Chapter 129: The Weasel Plucking Feathers for the Birds

On the way home, passing the sheep pen, Xia Qing noticed Sheep Boss wasn't inside—he must have gone to the ranch to eat.

The water in the basin was down by more than half, but the headless snake and the two wolves hadn't touched a bite; ants were crawling all over the snake's body, and quite a few large bluebottles were buzzing around it.

Seeing the wolves waste the meat, Xia Qing wasn't angry at all—she was actually quite pleased.

What does it mean that the evolved wolves won't eat the food she prepared? It means some wolf is bringing them food! Not having to prepare large amounts of meat for the two adult evolved wolves was certainly something worth being happy about.

Xia Qing brought the spring water inside, poured river water into the filter barrel, and when she came out to clean up the snake meat that had already been contaminated by evolved insects, she found the wolf with the broken leg still baring its teeth and glaring, and the wolf with the broken lumbar spine had also slowly raised its head.

Looks like the anesthetic has worn off—they can eat now. After burning and burying the snake, Xia Qing gave the wolves fresh spring water, added anti-inflammatory medicine, made a rack out of wire to grip the iron basin, used a wooden stick to lift the rack, and slowly sent the water basin into the sheep pen.

The wolf with the broken leg saw Xia Qing stick the wooden stick in, bared its fangs, slapped its front paw, and lunged to bite.

"Wooo—"

The broken-back wolf lying down let out a growl that wasn't loud—in fact, it lacked force—but after hearing it, the broken-leg wolf lay flat on the ground and didn't move.

From the interaction between the two wolves, Xia Qing judged that this brain-evolved wolf with the broken back also held a fairly high position in the pack.

She slowly moved the water basin next to the brain-evolved wolf's head, and in the same tone she used to talk to Sheep Boss, spoke softly, "Drink up. I added medicine to this water—it's good for your injuries. Don't pull at the splint on you; it's there to protect your bones. If you break it, your wounds won't heal."

Truly worthy of a brain-evolved wolf—much smarter than the broken-leg one beside it. After hearing Xia Qing's words, the injured wolf, whose waist was fixed by a plaster-like cylindrical splint, trembled as it propped its head up with its front legs and dipped down into the basin to drink.

Wolves should drink like cats, lapping with their tongues, but this wolf was too weak—its front legs couldn't support the weight of its head at all.

After drinking a few sips of water, the brain-evolved wolf lay back down, water dripping pathetically down the fur by its mouth, but it gazed at Xia Qing calmly.

Unlike the gray eyes of the broken-leg wolf, this brain-evolved wolf's eyes were amber-colored—very beautiful.

Standing outside the sheep pen, Xia Qing spoke to it in a gentle voice, "The surgery was a success. Your injuries will heal, but in three days I need to change your dressing. You still need to rest well and can't move around. You two rest up—I'm going to make dinner."

After saying that, before Xia Qing had even stepped through the security door, she heard movement behind her.

She spun around quickly, back against the security door, drew her knife and held it in front of her, and saw three wolves returning with prey in their mouths.

The prey they carried was very familiar to Xia Qing: three egrets.

Ever since those two egrets moved away and stopped smearing feces on her windows, Xia Qing hadn't seen this kind of animal in several days.

The lead wolf, carrying an egret, entered the yard first and placed the egret in front of Xia Qing; the other two wolves placed the egrets they carried not far from the sheep pen.

Xia Qing's eyes went wide. What was the meaning of this? Could this egret possibly be rent for her? Was that even possible?

Soon, Xia Qing knew it was real. Because the lead wolf used its paw to push the egret toward her, then the lead wolf left; one wolf team member stood guard over the other two egrets, while another wolf team member went into the sheep pen.

The one in front of Xia Qing had no wolf guarding it.

Something given by wolves—can she take it?

Something given by the God of Wealth—take it or waste it!

The evolved egret was about the size of a pre-catastrophe goose; when Xia Qing picked it up, she found it weighed a full ten jin. The egret had just been killed—its body was still warm; it had been dead for less than half an hour at most.

The first thing Xia Qing did after bringing it inside was bleed it and test the egret's Qiang element content. When she saw the green light come on, she actually wasn't all that surprised.

Xia Qing slit the egret's throat to bleed it. An egret dead for less than half an hour still had uncoagulated blood—if the blood wasn't drained, it would affect the meat's quality and texture.

This egret yielded about five hundred milliliters of blood; the blood was still bright red and edible. Xia Qing mixed half a bowl of salt water into the egret blood, stirred it well, then covered it with plastic wrap and let it set.

When she followed combat teams on missions, she had seen how the team members handled poultry and had helped out, so she knew how to process it.

After handling the egret blood, Xia Qing placed the egret in a large basin and scalded it several times with hot water, plucked all the feathers off while it was still hot, then opened it up and cleaned out the innards.

After finishing the cleaning, Xia Qing stood up holding the basin of innards, preparing to go out and feed the snake, when she was stunned by a scene in the yard.

A weasel was squatting in her yard, under the "supervision" of the lead wolf, plucking the feathers from the two egrets in the yard.

The lead wolf glanced at Xia Qing, then continued watching the plucking weasel. Xia Qing couldn't help rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

Is this even normal? Can evolved animals get any more insane?

Xia Qing washed her hands clean, took out her phone, opened the camera, and recorded this shocking scene.

The weasel was "working" in the yard, so it wouldn't be appropriate for her to go out and disturb it. Xia Qing decided to prepare the meat first.

Xia Qing sharpened her cleaver, sliced the parts of the egret suitable for drying and put them in the dryer, and chopped the rest into chunks to stew.

She didn't look outside, so she didn't notice that while she was chopping meat with a clack-clack, the weasel plucking feathers in the yard was trembling with fright at the sound.

After putting the meat slices in the dryer, Xia Qing blanched the meat chunks, heated oil in a pot, added scallions, ginger, bay leaves, and the meat chunks to stir-fry, then added boiling spring water to braise.

The aroma of the braised meat quickly drifted into the yard. The weasel had finished plucking and run off; the two injured wolves had been dragged out to the yard to eat.

The broken-leg wolf had been starving for ages and had gnawed one whole egret clean, not even leaving the bones. The wolf with the broken lumbar spine only ate half an egret; the other half was finished off by the other wolves.

Watching through the window, Xia Qing saw the two injured wolves grabbed by the scruff of their necks and dragged to Sheep Boss's usual spot to relieve themselves, then dragged back to the sheep pen. Only then did she take the basin of innards out to feed the snake.

The egrets were gone from the yard, leaving only a puddle of blood on the ground and egret feathers fluttering everywhere. For some time to come, her home would probably keep looking like this.

Xia Qing shoveled up the two puddles of blood in the yard, dumped them on the sheep and wolf droppings, sprayed deodorizer, then covered them with soil, and gathered up the bird feathers in the yard and burned them.

She had just finished cleaning the yard when Sheep Boss came ambling back. Xia Qing complained, "Boss, your timing is perfect—I just finished cleaning the yard."

Sheep Boss bleated once, walked to the water basin by the door and rinsed its hooves, then stepped a few times on the soft straw mat, and tilted its big head to squint at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing immediately praised it, "Boss, you're amazing—you know to wash your hooves before coming inside without me reminding you. It's precisely because you and I love cleanliness that our home can stay neat and hygienic. Boss, have you eaten enough? Want some more concentrate?"

"Baa~" Sheep Boss replied in a coquettish voice, indicating it wanted to eat.

"Alright, I'll make it for you. Today your friend gave me a green-light egret, so Boss can have something good too." Xia Qing said this as she opened the screen door, and she and Sheep Boss went inside.

The weather is hot now, so during the day Xia Qing no longer keeps the security door closed, but has installed a screen door outside it. The screen door has two panels connected by magnetic strips—convenient for coming and going while keeping insects out.

After half a year of continuous clearing, the evolved insects near Xia Qing's home had become far fewer than when she first moved here; keeping the screen door closed was enough to keep insects out.

After Sheep Boss followed Xia Qing inside, the brain-evolved wolf in the sheep pen opened its amber eyes and stared in the direction of the security door, lost in thought.