Chapter 1207: Encounter

The lead wolf of the southern pack began to move, but Lao Si didn't move, so Xia Qing stayed put as well.

Scarface Junior couldn't hold back any longer and stood up to chase after the lead wolf. After being roared at by that brown-grey male wolf, the little fellow flopped back to the ground with drooping ears, swishing its tail again and again to express its displeasure.

Xia Qing noticed that once the wound on this long-suffering little wolf's face healed, its personality had become a bit livelier. She hoped the strong cub in her territory that had been knocked out by the poisonous fumes would recover soon too.

Based on the location map Yang Jin had sent over, Xia Qing found the monitoring device nearby. If she wanted to avoid this device's surveillance and enter Hui-1, she'd have to climb the nearly vertical cliff face five hundred meters away.

Climbing an unfamiliar cliff at night was far too dangerous, so Xia Qing lowered her voice and told Lao Si the device's location.

After learning new things in Territory Three, Lao Si already knew what devices like cameras and video recorders were used for. It stared at the rock wall beside the game trail, the fur on its dew-dampened neck bristling bit by bit.

Lao Si was angry.

Xia Qing understood why, because the Hui-1 Mountain Region 29 ahead was the core territory of the southern wolf pack. This monitoring device could capture images of every animal that passed through here, wolves included.

Five minutes later, Lord Cui Yan's howl came from afar. The old wolf stood up and cast a stern glance at Xia Qing and Scarface Junior, who had stood up with it.

Seeing Scarface Junior lie down again, Xia Qing lay back down in her original spot as well.

Only then did the old wolf shake out its fur, sprint over three hundred meters at a speed no less than the Wolf King's, borrow momentum to leap upward, scale the nearly vertical rock face at an angle, and with one swipe of its claws smash the monitoring device. It then accelerated again to climb to the top of Shanfeng, raised its head, and let out a long howl.

Unlike Lord Cui Yan's full-throated, battle-fierce howl, the old wolf's call was deeper, more drawn-out, and more majestic.

Two minutes later, the Shen Squad, who were hiding in a cave on Mountain 28 with a barricade blocking the entrance, received from base the final image the Mountain 29 camera had transmitted before being destroyed.

The squad member in charge of communications enlarged the video and carefully examined the wolf sprinting through it, shocked. "Captain Frost, this wolf looks a lot like that grey-eyed Wolf King from the northern pack. Isn't it long dead?!"

Lord Cui Yan's pack's territory covers Mountains 27–29 in northern Hui-1 and Mountains 22–26 in southern Hui-3. So to the people at the Hui-1 base, they're the northern wolf pack, while the humans at Hui-3 consider them the southern wolf pack.

Shen Frost confirmed its identity from the old wolf's running posture and build. "It's that Wolf King. Send the news back to the combat team immediately."

"Yes!"

"This wolf is cunning and holds grudges. We'd best not provoke it. Captain Frost, should we keep searching for the supplies Fierce Fire hid in this mountain region? The intel might not be true."

Shen Frost replied, "Wait until the wolves finish hunting before we look."

Listening to the wolf howls outside, each one louder than the last, another squad member whispered, "I heard it was a wolf that crippled Phantom, Hui-5's top sniper. Could it have been this one?"

"Definitely not. If this wolf had struck, Phantom wouldn't even have had the chance to be crippled. Besides, that fight happened on Hui-3 Mountain 39, which isn't the northern pack's territory."

"Fair point. Hey, by the way, that newly promoted top sniper from Hui-3 who beat Phantom—why has there been no news from her at all? What's she been up to lately?"

"I heard she's busy harvesting grain."

"Harvesting grain? That's really…"

Shen Frost, who was wiping her gloves, retorted, "It's autumn harvest season. She's a Lord. What's wrong with harvesting grain?"

Well… that's true enough…

"Lao Si, the way you ran just now was seriously cool. As befits a speed-and-strength dual-evolution wolf standing at the very top of Jin Zita, every evolved wolf on Blue Star is proud of you!"

After Xia Qing followed the brown-grey male wolf and Scarface Junior along the cross-boundary game trail where the monitoring device had already been destroyed, she reunited with Lao Si and immediately offered her sincere praise.

Lao Si said nothing and sped up. Xia Qing immediately picked up her pace to keep up.

Wolf howls and wild boars' death cries rose one after another. The Shen Squad, hiding in a cave at the edge of Mountain 28, stayed completely silent.

The scout, head tilted and ears pricked, pulled out her phone and quickly typed a few words for the squad leader to see: Based on the footsteps, a human is running toward our position. Not a speed or bounce-type Evolver.

The sound of a human running certainly couldn't be hidden from the scout wolves outside. This person must have gotten word and come to seize the supplies. Wasn't he afraid of being attacked by the pack?

Shen Frost gestured to the advanced hearing-evolution squad member to keep scouting, then had the other squad members reinforce the barricade blocking the cave entrance.

Wolves had an extremely keen sense of smell. If the barricade were breached and the human scent got out, it might enrage the fierce beasts that were currently feeding.

If the person outside was coming for them, he most likely wanted to break the barricade and use them as a shield.

"Woo—"

When Xia Qing and the three wolves passed through the hunting zone of five wolves, two of them, who were in the middle of eating, thought she was coming to steal their food and raised their heads to roar furiously at her.

If these two ill-mannered fellows had been from the northern pack, Xia Qing would have roared right back. But this was the southern pack's territory, and Xia Qing was an outsider, so she could only keep her head down and shrink back.

"Woo—"

Lao Si let out a low growl, silencing the two wolves baring their fangs to guard their food, then led Xia Qing onward.

Scarface Junior was hungry, went over to nuzzle its packmates, and started gnawing meat. The pack was very protective of its cubs; when Scarface Junior came over to eat, neither of the two wolves currently feeding chased it away.

Xia Qing, following the old wolf, ran another two hundred-plus meters before spotting broken branches and vines ahead. She immediately stopped and hid behind a tree.

These signs showed that humans had cut a path through here not long ago.

Seeing Xia Qing's action, Lao Si doubled back to sniff, slowly bared its fangs, and slowly approached the cave over seventy meters away.

The cave mouth was very large. After the Shen Squad went inside, they only sealed off the section they were hiding in, cutting off the spread of scent.

That adult male wolf immediately formed a pincer formation with the old wolf, approaching from another angle.

Inside the cave, the Shen Squad had all gripped their weapons, ready for battle.

Xia Qing pulled the Blue Dragon combat team's insignia from her pocket, stuck it on her protective mask, then scooped up the old wolf and sprinted forward.

"Woo—"

The old wolf, suddenly picked up, turned its head and bared its fangs at Xia Qing in an angry snarl.

The adult male wolf immediately abandoned the encirclement of the cave to rescue its packmate that had been seized by a human.

After sprinting over six hundred meters and confirming she was out of the advanced hearing-evolution scout's detection range, Xia Qing set the old wolf down and cooed softly, "Lao Si, the ones hiding in that cave aren't blue-skinned Wanderers—they're another human squad that came here to gather food. Wanderers use different tools; they wouldn't leave such obvious traces."

The old wolf shook its body and howled angrily and sternly at Xia Qing, the adult male wolf snarling along with it. Scarface Junior, who had caught up, didn't understand what was happening and stood at the back watching.

Xia Qing obediently let the old wolf finish scolding her before explaining, "Lao Si, those humans are hiding precisely because they don't want a conflict with us. Our mission tonight is to find supplies, not to fight, right?"

The old wolf snarled a few more times before speeding up. Xia Qing immediately went all out to keep up.

Fifteen minutes later, when the old wolf stopped, Xia Qing collapsed flat on the ground, panting as she surveyed the terrain.

The terrain here was flat, with towering giant trees, not even a hill in sight—no caves, and no possibility of a burrow.

Because digging a burrow here would easily let water in.

(End of chapter)