Chapter 919: Wolf Ride at Midnight

At two in the morning, the Handsome Huge Wolf, who’d been napping under the eaves, felt his strength return. He stood up, stretched with a lazy yawn and, full of fighting spirit, was about to head out when the security door swung open.

Xia Qing, already suited up in her protective gear, stepped out and greeted him warmly. “Big Wolf, you’re all recovered? How do you feel? Are you bursting with strength now?”

The Handsome Huge Wolf acted like he didn’t hear her, lifted his leg and padded off.

Xia Qing quickly blocked his path, pulled out a bag of pesticide and gestured as she tried to bargain. “Hey Big Wolf, can you give me a ride part of the way? I need to go to Hill Forty-Eight to gather herbs for your new batch of medicine since we’re out.”

The Handsome Huge Wolf didn’t react, couldn’t understand her words, and simply detoured around Xia Qing to keep going.

Still following behind, Xia Qing kept mumbling, “Big Wolf, you already drank my spinach juice and spring water, and had a medicinal bath too. Can’t you give me a lift? If you don’t, I’m sure I can’t handle Brother Leopard, Sister Leopard and their cubs on Hill Forty-Eight by myself…”

She kept chattering, trailing after the wolf as they left Section Three for Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine. When she noticed he was heading north, she called him back and nagged some more until the Handsome Huge Wolf finally changed course for Hill Forty-Eight.

Xia Qing planned to run for forty minutes on her own, only asking the Handsome Huge Wolf to carry her once she couldn’t go on. Unexpectedly, the wolf seemed in a hurry. She’d barely run five minutes when he signaled she could climb on.

How did he signal her?

He just stopped and stood still. Xia Qing walked up and, for once, he didn’t dodge away.

Reading the room, Xia Qing pulled out her mattress and hopped on. With her on his back, they made it to the twisted, mistletoe-laden, evolved red bean tree in less than half an hour.

Last time, Xia Qing had gathered pine bark rich in Evolutionary Synthetic Element and some mistletoe here, trading those to her Idol for five bags of pesticide to use on the Handsome Huge Wolf.

The Crippled Wolf discovered the pesticide, then traded two Yi Stones for it with Xia Qing.

A few hours ago, both wolves entered her territory one after the other. That scheming Crippled Wolf with a mind like a maze saw the Handsome Huge Wolf soaking in a medicinal bath. He then had Xia Qing empty all three pesticide bags from her little fridge into his double-door fridge, clearing out Xia Qing’s black market stock in one go.

So after the Crippled Wolf left, Xia Qing messaged her Idol asking if she still wanted plants that naturally contained Evolutionary Synthetic Element. Idol told her, if she had time, to collect a ripe mistletoe plant—fruits and all—for her.

Whenever her Idol needed supplies, Xia Qing was ready, but she still had to catch the Handsome Huge Wolf when he was available. Last time he led her through the Evolved Forest in the Western Lands to search for the missing Liang Qing Squad, they’d passed right by this red bean tree.

What does that say?

It means that, even though this is a leopard’s territory, wolves can pass through too. That’s why Xia Qing hitched a ride with the Handsome Huge Wolf—she wouldn’t be chased out or attacked by leopards while gathering herbs.

She hopped off his back, scouted the area, and found not a single leopard around. She managed to dig up an entire mistletoe plant, its deep blue berries shining, and packed it into her herb case. After climbing down from the tree, she ran up to the hiding Handsome Huge Wolf—who was pretending she couldn’t see him—and said, “I’ve got the herbs, thanks Big Wolf. Could you give me a ride back?”

The Handsome Huge Wolf bared his gleaming fangs, radiating bloodthirsty intent.

Xia Qing had guessed he’d refuse her, but it was worth a try. As soon as he made it clear, she took a step back. “Alright, I get it. Can’t give me a lift. Go do your thing. I’ll head back alone.”

Turning away, Xia Qing drew her Black Blade and started trekking alone through the perilous nighttime Evolved Forest.

The Evolved Forest was dangerous for three reasons: aggressive plants, which she could mostly avoid with Magnetic Sense; poisonous bugs and toxic plants, against which her special protective suit would shield her; and large carnivores hunting at night. As long as she didn’t run into a whole pack of evolved wolves or leopards, she could handle the rest.

Once Xia Qing was gone, the Handsome Huge Wolf retracted his fangs, threw back his head and let out a long, echoing wolf howl. “Awooooo—”

Xia Qing stopped a few dozen meters away. She’d never heard a wolf howl like that before. What was the Handsome Huge Wolf up to?

“Awoo! Ooooooh—”

He howled again. Xia Qing still had no clue what it meant but she was sure he wasn’t communicating with her, so she kept moving.

“Awooooo—” From a peak in the west, another long wolf howl echoed in reply—someone was answering the Handsome Huge Wolf’s call.

The wolf howls echoed all the way into a valley twenty miles off, where night sentries at the old troop encampment immediately reported the wolf pack’s activity. The soldiers in training there snapped to action, assembling for a possible nighttime fight.

Unaware of the military’s maneuvers, Xia Qing followed the direction of the howls. She deduced it was the Western Wolf Pack’s evolved wolves, hurried past a tangled vine with bright red glandular hairs glistening with dew, and quickened her pace.

This vine wasn’t a Devastation Evolution plant, but if the beads on its gland-tipped hairs broke, they’d release a unique scent. That smell was irresistible to many evolved insects. If it got on Xia Qing’s suit, she’d become a magnet for swarms of evolved bugs—easy prey for snakes, poisonous frogs or even raptors.

Xia Qing wanted nothing to do with that headache.

Maybe it was thanks to the Handsome Huge Wolf’s howls, but on her way home she only encountered animals hunting for food—wild boar, rabbits, porcupines, snakes—but not a single large predator. Any strange plants blocking the way, she dodged when she could and cut down when she couldn’t, taking samples before moving on.

It took the Handsome Huge Wolf only thirty minutes to run the route, while Xia Qing trudged until dawn before finally making it out of Hill Forty-Eight and into the Forty-Ninth Mountain area.

“Sister Qing, need backup?” Chen Cheng, stationed at Hill Forty-Nine, spotted her ragged state on camera and called her after putting Little Five down.

Xia Qing raised her head, waved at the camera, and grinned. “No need, I’ll make it back myself.”

“Alright.” Chen Cheng was dying to know what Xia Qing was doing wolf-riding last night, but he stuck to Qinglong Squad rules—no questions asked.

Watching her enter Hill Forty-Nine, the Handsome Huge Wolf—who’d been trailing far behind—shook the dew from his silver-gray fur, lost interest in fighting, and flopped down on a sunny flat stone for a nap.

Scanning her face to enter her territory, Xia Qing stepped down from the Northern Buffer Forest to the reservoir and excitedly showed her bulging backpack to Er, who was busy feeding fish.

“Er, look! I bagged a wild boar over three hundred pounds, a Yellow Lantern, at that! Pretty lucky, huh? Every time I go out with Big Wolf, my luck turns around!”

“Awooo.” Er barked, wagged his tail with a broad grin.

Xia Qing wasn’t in a rush to go home. She hauled out the giant wild boar from its thick packaging by the fish pond and got to work cleaning it.

Er got his favorite organs, and blood dripped into the pond, drawing hordes of spring fish fond of fresh meat.

The baby fish hatched this spring were now palm-sized. To save Er some work feeding them, Xia Qing had already sold a batch of Yellow Lantern and Red Lantern fish. The ones left were all Green Lantern and Yellow Lantern.

Once the wild boar was processed and Er and Big Brother were fed, Xia Qing saved some meat for Crippled Wolf’s fridge as Er’s rations. The rest went straight to the Ninth Planting Center cafeteria to spice up lunch for the hardworking crew.

Then, waiting for her Idol to wake up, she shouldered her medicinal herbs and headed for Territory Seven.