Chapter 1568: Yanlong vs. Handsome Giant Wolf

The helicopter, bound to the talons of two giant eagles, took off from Mountain 61 and landed on Mountain 59.

Xia Qing jumped off the helicopter and headed north. Before she even entered Mountain 60, a mangy, broken-legged wolf rushed over and cheerfully pawed at the pockets of her protective suit.

Xia Qing pulled out a piece of roasted green-bamboo-rat jerky and handed it to the wolf, asking, "Broken-leg, did you get beaten up by Handsome Giant Wolf again? Why did it hit you?"

The broken-legged wolf lay on the ground and began tearing at the jerky, too busy to answer Xia Qing's question.

"Broken-leg, where's Handsome Giant Wolf?" Xia Qing looked around, didn't spot Handsome Giant Wolf, asked the broken-legged wolf but got no answer, and could only keep asking around.

"One-ear, have you seen Handsome Giant Wolf?"

"Scar-face, have you seen Handsome Giant Wolf?"

Xia Qing asked two more non-brain-evolved mature wolves, and of course got no reply. Just as she was about to keep searching for Handsome Giant Wolf—who knew where it was hiding and playing deaf—she saw a tall, mighty evolved wolf charging toward her, bristling with killing intent.

The wolf charging at her was an evolved she-wolf with a sky-blue iris in one eye and an amber iris in the other. Xia Qing had never seen it before. Judging by the attitude of the other wolves, she figured this was a new member who had just joined the northern wolf pack.

The new wolf was challenging her—of course the Northern Wolf Pack's Number Four combatant couldn't back down! Xia Qing dropped her backpack and sniper rifle on the ground and charged right in.

"Bam!"

The beatings she'd taken during this period hadn't been for nothing. As human and wolf collided, Xia Qing quickly reached out with her right hand to grab the heterochromic wolf's lower jaw, then pressed her left arm against its neck and slammed it straight onto the ground, before opening her mouth to let out an authoritative roar.

Seeing Xia Qing win in one move, the wolf pack members on Mountain 60 threw their heads back and cheered with howls.

The heterochromic wolf roared furiously and struggled with all its might.

That struggle confirmed to Xia Qing that this was a strength-evolved wolf—the Northern Wolf Pack had gained another combatant! But this newcomer, daring to challenge the Number Four combatant with just this much strength, was seriously overestimating itself.

Level-six-and-a-half strength evolver Xia Qing stood up, swung her arm, and hurled it over five meters away, then beckoned coolly, "Not convinced? Come again!"

The heterochromic wolf rolled over and stood up, shook its body to fling off the snow and weeds clinging to its fur, lowered its stance to gather power, and was just about to charge at Xia Qing when a silver-gray figure, two sizes larger than it, charged down from the nearby mountain peak.

Seeing Handsome Giant Wolf arrive, the ferocious heterochromic wolf immediately flattened itself to the ground, ears pinned completely back against its head in the signature gesture of submission. Compared to the wolf that had just challenged Xia Qing, it was a completely different animal!

Seeing the heterochromic wolf back down, Handsome Giant Wolf swiveled its ice-blue eyes toward the broken-legged wolf lying nearby gnawing on jerky.

Xia Qing immediately stepped in front of the innocent broken-legged wolf and greeted Handsome Giant Wolf, "Brother Giant Wolf, didn't you hear me calling you just now?"

The fierce-faced Handsome Giant Wolf showed no difference from the other non-brain-evolved wolves, as if it didn't recognize Xia Qing at all and couldn't understand a word she was saying.

Considering that a few days ago it had helped her dig out supplies worth 670,000 points from an underground cave, Xia Qing didn't hold it against him and walked up to it in high spirits.

"Brother Giant Wolf! I found a way to make you stronger, defeat the Western Wolf King, kick away the Broken-Waist Wolf, and become the Wolf King!"

At 6:30 a. m. on January 7, Year 12 of the Calamity, the fog beneath the second peak of Mountain 49 had not yet lifted, and Xia Qing had once again been beaten flat onto the snow.

Although every bone in her body ached, although her short hair was stuck to her cheeks with sweat, although one eyeball was bloodshot, she still gritted her teeth and got up, taking a stance to keep fighting.

Seeing that Xia Qing could still get up, Yanlong, standing tall in the icy snow, showed a satisfied look in her eyes, then charged forward again, preparing to attack her trembling leg.

Before Yanlong could reach Xia Qing, the evolved wolf that had been hiding in the evolved forest nearby—and whose presence was obvious—moved.

The olfaction evolver Yanlong stopped and watched as this silver-gray giant wolf stood in front of Xia Qing, fixing her with a pair of ice-blue eyes brimming with killing intent.

The moment Handsome Giant Wolf appeared, Xia Qing couldn't hold on anymore; her legs went weak and she crashed back to the ground, panting heavily with one eye closed.

Hearing Xia Qing panting like that, the killing intent in Handsome Giant Wolf's ice-blue eyes intensified. Its four paws pressed hard, muscles bulging, and its big tail gave a slight flick, signaling Xia Qing to step back.

Xia Qing took two deep breaths, dragged herself up and leaned against Handsome Giant Wolf, explaining to Yanlong, "Sister Yan, Handsome Giant Wolf is here to learn fighting skills from you too. Brother Giant Wolf, say hello to Sister Yan."

Handsome Giant Wolf, staring at Yanlong, shook its body, signaling Xia Qing not to lean on it—it was affecting its fighting.

Hearing that this wolf was here for a fight, Yanlong's eyes lit up, which scared Xia Qing into quickly reminding her, "Go easy on it, don't hurt it, or both the Northern Wolf Pack and the Western Wolf Pack will be furious."

This one here is the Northern Wolf Pack's Number Three combatant, and the Western Wolf King's own younger brother.

Handsome Giant Wolf turned sideways and let out an angry roar at Xia Qing.

Yanlong worked her ankles and wrists, then rolled her neck left and right, bristling with killing intent. "If you're afraid of getting hurt, don't come at me!"

"Crack, crack…"

Handsome Giant Wolf's paws crushed the gravel on the ground as it charged at Yanlong. Xia Qing, who had been leaning against it, couldn't keep her footing and tumbled awkwardly onto the snow.

Handsome Giant Wolf's massive body was like a silver lightning bolt tearing through the morning fog, lunging straight at Yanlong. Its boulder-smashing giant claws came crashing down with a vicious wind.

Yanlong pushed off with her feet, sidestepping, twisting her waist, and leaning back in one fluid motion. Handsome Giant Wolf's claws grazed her protective suit and smashed the small tree behind her—thick as a human waist—clean in two.

The instant Handsome Giant Wolf's claws missed, Yanlong moved!

Using the momentum of her backward lean, she planted one palm on the ground and shot both legs upward like cannon shells from a barrel, kicking viciously into the relatively soft side of Handsome Giant Wolf's lower abdomen.

"Bam!"

"Ah!"

The dull thud of Handsome Giant Wolf's abdomen being struck rang out at the same moment as Xia Qing's cry of alarm.

After landing, Handsome Giant Wolf locked both eyes on Yanlong. It no longer lunged; instead it opened its mouth and kept biting with its sharp fangs while its front paws swung like heavy sledgehammers, sealing off all of Yanlong's evasion space.

For a moment, splintered wood and snow flew together through the air.

Xia Qing, sitting against a rock and quickly regulating her breathing, widened her eyes. She hadn't expected Handsome Giant Wolf to be this strong—she hadn't even been able to push Yanlong to this point!

Under Handsome Giant Wolf's claw strikes and lunging bites, Yanlong—the battle-hardened captain of the Flood Dragon Special Forces who had walked the line between life and death countless times—dodged lethal attack after lethal attack while turning her fists, elbows, knees, and legs into the most precise striking weapons, landing them again and again on Handsome Giant Wolf's joints, bridge of the nose, eye sockets, and other vulnerable spots.

Although none of her strikes caused decisive damage, the pain kept accumulating, and frustration from the pain and repeated missed attacks began to show in Handsome Giant Wolf. When it lunged again, Yanlong caught the opening, grabbed its front paw, and used the momentum to hurl it away.

Xia Qing, who had just caught her breath, was afraid Handsome Giant Wolf would hurt itself on landing, so she rushed over to catch its massive body. Human and wolf crashed together onto the snow, sending up a spray of snow dust and gravel.

Just as Yanlong was about to push off and charge in to deliver Handsome Giant Wolf a finishing blow, her keen sense of smell once again picked up the scent of evolved wolves approaching fast—and more than one!

Yanlong decisively flipped backward to retreat, landed, and looked up to see evolved wolves appearing one after another in front of, on both sides of, and behind Xia Qing and Handsome Giant Wolf.

Then, a powerful weasel whose size and combat ability were a complete mismatch climbed onto Xia Qing's head and let out a clacking, furious snarl at her.