Chapter 129: Wolf Gifts and a Goose-Sized Egret

Passing the sheep shed on her way home, Xia Qing noticed Boss Sheep was gone. He must’ve headed to the pasture for a good meal.

The basin was missing more than half its water, but the two wolves hadn’t touched the headless snake at all. Now the snake’s body was crawling with ants and swarmed by buzzing, fat flies.

Seeing the wolves waste perfectly good meat didn’t make Xia Qing angry—if anything, it cheered her up.

After all, what did it mean that the evolved wolves didn’t eat the food she prepared? Clearly, someone—or rather, some-wolf—was bringing them fresh meals! She wouldn’t have to keep feeding two fully grown, evolved wolves stacks of meat anymore. That was a relief.

Xia Qing set the spring water inside, poured river water into the filter bucket, then went out to deal with the snake that had already been tainted by evolved insects. To her surprise, the wolf with the broken leg was still baring its fangs and glaring at her. The one with the shattered spine slowly lifted its head, too.

Seemed the anesthesia had finally worn off—they could eat now. Xia Qing burned and buried the snake, swapped out the wolves’ water for fresh spring water with anti-inflammatories, rigged up a stand using iron wire to hold the basin, balanced it onto a wooden stake, and carefully slid the water bowl into the shed.

As soon as she pushed the stick through the opening, the broken-legged wolf showed all its teeth, snapped its front paw at the stick, ready to bite down.

“Grrr—”

The crippled wolf lying down let out a low growl—not loud, clearly lacking in strength—but the warning was enough. The broken-legged wolf instantly dropped to the floor and stayed put.

Watching how they interacted, Xia Qing guessed the brain-evolved wolf with the broken spine must hold a pretty high rank in the pack.

She inched the basin close to the brain-evolved wolf’s head and, speaking in the gentle tone she reserved for Boss Sheep, told it softly, “Drink up. There’s medicine in the water. It’ll help your injuries heal. Don’t mess with the brace on your back. It’s keeping your bones in place—if you break it, your wounds will never heal right.”

No wonder brain-evolved wolves were smarter—their intelligence really set them apart. The wounded wolf, its waist encased in a cast-like brace, shakily propped itself up just enough to drink, dipping its snout into the bowl.

Wolves usually lap water like cats, using their tongues, but this one was so weak its front legs barely supported the weight of its head.

After a few gulps, the brain-evolved wolf slumped back, water dripping from its whiskers in a soggy mess—but it kept its amber eyes fixed calmly on Xia Qing.

Unlike the gray of the broken-legged wolf, this brain-evolved wolf’s eyes were a stunning amber—truly beautiful.

Standing just outside the shed, Xia Qing continued to talk to it in a soft, soothing voice. “The surgery went perfectly. Your injury will heal, but in three days I’ll need to change your medicine. You’ve got to rest and stay put. I’ll go cook now—you two get some rest.”

Just as she finished and turned away—she hadn’t even made it through the security door—a noise behind her caught her attention.

She spun fast, back against the security door, swiftly drawing her knife defensively, only to see three wolves had returned with their prey.

The prey they were carrying was instantly recognizable to Xia Qing: three white egrets.

It’d been days since Xia Qing had seen any egrets, not since the two that used to splatter her windows with poop had moved away.

The alpha wolf dropped its egret at Xia Qing’s feet, walked into the yard first, then the other two wolves placed their own egrets near the shed.

Xia Qing’s eyes went wide. What did this mean? Was the egret supposed to be rent? No way, right?

But she found out quickly. The alpha wolf nudged the egret toward her with its paw, then turned away. One wolf guarded the other two egrets, while the last member of the squad entered the sheep shed.

The egret in front of Xia Qing—no wolf was watching it.

If the wolves were giving away meat, could she accept it?

As if the god of wealth himself was handing it out—she’d be a fool not to take it!

The evolved egret was bigger than the geese from before the Cataclysm. Xia Qing picked it up—it must’ve weighed at least ten pounds. The skin was still warm—they’d killed it no more than half an hour ago.

First things first, Xia Qing drew blood from the egret and tested it for Xiang element contamination. When the greenlight blinked on, she wasn’t even surprised.

She cut its throat to drain the blood. Since it hadn’t been dead more than thirty minutes, the blood hadn’t clotted—leaving it inside would ruin both the taste and texture.

About five hundred milliliters of fresh, bright red blood came out, perfectly safe to eat. She poured half a bowl of salt water into the egret’s blood, stirred it well, then covered it to let it set.

She’d watched people from her squad handle poultry before and even helped out, so she knew exactly what to do.

Once the blood was set aside, Xia Qing put the egret in a big basin, scalded it a few times with hot water, plucked it clean, then gutted the bird.

She scooped out the organs and started toward the yard to feed the snakes—only to nearly drop the basin at what she saw.

A yellow weasel was crouched in her yard, plucking the two remaining egrets under the alpha wolf’s watchful eye.

The alpha gave Xia Qing a look and went back to overseeing the weasel’s work. She couldn’t help but rub her eyes.

Was this seriously normal? Were evolved animals always this off-the-wall?

Xia Qing washed her hands, grabbed her phone, and started filming the wild scene.

With the weasel hard at work in the yard, it would be rude for Xia Qing to interrupt. She figured she’d start working on the meat first.

She honed her kitchen knife, sliced egret meat suitable for drying, and prepped the rest for a stew.

She never looked up, so she didn’t notice how the weasel, busy plucking feathers, shivered at the sound of her knife chopping through meat.

After loading the sliced meat into the food dehydrator, Xia Qing blanched the rest, then stir-fried meat and ginger, green onions, and bay leaves in hot oil before adding spring water and leaving the stew to simmer.

The mouthwatering smell of braised meat drifted into the yard. The weasel had finished and scurried off. The two injured wolves were dragged out to the courtyard to eat.

The broken-legged wolf was beyond starving—he devoured an entire egret, bones and all. The spinal-injury wolf only ate half; the rest was finished off by the other wolves.

Xia Qing watched through the window as the two wounded wolves were dragged by the scruff to do their business and then hauled back to the shed. Only then did she head out with the bowl of organs for the snakes.

The egrets were gone from the courtyard, leaving only splattered blood and drifting feathers. Looked like this place would be a mess for a while.

Xia Qing scraped up the blood, dumped it onto the sheep and wolf dung, sprayed deodorizer, buried it with dirt, then collected all the egret feathers and burned them.

She’d barely finished cleaning up when Boss Sheep strolled back. Xia Qing joked, “Right on time, Boss. I just finished tidying up out here.”

With a bleat, Boss Sheep waded his hooves in the water bowl by the door, pawed the soft straw mat inside, then lifted his head and squinted at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing praised him at once, “Good boy, Boss! Didn’t even need a reminder to wash up before coming inside. It’s thanks to how tidy you are that we keep the place so clean. Are you full, or do you want some special feed?”

“Baa~” Boss replied in his trademark clipped voice—he was hungry for more.

“Okay, let me whip you up something. Your friends surprised me with a greenlight egret today—Boss, you get to eat well too.” Xia Qing pushed open the mesh door and headed inside with Boss Sheep.

With the weather so hot now, Xia Qing didn’t bother locking the security door during the day. She’d installed a double-panel mesh door outside, fixed with magnets—easy to use and perfect for keeping bugs out.

Half a year of nonstop cleaning had finally paid off—the evolved insects in the area were now way fewer than when she’d moved in. A closed mesh door was enough to keep most bugs at bay.

After Boss Sheep followed Xia Qing inside, the brain-evolved wolf in the shed cracked open its amber eyes, gazing thoughtfully toward the security door.