Chapter 1573: Old Scores Between Yanlong and Old Four

"Four sub-adult wolves from the Southern Wolf Pack..." Yanlong had barely begun speaking when the former wolf king of the Southern Wolf Pack, Old Four, raised a paw and cut her off.

Old Four looked at Xia Qing. The human-wolf agent Xia Qing immediately corrected her, "Sister Yan, these four young wolves aren't all from the Southern Wolf Pack. Only the one with the scarred face belongs to the Southern Wolf Pack; the other three are members of other wolf packs and haven't joined the Southern Wolf Pack. Old Four, do you still want me to introduce which pack each young wolf belongs to?"

Yanlong, who was seriously studying how to communicate with wolves, noticed that the old wolf showed no expression or gesture and assumed it meant introductions weren't necessary, so she reached up to remove her protective mask and prepare for battle.

Unexpectedly, she had misunderstood. Xia Qing spoke calmly, "Alright, let me introduce them all. Sister Yan, this one is Xiao Hei Mei, from the Hui-1 Eastern Wolf Pack; this one is the Head-Tilting Young Wolf, from the Hui-1 Western Wolf Pack; this one is the Black-Nosed Young Wolf, from the Hui-1 Southern Wolf Pack. They're all smart, studious brain-domain evolvers, and each one can understand simple human language and write elementary school grade 1-3 level characters."

"Alright, students, I am your instructor Yanlong." Yanlong took off her protective mask and tossed it to Xia Qing on the side. "You four come at me together. Let me see what you've got."

Xia Qing wanted to warn Yanlong not to underestimate the enemy, but fearing a beating, she could only shut her mouth and stand aside.

She retreated, but Old Four stood in place, and the four young wolves behind it didn't move either.

Xia Qing understood. "Sister Yan, Old Four wants to test your ability, to see if you're qualified to be an instructor."

Hearing she could fight this old wolf, Yanlong's fighting spirit immediately surged. "Of course. Old Four, in the second Qiang Rain of the fourth year of the Calamity, you kicked over our team's iron pot in the Hui-1 Eastern Evolution Forest; in the third Qiang Rain of the seventh year of the Calamity, you led the wolf pack and bit off the leg of one of our military dogs on Hui-1 Mountain Twenty-Six. We'll settle these two scores right here today."

Xia Qing... So Old Four had not only met Yanlong before, but had kicked over her pot and bitten her dog.

The solemn-faced old wolf raised a paw and wrote two characters on the ground: Invasion.

Xia Qing translated, "Sister Yan, Old Four says it's because you invaded the wolf pack's territory that the pack took action."

Yanlong didn't see it that way. "In the seventh year of the Calamity, the team I led entered Hui-1 Mountain Twenty-Six. Was that also wolf pack territory?"

Old Four nodded solemnly.

"Old Four says it was." In the early years of the Calamity, Old Four's wolf pack was in its prime, and its territory was much larger than now. The Hui-1 Mountain Twenty-Six area was also their territory then, though it no longer is.

Xia Qing asked, "Sister Yan, wolf packs mark their territory with urine and scratch marks on trees. Didn't you find any traces left by wolves on Mountain Twenty-Six?"

"We went there to carry out a search mission after the Qiang Rain, and there were no traces left by evolved wolves in that area." Yanlong wasn't an unreasonable person. "Since you believe that was wolf pack territory, why didn't you use howling to declare sovereignty instead of going straight to battle?"

After many battles following the Calamity, both humans and fierce beasts knew each other's strength and had developed some tacit understanding. If humans entered a fierce beast's territory, the beasts would generally howl first to declare sovereignty, and only fight if the humans didn't retreat; if they met in an evolution forest outside the wolf pack's core territory, the weaker side would withdraw.

Old Four going straight to battle and injuring a human military dog right off the bat was indeed somewhat against common sense. Xia Qing looked at Old Four, and Old Four looked at the young wolves behind it.

Xia Qing understood. "Sister Yan, your military dog detected the scent of wolf pups in the pack and began tracking them. Old Four only bit off its leg and didn't kill it outright, which counts as a warning rather than starting a battle."

As a high-level olfactory evolver, Yanlong hadn't detected the scent of wolf pups, but evolved dogs' noses were even more sensitive than those of high-level evolved humans. At the time, that military dog had indeed shown an excited state of having found prey. Yanlong nodded. "Fine, let's consider that incident settled. What about the fourth year of the Calamity, when you kicked over our cooking pot? We were in the Hui-1 Eastern Evolution Forest at the time."

Old Four raised a paw and wrote another character on the snow: Poison.

Xia Qing translated, "Sister Yan, Old Four says you used poison in the Hui-1 Eastern Evolution Forest in the fourth year of the Calamity, which is why it kicked over the pot you were using to cook the poisoned stuff."

Yanlong was silent for two seconds. "We didn't use poison. That was human food; we were cooking."

That time, her squad's luck had exploded during a mission, and they'd hunted a green-light pheasant weighing over five jin. If they brought the pheasant back to the safe zone, they had to turn it in, so Yanlong decided to stew it in the evolution forest and eat it before leaving.

At the time, everyone had only brought rations and nutrient solution, so Wang Man contributed the last two expired blocks of fermented tofu she'd been saving. The water for the stew was distilled water carried by their squad.

Unexpectedly, before the water in the pot even boiled, they were attacked by the wolf pack. The tent was torn open by the wolves' claws, and the pot was kicked over! Because they had no water left, that chicken was ultimately roasted and eaten by them. It was also during that mission that Yanlong deeply committed Old Four's scent to memory.

Xia Qing explained, "Old Four, some human food does smell awful. You really were in the wrong that time."

The old wolf said nothing. Yanlong realized this wolf could communicate, so she seized this rare opportunity to ask, "Since it was a misunderstanding, let's forget about the iron pot. Old Four, please teach me much!"

After saying this, Yanlong charged straight in.

Old Four, a high-level speed and strength evolver, charged forward, its sharp front claws swiping at Yanlong's fist.

Yanlong's fist was a feint; her leg was the real weapon. Her kick was very fast, but the old wolf's reaction was faster, its hind leg kicking straight at Yanlong's calf.

"Boom!"

After the human and wolf separated, the Field Grade-2 protective suit on Yanlong's leg had been torn by Old Four. The four young wolves howled in unison. Xia Qing was worried sick, but didn't dare offer a reminder. Because yesterday, when she'd reminded the handsome giant wolf to use lighter claws, she'd later been severely beaten by Yanlong. The bruises on her face hadn't even faded today, so she didn't dare open her mouth.

Old Four turned and saw Yanlong's protective suit was torn, then charged forward again at an unbelievable speed. Yanlong's entire body pitched forward in a way that defied physics, and while supporting herself with one hand on the ground, her right leg whipped upward like a scorpion's tail, aiming straight for the exposed belly of the wolf king.

Old Four's hind leg blocked Yanlong's foot again, and human boot and wolf claw parted upon contact. Both sides simultaneously retreated several meters, pulling apart to re-establish their stances.

Seeing claw marks appear on Yanlong's boot, the young wolves continued howling, and Xia Qing couldn't help getting fired up too.

Yanlong wasn't a speed evolver, yet she had not only dodged the attack of a top-tier speed evolver but also landed a hit. This was the close-combat technique Xia Qing needed to master in this special training—prediction!

Old Four truly lived up to its reputation as a battle-experienced speed evolver; that defense was indeed airtight. Compared to it, the handsome giant wolf was really too green!