Chapter 409: Teaming Up with the Wolf Group

Chapter 409: Chapter 409: Teaming Up with the Wolf Group

The Speed Evolution Red Squirrel living in Zone Three of Mountain 49 was considered large for a squirrel, but it was no more than thirty centimeters long and weighed only about a kilogram. When Xiaqing pulled it from the tree hollow, the little creature felt as light as a feather.

Life was hard for the animals in the Evolution Forest. This tiny creature, bustling about every day, had already stockpiled over thirty pounds of food.

Normally, the twenty-two pounds of food it had gathered would have been more than enough to survive the winter, but it refused to stop. Every day, it continued to pilfer corn and sunflower seeds from Xiaqing’s territory, take the mung beans Xiaqing left for it on the windowsill, and scavenge for food throughout the Evolution Forest to bring back to its hollow.

As long as the weather wasn’t too cold to leave its nest, it wouldn’t stop. Though they weren’t the same species, Xiaqing understood its obsession with food, because she shared that same obsession.

She took off her protective gloves, pulled a first-aid kit from her backpack to disinfect her hands, and then put on a pair of sterile gloves to examine the wound on the Red Squirrel’s abdomen.

With a single glance, Xiaqing identified what had injured the Red Squirrel.

It was a wound created when the root system of a Green Light Peanut was triggered, violently shooting out fibrous roots. Six of the peanut’s leaf-vein needles were still embedded in the wound. If the Red Squirrel didn’t possess a Speed Evolution Ability, it wouldn’t have just a scratch—the Green Light Peanut’s tendrils would have pierced its skin and drained its blood.

"If you weren’t my neighbor, you’d be dead for sure this time."

Xiaqing muttered to herself and then, with swift precision, pulled the peanut’s leaf-vein needles from the wound. She used a knife to shave away the blood-stained white fur, then cleaned, disinfected, and stitched the injury. Once she was done, she administered a dose of special Anti-inflammatory medicine from Territory Land No. 7 to the Red Squirrel.

She brought the Red Squirrel home, placed it on a pile of hay in the sheep pen, and instructed the Sheep Leader, "The Red Squirrel is hurt. Protect it for a bit. When it wakes up, let it go wherever it wants. You don’t have to watch it after that."

Xiaqing wouldn’t have brought it home if not for the scent of blood on the Red Squirrel, which could easily attract smaller predators.

"Baa."

Surprisingly, the Sheep Leader agreed without Xiaqing having to bribe it with compressed rations, and it lay down beside the Red Squirrel.

’Looks like those two know each other pretty well.’ Xiaqing raised an eyebrow, pulled a strip of beef jerky from her pocket, and dangled it in front of the Sick Wolf. "Second, what do you say we follow the Red Squirrel’s blood trail and find where the Green Light Peanuts are growing? If you’re willing, this beef jerky is all yours."

With the leaf-vein needles in its body, the Red Squirrel must have left a trail of blood from the Green Light Peanuts’ location all the way to Zone Three of Mountain 49. This was the perfect opportunity for Xiaqing to find them.

Truthfully, Xiaqing would have preferred to team up with Yan Long, the High Level Olfactory Evolver from Territory Land No. 7. However, the Fiery Fire Team had sent people to this area, and Yan Long was responsible for protecting Zhang San, so there was no way she could leave the territory right now.

Besides Yan Long, the only other Evolvers Xiaqing knew who could take on a mission in the Evolution Forest were the regular Olfactory Evolvers, Chen Zheng and Chen Cheng.

But the Red Squirrel was too fast, and it traveled by leaping through the treetops, leaving blood drops far apart. The Chen Family Brothers’ Evolution Levels were low; searching for the scent would take them far too long. It was already two in the afternoon, with only three hours left until sunset. There wasn’t enough time.

Wolves were naturally animals with an exceptional sense of smell. An evolved wolf, even one with just a standard evolution, still possessed a sense of smell superior to that of a High Level Olfactory human Evolver. That was why Xiaqing decided to team up with the keenly scented Evolutionary Wolf.

When the Sick Wolf saw the beef jerky Xiaqing pulled out, it gave an unprecedented two wags of its tail, a clear sign of how much it loved the treat.

Xiaqing fitted the Sick Wolf with its Protective Suit, tucked the jerky into a side pocket, and led it to the spot in Zone Three of Mountain 49 where she had found the injured Red Squirrel.

The Sick Wolf carefully sniffed the bloodstains the Red Squirrel had left on the branches. It then raised its head slightly, its sensitive nose sorting through the various scents in the air. It quickly locked onto the trail of blood and headed northwest along Valley No. 1.

Xiaqing followed behind it at full speed.

The temperature was around five degrees Celsius. Cold-blooded animals and insects had already gone into hibernation, and the deciduous trees had shed their leaves, revealing fruits of all sizes hanging from their bare branches.

This was the best time for hunting and gathering, an opportunity the Evolution Forest gave humans to stockpile food for the winter. If this area weren’t the Green Dragon Team’s training grounds, there would surely be other teams active nearby who would have spotted the Evolutionary Wolf running in its Protective Suit and the Human Evolver chasing it.

After more than six months of hard training, Xiaqing’s running speed had reached that of a Level 3 Evolver, but she was still left far behind by the Sick Wolf.

The Sick Wolf noticed Xiaqing slowing down and matched her pace. The wolf and human pair crossed through Valley No. 1 in Zone Three of Mountain 49 and entered Zone Six, but Xiaqing still didn’t tell the wolf to stop.

She had paid points to Yang Jin, which gave her free access to all zones of Mountain No. 49 for the winter and allowed her to participate in the Green Dragon Team’s training. As for how she would split the find with Yang Jin once she located the Green Light Peanuts, that was a problem for later.

But what Xiaqing hadn’t expected was that the Green Light Peanuts weren’t growing on Mountain No. 49 at all.

"Second, stop." Xiaqing called out to the Sick Wolf just as it was about to leave the territory of Mountain No. 49. Catching her breath for a few seconds, she pointed to Mountain No. 50 across the valley and asked the wolf as it trotted back, "Is the blood trail over there?"

The Sick Wolf panted, its tongue lolling out, and looked at Xiaqing with a slight tilt of its head—its gesture of confirmation.

Xiaqing hesitated for a moment, then took out her phone and called Hu Zifeng. "Captain Hu, I’m on the edge of Zone Six on Mountain 49. I want to head into the Evolution Forest below the Third Peak of Mountain No. 50. Do you know the current location of the refugees from the Second Territory?"

Hu Zifeng watched the woman and the wolf on his monitor. He didn’t ask what Xiaqing was up to, simply replying, "I’ll check. Give me two minutes."

"Alright, thank you."

Xiaqing hung up, took out two tubes of Special Level Nutrient Liquid, and drank one herself. Then she gestured for the Sick Wolf to raise its head and squeezed the contents of the second tube into its mouth.

Jing Kuan winced as he watched. "Sister Qing is actually feeding an Evolutionary Wolf a Special Level Nutrient Liquid..."

Guan Tong, however, was confused as to why Xiaqing was on the monitor at all. "Sunset is in two hours. If Sister Qing heads out now, can she even make it back before dark? Moving around the Evolution Forest alone at night is too dangerous."

Even though Xiaqing was a good shot and her combat skills had improved rapidly, to Guan Tong and the others, she was still just a Strength Evolver with decent marksmanship. It was far too dangerous for her to be in the Evolution Forest alone at night.

A Raccoon Cat poked its little head out from inside Hu Zifeng’s Protective Suit. Its round eyes stared intently at the monitor, at the clothed Evolutionary Wolf tilting its head back to drink the nutrient liquid, and at the human who was gently wiping the corners of the wolf’s mouth.

"Alright, you rest for a bit too, Second." After feeding the Sick Wolf the nutrient liquid, Xiaqing stuffed the empty packet into her pocket and sat on a rock to rest. The Sick Wolf settled down beside her, its back to her, ears pricked and alert.