Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

Qi Mo felt uneasy. Earlier, the kitten Snowball had apparently scratched someone’s eye—could she have gotten outside now?

She was so small—could she handle such a huge mutated wolf?

Worried sick, Qi Mo immediately began whispering as he searched, “Snowball, Snowball, where are you? You’re too small to fight those mutated wolves. Come out, don’t scare your daddy…”

Huo Liangchuan, bro, Xiao Mo just claimed another cat as your son!

Chief Huang Ming cut in quickly, “Shh, look—is that a huge cat? It’s squaring off with the mutated wolves. Could that cat be related to yours?”

Upon hearing this, Qi Mo immediately turned toward the window.

So did Huo Liangchuan.

Looking closely, their little kitten Snowball was adorable, super cute…

Meanwhile, the large cat outside also had big, kawaii eyes. Its white fur gleamed in the moonlight, and its golden eyes glowed.

The mutated wolves had already noticed the enormous feline.

The three wolves howled—“Awooo!”

*Translated internally:* *What’s a cat doing here, stirring up trouble?*

*Boss, this cat looks big enough to feed half of us.*

Another mutated wolf added, “Then quit yapping—charge!”

And so, the mutated wolves charged.

Watching the wolves rush toward the giant cat, Qi Mo fretted, “Could this really be Snowball’s mom or dad?”

“Possibly. It looks a lot like the little one,” Huo Liangchuan replied.

Qi Mo jerked back from the window and shouted, “Big cat, run! There are three of them—they’ll gang up on you!”

The huge cat turned its head and let out a gentle *meow* toward its worried father.

The wolves attacked at that moment.

Qi Mo nearly covered his eyes in terror, shielding Chubby Baby’s eyes too, terrified the cat would be ripped to shreds.

“Holy shit, that’s brutal!” Huo Liangchuan blurted out.

Chief Huang Ming mused, “I feel like I’ve seen these moves before… weirdly familiar.”

“The eye-gouging mutant,” the soldier added.

“It might really be it,” Huang Ming said in surprise.

But Qi Mo shook his head. “Probably not. With claws like that, one slash from this cat would’ve taken Huo Jingzhong’s whole head off—not just blinded one eye.”

That made sense to Huang Ming and the others.

“Are there really this many mutated cats?” Huang Ming asked aloud. After all, the wounds on the Zhang Village victim were minor, while Huo Jingzhong’s injuries were much worse—and this was even more extreme.

With a single swipe, the huge cat split the skull of one mutated wolf open.

The giant mutated wolf soon learned that the big kitty wasn’t just cute—it was terrifyingly strong, ripping out wolf brains at the slightest provocation…

The two mutated wolves immediately charged up the mountain.

Snowball the little kitty wouldn’t let them escape. Picking a fight with it? Daring to come after its dad? That alone was a death sentence.

Snowball spun around, lunged forward, and with a single swipe shattered one wolf’s back.

The other mutated wolf had managed to run quite far—it was the fastest.

But it still couldn’t escape Snowball’s pursuit. With Little Uncle getting involved too, wolves were vengeful creatures. Snowball couldn’t allow these mutated beasts to target Dad, Brother, or Uncle—so they had to be eliminated.

Another swipe—and the wolf stood no chance. Even a glancing blow was lethal.

Thus, the beast’s neck was snapped and died instantly.

Snowball’s body suddenly shrank like a popped balloon, returning to its tiny, adorable, ridiculously cute form.

Qi Mo, seeing how powerful the big kitty was, wondered if his own little Snowball was just as formidable.

For now though, he needed to find Snowball first.

“Snowball, Snowball! Where are you?! Quit hiding! Get over here!” Qi Mo shouted while scouring the place.

Director Huang Ming and the Special Forces soldiers were heading downstairs.

They were on their way to the chicken farm to check on their squad.

Huo Liangchuan, wary of the danger, remarked, “My sister-in-law’s kitty Snowball is friendly toward humans, but that big cat? Hard to say—it’s downright vicious.”

“That big cat didn’t seem interested in entering the village. It seemed to have a grudge against those wolves—probably no intention of attacking people,” Director Huang Ming replied.

He needed to check on his team now—if anyone was injured, they’d need immediate medical care.

Qi Mo carried Chubby baby back to the bedroom to look for Snowball.

Pushing the door open, he called again, “Snowball, Snowball! Come here!”

Earlier, he had already searched the room, but Snowball hadn’t appeared.

This time, however, a soft meow answered.

Qi Mo lit up immediately. “Snowball! So you *were* in the room!”

Then he saw the little white furball crawl out from under the bed—tiny, quickly running over to circle his feet, swishing its tail to beg for scritches.

Thrilled, Qi Mo scooped up the kitty and plopped it into Chubby baby’s lap. Now he could cuddle both the baby *and* the cat…

Finding Snowball made him very happy.

“Liang Chuan! Liang Chuan! Let’s drag those mutated wolves back—free protein!” Qi Mo shouted.

Hearing this, Huo Liangchuan grabbed a cleaver and hurried downstairs.

Together, they dragged the two wolves from outside the yard inside. The mutated beasts were enormous, their thick and gleaming fur glossy and luxuriously soft to the touch.

While Qi Mo began skinning them, Huo Liangchuan went off to find Director Huang and track down the other wolf.

They had to save one for the Director.

Chief Huang quickly arrived at the chicken farm with his special ops team—the guards at the farm were fine.

They took back the injured pig and the wolf Huo Liangchuan had found. Huang Ming left the other three wolves for Qi Mo.

As for the big cat, Huang Ming suspected it might be the mother or father of the kitten Qi Mo was raising, so he decided not to take its prey.

Otherwise, he might end up like Huo Jingzhong—getting his eyes gouged out in the middle of the night.

Skinning, cutting the meat, and salting it.

They’d dry it tomorrow and then smoke it.

When Huo Liangchuan returned, he saw Xiao Mo working busily like a bee.

“Xiao Mo, go rest. I’ll handle this. Just tell me how, and I’ll make sure it’s done right. You’re pregnant—what if the baby gets hurt? Medical care is hard to come by these days,” Huo Liangchuan reminded him.

Qi Mo thought about it and agreed. With their current conditions, he should rest properly. “Alright then, skin all the wolves, stretch the pelts on drying frames, and put them in the living room. Otherwise, they’ll stiffen up by morning.”

“Salt all the meat, dry it tomorrow, and roast it tomorrow night so it’ll keep longer,” Qi Mo instructed.

After a moment, Qi Mo turned back and asked, “Did we forget something?”

Huo Liangchuan thought for a while and said, “Not that I can think of. Xiao Mo, take Chubby to bed. Look, he’s already half-asleep. If you don’t put him down, he won’t go on his own.”

Qi Mo glanced at Chubby in the cart.

The little one’s eyelids were indeed heavy, battling sleep, yawning repeatedly, but stubbornly refusing to close his eyes.

After washing his hands, Qi Mo picked up Chubby and the kitten Snowball beside him, taking them upstairs.

It was already late into the night.

Qi Mo lay on the bed, and Chubby automatically rolled close to his daddy, pulling the kitten with him.

Thankfully, the kitten was tiny enough to be dragged over by the tail.

Qi Mo patted Chubby’s head. “Baby Yan, be gentle. You’ll hurt the kitten, and then it won’t play with you. See how you like that.”

Unfortunately, the nine-month-old chubby toddler still couldn’t understand his daddy’s words.

His big eyes drooped, and soon, lulled by his daddy’s voice, he fell fast asleep…

Jiang Nuan had escaped and soon ran into two other Jiang family henchmen.

She tore into them.

These two had fled when the mistress was in danger. If they returned, they would surely be punished, even expelled—or worse, executed.

After incurring Jiang Nuan’s wrath, their lives would be miserable. So, with nothing left to lose, they gave in to malice and moved closer to her.

Without a gun, and with the two men no longer fearing her, she was just a paper tiger now.

The beautiful woman, who’d always acted so high and mighty, now trembled as they approached.

They yanked her into an abandoned house by the road.

Early the next morning, Huo Liangchuan yawned as he worked. Cutting up the meat went fast, but skinning was tough, especially for a novice like him.

Then he remembered—the thing they’d forgotten last night: Jiang Nuan. He had come here to deal with her, the woman who wanted to capture Xiao Mo to threaten his brother.

Last night, Jiang Nuan and her group had been chased by the giant mutant wolf at the entrance, and then… they’d lost track of them. Or what became of their bodies.

Huo Liangchuan jolted awake. He hadn’t disposed of the bodies last night.

Dropping the wolf-skinning tools, he rushed out of the house to haul the bodies away and bury them outside the village…