Chapter 671: Midnight Negotiations in Wolf Valley

Xia Qing returned to her territory, set aside her gear in the little house by the fields and gave her Idol a call to explain that the situation had changed.

“…So Crippled Wolf lost his temper and won’t let me give medicine or collect samples from the three sick wolves,” she reported.

Zhang San, ever the foodie, sympathized. “Honestly, they deserve a lesson. They’ve probably developed antibodies by now, so even if they go a few days without meds, that fungus won’t kill them. Though, they’re weak enough they might get snatched by something else. Are you sure you can get those blood and saliva samples tomorrow?”

“Definitely,” Xia Qing replied without hesitation. “Crippled Wolf didn’t kick those three out, which means he still wants me to treat them. I don’t have to wait until daylight—once I finish disinfecting Wolf Valley, I’ll grab the samples.”

Has Xia Qing already gotten this good at wrangling Evolved Wolves?

Zhang San paused for two seconds. “Alright. Stay safe.”

“Got it. You get some rest. Once I have the samples, I’ll contact Ji right away.” After filling Idol in on everything, Xia Qing reached out to Hu Zifeng, asking him to send someone to fetch medicine and sanitize the beast trail through Section Six of Hill Forty-Nine, where the three sick wolves had been, to prevent the advanced fungus from spreading.

The disinfection in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine was Xia Qing’s responsibility.

Section Three was her turf. The valley there held five huge wild boars, more than twenty piglets, three reckless Evolved Wolves and one furious Brain-Evolved Wolf. If anyone else wandered in, they’d risk unnecessary conflict with the pack.

On Blue Star, evolved microorganisms are classified into four grades: basic, intermediate, advanced and super advanced.

The more highly evolved a microorganism is, the harder it is to control. And depending on the type, even the basic or intermediate stage can be deadly to humans.

For example, the intermediate stage golden staph among carnivorous bacteria can kill an average evolved adult in just two or three hours. That’s why, when Zhang San talked about synthesizing a super-evolved golden staph to wipe out Territory Nine last year, Li Si reacted so strongly.

Advanced Aspergillus fungus is less dangerous than intermediate golden staph, and an antidote has already been developed for it.

So, when advanced Aspergillus was discovered on Hill Forty-Nine, there was no need to start an emergency disaster protocol. All it took was for the relevant personnel to disinfect thoroughly.

Hill Forty-Nine isn’t anyone’s territory, so there’s no need to report the incident or bother the Inspection Team or Territory Management Department.

The reason advanced Aspergillus overran the Evolved Forest of Hui Six was that the antidote was expensive, and the forest is far from Hui Six’s Safe Zone. Helicopter disinfection was just too costly, so management took no action.

Once Zhang San finishes a cheap, effective disinfectant, and the cost drops, Hui Six will definitely take action.

Let’s hope they finish it before the fungus evolves to the super stage. If that forest gets doused with Devastation Rain a few more times, plenty of other microorganisms will evolve, too.

Right now, getting blood and saliva samples from those three wolves was the top priority.

After sanitizing the key area in front of the Wolf Den, Xia Qing ignored the three wolves baring their teeth at her from under the rock face. She went up to the wooden door and gave it a very formal knock.

“Handsome Wolf, are you in?”

Crippled Wolf shoved the door open, shot a harsh glare at the three sulking wolves and only then looked up at Xia Qing.

With plenty of gestures, Xia Qing tried to negotiate. “Handsome Wolf, those three are sick. You’ve been in contact with them, so you need to take some medicine too—just one pill, okay?”

Crippled Wolf understood, curled his tongue around the little pill from Xia Qing’s plastic tray, tossed it in his mouth and drank several mouthfuls from the small bowl of water she held out.

Once he’d taken his medicine, Xia Qing continued, “Those three need samples taken and medicine too.”

Crippled Wolf stayed silent, refusing to move—clearly, still annoyed.

Xia Qing softened her voice, sounding pitiful. “Handsome Wolf, I’ve been working all day. I’m tired and just want to go home and rest.”

She even gave a dramatic yawn to show just how worn out she felt.

Crippled Wolf picked up on her tone and yawn, barked a stern order and called over one of the punished sick wolves.

“Thanks, Handsome Wolf!”

Xia Qing promptly poured more pure spring water into the bowl, letting the three wolves take turns with their medicine and drinks.

Since they’d just eaten wild boar, their mouths were a mess. They needed to rinse out for half an hour before Xia Qing could get clean saliva samples, along with the blood.

During that half hour, Xia Qing patiently explained the details of the illness and treatment. The three wolves would need medicine for three days, but didn’t need to stay here the whole time—just keep up with the doses.

Aside from that, Xia Qing warned Crippled Wolf seriously: if the Northern Wolf Pack interacted with these three wolves, preventive medicine was a must, especially for any nursing females or Er.

Wolf pack pups? After what happened with the Western pack’s pups, the Northern pack was bound to hide theirs. Xia Qing figured she wouldn’t see any cubs until they could hunt for themselves.

By then, the pups would be half-grown Evolved Wolves. Forget the ones miles away on Hill Sixty, she hadn’t even managed to pick up the weasel kits in the sheep shed yet.

Samples collected, Xia Qing left Wolf Valley and handed everything to Ji Li. Crippled Wolf didn’t come back to Section Three with her—he stayed in the den, keeping watch over those unruly wolves.

By six the next morning, Xia Qing was back at Wolf Valley with the last of the freeze-dried meat, only to find Crippled Wolf had already taken the three sick wolves and left.

They were likely only gone for a while and would be back by afternoon—she’d already arranged that the three needed another dose in the evening. So, Xia Qing scrapped her plans for bamboo shooting and settled in to wait around her territory and Section Three.

There was still time. Xia Qing burned the wolves’ waste, disinfected as she went and began her inspection of Section Three, using Magnetic Sense to search for any sign of the Devastation Snake.

With no snakes detected anywhere, Xia Qing headed for the valley in Section Two where she’d previously found the snake, looking carefully for anything unusual.

She found the stone crevice where the snake had been had now been pried open and thoroughly searched. After the sample was taken, the crack had become a pit. Xia Qing stood at the edge, closed her eyes and focused with Magnetic Sense for any anomalies nearby.

And she really did pick up on something strange, though it wasn’t with Magnetic Sense—it was her hearing instead.

Xia Qing opened her eyes and stared at the dry bottom of the pit. Somewhere below—no more than three meters down—she could hear the trickle of running water.

Now there was another common thread at every Devastation Snake site on both Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty: they were always found near water.

The discovery gave Xia Qing goosebumps. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that any second now, a massive black python might burst up through the rock at her feet.

No way—she had to tell Idol about this right away!