Chapter 257: The Wolves at Pine Hill

As someone with strength-based evolution, Xia Qing could easily snap the pine branches along with the cones, but pine trees grow slowly. If she broke off too many twigs like when harvesting chestnuts, she might not get any cones next year or the year after.

Luckily, Xia Qing came prepared. She packed away her stick, put it in her backpack, and pulled out a long-handled pruner. Standing in the wind, she used the blades to clamp the base of a pine cone and squeezed.

“Snap.”

The first pine cone finally broke free from the tree and tumbled down. This method was slower, but it did the least damage to the tree.

Xia Qing looked down and called out, “Er Gou, make sure the cones don’t hit you!”

Thanks to his keen hearing, the sick wolf dodged and grabbed the cone off the ground, dropping it into the basket Xia Qing had brought.

Feeding chickens and fish with evolved insects every day made Er Gou an expert at this job.

“Good job, Er Gou! You’re a real help today!” Xia Qing praised him loudly, then started from the treetop, clipping off the cones one by one as she worked her way down.

Every time a pine cone hit the ground, Er Gou would trot over, pick it up, and add it to the basket.

When Xia Qing dropped to about ten meters high, a flash of red streaked past. Sure enough, the sneaky red squirrel had come to steal pine cones. Good thing she was ready and called the wolfdog, Er Gou.

Catching sight of the red squirrel, Er Gou rushed over, but the squirrel was lightning fast. It snatched up a cone and darted up the tree, leaping from branch to branch until it disappeared.

Xia Qing was speechless.

Er Gou, having failed his task, let out an angry howl at the sky.

“Awooo—wooo—”

This isn’t good!

Ever since the wolves had twice raided the Wild Boar Breeding Center, forcing them to relocate after killing boars, everyone nearby was scared of wolves. Even though Er Gou’s howl wasn’t loud, it could carry far—enough to cause panic among the lords, or even draw the attention of Tang Huai and the inspection team.

Xia Qing immediately grabbed her lord communicator. She was still within reception range.

No sooner had she turned it on than she heard Tang Huai’s voice: “Territory One, report. Is there a wolf on Hill Forty-Nine?”

Hu Zifeng replied evenly, “Yes.”

Tang Huai immediately demanded, “You all signed the agreement not to let large carnivores into the territory!”

“True, we signed.” Hu Zifeng replied smugly. “But that’s not a wild animal. That’s our domesticated beast, and it’s not in the territory. It’s working in our training field.”

After hearing Hu Zifeng’s answer, Xia Qing left to send him a message updating him on the situation.

Tang Huai fumed, “Since when does the Azure Dragon Squad have a domesticated wolf beast? Why am I the last to know?”

Hu Zifeng shot back, “Do we have to report our domesticated beasts to you? Who do you think you are?”

“There’s no way you people could tame a wolf!” grumbled Tang Huai, who couldn’t help but eavesdrop by digging bugs along the territory’s edge every day.

Since that wolf clearly didn’t belong to the Azure Dragon Squad, it could only be Xia Qing’s. But Tang Huai had promised her he wouldn’t reveal the secret about the wolf, so all he could do was sit in his house, yanking at his own hair.

Tan Junjie asked, “Territory One, confirm—the wolf howling on Hill Forty-Nine is truly a domesticated beast?”

Xia Qing couldn’t help but smile. Tan Junjie was clever—he’d asked if it was a ‘domesticated beast’, not specifically an ‘Azure Dragon Squad domesticated beast’.

Hu Zifeng’s reply was clear: “Confirmed. The domesticated wolf beast is using its howl to drive off small animals.”

Since Hu Zifeng was taking responsibility on Hill Forty-Nine, Xia Qing acted oblivious, kept her head down, and soothed Er Gou. “Don’t worry, Er Gou. It’s alright, don’t get worked up. Anger is bad for your health. Once I get down, the two of us will get those pine cones back!”

“Awooo—wooo—”

Er Gou threw his head back and let out another long howl.

Tang Huai, now standing beneath the sign to Territory Two, could tell this howl was weakened. This probably wasn’t the wolf that’d almost torn him apart at Xia Qing’s side last time.

That must be the sick, nearly dying evolved wolf inside Xia Qing’s territory. If it really was, Xia Qing must’ve had Zhang San treat its illness.

Damn it! Did she have any idea who Zhang San really was? She was bold enough to ask him to treat a wolf!

“Er Gou, no more howling! I’m coming down now!” On Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, Xia Qing stepped quickly down using footholds.

She hadn’t even reached the ground when she saw two gray-brown evolved wolves racing over from the direction of the valley.

Xia Qing knew these two wolves well: the Alpha and the Lame Wolf!

Turns out, Er Gou wasn’t howling in anger but calling for backup.

The three wolves sniffed each other, then formed an equilateral triangle around the big pine tree, guarding it. Er Gou looked up at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing beamed. “Smart thinking, Er Gou! You called your friends to help! Queen, Lame Wolf, thanks for your hard work. I’ll keep cutting the cones.”

At her voice, the Alpha didn’t even look up. Er Gou wagged his tail. The Lame Wolf bounced all over the place, knocking over the basket and spilling the pine cones across the ground.

But no matter how scattered the cones got, the red squirrel wouldn’t dare dash over now. With more wolves on guard, there was no chance for an easy steal.

After the second howl, Hill Forty-Nine quieted down. Zhao Ze nervously asked, “Captain Hu, those wolves won’t go mad, will they?”

Hu Zifeng replied calmly—as long as he wasn’t talking to Tang Huai, he always sounded laidback. “Lords, don’t worry. As long as you don’t break onto Hill Forty-Nine, our domesticated beasts won’t be any threat to you.”

“Absolutely! I won’t trespass.” Zhao Ze promised at once.

Kuang Qingwei asked, “Brother Feng, are your domesticated wolves male or female? Will there be pups next spring? If so, I’d like to adopt one to guard my territory.”

Qi Fu, unable to resist temptation even though he knew the chance was slim, chimed in, “Brother Feng, put me on the list too.”

Zhao Ze quickly added, “Same here. I’ve raised large dogs before the cataclysm, so I’ve got experience.”

Even Tang Huai couldn’t hold back. “I’ve raised Samoyeds before. I’m experienced, too.”

Hu Zifeng, who happened to be petting a cat, replied, “Sorry, guys, that’s not my call.”

Tang Huai asked, “What about Captain Luo? He’s been quiet for a while.”

Hu Zifeng countered, “Got something to say to Luo?”

Tang Huai shot back, “Why, am I not allowed to ask unless I have business?”

“Normal people can. But you? What gives you the right?”

And just like that, the lord channel went back to being a battleground for Hu Zifeng and Tang Huai’s endless arguments. Xia Qing turned off her communicator and focused on clipping the rest of the cones, then she got down, took off her climbing spikes, and started gathering up the fallen cones with Er Gou.

As for the Queen? She was far too regal to help.

The Lame Wolf? It was too busy bouncing around to bother.

The twenty-meter-tall pine tree had only grown just over a hundred cones, but each one was nearly as long as Xia Qing’s palm and should hold a ton of pine nuts inside.

She dumped the pine cones into a sack, slung it over her back, and set off with Er Gou, eyes blazing with purpose. “Let’s go get our cones back, Er Gou!”

“Awooo!”

Hearing Xia Qing’s determined tone, the Lame Wolf was even more excited than Er Gou, leaping about nonstop. Er Gou followed obediently at Xia Qing’s side, while the Alpha yawned hugely at the back.

With her GPS app, Xia Qing quickly tracked down the big pine where the red squirrel was hiding.

It was a yellow pine tree loaded with hundreds of cones. Xia Qing tested it with her knife and realized this tree hadn’t undergone any hardness evolution—no wonder the red squirrel made its nest here.