Chapter 350: Xiaqing Did Not Lie

Following Xin Yu’s example, Xiaqing also built a small house inside the Wild Grass Wall near the Third Territory’s signpost. It was meant to receive visitors who came on business. This location was by the main passage, at the southernmost tip of the Third Territory. It was several hundred meters away from Xiaqing’s own house and farmland, making it very secure.

In a few days, when she began digging up trees to build the thorn wall, this place would serve perfectly as an office.

Xiaqing built the small house with red bricks salvaged from the Deserted Village. There were more irregular, broken bricks than whole ones, yet Xiaqing managed to use them to build remarkably straight walls. Paired with a natural wood door, windows, a stone table, and wooden chairs, the place was pleasing to the eye no matter how you looked at it.

“Miss Xia, did you used to work in construction? Your building skills are excellent.” After entering the house, Lu Ying offered a compliment before getting straight to the point. “We’ve already seen the crime scene photos Captain Tan took. Today, we’d like to ask you a few questions about the case. First, please tell us what happened on the night of the thunderstorm.”

Xiaqing noticed that the way Lu Ying was looking at her was almost identical to the way Xie Yu had looked at her during the mock interrogation via video call, before Xu Juan and Zhang Yong had entered the Third Territory. They were using their vision to capture the subject’s movements, speech, and subtle changes in expression to extract the information they wanted.

Xiaqing had never dealt with criminal investigators before, so she didn’t know if they were all like this, or if it was a trait specific to Brain Domain Evolvers.

She adopted the same composure she had used against Xie Yu, remaining as calm and collected as possible. She cleared her mind of all distracting thoughts, minimized her facial expressions, and recounted the events of the stormy night.

Of course, according to the story she and Tan Junjie had coordinated, Xiaqing claimed it wasn’t she who had discovered the two Jiang Bear Squad members entering her territory, but rather the patrol team.

After Xiaqing finished, Lu Ying asked about a few more details before moving on to a related question. “During the migratory bird season, when this territory was broadcasting wolf howls, you were the first to notice something was wrong with them. How did you determine that the recorded howls from the speakers were from a wolf that was being caged and tortured?”

Xiaqing answered truthfully, “In the fourth year of the Natural Disaster, I personally witnessed a team torture a caged wolf to use its cries to attract and capture its pack. So, that sound left a deep impression on me.”

In the fourth year of the Natural Disaster, the social order was far more chaotic than it is now.

Human Evolvers, armed with Evolutionary Abilities and advanced weapons, believed they had become the masters of Blue Star. They sought to crush all other life on the planet—including ordinary humans and Evolved Fierce Beasts—under their heel. Predators like tigers, wolves, bears, leopards, and eagles were prime targets for Evolvers to capture, tame, and command.

Lu Ying asked seriously, “You can remember something from six years ago so clearly, Miss Xia. Are you a Brain Domain Evolver?”

Xiaqing responded calmly, “I don’t have brain domain evolution, but I do have a good memory.”

Lu Ying nodded. “Have you had any conflicts with the Jiang Bear Squad?”

Xiaqing was very certain on this point. “I’ve never had any contact with the Jiang Bear Squad. We have no conflict.”

Lu Ying pressed, “When you went out on missions before, you never teamed up with the Jiang Bear Squad?”

Xiaqing thought carefully and didn’t give a definitive no. “I’ve never joined a mission assembled by the Jiang Bear Team, but I have participated in large-scale missions issued by the base. I can’t be certain if the Jiang Bear Team was part of those.”

The base often issued large-scale missions for gathering edible plants or clearing Injurious Grass. These missions had low ability level requirements, so many people would participate.

Lu Ying stared into Xiaqing’s eyes and suddenly asked, “Miss Xia, do you have a wolf on your territory?”

“Yes.” Xiaqing nodded. “A wolf infected with parasites.”

“Has it been on your territory the whole time?”

Xiaqing shook her head. “Not the whole time. After the wolf howls were broadcasted from the speakers, it left my territory and returned to the Evolution Forest. It came back after the thunderstorm. Its digestive system is damaged, so it can only eat cooked food now.”

Lu Ying asked again, “Miss Xia, do you think the Jiang Bear Squad’s entry into your territory was related to this wolf?”

“Probably,” Xiaqing answered calmly. “The Sick Wolf howled the day it left my territory. Many people heard it.”

Lu Ying then inquired, “Who do you think told the Jiang Bear Squad about the wolf howling on your territory?”

Xiaqing raised her eyes to meet Lu Ying’s gaze, only answering slowly after a few seconds, “I don’t know.”

「After leaving the Third Territory and getting into their vehicle」

The assistant following behind Lu Ying reported his observations. “She sprayed herself with an odor-eliminating medicine, likely to cover up the wolf’s scent. It’s the first time I’ve smelled this particular medicine. It’s definitely not produced in the Safe Zone.”

Lu Ying nodded. “Xiaqing wasn’t lying. First, she has no conflict with the Jiang Bear Team. Second, there is a wolf on her territory. The fact that even you can’t smell the wolf indicates the medicine she’s using is of extremely high quality, probably traded from Lord No.7. The medicine she used to treat the wolf’s parasites was also likely from Territory Land No. 7.”

This also matched their preliminary investigation into Xiaqing’s social connections—she had a good relationship with Lord No.7.

On this point alone, everyone had to regard Xiaqing in a higher light.

It was unlikely that Xiaqing, being on good terms with Lord No.7, would risk conspiring with the Green Dragon Team to lure the Jiang Bear Team into invading the Third Territory. With Lord No.7’s backing, she had no need to rely on the No.1 Territory for survival.

If a young, beautiful Evolver wanted to rely on others for survival, she wouldn’t have spent five years in the Safe Zone working a dirty, exhausting job in a construction crew, depending on her Strength Evolution Ability.

A person like that wouldn’t lose her head over Hu Zifeng’s “pursuit” and become a mere puppet for the Green Dragon Team.

Another assistant spoke up. “Sister Lu, Xiaqing lied at the end. The Jiang Bear Squad came with the Su Feng Team. She must have guessed that someone from the Second Territory was the informant.”

“It wasn’t really a lie. She has no proof, and she doesn’t want to offend the Su Feng Team,” Lu Ying’s voice was calm.

The change in Xiaqing’s tone and expression when she answered the last question was the second piece of evidence Lu Ying used to determine that Xiaqing had not conspired with the Green Dragon Team.

The Third Territory had only one resident, but the land was orderly and well-planned, and there was even a camera installed by the greenhouse. This showed that Xiaqing was a meticulous planner who had invested a great deal of effort into developing her territory. She was genuinely focused on pioneering and farming.

Her decision to leave the Safe Zone to become a farming Lord suggested that she intended to continue using her own abilities to earn resources for survival. This could also serve as an argument that she wouldn’t proactively provoke the Jiang Bear Team.

Lu Ying’s overall assessment was that Xiaqing had no motive to deliberately lure the Jiang Bear Squad into her territory. The intruders from the Jiang Bear Team were lying in an attempt to lessen their culpability for illegally entering a territory with weapons and destroying the Lord’s property.

As for what role the Green Dragon Team played in the case involving the Jiang Bear Squad’s invasion of the Third Territory and the death of a Su Feng Team member, that would require further investigation.