Chapter 313: Wolf Blood

Xia Qing explained, "This wolf is just recuperating in my territory. Once it's healed it might return to the Evolution Forest, so let's not get the certificate for now."

Evolved beasts—especially large predators that could threaten human safety—must have a Tamed Beast Identity Certificate issued and a tamed beast number branded on a visible part of their body before being brought into a Safe Zone.

Tamed beasts with an issued certificate, registered on the rolls, are the personal property of their tamer. Others may not seize or hunt them, or they will be held legally liable.

Conversely, if a tamed beast harms a person or damages public facilities, the tamer will bear the corresponding legal responsibility.

So, before confirming that the sick wolf will stay in the territory for good, Xia Qing doesn't want to get it a tamed beast certificate. Otherwise, one day its companions let out a howl, and it follows them away. If its wolf pack clashes with some squad, those people will track down Xia Qing by the number and make her bear legal responsibility.

It's possible Xia Qing would have to stake her whole territory, so she has to be cautious.

Sheep Leader?

It can't get one.

Because getting a tamed beast identity certificate requires showing the relevant department that the animal obeys its owner. In Sheep Leader's eyes, Xia Qing is its underling, so it simply couldn't pass the test.

Just as Xia Qing was about to return to her territory, she heard someone reporting to Xie Yu over the phone:

"Qian Lin's squad and the two squads lying in ambush have all been caught. We searched them and found several kinds of banned drugs used to lure wild beasts. Their plan for tonight was for Qian Lin to agitate the wolf pack into a frenzy and attack the territory, then the two hidden squads would take advantage of the chaos to sneak into Territory One and blow up the building Brother Luo lives in."

Xie Yu gave a calm order, "Figure out what the drug powder is used for. Clean up the people."

"Yes."

Seeing Xie Yu hang up, Xia Qing greeted him and returned to her own territory.

In the first nine years of the catastrophe, beast tides and natural disasters struck frequently, and squads from the same base had to divide the work and cooperate to hold the Safe Zone. So although there were frictions and fights between squads, neither side would truly go for the kill and cripple the other's main fighting force.

But in the tenth year of the catastrophe, humanity entered a stage of recovery and expanded production. Although the fight against the catastrophe wasn't completely won yet, the impatient had already begun scrambling for the fruits of victory.

To grab a bigger slice of the cake already on the table, more chairs had to be pulled away. Squads began fighting and slaughtering each other. Hui Three Base's number-one Sufeng Squad drew its first blade against the number-two Qinglong Squad.

Starting from that first strike, as far as Xia Qing knew, the two sides' open and covert struggles over the past year had numbered no fewer than ten, with casualties on both sides. Once Yang Jin returns with the herbs and completely purges the Qiang-synthesized poison from Luo Pei's body, Qinglong will strike even harder.

Xia Qing can't wait for Qinglong to be harsher—to cut away Tang Zhengsu's claws and fangs one by one, so she can have her revenge.

"Sister Qing."

Xia Qing had only walked a few steps before Xie Yu called out to her again.

Xie Yu shook his phone, covered in text, walked over to Xia Qing, and said with a smile in his voice, "Xu Pin gave Tang Huai a mission—to sabotage your deal with Hu Zifeng and pull you over to Sufeng's side."

So that's why Tang Huai took the initiative to trade her an oil press? That over-the-top acting…

Xia Qing nodded, indicating she understood.

After Xia Qing returned to her territory, Jing Kuan and the others didn't immediately withdraw. Instead, following Xie Yu's orders, they guarded Territory Three through the night.

Before Xia Qing had even reached the village, she received a message from Xie Yu: Territory One has now formed a cooperative relationship with Tang Zhengpo. Sister Qing can treat Tang Huai a little better, so that Tang Zhengsu and Xu Pin think Tang Huai still has value to use, and let him stay on in Territory Two.

Letting Tang Huai stay on in Territory Two benefits Tang Zhengpo, Territory One, and Xia Qing herself. Because if Sufeng sends someone else, they might not be as "unfocused on their duties" as Tang Huai.

After replying to Xie Yu, Xia Qing called out to Sheep Leader and the sick wolf, who were lying on the haystack by the chicken coop, "Someone's standing guard over our territory tonight. You two, go sleep inside?"

Sheep Leader immediately stood up and followed Xia Qing back, but the sick wolf stayed lying on the haystack.

Xia Qing went over and rubbed the furry head of her patient. "Are you planning to sleep out here tonight?"

The sick wolf fixed its faintly glowing eyes on Xia Qing, and pressed its head down onto the haystack.

Xia Qing understood. "If you want to sleep here, then sleep here. Keep the protective suit on or take it off?"

The sick wolf rolled halfway on the hay, belly up, and stretched both front paws toward Xia Qing. Xia Qing took the shoes off its front paws, and the sick wolf stretched out its hind paws for Xia Qing to remove those too.

After the shoes were off, it didn't ask Xia Qing to take off its protective suit, so Xia Qing didn't bother either, and went home with Sheep Leader to sleep.

The next morning, Xia Qing was woken by a red squirrel.

Xia Qing opened her eyes and sat up, peering through the gap in the curtains she'd deliberately left, watching the red squirrel drink water.

Red squirrels, like cats, dogs, and wolves, lap water up with their tongues. After drinking, it didn't hurry off, but squatted on Xia Qing's windowsill and wrestled with the two soybeans she'd placed there.

The soybeans Xia Qing had harvested were extremely hard; the red squirrel couldn't crack them with its teeth, so it simply stretched out its neck and swallowed them whole, then began dabbing at the spring water to wash its little face and big tail.

The red squirrel was tiny, so everything it did looked cute. Xia Qing watched, unable to resist wanting to grab the little fellow and give it a good squish.

After watching her fill, Xia Qing finally climbed out of bed and began the day's busy work.

The disappearance of Qian Lin's squad? Nothing to do with her. She was an honest, farming Territory Lord; she didn't know anything about what happened outside.

Early in the morning, Tang Huai was full of energy, pressing Hu Zifeng about what last night's wolf howls had been about.

Hu Zifeng was beaming. "What else could wolf howls be? Of course they were howled out by a wolf."

"Did you guys find the tamed wolf that ran away?"

Hu Zifeng retorted, "Isn't that a stupid question? If we hadn't found it, would you have heard such clear wolf howls last night?"

Tang Huai curled his lip. Yeah, right, as if. You guys don't have a single wolf—it's definitely Xia Qing's wolf coming back!

"Xia Qing, you there?" Tang Huai stopped bothering with Hu Zifeng and began calling out to Xia Qing with great enthusiasm. "I heard your chickens starting to crow again. How many roosters do you have? Up for a trade?"

Xia Qing pretended not to hear, turned off the walkie-talkie directly, and went out to patrol her territory.

When Chen Zheng saw Xia Qing come out, he told her the intel they'd gotten last night. "At first they planned to use the flammability of the Qiang-evolved cotton to start a fire inside Territory Three, then when Territory One sent people to help, he'd find a chance to get into Territory One. After Sister Qing cleaned up that area, they changed their plan and went with luring wolves to attack the territory."

Xia Qing asked, "For such an important mission, why did Sufeng send Qian Lin to lead it?"

"Because Qian Lin is familiar with Jiang Xiong's squad's drug usage. By the way, the wolf howls from the loudspeaker were Qian Lin's idea—he recorded a wolf that Jiang Xiong's squad had captured."

Xia Qing pressed, "Is that wolf still alive?"

Chen Zheng was furious. "It's already dead. The drug Qian Lin used last night to lure wolves into attacking the territory was made from wolf blood. If Sister Qing hadn't had Wolf Lao Er talk the pack into retreating, once they advanced a little further they'd have smelled the wolf blood and surely gotten furious and taken revenge on humans."