Chapter 336: It Still Has to Go Fight

Xia Qing trudged through the mud, having just followed the frantic Broken-Waist Wolf into the cave entrance, when she heard a "splash" behind her.

The giant wolf that had carried Xia Qing on a sixty-li sprint could hold on no longer; it collapsed in the mud, tongue lolling, panting hard. To get Xia Qing here as fast as possible, it had given everything it had.

The giant wolf's wounds were still bleeding; lying in the mud like this, the injuries would soon be infected by evolved bacteria and make it sick. But the Head Wolf was still waiting inside the cave, so Xia Qing couldn't sacrifice one for the other. Walking as she spoke, she negotiated with the Broken-Waist Wolf: "Broken-Waist, quickly let the big giant wolf that carried me here into the cave. Once I've finished with the Queen, my lord, I'll clean its wounds right away."

The Broken-Waist Wolf let out an "ow-woo," and the giant wolf sprawled in the mud struggled to its feet. Once inside the cave, it crashed to the ground again with a thud.

Xia Qing had no time to treat its wounds, because the scene inside the cave had frozen her in place.

It wasn't just the Head Wolf that was injured—it was a whole row of them. Six wolves.

Some of these wolves had twisted limbs, some had flesh torn open with innards showing, and some were unconscious and motionless. Xia Qing couldn't even guarantee she could save them all.

The Broken-Leg Wolf guarding the Head Wolf saw Xia Qing arrive and immediately started calling out, "ow-woo, ow-woo." The sound was as aggrieved as could be, and as anxious as could be.

The wolves still conscious but unable to move opened their eyes and stared warily at the human before them, slowly baring their fangs. The wolves that could still move lifted their heads, and roars echoed through the valley.

The wolves outside the cave heard the calls and began to stir and howl, but they were quickly suppressed by the howl of the giant wolf on the mountaintop.

The Queen, my lord, guarded by the Broken-Leg Wolf and the Sick Wolf, lay motionless on the ground—her four legs were a bloody mess!

Xia Qing immediately set down her backpack, took off her protective gloves, pulled out her headlamp and medical kit, washed and disinfected her hands, put on surgical gloves, and ran to the Head Wolf's side. "Queen, my lord!"

The Head Wolf opened her eyes to look at Xia Qing; even her tycoon-gold eyes had grown dim.

"Woo." The Broken-Waist Wolf anxiously nuzzled the Head Wolf's neck and pawed the ground.

Only then did Xia Qing notice, on a rock beside them, a fire-red slender snake about an arm's length long, with a peanut-sized bump on its head.

A Qi-Snake!

The Queen, my lord, had been poisoned by the Qi-Snake!

No wonder the Broken-Waist Wolf had rushed to fetch her instead of bringing the Head Wolf over. After being struck by a potent snake venom, the wound had to be bled immediately to prevent the toxin from spreading and damaging vital organs.

The Broken-Leg Wolf, the Sick Wolf, and the Black Wolf all had blood on their paws, which meant the Head Wolf's mangled limbs had been clawed by them. The grass leaves on the limbs and the herbs in the Head Wolf's mouth had also been applied and stuffed in by them.

But such herbs couldn't cure the Qi-Snake's venom. Xia Qing immediately opened her medical kit, took out the antivenom serum kept cold with an ice pack, and injected the Head Wolf.

Venomous snakes often appeared within the territory, so after getting a refrigerator, Xia Qing always kept Territory Seven's antivenom serum on hand. This serum was also Territory Seven's specialty medicine; it could neutralize four common types of snake venom as well as the venom of ordinary evolved snakes and poisonous insects.

But even the special serum made by Territory Seven's big shot couldn't neutralize the Qi-Snake's venom.

After injecting the serum, Xia Qing carried the Head Wolf onto a clean rock, and used the pollution-free spring water she'd brought to wash the wounds on her four limbs, then disinfected, applied medicine, and bandaged them.

The Head Wolf's four limbs had all been clawed to this state—what did that mean? It meant that her limbs, which weren't protected by the protective suit, had been bitten many times.

The Qi-Snake was an intermediate-speed evolved venomous snake. A wolf with top-tier speed and an evolved brain domain could completely dodge the Qi-Snake's attacks. The Head Wolf had been bitten—what did that mean?

It meant that in last night's battle of vengeance, the Head Wolf had taken on a very important task: clearing out the speed-evolved venomous snakes.

This was probably why she had followed the Broken-Waist Wolf into Territory Three yesterday to exchange for the protective suit. Without wearing the protective suit, the Head Wolf would have been bitten in far more places than just her limbs.

Without the assistance of Qi-Snakes and other venomous snakes, a few evolved giant pythons were no match for the evolved wolf pack at all.

Xia Qing didn't know which side the bears had been on in this battle, or whether it had been a three-way free-for-all between bears, snakes, and wolves. But the ferocity of the fighting, Xia Qing saw with perfect clarity.

The struggles between wild animals inside the Evolution Forest were far more brutal than Xia Qing had imagined. To survive on Blue Star after the evolution, every species was giving its all. This mountain must be extremely important to the wolf pack.

The Head Wolf had completed her mission, and the wolf pack had won.

The Head Wolf lay here now, having lost her fighting ability. She probably hadn't expected to be bitten, or bitten so badly—after all, the Qi-Snake was an extremely rare species.

The wolves outside stood around without moving or tearing at prey; they must be waiting. What they were waiting for, Xia Qing couldn't fully understand, but it was definitely related to the Head Wolf.

If she hadn't returned the protective suit to the Head Wolf, would the Head Wolf have avoided taking on such a dangerous mission and suffering such severe injuries?

Xia Qing took a deep breath and told the anxious Broken-Waist Wolf beside her: "The Queen, my lord's snake venom has been partially neutralized; she's out of life-threatening danger for now. But to fully detoxify her will take a long time—she has to come back to the territory with me for treatment."

Although Xia Qing didn't have the medicine to cure the Qi-Snake's venom, she knew who to trade with.

Xia Qing had the now-calmed Broken-Waist Wolf intimidate the injured wolves into submission, then quickly force-fed them oral anesthetic. While waiting for the anesthetic to take effect, Xia Qing swiftly treated the giant wolf's wounds.

Then, Xia Qing turned to the most seriously injured wolf. It had a gash in its abdomen, with a length of intestine exposed.

Xia Qing had never seen how to perform this kind of surgery on a wolf, but she had seen it done on humans. She'd watched it live in the Safe Zone, and had also seen detailed explanations in the teaching videos Chang Li had given her.

A wound like this had to be cleaned and disinfected first, then the intestine pushed back in, then the wound sutured and medicine applied. Finally, she'd feed it anti-inflammatory medicine and the premium nutrient solution she'd brought.

After suturing this wolf's wound, Xia Qing went to treat the other four wolves. Shallow wounds were simply cleaned, disinfected, treated with the special hemostatic medicine, and bandaged; deep wounds needed suturing.

Evolved wolves had extremely strong recovery abilities; such flesh wounds would heal quickly. Even the one whose intestine had been exposed and pushed back in—as long as it didn't get infected by a super-pathogen—would soon be bouncing around again.

The troublesome one was the wolf with both hind legs broken. Xia Qing used the splints she'd brought to immobilize this wolf's two hind legs, and told the Broken-Waist Wolf: "This wolf also has to be brought back for treatment. Otherwise, even if it survives, it won't be able to run or catch prey."

"Roar—"

The evolved bear's roar came through; this time the sound was very close, deafening.

"Ow—woo—" The howl of the giant wolf on the mountaintop, this time, struck terror into Xia Qing's heart.

The Broken-Waist Wolf nuzzled Xia Qing's arm with its body, then charged out with the Broken-Leg Wolf. The limping Sick Wolf beside Xia Qing and the giant wolf resting on the ground also rose to their feet and followed.

Was a new round of fighting about to begin?

Every wolf that could stand had left. These six injured wolves in the cave—were they all left for her to guard?

Of these six wolves, five had been anesthetized and couldn't move. The only one not anesthetized, the Head Wolf, had been bitten on all four limbs and poisoned by the Qi-Snake, temporarily losing her fighting ability.

If the wolves and bears started fighting, could venomous snakes, giant pythons, or evolved bears break through the wolf pack's defenses and rush into the cave?

Xia Qing immediately opened her backpack, took out the snake- and insect-repellent, and quickly sprayed it around the six injured wolves.

Just then, the Head Wolf actually stood up and walked toward the cave entrance on her four bandaged legs.

It still had to go fight.