Chapter 641: A Midnight Exchange of Favors

Xia Qing hadn’t seen Broken Back Wolf like this in ages. She immediately played along, grinning, “Broken Back, you’re getting more handsome every time you smile! So, did Her Majesty have pups yet? How many did she have?”

Broken Back Wolf turned his head, signaling Xia Qing to look off to the side.

That’s when she noticed—a fresh little wild boar lay under the eaves, still dripping blood. Clearly, Broken Back Wolf had just hunted it down and carried it here.

No need to ask. It had to be from those wild boars the Wolf Pack raised in the valley of Section Three on Hill Forty-Nine.

Xia Qing’s eyes sparkled as she gestured, “Broken Back, is this for me?”

Broken Back Wolf clamped his jaws shut, gazing at Xia Qing as if weighing his options.

She picked up on the message, then pantomimed again, “You want me to roast it, then you’ll take it back for Her Majesty?”

Broken Back Wolf finally bared his sharp little fangs, showing a toothy wolf grin at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing just stared, speechless.

…

…

You show up in the middle of the night to order takeout and want me to roast you a whole suckling pig? And you didn’t even bring a gift? You’ve got some nerve!

When Xia Qing didn’t budge, Broken Back Wolf padded over and nudged her, motioning for her to check the pocket on his side. She found two grimy, black hickory nuts inside. In that moment, she thought, This wolf really is Yang Jin’s half-brother—their grins are exactly the same!

Two measly nuts and he wants a whole roasted pig?

What else could she do?

She’d roast it, of course!

“Broken Back, now that you’re a dad you really know how to pinch pennies, huh? You used to at least bring me a rabbit when I roasted meat for Her Majesty. Now it’s just two hickory nuts…”

Xia Qing grabbed the little wild boar and carried it into the cabin. With bugs at their peak this season, trying to deal with raw meat outside was practically suicide.

Broken Back Wolf lingered by the sheep shed, eyeing the yellow weasel for a bit before heading to the eaves and rinsing the mud off his paws in the water basin.

Back in winter, Xia Qing kept the animals’ paw-washing basin inside to prevent the water from freezing. But now that the temperature was well above zero, it was back outside where it belonged.

After washing his paws, Broken Back Wolf stomped a few times on the straw mat to dry off, then nosed the door open and came inside.

By now, Xia Qing had started a fire in the hearth. She expertly skinned the piglet, secured it on the roasting rack, and set it inside the fireplace to cook.

The fireplace hadn’t been used for more than half a month, but now warm firelight flickered across the living room, making it feel almost too hot.

Old Goat and Broken Back Wolf sniffed each other in greeting, then Old Goat retreated to his tatami mat far from the hearth.

Xia Qing split the piglet’s innards into two dishes and carried them into the living room, placing them down in front of Broken Back Wolf and Er. “Go ahead, these are fresh Green Lantern piglet organs. Should taste pretty good.”

Broken Back Wolf finished the portion she set in front of him, then made no move for the second dish, so Er finally started to eat.

When Broken Back saw Er munching on raw meat, he glanced back at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing beamed. “Er’s all healed up. He’s now a healthy evolved wolf. He can eat raw meat again—and he can head back with you to Hill Sixty if you want.”

Broken Back Wolf didn’t react much. He just took a few sips of pure spring water from the basin and headed upstairs as if he’d done it a hundred times, coming back down with his laptop.

Xia Qing patiently explained about fixing the fence walls and warned him to be careful coming and going. Only then did she open up the laptop for him. Broken Back Wolf lifted his paw and confidently pointed out a video, signaling her to play it.

It wasn’t the usual science video about microbes. Instead, it was the very first educational video Xia Qing had ever shown Broken Back Wolf and Alpha—it covered the Evolved Forest after Devastation Rain. Broken Back Wolf had already watched it countless times.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what you’re seeing now is Hui One Base’s Section Nine Forest, located five kilometers south of the Safe Zone. It’s the ninth year since the calamity, and just two days ago the third Devastation Rain came to pass. Section Nine Forest is now full of danger…”

The familiar narration started up. Broken Back Wolf sat beside the low table, utterly transfixed.

Xia Qing thought about mentioning the double-door fridge and microscope upstairs, but seeing how engrossed he was, she kept quiet and started helping him out of his protective suit.

Broken Back Wolf trusted Xia Qing completely. As she fiddled with his suit, he never once looked away from the screen.

She slipped off the snakeskin protective suit and, sure enough, found the inside—especially the legs—way filthier than the outside. After scrubbing and disinfecting it, she conditioned it with a special resin before hanging it up to dry.

When all that was done, Xia Qing threw more wood on the fire, flipped the roasting pig, and grabbed a brush to groom Broken Back Wolf. That’s when she noticed—he had fleas!

She rushed to the cabinet and fetched some external parasite drops, parting the fur on the back of his neck and squeezing out a few drops.

Xia Qing had asked Idol to formulate these anti-parasite drops for her animal friends. A few drops at the base of their necks every week kept the external parasites at bay. She always used it on Alpha and Broken Back Wolf when they came to the territory, but it had clearly been too long this time—both were crawling with hitchhikers.

With parasites present, brushing was out of the question.

When Broken Back Wolf finished the first video, Xia Qing didn’t bother asking and just cued up a science video about external parasites. As he looked at her, she showed him the flea she’d just squished. “Broken Back, look—you’ve got parasites. See? This is a parasite. That’s what the video is about.”

Broken Back Wolf had no objections. He turned away and watched the educational video intently.

By the time the roast piglet was packed up, he still sat watching the video, eyes fixed and serious. Only after the credits rolled did he let Xia Qing help him back into his protective suit, strap on the roast pig, and look over at Er.

Er, who’d been sprawled out with Old Goat on the tatami, stood up and joined Broken Back Wolf. The two wolves stared at Xia Qing together.

It was clear—Er would be leaving with Broken Back Wolf.

She’d steeled herself for this moment long ago, but when the time actually came, Xia Qing felt an overwhelming sense of loss.

She bent down, hugged Er tightly, dabbed more external parasite drops on his neck, and helped him into his protective suit. Then she gestured and explained earnestly to Broken Back Wolf, “Broken Back, Er can’t get out of his protective suit by himself. When you get home, help him out of it and store it with yours and Her Majesty’s.”

She’d specifically shown Broken Back Wolf how to store the protective suits. He was smart; he must’ve learned it by now. Anyway, high-grade hardened python skin was tough— even if he did it wrong, the suit would be fine for two or three years.

After all that, Xia Qing stuffed every pocket in Er’s suit with jerky, patted his belly, and looked into his eyes seriously. “Er, if you don’t feel well, you come back anytime, okay?”

Er nuzzled her face with his head, leaving behind a mask of wolf fur. Then he joined Broken Back Wolf, and together they left Section Three.

Xia Qing stood quietly inside the iron mesh walls, watching the two strong evolved wolves leap one after another over the freshly dug foundation and disappear into the Evolved Forest. Suddenly, the wind felt huge and her territory, completely empty.

A few minutes later, standing at the edge of her territory, Xia Qing’s eyes suddenly lit up.