Chapter 481: Desolation Snow: The Numbers Dwindle

Chapter 481: More Than Half Lost

The Evolved Forest buried in Devastation Snow is anything but safe. Every so often, frenzied, Devastation-empowered animals stumble in—birds, beasts, you name it.

Still, none of those crazed creatures ever got close to Xia Qing. The two Evolved Wolves took care of every threat before it reached her. The air was thick with the scent of blood. Just as Xia Qing started to muster the strength to climb onto the Handsome Huge Wolf’s back to flee, Er Yong finally arrived.

He caught sight of Xia Qing bundled up like a fish ready to be shoved into an oven and gasped for air. “Sister Qing, are you… hypothermic?”

Xia Qing shook her head slowly. “No hypothermia. Er Yong, let’s find somewhere else—this place is way too dangerous.”

Once Xia Qing convinced the two wolves to let him through, Er Yong scooped her up and carried her to safety. Then he collapsed onto the broken rocks and swirling snow, chest heaving as he panted. “The Alpha… total monster. I could never keep up… If not for the tracker, I’d never have found you.”

Silently, Xia Qing thought: Yeah, your boss is a real monster—but mine can run circles around him.

Suddenly, a black shadow streaked past Er Yong’s eyes. He rolled instinctively to shield Xia Qing but froze when he saw the shadow already by her side. Cold sweat instantly drenched him.

When he finally saw it was Xia Qing’s Queen, Er Yong flopped back down in relief.

Still bundled in the warm blanket and half dozing, Xia Qing’s eyes lit up. “Queen, you’re finally back!”

The Alpha padded over to Xia Qing, who was wrapped up like a cocoon, and tapped her protective mask with its head.

Huo Zhun showed up a moment later. The sight of Xia Qing encased in an emergency blanket startled him too. “Xia Qing, hypothermia? How are you feeling now?”

As he spoke, Huo Zhun pulled open his backpack, rummaging for heat packs and a cold weather jacket.

“Huo, I’m not hypothermic. Really, I’m okay,” Xia Qing hurried to stop him from piling on more layers—any more and she’d be sweating bullets. “Huo, did the helicopter explode?”

“Yeah. The blast set off a Devastation explosion, took out a huge chunk of the Evolved Forest. Luckily it was far enough from the Territory that the blast didn’t reach us.” Once he was sure Xia Qing was alright, Huo Zhun strapped her onto a stretcher. “Hang in there. We’re heading back to the Territory soon.”

“Thanks, Huo. I can’t keep my eyes open any longer—I need a nap. Queen, you and Broken Back come back with me for some medicine.” As soon as Xia Qing finished, she blacked out.

When she opened her eyes again, night had fallen.

She lay under the emergency blanket, resting on a straw mat by the fireplace on the first floor of her home. Firewood snapped and popped in the hearth, and Old Goat’s steady chewing and snoring kept a gentle rhythm.

Snoring?

Xia Qing turned her head and, to her surprise, found Huo Zhun sprawled out fast asleep on Old Goat’s spacious tatami. After a few snores, he started groaning from pain.

Huo Zhun was also enduring the side effects of the Evolution Element stim shake. The pain—those groans—couldn’t be helped.

But why was he sleeping here?

Xia Qing sat up slowly, checked the time, and realized she’d slept nearly thirteen hours. It was almost the second day of Devastation Snow.

No wonder her strength was slowly returning and the aches had become more bearable.

She softly stroked the heads of Old Goat, the Alpha, Broken Back, and Er Gou, folded her emergency blanket, then quietly rose from the mat. Taking the medical kit, she drew blood from the three wolves and herself, then headed upstairs. There she used the Evolution Element Detector to test their samples for levels of both Devastation and Evolution Elements, carefully calculating the needed dosage of the Devastation Element Antidote. She took more than half a vial herself, and each wolf downed a large dose as well.

That brought the Devastation Element in Xia Qing and her wolf pack back down to pre-poisoning levels. She still had one precious vial of antidote left from her earlier trade with her Idol. This stuff was pure gold—she’d have to guard it well.

dengbidmxswqqxswyifan

shuyueepzwqqwxwxsguan

xs007zhuikereadw23zw