Chapter 1332: Deal Struck

Xia Qing took a deep breath, clipped the protective mask to her waist, slung on her backpack, picked up the honey jar and vegetable bag, and headed downslope; Broken-Waist Wolf and Handsome Giant Wolf followed.

"Roar————"

"Roar————"

The irritable mother bear and that mother giant bear cub roared at Xia Qing while slamming the rocks; the Xiong Wang remained calm, and the Gluttony Little Bear was itching to move. Does Daigua didn't dare eat anymore and climbed onto Gluttony Little Bear's shoulder to hug its neck.

The combative Handsome Giant Wolf had already started roaring back at the two giant bears. Soon, the wolves of Mountain No. 60 and the bears of Mountain No. 61 were drawn over by the roaring, and the bears and wolves began roaring at each other.

The roaring of the bears and wolves carried to Mountain No. 59, and the three people in the helicopter all sweated for Xia Qing.

The lead wolf lay with several half-grown wolves atop a tall mountain peak, looking down at the valley below.

Xia Qing walked until she was five meters in front of the giant bear before stopping, and repeated the terms of the trade to it, hoping the Xiong Wang would understand.

That useless Does Daigua chickened out at the critical moment and didn't dare come over as prearranged with Xia Qing to help translate.

Facing combat power several times her own, it would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid, but Xia Qing wasn't so scared she froze up either.

Because the Xiong Wang knew she was a member of the wolf pack; back in May this year she had saved Gluttony Little Bear's life on Mountain No. 55, and the Xiong Wang should have caught her scent on Gluttony Little Bear; she had also saved the bear clan's Does Daigua little monkey; this September, at the end of this valley, she had helped the bears and wolves deal with a giant python and catch a Yi snake; just a few days ago, right here, she had traded mountain walnuts with Gluttony Little Bear. So, given the Xiong Wang's level of brain evolution, even if the trade fell through, it wouldn't swat her dead with one paw.

The Xiong Wang stayed silent while the bears and wolves made a tremendous racket; Xia Qing's head buzzed from the noise. She turned to consult Broken-Waist Wolf, "Handsome Wolf Brother, can you tell the wolves to stop roaring? My ears hurt. We didn't come here to fight today, we came to trade supplies."

The always solemn Broken-Waist Wolf thought for a few seconds, then threw back its head and let out a long, stern howl; the wolf pack members, including Handsome Giant Wolf, all stopped roaring.

Then…the bears roared even goddamn louder. They only stopped after the Xiong Wang also let out a howl.

Broken-Waist Wolf nudged Xia Qing with its body, signaling her to step forward again.

One more step forward and she'd be within range of a single paw-swipe kill from the Xiong Wang—she wouldn't even have time to pull out her tube… Xia Qing took a deep breath and kept walking forward.

She trusted her companion's judgment, and she trusted her own intuition—the Xiong Wang had no intention of killing her.

Xia Qing and Broken-Waist Wolf trusted the Xiong Wang, but Handsome Giant Wolf didn't. As Xia Qing approached the Xiong Wang, it darted behind her in a flash, grabbed her in its jaws and flung her backward, roaring furiously.

Handsome Giant Wolf's move enraged the bear clan again, and the irritable mother bear began leading the roaring once more.

Xia Qing, sprawled in the valley, felt immensely grateful she'd screwed the honey jar's lid on tight. "Thanks for protecting me, Giant Wolf Brother. You really are a good wolf standing at the top of the universe's pyramid. Don't worry, I'm here to trade supplies with the Xiong Wang—it won't hurt me."

Handsome Giant Wolf ignored her and kept roaring.

Xia Qing simply changed tactics: she set the honey on the ground, poured out the cabbage and sweet potatoes, then retreated with Handsome Giant Wolf to the distance it considered safe, before pointing at the supplies ahead and shouting at the top of her lungs, "Bear Brother, I'm giving you the honey, cabbage, and sweet potatoes—will you take me to catch Yi snakes?"

She had to be loud; the wolves and bears were all roaring, and if her voice was too soft she'd have no presence, and the Xiong Wang wouldn't hear her either.

Before the Xiong Wang could decide, Gluttony Little Bear couldn't hold back any longer and crawled forward to grab the big jar of honey that smelled so tempting to bears. But before it could touch the jar, the Xiong Wang swatted it flying with one paw.

Although she'd seen Gluttony Little Bear get walloped once before from the helicopter, up close Xia Qing could feel the Xiong Wang's power even more viscerally. The little bear, which looked to weigh six or seven hundred jin, was sent flying four or five meters sideways, slamming into a big pine tree to Xia Qing's front-right with a heavy thud. Pine needles and pine cones rained down, pelting Xia Qing, Broken-Waist Wolf, and Handsome Giant Wolf.

Xia Qing and Broken-Waist Wolf didn't move a muscle; Handsome Giant Wolf's roar grew even louder.

Does Daigua? Already up a tree.

Broken-Waist Wolf, also covered in pine needles, raised a paw and slapped a sweet potato from the vegetable pile in front of the Xiong Wang, letting out a few "aowu aowu" calls. The Xiong Wang didn't pick up the sweet potato; instead, it stared at Xia Qing, walked step by step to the pile of sweet potatoes and cabbage, and grabbed a cabbage to sniff carefully.

Xia Qing stood quietly without moving. In her eyes it was a big pile of sweet potatoes and cabbage, but in front of the four-meter-plus Xiong Wang it looked utterly insignificant.

After sniffing for a while, the Xiong Wang opened its mouth wide and stuffed the whole cabbage in, crunching away.

Xia Qing's eyes lit up immediately. She patted Handsome Giant Wolf beside her and asked, "Giant Wolf Brother, Bear Brother is agreeing to the trade, right?!"

Handsome Giant Wolf, in the middle of howling, scooted aside to dodge Xia Qing's paw. Broken-Waist Wolf turned its head toward Xia Qing and showed her its adorable, snow-white little fang tips.

The swatted Gluttony Little Bear crawled to Bear Dad's side, crying out. The Xiong Wang gave it a sweet potato, then picked up the honey jar and handed it to the irritable mother bear behind it; after that, every bear got a share of sweet potatoes and cabbage.

The bears started eating, and the wolves stopped roaring too.

In less than five minutes, the bag of food Xia Qing had brought was devoured by eight bears. Xia Qing could only be glad the entire bear clan hadn't shown up—otherwise her meager food wouldn't have lasted even five minutes.

After finishing the food, the Xiong Wang roared at Xia Qing. Her eyes lit up at once, and she shook the little strip of Yi snake in her hand. "Bear Brother, you're taking me to catch snakes? That's great!"

Xia Qing put on her protective mask as fast as she could, glanced at Handsome Giant Wolf which immediately moved far away from her, and stood beside Broken-Waist Wolf. "Bear Brother, we can set off!"

It wasn't that Xia Qing didn't want to ride a wolf, but Handsome Giant Wolf was proud—if she forcibly climbed onto its back in front of so many wolves and bears, the fellow would definitely get angry, so Xia Qing decided to run on her own for a stretch.

Through grueling training, she was now nearly approaching the speed of a Level-5 evolved human; running at full speed, she wouldn't fall behind the wolf pack for the first ten minutes. After ten minutes, once she tired and was out of the wolves' and bears' line of sight, Handsome Giant Wolf wouldn't be so opposed to carrying her.

The Xiong Wang walked forward a few steps, confirmed that only two wolves and one monkey from the wolf pack had followed and no other wolves had entered its territory, then let out a roar and began to run.

Gluttony Little Bear immediately followed; Does Daigua saw its good friend running and hopped along after it at once. The other bears, having finished their vegetables, didn't move, standing beside the irritable mother bear and continuing to face off against the wolf pack.

Xia Qing followed the irritable mother bear's gaze up to the mountain peak above the valley and saw the imposing lead wolf. The lead wolf had pinned down the irritable mother bear, eliminating the biggest uncertainty in Xia Qing's teaming up with the bear clan—this set her mind at ease considerably. She raised a hand to wave at the lead wolf, then set off with Broken-Waist Wolf and Handsome Giant Wolf to chase the Xiong Wang.

?? Thanks to book friends October's Waxing Crescent Moon, 9362, and Late Autumn Green Leaves Zhen for the tips; thanks to book friend yuse36 for the tip to Jin Ge, and book friend 2476 for the tip to Broken-Face Little Wolf; thanks to everyone for your subscriptions, votes, and comment support.