The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3081 Protection Measures
The stubborn donkey is very intelligent. Although it doesn't understand much of human language, it can still understand its meaning through simple explanations.

When Chen Mo asked it whether to stay or leave, the stubborn donkey began to think about it seriously.

“If you come with me, you’ll see more of the world and gradually improve your strength.” Chen Mo explained the situation to the stubborn donkey, and after it understood, he continued, “If you stay here, I’ll leave you some pills to increase your strength and ensure you can survive here.”

Although the stubborn donkey cannot speak, it can express some basic meanings through consciousness.

So after thinking for a while, it raised its head and howled a few times, indicating to Chen Mo that it wanted to stay here.

Although it longed to leave with Chen Mo and see the outside world, it still had its own pack here. If it left, the remaining wolves in the pack might gradually die out, and the entire pack might even perish.

"Huh, you said you have another tribe? Didn't I already..." Chen Mo was surprised, not expecting that this stubborn donkey actually had tribe members. Could it be that what he had killed earlier was only on the surface, and that the stubborn donkey had other tribes in secret?
Upon hearing this, the stubborn donkey immediately transmitted some more information. After Chen Mo received and understood it, he gained a greater understanding of the donkey's cleverness.

It turned out that when Chen Mo lured the wolf pack out to kill them, and then lured them out a second time, the stubborn donkey had already sensed something was wrong. Therefore, the wolf king arranged for some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled wolves, as well as some of the pack's cubs, to leave.

The cavern contained many passageways, so those who were instructed to leave chose a passageway in the opposite direction. They could not return without receiving further information.

Therefore, when Chen Mo was killing the wolf pack, he didn't carefully calculate the exact number of wolves. Instead, after luring them out to kill several times, he saw that there weren't many left in the cave and assumed that he had really wiped them all out.

Indeed, to become the king of a beast clan, one must possess considerable intelligence. This wolf king was able to prepare for both possibilities, not only directing his clan to attack the invaders but also preserving the lineage of his own clan.

"How many people of your tribe are left now?"

Upon hearing Chen Mo's words, the stubborn donkey conveyed a message to wait, then turned and ran towards a passage in the cave.

Upon seeing this, Chen Mo quickly removed the array restrictions, no longer blocking the stubborn donkey's departure. Now that the Wolf King had submitted to him, it would not rebel or harm him, so the Wolf King's journey to a passage was likely to bring the remaining wolves over.

Sure enough, after a short while, rustling sounds came from the passage, and then the stubborn donkey returned with a large group of wolves.

This time, the number of wolves following the stubborn donkey was not large, only about two hundred. Most of them were cubs, many walking unsteadily, but they looked quite adorable. There were also a few wolves that were either disabled, injured, or very old.

Unexpectedly, this stubborn donkey even moved away the old, disabled, and injured wolves, which really made it different from the other wolf packs.

If it were any other wolf pack, when faced with the threat of extinction, these disabled and injured wolves would be placed on the first death list, instead of being moved away like the stubborn donkey.

Perhaps it's because this stubborn donkey is more intelligent that it behaves this way.

Chen Mo crouched down, wanting to tease a wolf cub that stumbled towards him, but unexpectedly, the cub grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up, whimpering softly. He was quite speechless. He could only laugh and then put the wolf cub down.

After the wolf cub was released, it immediately tucked its tail between its legs and stumbled away to a distance, still whimpering. He found the wolf cub quite adorable.

All the wolves that followed the stubborn donkey, unless they were too young, began to bare their teeth and show hostility towards Chen Mo upon seeing him.

However, amidst the stubborn donkey's howling, the wolves gradually lowered their hostility. But the old and adult wolves did not approach him; instead, they crouched away from him, silently watching everything. Only the pups stumbled and ran up to him, some even biting his trouser leg, swinging it back and forth, and making whimpering sounds.

It seemed as if they regarded Chen Mo as an enemy, but because their strength was too weak, they even tripped up themselves.

After observing all the wolves, he was quite pleased with the stubborn donkey's previous arrangements.

If the stubborn donkey stays, then with that number of wolves, they should be able to develop. Perhaps in a few decades, they might be able to restore their original population size.

"You little rascal, you're really clever." Chen Mo understood the meaning behind it and immediately stroked the stubborn donkey's wolf head, praising it highly. However, he changed the subject abruptly, patting the stubborn donkey's head and saying, "Why are you so stubborn? If you had submitted to me earlier, maybe we wouldn't have such a small number left."

The stubborn donkey rolled its eyes, feeling that its master, whom it had submitted to, was indeed being somewhat wise after the event. If it had submitted earlier, would it have been possible? Back then, it had never seen its master express any intention to submit. And later, if it hadn't moved the wolves, perhaps none of them would have been left; they would all have been wiped out.

Fortunately, it was smart enough to immediately move part of the wolf pack when it sensed danger; otherwise, the entire pack might have been wiped out.

Unfortunately, the person in front of it was already its master, so whatever he said went, and it couldn't refute him, it could only roll its eyes. "It seems that if you stay here, I don't need to worry about you. As long as you have time, you can develop the tribe again." Chen Mo then took out a Spirit Awakening Pill (Beast Spirit Pill) and held it to the stubborn donkey's mouth.

The Enlightenment Pill was concocted by Chen Mo for his two dogs, Da Huang and Da Hui. After taking the pill, the two dogs' intelligence improved significantly. Therefore, giving it to this stubborn donkey would also be the icing on the cake, making him even smarter.

"Eat it, this is very good for you."

Upon hearing this, the stubborn donkey swallowed it without hesitation.

Seeing the stubborn donkey absorbing the pills, Chen Mo activated the array base and started the array. After activating all the composite arrays, he then activated the Qiankun Pearl in his dantian. He entered the Qiankun Pearl, took out the Qi-Awakening Pills and some healing pills that he had previously stored inside, and prepared to give them all to the stubborn donkey.

In addition, he took out a lot of food from the Qiankun Pearl, mostly dried meat, and even some dog food and other food.

After all, Qian Ying and the rest of the martial arts force were still coming, and if the stubborn donkey went out, they might clash with him. Those two old men with innate abilities would definitely attack the stubborn donkey as well, and the remaining wolves really weren't enough for the two old men to wipe them out.

So he prepared this food so that the stubborn donkey could lead the herd to hide first, and they would be safe after they left.

After Chen Mo prepared these things, closed the formation again, and retrieved all the formation bases, the stubborn donkey also woke up.

When the stubborn donkey opened its eyes, Chen Mo noticed that its gaze had lost much of its ferocity and gained a touch of cunning.

Chen Mo stepped forward, stroked the stubborn donkey's head, and chuckled, saying, "It seems you already know the effects of the pills you took earlier. How about it? Pretty good, right?"

Upon hearing this, the stubborn donkey immediately shook its head and brayed, expressing its gratitude to Chen Mo in a very affectionate manner.

"Good that you understand." Chen Mo patted the stubborn donkey's head, then pointed to a large pile of things on the ground, especially the dozens of porcelain bottles, and said to it, "These few bottles contain the Qi-Enhancing Pills you just ate, and these dozen or so bottles contain Healing Pills. I'll leave them all for you."

Originally, the stalactite on the stone pillar could not only satisfy hunger but also heal wounds, and its effects were far superior to healing pills. However, he had already taken the stalactite and scraped away all the dried stalactite from the stone pillar.

That's why he left these healing pills behind, as a kind of compensation.

The stubborn donkey's eyes lit up when it saw what Chen Mo took out. It immediately picked it up and trotted back to the original stone platform. After going back and forth several times, it had hidden all the porcelain bottles.

"Keep these foods safe; they're all easy to store." He then instructed the stubborn donkey to stay hidden for a while and not to go out. Next, he circulated his true energy, leaving some on the stubborn donkey and some wild wolves for future identification.

After all, if Qian Ying comes looking for them, he'll definitely ransack the place again, and he won't spare the stubborn donkey and its remaining tribe. So it's best to stay hidden and not let them find us.

Upon hearing this, the stubborn donkey nodded frantically, indicating that he would definitely hide it well.

After giving his instructions, Chen Mo said, "Alright, that's all for now. All good things must come to an end, and we'll meet again someday. You stay here and focus on developing your clan. Hopefully, when we meet again, your clan will have returned to its original size."

He patted the stubborn donkey's head and then slipped away from the cave.

Behind him, the stubborn donkey watched Chen Mo's departing figure and the dark cave passage, then raised its head and brayed, as if seeing him off.

Other wolves joined in, howling in unison. Even many wolf cubs howled along with them.

For a moment, the howling of wolves echoed throughout the cave.

In the middle of the cave, not far from the stone pillar, there was a dark, deep cave. From within, after the howling of wolves, faint sounds could also be heard. However, perhaps because the cave was too deep, or the sounds were too faint, they were not heard by the wolves.

However, the aura emanating from the cave abruptly silenced the howling wolves, leaving them completely still.

Unfortunately, Chen Mo was already quite far from the cave hall, almost at the cave entrance, when he didn't hear the wolf howls suddenly stop.