Xia Qing first threw a small pebble into the pond. She noticed the sow only raised her head to glance at the water before lowering it again to continue rooting in the mud, undisturbed by the playful chasing of the baby boars.
What does this mean? It means there are no natural predators for wild boars in this valley, which explains their low alertness.
The predator has arrived.
Xia Qing caught the evolved snake that flew down from a tree trunk to bite her, deftly stuffed it into her bag, and continued approaching the boars from downwind.
With her enhanced hearing, Xia Qing's stealth increased exponentially. She crept to within five meters of the boar without being detected.
This distance was the right time to act. Xia Qing made three simple tripwires with rope and sticks, then quietly circled to upwind, grabbed a fifty-pound rock, and hurled it at one of the baby boars.
A baby boar's pitiful cry rang out. The mother boar grunted and ran over to check on it. The boars scattered in panic, three of them getting caught in snares, squealing and squealing. The mother boar ran over again to check on the snareed boars. The three boars were caught in different directions, so the mother boar could only attend to one at a time.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xia Qing rushed over, threw the boar that had been killed by a stone into her basket, cut the snare rope, and carrying two of the boars, sprinted back to her territory, making sure the boars weren't chasing her. Three boars! Her luck today was truly incredible!
Xia Qing grinned foolishly as she examined the three boars, finding two red and one green—the one that was alive was green!
The base had always wanted to expand the breeding of green-light livestock, especially fast-breeding, high-meat-yielding domestic pigs or wild boars. The value of this edible boar was incomparable to that of ordinary edible animals.
This was a golden boar.
No, gold isn't worth much anymore; this was a points-based boar!
Xia Qing lovingly pinched the two little wild boars' muzzles to stop them from squealing, then took them home and placed them in a room in the west courtyard where the four walls were still intact. The two terrified piglets huddled in a corner, grunting softly.
Xia Qing gave the pigs grass and water, then immediately contacted Zhong Tao to deal with the dead red-light boar and the evolved snake in her bag.
Humming a little tune, she took out her phone and sent a message to Zhong Tao: "Brother Tao, do you have a precision biological detector? I have two red-light boars weighing a total of 130 pounds, one dead and one alive."
Xia Qing's detector could only distinguish between edible and inedible creatures; the advanced detector could distinguish between safe food, optional food, and inedible food. Previously, in the safe zone, Xia Qing hadn't been willing to spend 800 points to exchange for an advanced one, but now she could.
Unexpectedly, only five minutes later, Xia Qing received a reply from Zhong Tao:
Yes, I'll be there in an hour.
An hour? It seems Zhong Tao isn't far away. Xia Qing sent him another message: "Exchange some more oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar."
Last night's broadcast said that to make things easier for the lords, patrol vehicles would carry supplies, which lords could exchange using points or goods. However, to ensure the lords' safety, information about exchanging supplies would not be publicly disclosed.
Xia Qing's luck had suddenly turned around today; she could finally have a better life.
Soon, a light truck, kicking up a cloud of dust, pulled up at the No. 3 bus stop sign.
Seeing that Tan Junjie from the inspection team had gotten out of the truck with Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui, Xia Qing, carrying a basket on her back, felt a chill run down her spine.
Zhong Tao stared at Xia Qing with shining eyes. "Girl, you're amazing! Where's the wild boar? Let your brother Kui and I weigh it for you."
"Team Leader Tan, Brother Kui, over here." Xia Qing greeted Tan Junjie first, then pulled a tightly bound wild boar from her basket. "And a few snakes."
Zhong Tao's eyes lit up even more as he picked them up. "It must weigh seventy jin! Kui, weigh it!"
Zheng Kui, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, weighed the items. "Seventy-three jin of live wild boar, seventy-two jin of dead ones, and thirty jin of snakes in total."
Zhong Tao frantically pressed a few buttons on his calculator, then exclaimed in surprise, "3865 points in total! Wow, that's like a year of work in the safe zone, girl. How much oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar do you need?"
Although she had earned a large number of points, Xia Qing didn't want to appear too ostentatious. "Four bags of salt, and one jug of each of the others, all the best."
Xia Qing's restrained purchasing made Zhong Tao's mouth water with envy. "And..." "These seasonings are all top-quality, fresh from the processing plant. With the advanced testing equipment, it totals 3790. I have 75 points left. Should I transfer them to your card, or do you want some more supplies?"
Hearing that Zhong Tao brought only the best goods, Xia Qing pressed, "What else did you bring, Brother Tao?"
Zhong Tao quoted prices: "Compressed rations are 20 points per pound, soothing capsules are 100 points a box, and some commonly used medicines. There are also staple foods that the army is offering for exchange: wheat flour is 20 points per pound, corn flour is 13, and rice is 37."
Evolved warriors in the army receive good treatment. Evolved warriors without relatives will offer surplus supplies for exchange, which are usually consumed internally. Xia Qing hadn't expected to be there this time, and she quickly asked, "Brother Tao, will exchanging for food be recorded?"
Zhong Tao knew what Xia Qing was worried about and cheerfully explained, "No, it's not recorded. This is a private transaction. The transaction isn't using the card reader in the safe zone mission hall, so don't worry, girl." "
With food on hand, Xia Qing couldn't be bothered with keeping a low profile anymore and immediately pulled out her points card. 'I'll take 20 jin of each, is that enough?'
So much?
Zhong Tao glanced furtively at Tan Junjie, and seeing him remain silent, nodded. 'Sure, but I'll need to use 1325 of your points.'
Xia Qing, who only had less than 2000 points left on her card, pretended to be distressed as she handed it over. 'I only have a little over 1500 points, this is almost gone.'
Zhong Tao used the shared handheld card reader to transfer 75 points to Xia Qing's card, then took out his own card reader, swiped 1400 points, and called to Zheng Kui, 'Kui, move the stuff!'
After Xia Qing took the two heavy bags, Tan Junjie, who had been silent all along, spoke up, 'Where did you catch the wild boar?'" "
Tan Junjie's imposing manner rivaled that of Xia Qing's middle school homeroom teacher; Xia Qing felt pressured just looking at him.
She took out the small wild boar, hoping the patrol team would clear out the large wild boar, otherwise, it would cause trouble if it invaded her territory and wreaked havoc. So Xia Qing honestly answered, "After going straight north from plot number four, over a hill, there's a valley with a pond in it. I caught it there. At the time, there was a large wild boar with a group of piglets; the large boar was probably a normal evolved wild boar."
A large wild boar? Even if it's just red-light meat, it could be edible after purification! Not to mention the usually outgoing Zhong Tao, even the usually quiet Zheng Kui couldn't help but be tempted. "Team Leader Tan, the wild boar is so close; what if it breaks through the safety barrier and injures people or damages crops?" "
Tan Junjie didn't respond, only sternly warning Xia Qing, "Venturing into the Evolution Forest might anger large animals or insect swarms attacking your territory. If only your own territory is attacked, that's one thing, but if it affects other lords, it's a responsibility you can't afford."
Xia Qing immediately stood up straight. "Please rest assured, Captain Tan, I often go hunting in the Evolution Forest with the team. I know my limits and would never provoke evolved creatures I can't handle."
After Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui drove away, Xia Qing was left alone to face the stern Tan Junjie.
After waiting a few seconds without hearing Tan Junjie speak, Xia Qing first explained about the evolved sheep, "Captain Tan, I have a power-evolved sheep with a collar. It lives in my territory and on the hillside north of my territory. If you encounter it while hunting wild boars, could you please let it go? It's a herbivorous evolved creature; as long as people don't provoke it, it won't harm anyone."