Chapter 1184: Farming Negative Affinity

The blind tiger has arrived, and from its movements it doesn't seem to have any attack intent yet—this is a perfect chance to farm affinity. Still, Xia Qing was extremely cautious and asked in a low voice, "Brother Huo, check how many tigers are around us."

The little tiger is here, so the big tiger might not be far either.

Huo Zhun immediately scanned with radar and replied in a low voice, "Within two kilometers there's only this one tiger, but over on Mountain 37 there are a few medium-to-large animals, possibly wolves or large herbivores."

The helicopter was parked on a flat spot in the mountains, but the terrain farther out was complex and the vegetation dense, so the onboard radar couldn't scan effectively.

Wolves are fine—as long as they're not evolved tigers.

Standing in place watching Old Four and Scarface the little wolf leave, Xia Qing dug an egg out of her backpack and held it in her hand, starting to farm affinity. "Blind one, I'm human Xia Qing. Do you still remember me?"

Dozens of meters away, the evolved tiger raised its head from the colorful autumn grass, glaring murderously at Xia Qing and the massive object behind her, and let out a low snarl.

Animals in the western evolved forest all have bad tempers, so the fact that the blind tiger didn't charge straight over to fight once it was spotted means it's in a decent mood right now.

"Yes, I'm human Xia Qing. The thing behind me is my wing—it can fly. Pretty impressive, right?" Xia Qing pulled a stalk of evolved purple flower from the sample bag and tried to negotiate with the blind tiger. "Blind one, I had Old Four and Scarface trade food for this kind of grass of yours. I still have food, so you…"

"Roar—"

The moment Xia Qing extended the hand holding the egg, the blind tiger blew up. With a furious roar, it flattened its ears back, shifted its weight forward, bent its forelegs slightly, raised the muscles on its shoulders, and slammed its nearly two-meter-long tail against the ground again and again.

A single howl shook the mountains and forests, sending birds and beasts flying! The tail strikes and low roars that followed hammered straight at Xia Qing's heart. She felt that in the next second this evolved tiger would charge over and smash her—and the "wing" behind her—to pieces.

Battle was about to break out. Huo Zhun gripped his dagger, poised to strike inside the cabin door. Eryong immediately grabbed the helicopter's controls, waiting for Captain Xia Qing to give the order.

Xia Qing, who had failed to farm affinity and instead made the blind tiger think she was about to attack it, controlled her racing heartbeat and breathing, lowered her gaze, and slowly crouched down to show she hadn't come to fight.

After she used her movements to show submission, the blind tiger's tail-slamming and low growling both eased up. Only then did Xia Qing use her fingers to crack the eggshell, slowly open her hand, and let the egg's scent drift out. "Blind one, look, what's in my hand isn't a weapon—it's food, green-light eggs, the kind you like."

The blind tiger's gaze locked onto Xia Qing's hand. Its tail began to swing left and right in large, low-frequency sweeps twice, then it suddenly turned its head to look west.

Relying on her sharp hearing, Xia Qing also caught the sound of animals rapidly approaching from both the east and west sides of the evolved forest. That sound made her taut nerves instantly relax.

One, two…

On the third second, a brown-gray figure burst out of the western evolved forest and planted itself in front of Xia Qing in the blink of an eye. On the fifth second, a larger, filthy silver-gray figure ran out from the east and took a stand in front of Xia Qing. On the sixth second, another brown-gray figure, two sizes smaller, charged out of the western evolved forest and stood beside the first brown-gray figure, letting out a low growl that was both juvenile and commanding at the evolved tiger opposite.

Xia Qing set the egg on the ground, crouched behind the three wolves, and calmly explained, "Old Four, Big Wolf Bro, Scarface, don't attack—it's my fault. I took out the egg to trade with Blind One for more purple flower, and it mistook me for attacking it."

Handsome Big Wolf still held its aggressively attacking stance. Old Four stepped back two paces and swept Xia Qing with its tail.

In combat, the frequency and amplitude of a wolf's tail movement carry different meanings. Xia Qing immediately understood what Old Four meant, but— "The evolved tiger pack will be here soon. If I leave, won't you and Big Wolf Bro and Blind One be in danger?"

The old wolf swept Xia Qing's tail a little harder, signaling her to leave right away.

"Understood, I'm leaving now." Xia Qing set all the jerky and eggs from her backpack on the ground. "Old Four, Big Wolf Bro, Scarface, I'm leaving the food here—thanks. Eryong, take off."

When the helicopter engine started and the rotors spun from slow to fast, churning the air in the area so the grass and trees rolled like waves, the blind tiger's roar grew louder and the three wolves' fur was blown up by the downwash. Old Four and Handsome Big Wolf stood stock-still; Scarface the little wolf quickly glanced back.

After the helicopter's bird-claws left the ground, Xia Qing grabbed her instrument and jumped into the cabin. "Blind One, Old Four, Big Wolf Bro, Scarface, I'm off."

Dozens of meters away, the blind tiger watched Xia Qing rise higher and higher, and the muscles it had tensed returned to normal as it stood up. Clearly, it didn't want to fight the three wolves opposite.

As Old Four turned to pick up the food and carry it over to the blind tiger, Xia Qing, now airborne, saw four massive tigers charging toward them at full speed and loudly warned her companions below. "Old Four, Big Wolf Bro, the tiger pack is coming—run!"

Old Four, holding the food in its mouth, flicked its tail. Scarface the little wolf instantly darted into the evolved forest and vanished. Handsome Big Wolf stayed where it was, and an equally filthy-looking Western Wolf King emerged from the dense forest on the east with six wolves and took its place beside Handsome Big Wolf.

Eryong asked, "Sister Qing?"

Watching the wolf pack below and the tiger pack charging in, Xia Qing ordered, "Climb to 2,100 meters."

She trusted Old Four's ability, but this mess was her doing, so she couldn't just drop everything and walk away.

"Copy that!"

As Eryong rapidly gained altitude, the tiger pack merged with the blind tiger, and tiger roars and wolf howls shook the heavens.

Lying prone inside the helicopter, Xia Qing finally let out a breath of relief, stowed her gun and closed the cabin door. "Eryong, full speed back to the territory."

"Copy that." Eryong accelerated and flew east.

Huo Zhun, who had seen wolves and bears square off before, asked, "Sister Qing, they won't actually fight, right?"

Xia Qing, who was pulling out disinfectant wipes, replied, "Mm. That area is the border between the wolf pack and the tiger pack. Once they've finished howling, they'll scatter."

Huo Zhun hugged his gun and grinned. "Wolf howls still fall a bit short compared to tiger roars. If the bear pack went up against the tiger pack, that'd definitely be more of a show."

Eryong, who had just been flooded with adrenaline, also relaxed and started joking with Huo Zhun. "The moment we get back, I'll pass Brother Huo's words along to the Queen and Broken-Waist Wolf and see if they agree."

"Brother Yong, please don't—I still want to team up with the Queen and Bro Duan in the future." Huo Zhun begged for mercy, then asked with a grin, "Sister Qing, if the Queen and Bro Duan heard what I just said, how do you think they'd react?"

After wiping the egg liquid off her hands, Xia Qing carefully cleaned her gun with deerskin and answered offhandedly, "I don't know. You can try it and see."