Chapter 521: A Night of Wolves, Snow, and Survival

Back at her territory Xia Qing, heart pounding with excitement, reached into her backpack and pulled out a live wild rabbit—its hind leg broken by her and a puncture in its neck from Er Gou’s bite.

This was the first live rabbit she’d ever caught. Er Gou had helped her corner it and drag it back. To stop it from bleeding to death, Xia Qing performed emergency treatment and wrapped it snug in an emergency blanket before tucking it into her backpack.

Now came the moment of truth. Xia Qing pulled out the Devastation Element Detector and watched. When the red light blinked on her eager excitement quickly gave way to disappointment.

This rabbit was a red lantern—unsafe to eat.

In the past six months, thanks to the Wolf Pack, she’d eaten more rabbits than she probably had in the last ten years, but catching a live, edible one was still a tough feat. First, evolved rabbits were lightning-fast. Second, most rabbits in the Evolved Forest just weren’t safe to eat.

Even though the red light was clear, she wasn’t ready to give up. Xia Qing drew a few drops of blood from the rabbit and used the Evolution Element Detector to check its Devastation and Evolution levels in detail. If the Devastation Element wasn’t too high, she planned to feed it a drop or two of Antidote to clear it out.

This investment was more than worthwhile—this was a female rabbit, and she could pair it with the male rabbit in the greenhouse. Rabbits bred quickly. If she got them together, she’d have a steady supply of meat.

While the detector analyzed the blood, Xia Qing took the chance to run Devastation Element checks on the remaining six rabbits, two wild chickens, one wild boar, and one deer.

She’d caught two rabbits—one dead, one alive—but both were red lanterns. Of the prey Lame Wolf brought back—a deer, two rabbits, and a wild chicken—only the wild chicken was a yellow lantern. Crippled Wolf, on the other hand, had caught a wild boar, a chicken, and two rabbits; those were either yellow or green lanterns.

What did all that mean? Basically, Lame Wolf was bringing back everything he caught, while Crippled Wolf only brought back what could be safely eaten.

She skinned the deer, boar, and rabbits, carefully setting the pelts aside for later. The inedible red lantern meat, she left outside to freeze solid before storing it in the storage room upstairs. Next time Zhong Tao came by, she’d trade it for something useful.

The edible meat she set out before Crippled Wolf. “Crippled, what do you want for dinner? Pick for yourself.”

Crippled Wolf padded over and pressed his paw on a yellow lantern wild chicken and a green lantern wild chicken.

“You got it.” Since he’d hunted them, she had no objections. Those two chickens were his. Tonight, she and Er Gou would upgrade from python meatballs—they’d eat green lantern pork instead!

Xia Qing dunked the wild chickens in hot water, rolled up her sleeves, and began plucking.

After the run to Hill Sixty, Er Gou was beat and crashed on the straw mat by the fireplace. Old Goat was also napping, exhausted from chasing Chen Zheng and Chen Cheng all afternoon. Meanwhile, Crippled Wolf was up in the kitchen, front paws propped on the windowsill, completely puzzled by the frost patterns forming on the glass.

“Crippled, shouldn’t the plucked yellow weasel take antiparasitic medicine too?” Xia Qing piped up as she plucked away. The evolved wolves on Hill Sixty had all been treated, but the yellow weasel hadn’t yet.

Crippled Wolf, still studying the icy artwork on the kitchen glass, turned his head back to look at her.

Thinking maybe he didn’t get it, Xia Qing repeated, “I’ve got some pills left. Don’t you think your yellow weasel buddy needs them too? He could have parasites too, right?”

Crippled Wolf turned from the window and raced upstairs to his private cabinet, grabbed his laptop, and carried it over to Xia Qing.

She didn’t know what he was planning, but she wiped her hands and switched the laptop on. At Er Gou’s repeated request, she once again queued up the evolution biology documentary they’d watched several times already.

Once dinner was ready, Xia Qing called Crippled Wolf and Old Goat—who’d just watched the video two more times—to the table.

As for Er Gou, he didn’t need to be called. When he wasn’t napping, he never left Xia Qing’s side.

Just as Xia Qing pulled the roasted wild chicken apart to serve, she saw Crippled Wolf trot over with a bag and set it right in front of her.

“Crippled, you even figured out where I keep the bags now?” she blurted out, surprised.

Then she guessed, “You want me to pack these two chickens up so you can take them to the Queen?”

Crippled Wolf cocked his head, baring perfect white fangs in a grin that managed to be both dashing and adorable.

Xia Qing…

…

…

“Alright, I’ll pack them for you. Want a thermal wrap too? That way they’ll still be warm when the Queen digs in.”

As Xia Qing packed up the chickens, that clever brain-evolved wolf actually put away his laptop, tucked it back in the storage cabinet upstairs, and set off in the freezing night—food delivery for the Alpha, slung on his back.

Xia Qing watched him leave, thinking the bitter wind must be well below minus twenty-five tonight—absolutely brutal. You really do live long enough to see everything.

Tonight, she thought, a wolf literally stuffed me with wolf food!

After shutting out the icy wind, Xia Qing brought the food to the fireplace and ate with her two companions in a cozy, cheerful huddle. Pork belly stew with potatoes, green lantern rice, python soup with green onions, and for dessert—a green lantern pecan. Xia Qing hadn’t been this satisfied in a long time.

But the post-news weather report yanked her back to reality: “From tonight until the day after tomorrow, Hui Three Base will see snowfall. Devastation Element readings are normal, but in some areas expect heavy snow…”

After the forecast, Lord Kuang Qingwei from Zone Six asked in the Lords’ channel, “Is this kind of normal snow a good thing or a bad thing?”

No one answered at first. Everyone’s thoughts went to Li Si—if she were here, she’d give them a professional answer, weighing both pros and cons.

Even after her detailed explanations, folks usually still weren’t sure if the snow was good or bad news—but at least they’d learned plenty.

Zhang San?

Well, he probably knew too, but he was likely in a bad mood—not surprising.

If he’s quiet, it means he’s in a funk, and his mood always goes south when he’s hungry. Xia Qing shot a message to her idol, offering green lantern wild boar meat, then pressed the walkie-talkie. “Zhao, will the snow have a big effect on the isolation zone work at Hill Fifty?”

Zhao Ze replied, “Depends on how much snow. If it piles up past fifteen centimeters, it’ll help to put two more people on snow clearing, or progress will slow and we’ll miss the deadline.”

Xia Qing took a sip of python meatball soup and pressed the walkie-talkie again. “If we get more than fifteen centimeters, I’ll join the snow-clearing team tomorrow. I’m back to seventy percent strength, so clearing snow shouldn’t be a problem.”

As soon as folks heard Xia Qing would be joining, excitement broke out. Working with the Inspection Team and Azure Dragon Squad meant they’d be safe, but nothing eased nerves like having Xia Qing around.

It wasn’t just a matter of her fighting strength. More importantly, Xia Qing was part of their Alliance—one of their own.