Chapter 336: It Still Must Go to Battle

Chapter 336: Chapter 336: It Still Must Go to Battle

Xiaqing slogged through the mud, following the agitated Broken Waist Wolf into the cave entrance, when she heard a heavy SPLAT behind her.

The giant wolf that had carried Xiaqing at a frantic pace for dozens of miles could hold on no longer. It collapsed into the mud, tongue lolling as it panted heavily. It had truly given its all to get her here as fast as possible.

The giant wolf’s wounds were still bleeding. Lying in the mud like that, they would quickly become infected with evolutionary bacteria and make it sick. But the Head Wolf was waiting inside the cave, and Xiaqing couldn’t neglect the pack leader. She walked on, speaking to the Broken Waist Wolf, "Broken Waist, get the giant wolf that carried me into the cave. As soon as I’ve checked on the Queen, I’ll clean its wounds."

The Broken Waist Wolf let out a soft howl. The giant wolf, sprawled on the muddy ground, struggled to its feet. It had barely made it inside the cave before it crashed to the ground again.

Xiaqing couldn’t spare a moment to treat its wounds. The scene inside the cave had left her stunned.

It wasn’t just the Head Wolf that was injured. There was a whole group of them—six wounded wolves in all.

Some of the wolves had twisted limbs, others had their flesh ripped open, exposing their internal organs. Still others were unconscious and motionless. Xiaqing had no confidence she could save them all.

The broken leg wolf guarding the Head Wolf’s side saw Xiaqing and immediately began to whimper. Its cries were filled with desperation and sorrow.

The wolves that were still conscious but unable to move opened their eyes and stared warily at the human before them, slowly baring their fangs. Those that could still move raised their heads, their roars echoing through the valley.

The Wolf Group outside the cave heard the roars and grew restless, starting to howl themselves, but they were quickly silenced by a howl from the giant wolf on the mountaintop.

The Queen, guarded by the broken leg wolf and the Sick Wolf, lay motionless on the ground. Her four legs were a mangled, bloody mess!

Xiaqing immediately dropped her backpack, shed her protective gloves, and pulled out a headlamp and her medical kit. She quickly disinfected her hands, pulled on a pair of surgical gloves, and rushed to the Head Wolf’s side. "Queen!"

The Head Wolf opened her eyes to look at Xiaqing. Her once brilliant, golden eyes had grown dim.

"Oof," the Broken Waist Wolf whimpered, anxiously nudging the Head Wolf’s neck and pawing at the ground.

Only then did Xiaqing see it: lying on a nearby stone was an arm’s-length, fiery-red thin snake with a peanut-sized bulge on its head.

An Injuring Snake!

The Queen had been poisoned by an Injuring Snake!

No wonder the Broken Waist Wolf had so frantically sought her out instead of bringing the Head Wolf to her. After being struck by such a potent venom, the wound had to be bled immediately to prevent the poison from spreading and damaging vital organs.

The claws of the broken leg wolf, the Sick Wolf, and the Black Wolf were all bloody. It meant they were the ones who had clawed at the Head Wolf’s mangled limbs. The poultices of leaves on her legs and the herbs in her mouth had also been placed there by them.

But herbs like these couldn’t neutralize the Injuring Snake’s poison. Xiaqing immediately opened her medical kit, took out the anti-venom serum—kept chilled with an ice pack—and injected the Head Wolf.

Poisonous snakes were common in the territory, so ever since getting a refrigerator, Xiaqing had kept it stocked with anti-venom serum from Territory Land No. 7. This serum was one of Territory Land No. 7’s Special Medicines, capable of neutralizing four common types of snake venom, as well as the poison from typical Evolutionary Snakes and Poisonous Insects.

But even this special serum, produced by the leader of Territory Land No. 7, couldn’t neutralize the poison of an Injuring Snake.

After injecting the serum, Xiaqing moved the Head Wolf onto a clean stone. She used the Pollution-free Spring Water she had brought to wash the wounds on the wolf’s limbs, then disinfected, medicated, and bandaged them.

’What did it mean that the Head Wolf’s limbs were so torn up? It meant that her limbs, the parts not covered by the Protective Suit, had been bitten many times.’

’The Injuring Snake is a poisonous snake of the intermediate-speed evolutionary class. A Brain Domain Evolution Wolf possessing top-level speed should be able to easily avoid its attacks. So why was the Head Wolf bitten?’

’It meant that during the nighttime battle for revenge, the Head Wolf had taken on a crucial mission: clearing out the speed-type Evolved Poison Snakes.’

’That was probably why she followed the Broken Waist Wolf into the Third Territory yesterday to trade for the Protective Suit. If she hadn’t worn it, the bites wouldn’t have been confined to just her limbs.’

Without the aid of Injuring Snakes and other vipers, a few Evolutionary Pythons were no match for the Evolution Wolf Group.

Xiaqing didn’t know whose side the Evolution Bears had been on in this fight, or if it had been a three-way melee between the bears, snakes, and wolves. But the brutal aftermath of the battle was clear for her to see.

The conflicts between the wild animals of the Evolution Forest were far more brutal than Xiaqing had imagined. To survive on this evolved Blue Star, every species was fighting with all its might. ’This mountain must be incredibly important to the Wolf Group.’

The Head Wolf had completed her mission, and the Wolf Group was victorious.

But now the Head Wolf lay here, unable to fight. She probably never expected to be bitten, let alone so severely. After all, Injuring Snakes were extremely rare.

The wolves outside stood around, neither moving nor tearing at their prey. They were clearly waiting. Xiaqing didn’t fully understand for what, but she was sure it was related to the Head Wolf.

’If I hadn’t traded the Protective Suit to the Head Wolf, would she still have taken on such a dangerous mission? Would she still have been so grievously injured?’

Xiaqing took a deep breath and spoke to the anxious Broken Waist Wolf beside her. "I’ve neutralized some of the Queen’s venom, so her life isn’t in immediate danger. But it will take a long time to detoxify her completely. She needs to come back to my territory for treatment."

Although Xiaqing didn’t have the medicine to counter the Qiang Snake Poison, she knew who she could trade with to get it.

Xiaqing had the now-calm Broken Waist Wolf keep the other injured wolves in check while she quickly administered an oral anesthetic to them. While waiting for the drug to take effect, Xiaqing swiftly tended to the wounds on the giant wolf.

Then, Xiaqing turned to the most severely injured wolf. It had a gash in its abdomen, and a length of its intestine was protruding.

Xiaqing had never seen this kind of surgery performed on a wolf, but she had seen it done on humans. She had witnessed it firsthand in the Safe Zone and had also watched detailed instructional videos Chang Li had given her.

A wound like this had to be cleaned and disinfected first, then the intestine needed to be pushed back inside before the wound could be sutured and medicated. Finally, she would have to feed it Anti-inflammatory medicine and the Special Level Nutrient Liquid she had brought.

After suturing the wolf’s wound, Xiaqing moved on to the other four. She cleaned and disinfected the shallow wounds before applying a special styptic medicine and bandaging them. The deeper wounds required stitches.

Evolutionary Wolves had incredibly strong regenerative abilities. A flesh wound like this would heal quickly. Even the one whose intestine she’d pushed back in would be up and running in no time, as long as it didn’t get infected with a super-bacterium.

The real problem was the wolf with two broken hind legs. Xiaqing immobilized its legs with the splints she had brought, then told the Broken Waist Wolf, "This one needs to come back for treatment, too. Otherwise, even if it survives, it will never be able to run or hunt again."

"ROAR—"

The roar of an Evolution Bear sounded out, this time terrifyingly close and deafening.

"AWOOO—" The giant wolf on the mountaintop responded with an answering, furious howl. The sound sent a chill down Xiaqing’s spine.

The Broken Waist Wolf nudged Xiaqing’s arm with its body, then charged out with the broken leg wolf. The limping Sick Wolf beside Xiaqing and the giant wolf that had been resting on the ground also got to their feet and followed.

’Is another battle about to start?’

’All the wolves that could still stand have left. Am I supposed to guard these six injured ones by myself?’

Five of the six wolves were anesthetized and immobile. The only one that wasn’t, the Head Wolf, had wounded limbs and was suffering from the Qiang Snake Poison, leaving her temporarily powerless.

’If the wolves and bears start fighting, could poisonous snakes, Giant Pythons, or an Evolution Bear break through the Wolf Group’s defenses and charge into the cave?’

Xiaqing immediately opened her backpack, took out a snake and insect repellent medicine, and quickly sprayed it around the six injured wolves.

Just then, to her astonishment, the Head Wolf struggled to her feet and began to walk toward the cave entrance on her four bandaged legs.

She was going back to the fight.