Chapter 1252: Poisoned

In the end, Xia Qing left without doing anything.

Taking advantage of Blind Tiger's illness to sneak into its core territory and poach—Western Wolf King could do it, but Xia Qing couldn't. Because a tiger's sense of smell is extremely sharp too; if Blind Tiger went hunting later and caught her scent, the human-tiger relationship she had painstakingly eased with a jin of jerky and four eggs would collapse all over again.

After Old Four returned, the helicopter landed on the spot, and Xia Qing boarded with three wolves, heading for Mountain Twenty-Two in the southwest.

Handsome Giant Wolf? It chased after its brother—probably going to fight over meat.

Inside the helicopter, after Xia Qing finished reading Blind Tiger's sampling report, Zhang Song asked, "Sister Qing, this evolved tiger's territory borders the Western Wolf Pack. The Western wolves may be infected with the same parasite. Should we do spot checks on the Western wolves and on water sources and soil samples within their territory?"

The parasite infecting Blind Tiger came from small animals eating plants corroded by evolved anaerobic bacteria, which caused bodily lesions and contaminated the water. In principle, small animals infected with this parasite couldn't be appearing only in Blind Tiger's territory.

"The Western Wolf Pack has already taken deworming pills, so they won't be infected with this parasite, and neither will the Northern Wolf Pack. Let's go to Mountain Twenty-Two first to treat the Southern Wolf Pack. We'll take samples on the way back."

Xia Qing had told Handsome Giant Wolf last night to watch whether the Western wolves had diarrhea. Today neither Handsome Giant Wolf nor the Western Wolf King indicated anything, meaning the Western Wolf Pack was fine. The urgent matter was still the Southern Wolf Pack. "Old Four, do your packmates need to take deworming medicine to prevent infection? The pills are expensive—would you like to trade?"

The old wolf bared its fangs and glanced at Xia Qing's jacket pocket.

After Xia Qing wiped clean and disinfected the transparent pouch holding its phone and card reader, along with its points card, the old wolf didn't want to put them back into the dirty satchel, so it let Xia Qing hold them.

Xia Qing also took the chance to sell it a new cloth for wiping the phone and card-reader pouch—20 points.

Xia Qing understood. "Old Four wants to trade with points? Alright. After I've finished treating your two diarrhea-stricken packmates, we'll settle up together."

Watching Xia Qing communicate with the wolves, Zhang Song deeply understood what Third Brother had told him. Xia Qing didn't stand at the top of the food chain looking down on the animals of the Evolution Forest; she regarded these animals as lords just like humans, living as equals with them and trading supplies.

At that moment, Zhang Song's research interest in the human Xia Qing surpassed that in any evolved creature. He couldn't wait to have an in-depth conversation with her.

What events had Xia Qing, who only entered the Year of Calamity at fifteen, gone through to transform her worldview? Or had her worldview already been like this before the calamity? What were the views of her upbringing and her main family members?

What was the fundamental principle underlying her logical judgments?

Had she evolved a Class C magnetic-sense ability? Or had she evolved an unpublished ability to communicate with evolved animals?

The helicopter landed at Hui Three Mountain Twenty. As before, Xia Qing and the three wolves went together to diagnose the sick wolves of the Southern Wolf Pack.

But this time the helicopter didn't need to hover, because this was wolf territory—parking in the Evolution Forest here wouldn't draw attacks from large predators. Huo Zhun could protect Zhang Song while he moved around and took samples in the nearby Evolution Forest.

Old Four leapt off the helicopter first, ran with Xia Qing and the two wolves for over ten minutes, then used a howl to call over a giant wolf. The small group sped up and headed for the Mountain Twenty-Two area.

This time the destination wasn't the Mountain Twenty-Two cliff, but a mountain cave on another peak.

At the cave entrance, Xia Qing saw the leader of the Southern Wolf Pack—Lord Cui Yan.

"Cui Yan, long time no see." Xia Qing jumped down from the giant wolf's back to greet Lord Cui Yan, then started to follow Old Four into the cave, but Broken-Back Wolf blocked her.

Xia Qing asked, "Broken-Back, something's wrong inside?"

Broken-Back Wolf bared its fangs with a solemn face. Old Four, already inside the cave, looked back at Xia Qing with urgent eyes. The two wolf kings had begun competing in presence and had no attention to spare.

It must be that the wolves inside were in bad shape, giving off a scent Broken-Back Wolf considered threatening, which was why it wouldn't let her in. But Xia Qing had taken on the mission and had to go in and look.

She pulled three spare protective masks from her backpack, put them directly on Old Four and Broken-Back Wolf, then held up the last one and asked, "Queen, my lord, are you going into the cave?"

The lead wolf stared at Lord Cui Yan of the Southern Wolf Pack and gave a slight flick of its tail. Xia Qing understood. "Alright, I'll go in with Old Four and Broken-Back. The two queens can keep their contest going."

Old Four had taken basic medical-care courses with Xia Qing. The cave it had chosen was dry and sunny—well suited to convalescence. But no matter how good the environment, it couldn't hold up against two wolves this seriously ill.

Xia Qing switched on her flashlight and confirmed that one evolved wolf's belly had stopped rising and falling; the other was also breathing out far more than it was breathing in.

The old wolf nudged its dead companion through the protective mask and let out a mournful wail. Outside the cave, Lord Cui Yan stopped competing with the lead wolf and raised its head in a sorrowful howl.

Xia Qing turned her flashlight to maximum brightness, immediately injected a dose of Territory Seven's emergency medicine into the still-breathing evolved wolf, which was covered in filth, and called for support over the walkie-talkie. "Song Ge, Song Ge?"

The signal here was poor; Xia Qing couldn't reach Zhang Song. She immediately pulled out a large packaging bag, wrapped the wolf in it, carried it outside, and tried again. "Song Ge?"

Zhang Song's reply came through with static from the bad signal. "I'm… here. I just received the video."

"The other wolf is already dead. This one is very weak too. I've already injected it with Territory One emergency medicine. What do we do for rescue next?"

In the cabin, Zhang Song enlarged the screen image and kept talking with Xia Qing over the walkie-talkie. "Sister Qing, lift its eyelid, then pry open its mouth. Let me see its tongue and oral cavity."

"Got it." Xia Qing immediately flipped open the evolved wolf's eyelid and shone her flashlight on its already dilated pupil. After Zhang Song had a clear look, she pried open its mouth. Xia Qing saw the wolf's oral cavity was full of blood and filth; its gums and tongue had begun to ulcerate.

Without needing Zhang Song's diagnosis, Xia Qing could confirm this wolf had been poisoned by toxins leaked from Liehuo Volcano, because its symptoms matched the human fatalities from Liehuo Volcano.

Zhang Song, as expected, reached the same diagnosis as Xia Qing. "This wolf has been poisoned by toxins leaked from Liehuo. Based on the signs, the poisoning happened over fifteen hours ago. The toxin destroyed its immune system and caused vascular endothelial damage, leading to ischemia and hypoxia in its limbs and tongue—necrosis and ulceration."

"Copy that." Xia Qing closed the wolf's eyelids and mouth, looked up at the old wolf beside her wearing its protective mask, and said in a low, steady voice, "Old Four, your packmate here has been poisoned. It's an extremely potent toxin—even human medicine can't save it. I'm sorry."