Chapter 520: The Hunt

Xia Qing had thought that when Broken-Waist Wolf saw her fly, he would be so envious he'd drool. But the result was that Broken-Waist Wolf thought a wingless Xia Qing flying in the sky was a very dangerous thing—so dangerous that he actually didn't feel comfortable letting her carry the precious pills.

It wasn't strange for Broken-Waist Wolf to think this way. Because Xia Qing wasn't skilled at flying, when she first took off she wobbled several times before she steadied herself, and once steady she kept one posture flying forward, not daring to move at all, afraid she'd plunge headfirst into the murderous snow.

Mobility and flexibility are important factors for raising the survival rate in the Evolved Forest. Flying in the air, Xia Qing lost these two factors; if an evolved raptor attacked or a human used a weapon against her, her chances of escaping were very small.

In Broken-Waist Wolf's view, Xia Qing—without the cover of the Evolved Forest's trees, flying at low altitude—was probably a living target.

Xia Qing actually really wanted to seize this rare opportunity to practice her flying ability, so she specifically had Broken-Waist Wolf and Sick Wolf help carry the fuel she'd need to fly back.

But Broken-Waist Wolf was afraid something would happen to her, so he specifically found a "mount" to send her back. Xia Qing didn't want to brush off his good intentions and sincerely thanked him: "My body is weak right now, and walking or flying through dangerous stretches really does carry a lot of risk. Broken-Waist, you've thought this through so thoroughly—you're the warm-hearted wolf of the pack. Because you exist, even winter feels warm. Thank you."

Broken-Waist Wolf bared the tips of his fangs and smiled happily.

Xia Qing smiled too. "Just like you saw on the laptop, after taking the deworming pills, the pack will expel the parasites from their bodies over the next two or three days. Broken-Waist, keep an eye on them—don't let Broken-Leg Wolf and the others play around near the droppings and get covered in parasites."

Broken-Leg Wolf, who had been wrestling with other wolves nearby, heard Xia Qing call his name and immediately bounded over, dashing and leaping around Xia Qing.

Xia Qing took out a piece of jerky and handed it to him, then gave jerky to a few of the wolves she knew, before climbing onto the gray-black giant wolf's back. She said goodbye to each wolf she recognized: "Queen, Broken-Waist, Big Guy, Broken-Leg… I'm leaving. If you need anything, come find me at Territory Three."

After the farewells, Xia Qing sincerely discussed with the pack's queen: "Queen, if you run into humans in the Evolved Forest, as long as the humans don't provoke you, don't fight them and don't hurt them. Can you do that?"

After one round of medicine, Xia Qing had a clear picture of this pack's strength. Counting Sick Wolf Lao Er, they had seventy-three members in total: nine sick and weak wolves, nineteen half-grown wolf pups born this year, and forty-five wolves with combat ability. Of those forty-five, eighteen were giant wolves, and twenty-seven were evolved wolves about the same height as the alpha.

Evolved wolves are beasts with extremely strong teamwork ability. When wolves coordinate with each other, they can absolutely erupt with a combat power greater than the sum of their parts. Wolves are animals that hold grudges very well—if humans enter the Evolved Forest to provoke, capture, or hunt wolves out foraging, it's the same as offending the entire pack.

Provoking a pack with forty-five fierce evolved wolves is no different from seeking death. But, oddly enough, there are quite a few people seeking death.

The alpha wolf's amber eyes fixed on Xia Qing and said nothing, but Xia Qing felt she could read her. She smiled and said goodbye to the alpha: "Humans who provoke you and your subordinates, you may handle them however you wish. But please, Queen, don't harm other people inside human territory—they're all ordinary people out farming, and they won't pose a threat to the pack."

Those seeking death deserve to die, but ordinary people cannot become sacrifices of battle.

After speaking, Xia Qing gently patted the gray-black giant wolf's neck. "Big Guy, thanks for the trouble of escorting me back. Lao Er, you lead the way up ahead—let's go home."

The straight-line distance from Territory Three to Mountain Sixty was sixty li. The thick murderous snow had buried the low-lying beast trails; following the winding beast trail back to the territory now meant at least seventy li of mountain road.

Riding a wolf wasn't as comfortable as flying through the air on a flight device, but traveling through the forest really was much safer than flying at low altitude. Xia Qing hugged the giant wolf's neck tight, kept her body low, looked ahead, and seized the chance to train her magnetic sense, striving to capture that inexpressible, profoundly mysterious feeling.

Suddenly, Xia Qing heard movement behind her. Looking back, she discovered Broken-Waist Wolf had brought Broken-Leg Wolf to see her off.

The two wolves flanked the giant wolf from left and right, forming a triangle with Sick Wolf up ahead, protecting Xia Qing and the gray-black giant wolf in the middle.

Xia Qing smiled, raised a hand to greet the two wolves, then continued hugging the giant wolf's neck, carefully sensing the plants around her that felt off.

When passing through the dangerous murderous Evolved Forest covered in heavy snow, the changes in the trees' magnetic fields were like tiny needles pricking into Xia Qing's brain, reminding her just how dangerous this seemingly peaceful, ordinary stretch of forest truly was.

Xia Qing tried hard to memorize the route the wolves took—this path should be the safest one.

After crossing Crocodile Pool and leaping over one deep gully after another, they entered the bounds of Mountain Fifty-Five, and the giant wolf slowed down. Mountain Fifty-Five was something of a dividing line: north of this mountain lay the dangerous deep Evolved Forest, and south of it lay Evolved Forest terrain of relatively lower danger.

Once here, far fewer creatures in the Evolved Forest could threaten Xia Qing's safety.

Broken-Waist Wolf left the group first; when he returned over ten minutes later, he had two fat wild rabbits in his mouth. Then Broken-Leg Wolf left too; when he came back over twenty minutes later, he was actually carrying a deer—a deer weighing twenty or thirty jin!

During this time, the giant wolf carried Xia Qing across Mountain Fifty-Five and into Mountain Fifty-Two, and then the giant wolf began to show signs of fatigue.

Xia Qing climbed down from the wolf's back, gave him some spring water to drink, and started forward on foot. South of Mountain Fifty-Two was Mountain Forty-Nine; once she entered the bounds of Mountain Forty-Nine, she'd be safe. She planned to walk this stretch herself and bag a few wild rabbits along the way.

"Broken-Waist, Broken-Leg, give me the prey—I'll carry it back." Although Xia Qing had only recovered sixty or seventy percent of her combat ability, shouldering a few dozen jin of supplies was still a piece of cake for her.

After taking the prey from the two wolves, Xia Qing sealed it straight into packaging bags, stuffed them into her backpack, and kept going.

When she reached the edge of Mountain Forty-Nine, Xia Qing pushed up her backpack—now twice as heavy—and asked the three wolves escorting her back: "Broken-Waist, Broken-Leg, Big Guy, I'll be safe once I enter Mountain Forty-Nine. Are you three heading back to Langshan now, or coming with me for some roast meat?"

Crossing Mountain Fifty-Two, Xia Qing had caught two rabbits, and the four wolves had caught a wild boar, three rabbits, and two wild chickens—plenty of prey for the four wolves and one person to eat their fill.

Broken-Waist Wolf looked back at Broken-Leg Wolf and the giant wolf. The two wolves stopped advancing; only Broken-Waist Wolf continued forward with Xia Qing and Sick Wolf.

In the monitoring room, Jingkuan watched Xia Qing's bulging backpack and the two wolves beside her, his eyes full of envy. The tabby cat in white boots, Little Fifth, squatted on the table, staring at the screen and licking its pink little paws.