Chapter 815: A Very Stupid Fox Cub

Xia Qing followed behind the wolf dog and the red fox, muttering softly, "Lao Er, after this favor, I need to dig up a few more green-light bamboo shoots to take back."

In case the red fox cub's injuries required the idol to step in personally, carrying a few more green-light bamboo shoots over should earn her fewer scoldings.

Wolf Lao Er heard Xia Qing call him and turned his head, grinning broadly.

Xia Qing smiled along with him. Lao Er had already decided to help—could she just walk away? Let the scolding come, as long as she didn't get blacklisted.

Arriving deep in the bamboo forest and seeing what Lao Er had called her here to do, Xia Qing was completely speechless. Wolf Lao Er, seeing Xia Qing standing still, nudged her with his body again, hoping she'd go over and help.

Xia Qing sighed, pulled a picture of an herb from her backpack, and showed it to the red fox standing beside the big rock, baring its teeth. She said solemnly and earnestly, "I'll help, sure. See this herb? I help you save the cub, you give me this herb as payment. Understand?"

After confirming that the thing in the human's hand the wolf had brought over had no offensive power, the brain-evolved red fox bared its teeth again and stared into the human's eyes.

Although brain-evolved creatures were smart, animals with little contact with humans couldn't understand human language, let alone grasp what "exchange" meant.

Xia Qing explained the rules three times with gestures and demonstrations, then had Lao Er dig up a plant with his claws and bring it to her. She showed it to the red fox with its vivid russet fur and a pair of lively amber eyes, and to the fox hiding behind the rock preparing to attack her, before putting away the picture and going over to help.

Help with what?

Damn it—a tiny, stupid fox cub had gotten stuck in a deep, narrow crevice and couldn't get out!

"Eek—eek—eek—"

The cub, whose fur was much darker than its father's, saw the human appear and let out a weak, shrill cry.

"Wooo—"

The big fox blocked the crevice, bristling as it pressed close to its cub and blocked Xia Qing. Lao Er walked over and soothingly licked the bristling red fox.

With her excellent eyesight, Xia Qing confirmed the little fox had been stuck for some time. Its fur was dirty and matted, there were droppings beneath its feet, and a small bamboo rat the big fox had fed it.

The small bamboo rat had already been dismembered by ants and carried off in pieces.

The little fox's head was stuck, so it couldn't eat. At this rate, even if it didn't starve to death, it would be eaten by the ferocious evolved ants. No wonder the fox had sought help from the evolved wolf, and Lao Er had brought her along.

The crevice the big fox couldn't enter, Xia Qing certainly couldn't enter either. How was she supposed to help?

She circled the small hill once, took a shovel from her backpack, extended the handle and tightened it, then continued digging along the spot the red fox had already excavated.

Even though she was an advanced power-evolved human, she didn't have enough strength to pry open the mountain crack and pull the red fox cub out.

The cub was stuck inside, and explosives couldn't be used, so she could only adopt the same method the red fox parents had used. This also confirmed that the red fox beside her had a high degree of brain evolution, because it could analyze the predicament and take the correct action.

But the fox's claws and strength were both too small—even finding the right spot, it hadn't been able to rescue the little fox.

Of course, Xia Qing's hands and strength weren't that great either. This job should have been given to the evolved brown bear on Mountain 61. Unfortunately, the wolves and bears here were rivals.

Seeing Xia Qing working, Lao Er came over and helped dig with his big paws.

The red fox standing by the crevice and the other fox hiding in the shadows both crept closer. The stuck little fox, frightened, kept squealing.

After digging out enough space, Xia Qing praised Lao Er for his hard work, told him to go drink spring water and eat freeze-dried treats, and then carefully observed the support points of the two massive boulders, each over three meters tall, that were trapping the little fox.

This job couldn't be done blindly. If she dug the wrong rock, the stuck little fox would be squashed flat.

With her extensive construction experience, Xia Qing quickly settled on a plan. After digging out a one-meter-square stone on the lower left, she took out a wrench, loosened the two screws on the shovel handle, rotated the shovel head ninety degrees, and tightened it again—the digging shovel became a crowbar.

This tool, combining the functions of shovel, pick, axe, saw, and crowbar, was something Xia Qing always carried on missions, and the tool she'd used most during her years as an unofficial logistics worker.

"Wooo—"

"Eek—eek—"

Seeing Xia Qing approach the stuck little fox with a weapon, both big and little foxes made sounds at the same time—very annoying.

"Lao Er, come block this fox." Xia Qing called her companion while holding the weapon. She had no desire to be swatted or bitten by a fox while she was straining to pry the rock.

Lao Er, having finished his freeze-dried treats, immediately bounded over and stood beside Xia Qing to protect her.

"Lao Er, after I pry the rock open, you go in and carry the cub out. Move fast." After explaining clearly with gestures, Xia Qing inserted the crowbar between the two big rocks.

The support points of the two massive boulders had already been loosened by Xia Qing. As long as she found the right fulcrum, she could pry these three-meter-square, several-tens-of-tons-heavy rocks!

Xia Qing gripped the crowbar tightly, pressed her tongue against her palate, and slowly began to exert force.

"Eek… eek!" The little fox felt the rocks trapping it moving, shrank back away from Xia Qing—and damn it, got stuck even more firmly.

Xia Qing tried to keep her temper in check. "Lao Er, don't let that cub back up any further. If it retreats any more, it'll really be squashed flat!"

Before Lao Er could act, the red fox that had been hiding in the shadows leapt into the crack Xia Qing had pried open a bit. The gap wasn't wide enough—it couldn't reach the cub. But the little fox, seeing its mother come in, immediately wriggled toward her.

Xia Qing gritted her teeth and kept prying.

The red fox mother in the crevice finally got hold of her cub, leaped up and out of the crack, and vanished in a flash.

Xia Qing slowly released the crowbar. The two massive boulders let out a dull thud as they fell back into place. When she stood up, she found both red foxes had run off!

Xia Qing was a bit speechless. "Lao Er, your fox friends are really lacking in manners—far worse than the family that pulled out the feathers."

The cub was rescued, and wolf dog Lao Er grinned happily.

"As long as you're happy, it didn't take that long anyway." Xia Qing rubbed Lao Er's head, called Seeing Xin Yu, and then, shouldering her tools, headed for the green-light bamboo in the forest.

Since the red foxes had already left, the bamboo here could be dug freely.

There were a total of 11 green-light bamboo plants in this grove. When Xia Qing's team came to dig shoots in spring, they had already marked the green-light bamboo, so they didn't have to search plant by plant.

Xia Qing quickly dug up 8 green-light shoots and was about to go check how tall the aggressive evolved bamboo in this grove had grown, when she heard the rustling of animals crawling in the bamboo forest growing louder.

Wolf Lao Er, who had been crouching outside the green-light bamboo's attack range, ignored the danger of being wounded by bamboo-leaf darts and came to Xia Qing's side, baring his fangs and growling low toward the front.