Chapter Index

    After finishing her medicinal bath and getting dressed, Xia Qing pulled Little Fei Mao from the protective suit pocket hanging on the wall. With her aching, numb bones, she made her way to the bathroom on the first floor, scooped a small bowl of the medicinal mixture from the bath barrel where the Alpha and Old Goat were soaking, and put Little Fei Mao inside.

    Then Xia Qing leaned against the side of the bath barrel and gently pressed Old Goat’s head down. Her voice was weak and shaky as she chatted with the Alpha. “Have you seen Goofball around lately, Your Majesty?”

    The Alpha, standing fully immersed in the medicinal bath, stayed completely still.

    Xia Qing mumbled to herself, “I taught Goofball how to tell time by looking at the moon. With its smarts, it should know today was bath day…”

    Exhaustion won out, and Xia Qing’s eyelids slowly drooped.

    “Zhi zhi—”

    Ten minutes later, Little Fei Mao clung to the wire mesh on top of the bowl, squeaking in pain.

    Red Squirrel mom, searching for food behind Xia Qing’s house, heard Little Fei Mao’s cries and dashed up to the roof, chittering loudly.

    In the sheep shed, Elder Wolf immediately lifted its head. When it saw the other wolves inside and in the yard were all calm, it slowly lay back down onto the straw.

    The noise woke Xia Qing. With a trembling finger, she gently stroked Little Fei Mao’s tiny head. “Third Brother made the medicine stronger this time. It hurts more, but it’ll work better. Try to hang in there, Little Fei Mao.”

    To stop herself from falling back asleep, Xia Qing kept muttering, “Old Goat, who knows if Goofball’s just too scared of the pain to come, or if it’s simply too far to make it here.”

    “It’s probably too far. No little monkey could cross the python swamp and lake, then make it through the Wolf Pack’s territory. Who knows if it ever found the Red Vein Stone…”

    Xia Qing’s voice trailed off, and she dozed off again, leaning against the wall while Old Goat whimpered in pain. The Alpha lifted its head from the medicinal bath, opened its eyes to glance at Xia Qing, calmed the restless Old Goat, then sank back into the bath.

    A dozen minutes later, Little Red Squirrel, faint from the pain, slowly sank to the bottom of the water.

    The Alpha’s head popped up again as it called for Xia Qing. “Woo…”

    Xia Qing didn’t stir, so the Alpha raised its voice.

    Crippled Wolf, limping in with its shiny Yi Stone Protector, immediately understood the situation and rapped Xia Qing awake with its tough talons.

    She woke with a start, quickly lifting the cover of the medicinal bath and fishing Little Fei Mao out. Only when she felt its faint heartbeat did she breathe a sigh of relief, wrapped it in a towel, held it close, and promptly fell asleep again.

    Crippled Wolf stared at the damp, limp Little Fei Mao for a moment, then nudged open the cabinet, dragged out the box with the hair dryer inside, and set it down.

    The noise made Xia Qing crack open her eyes. She shoved the hair dryer into the cabinet. “No more blow-drying, Crippled. My arms have no strength left. When the alarm goes off, get Old Goat out for me—I’m going back to bed.”

    After Xia Qing left, Crippled Wolf gazed at the closed cabinet, looking thoughtful.

    “Baa…”

    Half an hour later, Old Goat couldn’t take the pain anymore and struggled to leave. The Alpha’s head poked out of the water and rested against the barrel, its legs trembling too.

    “Beep beep, beep beep—”

    The little alarm clock in the bathroom finally went off. Crippled Wolf reached up to silence it, while the Alpha slowly climbed out of the barrel, collapsing on the floor.

    “Baa—” Old Goat was panicked, but it had no strength left.

    Xia Qing was also wiped out, but hearing her companion’s call, she called back, “Er! Er—”

    Crippled Wolf’s leg was injured. Handsome Huge Wolf was deaf as a post, and Lame Wolf was lost to madness, so Xia Qing had no choice but to rely on Er.

    When Er stepped into the room, Xia Qing pointed to the bathroom. “Er, get Old Goat out of there. It can’t move anymore.”

    Er immediately went into the bathroom, gently carried Old Goat from the bath barrel, and placed it next to the Alpha.

    The Alpha tipped its head back and howled. Handsome Huge Wolf, who’d been lying under the eaves, came straight inside and plunged into the medicinal bath. Elder Wolf’s ears twitched in the sheep shed but then closed its eyes again.

    After the alarm rang again, Xia Qing woke, set the snowfield squirrel that had been sleeping on her down beside her, gently patted the Alpha’s damp fur, cranked the air-conditioning two degrees higher, and headed for the bathroom.

    She took an old towel from the cabinet, started drying off the snoring Old Goat on the floor, and tried to coax Handsome Huge Wolf out of the bath barrel.

    Handsome Huge Wolf played dead and refused to move.

    “Woo—”

    From the living room, the Alpha let out a low, commanding growl. Only then did Handsome Huge Wolf, shivering, clamber from the bath barrel; once the medicine had dripped back into the barrel from its fur, it crawled out on shaky legs and gave itself a good shake.

    After Handsome Huge Wolf stumbled out, Xia Qing put down her old towel and realized Old Goat was soaked again.

    Next up were Crippled Wolf and Lame Wolf’s turns in the medicinal bath. Finally, Er brought Elder Wolf indoors.

    The Alpha merely glanced up, then rested its head on Xia Qing’s shoulder. Half-asleep, Xia Qing hugged the Alpha’s big head and dozed off.

    The next morning, Xia Qing stretched and felt blissful—every bone and joint in her body felt incredible. For a moment, she believed she could leap over the 4.5-meter-high iron mesh wall just like the Wolf Pack!

    The house, so crowded last night, was now empty except for Xia Qing. She headed upstairs to wash up and checked the farmland out the back window.

    Seeing Crippled Wolf hobbling around the territory, basket in mouth, on the hunt for bugs was so bizarre that Xia Qing’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately checked all around.

    The fridge upstairs on the second floor—untouched. The bedroom—everything in order. Storage room—one new towel missing. On the first floor, the generator bike and kitchen—everything’s fine.

    First floor bathroom…

    Her new towel was spread out on the floor, right next to the limp, soggy hair dryer box.

    But where was the hair dryer?

    Xia Qing did a circuit of the house but didn’t find it until she stepped outside—her hair dryer was lying under the eaves, drying in the sun.

    Great.

    Scowling, Xia Qing pulled on her protective suit and stormed outside, ready to give Crippled Wolf a piece of her mind. When she spotted Elder Wolf in the sheep shed staring at her nervously, she suddenly remembered—she’d gotten so muddled from the pain last night, she’d forgotten to check Elder Wolf’s blood results.

    Xia Qing hurried back upstairs and powered on the Evolution Element Detector.

    According to the screen, Elder Wolf’s body had a 3.0 Evolution Element content, with Devastation Element at 19 per mille. Eosinophils and total white blood cell count were high—preliminary diagnosis: parasite infection.

    She’d need to test its feces to find out exactly which parasite.

    Xia Qing collected fresh droppings from Elder Wolf’s hind leg for analysis and found loads of evolved liver fluke eggs—confirming the diagnosis. No wonder this wolf was so skinny and weak.

    After snapping photos of both test results, Xia Qing sent them to her Idol. In no time, Idol called back. “Another wolf?”

    “Yeah, the Wolf Pack brought it last night. Third Brother, could I trade for some antiparasitic solution?” Xia Qing asked carefully. She didn’t dare mention sending Elder Wolf over, afraid she’d get scolded. She’d taken care of Er herself—with the right medicine, deworming Elder Wolf would be easy.

    Zhang San yawned. “I’ll have Zhang Song bring some over.”

    Xia Qing was surprised Idol was so agreeable today. If she’d known, she’d have just asked to send Elder Wolf for a full checkup!

    Soon, Zheng Chen drove Zhang Song to the south gate of Section Three.

    When Xia Qing opened the gate to let Zhang Song in, she turned and spotted a splash of pink among the Wild Grass Wall in Territory Two—a mess from Tang Huai’s bug hunt.

    Chapter Summary

    Xia Qing and her animal companions endure a night of painful medicinal baths to recover from various ailments. Little Fei Mao suffers through treatment, while the wolves take turns soaking in the powerful mixture. Xia Qing juggles exhaustion and caregiving, even tending to an ailing Elder Wolf showing signs of parasite infection. After confirming the diagnosis, she arranges for medicine with Idol’s help. The morning brings order checks and odd scenes on the territory, hinting at the ongoing chaos and camaraderie between Xia Qing and her diverse animal friends.
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