Chapter 964: Midnight Visitors and the Elder Wolf

After locking eyes for a few seconds with the patched-up, bald-headed VIP Lame Wolf, Xia Qing picked up the food bowl in front of him. “Alright, I’ll go make you some noodles. But you’re an evolved wolf, so you can only have a little. Eat too much and your stomach will hurt.”

Broken Back Wolf bared its cute, tiny fangs at her and hobbled along behind Xia Qing into the kitchen.

Xia Qing scooped some noodles from the pot, grabbed a handful of freeze-dried meat, mixed it together, and carried the bowl into the living room. She set it next to Old Goat’s food bowl. “Give it a try. These noodles are made with high-evolution spinach juice, so they’re green and packed with energy.”

The injured wolf, who’d already polished off more than three pounds of Green Lantern meat, sniffed at the bowl and dug right in.

Xia Qing put the rest of the noodles from the pot into her own bowl and poured in the stir-fried topping. Just like that, a hearty bowl of Green Lantern string bean and shredded meat noodles was ready, paired with a cold plate of Green Lantern pork ear. The perfect dinner!

“Beep.”

After dinner, Xia Qing was doing a patrol around the territory when she heard a noise from the northern gate. She fished out her phone, saw the alert, and sprinted over.

“Queen! Big Wolf!” Xia Qing greeted the two wolves who’d climbed over the wall and kept heading north, only to be stopped by the enthusiastic Lame Wolf.

“It’s been ages, Lame One!” Xia Qing pulled a packet of freeze-dried meat from her pocket and handed it to the pawing Lame Wolf, then ran to the reservoir to hug Er, whose neck was soaked by water droplets from the woods.

Er had only been gone eight days, but to Xia Qing, it felt more like a month.

Er nuzzled up to Xia Qing, then gestured for her to look back at its companion.

Xia Qing brushed wolf fur off her protective mask and peered through her night vision goggles at the hillside north of the river. There stood a wary, thin wolf. She asked, “Er, is it sick?”

Er spit out a rock it had carried the whole way, rubbed against Xia Qing, then went to comfort the old wolf who wouldn’t come near any humans. With clear, trusting eyes, Er looked straight at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing pushed away the pesky Lame Wolf, picked up the rock Er had brought, and gestured as she communicated. “Er, you want me to treat it? Sure. Let’s head home first, so I can check it over.”

Er broke into a wide, happy grin, and Xia Qing couldn’t help but smile, too. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Back home, Xia Qing greeted the Handsome Huge Wolf sprawled under the eaves. As she stepped inside, she saw Old Goat seriously pedaling the generator bike, showing off his powerful muscles for everyone to see.

But the Alpha’s attention was fixed on Broken Back Wolf, whose neck was adorned with a sparkling Yi Stone Protector. Against the lightbulb that Old Goat was powering, the shell shone even brighter.

Single as ever, Xia Qing walked up next to the generator bike and showered her companion with heartfelt praise. “Old Goat, your muscles look even sturdier than before. With you around, our territory is the safest, so I can sleep easy at night.”

Old Goat held his big, spiral-horned head high, brimming with pride.

Broken Back Wolf flicked his ears and glanced back at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing got the hint right away. “Broken Back, that protector on your neck is seriously gorgeous. With that on, you’re definitely the most handsome wolf in the Northern Wolf Pack and the Queen’s favorite. Broken Back, you’ve got great taste!”

Satisfied, Broken Back Wolf continued strutting in front of the Alpha, proudly showing off his sparkling new gear.

Xia Qing headed upstairs for the medical kit and came back out to the Handsome Huge Wolf. “Big Wolf, I scored some really good medicine for you the other day.”

Since the great evolution on Blue Star, every species had a few giant individuals emerge. Researchers found that these giants needed their hearts to be much stronger than normal to pump blood all around their massive bodies, especially to their limbs.

To push so much blood, their hearts developed extra thick muscle walls, enlarged, and beat faster than average. Studies showed the lifespan of these giant animals was noticeably shorter than other evolvers.

After giving Zhang Shi and her cubs’ blood to the Idol, Xia Qing expressed her worries and asked if he could mix up some meds to strengthen the Handsome Huge Wolf’s heart.

The Idol, in high spirits, asked for Big Wolf’s height and weight, then spent three days tailoring a bottle of pills worth 200,000 credits just for him.

Sure, 200,000 credits sounded steep. But compared to the bag of Yi Stone Big Wolf had gifted Xia Qing, it was nothing.

She dropped a tiny red pill into a small bowl, dissolved it in pure spring water, and brought it up to Big Wolf’s mouth. “Drink up, Big Wolf. This will keep your heart strong and your prime years lasting for a few more. There’s no giant wolf on Blue Star who’ll top you.”

Big Wolf sniffed at the water—didn’t seem thrilled—but swallowed it all without a flicker of expression.

After giving Big Wolf his medicine, Xia Qing turned down Lame Wolf’s invitation to go play with grasshoppers, then headed into the sheep shed, flipped on the light, and checked on the wolf Er had brought back.

“Woo…” The thin wolf let out an uneasy growl, but Er rubbed up against it, trying to calm it down.

Under the lamp, Xia Qing could clearly make out the gray wolf’s face—especially the white fur above its eyes and the worn-down teeth in its huge jaw. She realized she hadn’t seen this wolf last year, when she’d given the pack antiparasitic pills up on Hill Sixty.

From these features, she could guess it was even older than Er and a bit smarter. This was a male brain evolver wolf, with a bigger frame than Er, and obviously up there in years.

It wasn’t the Northern Wolf Pack Alpha who brought this old wolf, but Er—and Er paid its medical bills, too. That pretty much meant the old wolf wasn’t part of the Northern Wolf Pack.

So how did Er and this old wolf meet? Why bring him here for treatment?

Er wasn’t a brain evolver. He’d spent over a year in Section Three, so he understood that Xia Qing needed a ‘medical fee’ to treat a wolf. But Er couldn’t tell a Yi Stone from a regular stone, so he brought Xia Qing a river pebble that just looked like a Yi Stone.

So, Xia Qing probably would never truly figure out what Er and the old wolf’s relationship was. But that didn’t matter—if Er wanted to help this wolf, she’d help.

Because Er was a trusted, important companion. Now that Xia Qing had plenty of Green Lantern food, she could help her friends fulfill their wishes.

“Er, have him stay calm. I need to take a blood sample to check his condition.”

Xia Qing pulled on anti-bacterial gloves and approached. Maybe it was her wolf scent, or maybe Er’s comfort worked, but the thin, old wolf only curled up and growled softly when she drew close. He didn’t snap at her.

Xia Qing did a quick check-up and drew a tube of blood, then stepped back. “He doesn’t have any obvious external injuries. The skin problems aren’t too bad, but he’s got ear mites that’ll need treatment. The diarrhea might be due to parasites—I’ll know for sure after testing the blood.”

With that, Xia Qing added an antiparasitic pill to the bowl, freshly squeezed spinach juice, and some pure spring water. “Er, get him to drink this. I’ll go run the blood test and set up the bath.”

There were plenty of wolves waiting for their medicinal bath, so Xia Qing couldn’t spend too much time on just one. She took the blood sample into the house and loaded it into the Evolution Element Detector, then slipped into the medicinal soak on the second floor.

In the sheep shed, the sick old wolf licked the bowl clean, then curled up on the dry straw, quietly watching the moon through the screen door.

Elsewhere, high up in a tall banyan tree in the valley on Hill Sixty-Five, a little white-faced monkey squeezed in among its sleeping companions, clutching a backpack, and stared blankly at the moon too.