Chapter 517: A Clever Trade and the Wolf’s Curiosity

Crippled Wolf seemed to understand Xia Qing’s words. He tilted his head to the left, bared his tiny fangs and gave her a winning smile.

Damn it…

That wolf’s grin seemed even cuter than before. What’s going on?

“Got it.” Xia Qing didn’t agree right away and stepped forward to open the bag and check the goods.

Inside, the bag was a chaotic jumble of hickory nuts and some plant roots.

The shape of this root…

Xia Qing pulled up the photo Zhang San had given her and compared them closely. Well, look at that—The Wolf Pack had dug up exactly the kind of root-based medicinal herb their Idol needed!

Once she separated the hickory nuts and the herbs, Xia Qing didn’t spot a single Yi Stone. Her eyes shifted to Crippled Wolf’s protective suit where she noticed a bulging side pocket. “Handsome Wolf, I told you yesterday we’d trade the big mirror for a Yi Stone.”

Crippled Wolf studied her for a few moments, then padded over and stood side-on in front of her.

Xia Qing fished a pigeon-egg-sized, unbroken Yi Stone out of Crippled Wolf’s pocket, her smile lighting up. “Handsome Wolf, you’re too thoughtful! This Yi Stone is plenty for the big mirror, and you even brought extra supplies. I almost feel bad about it. How about staying for breakfast before you go?”

Crippled Wolf moved to the short table, set his paw on it and stared at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing…

…

…

She hesitated to admit it, but with Crippled Wolf making himself so clear, there was no use playing dumb anymore. Taking a deep breath Xia Qing said, “Crippled, you want to trade for the laptop I left here last night?”

Crippled Wolf showed off his signature white fangs again, flashing Xia Qing an adorable smile.

Isn’t this the classic case of “the flower you tend won’t bloom, but the willow you didn’t plant grows lush”?

Exactly that!

No denying it—Crippled Wolf had sharp eyes and a keen mind. Sure, he liked the mirror, but to him it was only worth a handful of nuts and some wild roots. The laptop on the other hand, its data was worth a whole Yi Stone.

He was sharp, but Xia Qing wasn’t born yesterday either. She quickly came up with a deal they’d both be happy with.

She pulled the laptop out of her bedroom cabinet and patiently showed Crippled Wolf that, as a wolf, he simply couldn’t use it—even if his brain was evolved.

“Handsome Wolf, this is called a laptop. See? To play videos you have to know human writing and pinyin so you can use this—called a keyboard—and this—called a mouse…”

Xia Qing walked him through how to find yesterday’s science video by opening up the hard drives, clicking through folders and pressing play, over and over again.

The laptop’s operation was way beyond the reach of the Brain-Evolved Wolf. His amber eyes darted between the keyboard, mouse and screen, a look of complete seriousness on his face.

Now it was time to negotiate.

“This laptop needs electricity and it’s pretty fragile. A bump, a scratch, moisture or water could ruin it. Here’s my proposal: the laptop is yours, but you leave it with me. Whenever you want to watch something, just come by and tell me what you want. I’ll play it for you. How about it?”

Xia Qing carefully explained everything three times over, her hand clutching the Yi Stone as she waited for the clever wolf’s decision.

Honestly, the price she traded the laptop and its data to Yang Jin for was less than a single Yi Stone. But Xia Qing couldn’t just hand Crippled Wolf something he had no way of using just for a Yi Stone.

That would ruin her reputation.

Besides, all her trades with the Wolf Pack came with after-sales service. If Crippled Wolf brought the laptop home and broke it, he’d just bring it back for repair—and Xia Qing wasn’t about to waste resources like that.

“Take your time, Handsome Wolf. I’ll go make breakfast.” Xia Qing left the laptop on the table, grabbed more food from the fridge and got busy with breakfast.

Er Gou squatted in the kitchen doorway watching Xia Qing cook, while Old Goat lounged beside the fireplace, chewing his cud. Crippled Wolf sat by the short table, staring at the laptop for more than ten minutes before tentatively nudging the mouse with his paw. Each time, he glanced at the screen, trying to figure out the connection between mouse and display.

Catching sight of this, Xia Qing wondered if with some proper teaching, this wolf might really learn to use a laptop one day.

After breakfast, Xia Qing reached out to Ji Li to hand over the medicinal herbs the Wolf Pack had brought. She then grabbed her hoe and headed to the greenhouse to weed out the Scourge Grass.

With the effects of the Devastation Snow gradually fading, Xia Qing collected all the Yi Stones from the Green Lantern Wheat field as well as the planting and breeding greenhouses, leaving only a small Yi Stone tied to the White-Feathered Hen and Black-Feathered Rooster.

Once the Yi Stones were put away, the Scourge Grass and weeds that sprouted in these areas had to be cleared out regularly.

She’d barely finished clearing a planting bed when she heard the greenhouse door open. In trotted Crippled Wolf, basket in his jaws—with the laptop nestled inside.

Xia Qing had just made that basket for Crippled Wolf after breakfast, especially to hold the laptop. Foam was sewn along the edges and inside, so the laptop wouldn’t get banged up during transport.

“Finished another episode, Handsome Wolf?” Xia Qing slipped off her protective gloves and walked over, taking the basket and pulling out the laptop. She set it atop a wooden stump and opened a new video for Crippled Wolf.

This episode was about the Super Evolution Fungus. The video zoomed in, closer and closer, showing the microscopic world to the Brain-Evolved Wolf’s fascinated eyes.

“The most dangerous thing in the Evolved Forest isn’t big beasts, but hundreds of thousands of evolved microorganisms. Among them, the Super Evolved Pathogenic Microbe group…”

Crippled Wolf sat down in front of the laptop, watching the same science video from last night, completely focused.

Xia Qing left him to it and went back to weeding.

About half an hour later, the video ended. Before Crippled Wolf could call for her, Xia Qing was already there to play the next episode. But just as she opened the files, Crippled Wolf lifted his paw and pointed right at the thumbnail for the Super Evolution Fungus video they’d just watched.

The folders were set to show extra-large icons, but Crippled Wolf still understood the link between videos and files so quickly it impressed Xia Qing.

“Want to watch this one again?”

Crippled Wolf flashed his fangs again, but this time he wasn’t exactly smiling—he was too absorbed in the video.

Without interrupting him, Xia Qing clicked play and went back to pulling weeds.

When Crippled Wolf had her play the video a third time, Xia Qing finally understood why he cared so much about it.

The video showed the grisly fate of humans and forest animals infected by several types of Super Evolution Fungus. Crippled Wolf had realized this information was crucial for the Wolf Pack’s survival, so he was determined to learn it inside out.

Xia Qing set aside her work and settled in beside Crippled Wolf to watch together.

“…and this is a common variant of the evolved bloodsucking parasite. It lives in the portal vein system of humans or other mammals, mates and lays eggs in the blood vessels. Each female can lay up to one thousand eggs daily. Most of these eggs end up trapped in the liver and intestines, causing fatigue, diarrhea and abdominal pain in the host.”

Xia Qing paused the video. When Crippled Wolf turned to her, she pointed at the parasitized wild boar on screen and explained, “Er got so sick and nearly died because he was infected by this parasite.”

Pathogenic evolved microorganisms are one of the main reasons animals living in the Evolved Forest have such short lifespans.