Chapter 1130: Amethyst

After returning to the valley from Mountain 59, Xia Qing began treating the wounds of the injured evolved wolves. Because the third snake invasion hadn't been a fierce battle, the four wolves' injuries weren't serious.

One wolf, clawed by a bear, needed stitches; one, poisoned by snake venom, needed an antivenom injection; the other two, bitten by constricting pythons, only needed their wounds disinfected and medicated.

Thanks to her idol—knowing she was coming to fight the snakes, he'd stuffed three doses of antivenom into her medical kit.

After finishing with the four wolves, Xia Qing ran over to Handsome Giant Wolf and, sure enough, found his wound seeping blood again, soaking through the medical tape.

No matter how good the hemostatic agent, it can't stand up to him running around like this.

Treating a wound like this hurts a little, but Xia Qing figured Handsome Giant Wolf could handle it. She gently peeled off the tape, reapplied medicine to the stitched wound to stop the bleeding, taped it back up, then fed him an anti-inflammatory pill.

Handsome Giant Wolf couldn't fight anymore—he had to go back and rest—but explaining this to the expert at playing deaf and dumb wasn't easy. Xia Qing called the alpha wolf over, pointed at Handsome Giant Wolf's wound, and spoke to her seriously, "Queen my lord, Brother Giant Wolf can't fight anymore. His wound is deep, he's lost a lot of blood, he has to go rest."

The alpha wolf swept her tuhao-gold eyes over Handsome Giant Wolf's wound, sniffed once, then turned and lay back on the royal platform, continuing to watch the lake.

Apparently, she judged Handsome Giant Wolf's injury not serious enough to pull him from the fight.

Handsome Giant Wolf had no intention of leaving either, lying on the rock to keep resting.

If neither of them had objections, Xia Qing had none either. She turned, leaned against the big tree, closed her eyes, and rested. From being woken by the Broken-Waist Wolf that morning until now, Xia Qing hadn't rested at all. Though the X nutrient solution kept her stamina decent, her mind was already worn out.

The snake corpses on the valley battlefield had been picked clean by every freeloading animal around. The bloodstains on the rocks and in the crevices were being picked apart by swarms of ants, flies, and mosquitoes.

The sound of flowing water, the wind, the wolves' breathing, and the buzz of flies and mosquitoes wove together, drumming against Xia Qing's eardrums. She shifted, leaning against Big Guy the giant wolf to relax.

"Crack."

The thud of something heavy landing made every evolved wolf, evolved bear, and Xia Qing in the valley open their eyes.

Does Daigua hopped over from Greedy Little Bear's side to the riverbank, staring longingly at Xia Qing. With so many wolves watching from the opposite bank, Daigua opened his mouth but didn't dare make a sound, nor dare rush over to the wolf side to find Xia Qing.

Xia Qing glanced at his still-round belly, hopped off the rock, walked to the river, and asked, "Daigua, what's wrong?"

Seeing Xia Qing come over, Daigua's eyes lit up a little. He turned, scrambled back on all fours, brought Greedy Little Bear to the riverbank, and pointed at the cub's bleeding left hind leg for Xia Qing to see.

Xia Qing understood. "Your bear friend is hurt, and you want me to treat the wound?"

"Ah—" Daigua opened his mouth and let out a happy sound.

"Sure." Xia Qing had long wanted to take down this bear and dig out the tracker the Blaze Squad had implanted in it. This was a pretty good chance. But rules couldn't be broken—Xia Qing didn't do losing deals.

"Will this bear pay for treatment with yi-stone or herbs? Daigua, I can't treat it without payment. My medicines were all traded for, and once they're used up, they're gone."

The yi-snake Xiong Wang had given her? That was a thank-you gift for shooting the medium python that had wrapped up the bear.

The medium python he'd given her? Xiong Wang hadn't said a word when he handed it over—maybe he just didn't like the look of the thing and didn't want it. It was nothing but a red lantern-sized strip of meat.

Not far behind Xia Qing, the Broken-Waist Wolf lay on a rock in the shade, staring at the funny little monkey across the river, lost in thought.

"Ah!!!"

Daigua understood, turned, and left the valley, leaving only Greedy Little Bear and Xia Qing staring at each other across the river. Though this one's eyes were perfectly clear, compared to Xia Qing it wasn't small at all.

This one's shoulder height was only a little shorter than Handsome Giant Wolf's—visually over 1.5 meters—and if it stood upright, it would definitely top 2.5 meters.

Xia Qing, not even 1.8 meters tall, standing in front of it looked like a bean sprout.

"Roar!"

The giant bear that had lost to Xia Qing in the last wolf-bear roaring contest saw Xia Qing staring at its cub and charged over with a furious roar, thud thud thud.

The alpha wolf, who'd been keeping an eye on Xia Qing, saw the giant bear charging, leapt off the royal platform, appeared in front of Xia Qing, and let out an angry howl at the bear.

The moment the alpha wolf moved, the fifteen resting wolves all charged over; the eight bears on the opposite bank also came to the river's edge to roar at the wolves. Xia Qing's ears rang with the noise, and little Daigua, who'd turned back toward the valley, cowered behind a rock, not daring to come forward.

"Roar!!!"

Xiong Wang on the royal platform stood up and roared loudly. The eight bears immediately shut their mouths and backed off, leaving only Greedy Little Bear and its hot-tempered bear mom—or bear sister? —by the river.

Compared with this mother giant bear, whose upright height reached 4.4 meters, Greedy Little Bear really was quite "little." Xia Qing couldn't even be called little—she was "petite."

Seeing the bears retreat, the alpha wolf gave an "ow-woo" to make the wolves pull back, then returned to the royal platform herself, leaving only the wolf pack's number-two fighter, Broken-Waist Wolf, by Xia Qing's side.

Broken-Waist Wolf faced the bear pack's number-two fighter, the brain-evolved mother giant bear; Xia Qing still faced the cub.

Xia Qing's gaze was calm. The cub's black eyes rolled around Xia Qing's body—clearly a sharp-witted one.

Daigua, seeing the bears had retreated, ran to the other side of the cub and showed Xia Qing the stone in his hand.

That violet stone, a little bigger than a goose egg, crystal clear, danced with light and color in the sun, like a fallen star.

From the mineral data Yang Jin had given her, Xia Qing immediately recognized it as a top-grade amethyst.

Not only Xia Qing—Broken-Waist Wolf was drawn to the stone too. He immediately lifted a forepaw to pat at Xia Qing's backpack, urging her to hurry over and treat the cub's wound and grab that pretty stone.

Ignoring the hot-tempered brain-evolved mother giant bear, Xia Qing pointed at the cub and asked in the gentlest voice, "Daigua, I treat the cub's wound, and you give me the stone, right?"

"Eek!" Daigua mimicked the gesture Broken-Waist Wolf and Old Wolf made when agreeing to a trade, grinning to show his fangs. The gesture made him look even uglier, but Xia Qing couldn't help finding the little monkey utterly adorable.

Because, according to the price list in the data, this stone was worth at least fifty thousand points!

Xia Qing gestured her agreement. "Good, I accept the trade. Daigua, bring the stone and the cub over to my side. That… bear sister can't come."

Given this mother giant bear's explosive temper, Xia Qing was afraid that if she saw Xia Qing cutting into the cub, she'd slap Xia Qing flat in a rage.

Daigua understood Xia Qing's meaning and tugged the cub toward the river. The mother giant bear roared, forbidding the cub from going forward, and things deadlocked.

Just as Xia Qing was thinking of exchanging a few words with Xiong Wang to get him to order the mother bear back, Broken-Waist Wolf nudged Xia Qing with his head, then stepped into the river.

He was going to carry Xia Qing across.

Xia Qing refused. "Broken-Waist, that mother giant bear will attack me."

The amethyst was beautiful, the points were important, but life was more important.