Chapter 467: Wolf Pack Exodus

Ten minutes later the Evolution Element stim shake kicked in. Xia Qing felt her stamina surging back, rising fast.

She unzipped the back of her Backpack, pulling out a folding stretcher from the hidden compartment. Moving quickly, she strapped Alpha and Crippled Wolf onto it and hoisted them onto her back. Then she slipped Er Gou into her Backpack, secured it in front with straps.

This front-and-back carrying setup was designed for exactly these post-disaster times, when vehicles couldn’t get through, letting Strength-Based Evolution holders transport wounded allies. With this method, one person could carry two or three injured at a time.

Right now Xia Qing, trudging through the dark Evolved Forest, probably looked like some bizarre three-headed bipedal beast at a passing glance.

Carrying three evolved wolves, altogether weighing nearly eight or nine hundred pounds, was far beyond what a level six Strength-Based Evolution could manage. Yet Xia Qing felt perfectly at ease. That was the stimulants kicking in.

She’d barely set off when the shivering Balding Weasel squeaked twice and darted off down the mountain.

“Is the plucked one telling me to follow? Queen, Crippled Wolf, is that the idea?” Xia Qing asked.

Alpha, strapped to her back, tilted his head and bumped her Protective Mask with his snout.

That simple gesture yanked Xia Qing’s memory back to a night of wolves, snakes, and bears locked in a brutal battle.

That night, after the evolved bears had poisoned Alpha and shredded his legs, he still hobbled off to challenge them on Hill Sixty-One. Before heading into the fight, he’d bumped Xia Qing’s helmet just like this.

A flood of tangled feelings welled up inside Xia Qing, so intense she could hardly describe them. The stim shake seemed to magnify it all, making her eyes sting—she’d almost forgotten what tears felt like.

She reached up, gently stroking Alpha’s weak head, her voice soft but resolute. “I understand. Don’t worry, Queen. Get some rest.”

The Yellow Weasel bounced down the slope along a beast trail untouched by poison gas. Xia Qing watched its landing points and raced after it.

The weasel was about the size of a housecat, and with three wolves in tow, walking along the path it picked meant Xia Qing kept brushing up against high branches and rocks on both sides.

Branches bristling with thorns? Xia Qing hacked them off with her Knife. If a branch lashed out too fast to cut, she just tore it down barehanded.

With her strength shooting through the roof now, snapping branches was nothing—if an elephant blocked her path, she could probably toss it aside!

“Crack, crack!”

Suddenly, the weasel stopped dead, letting out a frantic cry—almost like a human sneezing. Crippled Wolf twitched too.

“I heard it. My turn.”

Xia Qing didn’t need their warnings; she’d already caught the sound—a huge animal crashing toward them through the undergrowth.

The creature was enormous—looked a bit like a wild bull, standing taller than Xia Qing. Its eyes burned red, breath coming in heavy gusts. This had to be a berserk or mutated evolved beast—the kind that would attack relentlessly until it couldn’t stand anymore.

Xia Qing didn’t hesitate. She drove her fist straight into its spine with such force she broke its neck, then punted aside a few evolved rabbits and rats that leapt to bite her. She called out to the frozen weasel, “Plucked one, keep moving! Hear those wolf howls? They’re getting close.”

Alpha, seeing Xia Qing still full of fight, closed his eyes to rest and recover. Crippled Wolf turned to study her, deep in thought.

The farther down they ran, the thicker the stampede became. Xia Qing had assumed it was just the animals south of Third Peak on Hill Fifty fleeing the spreading poison fog. She hadn’t expected the beasts north of the fog line to be running wild too.

If all these animals charged toward the human territory, this beast tide wouldn’t be small at all.

Xia Qing urged the weasel to speed up. She needed to link up with the Wolf Pack as quickly as possible—those howls couldn’t keep going. Evolved wolves were apex hunters; a whole pack howling and stampeding would only panic the beast tide, making them flee even faster.

“Awoooo—”

When Xia Qing was just five or six hundred meters from the wolves, Crippled Wolf threw back her head and howled.

In moments, Xia Qing heard several sharp whooshes. The Handsome Huge Wolf, flanked by three other wolves, blocked her path, baring their fangs and closing in, eyes fixed on her in a fighting stance.

Seconds later, over twenty more evolved wolves arrived, circling Xia Qing on all sides. Lame Wolf’s sister was among them. Xia Qing stood quietly, waiting for Alpha and the other pack leader to confer.

Lame Wolf bounded from the pack, anxiously circling Xia Qing and pawing at Alpha and Crippled Wolf, nudging them to get down from her back.

Balding Weasel, no longer shivering, scrambled up to Xia Qing’s shoulder, clearly taking her side.

Alpha opened his eyes—those rich gold irises sweeping over the Wolf Pack. Even the Huge Wolf retracted his fangs under that gaze. Handsome Huge Wolf stepped forward, glaring at Xia Qing with icy blue eyes, sniffing the two wolves on her back before pulling away.

Xia Qing stayed tense, fists clenched, every muscle tight. Even with the stim shake running strong, she wasn’t about to provoke nearly thirty evolved wolves at once!

When Handsome Huge Wolf finally confirmed whatever he needed and stepped back, Xia Qing said to the pack, “Queen, we have to get back to my Territory and start detox right away. The pack can’t come with us—better to have them hold back the surging beasts here. If they follow, the humans inside won’t be able to focus on curing you.”

She couldn’t see Alpha and Crippled Wolf’s faces, or hear their answer, but time was running out. Xia Qing broke into a run straight for Hill Forty-Nine, across the valley.

Down in the valley, the horde of animals fleeing south had merged into a river of howling, stampeding beasts.

The Balding Weasel leapt from Xia Qing’s shoulders and dashed into the beast tide, unleashing a plume of poison gas. The river of beasts exploded into chaos, scattering in every direction.

Wasting no time, Xia Qing darted ahead, using the opening the weasel created to “cross the river.”

Lame Wolf and his sister followed right behind. Handsome Huge Wolf hesitated for a beat then led the pack after her, forming a guard.

“Holy crap! Boss, that’s the yellow weasel!” One of Yang Jin’s teammates who’d gone with him to collect herbs at the lake recognized the terrifying weasel—just as it finished spraying poison and climbed onto Xia Qing again.

Across the valley, under Hill Forty-Nine, Yang Jin shouted, “Clear a path! Let Xia Qing and the wolves through!”

The Qinglong squad fell back as ordered, eyes complicated as they watched Xia Qing storming in under the wolves’ protection.

Inside the interception net on Hill Forty-Nine, Xia Qing paused to wave at Yang Jin in the distance. Noticing the pack still charging in behind her, she asked the wolves on her back, “Queen, Lame Wolf, can either of you still talk? Tell the pack not to come any further.”

Alpha lifted his head and gave a deep, commanding growl. Every wolf froze, heads bowed—except Handsome Huge Wolf, who held his ground as the rest slowly retreated.

Handsome Huge Wolf and the balding yellow weasel on Xia Qing’s head were clearly the Queen’s chosen “bodyguards.”

Xia Qing didn’t waste another word and sprinted for her territory.