Chapter 995: Humans on the Ground, Monkeys in the Trees

After following Broken-Waist Wolf up another mountain and inspecting and testing the second Green Lantern Hickory tree, Xia Qing understood three things:

First, the wolf pack's dens on Mountain 60 are all close to the hickory trees, which shows the pack uses these trees as "gatekeepers" because of their ability to lure evolved Scorch Bugs.

Second, the Alpha Wolf and Broken-Waist Wolf are very particular about the safety of their core territory. They didn't allow Xia Qing to bring Watching Huo Zhun to Mountain 60 to pick hickories, also because the trees are all close to the wolves' dens. The two wolf leaders trust Xia Qing, but they don't trust the human Huo Zhun. Even Xia Qing, who has earned their trust, has never touched any of the other half-year-old wolf pups besides the injured Little Four-Eyes.

Third, the reason Broken-Waist Wolf refused Xia Qing's several requests to come pick hickories wasn't because it was stingy, but because now isn't a good time to pick hickories. In future dealings, she shouldn't jump to conclusions about the other party's intentions—she needs to communicate properly with them.

"This trip wasn't wasted, at least I got to see Wolf Lao Er, Broken-Leg, Little Wolf Brother, and Little Wolf Sister." Xia Qing looked up at the sun. She'd been on Mountain 60 for nearly two hours and needed to head back. "Broken-Waist, I'm heading back to the territory. Are you coming with me on the helicopter, or staying at…"

"Awoo—wooooo—"

Before Xia Qing finished speaking, she heard the evolved wolves howling. Broken-Waist Wolf immediately raised its head to answer, turned back to glance at Xia Qing with a look that told her to follow, then leaped over a ridge in a few bounds.

"Awooo—wooooo—" Broken-Leg Wolf also started howling, its voice filled with anger.

Something was definitely going on! Xia Qing sprinted at full speed in Broken-Waist Wolf's direction. Before she'd gone far, Wolf Lao Er came charging over and signaled Xia Qing to follow it.

"Buzz—"

The phone in Xia Qing's pocket started vibrating. Huo Zhun was calling her. "Qing-jie, a bear from Mountain 61 is heading toward the helicopter with a white-faced langur carrying a backpack."

Does Daigua! Xia Qing, who was running at top speed, lit up. "Which bear?"

This…

Huo Zhun carefully observed the bear leading the monkey through his binoculars—it was missing no eyes or ears, and had no obvious scars on its body. He could only answer, "…Based on body size, it's not one of the two giant bears that roared at the wolf pack last time. The langur is very likely the one Qing-jie let go last time."

Because it's carrying a backpack.

Xia Qing replied, "Copy that. The wolf pack will intercept the bear. Don't take off yet. That monkey is probably here to find me."

The Alpha Wolf and Broken-Waist Wolf had already come to treat the helicopter as an important asset for the wolf pack, so they wouldn't let the bear get close to it. Even though the helicopter wasn't in danger, Xia Qing needed to hurry back, because Does Daigua was carrying a backpack—Daigua had probably come to repay a debt.

At her speed, running there would take at least half an hour—too slow! Xia Qing called out to her companion, gestured at a height, and told it, "Wolf Lao Er, help me find a giant wolf. I need to get there fast."

Wolf Lao Er nuzzled Xia Qing once and ran off. In not too long, it came back with a brown-gray giant wolf.

This brown-gray giant wolf's fur and pupils were both a bit lighter than Big Guy's, and it was a Strength Evolver. Over a month ago, the Alpha Wolf had summoned it and Big Guy to Xia Qing's territory, and had them carry Xia Qing to Mountain 59 to kill the giant eagle and save Little Four-Eyes. So it was a familiar wolf too. Xia Qing swung herself onto its back. "Wolf Lao Er, you're awesome, finding Er Ge Zi so fast. Er Ge Zi, take me over there, quick. The Queen and Broken-Waist have already headed over."

Its companions to the south were howling warnings. The human Xia Qing was a companion recognized by the Alpha Wolf, so Er Ge Zi had no objections and carried Xia Qing at full speed.

Wolf Lao Er was also sprinting, but its direction wasn't Mountain 59—it was the wolf den. Its responsibility was to protect the pups.

Amid waves of wolf howls and bear roars, Er Ge Zi carried Xia Qing to the first front line in just five minutes. The helicopter was on top of a small hill. The Alpha Wolf stood with over a dozen evolved wolves at the base of Shanfeng, while a large bear and a small bear stood on the opposite bank of a stream over three hundred meters away. Both sides were roaring at each other.

Does Daigua, the little monkey with the backpack on the big tree next to the bears, saw Xia Qing arrive and immediately opened its mouth to call her. But its small voice was completely swallowed by the wolf howls and bear roars.

Xia Qing jumped off the wolf's back and rushed in front of the Alpha Wolf. "my lord, that's Does Daigua! It's here to find me!"

After saying that, Xia Qing shouted across the bank, "Does Daigua!!!"

When Does Daigua the monkey saw that Xia Qing had spotted it, it immediately grabbed a tree branch with its little backpack on its back and swung across the stream, charging over. Xia Qing also rushed forward quickly. "Does Daigua!!"

At this, the bears stopped roaring and the wolves stopped howling, and they all watched in unison as the human on the ground and the little monkey in the tree ran toward each other.

When it was still over five meters from Xia Qing, Does Daigua stomped hard on a tree fork and stretched out its two little black paws to pounce on Xia Qing. Xia Qing reached out and caught the little monkey that had jumped down.

Does Daigua hugged Xia Qing's arm and shouted excitedly, "Oh!"

Xia Qing rubbed the little monkey's crew cut, which had grown a bit. "Does Daigua saw the helicopter coming, so you came to find me?"

"Ee."

Does Daigua answered, then turned around to show Xia Qing its heavy backpack.

If Does Daigua had already packed its backpack and was waiting for her, Xia Qing would have flown the helicopter over long ago. After taking the little backpack she had sewn herself, Xia Qing first pulled a tube of nutrient solution from her protective suit pocket, fed Does Daigua a little, then took out two Green Lantern dried figs and stuffed them into its little black paws. "Does Daigua found the Red Vein Stone?"

Does Daigua was busy eating the dried fruit and couldn't spare its mouth or paws. Xia Qing pulled open the zipper of the little backpack, which was so well-hidden its original color couldn't be seen, and at a glance saw the Red Vein Stone on top, bigger than her fist.

No matter what the rest of the small stones were, this one alone was enough!

Xia Qing rubbed the little Does Daigua monkey, who was focused only on eating. "Does Daigua, you're amazing. You found exactly the Red Vein Stone I needed. Thank you. Our debt is fully settled."

Under the watchful eyes of the wolf pack and the two bears, Xia Qing poured all the stones, big and small, from Does Daigua's backpack into her own bag, then opened the food pouch in her own backpack. "Does Daigua, take whatever you want to eat."

The little bear standing behind smelled the honey. It had just crawled forward one step when the big bear next to it pressed it down with a paw. "Roar!"

After Does Daigua the monkey finished the delicious figs, it started using its little black paws to pack food into its little backpack. Green Lantern dried mealworms, boiled eggs, dried figs, honey-roasted jerky, dried bamboo shoots, freeze-dried food… After stuffing the little backpack full, the little fellow raised its small face and gazed at Xia Qing eagerly.

Right now, Xia Qing felt Does Daigua looked bright and pretty—the more she looked, the more pleasing it was.

"Can't fit any more? This whole bag is for you. Take it and eat."

Does Daigua the monkey held the backpack in one hand and the bag in the other, still gazing at Xia Qing eagerly.

Xia Qing understood. She took out a printed sheet from her backpack and handed it to Does Daigua the monkey. "Want sweet potatoes? I didn't bring any this time. If you want to eat them, next time you can bring the herbs in the picture to my territory to trade."

Does Daigua the monkey didn't take the printed sheet. The little black paw holding the bag struggled to free one finger and hooked onto the protective suit on Xia Qing's arm.

"Want to come back to my territory with me? Sure." Xia Qing pointed at the large bear and small bear on the other side of the stream. "What about your friends?"

Does Daigua the monkey turned its head and exchanged a look with the pinned little bear for a few seconds, put the backpack down in front of Xia Qing, picked up the food bag in its mouth, climbed a tree, and swung toward the two bears.

Xia Qing stood quietly in place, watching.

She didn't dare go over, because the giant bear next to the unlucky little bear was the very one that, during the last standoff between the Fifty-Three wolf pack and Xiong Qun, couldn't out-argue Xia Qing and got so angry it wanted to swat her to death.