Chapter 335: Riding a Wolf

If Broken-Waist Wolf could show such an anxious expression, it had to be that an important member of the pack was injured—badly enough that they couldn't be carried to human territory for treatment.

If she hadn't spent months caring for injured wolves and learned plenty of wound treatment from Chang Li, Xia Qing wouldn't have had the confidence to follow Broken-Waist Wolf. "Alright, I'll grab the medical kit. Let's head out now."

Running back, Xia Qing called Beard Feng at the same time. "Captain Hu, I'm about to leave the territory. Only Ram Boss is left to hold down the fort here. Please send someone over to help guard the place. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

Mountain No. 60, where the wolf pack fought the Xiong Qun, was a straight-line distance of sixty li away. A peak-condition evolved wolf could get there in half an hour. But Xia Qing wasn't a speed evolver, it was nighttime, it had just rained for three days, and the destination was deep in the evolved forest. The route meant crossing mountains, rivers, and swamps—terrain that was extremely complicated. With all these difficulties stacked together, a round trip would take at least a full day.

Xia Qing wasn't afraid of hardship—only that she'd arrive too late, and Her Majesty or the sick wolf wouldn't be able to wait.

Hearing that Xia Qing was leaving the territory now, Beard Feng felt something was off. "It's really dangerous out there right now. How about I bring a few men and go with you?"

"Don't worry, Captain Hu. This trip isn't dangerous for me." The wolf pack had invited her to Mountain No. 60 because they trusted the lead wolf and Broken-Waist Wolf trusted her. Anyone else who went would probably not make it out alive.

Back home, Xia Qing first poured a basin of water for the two wolves so they could rest their paws, then went upstairs to quickly pack what she needed. She even brought a whole bucket of spring water, and packed plenty of guns and ammo.

After coming downstairs fully armed, Xia Qing instructed her companion, "Boss, I'm heading out with Broken-Waist. Hu and his team are guarding outside, so I'm leaving the home to you. After dawn, don't forget to feed the chickens, the fish, and the rabbits. The snakes in the box don't need attention—I'll feed them when I get back."

Ram Boss was infected by Broken-Waist Wolf's emotions too. He nudged Xia Qing, signaling her to hurry. Xia Qing patted Ram Boss's neck, telling him not to panic. The more critical the moment, the less they could afford to be flustered. In the Year of Natural Disaster, any moment of panic or mistake could be fatal.

"Broken-Waist, Big Guy, let's go."

Broken-Waist Wolf didn't move, but pushed Xia Qing toward the giant wolf and let out a low growl.

What's that supposed to mean? Xia Qing was a little confused.

Broken-Waist Wolf pushed her again urgently, shoving Xia Qing right next to the giant wolf. "Wuu."

The giant wolf glanced at Xia Qing, its four legs sinking slightly.

Xia Qing thought Broken-Waist Wolf wanted her to hand the bundle over for the giant wolf to carry. She shook her head. "No need. I'm a strength evolver—this pack's weight is nothing to me. Let's go."

"Wuu." Broken-Waist Wolf grew anxious and shoved her hard, signaling Xia Qing to climb on right away.

Xia Qing...

Broken-Waist Wolf meant for her to... ride a wolf? Can wolves be ridden? Could it carry her? It still had two wounds on its body—wouldn't they tear open and bleed?

"Moo!"

Seeing Xia Qing stand there dumbfounded, Ram Boss got angry and head-butted her onto the giant wolf's back.

The giant wolf, who had been waiting for this moment, let out a deep roar, stood up, and ran—nearly throwing the human off its back.

Xia Qing instinctively hugged the giant wolf's neck. Because she was nervous, she didn't gauge her strength well, and nearly choked the giant wolf until its eyes rolled back. It shook its neck hard.

"Sorry." Xia Qing quickly loosened her grip, hugged the sick wolf's neck, and lay flat against the giant wolf's back.

"Whoosh—"

With the wind whistling, the giant wolf carried Xia Qing easily across the river channel into the buffer forest, galloping after Broken-Waist Wolf.

Xia Qing, looking rather disheveled on the wolf's back, was in a daze.

At twenty-five years old, she had never even ridden a horse—yet in the tenth year of the disaster, she was riding a wolf. She had never even dreamed of such a thing.

Entering the northern isolation belt from Zone 3 of Mountain No. 49, the visual evolver Peng Jian was about to enter Territory No. 3 when he saw two wolves flash past. He could hardly believe his eyes. "Boss! Just, just, just now..."

"What just ran past were wolves." The olfactory evolver Chen Zheng gave his assessment. "It's wolf scent, and the smell of blood. That wolf should be injured."

"No, no..." Peng Jian turned to look at Beard Feng, who was also a visual evolver. "Boss, on the wolf's back..."

Visual evolver Beard Feng couldn't believe his eyes either, but he was the team leader—he couldn't panic when things happened, and when it came to Xia Qing, he had to remember the battalion commander's gag order. "What just passed were two wolves, nothing else. Peng Jian, come with me to patrol the territory. Chen Zheng, go to the cabin and get the medicine and tools, and spray odor neutralizer to get rid of the evolved wolf's scent."

As a strength evolver, Xia Qing experienced for the first time the thrill and agony of being a speed evolver.

The speed was truly fast, and the dizziness was truly real.

She wasn't dizzy from the wolf, but from the visual vertigo caused by the giant wolf's speed, and the alien冲击 of grass and trees whipping past her eyes.

At this moment, Xia Qing confirmed with absolute clarity: high-level speed evolvers must have better vision than ordinary people—otherwise, during rapid movement, they'd easily crash into obstacles.

Or perhaps it should be put this way: speed evolvers whose vision hadn't evolved either couldn't achieve rapid movement, or crashed to death while moving fast. Any outstanding speed evolver who survived must have decent vision.

Speed evolvers could see their surroundings clearly while moving at high speed—of course Xia Qing, a level-nine visual evolver, could too!

She raised her head and, taking advantage of this rare opportunity, trained her ability to capture objects visually while moving at high speed.

Once she could see clearly, Xia Qing broke out in cold sweat after cold sweat.

Damn! That ditch the giant wolf just leaped over was over three meters wide and bottomless!

WTF! That group that was baring its fangs and claws at her just now—were they snakes or aggressive vines?

What the hell were those glowing things on the big tree next to her? Some kind of animal's eyes? Why were they so terrifying?

But the shock of the journey was far less than what Xia Qing saw when the giant wolf finally stopped running.

Before her, a large stretch of mountain forest was shattered—stones broken, trees snapped. Over twenty tattered giant pythons lay in a tangled heap on the muddy ground. Four evolved brown bears as big as small hills and at least eight evolved wolves lay on the ground, their limbs already mangled or deformed—clearly dead beyond any doubt.

On the hillside and the mountaintop, dozens of pairs of green-glowing wolf eyes stared at the human on the giant wolf's back.

Just how many subordinates did Her Majesty have!

If the sick wolf in its protective suit hadn't come limping out of a cave not far away, Xia Qing would have already been unable to resist raising her submachine gun and opening fire.

"Awoo—wuu—"

A giant wolf standing on the mountaintop raised its head and let out an incomparably majestic howl. Most of the green wolf eyes that had been staring at Xia Qing looked away.

Seeing this unfamiliar giant wolf that could command most of the pack, Xia Qing grew even more nervous.

Where was the pack's leader, the Queen? Who was that big dummy on the mountaintop? It couldn't be that in just a few hours, the pack had a new lead wolf!

"Awoo—wuu—"

Broken-Waist Wolf let out a majestic howl, and the remaining wolves that had been staring at Xia Qing also bowed their heads. The green glow vanished.

The giant wolf carrying Xia Qing shook its body to let her down. Xia Qing's feet sank into the mud as she anxiously searched for the Queen and the broken-legged wolf.