Chapter 1132: Did You Record It?

Xia Qing and the wolf pack and bear group had been guarding the valley all along, but by the time the sun crawled from the center of the valley into the wolves' territory and vanished behind the mountain peak, the snake group had not launched a fourth invasion.

Perhaps because Xia Qing's joining caused the snake group to lose three giant pythons during the second and third invasion battles, Xia Qing felt the snakes wouldn't mount any large-scale collective action today.

Because after the sun set, the temperature inside the valley dropped below 15 degrees. Snakes are ectothermic animals that rely on the external environment to regulate their body temperature. Low temperatures significantly reduce their metabolic rate, so once the temperature drops, snakes seek warm areas or enter a dormant state to conserve energy.

Wolves and bears are both warm-blooded animals with night vision, so their combat ability won't drop because of lower temperatures or reduced visibility.

Therefore, they could stand down and rest.

But Xia Qing wasn't the leader, so this order shouldn't come from her. Another ten minutes passed, and the lead wolf stood up, stretched, and left the valley, leaving only two wolves behind to stand guard.

Xia Qing called the little monkey on the far side of the river over and instructed it, "Daugua stays in the valley to look after your little bear friend. I'll come back after dawn tomorrow. If the little bear feels unwell, pour this packet of medicine into this water bowl and give it to him."

After saying that, Xia Qing tucked the medicine into the little monkey's pocket and confirmed it understood by asking, "If Daugua gets hungry, where should it find food?"

Daugua immediately took off its little backpack and pulled out a sweet potato.

"Very good, Daugua is very clever." After praising the little fellow, Xia Qing pointed at the little bear snoring in the valley opposite and asked, "If the little bear is in a lot of pain, what should Daugua give it?"

Daugua immediately used its little black paw to pull the medicine packet Xia Qing had just stuffed into its pocket. When it was sick and staying in Territory Three, it had drunk plenty of this packaged medicine and knew it was something good that made the body feel better.

"Very good! Daugua is the pride of the monk-faced monkey family, an evolved monkey standing at the top of Blue Star's pyramid!" After confirming the little fellow understood, Xia Qing gave it another small packet of dried mealworms before leaving the valley, heading to the cave on Mountain Sixty where the wolf pack was recuperating, to check on the injuries of several wolves.

Bears have higher combat ability than wolves, so in today's battles the wolf pack's casualties were more severe than the bears'. However, the wolves outnumbered the bears, so by ratio the casualty rate of bears and wolves was about the same.

Xia Qing checked the recovery of each wounded wolf, including the handsome giant wolf, and left Broken-Waist Wolf a basin and two packets of medicine, telling it to give them to the injured companions when the moon moved to the designated position, then contacted Huo Zhun to prepare for the return trip.

Although Broken-Waist Wolf's paws weren't nimble enough, its medical knowledge was far beyond what Daugua the monkey had, and even more than Xia Qing's. Just looking at how clean and dry the recuperation cave was, you could tell this fellow had even considered antibacterial measures, moisture protection, and ventilation—Third Brother would have to come and praise it meekly for a couple of sentences.

When Xia Qing walked out of the cave, Broken-Leg Wolf immediately pounced on her, wanting her to play with it. This fellow had been transferred to the western line after the second battle, guarding the river channel leading to the lake over there with the little wolves, so Xia Qing hadn't seen it for quite a while.

Estimating the time, Xia Qing simply played a game of catch-and-hide with Broken-Leg Wolf for a while, then went to check on the big tree full of hickory nuts, before heading to Mountain Fifty-Nine to release the five recovered honey badgers Huo Zhun and Zhang Hongda had brought back, and taking the helicopter back to her own territory.

Broken-Waist Wolf also hitched a ride on the helicopter, hurrying back to Mountain Fifty-Five to patrol its territory.

The disaster emergency status in Northern Zone One hadn't been lifted yet, but the snake-hunting task teams that had gone out had returned to the territory before dark, and Xia Qing's group of three was the last to return.

After parting with Huo Zhun and Zhang Hongda, Xia Qing first went to Wolf Valley to check on the injured wolves. These two wolves had been coiled and squeezed by medium pythons, resulting in rib fractures and lung contusions. Because evolved wolves had tough bodies, injuries of this severity didn't require a chest band for fixation—painkillers and two weeks of rest would be enough for recovery.

These two wolves didn't even have the strength to bare their teeth when they saw Xia Qing come in. Wolf Lao Er wagged its tail happily when it saw Xia Qing had returned.

"During the snake group's third invasion, I harvested five Yi Snakes. I gave three to Third Brother, and there are two left. Once Third Brother extracts the active ingredients and makes medicine, Wolf Lao Er can take some too to boost its resistance." Xia Qing rubbed Wolf Lao Er's head before beginning to examine the two wolves' conditions. After confirming they weren't showing symptoms of breathing difficulty, she swiped open the north gate of Territory Three.

After coaxing furious Ram Boss with a tasty cucumber and carrying it home, Xia Qing efficiently fed the cattle and chickens, showered and changed clothes, ate dinner, and only then called her idol to report on the battle situation at the python lake, then raised the key point: "I asked Broken-Waist Wolf, and it said the snakes crawling out of the python lake this year are far more numerous than last year."

Zhang San was in a good mood, his voice lazy, "Without humans as a natural enemy, the vast majority of species in the Evolution Forest breed more smoothly than before the disaster. Snakes have extremely strong reproductive ability, which is why they invade the waters of Mountain Fifty-Five through underground rivers to expand their living area and get more food. You helped the wolf pack drive the snakes of Mountain Fifty-Five back to the python lake, causing the number of snakes in the lake to grow, so naturally more snakes crawl out."

After explaining, Zhang San reminded Xia Qing, "The survival competition between the snake group, wolf pack, and bear group ensures the reasonable distribution of food and habitat, strengthens each species' survival ability, and drives biological evolution. This natural mechanism makes the Evolution Forest ecosystem healthier and more stable. Don't over-participate in the competition between the three tribes. Maintaining the balance between bears, wolves, and pythons in the northern Evolution Forest helps control the excessive evolution and reproduction of microorganisms here."

Xia Qing, lying on the sofa with the air conditioning on, replied, "Understood, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

You know nothing of the sort!

Zhang San reminded her of a few more things before asking, "The brain-evolved male bear you saved today—is that the one Hui Six Base wants to get their hands on?"

Xia Qing understood what her idol wanted to ask. "Yes, when I treated its wounds today, I took the opportunity to remove and smash the tracker on the inside of its hind leg."

Hui Six and Lie Huo must still be tracking this signal. Without completely destroying it, Xia Qing wouldn't dare bring this thing back to the territory.

Zhang San digested this for a few seconds, then asked, "Aren't you a member of the wolf pack?"

Xia Qing also felt today's developments had exceeded her expectations. "It was that little white-faced monk-faced monkey. It discovered that bear was injured, so it asked me to treat the bear."

How did it ask?

How did you treat it?

How would the bear group agree to let you treat the giant bear?

Zhang San didn't want to hear Xia Qing explain. "Did you record it?"

Xia Qing replied, "I only recorded the battle scenes. I didn't record these."

The reason she didn't record was that her transactions with the bear group and wolf pack couldn't be revealed, otherwise the secret of the wolves having Yi Stones would be exposed.

Broken-Waist Wolf had watched the video and, understanding the value of Yi Stones, didn't want any humans other than Xia Qing to know the wolf pack had Yi Stones.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing patrolled the territory once and went to sleep. Ram Boss chewed cud for a while in the sheep pen with the little yellow ox, then went back into the house, climbed to the second floor, and slept beside Xia Qing's bed.

Xia Qing stretched out her foot to smooth its fur, then listened to the familiar rustling sounds on the first floor, turned over, and continued sleeping. She needed to conserve her energy for the big battle tomorrow during the day. Wolf Lao Er was protecting the injured wolves in Wolf Valley, so Xia Qing hired three people from Beard Feng's squad to guard the territory, and she could sleep peacefully tonight.

The sounds on the first floor were made by Little Feimao. Xia Qing had brought back a large clump of bear fur for it, washed it, and hung it in a net pouch on the first-floor living room to dry.

Little Feimao must have noticed the bear fur was dry and was busy stuffing this strong one's fur into its nest.