Chapter 403: Accidental Injury

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Accidental Injury

Amidst the howling cold wind, Xiaqing listened intently. No one from the Second Territory was responding on the Lord Channel, and within the territory, Tang Huai’s miserable screams grew louder and louder.

CLICK.

CLICK.

One after another, members of the Danger Investigation Team flicked off the safeties on their sidearms and chambered their rounds, ready for anything.

Cao Xianyun, the Auditory Evolver, had immediately jumped out of the patrol vehicle and run to the Second Territory’s signpost to listen. He now returned to report, "Captain, it seems Tang Huai brought out a batch of weapons, but the people in the territory thought the distribution was unfair. It caused a scramble, and Tang Huai got slashed."

"Just slashed?" Hu Zi was skeptical. "He’s screaming so miserably. It sounds more like he’s lost control and gone berserk."

Cao Xianyun replied, "He hasn’t lost control. I can hear Tang Huai cursing. His thoughts are perfectly clear."

Tan Junjie nodded, then pressed the button on his radio and asked again, "Second Territory, Tang Heng, please report the situation."

Immediately after, Tang Zhengpo from Territory No. 12 also asked urgently on the Lord Channel, "Tang Huai, what’s happened?"

"Captain Tan, Dad, the people in the territory started fighting over the weapons! They slashed the artery in my brother’s thigh, and he needs immediate medical attention!" Amidst the background noise of Tang Huai’s screams, Tang Heng’s plea for help sounded extremely urgent.

"Tang Huai, be quiet! Take your people and retreat to a safe location first," Tang Zhengpo calmly instructed his son. "Tang Heng, Doctor Sun is on his way. In the meantime, stop your brother’s bleeding."

Tan Junjie immediately pressed the button. "Danger Investigation Team requests to enter Second Territory. Acting representative of Second Territory, please confirm if you consent."

"Agreed! Captain Tan, get in here and arrest these bastards! If you don’t, I’ll fight them to the death myself! Fucking bastards..." Tang Huai cursed angrily, panting. His voice was already weak and hoarse, likely from blood loss.

After watching the Danger Investigation Team drive into the Second Territory, Xiaqing turned and went home.

’I don’t have any proof, but I bet Tang Huai got himself injured on purpose.’

’Two major events are scheduled for the Second Territory tomorrow morning: first, Tang Zhengsu and Xu Pin will be arriving, and second, the refugees from the Second Territory will be going out to hunt. Tang Huai is inexperienced and emotionally unstable. He’s easily led by the nose and wouldn’t be able to handle such a complex situation.’

’So, getting "accidentally" injured and becoming incapacitated is a pretty good way to avoid the immediate trouble. I’m not worried at all about whether he’ll actually be in any danger from this injury.’

’Even though Zhang San has blacklisted the Second Territory, Territory No. 12 hasn’t been. Tang Zhengpo definitely has some of Zhang San’s Special Medicine. Tang Huai is an Evolver, so his resistance is already stronger than a normal person’s. As long as he wasn’t directly cut by a weapon carrying the Super Evolution Fungus, he definitely won’t get infected with Evolutionary Bacteria.’

Xiaqing went home and started soaking some dried Asparagus Chrysanthemum. She then took some frozen meat from the freezer and cooked a pumpkin and meat porridge for Sick Wolf. For herself, she had scallion egg pancakes and fragrant beef jerky.

The Green Light beef jerky was just too fragrant. Xiaqing took a bite and her eyes narrowed in bliss.

Sheep Leader, a grass-eater, had no interest in the scent of jerky and just focused on its own meal. But Sick Wolf, who had just finished half a basin of meat porridge and a boiled egg, was lured to Xiaqing’s table by the aroma and stared at her expectantly.

Xiaqing broke off a fingernail-sized piece of jerky, soaked it in warm water for a moment, and offered it to him. "This jerky has salt in it, so you can’t have too much. It’s okay to just have a taste."

He swallowed the beef jerky in a single gulp, not even tasting it, and continued to stare expectantly at Xiaqing.

Shoving the last piece of jerky into her mouth, Xiaqing spread her hands. "All gone. If Second still wants more, go talk it over with Broken Waist. Pick out a Green Light Wild Boar from the Zone Three Valley, kill it, and bring it back. I’ll make it into jerky for you, how about that?"

Sick Wolf sniffed Xiaqing’s hand, his disappointment practically overflowing from his eyes. Clearly, he preferred the taste of beef jerky to the wild boars in the valley.

’That proves he’s not stupid. I like the beef jerky better, too.’

"I hope Brother San’s Green Light Bull has two calves next year. That way, we can trade for one of them," Xiaqing said, rubbing the back of her hand against Sick Wolf’s chin to cheer him up. Then, she carried her own bowl and chopsticks toward the kitchen.

Sick Wolf wagged his tail once, then turned, picked up his own food bowl in his mouth, and followed Xiaqing. Sheep Leader picked up its bowl and followed as well.

Xiaqing placed her own bowl in the sink, then took the bowls from Sick Wolf and Sheep Leader and set them aside, continuing her chatter. "If that cow is a disappointment and only has one calf, we’ll have to wait until the year after. Someone has already reserved next year’s first calf with an offer Brother San couldn’t refuse."

The wolf and the sheep stood at the kitchen doorway, listening to Xiaqing ramble on.

"Besides the chickens in the greenhouse and the Green Light Chestnuts that we can’t even harvest until next fall, we don’t have any food that would tempt Brother San. Second, next time you see the Queen or Broken Waist, you should go pester them. Tell them to help us catch a few high-quality Green Light animals from the Evolution Forest. Alive would be best, but dead is fine too..."

After washing the dishes and finishing her indoor training exercises, Xiaqing said goodbye to Sheep Leader, who was resting on the tatami mat, and went outside to do her weighted running training, which also served as a patrol of the territory. Sick Wolf, with his excellent night vision, naturally followed along.

First stop: the greenhouse.

So as not to disturb the resting chickens, Xiaqing didn’t turn on the lights. She took Sick Wolf inside, checked that the temperature and humidity were fine, and then tiptoed back out.

Second stop: the greenhouse in the Buffer Forest.

Through her Night Vision Goggles, Xiaqing saw that the leaves on the sweet potato vines had shriveled from the cold and lost their vitality. This indicated that while the evolved sweet potatoes’ cold resistance had increased, they still couldn’t grow in a natural environment with temperatures approaching zero.

Xiaqing took out her phone, recorded the day’s temperature and the changes in the sweet potatoes in her *Planting Guide*, and took some photos of the vines to save. Then she said to Sick Wolf, "The sweet potato leaves have turned like this, so they won’t recover even if the sun comes out tomorrow. We’ll come over at first light tomorrow morning. You and Sheep Leader can clear the vines, and I’ll dig up the sweet potatoes. After we’re done, I’ll cook you some sweet potato and meat porridge. It’s even tastier than pumpkin porridge."

Sick Wolf wagged his tail and rubbed his body against Xiaqing’s leg.

Xiaqing patted Sick Wolf’s back, which had filled out a bit. "Come on, third stop."

As she neared the southern end of her territory, Xiaqing stopped and listened intently.

It was now nine o’clock at night, and even over the howling wind, she could tell things were still chaotic in the Second Territory. Although she couldn’t make out what they were saying, Xiaqing could distinguish the voices of Tan Junjie, Tang Heng, and Zhou Xun. By now, Tang Huai had surely been carried away for treatment.

’Tan Junjie hasn’t come out yet, which means Tang Heng can’t control the refugees in the territory. At this rate, the note I gave Captain Tan won’t get to our allies in the Territory Alliance until tomorrow morning.’

’On that note, besides the matter of the supplemental lights, I also warned our allies not to leave their territories tomorrow, no matter what. But after hearing Tang Huai’s furious cursing and Tang Heng’s pleas for help on the Lord Channel, I’m sure that, with the exception of Territory No. 15, none of the other ordinary Lords will be leaving their territories tomorrow anyway.’