Chapter 739: A Lesson in Trust

The Crippled Wolf didn’t smile, gazing at Xia Qing with a thoughtful look.

Judging by its intelligence and her own knack for explaining, Xia Qing was sure it understood. Still, that expression on its face seemed to say it didn’t want her to come over.

But if she didn’t go, how could she feed them the medicine? Xia Qing lifted the Crippled Wolf’s big paw, picked up a tiny pill and explained, “You can’t do it. Your claws might be sharp, but unlike my fingers, they’re not nimble enough to hold the pill. See?”

She pinched a pill between her fingers, showing the clever wolf that, no matter how smart it was, these delicate tasks were still out of its reach. Then she stressed, dead serious:

“Each wolf can only have one pill. Any more and they’ll get sick, just like that lady in the video said.” Xia Qing mimicked the tone of the female narrator from the video, repeating her exact words. “Don’t overdose on medicine, or it’ll harm your body. You might even get poisoned.”

The Crippled Wolf had watched those medicine videos a handful of times, but Xia Qing still worried it might forget or not fully grasp what ‘harm’ or ‘poisoning’ meant.

So, she gently patted the Crippled Wolf all over, explaining in vivid terms: “If your body’s harmed, you’ll lose fur. If you get poisoned, your stomach will hurt and you’ll have diarrhea.”

She barely finished before the Crippled Wolf, who absolutely dreaded losing fur, stiffened up, its wise eyes glancing between the pill, Xia Qing’s nimble fingers and its own big paw.

Xia Qing had said all she could, so she waited quietly to see what decision the Northern Wolf Pack’s best learner—maybe not the brightest, but definitely the most studious Brain-Evolved Wolf—would make.

Unexpectedly, just a few seconds later, the Crippled Wolf didn’t smile, didn’t let Xia Qing put the pill in its protective suit pocket. Instead, it simply turned, opened the door and left.

Wait, that’s it? After all that, what exactly was running through that clever wolf’s mind?

“Crippled,” Xia Qing stopped it again, confirming, “If I don’t feed the pack medicine tomorrow, we’ll have to wait until after the second Devastation Rain. By then, the deadline will have passed. Think carefully. If the pack wants to take antiparasitic pills, come get me tomorrow morning, when the sun’s here.”

The wolves were raising young cubs right now. Without the Crippled Wolf to lead her in, Xia Qing dared not go herself—she was afraid the pack might misunderstand her intentions.

The Crippled Wolf looked back at Xia Qing, then left, carrying roasted meat for the Alpha or maybe some cubs, plus the dog food she’d given for Er, and walked out.

Uncertain about the Crippled Wolf’s intentions, Xia Qing turned to her companion. “Old Goat, what do you think Crippled meant?”

Old Goat squinted, staying quiet.

“Well, it understood. Whether they take the medicine is up to them. We’ll know by tomorrow morning. Good night, Old Goat.” Xia Qing pushed thoughts of the Northern Wolf Pack aside and headed upstairs to bed.

What Xia Qing didn’t expect was this: by four in the morning, the Crippled Wolf had made its choice. It showed up with the Albino Weasel, White Weasel, right at Xia Qing’s territory, motioning for her to stuff the pills into its protective suit pocket.

Hair a wild mess, Xia Qing stared at the Crippled Wolf with the soaking wet, yet dazzlingly white Yellow Weasel at its side, lost for words.

The Crippled Wolf didn’t bother with gestures—the message was clear: White Weasel’s paws, though small, had more dexterous toes than an Evolved Wolf and could feed the medicine. Xia Qing could trust them with it.

So what did that mean? It meant the Crippled Wolf had no desire for Xia Qing to set foot on Hill Sixty right now.

Why didn’t it want her there?

Probably because her own kind—humans—had sneaked into the Western Evolved Forest earlier this year and slaughtered the Western Wolf Pack’s cubs. Until the Northern Pack’s cubs were grown, there’s no way they’d let a human near them.

So after she ‘stole’ the Balding Weasel’s job of plucking fur, now his wife was out to steal her job as the Wolf Pack’s medic.

The Crippled Wolf was getting smarter by the day!

Pet wolf cubs? Those dreams were dashed. Still, Xia Qing could understand the Crippled Wolf’s choice. If she were in its shoes, she wouldn’t let a human near her own young either.

Human brains had evolved into something far too complicated and clever. There’s a hidden evil in the human heart—no other species on Blue Star could match it.

No use pushing it. Xia Qing stopped insisting, pulled out a bag holding a hundred pills and set it on the table, then took out her phone to show the two Brain-Evolved Wolves some photos. Patiently, she explained, “Crippled, White Weasel, look. Adult wolves—this size—take one pill each. Wolf cubs, this small, get none. Got it?”

The Crippled Wolf stared at the photos, serious as ever.

White Weasel reared up on its hind legs, long body stretched upright. Standing beside the Crippled Wolf, it studied the pictures too. During its recovery month in the sheep shed, Xia Qing had blasted it with videos and photos, so phones, pictures and laptops were nothing new.

Last time Xia Qing visited the Hidden Valley, she’d given both Balding Weasel and White Weasel a third of a pill each, so White Weasel was already familiar with the smell.

Actually, two- or three-month-old Evolved Wolves could safely take a third of a pill, but Xia Qing simply couldn’t make that clear to these two, so she’d rather not risk giving medicine to the cubs at all.

After explaining all this three times, Xia Qing began the pop quiz. She found a photo of another adult wolf and asked, “Can this one take medicine? If yes, smile. If not, don’t.”

With that, Xia Qing looked eagerly at the Crippled Wolf.

The Crippled Wolf fixed its gaze on the photo for a few seconds, then opened its mouth, flashing those adorable little fang tips.

“Crippled, you really are smart!” Xia Qing ruffled the clever wolf’s head, swapped in a photo of a wolf cub, and asked, “What about this one? Can it take medicine?”

The Crippled Wolf snapped its mouth shut right away.

Excellent—no wonder they were the fiercest evolved creatures on crazy Blue Star!

And White Weasel? Xia Qing knew it was sharp, since it remembered herbal traits, but it belonged to the Queen’s high and mighty clique, too cool and stoic for smiles.

After several rounds of testing, Xia Qing was finally sure the Crippled Wolf really grasped that wolf cubs didn’t get medicine, and moved to stage two of her lesson.

She took out pills and sorted them into four piles: one with three, one with two, one with one, and one with more than ten. “Each wolf gets just one pill. Any more and you’ll get sick—lose fur, upset stomach, the works. This is what one pill looks like. Each adult wolf gets one, just one…”

After three more explanations, Xia Qing gave another test. “Crippled, White Weasel, which pile would you pick for this wolf? This one?”

White Weasel stayed aloof. Crippled Wolf kept its stern look.

“How about this one?” Xia Qing pointed at the pile with two pills.

White Weasel stayed as cool as ever, Crippled Wolf just as serious.

“This one?” She pointed at the pile with just one pill.

White Weasel remained ice-cold, but the Crippled Wolf opened its mouth, showing off its little fangs.

“Perfect! Another right answer, Crippled. You really are a genius among wolves atop the pyramid!” After her praise, Xia Qing reminded it to bring back any leftover pills, then finally tucked them into the side pocket of its suit.

As she slid the pills in, Xia Qing discovered three small, dirty, jet-black walnuts nestled in the Crippled Wolf’s pocket—so tiny she wondered if they even had kernels inside.

“Crippled, are these for me?” Xia Qing asked. For you to dig up such filthy walnuts, that took effort.

The Crippled Wolf didn’t smile, gazing at Xia Qing in deep thought.

“Not for me?” Xia Qing prodded patiently. “Is there something you want to trade for?”