Chapter 286: A Man Leans on a Dog's Might

The Jiang Xiong Squad had grown used to throwing their weight around with their dogs, and they didn't take the Hazard Inspection Team seriously at all, nor did they care whether the territory was safe. They only wanted to use the barking to lure the Azure Dragon Squad over, then find a chance to go into the mountains to look for wolves.

After realizing the inspection team really meant to lay a hand on his precious evolved dog, he had no choice but to give the order under duress, but he couldn't swallow this insult.

Tan Junjie didn't care what his expression looked like; only after the situation was under control did he ask Jiang Xiazi about the danger he'd raised earlier, "Where is the wolf scent?"

Hearing Tan Junjie's question, Xia Qing wasn't worried at all that Jiang Xiazi had picked up the scent inside Territory Three.

Because after the wolf pack left, Xia Qing had Chang Li carefully clean out the wolf scent within the territory, using the odor-removing agent she'd traded with Zhang San. It had been a day since the scent was removed, and the wolf smell in the territory was extremely faint.

Even if the scent-hound evolution dog picked up a trace of scent, Xia Qing could say it had drifted over from Mountain Forty-Nine. If they didn't believe her and insisted on letting the evolved dog into Territory Three to check?

Heh.

She was the lord of Territory Three; as long as she hadn't broken any rules, anyone entering Territory Three without her permission could be regarded as a threat by Xia Qing and lawfully eliminated.

By the stream, the burly Jiang Xiazi couldn't wait to point his thick finger toward the valley from which the stream flowed. "In this valley over here, the scent is very strong!"

Isn't that just stating the obvious? Su Ming of the Hazard Inspection Team rolled his eyes.

Tan Junjie answered seriously, "Mountain Forty-Nine, north of the buffer zone, belongs to the Azure Dragon Squad. The Azure Dragon Squad has already reported upward that there are domesticated wolf beasts within their training grounds."

Jiang Xiazi spoke with full confidence, "The Azure Dragon Squad only reported one domesticated evolved wolf to the Squad Alliance, but my evolved dog has picked up the scent of multiple wolves. The Azure Dragon Squad's failure to report fully has brought danger to neighboring territories. As the captain of the Hazard Inspection Team for Territories One through Ten, shouldn't you investigate and remove the danger?"

Tan Junjie nodded, pressed the walkie-talkie button to call Territory One. "Territory One, come in please."

"Territory One here, Teacher Tan, please go ahead." Tang Zhou's voice came through, very respectful.

"The scent-hound evolution dog of Squad Jiang Xiong has picked up the scent of multiple wolves on Mountain Forty-Nine. To ensure territorial safety, please accurately report the number of domesticated wolf beasts and other fierce beasts on Mountain Forty-Nine."

Tang Zhou reported immediately, "There is only one domesticated wolf beast on Mountain Forty-Nine, and it was frightened yesterday morning and ran into the Evolution Forest and hasn't been retrieved. There are no other fierce beasts on the mountain now."

Through Tan Junjie's walkie-talkie, Jiang Xiong politely asked, "Brother Tang, it's me, Yan Yuanjiang. My scent-hound evolution dog has picked up the scent of multiple evolved wolves on Mountain Forty-Nine. Could some wolves have slipped in without you noticing?"

Although Jiang Xiazi was the captain of the fifth-ranked squad, when facing Tang Zhou, the Azure Dragon Squad's fourth-ranked fighter, he didn't dare be impolite. Because in terms of fighting power, Tang Zhou was above him.

Conversations on the lord channel could be heard by many people. Tang Zhou saved some face for Jiang Xiazi, who had come all this way to pick up a bargain. "Thank you, Captain Jiang, for the reminder. To give our domesticated wolf a sense of belonging, we scattered quite a bit of evolved wolf dung we'd picked up across the training grounds and the northern mountain areas, which is why there's a wolf scent."

"Oh, oh, alright." Jiang Xiazi responded with his mouth, but his eyes were blazing with fury; he didn't believe a word of Tang Zhou's.

Not only Jiang Xiazi didn't believe it—most people didn't. Because wolves are territorial animals; placing picked-up dung inside a domesticated wolf beast's territory would give the domesticated wolf beast not a sense of belonging, but a sense of offense.

The Azure Dragon Squad wouldn't make such an obvious, commonsense mistake. Xia Qing figured Tang Zhou was setting a trap for the Jiang Xiong Squad. Whatever trap the Azure Dragon Squad had laid, by drawing the Jiang Xiong Squad's attention to Mountain Forty-Nine, the wolf pack would be even safer.

And judging by Jiang Xiazi's expression, he clearly was also putting the account of wolf dung scattered all over Mountains Fifty and Fifty-Two in the north on the Azure Dragon Squad's head. Xia Qing couldn't tell whether Tang Zhou's claim of "scattering wolf dung everywhere" was true or false; that would need to be confirmed later.

After finishing the call with Tang Zhou, Squad Jiang Xiong no longer had any reason to stay at the valley mouth and could only follow Squad Tan Junjie forward, entering the northern buffer zone of Territory Three. Xia Qing climbed down from the tree, stopped inside the green-light orchard on Gao Po, and held her breath, lying low without moving.

"Woof, woof! Woof woof!"

After climbing up the northern buffer zone of Gao Po, the evolved dog suddenly let out a full-throated howl. This howl was different from the earlier one—it clearly carried excitement, the sound an evolved dog makes when it spots prey. Squad Jiang Xiong grew excited too and peered into Xia Qing's territory.

Su Ming of the inspection team drew his gun and warned Squad Jiang Xiong, "Tell your domesticated beast to shut up."

Before Squad Jiang Xiong could respond, Zhang San's voice came over the lord channel. "Is Captain Tan still with the dogs? Tell them to shut up. If they startle my dairy cows again, I'll be eating dog-meat hotpot tonight."

Tan Junjie pressed the button but hadn't spoken yet when the cursing of Squad Jiang Xiong's members came through. "What kind of person is this, damn it! If anyone touches a single hair on my dog, I'll rip off one of his damn legs!"

Everyone:...

Zhang San replied flatly, "I'm Zhang San of Territory Seven. Want to rip off my leg? Come on over."

Territory Seven blacklist, +1.

Everyone: Heh.

Xia Qing: I just love my idol's petty tricks to death!

The moment he heard it was Territory Seven, Jiang Xiazi kicked the squad member behind him to the ground, then yelled at the evolved dog to shut up, before humbly begging Tan Junjie, "Captain Tan, could I borrow your walkie-talkie so I can apologize to Lord Zhang?"

Tan Junjie handed over the walkie-talkie. Jiang Xiazi cleared his throat, then pressed the button, and on the north side of Territory Three he bowed and scraped, apologizing. "Third Brother, it's me, little Yan from Squad Jiang Xiong. It's because I failed to discipline them that the dogs in our squad startled your dairy cows. I'll kill the dogs right now, chop them into chunks, slice them up, and send them over to you."

The lord channel fell silent. Through the gaps in the trees, Xia Qing saw Jiang Xiazi's expression twist.

Tan Junjie took back the walkie-talkie. "Lord Zhang has a bad temper. Even if you kill the dogs now and send them to the Territory Seven signpost, no one will come out."

Hearing Tan Junjie's words, Jiang Xiazi pleaded repeatedly, "Captain Tan, please put in a few good words for me with Lord Zhang. It's us who didn't know the rules..."

After Squad Jiang Xiong left with the inspection team, Xia Qing finally stood up.

Strength determines status; Zhang San is arrogant because he has the strength. Once her own strength was formidable enough, she could be this arrogant too!

Xia Qing had never teamed up with Squad Jiang Xiong before; she'd only heard their evolved dogs were formidable. Now she was truly seeing for herself just how formidable these evolved dogs were.

Dogs are animals that hunt by hearing and smell. Xia Qing had sprayed herself with the odor-removing agent she'd traded with Zhang San, and she was crouching in a place the evolved dog definitely couldn't see, not moving. So how had they detected her?