"Awooo— Woof woof~"
In the story told by the grey wolf cub, the terrifying Spirit Beast it and its mother encountered was an aquatic Spirit Beast, hiding by the riverbank. The cub's mother was dragged into the river channel when she lowered her head to drink water.
Even as the grey wolf cub spoke of it, it was still scared, having never seen something so terrifying before.
It was really a pink tentacle that shot out from the river and coiled around a creature, pulling it into the channel.
"What do you all think?"
Master Fuli, after some contemplation, turned to Tang Lian, who had been listening the whole time, and asked, "Any clues?"
The story told by the grey wolf cub shouldn't be false, but there's currently a small problem.
And that is... where is that aquatic Spirit Beast?
Although the wolf pack has a relatively fixed area, they migrate for food and seasons. To find out where the attack happened, we need to know which part of the river the grey wolf cub and its mother were near over a month ago, to conduct a targeted investigation.
"The wolf pack's activities are relatively fixed, I can check it out and narrow it down."
Tang Lian pulled out his phone, logged into the Security Bureau's database using his phone, and entered keywords for wolf pack sightings, which brought up a dense list of entries.
"You can find all that?"
Master Fuli was somewhat surprised and remarked to Tang Lian, who was querying the data, "Did you put GPS trackers on all the grey wolves?"
"No."
Looking at his phone, Tang Lian shook his head and said, "Master Fuli is probably unaware since you just arrived in our Northern region. In the grasslands of our Northern area, there's a type of structure called 'Emergency Resource Points.'"
"In simple terms, in the no-man's-land, herders set up emergency resource points. These serve as supply spots herders can use when they cannot return home due to grazing or if they encounter an incident like losing food. They can resupply and set up campfires to stay overnight temporarily."
As Tang Lian said this, he glanced at the big grey wolf and other little foxes and remarked, "Those were originally meant for the herders and those in distress, but..."
"The wolf pack and mice on the grasslands treat the emergency resource points as resource refresh points."
"Herders report from time to time, and consequently, we gradually understand the wolf pack's movements."
"Grey wolves... are scarce on the grassland."
Grassland wolves are a subspecies of grey wolves, with about two to three thousand within the Northern territory, and even if you add the Outer regions with about ten thousand, it still wouldn't reach thirty thousand total.
In Spring Mountain Grassland, there are only about two to three wolf packs actively, and they total sixty to seventy wolves.
"From the herder reports of wolf pack sightings a month ago by the riverbank, it appears to be West Xiang River running through the entire Spring Mountain Grassland. The sighting points are Resources Points 11, 26, 33, and 46 on Highway X092..."
Tang Lian finished organizing the data and stated the common locations of the wolf pack while also reporting the Spirit Beast information in the river to the dispatch platform, arranging for relevant files.
"Is the journey far?" Master Fuli asked.
"Heading north for another fifty kilometers will take us to the first sighting point, and following the river to search through the entire stretch will still require about thirty-four kilometers," Tang Lian told Master Fuli the search range:
"If things go smoothly, half a day..."
"Half a day? You, come over here!" Master Fuli bent down and grabbed the big grey wolf's neck, asking it, "You should remember where your home was, right? About a month ago."
Picked up by Master Fuli, the big grey wolf showed a hint of bewildered expression and said, "Awooo..."
If I arrive at the place... I should be able to recall. The place should still have the scent of where we lived.
"That'll work, hop in the car with me!"
Master Fuli nodded, called out with a gentle croon to signal the Fox Race to make way, indicating that they would go out with the people from the Security Bureau.
Master Fuli threw the grey wolf leader into the back seat, took the driver's seat, and said to the Knife-Sheep and Tang Lian, "It's seven fifteen now, I need to be back home by nine thirty. Both of you, get in the car quickly!"
"Oh, and Housekeeper Lin and Little Yu will stay here. Ba Mountain Mosquito and Medicine Spring Mountain Lord will maintain order and entertain the friends on the grassland well, they have food delivery covered."
"Huh?"
Tang Lian, with a puzzled face, sat in the front passenger seat, staring blankly at Master Fuli in the driver's seat:
"Master Fuli... have you learned to drive?"
"You speak as if there's a fox driving school, isn't driving just stepping on the pedal to the floor?"
Master Fuli's body slightly expanded, four fluffy fox tails extending. One cushioned the seat, the other two stretched to the pedals while the last one pushed the gear shift.
"Rumble—"
The engine made a "rumble" sound as it raced across the grassland, accelerating as the engine sound changed to a whistling tone.
Tang Lian widened his eyes, gradually sinking into the seat, straining to look sideways at Master Fuli:
"Master Fuli... is this sound normal?"
That whistling scream was clearly the sound of the engine's mechanical turbocharging engaging.
Yet, a Raptor is a V8 naturally aspirated engine, how could it have turbo sound?
"V8 twin-turbo, 1100 horsepower." Master Fuli adjusted the navigation, lifted a paw, and pressed down on the steering wheel horn, emitting a sharp honk to clear out any potential little cuties on the grassland.
"........"
Hearing Master Fuli's words, Tang Lian's mouth twitched, choosing not to say anything, and like Knife-Sheep in the back seat, silently fastened the seatbelt. The grey wolf leader, with its mouth agape sinking into the seat, trembled as it reached out a paw to scratch Knife-Sheep.
What are you fastening...?
Can you help fasten for me too? I'm scared...
"Beep beep—"
The floodlight-equipped Raptor didn't stick to any road, racing across the muddy grassland at one hundred forty to fifty speed. Master Fuli kept in mind that he had no license and the truck had no plates.
"Ahhh— the car... the car is flying!" Tang Lian wore a horrified expression, grabbing the handle tightly.
A journey that should have taken more than forty minutes, reached in just twenty under Master Fuli's unlicensed driving.
"Grasslands are great! No traffic lights, no slow crawlers."
Arriving in front of Resource Point 11, Master Fuli turned the steering wheel fully, a reverse drift parallel park, expressing his feelings about driving with a face full of emotion.
"Urk..."
The driver's and back seat doors swung open, Tang Lian and Knife-Sheep staggered out, reaching the roadside and simultaneously opening their mouths to spew a particle stream.
"Aren't you... from the field?"
Seeing Tang Lian and Knife-Sheep's cowardly state, Master Fuli gave them a look of disdain and criticism.
"Grey wolf, stop dawdling and lead the way." Master Fuli unfastened his seatbelt, went to the back seat, and pulled up the dazed big grey wolf, signaling it to lead him back home next to search down the river.
"Awooo..."
The feet-on-the-ground big grey wolf opened its mouth, a particle stream sprayed out.
"Hey hey hey! I warn you, puke if you must but don't waste what's given to us, and swallow it back!"
With even the canine cousin from the wolf race puking, Master Fuli quickly warned it.
"Ugh..."
The big grey wolf responded weakly, shaking as it led Master Fuli back to its home in the grassland.
Arriving at Resource Point 11.
Feeling hungry, the big grey wolf lunged into an old brick-and-tile house, munching down on garlic, onions, and potatoes to quell its internal hunger.
"?"
Seeing this, Master Fuli gave a puzzled look.
This... is this in line with the wolf race's ancestral teachings?