Chapter 275: The Fifth Yi Stone

Chapter 275: Chapter 275: The Fifth Yi Stone

Looking at the bulging pockets on its suit, Xiaqing excitedly rubbed her hands together. "What’s in here? Mind if I take a look?"

"A-woo," the Broken Waist Wolf replied, clearly in a good mood.

Xiaqing opened the left abdominal pocket of the Broken Waist Wolf’s Protective Suit and pulled out several herbs, roots and all. They were caked in so much mud she couldn’t identify them at all. But Sheep Leader ran over, took a sniff, and immediately got excited, batting his big, kohl-rimmed eyes coquettishly at Xiaqing.

"Maaa~~~"

’I want some.’

’Anything a Brain Domain Evolution Wolf makes a special trip to bring back, and which gets Sheep Leader’s personal stamp of approval, has to be good stuff.’ Xiaqing excitedly set the herbs aside and warned Sheep Leader, "This is what Broken Waist brought back. It’s his property. You can’t touch it without Broken Waist’s permission, Leader."

"Maaa~~~" Sheep Leader paid her no mind, rubbing against Xiaqing’s leg and continuing his assault with a cutesy, whining tone.

Xiaqing had no choice but to break off a small piece of a compressed ration to appease him. Only then did she open the right abdominal pocket of the Broken Waist Wolf’s Protective Suit. The moment her hand reached inside, she was so thrilled she almost jumped. ’This texture, this color, this weight... it’s exactly the same as the raw material for making a Yi Stone Protection Shell that Luo Pei traded me!’

With a racing heart and trembling hands, Xiaqing pulled out two handfuls of gravel and soil, then felt a walnut-sized raw Yi Stone among them.

Xiaqing clutched the damp, raw stone, her voice trembling with excitement. "B-Broken Waist... my Handsome Wolf Brother, is this for me?"

This time, the Broken Waist Wolf didn’t make a sound. It padded over to the bathroom door, then turned its head and looked calmly at Xiaqing.

"You want a bath? Okay! Coming!" Xiaqing understood immediately. She placed the Yi Stone and the herbs together and scurried over, turning on the shower head and adjusting the water temperature. She gave the Broken Waist Wolf a quick rinse to wash off the mud, then took off its Protective Suit.

After the Protective Suit was off, the Broken Waist Wolf twisted its head to look at its fur, all messy and flattened by the suit. Then, it actually lifted a front paw and placed it on Sheep Leader’s personal bathtub.

"You want a soak? Alright, just a moment, Handsome Wolf Brother!" Without a second thought, Xiaqing moved Sheep Leader’s tub over and started filling it with water. ’Forget Sheep Leader’s tub,’ she thought. ’If the Broken Waist Wolf wanted to use my quilt to dry its fur today, I wouldn’t even blink. To do otherwise would be an insult to that Yi Stone in the living room.’

The Broken Waist Wolf was bigger than Sheep Leader, but it still fit in the tub. You could tell it really enjoyed the feeling of soaking, tilting its head back and squinting its eyes in pure bliss.

While it was bathing, Xiaqing scrubbed its dirty Protective Suit and boots clean and hung them up to dry. Then she ran to the living room, sealed the Yi Stone and the materials for the Yi Stone Protection Shell in a bag, and began to carefully examine the clump of herbs the Broken Waist Wolf had brought back.

Comparing them to the images of Evolved Herbs from the mission board that she had saved on her phone, Xiaqing actually recognized one: High Level Evolved Tiankui.

The mission description said the root of this herb was used for medicine. The purchase price listed on the Safe Zone’s mission board was 3,000 points per plant. The price wasn’t particularly high, but Xiaqing was still quite satisfied.

Hearing a noise from the bathroom, Xiaqing went over and opened the door to find the Broken Waist Wolf had already climbed out and was shaking its body to fling the water from its fur.

Once it had shaken itself mostly dry, Xiaqing eagerly used an old bedsheet to dry it off, asking, "Handsome Wolf Brother, are the herbs and the Yi Stone you brought back for me? What do you want in exchange?"

Hearing Xiaqing’s words, the Broken Waist Wolf shook its fur and looked up at the Protective Suit hanging on the wall.

Xiaqing understood. "You want this Protective Suit?"

The Broken Waist Wolf seemed to think for a moment, then walked out of the bathroom to the tatami mat. It placed a large paw on the Sick Wolf’s paw and turned to look at Xiaqing.

Xiaqing gestured as she spoke, trying to confirm. "You want to trade the herbs and the Yi Stone for the Protective Suit it’s wearing and the one you wore?"

"A-woo," the Broken Waist Wolf replied, as if praising Xiaqing for being smart enough to understand its meaning so quickly.

Xiaqing suppressed a smile, nodding with a solemn expression as she picked up the herbs and the Yi Stone. "The things you brought back are a fair trade for these two Protective Suits. From now on, the suits are yours, and these herbs and this Yi Stone are mine."

The Broken Waist Wolf indicated its agreement, and Xiaqing was ecstatic.

She immediately and carefully separated the muddy clump of herbs, laying them out on the table over a plastic bag. She called her companion over, "Leader, come take a sniff. See which one you want to eat."

Sheep Leader immediately trotted over to Xiaqing’s side and unerringly picked the second plant from the left. This herb looked quite ordinary, and Xiaqing didn’t know its name. She pinched off a leaf, rinsed it clean, and fed it to Sheep Leader before taking a picture of the herbs and sending it to Zhang San. "Leader, Second, you two guard the territory. I’m going to bed. Handsome Wolf Brother, you worked hard. Get some good rest."

"Maa." Having eaten a leaf of the herb, Sheep Leader graciously deigned to reply.

The Sick Wolf flicked its tail, indicating it understood. The Broken Waist Wolf calmly watched Xiaqing climb up to the second floor before it lay down on the tatami mat, closed its eyes, and rested.

Xiaqing had just reached her bedroom when she got a call from her idol.

"Xiaqing, besides the second plant, I’ll take the other five. A package price of twenty-one thousand points, is that okay?"

"Okay." Zhang San’s prices were always fair, so Xiaqing didn’t haggle. She asked what species the herb that Sheep Leader liked but her idol had rejected was.

Having acquired some good herbs, Zhang San’s voice was tinged with pleasure. "That’s Evolved Slender-spiked Elymus, a type of Evolution Grass planted in arid regions. It used to be used as livestock feed, and now it’s one of the main ingredients for the compressed rations made at Lan City Base."

Hearing Zhang San’s explanation, Xiaqing felt that the Broken Waist Wolf must have known how much she valued her companion, Sheep Leader, and had intentionally mixed this plant in with the other herbs. Xiaqing asked, "Brother San, can we grow this grass in our territory?"

Zhang San was in a good mood and very agreeable. "You can. I’ll put together a cultivation Guide and have Ji Li bring it to you. For these herbs and the frogs you sent over, minus the twenty-three stalks of High Level Evolution Black Orchid Grass you traded for today, you still have a balance of sixteen thousand two hundred points. What would you like to exchange for?"

Xiaqing chose a few common medicines and an insecticidal and antibacterial bath soap for Sheep Leader. Then Zhang San reminded her, "Your medicine is almost ready. You can’t dye your skin while you’re using it, so you’d better plan for a transition period."

’It would be strange if my red skin just disappeared overnight. I’ll need to arrange a transition period to gradually ’fade’.’

After handing the herbs to Ji Li and getting the cultivation Guide for the Evolved Slender-spiked Elymus, Xiaqing read it carefully and felt reassured. It was just a type of pasture grass, not difficult to cultivate. The plant the Broken Waist Wolf had brought back had already headed, but its seeds weren’t mature yet. After some time, Xiaqing could follow the Broken Waist Wolf to find the seeds of this Evolution Grass, collect them, and sow them in her territory next year to enrich Sheep Leader’s diet.

Of course, she couldn’t let the one she already had go to waste. Xiaqing planted it in a flower pot, watered it with Pollution-free Spring Water, and placed it with her Green Light Strawberry seedlings in a sunny spot inside the house.

Strawberries are plants with strong Life Force. One plant from the spring had already produced eight new seedlings via its runners. If they continued at this rate, she would have over seventy plants by next year. In other words, if everything went smoothly, Xiaqing could achieve strawberry freedom the year after next.

That night, Xiaqing was smiling even in her dreams.