and no spark of intelligence in its feathered face, she breathed a sigh of relief. If this had been a Brain Domain Evolved Eagle, Xiaqing would have been genuinely afraid that, after being healed by Xin Yu, it would come back to get revenge on her.

While checking the eagle’s injuries, Xiaqing explained to the sheep and two wolves standing by the table, watching, "This Evolutionary Eagle was trying to steal the Plucking Yellow Weasel’s prey. The Plucker asked for my help, so I shot it down."

There was no food in the eagle’s stomach; it must have been starving for two or three days. No wonder it had risked coming to the edge of human territory to steal a Weasel’s prey.

In the end, it forgot this was human territory and failed to pay attention to Xiaqing’s movements, which is how it got its right wing’s radius bone shattered by a single shot.