Chapter 425: Sudden Mutation

The Daya who had followed along looked left and right, saw only one sheep in the yard, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Brother Huo, you cut the meat and I'll dig out the innards. Xia Qing, you and Yanlong go on ahead."

The several hundred jin of meat and all the innards from this python had to be delivered to Territory Seven. Xia Qing didn't stand on ceremony with them either. "Then I'll trouble Brother Ya and Brother Huo. Sister Yan, how do you want to do the test?"

"Follow me." Yanlong turned and walked outside.

"Okay. Boss, are you coming with me?" Xia Qing called out. Seeing Boss Sheep guarding the doorway with no intention of following, she turned and walked after Yanlong.

After Yanlong stepped out of the courtyard gate, she suddenly accelerated into a westward run. Xia Qing knew she was testing her running speed and immediately went all out to keep up.

After running past the village, Yanlong suddenly slammed to a halt, spun around, and charged at Xia Qing.

Was this a test of her combat ability?

Xia Qing had barely slowed down and found her footing when Yanlong's leg arrived. There was no time to dodge, so she barely managed to turn sideways to guard her vitals, using her arm to block Yanlong's flying kick.

She hadn't expected Yanlong's leg strength to be far greater than she'd anticipated—Xia Qing was sent flying by the kick. Fortunately, Xia Qing often sparred with Boss Sheep, so adjusting her center of gravity in midair to land steadily was already second nature.

But before Xia Qing could finish adjusting her center of gravity and land, Yanlong had already leaped into the air, her iron fist cutting through the wind as it slammed toward Xia Qing's chest. Xia Qing was greatly alarmed and immediately crossed her arms to block. But she hadn't expected that punch to be a feint—by the time she tried to dodge, it was already too late for Yanlong's leg.

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

Xia Qing was kicked down by Yanlong, slammed hard into a half-broken earthen wall by the roadside, and knocked the wall straight down.

Yanlong's speed was extremely fast, so her momentum was tremendous, completely suppressing Xia Qing, this high-level strength evolver.

So this is what a true expert is like? Far too strong!

Xia Qing's blood was boiling. She pushed away the adobe and bricks piled on her, about to stand up and counterattack, when she heard the clatter of running footsteps.

"Moo—"

"Moo—"

Boss Sheep heard the commotion and ran out of the yard, saw Xia Qing beaten into a wall, and bellowed as she charged over to protect her little sister.

Boss Sheep's voice was far too loud—the people in Territory Two would definitely hear it!

Xia Qing scrambled up on hands and feet and rushed toward her companion. "Boss, don't panic, it's nothing, it's nothing, we were just sparring!"

"Sister Qing…"

Before Xia Qing could hold Boss Sheep back, she heard Eryong's urgent shout through his earpiece walkie-talkie. Xia Qing immediately thought of the wolf pack in Wolf Valley. Her heart skipped a beat, and she turned to look north. Sure enough, she saw the alpha wolf leaping at an unbelievable speed, soaring high over the wire fence as it charged over.

"Queen, mis—" Xia Qing couldn't spare a thought for Boss Sheep anymore. She shouted as she ran to intercept Yanlong. But before she had taken three or five steps, the stones kicked up by the alpha wolf's landing struck her arm hard.

Hiss—

That freaking hurts!

Fortunately the Queen was wearing shoes—otherwise the meat pads under her paws would definitely hurt even more!

"Queen, …"

"Bang!"

Before Xia Qing could stop the alpha wolf, Boss Sheep charged furiously at Yanlong. Yanlong dodged aside, and Boss Sheep slammed hard into the house ruins and got buried.

"Moo—"

Boss Sheep roared from within the ruins, butted away the rotten wood and broken adobe pinning her down, burst out, and stood behind the alpha wolf. "Baa…~…~"

She was clearly just a sheep, clearly just opening her mouth to baa once. But this "baa" somehow carried nine twists and eighteen turns of grievance from Boss Sheep.

It was the first time Xia Qing had heard Boss Sheep make this kind of sound—reporting a grievance, pouring out her woes—and she was stunned.

The alpha wolf shielded Xia Qing and Boss Sheep behind her, murderous intent blazing as she turned to face Yanlong. Her tail went rigid, her body dropped slightly, and the stones and wood chips beneath her were gouged by her sharp wolf claws, making a cracking sound.

Yanlong's fighting spirit was roused by this wolf. Her fists clenched with a cracking sound, and her eyes locked onto this brave wolf king.

Broken-Waist Wolf, Broken-Leg Wolf, and Black Wolf had also rushed from Wolf Valley to Territory Three. At the same time, Huo Zhun had also bounded out of the village in a few leaps, standing back-to-back with Yanlong.

The three wolves that had charged over, together with the alpha wolf and Boss Sheep, surrounded Yanlong—who held twin blades—and Huo Zhun—who carried a cleaver—in the middle, waiting only for the Queen's command to begin the group attack. Two against four wolves and one sheep—the great battle was about to begin.

The fierce-looking Broken-Leg Wolf tossed her head at Xia Qing, then glanced at the spot beside her. To the battle-inexperienced Xia Qing, she signaled:

You idiot, you're standing in the wrong spot right now—get over to the attack-side position I specially saved for you!

"Sister Qing, four wolves in succession have charged into your territory. Do you need backup?"

Eryong's belated inquiry also rang in Xia Qing's ear.

"No need." At this point Xia Qing couldn't care about saving face. She threw her arms around the alpha wolf, who looked ready to launch an attack at any moment, and coaxed her in a soft, gentle voice.

"Queen, Sister Yan and Brother Huo aren't enemies. The two of us were just sparring just now—I'm too weak, that's why she beat me down. Boss Sheep thought I was under attack, that's why she got angry. Please don't be angry, Queen. If we fight here, lots of people will notice, and that'll cause trouble."

"Queen, if you and Sister Yan want to spar, you can't do it in the territory—you have to go to the Evolution Forest. If you attract bad people, it'll be trouble. Broken-Leg Sister's leg injury hasn't healed yet."

The alpha wolf, shaken by Xia Qing, grew a little irritated and raised her head in displeasure. Broken-Waist Wolf, Broken-Leg Wolf, and Black Wolf also retreated at the same time, no longer surrounding Yanlong and Huo Zhun. Only Boss Sheep was still snorting and pawing the ground, showing off her spiral horns.

Yanlong unclenched her fists. Huo Zhun was simply dumbfounded.

This…this wouldn't happen to be Xia Qing's combat team, would it? Could he even join?

After a ruckus like this, there was no way to continue the test. Xia Qing asked Yanlong and Huo Zhun to head back to the village first, while she stayed behind to soothe Boss Sheep and the wolves.

"Boss, you saw me sparring with Sister Yan, thought I was under attack, and immediately charged over to save me. I'm truly so touched."

"Queen, when you heard Boss Sheep's cry, you thought we were in danger and rushed over from Wolf Valley to rescue us. The way you sprinted at full speed was just so cool…"

Huo Zhun, who hadn't gone far, took stock of his own ability to express himself and felt that the difficulty of joining this combat team was very high.

After returning to Xia Qing's courtyard, Huo Zhun chopped off several dozen jin of large meat sections and still couldn't help exclaiming, "That wolf with the missing ear—she's fierce!"

Daya put the snake gallbladder into an ice box and asked in surprise, "Wolf? Wasn't it a sheep that charged out? Xia Qing's wolves are back?"

Huo Zhun explained, "That sheep brought four evolved wolves over. We almost got into a fight. Fortunately Brother Ya's hands were quick and his skills were good—otherwise the commotion just now would definitely have been overheard by the people in Territory Two."

Daya chuckled. "It's not that my hands were quick—it's that the equipment you brought over works well."

After washing her hands and disinfecting, Yanlong, who had begun butchering the snake meat, said, "I've seen that alpha wolf twice. Once was on the road when Xia Qing first took two injured wolves to Territory Seven—that wolf kept following behind. The second time was when she was gathering herbs with Yang Jin."

Huo Zhun's eyes lit up. "The wolf carrying the weasel on her back?"

He hadn't expected that among Xia Qing's combat team members, there was still one fierce general!