Chapter 881: Wolf Bath Day and Busy Mornings

Once Alpha and Old Goat finished their medicinal bath, Alpha herded Xia Qing and Monkey upstairs while Little Wolf was carried by his dad into the first-floor bathroom.

Missing out on her chance to cuddle Little Wolf, Xia Qing tucked Little Fei Mao into the special protective suit pocket in the second-floor storage room, then cleaned Monkey up, wrapped him in a straw diaper, covered his belly with something dry and soft, and climbed into bed herself.

She needed to recharge—there was much to do later.

Downstairs, the cries of pain from Little Wolf in the bath pierced the quiet, tugging at Xia Qing’s heart and making sleep impossible.

An hour later, Little Wolf and his dad finally finished their bath. Xia Qing, still aching, picked up her scissors and headed downstairs but hadn’t even reached the bottom when she saw Er carrying Little Wolf up front, Crippled Wolf trailing behind, as they quietly slipped outside.

Apparently, Little Wolf felt safer outside in the yard, away from the human scents inside.

With Little Wolf sticking close to Crippled Wolf, Xia Qing couldn’t sneak in to trim his fur. She didn’t want to spook him and make the pup avoid her.

Crippled Wolf would get a break this time—she’d wait ten days before trying again.

Just as Xia Qing turned to climb the stairs, she caught sight of Er ushering in the handsome Huge Wolf and Black Wolf—neither one looked happy about it. The moment the Huge Wolf entered, Xia Qing felt like even her spacious living room had shrunk.

“Handsome Wolf, here for a medicinal bath? That’s great!” Gritting her teeth through the pain, Xia Qing turned around, went back upstairs, grabbed a packet of pesticide from the fridge and headed into the first-floor bathroom.

The moment Xia Qing entered, the Huge Wolf—already soaking in the bath—tried to stand, but Alpha’s commanding voice kept him down. Black Wolf bared his fangs at Xia Qing, clearly unhappy about her sudden appearance.

“Queen, Big Wolf, Black Wolf, this batch of medicine has already run for three rounds. It’s a little weak, so I’ll add some more.” This handsome Huge Wolf was both Xia Qing’s lucky charm and her steed.

She couldn’t boss the wolves around and order the Huge Wolf to soak first, but she could sneak in extra medicine halfway through. She’d endured plenty of scolding today and promised her Idol she’d collect herbs from Python Pond—only then did she get two more packets. She’d been saving them for the Huge Wolf’s bath to boost the effect.

As a Huge Wolf, he needed extra medicine to repair all those bones and tough skin.

Luckily the bath barrel was big enough. After adjusting the water temperature and stirring in the medicine, Xia Qing finally managed to get the towering, muscular Huge Wolf submerged up to his neck.

Huge Wolf’s poker face never gave anything away. Xia Qing couldn’t tell if he was hurting, but she still encouraged him. “Hang in there, Big Wolf. The more it hurts, the better it works. Once you’re done, you’ll have no problem pinning that giant from the western wolf pack beneath your paw!”

After reassuring Huge Wolf, Xia Qing quickly left the bathroom. This was his first time soaking in medicinal liquid, so he’d probably react violently. Staying put might get her bitten if he lost control.

Even though she’d gained these wolves’ trust, Xia Qing never forgot—they were still the fiercest beasts in the Evolved Forest.

Once Xia Qing had left, Alpha sniffed the empty medicine packet she’d tossed in the trash, then glanced at Huge Wolf soaking in the bath, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Huge Wolf was stoic as ever—by the time Xia Qing fell asleep upstairs, he simply stiffened in the water, silent as a rock.

Twenty-five minutes in, Huge Wolf started trembling, trying to get out of the water, but Alpha’s stern, low growl forced him back down.

At thirty-five minutes, the pain overwhelmed him. Huge Wolf couldn’t take orders anymore. He bared his fangs, let out a wild snarl and tried to pull himself up.

“Awoo—”

Black Wolf, standing by Alpha’s side, also bared his teeth and took up a threatening stance. Furious now, Huge Wolf suddenly lunged at the rim of the barrel, jaws snapping.

If he couldn’t get out, he’d just destroy the thing instead!

Alpha was faster. He pounced up, landing on Huge Wolf’s back, and used his paw to shove the big head back into the medicinal liquid.

If you just looked at speed you’d never guess Alpha had been through a torture bath an hour ago—but up close you’d see his legs trembling from the effort.

“Splash—”

The sound of water carried upstairs. Lying in bed with her door tightly shut, Xia Qing’s eyelids fluttered but she didn’t open her eyes.

When the alarm went off, Alpha leapt from the barrel while Huge Wolf also bolted out, shaking himself dry and sending droplets flying all over the bathroom. Then, legs still trembling, he made his way out of the house and lay down under the eaves.

At dawn, Xia Qing woke to the Black-Feathered Rooster’s crow and stretched, feeling completely refreshed.

Yes, this was exactly the feeling she loved. So comfortable!

After getting up, Xia Qing filled the wish jar outside her bedroom window with pure spring water. No sooner had she left than Red Squirrel mom jumped onto the windowsill with her two little ones and began to drink.

Little Fei Mao had already climbed out of Xia Qing’s protective suit pocket and was basking in the morning sun on the second-floor balcony, grooming his now fluffier fur. Amazingly, even Monkey had crawled from his straw mat out to the balcony, gazing dumbly at the view.

Xia Qing went over to put out water and food for Little Fei Mao, then scooped up Monkey with practiced ease and headed downstairs. As she passed the two refrigerators side by side, she noticed wolf paw-shaped wet marks in front of Crippled Wolf’s fridge.

Opening it, she saw some cucumbers had gone missing. Downstairs, the living room was empty—no wolves, no sheep—but many puddles dotted the floor.

She set Monkey near Er’s bathroom to let him do his business, then got busy with her day.

There was so much to do: patrol the territory, check if the insect net in the fields was damaged, feed the chickens and insects, tidy up, make breakfast—then dig for medicinal herbs on Hill Fifty-Five. Her day would be full.

The sweet potato vines she’d been propagating for a month now blanketed the fields, lush and green. The young rice stalks she’d just transplanted still looked a little wilted—their roots were damaged.

Yesterday, Xia Qing had learned a new technique from Zhang Tao and decided to add a special bio-organic fertilizer with zinc and microbial boosters to the rice fields. This fertilizer improved soil vitality and crop health, and it was made right in Territory Seven at the compost factory.

Her plan was to buy four bags after breakfast, and bring a few yellow lantern sunflower heads for Xin Yu while she was at it.

As she walked through the northern buffer forest past the Green Lantern Orchard, Xia Qing sighed—last month, she’d dug up her green lantern jujube trees.

Both her jujube trees had gotten witches’ broom. Trees with this disease never bear fruit again and have to be destroyed. Not just those two—over half the jujube saplings she’d grown at home and in Territory Five from pits were infected too.

Witches’ broom—also called little leaf disease or witches’ cluster—had no real cure. Infected trees could only be culled. So now, Xia Qing’s Green Lantern Orchard consisted of just one type of fruit—apples.

She could only hope that the twenty-odd apples on her trees would all ripen safely, so she could savor the taste of fresh apples this year.

Passing Shed 9, Xia Qing saw the corn seedlings she’d planted last month were already over twenty centimeters tall. The weeds in the cornfield were growing fast too—she’d have to weed again soon.

Fresh from a medicinal bath, Xia Qing was full of energy—she could tidy up two acres of corn in half a day!

Cheerfully, she greeted Old Goat in the pasture shed, praised Er for feeding the fish, then headed home to cook.

The moment she stepped into the yard, Xia Qing spotted Monkey crawling slowly along.