Chapter 701: Alliance of Fangs and Claws

Xia Qing slowly closed her gaping mouth.

Last year, when Alpha brought the wolf with a broken spine to Xia Qing for treatment, he handed her four Yi Stones and a pouch of medicinal herbs, all at once.

Back then, Xia Qing hadn’t realized how important this wolf was to the Northern Wolf Pack, but now she knew it completely.

This wolf was as terrifyingly strong as Alpha.

It might not understand what humans mean by ‘ecological balance,’ but it’d clearly understood the video showing a honey badger catching a venomous snake.

With the rising number of Devastation Snakes in the area and the alliance between pythons and Devastation Snakes growing stronger, the Wolf Pack would end up at a disadvantage. As the clever wolf of the pack, during the time Alpha was pregnant and taking care of pups, it took the initiative to find a solution.

A Brain-Evolved Wolf smart enough to raise wild boars, keep an intelligent sheep, and even trade with humans—so it wouldn’t be shocking for it to go catch the honey badger, a natural enemy of snakes, from another region to cull the growing population of Devastation Snakes in the Northern Evolved Forest… right?

No wonder a honey badger suddenly appeared near the Third Peak of Hill Fifty. No wonder this feisty honey badger would turn and run the moment it spotted Black Wolf.

After Xia Qing digested her shock, she asked, “Broken Back, did you only catch this one honey badger? And can these badgers eat Devastation Snakes without dying?”

Broken Back Wolf didn’t answer Xia Qing’s question. It retracted its tiny sharp fangs and turned back to watch the video.

An hour later, Broken Back Wolf stepped out the security door wearing the snakeskin protective suit Xia Qing had thoroughly cleaned for him, carrying a roast duck on his back and a pouch of freeze-dried meat in his bag, ready to pick up the little honey badger waiting under the eaves.

To keep mosquitos and bugs out, Xia Qing had installed a mesh door outside the security door. But since the mesh pressed right up against it, insects still snuck in whenever she opened it, so today she upgraded the setup.

She’d built a rectangular wooden frame, matching the security door in length and height but with a width of 1.5. One side fit flush against the security door, with the mesh door attached outside and the other three sides made of reinforced insect netting. It essentially turned the entryway into a disinfection passage and a buffer against bugs.

Every time Old Goat came inside, he had to pass through this mesh corridor, rinse his hooves in the water basin by the door, then scrape his hooves on a straw mat, and finally push open the security door to enter.

Xia Qing only had to teach Old Goat the routine once—and he picked it up right away, since she taught him holding a tasty Green Lantern bamboo shoot. He was extra motivated.

What about Broken Back Wolf?

After watching Old Goat do it once, he figured it out on his own.

Xia Qing quickly picked up the little honey badger. “Hey, this little guy just caught a venomous snake and might have some venom on its fur. You’ve got to go home and care for the wolf cubs, so I’ll take Flathead back to Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine.”

Human and wolf left the human territory for Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine. Xia Qing set the little honey badger under a big pine tree. Broken Back Wolf sniffed it again and glanced at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing nodded. “Don’t worry. This little honey badger is your companion—I won’t harm it.”

Broken Back Wolf flashed a sharp-fanged grin, then set off down the road with his roast duck and freeze-dried meat.

Once he disappeared from sight, Xia Qing decided to call her idol. “Third Brother, can honey badgers resist Devastation Snake venom?”

She couldn’t really tell what was so special about this little honey badger, but for Broken Back Wolf to value it so highly, it had to be unusual.

Zhang San was probably busy with research, but he sounded alert and answered patiently. “Honey badgers have a mutated nicotinic acetylcholine receptor at their nerve endings, so the neurotoxins can’t bind. Plus, their blood contains a special enzyme that breaks down and neutralizes the harmful components of snake venom. That’s why honey badgers have a high resistance to both neurotoxic and hemotoxic snake venoms.”

“There’s a research institute in Lan City that applied for a project on honey badger resistance to Devastation Snake venom a couple of years ago, but I haven’t seen their results yet. Where did you find this honey badger?”

Xia Qing didn’t mention that Broken Back Wolf had caught this honey badger—she was worried someone besides her idol might hear and take Broken Back Wolf away for study. “I found one at the base of the Third Peak of Hill Fifty while digging bamboo shoots the other day. Today, this honey badger wandered into Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, ate half a pit viper, got poisoned, and fell asleep.”

“Interestingly, both places where I saw honey badgers happen to be regions where we’ve spotted Devastation Snakes, so I wanted to ask if you think there’s a connection.”

Zhang San grew interested. “Stay there. I’ll have Zhang Song head out right away.”

“Third Brother.” Xia Qing sounded sincere. “Can we not take this honey badger back to Territory Seven? It’s a companion of the Wolf Pack.”

Huh?

Zhang San pushed up his glasses. “You’re sure it’s a companion—not food?”

After all, wolves are one of the honey badger’s natural predators.

Xia Qing didn’t mention Broken Back Wolf. “I’m sure. Later, when I was hauling bamboo, I saw Black Wolf of the Northern Wolf Pack with this honey badger—the same day I delivered those herbs to you.”

Carried over by Huo Zhun, Zhang Song took off his protective mask, leaned against the pine tree to recover, then slipped on his special gloves and began examining the honey badger poisoned by a pit viper.

Xia Qing asked, “Brother Song, will the honey badger be alright?”

Zhang Song replied professionally, “Judging by its teeth, this honey badger was probably born last spring. Its youth and inexperience led it to hunt an evolved pit viper with both hemotoxins and neurotoxins—and it even ate the snake’s venom sac. Surviving that was sheer luck. Judging from its vitals, it should wake up in about an hour.”

After speaking, Zhang Song carefully took the honey badger’s measurements, drew its blood, collected samples of saliva, fur, and even skin flakes, then packed half the pit viper into the sample box. He finally stood up and said, “It’s dangerous out here in the Evolved Forest, Miss Xia. You’d better not hang around—head back to your territory soon.”

“Sister Qing, we’re heading out.” With the task done, Huo Zhun, who had been guarding Zhang Song, reached down, hoisted him up, and prepared to leave.

It was nighttime now, and Zhang Song, draped over Huo Zhun’s shoulder, didn’t argue about walking back. He just meekly pleaded, “Brother Huo, since we’re not in any rush, can you not bounce me home this time?”

“Sure.” Huo Zhun was easygoing. He agreed and abandoned the faster, bouncier way home, instead jogging off with Zhang Song in tow.

After they’d gone, Xia Qing checked the injection site on the little honey badger, making sure there was no redness or swelling. She gave it a spritz of insect repellent, stroked its head, and made a wish. “Flathead, you’ve got to pull through. Wiping out the Devastation Snakes in this area is up to you.”

If the honey badger could get rid of the Devastation Snakes, humans wouldn’t have to waste more resources on the problem. They could focus on farming and feeding more people so everyone could survive.

Half an hour after Xia Qing left, the toxin in the little honey badger’s body subsided, and it woke up. It stretched, rolled around in the dirt for a bit, then immediately felt hungry.

And when you’re hungry, you eat.

The little honey badger rolled upright and spun in a circle, only to realize its meat stick from before was nowhere to be found!

It started panting with anger, sniffed around with care, and soon locked on to the scent of the enemy who’d stolen its prize. Following the trail to exact revenge, it ended up blocked outside the Northern Gate of the human Section One iron mesh wall.

Watching from the camera as the little honey badger frantically clawed around outside the gate, Xia Qing muttered to Old Goat, “You don’t think it blames me for stealing its food, do you?”

Some grudges just keep piling up.