Chapter 1130: Bargaining by the River: The Price of Healing

After returning to the Valley from Hill Fifty-Nine, Xia Qing started treating the wounds of the injured Evolved Wolves. The third snake invasion hadn’t been too fierce, so all four wolves were only lightly wounded.

One wolf, clawed by a bear, needed stitches. Another, poisoned by a snake, required an antidote serum injection. The other two, mangled by a python’s coils and teeth, just needed their wounds disinfected and medicine applied.

Xia Qing was grateful to the Idol for stuffing three snakebite serums into her medical kit, knowing she’d be facing off with the Snake Pack.

After patching up the four wolves, Xia Qing ran over to the Handsome Huge Wolf and, just as she’d suspected, found blood seeping from its wound, soaking right through the medical tape.

No amount of coagulant could keep up if it kept moving around like this.

Treating this wound hurt, but Xia Qing figured the Handsome Huge Wolf could tough it out. She gently peeled off the tape, reapplied medicine to stop the bleeding on the stitched wound, pressed on a new layer, then fed it an anti-inflammatory pill.

That wolf couldn’t fight anymore; it needed to rest. But telling this clown, who was a master at playing dumb, would be pointless. So Xia Qing called Alpha over, pointed seriously to the Handsome Huge Wolf’s injury and said, “Your Majesty, Big Wolf can’t fight anymore. The wound is deep, it’s lost a lot of blood. He has to go back and rest.”

Alpha cast a look over the Handsome Huge Wolf with those showy gold eyes, sniffed, then just turned and lay back down on the Royal Platform, still watching the lake.

Apparently, in his eyes, the wound wasn’t bad enough to matter. The Handsome Huge Wolf clearly agreed, making no move to leave and simply resting on the rock.

With neither wolf objecting, Xia Qing just let it go, too. She turned, leaned against the Big Tree, and closed her eyes to rest. She hadn’t had a break since Crippled Wolf called her over that morning. Even with that X Nutrient Shake keeping her stamina up, her mental energy was wearing thin.

The corpses from the snake battle in the Valley had all been picked clean by freeloading animals. Bloodstains nestled in the rocks and crevices were now being devoured by armies of ants, flies, and mosquitoes.

The sounds of water, wind, wolves breathing, and insects buzzing all pressed against Xia Qing’s ears. She shifted and leaned into Huge Wolf’s massive side, finally letting herself relax.

“Thunk.”

A heavy thump jolted every Evolved Wolf, Evolved Bear, and Xia Qing in the Valley awake.

Monkey hopped away from Cub, landing by the riverside and glanced at Xia Qing with anxious eyes. With all those wolves staring from across the river, Monkey opened its mouth but didn’t dare make a peep, much less run over to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing eyed its round belly, hopped down from the rock, and walked to the riverbank. “Monkey, what’s up?”

Seeing her, Monkey’s eyes lit up. It darted back, grabbed Cub, and brought it to the riverbank, pointing to the blood flowing from Cub’s left hind leg for Xia Qing to see.

Xia Qing got the message. “Your bear friend’s hurt? You want me to patch it up?”

“Ahhh—” Monkey squealed with joy.

“Sure,” Xia Qing replied. She’d been wanting to get Cub alone anyway to remove that tracker the Blazing Fire Squad had implanted. This was her chance—but rules were rules. She wasn’t in the business of working for nothing.

“So, is Cub paying for treatment with a Yi Stone or with medicinal herbs? Monkey, if you can’t pay, I won’t treat it. I traded for all my medicines—they run out and then they’re gone.”

That Yi Snake the Bear King gave her? That was a thank-you gift for shooting the python wrapped around the bear.

As for that medium-sized python? The Bear King hadn’t said a word when handing it over. Maybe it just didn’t like that snake—maybe it was simply a strip of Red Lantern Meat to it.

Not far behind Xia Qing, Crippled Wolf lay on a rock in the tree’s shade, eyes trained thoughtfully on that goofy little monkey across the river.

“AH!!!”

The message got through—Monkey turned and dashed out of the Valley, leaving Cub and Xia Qing staring at each other across the river. Cub’s eyes were clear, but it was no smaller than Xia Qing.

Its shoulders were almost as high as the Handsome Huge Wolf’s—must be over 1.5 meters at the shoulder. Standing upright, it could easily be over 2.5 meters tall.

Xia Qing, not even 1.8 meters tall, was like a bean sprout next to it.

“Roar!”

The Giant Bear—who’d lost the last bear-wolf shouting match with Xia Qing—saw her eyeing its cub, let loose a furious roar, and thundered over.

Alpha, never far from Xia Qing, saw the Giant Bear charging. He leaped down from the Royal Platform in front of Xia Qing, unleashing a howl at the massive bear.

Once Alpha moved, all fifteen resting wolves sprang up and charged over, while the eight bears on the far side thundered to the riverbank and hurled roars back at the wolves. Xia Qing’s ears buzzed from the noise, and Monkey, who had returned, cowered behind a rock, not daring to move.

“ROAR!!!”

Up on the Royal Platform, the Bear King stood and bellowed. Instantly, the eight bears shut up and backed off. Only Cub and its furious bear mother—or bear sister—remained by the river.

Beside this mother bear, who stood a towering 4.4 meters tall, Cub really did look ‘small.’ Xia Qing should have called it ‘petite’ instead.

When the Alpha saw the Bear Pack retreat, he howled a command and the Wolf Pack backed off. He returned to his Royal Platform, leaving only Crippled Wolf—Wolf Pack’s second-in-command—by Xia Qing’s side.

Crippled Wolf was sizing up the Bear Pack’s number two: the mother bear whose brain had also evolved. Xia Qing, meanwhile, was still focused on Cub.

Xia Qing’s gaze was calm as Cub’s black eyes darted around, studying her intently. This bear was clearly sharp-witted.

Monkey, seeing the bears withdraw, hurried to Cub’s other side and showed Xia Qing a stone clutched in its hand.

The crystal-clear, violet-hued stone was even bigger than a goose egg. In the sunlight, it shimmered with dancing colors like a fallen star from the sky.

Thanks to mining info from Yang Jin, Xia Qing immediately recognized the stone—it was top-grade amethyst.

She wasn’t the only one interested. Crippled Wolf perked up as well, pawing at Xia Qing’s backpack to get her moving and treat Cub’s wound in exchange for that beautiful stone.

Ignoring the temperamental, brain-evolved mother bear, Xia Qing pointed gently at Cub and asked in the softest voice, “Monkey, if I treat Cub’s wound, you’re giving me the stone, right?”

“Yip!” Monkey mimicked the ‘okay’ gesture it’d seen from Crippled Wolf and the Elder Wolf, baring its fangs in a goofy grin. It looked uglier that way, but Xia Qing honestly thought the little monkey was adorable.

According to the listed price in her data, that stone was worth at least fifty thousand credits!

With a hand gesture, Xia Qing agreed, “Alright, I’m in. Monkey, bring the stone and Cub here. But the… uh, bear sister can’t come.”

With that mother bear’s fiery temper, Xia Qing didn’t dare let her see anyone cutting open Cub. One wrong move and she’d get swatted flat.

Monkey understood. It grabbed Cub and tried to haul it across the river. The mother bear roared furiously, refusing to let Cub go, and everything ground to a halt.

As Xia Qing considered approaching the Bear King to convince it to order the mother bear back, Crippled Wolf nudged her and stepped into the river.

He was going to take Xia Qing across.

Xia Qing shook her head. “Crippled, that mother bear will attack me.”

The amethyst was pretty and those credits were alluring, but her life was more precious.