Chapter 1521: Black Fruits and the Shedding Bear King

With a combat-power-overflowing giant bear lord looming nearby, no foolhardy python dared come cause trouble, but Xia Qing didn't catch a single Yi snake.

Because a month and a half ago they still loved eating the withered-leaf pollen, but now they freaking don't like it anymore—what a total waste of a pack of idol-mixed drug powder!

Xia Qing worked in the water for over twenty minutes and only caught a dozen or so chomping fish, which she stuffed into a bag. Her backpack had plenty of internal space, and these things lived in the same waters as Yi snakes—even if they couldn't be eaten, they had research value, and bringing them back for her idol would surely trade for good stuff.

After standing a few more minutes and confirming the Yi snakes really weren't interested in the drug powder, Xia Qing didn't dare dive to the lake bottom to rummage through the giant python looking for Yi snakes either. She could only trudge to the lakeside with the fish bag and net in hand, dejected. "Bear bro, Broken-Back, I didn't catch any tasty Yi snakes—not a single one."

Broken-Back Wolf was also disappointed, drooping its ears and lying flat on the rock.

The Xiong Wang, who was soaking in the hot spring and scratching an itch, glanced at the fish bag Xia Qing was carrying and stood up with a "splash."

Xia Qing and Broken-Back Wolf thought a giant python was coming and immediately jumped behind the Xiong Wang.

Unexpectedly, the lord shook the water off its fur, climbed ashore, plucked two chicken-egg-sized black fruits from a tree, crushed them with its Xiong Zhang, and tossed the bits into the lake.

Xia Qing's eyes lit up at once. "The white Yi snakes like eating these fruits when they grow up? Xiong Wang, my lord, you really are the evolved bear standing at the top of Blue Star's intelligence Jin Zita!"

"Aoo!" Broken-Back Wolf leaped up and pawed at Xia Qing, urging her to hurry down and scoop up snakes.

Xia Qing immediately tied the fish bag tight, stuffed it into an insulated bag and then into her backpack, went down to the lake to the stretch of water dotted with black fruit bits, and waited with her net at the ready.

The Xiong Wang plucked two more fruits, rubbed them on its own fur, and lay back down in the hot spring lake.

Two minutes later, Broken-Back Wolf on shore pricked up its ears and raised its big head. "Aoo!"

"I see them! Watch me!"

Looking through her night-vision goggles, Xia Qing watched over a dozen glowing strips, each nearly half a meter long, winding their way over from the distance, and eagerly raised her net to wait.

Turns out once these things grow a bit bigger, they stop loving pollen and switch to eating fruit!

"Splash—"

When the Yi snakes swam over to eat the fruit bits, Xia Qing scooped up three in one go with her net and turned to show them off to Broken-Back Wolf and the Xiong Wang.

"Awoo!" Broken-Back Wolf bounced in celebration, startling awake the two gua who had been napping in a huddle.

The Xiong Wang raised a forepaw, caught a meat strip that had swum up beside it, and stuffed it into its mouth to chew.

"Splash—"

"Awoo!"

"Crunch crunch…"

Ten minutes later, Xia Qing walked up to the Xiong Wang with her net and snake bag, pointed at the black fruit tree beside it, and in a gentle voice asked, "Clever and handsome Xiong Wang, my lord, may I pluck two more black fruits, crush them, and toss them in the water to catch a few little snakes?"

The Xiong Wang, one paw clutching two meat strips and the other scratching an itch, fixed its shiny black eyes on Xia Qing.

Xia Qing got the message. "Okay, no more snake-catching today. Thanks, Bear bro. Broken-Back and I will head out now."

"Aoo~~"

After Xia Qing stuffed the Yi snakes into her backpack, changed into her protective suit, shouldered the backpack, and hoisted up the tin shack, Broken-Back Wolf also mimicked Xia Qing's tone to say goodbye to the Xiong Wang, then went up to sniff it before following Xia Qing back together.

Xia Qing stopped by the black fruit tree and asked, pointing at the fruit on it, "Xiong Wang, my lord, may I take a fruit with me?"

"Grr." The Xiong Wang, watching the wolf and the monkey, gave a lazy reply.

"Thank you, Xiong Wang, my lord!"

Xia Qing set down the tin shack, scrambled up the tree, snapped off a small branch with fruit on it, and on the way down casually collected a tube of soil sample, packed it into a constant-temperature sampling bag and stuffed it into her backpack. She hoisted the tin shack and called to the two gua, "Daigua, Ergua, do you want to come back to my territory?"

The two dull little monkeys squatting on the branch dozing off…

Xia Qing got the message. "Not going back? Okay. Then I'm off. You must be careful from now on. Daigua, if you spot bad guys coming again, run if you can, and if you can't run, send me a message."

"Ee." Daigua replied immediately.

Xia Qing pointed at Broken-Back Wolf and instructed, "Daigua, the northern wolf pack provided you with rescue, and you need to pay Broken-Back a backpack of pretty stones. Are the stones ready?"

Broken-Back Wolf immediately bared its little fang tips.

"Ee!"

"Great. Daigua, go get the pretty stones and let Broken-Back inspect them."

"Ee!!" Daigua, with Ergua on its back, grabbed a tree branch and leaped forward to fetch the stones.

When Daigua came running back alone with the backpack, the Xiong Wang also stood up from the hot spring, shook the water droplets off its body, and walked over to inspect.

Xia Qing took the heavy backpack, poured out the stones big and small into a packaging bag, spread them out, and asked, "Broken-Back, are these stones okay?"

Broken-Back Wolf used its paw to push aside a few dull little stones, then raised its head and bared four little fang tips at Xia Qing.

The Xiong Wang stared at the stones and the wolf for a few seconds, casually grabbed an angular stone and rubbed an itch on its body. It used a lot of force, and the stone scraping against its fur made a "shhh-shhh" sound.

"Good, Broken-Back is satisfied with the stones and agrees to take them. Broken-Back, the payment for the rescue you provided Daigua this time is settled." Xia Qing tied the bag of stones together with the two Yi snakes, each over forty centimeters long, strapped them onto Broken-Back Wolf, and solemnly instructed it, "Broken-Back, Yi snakes are precious supplies. Watching Huo Zhun and Yang Jin don't know there are Yi snakes in this lake. Don't open the bundle in front of them. Bring it back to Mountain Fifty-Five and show it to the Queen…"

"Shhh-shhh…"

"…Don't worry, it definitely won't spoil on the way back to Mountain Fifty-Five. It's freezing outside—anything that goes out will freeze solid on the spot… The ones in my backpack need to be brought back for Third Brother to use in his research, so I can't give them to you…"

"Shhh-shhh…"

"Daigua, this time, in order to catch the bad humans threatening your safety and protect the big tree you live in, I used up five sniper rounds totaling 1,650 points. Those points have to be deducted from your wages."

The rescue mission Daigua posted—Xia Qing led two people and the wolf pack to form a team and come to the rescue. The payment Daigua provided all went to Broken-Back Wolf, so of course Xia Qing's bullet consumption had to be paid by Daigua.

Yang Jin and Huo Zhun? When Xia Qing recruited them to team up, she proposed splitting the seized supplies, so their payment didn't need to come from Daigua.

Hearing about so many points, Daigua's blank white face instantly came alive, and it immediately grabbed a stone from the ground and handed it to Xia Qing.

"Shhh-shhh…"

"No, I don't want this kind of stone. If you don't want your wages docked, find me bigger and prettier stones…"

"Shhh-shhh…"

Xia Qing took a deep breath, turned, and calmly asked the giant bear beside her, "Does Bear bro have an itchy skin? Want me to take a look?"

The Xiong Wang didn't understand and kept going shhh.

"Ee!" Daigua, carrying the empty pack, immediately hopped over to the Xiong Wang, pushed aside its wet fur, and pointed at the surface skin where it was shedding hair and growing little red bumps for Xia Qing to see.