Chapter 84: The White Egret Laid an Egg

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: The White Egret Laid an Egg

After cleaning her gun and finishing her accuracy training, Xiaqing began her reflex training. At 10:30 PM sharp, Xiaqing washed up, said goodnight to Sheep Leader who was lounging in his designated spot in the first-floor living room, and went to rest in the back room on the right side of the second floor—the one in the northwest corner.

The small house where Xiaqing lived was situated just south of the center of the cultivated land at the foot of the mountain. From the north-facing window of this back bedroom on the second floor, she could see all the farmland, cultivated areas, and the spring within the Third Territory.

Although Luo Pei had left the Third Territory with his people, the people from the Second Territory were still monitoring her land. That was why Xiaqing had decided to move into this bedroom, so she could guard her territory’s most important resources at night: the spring and her crops.

Xiaqing set a dozen or so simple yet inconspicuous traps near the farmland and the spring. If a person or large animal passed by, the sounds of rustling trees and shifting stones would be picked up by her High Level Evolved ears, allowing her to shoot the intruder on sight.

Xiaqing put on her Night Vision Goggles and peered through the window, confirming everything was normal in her territory. Just as she spread out her sun-warmed blanket, she heard the CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER of Sheep Leader coming up the stairs.

Even after evolving, sheep still had very poor night vision. To make it easier for Sheep Leader to open the door and relieve himself in the yard, the small night-light on the first floor was always left on.

Guided by this faint light, Sheep Leader made his way up to the second floor. He appeared before Xiaqing and stared at her, his eyes narrowed.

Xiaqing patiently explained, "Leader, didn’t I just tell you? I have to sleep in this room to guard our water and food. You need to sleep on the first floor to guard the door and the yard."

Sheep Leader stood his ground. With a sigh that was a mixture of affection and exasperation, Xiaqing relented. "Fine, if you must sleep in the same room as me, come on in."

Xiaqing laid a bamboo mat on the bedroom floor and placed a flat grass cushion on it. "Go to sleep. Tomorrow, we need to take down the rainproof cloth and clear out the Injurious Grass. The third Harmful Rain won’t be here for at least another two months, and by then, we’ll be able to harvest our wheat, mung beans, and potatoes. After the harvest, I’ll eat the grains, and you can eat the stalks."

Having said her piece, Xiaqing yawned, pulled the blanket over herself, and closed her eyes.

Sheep Leader lay on the grass cushion for a moment but decided it wasn’t as comfortable as his usual spot in the living room. He glared at Xiaqing unhappily, then stood up and CLACK-CLACKED across the wooden floor back down to the first floor.

Lying in bed, Xiaqing’s lips curled into a wide grin.

The next day, the pain from the whipping she’d taken from the dancing potato stalks had lessened, and it no longer affected her movements.

After breakfast, Xiaqing turned on the radio. She wandered around, listening to the broadcast and killing enough Evolved Insects to fill a large bag. As always, she fed half to the fish and half to the snakes.

As the fish fry, now five centimeters long, swarmed to the surface to snatch at the food, a White Egret wading in the shallows swiftly plucked one out of the water and, with a tilt of its head, swallowed it whole.

’Why is only one White Egret down here eating fish today?’

Xiaqing looked toward the bird’s nest on the fir tree by the water’s edge and saw the other White Egret sitting in the nest.

’Is it... laying eggs? Starting to incubate them?’

After eating her fish for so long, it was finally time for the White Egrets to pay her back. Xiaqing had been craving their eggs for some time now.

’Are White Egret eggs edible? I’ll know once I bring some back to test.’

’Stealing? No such thing.’

’All the resources in the Third Territory belong to me. How can taking my own things be called stealing?’

Xiaqing let out a mischievous snicker.

Back home, Xiaqing hitched the hopper to her micro-tiller and chugged it over to the edge of the fields. In a flash, she had stripped all the rainproof cloths from the shelters. She directed Sheep Leader to help her fold the cloths and load them into the hopper.

Then, Xiaqing brought out the insect-proof netting, cut it to size, and secured it to the shelter frames. The agricultural broadcast from the base strongly promoted this cultivation technique, as the netting kept out insects but let in light and air while providing moderate shade.

Kuang Qingwei from plot six had once asked Qi Fu from plot five why the base was promoting this technique.

Qi Fu confirmed it was because he had bought a large quantity of the insect-proof netting—the kind used for window screens—from the Safe Zone. After Zhong Tao learned what he was using it for, he took videos and photos of Qi Fu’s pest-proof vegetable shelter and reported it to the base. As a result, Qi Fu had even received some very practical rewards.

As for what those rewards were, Qi Fu never said, and everyone was tactful enough not to ask.

Xiaqing had also experienced the benefits of using insect-proof netting on her vegetables and had long planned to use it on all her crops. That was why she had traded with Zhong Tao for a large supply of it.

Luckily, she’d traded for it early. According to Kuang Qingwei, the price of insect-proof netting had already gone up.

For a while, Xiaqing had been too busy fixing up her house to cover the crops. Now that the shelter frames were up, it was the perfect time to take off the rainproof cloth and put up the insect-proof netting.

Once the insect-proof netting was up, she and her avian helpers would take care of any insects that were blocked by it.

Now, Xiaqing’s territory was home to many kinds of birds, like Magpies, crows, sparrows, tits, and red-billed blue magpies. Previously, these rascals had schemed to steal her fruits and vegetables, but after Xiaqing beat a number of them to death to teach the rest a lesson, they had mended their ways and become proper "beneficial birds."

The only ones that weren’t beneficial birds were the fish-stealing White Egrets.

It took Xiaqing all day to remove the rainproof cloth and replace it with the insect-proof netting. After finishing her work, it was naturally time to reward herself with a good meal.

Carrying the dozen or so live snakes she had caught that day, Xiaqing strolled over to the reservoir, where she found the two White Egrets getting cozy in their nest.

’Damn it,’ she thought. ’Sheep Leader and I work our butts off and we’re both single, but these two feathered thieves are flaunting their love for everyone to see. They have to be taught a lesson.’

With yet another reason to teach the White Egrets a lesson, Xiaqing first drove the micro-tiller full of rainproof cloth back home. She tested the snakes for edibility, putting the safe ones into the Snake Box and tossing in some Evolved Insects for them to eat. She waited until dusk, when the White Egrets’ vision would be poor, then returned to the Fir Forest. Staying out of the egrets’ line of sight, she took the snakes from her bag and tossed them near their nest.

White Egrets have poor night vision and hunt during the day. Most snakes hunt at dawn, dusk, or at night. Once the egrets and snakes started fighting, she could step in and reap the rewards.

Hiding in a corner, Xiaqing didn’t have to wait long for the battle between the egrets and snakes to begin. Once both White Egrets had flown from the nest, Xiaqing scrambled over and, sure enough, found five pale, bluish-green eggs inside.

Xiaqing grabbed three and stuffed them into her bag. As she was fleeing the scene of the crime, she heard the sound of flapping wings. She immediately pulled out a fierce, meter-long Evolutionary Snake and pinned it to the edge of the nest, shouting, "White Egrets, get back here! A snake is stealing your eggs!"

The White Egret landed on the nest, shielding the remaining eggs, and viciously pecked the Evolutionary Snake with its long, golden-yellow beak.

With a single THWACK!, its beak pierced straight through the snake’s head and into the tree trunk.

’I never expected these White Egrets, who just stroll around the water’s edge stealing fish like a bunch of dandies, to be so ferocious. No wonder they became the top birds of the territory after they showed up.’

Xiaqing helped the White Egret finish off the remaining Evolutionary Snakes before heading home with her loot.