Henry Carter pointed to the west and said, “There are no traces of wild beasts passing by over there, so it should be relatively safe!”

　　In matters like this, William Carter couldn’t get a word in; he simply couldn’t compare to those who had already lived in Fengzhou for several years. However, he was still very interested in the thing that could tear apart prairie demon wolves with its bare hands, and couldn’t help but glance a few more times at the corpses of those demon wolves. If he didn’t already know it wasn’t wise to mess with those wolf corpses, he would have gone over to inspect them long ago, to see just how that monster managed to kill seven or eight demon wolves.

　　Thinking of the wolf pelt in his arms, William Carter felt a bit regretful, but then he thought to himself, “Forget it, these demon wolves are of ordinary build, there’s no way they could have gained any spiritual power... it’s impossible for them to produce wolf pelts with totems.”

　　He followed the group around the mound, and before they had gone far, William Carter heard a faint cry. He looked around and saw that everyone else had heard it too, so he quickly asked, “Can any of you tell where that sound is coming from?”

　　David Miller said excitedly, “It should be a demon wolf pup. That’s even more valuable than an adult demon wolf. If we can catch one and raise it, it could become a great help in hunting.”

　　Hearing what David Miller said, everyone’s spirits lifted. The demon wolf pups were not far away, so their den must be nearby as well. If they could find the spoils these demon wolves had collected, this trip would not have been in vain.

　　Emily Thompson, Henry Carter, and David Miller were all experienced hunters. Following the cries of the demon wolf pups, they quickly found a huge boulder sheltered from the wind. The boulder was as large as several rooms, with an ancient cypress growing on top, lush and green. In the crevice beneath the boulder, three blue-furred demon wolf pups were whimpering pitifully. Who knew how many days they had gone hungry—their cries were weak and feeble, truly pitiable.

　　Emily Thompson, nimble as ever, darted under the boulder and picked up one of the demon wolf pups. The little wolf stuck out its pink tongue and kept licking Emily Thompson’s fingers, clearly starving, treating her fingers as if they were its mother’s teats. Emily Thompson giggled as she was licked, took out half a piece of jerky, tore it into small pieces, and gently fed it to the pup.

　　The little wolf was obviously famished and, without hesitation, gobbled up all the jerky Emily Thompson offered as if it were rations. Still unsatisfied, it kept licking Emily Thompson’s fingers and whimpered in a spoiled, babyish voice. But Emily Thompson, afraid it might overeat, only stroked it gently and refused to feed it any more.

　　The chubby Samuel Carter was also quite fond of these wolf pups. Since Emily Thompson had already picked the best-looking one, he had to settle for another, sturdier pup. Grinning, he said, “Brothers, let me have this one, all right? Can this little wolf pup be mine?”

　　William Carter laughed and said, “Listen to you, as if anyone would fight you for it. We won’t compete with you. As for the last one, I think it’s perfect for Edward Carter to raise. Who knows, once you raise them, they might have several litters of pups. After a few generations of domestication, they’ll make excellent hunting dogs.”

　　Samuel Carter was even happier after hearing this. He picked up the last pup as well, and David Miller patted him on the shoulder with a smile, saying, “You’d better take good care of it. In our Xici Town, there are only two or three people who have managed to raise demon wolves into reliable helpers. So many people in town envy them. Once these things grow up, with a bit of training, you’ll probably catch two or three times as much game as others.”

Chapter Fourteen: Jade Bait

　　William Carter was more concerned about what might be in the demon wolf den. He lowered his head and crawled under the boulder. This den had probably housed more than a dozen demon wolves. The entrance was narrow, but inside it was quite spacious—wide enough for more than ten paces from east to west. Besides the three wolf pups, there were two even younger ones lying motionless in the nest, clearly already starved to death.

　　On the east side of the den was a stone platform, piled with various items. Among the messy heap of more than a dozen bloodstained garments—likely stripped from humans attacked by the demon wolves—William Carter casually pushed some aside and, sure enough, found a few human tools underneath. Among them was a very old-fashioned longsword with its scabbard, and a waist-high short staff, dark and seemingly rusted.

　　What William Carter wanted most, of course, was a spear, since he and David Miller had learned the Yue family spear technique. These two weapons left him rather disappointed. Just as he was about to search further, the The Carter Family brothers and David Miller also crawled in.

　　“Hey, there really are things the demon wolves collected in their den. These demon wolves must have hoped that after gaining spiritual power, they could wear human clothes. They all deserve to die,” Samuel Carter cursed in a low voice, filled with righteous indignation.

　　William Carter also frowned. As a human, he certainly didn’t have any foolish ideas about demon beasts also being born of mothers and deserving the right to live. When only one race can survive in this world, there aren’t many idiots who would think there’s a second choice.

　　David Miller, seeing the bloodstained clothes, was also a bit angry and said in a low voice, “Good thing Emily Thompson didn’t come in. A girl like her definitely couldn’t bear to see this.”

　　Demon wolves only had teeth and claws. One could easily imagine what the clothes snatched from their human victims looked like—definitely not something a girl should see.