Chapter 1031: Help Me Protect Boss

The sky grew darker and darker. The irritable crows that had been wheeling overhead had already returned to their nests, and every animal had retreated into its burrow. In the territory and the Evolution Forest only the wind still roared. The concentration of Qiang element in the air was slowly climbing; the Qiang rain was already hanging overhead, ready to crash down at any moment.

At that moment, the alpha wolf of the northern pack ran into her territory and stood before her window, and Xia Qing's heart could not help but skip a beat.

She picked up her protective mask, pushed open the door and walked out. "Queen…"

Before Xia Qing could finish, the alpha wolf turned and walked away, meaning Xia Qing should follow immediately.

Xia Qing stood still without moving, and raised her voice. "My lord, the Qiang rain is about to start. I need to protect my territory. Do we really have to move now?"

The alpha wolf stopped, turned its head and looked at Xia Qing gravely.

That meant they had to go out. Xia Qing asked, "Have you spotted the blue-skinned humans?"

The alpha wolf opened its mouth and bared the tips of its fangs, showing that Xia Qing was right. The same gesture, when Broken-Waist Wolf made it, looked adorable; when the alpha wolf made it, it looked utterly commanding, as if the next instant it would charge over and use claws and teeth to show Xia Qing exactly how serious the consequences would be if she didn't follow.

This was something Xia Qing had asked the two leaders of the northern wolf pack to do. Since they had found the target and the Wolf King had come looking for her, Xia Qing had to go.

Never mind that it was about to rain—even if it rained knives, she would have to go, umbrella of iron and all!

Xia Qing nodded. "Understood. Please wait a moment, my lord. I need to go back and get my weapons and gear."

The Evolution Forest during the Qiang-rain period was extremely dangerous. Going out without full equipment was suicide.

Xia Qing immediately contacted Hu Zifeng and asked him to send two more team members over to help guard her territory. All the animals and important crops inside Territory Three were protected by Yi stones, and the greenhouses had automatic rain-cover deployment devices installed, so during the Qiang-rain period Territory Three's main tasks were clearing out Qiang-evolved plants that appeared in the few unprotected greenhouses, and any aggressive Qiang-evolved plants that sprouted within the territory.

Territory Three had full camera coverage, so although the territory was very large, the workload was not heavy. Right now there were only three members of Hu Zifeng's squad inside the territory. But once Xia Qing left, two more people would be needed to cover her workload.

After contacting Hu Zifeng, Xia Qing ran home while calling her idol on the phone.

"Third Brother, have you finished testing the two corpses and the supplies they were carrying that I sent over yesterday? The wolves have spotted living blue-skinned dead-men in the Evolution Forest again. I'm about to follow the alpha wolf into the forest to carry out a clearing mission."

Zhang San glanced at the sky where the treetops were already rolling, and gave a concise, rapid rundown. "The agents those two used can lower body temperature and speed up the burning of Yi element inside the body. The drug's effective period is preliminarily judged to be no less than twelve hours; side effects are unknown. The corpse stench is from putrescine-type toxins they sprayed on their protective suits. Besides food, weapons and communications gear, their packs also contained twelve kinds of anesthetics and poisons for dealing with evolved beasts, feeding attractants, animal traps, and equipment for mining and herb-gathering. Their agents were extracted from animals and plants and then crudely processed; the equipment was homemade and relatively rough in workmanship."

Xia Qing stopped in front of her house, her expression grave. "Are they Wanderers?"

Human Wanderers was the collective name for humans who, after the catastrophe and for various reasons, had not entered the base safe zones but lived in the Evolution Forest. They had no legal identity, were not bound by national law, made the Evolution Forest their home, and drew their survival supplies from it.

"Most likely. Their team's overall strength isn't bad—the handguns they used are Hui-1 military issue." Zhang San rubbed his brow. "Do you really have to go now? The Qiang rain is about to start."

Xia Qing answered calmly, "After I spotted them, they made no attempt to communicate and opened fire directly. So they are enemies, not friends, and must be eliminated as soon as possible, or it could lead to serious, ugly consequences. Don't worry, I'll move with the wolf pack; I'll be fine. Third Brother, which antidotes do you think I should bring?"

At home, Xia Qing kept more than a dozen kinds of antidotes she had traded with her idol.

Zhang San asked, "You're going alone?"

Xia Qing gave an acknowledging sound.

A lord's first task during the Qiang-rain period was to protect the territory and the crops, so Xia Qing could not invite allies to form a team. Hu Zifeng's squad had to guard her territory and greenhouses, feed the chickens, feed the insects and watch over Mount Forty-Nine, so they couldn't leave either. So this time, once again, Xia Qing was teaming up with the wolf pack. "Before I'm back, can you take charge of any emergencies at Center Nine and Mount Fifty?"

"I can." Zhang San didn't interfere with the things Xia Qing decided to do. "I'll have Zheng Chen deliver a batch of antidotes to you. Five minutes, Beimen."

"Got it, thanks, Third Brother. Hide the giant-bee dung under the hornet's nest for now—I don't have time to go collect it today. Whatever you do, don't let the rain wash it away."

Zhang San blew up on the spot. "At a time like this, you still have the damn nerve to be worrying about a pile of shit!"

After her idol hung up, Xia Qing quickly changed into her snakeskin protective suit plus a special-duty protective suit, packed plenty of weapons and nutrient solution, grabbed a water bucket, a bag of roasted jerky and freeze-dried food, and dashed up to the building ruins on the south side of the territory. In the old wolf's roar, she ducked into its tent and quickly set down the food and water.

"Old Four, this is your food and water for the next two days. I'm leaving the territory now. You don't need to worry about anything else, but if danger comes, you must protect Sheep Boss well."

The old wolf closed its mouth and stared at Xia Qing with a solemn face.

"Thanks, Old Four. I'm leaving Boss in your hands. I'll give you your medicine when I get back." Xia Qing finished, touched the Yi-stone necklace on its neck, and urged, "Don't take the necklace off, don't get caught in the Qiang rain. Wait for me."

After crawling out of the tent, Xia Qing sprinted in one breath to the forage shed, stuffed two ration blocks into Sheep Boss who was eating grass, straightened the protective suit on its body, and said softly, "Boss, I have to go out with my lord for a while. I don't know when I'll be back. If you're hungry, eat grass; if you're scared, go home and find Old Four—it'll protect you."

"Baa~_~_"

Sheep Boss nuzzled Xia Qing with its big head and, for the first time, let out a long, melodious, clipper-sound bleat. The catastrophe was about to begin, and it didn't want to be separated from Xia Qing.

Xia Qing couldn't bear to part either, but the alpha wolf was surely getting impatient, and she couldn't delay any longer. She simply hoisted Boss onto her back, carried it to the building ruins, set it on the king platform inside Old Four's tent, then dashed out the Beimen and picked up the package Zheng Chen had delivered.

She charged into Zone Three of Mount Forty-Nine to meet up with the alpha wolf, and fed it a homemade X-nutrient solution. "My lord, we can set out."

To her surprise, the alpha wolf didn't follow the beast trail northeast out of the mountain toward the northern Evolution Forest, nor did it run west toward the western Evolution Forest. Instead, it ran up the mountain.

Xia Qing chased after it at full speed and called out, "My lord, are we taking the helicopter?"

The alpha wolf didn't look back, running swiftly through the Evolution Forest where the gale was whipping the trees into waves.

As she ran, Xia Qing contacted Hu Zifeng. "Captain Hu, I need to take the helicopter out for a trip. Is the fuel topped up, and where's the key?"

"Topped up, the key's with me. Jingkuan, Eryong and I are going with you." Hu Zifeng didn't give Xia Qing a chance to object. "Our squad's job staying in the territory is to protect you and Territory Three. The core members of the northern wolf pack all know us, so teaming up is no problem at all. We rendezvous at the mountaintop helipad in five minutes."