Chapter 519: Running With Wolves

Once the personal flight device was fully fueled, it could cover a maximum distance of thirty li in a single flight. Where Xia Qing landed was still more than ten li away from the wolves’ den, so she decided to walk the rest of the way. First, her fuel was limited. Second, she didn’t want to risk flying any closer and startling the wolf pack or the bear pack.

Xia Qing had just packed away her flight device and waited a few minutes when Crippled Wolf and Er Gou caught up to her.

Er Gou, panting happily, circled Xia Qing twice with joy. Meanwhile, Crippled Wolf stared thoughtfully at her feet.

Xia Qing rubbed Er Gou’s head, smiling as she patted her backpack. She explained to Crippled Wolf, “Looking for my flight device? I put it in my backpack. You two take a breather before we keep moving.”

Wolves are made for running. Even before evolution, they could sprint at one hundred and twenty li per hour for twenty minutes straight. If you pit a wolf in a long-distance race, they could even outlast a short-distance powerhouse like a cheetah.

Since the wolves evolved, they ran even faster. So Xia Qing’s ten-minute, thirty-li flight had only given her a slight lead over the two wolves.

If Er Gou hadn’t been around, Crippled Wolf, with its Evolved Elasticity, could have caught up with Xia Qing even faster. And if it had been Alpha, the Speed Evolution wolf, he might have arrived before Xia Qing did.

Of course, running thirty li at top speed left the evolved wolves worn out, but a human with flying tech didn’t get tired. That’s the magic of modern invention.

The third time Crippled Wolf lay sprawled on a rock and gave her backpack a long look, Xia Qing laughed. “What’s wrong, Broken Back? Want the flight device?”

Crippled Wolf stared at Xia Qing for a bit, as if considering, then came over and pawed at her backpack.

She thought it was searching for the flight device, but Crippled Wolf ended up pulling out the antiparasitic pill she’d traded for with a Yi Stone.

Once it found the pill, Crippled Wolf turned sideways, gesturing for Xia Qing to tuck the pill into the side pocket of its protective suit.

Delivery girl Xia Qing had no idea what was going on in Crippled Wolf’s mind, but she humored the bossy wolf and stashed the pill where it wanted. Then they hit the trail again.

As they neared Hill Sixty, Crippled Wolf sped up and ran ahead while Er Gou kept Xia Qing company at a leisurely pace.

It might have seemed slow for Er Gou, but this was as fast as Xia Qing could move in the snowy Evolved Forest, not fully recovered yet.

Still a ways from the foot of the hill, Xia Qing heard Alpha’s long, echoing howl:

“Awoo—wooo—”

Xia Qing could understand the message in that howl—Alpha was summoning the entire pack.

Summoning them for what? To come home for their medicine!

By the time Xia Qing reached the foot of Hill Sixty, she found dozens of wolves perched on rocks at all heights, staring at her. A few even started to growl, making Xia Qing wary. She looked up at Alpha, who stood atop the highest boulder.

Alpha leapt down, landing solidly in front of Xia Qing, circling her once. At that, the growling around them quickly died down—though not entirely.

When Handsome Huge Wolf finally jumped down to stand behind Alpha, the growling faded away completely.

“Your Majesty, Huge Wolf,” Xia Qing greeted them and explained her visit, “Broken Back asked me to bring medicine tablets and a mirror.”

Alpha led Xia Qing upward and into the same cave where she’d treated the wolves’ wounds last time. Crippled Wolf walked over and signaled her to take the pill from the pocket of its protective suit. To Alpha, Xia Qing explained, “This is the antiparasitic pill Er Gou took before. It can kill several common worms and parasite eggs inside the body and help expel them—just like in last night’s video. Each wolf takes one pill, twice a year.”

Crippled Wolf pawed at the bag containing the medicine, and Xia Qing got the hint. She pulled out a tiny food bowl, unwrapped the pill, and put one inside.

Alpha and Crippled Wolf both stepped forward and sniffed it, after which Crippled Wolf ate the pill.

Xia Qing dropped another pill in the bowl, and this time Alpha ate it, followed by Handsome Huge Wolf.

What happened next felt downright surreal. Xia Qing dropped pill after pill—one wolf after another filed in, took their medicine, and left.

One wolf tried to come back for seconds, but Crippled Wolf promptly bit and chased it out. Xia Qing wasn’t sure if that wolf had already eaten its pill or just wasn’t allowed to have one.

All in all, 83 wolves took their medicine. The last few were clearly the weakest in the pack. Their fur was thin and patchy, their bodies frail. They shuffled in with heads and tails low, moving slowly. These wolves didn’t enter from outside the cave—rather, they emerged from deeper within.

Er Gou trotted over to one of the scrawny wolves and the two exchanged an affectionate sniff.

Seeing that wolf brought Xia Qing right back to her first encounter with Er Gou. This one was sick too—its tail and hind legs caked with feces, fur falling out in clumps, shivering from the cold.

Chances are, it won’t survive this winter.

Xia Qing, having just received a walnut-sized Yi Stone from the wolves in exchange for medicine, pointed to that weak wolf and explained to Alpha and Crippled Wolf, “It’s sick—one pill isn’t enough to cure it.”

Crippled Wolf gave her a long, thoughtful look, eyes drifting to Xia Qing’s backpack.

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise it’ll make it,” Xia Qing said, opening her backpack and taking out the medical kit. She treated the weak wolf with medicine that killed the surface and ear parasites, then brought out her own supply of pure spring water and oral anti-inflammatory medicine, letting this wolf and a few other sickly wolves drink some.

But even after treatment, no one could guarantee these wolves would make it through the season.

Sick wolves like this could never hunt for themselves. If they’d survived this long, it was only because the pack gave them food. Sharing food with the weak, letting them sleep in warmer caves, and giving everyone a pill from that precious Yi Stone trade—all of it lined up with Xia Qing’s understanding of wolves.

Wolf packs are warm, caring societies. When it comes to looking after their old, weak, sick, and injured, they’re every bit as humane as people.

Xia Qing stood up, pointed to the long cardboard box holding the mirror, and asked Crippled Wolf, “Broken Back, where do you want your big mirror?”

Crippled Wolf tilted its head, then led Xia Qing on a long hike up the mountain, past several caves, until they reached its own den.

The cave was modest in size, but it was lined with a thick layer of soft straw. Inside, Xia Qing spotted her quilt—

She paused for a couple seconds, said nothing, then got to work unpacking the mirror and securing it in a spot that couldn’t be seen from outside the cave. That way, any helicopter passing overhead wouldn’t be drawn by a stray glint from the glass.

Once it was in place, Xia Qing pointed to the cardboard and the styrofoam inside. “Broken Back, I’ll leave these for you too, okay?”

Crippled Wolf grinned, showing off its sharp, pearly white fangs.

Xia Qing laughed. “I should get going, or there’s no way I’ll make it home before dark.”

When she and Crippled Wolf walked down the mountain, Xia Qing was surprised to see the big gray-brown wolf that had once soaked in her medicinal bath tagging along.

At the foot of the mountain, Xia Qing figured out what was going on—Crippled Wolf wanted the big gray-brown wolf to carry her home. Xia Qing protested to Alpha and Crippled Wolf that she had a flight device and could fly over the tough spots, but Crippled Wolf insisted she should ride with the gray-brown wolf.

It took Xia Qing a while, but she finally realized why Crippled Wolf had made her hand over the medicine on the way there.

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