After the windows were installed and the room was airtight, Xia Qing slept exceptionally soundly.
Having slept well all night, Xia Qing dreamt that a highly evolved bull had wandered into her field and wouldn't leave. She harnessed it to a plow, and it could plow fifty acres a day.
When she woke up, Xia Qing couldn't help but laugh. If only she really had a bull. Because bulls don't need oil, and diesel and gasoline are very expensive these days, unaffordable for most people.
After washing with spring water and eating some rations for breakfast, Xia Qing carried three drinking buckets to fetch water.
Yesterday, she used up a 20-liter bucket of spring water for drinking, cooking, and washing. The two extra buckets were found yesterday in a half-smashed kitchen cabinet in a house in the next village. The lids were tightly screwed on, so they could still be used after washing.
After killing three poisonous snakes along the way, Xia Qing arrived at the stone cave and found that the rocks blocking the entrance had been removed.
She gripped her machete tightly, listened intently, and carefully observed, confirming that within a fifty-meter radius, besides herself, a few sparrows, and a few snakes, there were no other large animals before she felt slightly relieved.
The ability to observe the surrounding fifty meters was because Xia Qing was actually a three-evolved human.
Besides her strength, her vision and hearing had also evolved. Although she hadn't undergone a testing and rating in the research lab, by comparing herself to other evolved humans, Xia Qing judged that her auditory and visual evolution was at least level four. Furthermore, her strength wasn't the reported level four, but rather level six.
Therefore, Xia Qing wasn't a low-level evolved human, but a high-level three-evolved human.
Multi-evolved humans were very rare. Out of the two million people in the entire Hui San Base, there were only twelve two-evolved humans and even fewer three-evolved humans. Moreover, these two three-evolved humans hadn't publicly revealed their identities or evolutionary paths. Xia Qing only knew that one of them worked in the military, and the other went to the research institute at the Hui Yi main base.
Then, there was no further news about these two. Rumors in the safe zone said they had been dissected for research and were long dead.
After Xia Qing evolved three elemental abilities, her father, fearing she would be captured for research, only reported her power evolution.
These three elemental evolutions have allowed Xia Qing to repeatedly avoid danger over the years, and are her only means of venturing out of the safe zone alone to farm.
At the entrance to the cave, where Xia Qing had placed her water bucket yesterday, there were clear footprints of three animals: a bird, a weasel, and a sheep or deer.
The bird was out of the question; the weasel was a natural predator of rats, so she had to keep it. The sheep or deer… she was their natural predator, so she'd keep it!
If Xia Qing could find the spring, how could the animals in the mountains not know it? With the reservoir below polluted, it was perfectly reasonable for the clever animals to come here to drink from the spring.
Xia Qing's eyes lit up as she looked around, and soon she made a new discovery: on a branch two meters away, hung several white hairs!
The length, the curl, the resilience, plus the footprints—it was definitely a sheep. Xia Qing wished she could do nothing else today but stay here guarding the cave and waiting for the sheep. She hadn't eaten mutton in years.
The pit Xia Qing had cleared beneath the spring inside the cave didn't hold any water; it all flowed away through the cracks in the rocks. Xia Qing wasn't surprised. If the water had been stored or if the spring had overflowed, the search team would have discovered it long ago.
She placed a bucket in the pit to collect the spring water, then tested the meat of the three venomous snakes. To her surprise, one snake's meat showed a green light (meaning it was of good quality).
This overjoyed Xia Qing, making her even more eager to wait for the sheep drinking water.
However, this one snake was enough for today. While collecting water, Xia Qing selected and tested the wild vegetables she recognized.
Only after filling all three buckets did she find seven small wild vegetables. Although blanching them would only yield enough for one bite, Xia Qing was already very satisfied with this harvest.
She washed the wild vegetables clean with the spring water, picked up a larger stone to block the cave entrance, put the things home, and then grabbed a shovel to tend the fields.
After leveling four acres of land, she could plant all the seeds distributed by the base. Xia Qing chose a plot of land only 100 meters from the flood control wall; irrigation was convenient, and the wall prevented flooding.
The first step in leveling the land was to turn over the soil, removing large stones, tree roots, grass roots, and visible pests. Xia Qing adjusted her straw hat and began working.
She was surprised by what she found.
Many tender shoots had sprouted from the thick layer of wood ash covering the land. Unable to distinguish the different types of shoots, Xia Qing tested them and, finding they were all red-light, treated them as weeds.
Without machinery or oxen, relying solely on manual labor, Xia Qing demonstrated the advantages of a power-evolved individual. Although she wore out four shovels that morning, she had cleared two acres.
At this rate, she could clear all four acres today, giving Xia Qing a great sense of accomplishment.
"Xia Qing, Xia Qing!"
Hearing Zhong Tao's amplified shouts through a loudspeaker, Xia Qing wiped the sweat from her face with a towel, went home to get the edible venomous snake she had been searching for, and then hurried to the road sign.
Seeing Xia Qing arrive, Zhong Tao jumped out of the car and waved to her, not stepping into her territory. "Little sister!"
Xia Qing smiled and stepped forward. "Brother Tao, here for inspection?"
Zhong Tao noticed Xia Qing looked much fairer than before, and was initially surprised before smiling and asking, "Yes, I inspected a few nearby plots yesterday, and today I'm taking a look around the area down the mountain. How are you? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Xia Qing handed him the straw bag containing the snake. "I was lucky; I caught a snake this morning while clearing the hillside."
Zhong Tao quickly waved his hand. "That won't do. Snake meat is good stuff; you should keep it for yourself."
Xia Qing firmly pushed the bag forward. "I don't eat snake meat."
Seeing that she wasn't being polite, Zhong Tao took the straw bag and handed it to Zheng Kui, who was smoking a cigarette, asking with concern, "I remember this mountain was cleared quite thoroughly. Are there many snakes? Should I report it and send someone to clear it again?" "Not many, no need to send anyone." Xia Qing refused directly, then handed Zhong Tao a slip of paper with her phone number on it. "This is my phone number. What's your phone number, Brother Tao?"
Zhong Tao, as the team leader, was equipped with a satellite phone. Zhong Tao gave her his cell phone number and asked in a low voice, "Little sister, do you have a satellite phone?"
Seeing Xia Qing nod, he immediately grinned. "That's much more convenient. Just call me if you need anything. There are two more things I need to make clear to you. One is to listen to the base's broadcast every evening between seven and eight o'clock. The second is that the military will send soldiers to patrol the mountain's buffer zone and surrounding forest area regularly. They'll let you know when they arrive, and they'll only enter your land with your permission."
Xia Qing pressed, "Are they patrolling the regimental headquarters?"
"Yes, eh?" Zhong Tao realized he had accidentally revealed a secret. Feeling guilty, he looked around and asked Xia Qing in a low voice, "Little sister, how did you know there are people at the regimental headquarters?"
Xia Qing laughed. "I guessed. I don't know anything."
Zhong Tao scratched his head and laughed too. "It's fine if you know this, but don't tell anyone. Or should I give your number to the patrol team? That way, it'll be easier for them to contact you?" "Okay." Ten years of natural disasters have taken their toll on the military, who have made enormous sacrifices to protect the people. They are the most trustworthy of all groups. Xia Qing added, "Don't tell anyone in the safe zone that I have a phone call."
"Understood." Zhong Tao was about to leave when a man came running from the east. He immediately raised his gun and shielded Xia Qing behind him. "Stop! Get any closer and I'll shoot!"