Chapter 1503: Holding Hands

Hearing that the Wolf King of the northern pack had come to find out what disaster had struck human territory, Wolf Lao Si rose from the soft straw.

As the former Wolf King, even though its strongest weapon of attack—its fangs—had been pulled, this old wolf still did not want to be left behind.

It had Xia Qing put a muzzle on it, then led its companion, the Notched-Ear Wolf, down through the ruins and into Xia Qing's room.

The handsome giant wolf, who was drying its fur by the fireplace, saw the Notched-Ear Wolf of the southern pack come in, and immediately leapt in front of the head wolf, lining up alongside the Broken-Waist Wolf, staring fiercely at the strong one from the southern pack.

"Fourth Brother, I'm Sister Qing's companion Yang Jin. I came over to watch the video with everyone."

As Xia Qing had asked, Yang Jin restrained his aura and sat on the sofa greeting the old wolves. He placed both hands on his knees to show he had no hostile intent.

Wolf Lao Er walked over to sniff Wolf Lao Si and the Notched-Ear Wolf of the southern pack, then walked back to sniff its own companions, and stood beside the handsome giant wolf.

The northern Wolf King did not need protection; it stepped forward two paces to the very front, fixing its bandit-gold eyes calmly on the Notched-Ear Wolf beside Wolf Lao Si.

The Notched-Ear Wolf met the northern Wolf King's gaze with its own grey-white eyes for a few seconds, then glanced at the abnormally thick-furred Broken-Waist Wolf beside it, and the murderous handsome giant wolf, and finally turned its gaze to the short-haired human sitting on the sofa, slowly baring its sharp fangs.

Sheep Boss? Straddling its power-generating bicycle in high spirits, pedalling away.

Little Feimao? Already tucked itself into Xia Qing's pocket.

"Queen, Broken-Waist, Giant Wolf Bro, you all sit down. Wolf Lao Er, come to my side." Xia Qing walked over and sat beside Yang Jin, then patted the spot to her right. "Wolf Lao Si, Notched-Ear, you two sit here, it's closer to the fireplace, warmer. Notched-Ear, this is my companion Yang Jin. You've met him before—do you remember?"

Wolf Lao Er moved first, walking to Xia Qing's side. Seeing Yang Jin refuse to make room for it, Wolf Lao Er bared its fangs in displeasure and tried to bite Yang Jin's leg. Xia Qing raised a hand and stroked Wolf Lao Er's neck; only then did it retract its fangs and lie down in front of Xia Qing.

The northern Wolf King stepped back two paces and leapt lightly back into the hanging chair; the solemn Wolf Lao Si led the Notched-Ear Wolf to Xia Qing's right side and, dead serious, squatted facing the television.

Only then did the Broken-Waist Wolf and the handsome giant wolf retreat to stand on either side of the head wolf. Yang Jin voluntarily scooted closer to Xia Qing to make room for the handsome giant wolf, which made Wolf Lao Er want to bite him again.

Yang Jin's attention was entirely on Xia Qing—if Xia Qing showed the slightest discomfort or displeasure, he would immediately pull away.

After confirming Xia Qing did not object to his closeness, Yang Jin could no longer contain his excitement. He wanted to take out his phone and snap a photo of himself and Xia Qing shoulder to shoulder, leg against leg—with only ten centimetres between them.

Xia Qing glanced at this fellow whose head was full of nonsense, gave him a look warning him not to let his mind run too wild, then picked up the remote, opened the USB drive, and began to brief everyone.

"At a little past eleven this morning, a bombing attack occurred in the inner city of the Hui-3 Human Safe Zone. There were five blast sites in total…"

"The first blast site was at the entrance of the Agricultural Department in the inner city of the Hui-3 Human Safe Zone."

The first video Xia Qing opened began with a cleaning vehicle slowly driving along a tidy road. After the camera cut, Xia Qing appeared on screen, and Yang Jin's breathing stopped instantly.

The head wolf, the Broken-Waist Wolf, and Wolf Lao Si all turned to look at Xia Qing almost simultaneously.

Xia Qing explained, "Yes, the human in this corner is me. Today I took a helicopter to the Human Safe Zone to attend a meeting in the building behind. I realised I'd forgotten to bring my pen, so I went back to the meeting room to look for it. Watch—it's about to blow."

The cleaning vehicle in the video drove toward the Agricultural Department. In the living room, apart from Sheep Boss pedalling spiritedly, Wolf Hound Wolf Lao Er staring at Xia Qing, and Little Feimao in Xia Qing's pocket, every other creature was staring at the television.

Although this was the Notched-Ear Wolf's first time watching television, it had spent this period watching videos on phones and laptops together with Wolf Lao Si, so to it the television was just a bigger "laptop," and it did not show any strong emotional reaction.

Wolf Lao Si's laptop had been left behind in the southern pack for its companions to use for learning. The laptop it used in Territory No. 3 was given to them free of charge by Xia Qing, after she confirmed that both it and the Notched-Ear Wolf always followed the rules when seeing the doctor.

Xia Qing laid down a clear rule: if Wolf Lao Si or the Notched-Ear Wolf deliberately tried to scare Zhang Shi and Ye Yiyi, the laptop would be confiscated, and if Wolf Lao Si wanted to use one again it would have to rent one, at a rate of 50 credits per day.

To avoid paying those credits, every time Zhang Shi went to the wolf den to do his rounds, Wolf Lao Si would watch the Notched-Ear Wolf closely and not let it cause trouble.

"Boom!"

The cleaning vehicle exploded with a tremendous roar and was instantly swallowed by thick smoke. Every wolf bristled and bared its fangs. Little Feimao turned over in Xia Qing's pocket. Sheep Boss stared at the television in annoyance and opened its mouth: "Baa!!"

"Alright, I'll turn the TV volume down so it doesn't disturb the Boss's workout." Xia Qing replied, pressed pause, and continued her briefing.

"The bombs that exploded were toxic gas bombs made by the bad humans of Hui-1—the Blaze Squad. The driver and the passenger in the vehicle died on the spot. Queen, Broken-Waist, Wolf Lao Er, the toxic gas bombs in the video are similar to the ones they used when we fought the Blaze Beast-Hunters on Mountain Fifty last year, but the ones in the video are bigger, more powerful, and more toxic."

Xia Qing switched to showing photos. "Look, these are the humans killed and injured by the blast."

One bloody photo after another appeared on the screen. Some of the evolved wolves looked grave, some thoughtful, some expressionless, some bared their fangs.

Yang Jin looked at these images and thought of what would have become of Xia Qing, who hadn't even worn a protective mask at the time, if she hadn't been able to dodge in time. He could no longer hold back his emotions.

He reached out his right hand and firmly grasped Xia Qing's slightly cool left hand, which rested on her leg. Only then were his helpless heartache, anxiety, and fear pushed down.

This morning, after killing the instigator of the beast tide and returning to the ice from underwater, the Blue Dragon team members immediately reported to him that a bombing attack had occurred in the inner city of the Safe Zone.

When he heard that an explosion had taken place at the entrance of the Agricultural Department, the blood in Yang Jin's entire body froze along with the seawater on his protective suit. When he heard Xia Qing had escaped the disaster, his body slowly came back to life, and he immediately made arrangements to prepare for the return trip.

Most of the instigators of the sea-beast tide attacking the mangrove protective belt had already been killed, so the danger level of the mission to guard the mangroves had dropped. Xia Qing needed his protection even more.

The more fear he felt now, the tighter Yang Jin's grip. Let go? He couldn't do it. Just holding her hand was already the limit of what he could control.

Xia Qing glanced at Yang Jin, did not pull her hand back, and continued showing the photos, letting everyone see the state after poisoning. "The toxin in the bomb is Qiang-13, a synthetic of the Qiang element. Which of you still remembers Qiang-13?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf immediately raised a paw; the other wolves, the sheep, and the wolf hound did not move.

Xia Qing's gaze swept past Yang Jin, whose attention was clearly not in class, and called on his own blood brother wearing the pink wig.

"Good, Broken-Waist, go look up the characteristics of this synthetic poison, Qiang-13."