Chapter 918: Home, Wolves, and Squirrels: Life in the Territory

After sending Xin Yu off, Xia Qing lugged Old Goat back from the pasture shed. Once inside, she found the Handsome Huge Wolf squatting by the bathroom door, while Er relaxed and swayed in the hammock chair, beaming at her.

Little Fei Mao? So he wouldn’t keep attacking her protective suit pockets, Xia Qing had made him a two-room luxury squirrel nest. Now he was hiding inside it.

The moment Xia Qing walked in, the Handsome Huge Wolf fixed his gaze on her hands.

“Big Wolf, you want some spinach juice? No problem!” Xia Qing set Old Goat down on his hammock chair and went to make the veggie juice, adding a splash of nutrient source and topping it off with half a basin of pure spring water. Two wolves, one sheep, one squirrel—everyone got a portion.

After finishing his drink, Er nestled up next to Xia Qing, beaming. Old Goat wasn’t sulking anymore either, and started having fun pedaling the generator bike. Little Fei Mao, having licked his bowl clean, zipped straight back into Xia Qing’s pocket. Clearly, he felt safer there than in his fancy wall-mounted nest.

Once the Handsome Huge Wolf finished his juice, he turned and stared at the bath barrel in the bathroom.

“You want a medicinal bath, Big Wolf? You got it—I’ll run the water for you.”

The water in the bath barrel barely reached halfway up a person’s feet, but this impatient wolf didn’t even let Xia Qing brush his fur. He just jumped right into the bath.

Xia Qing followed him in, brushing his fur as she negotiated, “Big Wolf, how’s the hickory harvest on Hill Sixty this year? Any good? The hickory nuts.”

She pointed to a picture of hickory nuts stuck to the wall. “These—hickory nuts, from Hill Sixty. It’s where you and Queen fought the python and the bear pack.”

The Handsome Huge Wolf pretended Xia Qing wasn’t even there, refusing to take his eyes off the bath faucet.

“When they’re ripe, will you take me to pick some?” Xia Qing collected the shed wolf fur and set it in the small basket beside her.

Earlier that morning, Xia Qing had traded ten jin of Green Lantern or Yellow Lantern hickory nuts with Yang Jin, in exchange for detailed intel on the Type B Magnetic Sense Evolver the Safe Zone team had found. She’d even flown over in a helicopter to ensure they got to the target first.

That condition was suggested by Yang Jin. Azure Dragon Squad’s surveillance bird found two massive, mysterious hickory trees with unknown quality and attack methods on Hill Sixty.

Though the Alpha had moved back to Hill Fifty-Five, there were still over a dozen wolves posted at Hill Sixty, so it remained a core territory for the Northern Wolf Pack. If Azure Dragon Squad wanted the nuts, they had to deal with Xia Qing.

No need to bother the Alpha for something so simple. Faced with choosing between the sly Broken Back Wolf and the Handsome Huge Wolf, Xia Qing wisely picked the latter.

She plucked another tangle of wolf fur from the brush and dropped it in the basket, continuing her persuasive pitch, “See, Big Wolf? After one medicinal soak, you hardly shed at all, and your coat got smooth and shiny. You’ve totally surpassed Broken Back and are now the most handsome male wolf in the pack…”

The Handsome Huge Wolf twitched his fuzzy ears, shaking off loose fur, but kept his eyes glued to the slow-rising water in the bath, as it crept up toward the faucet.

Little Fei Mao poked his tiny head out from Xia Qing’s pocket, stared at the wolf fur in the basket for a moment, then mustered his courage, leapt in, grabbed a big tuft and darted right back into Xia Qing’s pocket.

Setting down the brush, Xia Qing carried the little basket out of the bathroom. She fished out Little Fei Mao, who was busy stuffing wolf fur into her pocket, and tucked both him and the leftover fur into the squirrel nest hanging on the wall.

Little Fei Mao’s nest wasn’t just lined with wolf fur—there was also Xia Qing’s hair and clothes, wool from Old Goat and Er, feathers from birds of prey, and old snake skins. Nesting in all that let him soak up the scent of strong animals, which helped him sneak through the Evolved Forest unnoticed.

Maybe it was his smarts, maybe it was surviving a brush with death when a predator nearly got him, but this little pine squirrel was extremely cautious. He’d only gather fur from the strongest creatures for his nest.

After realizing this, Xia Qing tried putting a handful of Monkey’s fur in for him. He chucked it out every time. Clearly, in Little Fei Mao’s eyes, Goofball Monkey didn’t count as a powerhouse.

When the bath barrel finally filled, Xia Qing headed off to patrol the territory, but the phone in her pocket beeped out a steady rhythm—her cue that Broken Back Wolf had arrived.

She checked the surveillance camera and saw Broken Back Wolf by the door with three wild ducks. She dashed over, welcomed him warmly, checked the ducks, and confirmed two were Green Lanterns and one was a Yellow Lantern. Then she asked, “Broken Back, is this Yellow Lantern for me?”

Broken Back Wolf sniffed the ducks, then flashed Xia Qing an adorable smile, baring his little fangs. Now that he had pups, he always wanted double helpings of roast duck.

Xia Qing had no clue how evolved wolves detected Devastation Element in prey before hunting, but she knew that afterward, they sorted it out by sniffing and tasting.

She could do it too—plants and animals with higher Devastation Element tasted and smelled a bit off.

Carrying the ducks home, she cleaned them. The one for herself went into the freezer, Broken Back Wolf’s duck went into the oven. As she left, she told Broken Back Wolf, who was watching the Handsome Huge Wolf soak in the bath, to keep an eye on the cooking, and went back to patrol the territory.

While she was working by the greenhouse, Broken Back Wolf showed up beside her, just watching.

Wearing her headlamp, Xia Qing gestured as she explained, “Look here—bugs with evolved bite force chewed a hole in the insect net. I need to patch it, or pests will get into the greenhouse and ruin my crops.”

Compared to thick, rainproof tarps, the light and breathable insect nets were essential but wore out fast. Sun, wind, bugs and birds all took their toll. Patching the nets was just another daily job for a territory owner.

If a hole went unfixed, bugs or birds would sneak in. A few chewed-off leaves were no big deal, but bugs could lay eggs in the plants or soil, and trapped birds could panic and bash the net, causing real damage.

Broken Back Wolf knew the greenhouse meant Xia Qing’s food. After a thoughtful glance, he ran home, brought back a giant roll of insect net and dropped it by her side.

Xia Qing couldn’t help but wonder—what supplies did she even have that he couldn’t find in her house?

“That’s right, this is insect net.” She grinned, “Broken Back, you really are a Brain-Evolved Wolf, top of Blue Star’s food chain. So smart! Thanks for bringing the net over.”

After sincerely thanking the fang-baring clever wolf, Xia Qing fished out a few scrap pieces of insect net from her satchel, demonstrating, “Tiny holes can be patched with these small pieces. The big roll is only needed if a huge tear appears.”

Timing it just right, Xia Qing led Broken Back Wolf home, checked the spinning roast duck, then coaxed the Handsome Huge Wolf out of his bath barrel. She turned to ask the thoughtful Broken Back Wolf, “Want to soak for a while? Take a breather before you head home?”

Broken Back Wolf grabbed a bag of pesticide from the trash and laid it in front of Xia Qing, meeting her eyes seriously.

After a year of sparring with this smart wolf, Xia Qing knew all his tricks. She gestured as she explained, “Big Wolf already traded pesticide with me. That one’s his. Yours is in the upstairs fridge.”

Letting the Alpha or Broken Back Wolf soak in the Handsome Huge Wolf’s used medicinal bath? Broken Back could, but not the Alpha—he was king of the pack. Xia Qing could go first because it was her territory, but any other wolf trying to butt ahead would be seen as a challenge to the Alpha’s authority, and get properly put in their place.

Today, Broken Back Wolf just wanted takeout and didn’t want a bath to delay his delivery, so Old Goat, Er and Little Fei Mao all ended up with a bonus.

But after strapping the roast duck on his back, the clever wolf actually squatted next to Xia Qing’s locked fridge, waiting for her to fetch his pesticide so he could stash it safely in his double-door fridge.

Xia Qing…

Utterly defeated.