Chapter 1688: Old Wolf, Be Good — Open the Door

The video call connected, and on the phone screen appeared a large face — wearing a tracking collar around its neck, dazed, filthy, and eerily grim. To anyone else the sight might have seemed bizarre, but Xia Qing found the face especially dear.

Does Daigua, in Basin No. 67, saw Xia Qing and immediately opened its mouth, "Eee~_~_~"

That single simple sound somehow carried every twist and turn of grievance and longing.

"Does Daigua, you've had it rough lately." Xia Qing missed her temporary worker No. 002 just as much. "Did you receive the food and letter I had Little Wolf Girl, Erguazi, and Scarface Wolf deliver to you?"

"Eee."

Does Daigua raised a little black paw and skillfully tapped the phone, flipping the screen.

Through the screen, Xia Qing saw the parcel she'd had the wolf pack deliver to Does Daigua, illuminated by a few glow stones in the thin mist. The parcel's seal hadn't even been opened; beside it lay a few lengths of rope, and the glistening dewdrops on the surrounding grass seemed to be lodging a complaint against Little Wolf Girl.

But Xia Qing didn't dare scold the sub-adult wolf on the screen, the one currently batting at the glow stones. Little Wolf Girl had a temper — say two words of reproach and she'd very likely hang up the call, costing Xia Qing this chance to talk with Does Daigua.

"Right, this bag here — the food inside is a reward for Does Daigua and Ergua, no points required. You all did amazingly, you absolutely deserve a reward…"

Hearing it was a reward, Does Daigua's dazed big face lit up, and it chirped eee-ah-oo at Xia Qing, telling her about everything that had happened lately.

Xia Qing couldn't understand a word Does Daigua was saying, but that didn't stop her from grasping its grievances. She praised it warmly and at length, promised that once the experts left she'd reward it with two bags of honey, and only then asked, "Where's Blue Face?"

Does Daigua flipped the camera again and held up the phone.

This time, Xia Qing saw a pair of glowing round big eyes appear on a misty, dark, towering tree. "Blue Face, I'm glad you arrived safe. Stay in the basin and heal up. Remember — you must avoid raptors and cameras. If you need to reach me, just tell Does Daigua. I'll come see you both in a few days."

After greeting the little Blue-Face monkey, Xia Qing went on giving Does Daigua instructions. "The human experts here to survey my territory will be leaving in six more days. Once they're gone, I'll bring Does Daigua's phone and clothes back, and I can bring you honey and some nice big steamed buns."

Does Daigua, who loved steamed buns, answered enthusiastically at once, "Eee!!!"

Xia Qing smiled and continued in a gentle voice, "The bag I had Little Wolf Girl and the others deliver to you — there are two big steamed buns inside that I just stocked up on. They should still be warm…"

After chatting with Does Daigua and giving Little Wolf Girl a few more reminders, Xia Qing put down the phone and was asleep almost the moment her head touched the pillow.

She meant to sleep straight through until 5:30 the next morning!

Instead, at two in the morning, she was woken by the crisp, soothing piano melody of her ringtone. The instant her brain registered the ring, Xia Qing's eyes snapped open, her hand found her gun, every ability switched on to confirm the surroundings were safe. Only when she saw Boss still lying by her bed did she pick up the phone.

Beard Feng asked, "Sister Qing, sorry to disturb you. Fourth Brother is under the camera in Area 6 of Mountain No. 49. It hopes you can come over as soon as possible."

To keep the experts staying in Territory No. 7 and Center No. 9 — and the evolved bodyguards in the tents on the open ground south of Northern Area 1's territory — from discovering her relationship with the evolved forest beasts, Xia Qing had repeatedly ordered that no wolf pack members were to enter or leave her territory before the survey team departed. So Fourth Brother, who'd left his phone at home, had contacted Beard Feng through the camera and asked him to pass the message along.

Xia Qing didn't hesitate a second. "Alright, I'm on my way right now."

Beard Feng replied, "Chen Zheng and Dajiang are heading to Territory No. 3 now. They'll be there within three minutes."

Xia Qing quickly pulled on her protective suit, slung on her backpack with her weapons, handed things over to Boss the ram, Wolf Hound Lao Er, Chen Zheng, and Dajiang, then sprinted at full speed to Area 6 of Mountain No. 49. Panting, she asked, "Fourth Brother, what happened?"

Fourth Brother turned and signaled for Xia Qing to follow. Once her breathing had steadied a little, the old wolf picked up the pace.

After the two of them crossed three ridges and skirted the special-ops squad guarding Mountain No. 50, they entered the valley on the back side of the Fourth Peak of Mountain No. 50. Xia Qing immediately understood why Fourth Brother had come — to take her to see Pian Hu.

Although Xia Qing had moved up the timeline for relocating Pian Hu to Mountain No. 50, the placement site — the Fourth Peak of Mountain No. 50 — had not been decided in haste.

Below the peak, a dense patch of evolved forest covering nearly five mu was enclosed by a thirteen-meter-tall electrified wire fence and a smooth rock wall over sixty meters long and more than forty meters high. It looked as though Pian Hu was locked in tight.

In reality, beneath that rock wall there was a cave inhabited by wild boars, and inside it sat a movable boulder. Move that boulder aside, and Pian Hu could leave the wire-fence enclosure and return to the free yet perilous evolved forest.

Pian Hu didn't know about this passage, so when it woke and found it couldn't leave, it let out howls that shook the mountains and forests, putting every small creature on edge — a textbook display of an evolved-forest beast's fury and unease at being caged by humans.

According to the plan Xia Qing and Fourth Brother had agreed on, that night Fourth Brother would take the beast trail Xia Qing had told it about, shift the boulder in the boar cave, and meet Pian Hu to calm it down.

Seeing how thoroughly Fourth Brother knew the way, Xia Qing knew it had already met Pian Hu. As for why Fourth Brother wanted to bring her here to see Pian Hu, she didn't overthink it — she'd find out once they met.

After winding through the mountain crevices for over ten minutes, the old wolf stopped and looked back.

Xia Qing, who could already hear Pian Hu's low, restless panting, nodded, letting the old wolf know she was ready for the meeting.

Seeing that Xia Qing hadn't grasped its meaning, the old wolf raised a paw and pointed at the boulder in front of them.

Only then did Xia Qing fully understand why Fourth Brother had called her over: the former wolf king of the southern pack — evolved in advanced brain domain, speed, and strength — couldn't budge the boulder Xia Qing had placed in the beast trail to disguise the passage…

This was her oversight. Although Fourth Brother was a strength evolver, it had no construction-worker experience, so it was perfectly reasonable that it couldn't move the boulder.

"My fault — I didn't explain it clearly to Fourth Brother." Xia Qing apologized first, then pointed at the small stones beneath the large, nearly oval boulder, gesturing as she explained to Fourth Brother how this "door" opened and closed.

"Fourth Brother, see those two small stones wedged under this big boulder, one on each side? First, dig out the one on the right, and the big boulder can be pushed to the right. Then push the big boulder to the right with all your strength like this, and use your right hind paw to drag the small stone on the left over and wedge it under the big boulder…"

Once Fourth Brother understood, it signaled Xia Qing to step back — it was about to "open the door."