Next, the two of them began to deal with the corpses of several wolves.
After all, the Wolf King was the mother of the two wolf cubs. Since Zhao Lian intended to adopt them, she did not intend to use their mother as food, so after discussing with Zhou Quchuan, she decided to cremate the mother wolf.
As for the other five grey wolves, Zhao Lian was not that saintly, so naturally, they were to be left as food. The fur on their bodies could be simply processed into warm clothing. Even if they didn't use it, it could be used to keep the little wolf cubs warm. After all, they were still too small, and whether they could survive the most difficult times was still unknown.
The Wolf King was about the same size as the mutant cheetah, weighing at least three hundred kilograms. Zhao Lian felt that they couldn't move it, so if they wanted to cremate it, they would have to do it right there. In this case, they would need a large amount of firewood, so they definitely wouldn't be able to fully handle the corpses of these wolves all at once today.
However, no matter what, eating was the most crucial. After the events of last night and the previous two terrifying experiences, Zhao Lian felt extremely exhausted physically and mentally and needed to rest well.
Seeing her looking exhausted, Zhou Quchuan suggested she rest in the back of the car first, and he would cut the firewood and roast the wolf meat.
But Zhao Lian declined the offer because from last night until now, it was not only her who was tired, especially Zhou Quchuan. He not only had to divert the pursuit of the convoy but had also been hiding in the water for so long, bearing a much heavier physical burden than her.
Seeing her insistence, Zhou Quchuan didn't say anything more. The two of them collected some tree branches and dry grass in the woods and started a fire.
However, when Zhao Lian tried to handle one of the wolf corpses, she struggled a bit because although these grey wolves looked weak, they were also mutant beasts, and their skin toughness had been greatly enhanced. Now that she was physically exhausted, she couldn't even cut open the wolf skin.
Luckily, Zhou Quchuan found a solution. He used an axe to chop off the wolf's head with all his strength and slowly peeled off the skin along the edge, revealing the muscle inside.
While the two were skinning the wolf, the two little wolf cubs in the back of the pickup truck seemed to wake up from the smell of blood, emitting tender howls.
Zhao Lian turned to look and saw the cheetah raising its palm, as if it was about to swat the two little wolf cubs away.
She hurried over, and seeing her approach, the cheetah reluctantly put down its paw, gently brushing the two wolf cubs, who had been pressing against it, to one side.
But perhaps the little wolf cubs were hungry and wanted to find milk, so they continued to twist their round bodies to press against the cheetah again.
Once Zhao Lian understood what was happening, she couldn't help but chuckle. Seeing the cheetah's reaction, she smoothly approached and gently patted the heads of the two wolf cubs, murmuring, "Are you hungry? Wait a little while, you'll have something to eat soon."
Initially, Zhao Lian was worried that the little wolf cubs would refuse to eat meat from their own kind, but when she grilled the meat and tore off a small piece, they immediately bit it.
She then offered the other piece to the other cub, and both wolf cubs made threatening sounds in their throats, indicating that they were protecting their food.
Amused and relieved, Zhao Lian divided two more pieces of meat and fed one to each cub, thinking to herself: they are so greedy like kittens and puppies.
The wolf cubs, like little dogs or cats, seemed to never get full. After giving each of them a palm-sized piece of meat, even though they continued to howl for more, she refused to feed them further, lest they would have indigestion and diarrhea.
After they had eaten and were about to rest, suddenly a "baa-ooo" sound of a sheep came from the woods.
Soon, a mother goat with tiny horns rushed out of the woods in panic. After seeing the two people, it tried to change direction and run to the other side, but was suddenly pounced on and pinned down by the cheetah, which had sprung out.
The mother sheep cried out for help under the cheetah, but the cheetah ignored it, turning its head to look at Zhao Lian and then at the two wolf cubs playing together at the back of the pickup truck.
Surprised, Zhao Lian quickly understood what was going on when she saw the two swollen teats on the mother sheep's belly.
The cheetah had gone to find a wet nurse for the wolf cubs!
It was quite remarkable how quickly it had found a mother sheep in the period of lactation.
Zhao Lian asked Zhou Quchuan to feed the cheetah a few pieces of roasted wolf meat while she hurried back to the farm to find ropes to tie up the mother sheep so that she could continue nursing the wolf cubs.
After she left the woods, Zhou Quchuan stopped cutting the meat and looked at the cheetah, tossing the knife aside and sitting lazily in place.
Seeing that he was wilfully contradicting Zhao Lian's instructions, the cheetah didn't dare to protest. It released the mother sheep and walked over to the remaining wolf carcass, dragging it to the side, and started to devour it.
The mother sheep, who had been crying out while laying on the ground, suddenly felt the pressure on her body disappear. She shakily stood up, about to run, but suddenly felt a terrifying presence pressing down on her, causing her to cower and kneel on the ground again.
The cheetah eating the wolf meat also felt the same pressure. It shuddered as it ate.
Seeing that the mother sheep was completely prostrate on the ground, with no thought of resistance, even if there was an order in that pressure that would make it headbutt to death, it would do so without hesitation.
The cheetah continued to lower its head to devour the wolf meat, feeling the same pressure. It saw the mother sheep completely prostrated not far away, with no thought of resistance, and looked at Zhou Quchuan. He seemed to be sitting so casually in place that the imposing aura directed at the mother sheep seemed effortless.
From this, it was clear to see the difference between him and the cheetah.
The cheetah lowered its head once again to continue eating the wolf meat. For a mutant beast like it, preying on other mutant beasts was the fastest way to increase its strength, so this wolf's meat had a beneficial effect for it. Especially the Wolf King's meat, as its level of mutation was higher than that of the cheetah. If the cheetah ate it, its strength might directly rise to another level. But since Zhao Lian had decided to cremate it and Zhou Quchuan didn't object, the cheetah didn't dare to say anything or even show a hint of longing for the Wolf King's corpse.
After a while, Zhao Lian brought a coarse hemp rope. She saw the mother sheep crawling on the ground, looking docile and accepting of being slaughtered. She found it somewhat strange, attributing it to being frightened by the leopard, and didn't think much of it.
Since the mother sheep was so obedient, it naturally saved her a lot of effort. She made a simple adjustable loop with one end of the hemp rope and put it around the mother sheep's neck, and tied the other end to a nearby tree.
Then she brought two wolf cubs from the car and placed them next to the mother sheep. Perhaps the mother sheep was in the nursing period, and had a natural affection for all young animals. Seeing Zhao Lian holding two wolf cubs, hungry and wanting milk, the mother sheep didn't resist.
The two wolf cubs, as expected, sought milk as they smelled it, regardless of whether the mother sheep was their own or not, and began to suckle eagerly.
Seeing them feed well, Zhao Lian breathed a sigh of relief. While sheep's milk may not be as good as maternal milk, it could provide enough nutrition to strengthen the wolf cubs' immunity.
As long as they got through these two months and passed the weaning period, the wolf cubs should be able to eat the same food as them three times a day.
Seeing her squatting by the mother sheep watching the wolf cubs suckle, Zhou Quchuan urged her to rest in the car, as there was still a lot of work to do after she woke up.
Zhao Lian also felt a little dizzy and decided that not resting could lead to illness, so she nodded and urged Zhou Quchuan to rest as well. She also asked the leopard to look after the two wolf cubs and then curled up and fell asleep in the back seat of the pickup truck.