Chapter 6: Good Dog
"The chicken soup is hot. Blow on it before you drink."
Hearing this, Fox Qi copied Nan Zishi, blowing on the chicken soup before slowly drinking it down.
The little fairy child’s eyes lit up instantly!
Nan Zishi smiled, her eyes crinkling.
’What fox doesn’t love chicken?’
She Yang slithered onto Fox Qi, who blew on the soup and fed She Yang two mouthfuls.
Nan Zishi made a little "oh" sound.
’These two little ones are quite close.’
The little white fox was naturally elegant, looking noble and beautiful even while drinking chicken soup.
After finishing the bowl of soup, Fox Qi felt his whole beastly self come back to life.
Fox Qi asked, "Pretty Lady, the wolves are still wild animals. Even if you fed them, there’s no guarantee they won’t attack Beastmen. Should we run now?"
Nan Zishi was rummaging through her space, searching for something.
"No rush." As she spoke, she finally found what she was looking for and said casually, "Do you guys know how Yu Xi Xiaoding tamed the black panther?... You wouldn’t. You don’t watch TikTok."
Then, Nan Zishi’s eyes lit up as she pulled out a huge iron shovel!
The beasts of the Beast World were generally larger than those on Earth.
But it didn’t matter.
Her shovel was a custom-made, giant version!
Nan Zishi stretched her muscles, cracked her neck, and pointed at the wolf pack opposite them. "Now that you’ve eaten my dog food, we should be able to have a proper conversation."
"AWOO!"
One large bag, a full ten kilograms of dog food, had finally satiated the starving pack.
Once full, the wolves looked at the human who had fed them with strange expressions in their eyes.
"Which one of you is the Wolf King? Step forward," Nan Zishi said, pointing at them.
The strongest wolf strode out with a powerful gait and let out two low growls.
Nan Zishi took out her shovel, pointed it at the wolf, and declared, "I challenge you!"
The wild Wolf King lowered its head and began to snarl.
Fox Qi and She Yang were shocked. ’The Pretty Lady is actually initiating a Wolf King challenge with the Wolf King?!’
At the declaration of a Wolf King challenge, the other wolves all fell back.
The two little cubs were very nervous. "Pretty Lady, you have to be careful!"
"Don’t worry."
With that, Nan Zishi really did begin to face off against the Wolf King, armed with just her shovel.
Nan Zishi felt the power in her hands.
After she had completed the child-bearing mission before, one of the system’s rewards was a common superpower—Strongman.
She could accidentally crack a table before if she wasn’t careful.
’Now, fighting a beast from the Beast World is a good chance to test the limits of my superpower.’
She Yang was a nervous wreck, his whole snake body twisting and turning restlessly.
Fox Qi, limping on his leg, gasped several times.
"We could have run while they were eating. Why didn’t the Pretty Lady run?"
Just as Fox Qi was agonizing over this, he heard an enormous THUD!
Nan Zishi’s shovel had come crashing down right on the Wolf King’s head, knocking it out cold!
’I only used thirty percent of my strength to knock out this Wolf King.’
’This superpower is pretty useful after all.’
The entire pack of gray wolves was stunned, and they took two steps back.
Nan Zishi stretched her limbs, stood up, and also took two steps back, moving to the two little cubs’ side.
Fox Qi and She Yang’s eyes were wide with disbelief!
’The Pretty Lady is that strong?!’
’Scary!’
She Yang was in complete awe of the super-strong Pretty Lady. The moment Nan Zishi came over, he wrapped himself around her arm.
Fox Qi, in his human form, looked hesitantly at her embrace, his face turning red.
’I’ve never been held by my mother, let alone any other female.’
’I kind of crave the brief warmth I felt in Nan Zishi’s arms earlier. But I’m too embarrassed to ask for a hug.’
’After all, there’s no real relationship between us.’
He shook his head, trying to cast the extravagant hope from his mind.
One female, two cubs, and a pack of wolves were all caught in a strange atmosphere.
They quietly waited for the Wolf King to awaken.
They didn’t have to wait long. The Wolf King shook its head and came to. It seemed dazed for a moment, then, before Nan Zishi, it assumed a posture of submission.
The rest of the gray wolves followed suit, also assuming a submissive posture.
Fox Qi: "..."
She Yang: "..."
’Why is this happening?’
Nan Zishi patted the Wolf King’s head like they were old pals. "Little bro, from now on, you’re my wolf bro. And listen, little bro, even though I beat you, I don’t want your position as Wolf King. You’ll still be in charge of your pack."
Nan Zishi took out five unopened bags of "Mou Le" brand dog food from her space.
"This is the favorite brand of that little terror of a poodle I have at home. The taste isn’t bad, right? Your big sis here will give them to you as a welcoming gift."
"Hey, hey, don’t be in a rush to eat. This stuff is different from the meat you hunt."
"Dog food can be stored, and for a very long time."
"Find a place to hide them. Only open them when you’re starving later."
"These are emergency rations! Emergency rations, got it?!"
The Wolf King seemed to understand and actually gave a very human-like nod. "Awoo, awoo."
"Okay, deal!"
Nan Zishi let out a whistle. "This is the sound I’ll use to call you from now on. Did you hear that clearly?"
"AWOO!" the Wolf King howled.
"AWOO!!!" the pack howled.
"Good dogs!" Nan Zishi said with satisfaction.
The wolves twitched their ears. They didn’t understand what "good dogs" meant, but they figured it was probably praise.
A few of the lowest-ranking wolves in the pack each shouldered a large, green bag of dog food. Led by the Wolf King, who kept looking back reluctantly, the entire pack departed.
Nan Zishi theatrically wiped away non-existent tears, as if she couldn’t bear to see her little bros go.
The air was quiet for a moment.
Just then, Fox Qi suddenly cried out in a panic, "My medicine! My medicine is gone!"
"HISS!" ’Fox Qi, don’t worry, it’s here, it’s here!’
The little blue snake’s tail was curled around a medicinal herb as he slithered toward Fox Qi.
Fox Qi quickly and carefully cradled the herb in his hands.
’So close. I almost lost the precious herb.’
"Hiss..." ’Is this the medicine for Uncle Hu Bai?’
Fox Qi nodded.
Nan Zishi looked at the herb in Fox Qi’s hands. It was common woad root.
Since woad root was a rather versatile herb, Nan Zishi couldn’t immediately tell what illness the little fox was trying to treat with it.
’Probably a cold,’ she thought.
Nan Zishi listened to the two little ones converse, completely baffled as she couldn’t understand snake-speak.
Seeing her confusion, Fox Qi explained, "Pretty Lady, I have to get home before dawn."
Nan Zishi asked, "Little one, your family actually lets a little cub like you go into the forest in the middle of the night? Where are your father and mother? What about the other members of your family?"
Fox Qi looked a little awkward.
A complete Beast Family was centered around a female.
A single female usually had numerous male partners. Not all males had the right to have cubs.
Only the fortunate males would get to have cubs of their own.
Therefore, the number of males in a family was one of the standards for measuring a Beast Family’s strength.
But his family had no female, only a sickly father and him, who was not yet grown.
It was the weakest, most vulnerable Beast Family imaginable.
"Pretty Lady, thank you for saving me. I really have to go back now."
"Wait!" Nan Zishi ruffled her own hair, decided it didn’t feel good enough, and ruffled Fox Qi’s little head instead.
"You’re just a little cub, crossing the forest in the middle of the night. Do you have a death wish? If you have to go, at least wait until morning."
Fox Qi’s eyes reddened.