Chapter 1192: Gathering Companions

Fortunately, Xia Qing had the habit of keeping the camera on her protective mask recording at all times while in the Evolution Forest. Otherwise, she'd have a hard time explaining the injured Plucker to the Broken-Waist Wolf.

When the Broken-Waist Wolf saw Plucker fleeing with a fire-red Qiang Snake in its mouth, its fangs bared. Seeing Xia Qing snarl Little Fifth back, it slowly closed its mouth.

Seeing Xia Qing let Plucker leave on its own, the Broken-Waist Wolf turned its head and stared at Xia Qing seriously, clearly disapproving.

Xia Qing honestly admitted her mistake, deeply ashamed. "It's my fault. I didn't confirm the danger had been cleared. I should have delivered Plucker to a safe area before coming back to shovel wild boar dung."

Every member of the wolf pack has the responsibility to protect the cubs' safety. When danger was spotted nearby, Xia Qing, as a pack member, failed to escort the cub back to a safe area, so she was at fault.

After Xia Qing admitted her fault, the Broken-Waist Wolf turned back to continue watching the video.

Hearing Plucker's cry for help, Xia Qing notified Hu Zifeng while sprinting over. When the footage showed Wolf Lao Er and the injured Plucker, the Broken-Waist Wolf flew into a rage and lifted its leg to leave.

Daigua Monkey, squatting dumbly nearby, got scared, leapt onto Xia Qing, and wrapped its arms around her neck.

Xia Qing threw her arms around the Broken-Waist Wolf's neck. "Handsome Wolf-bro, finish watching before you go. Look closely—Plucker's wounds are superficial. I've already cleaned and medicated them. Take a look—any problems with how I handled the wound?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf's gaze returned to the TV screen. It watched Xia Qing treat Plucker's wound, watched her have Wolf Lao Er take it away, watched Hu Zifeng take the Tabby Cat to Territory Seven. Filming isn't allowed inside Territory Seven, so the next clip was Xia Qing outside Territory Seven's north gate, where Hu Zifeng voluntarily offered to pay the medical bills.

After the whole thing played, the murderous Broken-Waist Wolf tossed its neck, signaling Xia Qing to let go.

Xia Qing tightened her hold and tried to negotiate. "Handsome Wolf-bro, you saw it too—it wasn't Hu Zifeng who ordered the Tabby Cat Little Fifth to attack Plucker. Little Fifth got into it with Plucker on its own. Hu Zifeng knows Little Fifth was in the wrong, so he offered to pay the medical bills for Plucker and Qiang Zai. Little Fifth got gassed—its situation is worse than Plucker's. I've already driven it out of Mountain 49. It's just two cubs fighting…"

"Wooo—"

The Broken-Waist Wolf turned its head and roared at Xia Qing. Xia Qing wasn't scared, but she nearly got strangled by Daigua Monkey until she couldn't breathe.

"…I get it, I misspoke. Little Fifth was born last year—it's already two, no longer a cub. This really was Little Fifth's fault. Hu Zifeng and Little Fifth must compensate!" Xia Qing went along with the Broken-Waist Wolf's line. "Handsome Wolf-bro, I'll call Hu Zifeng over right now to negotiate how much supplies and food to compensate. Is that okay?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf kept roaring.

Xia Qing held the Broken-Waist Wolf with one hand and pulled up Hu Zifeng's photo on her phone with the other, continuing to negotiate. "Handsome Wolf-bro's so smart, you definitely figured it out. This conflict isn't the territory's humans declaring war on the wolf pack—it's this person… an evolved cat Hu Zifeng keeps that doesn't know the rules. We can settle this through negotiation, no need to fight, okay? Handsome Wolf-bro, you've known Hu Zifeng a long time. He's not a bad guy, he means the wolf pack no harm."

The Broken-Waist Wolf sheathed its fangs and tossed its neck hard. Xia Qing knew when to quit and let go immediately.

Then, this Northern Wolf Pack's Number Two leader swiped open the door, leapt into the yard, bounded over Xia Qing's two-story little building, and left.

That stance—clearly fuming.

Xia Qing peeled Daigua off, stuffed a piece of freeze-dried treat into its paws to watch the house, then ran outside while contacting Hu Zifeng. "Captain Hu, where's Little Fifth right now?"

Hu Zifeng answered immediately. "Still in Territory Seven, hasn't been sent out yet. Is the Broken-Waist Wolf angry? I'm heading back right now."

"It's already left my territory and entered Mountain 49. Who's in the monitoring room right now?"

Hu Zifeng answered quickly. "Guan Tong. Little Fifth and I have cleared our belongings from that side and sprayed scent-isolation agent. How does the Broken-Waist Wolf want to resolve this incident?"

"It agreed not to fight, but it won't let it go easily either—still unclear what the pack will do." Xia Qing hung up on Hu Zifeng. Just as she was about to call Guan Tong, Guan Tong called her first, reporting an emergency.

"Sister Qing, the Broken-Waist Wolf is destroying cameras on Mountain 49."

Hearing the Broken-Waist Wolf was destroying cameras, Xia Qing actually breathed a sigh of relief. "Where is it right now?"

Guan Tong stared at screens going black one after another in the monitoring room and answered, "It just destroyed two cameras in Section 12 of Mountain 49 and is running north while continuing to destroy them."

Xia Qing, who had just entered Section 3, nearly fell. How long has it been—you're already at Section 12?!

Xia Qing grabbed a normal tree nearby to steady herself. "Tell the mountain-guards not to clash with the evolved wolves. As long as they don't hurt people, let it do what it wants."

The points for destroyed equipment will be compensated by Hu Zifeng!

Guan Tong answered immediately. "Understood. Our boss is taking a helicopter over—his orders match Sister Qing's. No matter how much equipment the wolves destroy, we won't lift a hand. The destroyed equipment will be compensated by Captain Hu."

Good. Xia Qing hung up, stepped over Flat-Top who had eaten the Qiang Snake and was now snoring away in a dirt pit, and kept chasing the Broken-Waist Wolf.

"Awoo—woo—"

Xia Qing had just reached Section 6 of Mountain 49 when she heard the Broken-Waist Wolf's long howl in the distance. That tone meant assembling members. Any Northern Wolf Pack member not guarding a core territory had to rush over immediately!

Running north, Xia Qing dialed Tan Junjie. "Captain Tan, the Northern Wolf Pack has clashed with the Azure Dragon Squad—a standoff is coming. Please contact everyone currently on missions inside Northern Wolf Pack territory and pull them all out immediately. Personnel in Northern Section 1 territory, don't enter Northern Wolf Pack territory until the conflict is resolved."

"Copy." Tan Junjie's voice was, as always, grave and calm. "Will this conflict spill into our territory?"

Xia Qing gave an affirmative answer. "As long as our people don't rush out and attack the wolves when it happens, no."

Tan Junjie replied, "Understood. Stay safe."

Xia Qing hung up and kept running north along the beast trail where nearby cameras had already been destroyed, amid the rising and falling howls, when her phone rang again—this time it was her idol, Zhang San.

Xia Qing stopped, quickly caught her breath, and answered. "Third Brother."

Zhang San asked directly, "What do the wolves want?"

Xia Qing didn't answer directly, but confirmed her idol's location. "Is it convenient for you to talk?"

"Talk."

"Yes. I showed the Broken-Waist Wolf the video of Little Fifth and the little weasel clashing. The Broken-Waist Wolf is assembling the pack to defend its territory."

Zhang San didn't ask why Xia Qing showed the Broken-Waist Wolf the video, just calmly asked, "Little Fifth got gassed by the weasel—its internal organs are damaged. What more does the pack want to defend?"