Chapter 368: The Third Medicinal Bath

Deng Yuhui's construction team worked fast—within two days they had erected the wire-mesh wall along the south side of Territory Three. At the same time, the thorn wall on the south side of Territory Four, which connected to Xia Qing's wire-mesh wall, was mostly erected too, effectively separating Territory Three from Territory Two.

Xia Qing gave the wire-mesh wall a push, confirmed that one or two Tier-3 strength evolvers, or one or two evolved wild boars, could not inflict real damage on it, and felt much more at ease. She discussed with Beard Feng, "Captain Hu, wolves will pass through the valley into Territory Three tonight. Please let everyone know."

Beard Feng was surprised. "The injured wolves aren't staying in the wolf den tonight?"

After Xia Qing installed a wooden door on the abandoned cave at the wild boar breeding center, its name was changed to the wolf den. Of course, it wasn't Xia Qing who renamed it—it was Beard Feng's squad, who were very curious about the wolves' behavior.

Xia Qing explained, "The wolves with injured legs will recuperate in the wolf den. The alpha wolf may enter the territory tonight."

Beard Feng nodded. "Has the wound on the alpha wolf's leg healed?"

"It's healed."

Precisely because its wound had healed, when Xia Qing went to the wolf den to deliver medicine today, she specifically told the alpha wolf that she would be taking a medicinal bath tonight.

Whether the alpha wolf came or not was entirely up to it.

Xia Qing had to stand night watch and guard the territory at three in the morning, so she moved both dinner and bath time earlier.

After the water in the tub was heated to 40 degrees, Xia Qing took out the medicine packet Daya had sent over, poured the third bath's medicinal solution into the tub, and stirred it evenly.

Daya had only just sent over four packets of medicine, each one marked with which session it was for. Xia Qing asked and learned that each session's medicine was different—the later the session, the stronger the potency.

No wonder she hadn't felt much more comfortable during her second bath than the first; this time hurt even more than the second.

An hour later, Xia Qing climbed out of the tub—which she had clawed into a jagged, lace-like rim—trembling, and opened the clip at the bottom of the tub.

Carrying the medicinal liquid up and down the stairs was too much trouble, so Xia Qing connected the upstairs and downstairs tubs with a soft hose. After she finished bathing, the medicinal liquid would flow through the hose into Sheep Boss's tub in the downstairs bathroom.

Hearing the sound of running water, Xia Qing shivered as she put on her clothes, and practically crawled downstairs, only to find that the alpha wolf had come and was lying on the tatami in the first-floor living room with the sick wolf and Sheep Boss.

Xia Qing greeted the alpha wolf, went into the bathroom to heat the medicinal liquid with a heating rod, and called out to her companion listlessly, "Boss, come take a medicinal bath."

The medicinal solution was limited—the earlier one bathed, the better the effect. Sheep Boss was Xia Qing's most trusted companion, so naturally he had to go before the two wolves.

Sheep Boss also knew the benefits of a medicinal bath, but even with Xia Qing coaxing him, he still couldn't last a full hour—he climbed out after forty-five minutes.

After Sheep Boss finished bathing, without Xia Qing calling the next one, the alpha wolf went into the bathroom, stepped onto the small wooden block, and climbed into the tub.

In less than half an hour, the alpha wolf's body began to tremble.

This was a medicinal solution for treating skin tissue and bone damage. Xia Qing had noticed during her first medicinal bath that the more severely a body part was injured, the more that part would hurt.

The Queen, whose legs were covered in sutured scars, held on until the forty-minute mark, when she could no longer maintain her majestic image even in front of the alpha wolf, and opened her mouth to howl softly.

Leaning against the edge of the tub, aching all over and drowsy, Xia Qing didn't dare approach an evolved wolf on the verge of breaking down. She comforted it with words: "The medicine is repairing the damaged skin on your legs. No matter how much it hurts, the Queen must endure it... Endure this hurdle, and you'll rise to the next level."

At fifty minutes, the alpha wolf began to sink. Xia Qing, whose own head was getting foggy, reached out and supported its neck to keep the medicinal liquid from flowing into its mouth, encouraging it softly: "Just hold on for the time it takes the Queen to eat one more rabbit, and you can come out."

The alpha wolf, barely holding on, tilted its head and went still once Xia Qing supported it. After her strength evolution, Xia Qing could casually carry several hundred jin of supplies, yet now she felt the wolf's head in her hands was unbearably heavy.

After struggling to drag the alpha wolf out of the water, Xia Qing heated the medicinal bath again and let the sick wolf soak in it.

The alpha wolf's condition after bathing was far worse than Sheep Boss's. After Sheep Boss came out, he shook the medicinal liquid off his body, let Xia Qing wipe him down, and went out. The alpha wolf was now in a semi-conscious state and could only be toweled dry by the equally exhausted Xia Qing.

After drying it off, Xia Qing could barely keep her eyes open. She could only call out to her companion, "Boss, are you feeling better? Come drag your friend out of here? It's too damp in this room—if it lies here it'll catch cold."

Sheep Boss came clip-clopping over, much slower than usual. Xia Qing had forgotten to bring compressed rations and had no energy to go get them, so she grabbed a bedsheet and handed it to her companion. "Boss, bite down here and drag your friend to the living room."

Sheep Boss squinted for a few seconds, then really lowered his head, bit the bedsheet, and with some effort dragged the alpha wolf out of the bathroom.

After finishing up with the sick wolf that had taken its medicinal bath, the pain in her body had lessened, but Xia Qing, already so sleepy she couldn't keep her eyes open, crawled on all fours back to the second floor and collapsed at the bedroom door.

Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop—

Sheep Boss, who had dragged the sick wolf out of the bathroom, was coming up the stairs.

The light on the second floor wasn't on. The strength-evolved sheep, whose night vision wasn't great, squinted at the lump that was Xia Qing on the floor for a while, then went into the living room and lay down beside his companion.

"Thud."

The heavy sheep head with its two large horns landed on the wooden floor. Xia Qing opened her eyes, saw the white fluffy mass beside her, and fell back asleep instantly.

At two fifty in the morning, the alarm went off.

Xia Qing, lying on the wooden floor, silenced the phone alarm in her pocket and ran her hand through Sheep Boss's thick, smooth wool.

To be honest, she was envious. If she could grow a coat of fur like that for warmth and cold protection, she could gather more food in winter, and her chances of survival would greatly increase.

Although humans had evolved, their survival ability in the Evolution Forest was still far inferior to that of evolved wild animals.

But humans had clever brains. As long as humans united, or most humans united, they would surely be able to withstand natural disasters and once again become the masters of Blue Star.

Xia Qing got up quietly, easily put on her protective gear, waved to the two wolves on the first floor, pushed open the door, and stepped out into the dark night.

When she reached the south side of Territory Three, Xia Qing tilted her head to listen and found Territory Two very quiet tonight. It seemed the brothers Tang Huai and Tang Heng had arranged lodging for the refugees in advance—the refugees who had entered the territory yesterday hadn't caused another disturbance over housing, and the screening team members patrolling the passage had also decreased somewhat.

Xia Qing greeted Su Ming and Hu Zi, then continued her patrol.

Inside Territory Twelve, Tang Huai, his eyes bloodshot, sat on the edge of the bed, looking at his father lying there—pale from blood loss—with a face full of guilt.

He was too useless. He was already thirty and still couldn't hold things up, able only to watch helplessly as his father, with grey at his temples, went off to take risks.