Chapter 330: A Night of Trust and Medicine

The Alpha finished inspecting the bath barrel, her serious eyes falling on Er Gou once again. Xia Qing wasn’t quite sure what Alpha wanted, so she explained, “Queen, Second—this sick wolf—he’s fine. The medical soak causes pain while the medicine works, but it goes away when the treatment is over.”

Alpha walked over and carefully sniffed Er Gou, clearly concerned. Er Gou lifted his head a bit and they both exchanged sniffs.

When Alpha realized Er Gou didn’t have the strength to stand, she let out a low growl. Crippled Wolf immediately stepped in, grabbed Er Gou gently by the scruff, and dragged him out of the bathroom. Alpha remained by the door, keeping a close eye on the barrel and Xia Qing. She definitely wasn’t taking Xia Qing’s word at face value.

This was no ordinary evolved wolf. She was the leader of the pack, bold enough to bring her wounded kin into human territory in search of help, an evolved Alpha with a developed brain domain. After Xia Qing saved two injured wolves, she trusted her enough to send in another, this one attacked by parasites, into Xia Qing’s territory for treatment.

Xia Qing had spent over three months with her and knew this Alpha cared deeply for the pack—she was both courageous and cautious.

So until Alpha was sure Er Gou was really okay, nothing Xia Qing said would earn her trust.

Still, Xia Qing tried her best to explain, using gestures as she spoke, “The medicine in this barrel, it’s what made Crippled Wolf’s injury here… and Lame Wolf’s there… stronger than before. Now if they ever have to fight, they’ll be even tougher. The pain’s worth it. Queen, you’ll see by sunrise. If this medicine didn’t work, Old Goat, Er Gou, and I wouldn’t have put ourselves through it.”

After going through the first medicinal soak herself, Xia Qing hurt all over. Once she finished helping her two companions through their baths, her energy was spent. “Queen, Crippled Wolf, I’ll need you to help me guard the territory tonight. I’m heading up to sleep.”

If Alpha and Crippled Wolf hadn’t been on guard in the territory, Xia Qing wouldn’t have dared to treat Old Goat and Er Gou right after her own soak—she’d never risk them all losing their fighting ability at the same time.

Xia Qing crawled up the stairs, but couldn’t even make it to her bedroom. She collapsed on the wooden floor and fell into a deep sleep. Old Goat was sprawled out on the tatami, snoring loudly. Crippled Wolf had dragged Er Gou over to lie next to Old Goat, where he fell silent with eyes closed.

After making sure Er Gou was still breathing, Crippled Wolf laid down next to him and stood guard. Alpha watched over Old Goat and Er Gou for a while, then climbed upstairs to check on Xia Qing.

After confirming Xia Qing was in the same condition as the other two, Alpha walked a slow circle around her before curling up beside her and closing her eyes at last.

Drizzle pattered softly through the entire night.

When Xia Qing finally woke up the next day, she stretched and shook out her legs. Even though she’d slept on the floor all night, she didn’t feel the slightest chill. In fact, she felt fantastic. If she had to describe it, it was as if a worn-out old engine had just been coated in premium oil—everything moved so much more smoothly.

This round of medicine felt even better than the last. After she finishes the eighteen treatments over six months, just what shape would her bones and muscles be in?

Xia Qing opened her hand, staring expectantly at the two scars on her right thumb’s webbing.

A light drizzle was still falling. The swallows and rooster sounded tired in their morning calls, but nothing could dampen Xia Qing’s good mood.

She washed up and headed down the stairs, only to find the living room empty of wolves and goats, but she could hear breathing coming from the bathroom.

Xia Qing stopped to check on the fish and rabbits first, then made her way to the bathroom, where she spotted Alpha standing right by the bath barrel, staring thoughtfully at the medicine soup inside.

The medicine looked awful, but Xia Qing knew from experience how well it worked. She asked, “Queen, Old Goat, where did Crippled Wolf and Er Gou go?”

Alpha ignored her, too absorbed in studying the medicine. Xia Qing continued, “The medicine still has some effect left, Queen, why not try it? It’ll hurt, but after the pain you’ll come out even stronger.”

Alpha looked at Xia Qing, clearly tempted.

Xia Qing immediately grabbed the heating rod, plugged it in, and started warming the bath barrel. “The medicine works best when it’s about body temperature. Queen, I spent 800,000 credits for this—800,000 credits!”

She picked a measurement Alpha could understand. “This much Yi Stone—four big blocks. Remember the huge pile you brought when you entered my territory with two wounded wolves? That’s what it took to trade for this special restorative medicine.”

Once the bath hit forty degrees, Xia Qing pulled out the rod. “Queen, hop in. It’ll hurt for a while, but I believe you can handle a full hour.”

Xia Qing hadn’t suggested the baths on a whim—she’d checked with her Idol first. Idol said it was fine for animals, though the effect wouldn’t be as strong as it was for her. After all, this medicine was specially formulated by Zhang San for Xia Qing.

As soon as Alpha got in the bath, Er Gou returned, carrying a small basket of bugs and slipping into the utility room to feed the fish.

Lately, Er Gou had only been catching palm-sized evolved insects for the fish. The territory was almost completely cleared out, so big insects were becoming rare. To keep the fish fed, Er Gou now had to go all the way to Section Three on Hill Forty-Nine to hunt bugs.

After killing the bugs and bringing them back, he never dumped basket and bugs into the tank like Old Goat. Instead, he placed each big insect on the water’s surface so the fish could eat them one by one.

Watching the fish fight over the insects made Er Gou so happy he wagged his tail. Clearly, he enjoyed the job.

Xia Qing recorded the whole scene on her phone, then went out to patrol the territory.

With five cameras now running twenty-four hours a day, Xia Qing felt much more secure, but she still made random patrols every day just to check everything herself.

Although it wasn’t Devastation Rain today, three days of steady rain had coaxed out a layer of new grass in all colors across the ground. It looked like her whole territory had been blanketed in a fresh, colorful carpet—very pleasing to the eye.

Old Goat was munching hay in the grass shed, while Crippled Wolf had disappeared. The greenhouse crops were all fine—the mung bean pods needed to be picked today, though, or they’d burst open with the first bit of sun.

The glumes on the Green Lantern Rice were turning yellow, a sure sign they were almost ripe. As soon as the weather cleared, Xia Qing would harvest the ninety-plus early Green Lantern Rice plants.

The Green Light Spinach, which had already sent up flower stalks and bloomed, would explode with seeds next month. Xia Qing needed to prepare beforehand or the whole greenhouse would end up riddled with holes.

At the mouth of the Spring Cave, Xia Qing moved aside the big rock blocking the entrance, took out her water pail from the backpack and filled it with spring water. She’d used almost all the home supply for the medicinal baths, and she needed to deliver a barrel of water to Section Three on Hill Forty-Nine at ten o’clock to hand off to Wei Chengdong.

Luo Pei also needed pure spring water to clear out the synthesized Devastation toxin in his body.

Xia Qing flicked on her flashlight and carefully checked the two Devastationweed plants in the spring cave—they didn’t seem to have changed one bit. If she hadn’t seen their roots herself, she’d have sworn they were just plastic fakes.

“Bzzzz—”

Xia Qing pulled out her phone—it was Hu Zifeng calling. She picked up at once.

“Xia Qing, there are nine evolved wolves making their way through the valley between Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty—headed straight for your territory. The lead wolf’s wearing a protective suit. I think it might be Crippled Wolf. Want me to intercept them?”