Chapter 700: Wolves, Badgers, and the Secrets of Ecosystem Balance

Carrying two wild ducks in its jaws, the Broken Back Wolf strode into Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine. It spotted the little Honey Badger curled up asleep, clutching a snake. Pausing to sniff the air, it then moved on, making its way to the northern gate of Section One and lifted its head.

“Beep.”

At 9:28 on March 18, Broken Back Wolf entered Section One of the North through the north gate.

“Beep.”

At 9:28 on March 18, Broken Back Wolf exited Section One of the North through the north gate.

Listening to the familiar rhythm of her phone’s notifications and watching messages pop up one after another, Xia Qing turned toward the Northern Buffer Forest on her nightly run.

By the time Xia Qing reached the north gate, Broken Back Wolf had finished playing at Section One’s gate and was now at the north gate of Section Three.

As Xia Qing drew closer, it finally put down the two wild ducks and grinned at her, flashing tiny, bloodstained fangs in an absurdly cute smile.

If it’s smiling so happily, that means Alpha is safe, the cubs are safe, and Er is fine too. Xia Qing couldn’t help but smile back. “Hey, Broken Back, long time no see. What have you been busy with lately?”

Busy with what?

Broken Back Wolf took a few steps toward the gate, then glanced back at Xia Qing.

“Come on!”

If Broken Back Wolf brought the ducks into the territory, they clearly weren’t headed far. There was a good chance it meant catching a pig.

Xia Qing quickly stuffed both ducks into her bag, grabbed the handle, and followed along. “Are we going after a pig? There’s a half-grown boar hiding in the southern cave of Valley One. Last time I was cleaning pig dung it jumped out and tried to pick a fight. How about we take care of it? I wonder what grade it is…”

Broken Back Wolf glanced up at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing got the message. “Not killing pigs? Then why did you bring me out here?”

Following Broken Back Wolf to the giant pine, Xia Qing spotted the Honey Badger hugging a meter-long strip of snake meat. She fell silent.

Seriously? This guy… actually gnawed halfway through a viper. Is it paralyzed from the venom? But honey badgers have crazy resistance to toxins. Maybe it’ll be fine after a nap.

Why are honey badgers so tough? Because they love eating snakes and never avoid them—if they weren’t, the venom would have wiped them out long ago.

Broken Back Wolf pressed its paw onto the honey badger, then looked up at Xia Qing.

Gesturing, Xia Qing asked, “Are you planning to roast this honey badger with the wild ducks and bring the feast to Queen? Can’t do that, it’s been poisoned.”

Broken Back Wolf pulled its paw back and looked at Xia Qing thoughtfully.

So that’s not what it meant?

Xia Qing exchanged a glance with the brain-evolved wolf for a few seconds, still clueless about what this clever wolf wanted. She went straight to gesturing again. “Broken Back, what exactly do you want to do with this little honey badger?”

Seeing Xia Qing was hopelessly dense, Broken Back Wolf could only paw at the honey badger, signaling for her to pick it up.

Xia Qing finally understood, hoisted the honey badger still clutching its snake meat, and followed Broken Back Wolf back home.

Passing by the Sheep Shed, Broken Back Wolf stopped and sniffed at the door.

Xia Qing explained, “Red Squirrel’s inside. She came over tonight—looks like she’s about to give birth.”

The sheep shed Xia Qing built for Old Goat had already been repurposed from a wolf recovery room into a maternity center for rodents.

The Yellow Weasel family lived there for a month. Alpha gifted her a chunk of Yi Stone, the plucked one brought her loads of frogs and mouse heads, and White Weasel contributed a rabbit and medicinal herbs worth sixty thousand credits. Top-tier guests.

Now, though, the curled-up Red Squirrel was definitely freeloading and probably pawing a few things to take with her—a low-quality guest for sure.

Top clients are treated like royalty, served the best food and drink. Low-tier guests are more like devils—letting Red Squirrel stay without tossing her out was already more than generous.

Once it figured out who was inside, Broken Back Wolf glanced up at the swallow’s nest under the eaves, where birds were chirping away. Then, with practiced skill, it slipped through the insect-proof mesh door, brushed the dirt from its paws, wiped its snakeskin boots clean on the straw mat, stepped on the doorknob, and pushed open the security door.

Light spilled from inside, drawing a cloud of flying insects. But the insect-repellent mesh held them at bay outside the door. Once Xia Qing closed the security door, the bugs quickly scattered.

Old Goat didn’t react much when Broken Back Wolf arrived, but as soon as she saw Xia Qing carrying in the honey badger, she blew up—leaping up ready for a fight.

“Maaa—”

Broken Back Wolf jumped in front of Xia Qing, growling low with fierce eyes to warn Old Goat off. Old Goat reluctantly pulled back her spiral horns and stomped over to her tatami, glaring at the honey badger and chewing cud furiously.

After putting Old Goat in her place, Broken Back Wolf stared at the two wild ducks Xia Qing still held.

“I’ll get things ready for roasting right now.” Xia Qing lifted the honey badger. “What about this guy?”

Broken Back Wolf ignored her question, climbed upstairs, and fetched its laptop, placing it on the table and motioning for Xia Qing to play a video.

A straight-A student’s world was a mystery, but Xia Qing respected it anyway. She left the honey badger outside the door, shut the security door, peeled off her protective gloves, and helped Broken Back Wolf boot up the laptop.

This time, Broken Back Wolf distinctly pointed a paw at the video explaining ecosystem balance in Evolved Forest.

After Xia Qing hit play, she went to the kitchen to prep the ducks. Broken Back Wolf remained as consistent as ever in its hunting—one green lantern, one yellow. The Green Lantern duck belonged to Alpha, the Yellow Lantern duck to Xia Qing.

While Xia Qing boiled water and plucked feathers, Red Squirrel peered nervously at the sleeping honey badger from the Sheep Shed’s door, then scurried back into the grass nest.

“Within an ecosystem, producers, consumers, decomposers, and the abiotic environment maintain a dynamic yet relatively stable flow of energy and matter over time.”

The video showed scenes of the honey badger catching a snake as the narrator continued, “This stability is called ecological balance.”

Broken Back Wolf glanced toward the kitchen—seeing Xia Qing wasn’t watching—then turned back to focus on the video.

Not long after, Xia Qing brought over a steaming plate of duck innards, putting it in front of Broken Back Wolf. “Eat up, Broken Back, it’s still hot.”

But Broken Back Wolf just kept its eyes glued to the screen, barely twitching its ears. Looked like it’d eaten before coming over and wasn’t hungry.

Humming a cheerful little tune, Xia Qing carried the plate of innards back to the kitchen. If Broken Back Wolf wasn’t eating, that meant they were all hers—Green Lantern duck liver, heart, intestines, lungs, all for her. The Yellow Lantern duck bits could feed the fish or snakes.

After sending the Devastation Snake’s snake box off to Territory Seven, Xia Qing made a new one from hardwood, now home to two Green Lantern snakes.

She set the plump Green Lantern wild duck to roast over the fire, stashed the Yellow Lantern duck in the fridge, headed downstairs, and peeled off Broken Back Wolf’s snakeskin protective suit to start cleaning and oiling it.

After one run-through of the video ended, Broken Back Wolf signaled for Xia Qing to play it again.

She kept tidying the suit while watching. When the video reached the honey badger eating the snake, Broken Back Wolf turned to look at Xia Qing again.

“This stability is called ecological balance.”

A wild idea popped into Xia Qing’s head, and her dark, clear eyes gradually widened.

She hit pause and gestured, “Broken Back, did you bring that honey badger to wipe out the Devastation Snake?”

The clever wolf bared its cute little fangs in a brilliant smile.