Chapter 1544: Lure the Tiger from the Mountain

"Buzz—"

Inside Territory No. 3, District One, Northern Hui Three, Xia Qing, who had been sleeping, heard her phone vibrate, immediately opened her eyes, and grabbed her gun in one hand and her phone in the other.

Seeing it was a video call from Zhang Shi, Xia Qing turned on the light and pressed answer. On the screen appeared Broken-Face Little Wolf and Xiao Hei Mei, their fur damp—they had clearly just come in from outside. A small human hand in a fuzzy pajama sleeve was holding a clean white towel, drying their fur.

Xia Qing asked, "Broken-Face, Xiao Hei Mei, you just got back from patrolling the territory? Yiyi learned to wipe down her companions? Yiyi, you're amazing."

The two little wolves nodded their heads solemnly; Yiyi focused intently on drying the little wolf's fur, as if she couldn't receive the audio from Xia Qing.

Zhang Shi, holding the phone, gently prompted, "Auntie Qing thinks Yiyi learning to take care of her companions is wonderful. What should Yiyi say?"

Yiyi, who was drying fur, slowly stopped, slowly turned her head, and stared at Xia Qing on the screen with her bright, single-folded eyes for a full ten seconds before slowly curling her little mouth into a stiff smile.

Xia Qing, with two tufts of cowlick sticking up on her head, faced the camera and gave her child—who was trying hard to respond—a gentle, slow smile that was a little more pronounced than Yiyi's, letting her clearly see the movement of her own facial muscles so she could learn to smile more naturally.

Then, imitating Zhang Shi's tone, Xia Qing gently replied, "Thank you, Yiyi, for smiling at me. This is the first smile I've received today, and I'm very happy."

Broken-Face Little Wolf turned to look at Yiyi crouching beside him, then turned to the screen and grinned, baring his little sharp fangs; Xiao Hei Mei followed suit and bared her little sharp fangs.

Xia Qing's smile slowly widened. "Broken-Face, Xiao Hei Mei, your smiles are the second and third smiles I've received today—thank you. Yiyi, look, your two companions are learning your smile. Aren't they cute when they smile?"

Yiyi, holding the towel, looked at Broken-Face Little Wolf and Xiao Hei Mei showing their teeth, and the corners of her mouth pulled a little wider.

Zhang Shi, holding the phone, watched the three children in front of her, felt the magnetic field of their joy, and her heart went soft.

For the first time, she felt that a wolf's smile, still carrying flecks of frozen blood at the corners of its mouth, could also be very warm.

After encouraging the human child Yiyi, Xia Qing got down to business. "Broken-Face, where did the Fourth go?"

Broken-Face Little Wolf closed his mouth and, with a solemn face, turned his head to look at the cave entrance.

Xia Qing continued, "I know the Fourth left the cave to go outside. Do you know where outside it went?"

While Broken-Face Little Wolf was thinking how to answer, Xiao Hei Mei beside him spoke up, "Aow aow."

Xia Qing guessed from Xiao Hei Mei's tone, "Xiao Hei Mei, are you saying 'west'? The western wolf pack's territory, Tilt-Head Little Wolf's territory?"

Xiao Hei Mei spoke again, "Aow."

"Thank you, Xiao Hei Mei, for telling me such important news." Xia Qing continued, "Do you know who the Fourth went with? …Lord Cui Yan? Alright, and then…"

After getting information from the southern wolf pack members, Xia Qing hung up and sent a message to Yang Jin:

The Fourth and Lord Cui Yan took a mastiff to Mountain No. 33 in western Hui One to scout the enemy; they haven't returned yet. After you reach Mountain No. 22 in Hui Three, Broken-Face Little Wolf and its dad will rendezvous with you and lead you to the destination. Broken-Face Little Wolf remembers your aura.

Yang Jin replied quickly: Received. We're resting at Mountain No. 21 in Hui One. We'll head for Mountain No. 22 to rendezvous with them in two hours. How's things on your end?

After Xia Qing replied "All normal," she used her phone to check the situation inside the territory, turned off the light, and went back to sleep. It was one in the morning—still a long way until dawn.

She turned off the light, curled back up in her warm quilt, closed her eyes, and felt as though she had slept only a short while before her phone went "Beep."

Xia Qing picked up her phone for a look and immediately jumped up.

"Boom!!"

"Rat-a-tat-tat—"

From within a crevice in Mountain No. 35 of Hui Three came a violent explosion; the mountain shook, and accumulated snow and falling rocks tumbled down in a rustling cascade.

A black shadow that had just burrowed out of the mountain crevice was struck by a bullet fired by a streak of fire-serpent light that flared up from the snowdrift opposite.

The protective suit withstood the impact of the assault-rifle round; the struck black shadow swiftly fled westward.

A fierce figure shot out, directly kicking the black shadow over; the cold glint of a dagger flashed, and the first target was eliminated.

"Roar————"

A tiger's roar that shook the heavens rang out. Blind Tiger and a tigress even larger than her appeared atop the opposite mountain peak, startling the raven perched on Huo Zhun's shoulder so badly it buried its head under its wing.

Two silver-gray giant wolves raced at top speed from the tiger group's territory back to the western wolf pack's territory.

At Mountain No. 21 of Hui Three, Yang Jin glanced at his phone and immediately gave the order: "The rats at Mountain No. 35 have shown their heads. All hands, assemble! Move out immediately for Mountain No. 22!"

Luo Pei, quickly putting on his protective suit, asked, "How's the situation at the territory?"

The killing intent in Yang Jin's eyes could not be hidden. "A human squad is heading toward the territory from Mountain No. 48. They've been intercepted by the western wolf pack."

Xie Yu gave a cold laugh. "What a fine 'lure the tiger from the mountain'—there are definitely still Fiery Fire eyes inside the territory."

"Wipe out the Fire Phoenix, then clean up those stinky fish and rotten shrimp. Move out!" Yang Jin led the team, charging swiftly toward the cliff of Mountain No. 22.

At the same time, an eagle owl carrying explosives took off from the District One, Northern Hui Three territory and headed for Mountain No. 48 in the west.

Inside Territory No. 3, Xia Qing fitted protective masks on her two companions and, as she ran out, dialed her idol's number.

"Third Brother, a human squad has shown up at Mountain No. 48. They're currently in combat with the western wolf pack."

Zhang San asked quickly, "How many came? Fiery Fire? What equipment?"

Xia Qing's speaking pace was also very fast. "Not clear. Broken-Waist Wolf sent me a message—it can only judge from the western wolf pack's howling that it's a human squad. Seeing Xin Yu has already sent an eagle owl carrying explosives over to scout the situation. I'm going now to wipe out that squad. The territory here is in your hands and Yue-ge's."

Hearing that Xia Qing was going out, Zhang San's nerves immediately tensed. "Who are you teaming up with?"

Xia Qing greeted the four members of the Beard-Feng squad who had rushed over to stand guard at her territory, and, running, replied, "The Tangzhou Squad, ranked fourth within the Azure Dragon Team, Di Ming, Captain Tan and the others…"

Zhang San cut Xia Qing off. "Let Zheng Chen bring six—"

Xia Qing refused decisively. "No need. Third Brother, remember: no matter what happens, you absolutely must not leave the lab building, and not a single guard may be dispatched from Territory No. 7. Your safety is more important than anything!"

Zhang San grew anxious. "Can't you use your brain! These people are after you and Territory No. 3, not me!"

Xia Qing burst out of the territory, linked up with the Tangzhou Squad, and replied calmly, "I know. That's exactly why I'm going over—to wipe them out before they reach the territory."