Chapter 574: A Cold Day, What a Fine Winter

After bringing the honored guest inside, Xia Qing immediately started boiling water, plucking feathers, and testing the wild chickens' quality, finding again one yellow-light and one green-light. She gutted both chickens, put the offal in the Broken-Waist Wolf's dedicated food bowl, and carried it over to it.

After putting the yellow-light wild chicken in the refrigerator for storage, Xia Qing went downstairs and hung the green-light wild chicken inside the fireplace, then turned her head to find the Broken-Waist Wolf had already finished its meal and was licking the leftover food around its mouth.

Broken-Waist is a wolf that cares a great deal about hygiene and appearance; being injured and only able to drag its hind half around for those two months must have been extremely painful and unforgettable for it.

Xia Qing picked up her phone from the table, intending to open the bounty wolf-extermination mission pinned at the top of the mission center to show the Broken-Waist Wolf, but discovered it was gone.

Did someone accept this mission, or was it withdrawn by the platform?

Fortunately she had acted quickly earlier and downloaded the picture. Xia Qing opened the picture to call the Broken-Waist Wolf over, speaking slowly and using gestures as she communicated with it, "Broken-Waist, do you still remember this wolf? It's the alpha of the wolf pack that you and the Queen were howling at on the mountain over there, not letting them enter this territory."

The wolf in the phone looked fierce, with blood on its mouth and fur, and beside it lay the corpses of wolves and humans; the Broken-Waist Wolf watched with a solemn expression.

Xia Qing swiped to the photo she had taken of the handsome giant wolf on Mountain Sixty, held up two phones displaying the two wolves' photos, and gestured as she asked, "This alpha wolf and this handsome giant wolf from your pack—did they grow up together? Together in one den, from this small to this big."

Wolves are social animals, but not all wolves stay in the same pack from birth to death.

When the pups in a wolf pack reach the age where they can successfully hunt, they may leave their parents' pack due to insufficient prey in the territory or other reasons. These half-grown wolves that leave the pack may join another pack, form a new pack, or in very rare cases become lone wolves.

Xia Qing felt that the two wolves on her phone might have grown up in the same pack, or even been pups from the same litter, before joining different packs as they grew up.

The northern and western evolved forests are adjacent, so this possibility exists.

If this is really the case, the situation becomes complicated. If the team that accepted the mission mistakes the wolf, they could end up in conflict with the northern wolf pack. The two giant wolves might also recognize each other through the howling standoff during the beast tide that night and come together again.

The solemn-faced Broken-Waist Wolf stared at the two wolves on the phone screen for a while, tilted its head slightly to the right, and showed Xia Qing its adorable, snow-white little fang tips.

This fellow looks even cuter when it smiles; Xia Qing's heart fluttered at its cuteness, and she couldn't help breaking into a smile. "These two wolves grew up together, they know each other, right?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf closed its mouth and stopped smiling, looking at Xia Qing with a thoughtful expression.

Not that meaning?

Xia Qing tried hard, based on her understanding of this wolf's thought process, to figure it out. "You think you're more handsome than both these wolves, right?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf showed its little fang tips again and smiled happily.

Xia Qing... I spent ages showing you photos and gesturing, and all you care about is this?

"Right! You're more handsome than both these wolves, you're the most handsome wolf on Blue Star, the handsome wolf bro standing at the top of the pyramid. Handsome wolf bro, so these two wolves—did they grow up in the same litter?"

Under Xia Qing's expectant gaze, the Broken-Waist Wolf stretched in a big lazy stretch, trotted upstairs, carried the basket with the laptop down in its mouth, set it on the low table, and turned to look at Xia Qing.

With this wolf's level of intelligence, it should be able to understand what Xia Qing was expressing, but it wasn't interested in this question.

Xia Qing could only boot up the laptop for this handsome, clever wolf, display the files as large icons, and ask, "What does Handsome Wolf Bro want to watch today?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf raised its big furry paw and accurately pointed at the video file introducing evolved microorganisms.

"Understood, continuing with evolved microorganisms."

After starting the video for the Broken-Waist Wolf, Xia Qing went to flip the roasting chicken in the fireplace. The sick wolf stayed by Xia Qing's side, and Sheep Boss lay beside the Broken-Waist Wolf.

Xia Qing had already watched this science video with the Broken-Waist Wolf, and didn't want to watch it again, so she simply sat by the fireplace, roasting chicken while scrolling through the Northern District One lords' group chat on her nearly-dying old phone, which showed 99+ unread messages.

The science video's narration, Sheep Boss's rhythmic cud-chewing, the crackling of dry firewood burning, the sizzling of chicken fat heating up, and the howling wind outside the window wove together, making this small supply station in the abandoned village of the territory feel especially peaceful and tranquil.

But the chat records in the group were nowhere near so harmonious.

In the group chat Tang Huai had set up this afternoon, besides Territories Two, Seven, and the unoccupied Nine, all of Territories 1-18 had actually gathered. Apart from One, Eight, and Fifteen, the other territories were all joined by their lords. Xia Qing tapped on Territory Fourteen lord Yan Meng's pitch-black avatar to take a look, then began scrolling through the chat records.

Xia Qing quickly scrolled through hundreds of chat records with little substance, and soon found what she was looking for.

Half an hour ago, Tang Huai had asked: Has everyone noticed, the bounty to exterminate the western wolves pinned at the top of the mission center is gone. @Hu Zifeng, did the Qinglong take this mission?

Hu Zifeng didn't respond.

Territory Seventeen lord Wen Nengjie spoke up: Whoever took it, I hope they can wipe out that pack of wolves. Has everyone seen the combat video? That pack of wolves and the leopards are terrifyingly powerful.

Territory Eleven lord Zhao Huisheng: Is everyone going back to the safe zone to take shelter? I'm heading out tomorrow anyway, since the greenhouse in my territory has already been destroyed, there's no point staying.

Tang Huai: Go back my ass! The Red One Base investigation team is right here, how could anywhere be safer than here? @Hu Zifeng, stop playing blind!

Territory Seventeen lord Wen Nengjie: Brother Huai, Brother Hu might be busy.

Tang Huai: Busy doing what late at night, screwing ghosts?!

Then came more chat content with no substance; Xia Qing looked up at the seriously-studying Broken-Waist Wolf, and also picked up her printed materials to study seriously.

After the chicken was roasted, Xia Qing took it out and started packing it up. The Broken-Waist Wolf raised a paw to close the laptop, gently nudged it into the basket, and carried it back upstairs to the tool room to put it away properly.

After tying the roasted chicken onto the Broken-Waist Wolf, Xia Qing spoke to it very, very solemnly. "Handsome Wolf Bro, you must protect your and the Queen's pups well."

The Broken-Waist Wolf showed Xia Qing its little fang tips, then turned and gestured for her to take something out from the side pocket of its protective suit.

Xia Qing pulled out two walnuts and thanked it happily. "Thanks for the gift, Handsome Wolf Bro. You're really a wolf with class, a wolf that understands social etiquette, an evolved wolf standing at the top of the pyramid. Next time, can you give me a piece of Use Yishi? Compared to walnuts, I prefer Use Yishi."

The Broken-Waist Wolf closed its mouth, gave Xia Qing a thoughtful look, turned, and left.

Xia Qing...

Cold winter, what a fine winter it is...