Chapter 1462: We've Got to Switch Tracks

A person and a wolf stood motionless on the same beast trail, a pair of black eyes and a pair of blue eyes locked on each other for over ten seconds. Xia Qing couldn't hold out any longer and spoke first, "Handsome Big Wolf, are you looking for me? I'm heading to the Third Peak to work—want to come with me?"

The scruffy handsome giant wolf stopped staring at Xia Qing and, wearing its big icy face, continued on its way. It was heading toward Zone 3 of Area 49—passing through Zone 3 meant reaching Xia Qing's territory.

Xia Qing turned around and headed back. She could go out to work again after taking care of the Lucky Wolf first—no rush.

After noticing Xia Qing following it, the handsome giant wolf sped up and vanished in the blink of an eye. That guy's speed seemed to have improved after the medicinal bath. Xia Qing, who had also finished her medicinal bath, instantly pushed her speed to the maximum and gave chase.

After two years of hard training, plus the 5-jin, 80,000-point Strength Evolver Adaptive Protective Boots on her feet that could boost speed by 8%, Xia Qing had raised her top speed to the level of a mid-level to mid-to-high level Speed Evolver.

With her current stamina, muscle, and bone strength, she could maintain that speed for two minutes—how awesome was that!

Following the tracks left by the handsome giant wolf, Xia Qing caught up with the guy in six minutes, only to find it had already killed a wild boar weighing over two hundred jin and was sprawled on a rock, chowing down.

Under the two-meter-plus rock was the persistent, meat-craving Little Flat-Top; over twenty meters away, hidden behind another rock, were the eagerly watching Plucked Chick and Red Three-Hairs; and perched in the trees or flying overhead were dozens of birds. They were all waiting for the handsome giant wolf to finish eating so they could rush in and chow down first.

Xia Qing also sat on the rock, panting as she waited. She, the Number Four combatant of the wolf pack, had already arrived—forget the freeloading birds, even the Plucked family and Red-Hair family from the Northern Wolf Pack had to step aside!

The raven Jasmine, wearing a pretty anklet, flapped her wings and flew over, landing on Xia Qing's shoulder.

The handsome giant wolf swept its ice-blue eyes over the bird once, confirmed it didn't dare to come steal food, and continued eating.

Xia Qing fished three green-light pine nuts from her pocket, crushed their hard shells with a light pinch of her fingers, then placed the pine nuts on a nearby rock. "Caw, caw, eat up."

Jasmine hopped over to peck at the pine nuts, then returned to Xia Qing's shoulder to preen her glossy black feathers.

When the finally-full handsome giant wolf raised its blood-streaked head, the raven Jasmine let out a startled "Caw!" and flapped her wings up into a big tree.

Xia Qing nimbly jumped down into the valley and rushed to the handsome giant wolf's side, asking with great enthusiasm, "Handsome Big Wolf, are you full? Go rest over there—leave this prey to me!"

The handsome giant wolf jumped down onto the snow beneath the rock and began grooming its fur.

Wolves clean the blood from around their mouths immediately after eating—it's an instinctive behavior, but each wolf grooms itself differently. Some lick with their tongues, some scrape with their paws and then lick their paws, some groom each other, and some roll around on the ground after eating.

The handsome giant wolf belonged to the last category. The moment it lay down on the snow and started rubbing its fur, the surrounding animals immediately sprinted at full speed toward the prey on the big rock. But no matter how fast they were, they couldn't outrun Xia Qing's blade.

Seeing the human draw a weapon, the birds gathering around the boar exploded outward again, perching on nearby trees and cursing up a storm. Only one bird flew over and landed on Xia Qing's shoulder, cawing away.

"Xia Qing! Xia Qing!"

Xia Qing cheerfully cut off a piece of offal the handsome giant wolf hadn't finished and held it to the raven's beak. "Caw, caw, eat up."

"Squeak~~~"

"Eek~~~"

"Chomp!"

Plucked Chick, Red Three-Hairs, and Little Flat-Top each used their own way to get Xia Qing to share food with them.

Having harvested a two-hundred-jin wild boar, Xia Qing was feeling generous. She quickly divided meat among her three companions, then shared some with the three weasels, two red foxes, and one fierce little leopard that arrived later. Ignoring the cursing birds, she stuffed the cleaned green-light prey into a large packaging bag, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and cheerfully invited the Lucky Wolf.

"Handsome Big Wolf, let's go! To my territory—I'll prepare food that'll make you stronger after eating it!"

The handsome giant wolf lay motionless in its snow hollow. Though it looked as cold as ever, Xia Qing clearly sensed a deflated aura coming from it.

This wolf, the Number Three combat wolf of the Northern Wolf Pack that was determined to become Wolf King, had taken a hit.

Xia Qing placed her freshly harvested prey on a clean big rock to freeze naturally, then scooped up Little Flat-Top, who had lunged at her to bite the bag, and tossed it onto the big rock where the handsome giant wolf had just eaten, scattering the birds that had just landed on the rock.

The leopard, foxes, and weasels, which had been lying in ambush, all leaped up at once, each grabbing the prey they had their eyes on, then running off to a safe spot after landing to continue eating.

Little Flat-Top, who had landed on the rock, rolled and scrambled up, then began gnawing on the meat scraps that were about to freeze and the blood that had already frozen. Seeing the hunters had all run off, the birds landed on the rock again to compete with the honey badger for food.

Only animals that could find food could survive the bitter cold.

Xia Qing sat quietly in the snow, watching the scene, and asked her companion beside her, "Handsome Big Wolf, who did you lose to this time—your brother, or the Queen?"

The handsome giant wolf didn't want to deal with Xia Qing and rolled over to face the other way.

Xia Qing pulled out a comb and began grooming its messy fur. "This was bitten by the Queen, wasn't it? Handsome Big Wolf, the Queen is a top-tier Speed Evolver—she runs faster than us, and her brain evolution is more advanced than ours. You can't beat her."

The handsome giant wolf lay motionless in its snow hollow, but it didn't swat Xia Qing's paw away either.

"I run really slowly, and you guys are always nagging and complaining about me. I wish I could run as fast as the Queen, but I just didn't evolve a speed ability..."

Xia Qing groomed the handsome giant wolf's fur while counseling it. "For the past two years, I've trained really, really hard—I ran laps every morning and evening—and finally raised my speed to the level of a mid-level Speed Evolver human. But there's still a difference between me and a mid-level Speed Evolver human: they can maintain that top speed for fifteen minutes, while I can only run for two minutes. Past two minutes, my muscles and bones suffer irreversible damage."

"Handsome Big Wolf, this is an innate gap—one that no amount of effort can make up for later. When you compare speed with the Queen, or compare jumping ability with your brother, no matter how hard you try, you can't beat them..."

"Handsome Big Wolf, flip over—this side's fur is done."

The handsome giant wolf naturally didn't move, so the Strength Evolver Xia Qing easily flipped it over and continued grooming its fur. "Handsome Big Wolf, how about you challenge a different wolf king instead of fighting your brother and the Queen?"

The handsome giant wolf rolled over again.

"You absolutely have to challenge those two? That's my Handsome Big Wolf—truly persevering!" Xia Qing flipped it back again and kept offering ideas. "Since you insist on competing with those two, let's switch tracks—pick a track you're good at and that the Queen and your brother aren't good at... How about I get you a spear and teach you sniping? That way you can become the sniper standing at the top of the wolf world's pyramid!"

The handsome giant wolf rolled over once more.

Xia Qing flipped it back once more, comb in hand, and asked seriously, "You don't want to learn sniping? Then what do you want to learn?"