She was indeed a bit injured.
After all, she had just fought off so many wolves.
Her arm had been bitten.
Of course, Lin Zhen was also injured.
Only Hasanmu, who attacked from a distance, remained unharmed.
Song Wei had mentally prepared for this and had brought medical supplies. However, before bandaging the wounds to stop the bleeding, they needed to disinfect them first.
Lin Zhen took out a flask.
It wasn’t filled with water but with strong liquor.
Using liquor to disinfect wounds was painful, but neither of them made a sound. Their faces just paled slightly, and beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.
Hasanmu was utterly in awe of the two.
“You two are amazing,” he said admiringly. “I wish I had skills like yours. Can you teach me?”
Just watching them fight the wolves had gotten his blood pumping.
What man didn’t have a martial arts dream or wish to become stronger?
Though Hasanmu had never read martial arts novels, that didn’t stop him from wanting to be as skilled as Lin Zhen and Song Wei.
Lin Zhen replied, “Sure, I can teach you—as long as you can handle high-intensity training.”
After tending to their wounds, they gathered the wolf carcasses.
They also found the body of a blue sheep.
Hasanmu exclaimed excitedly, “This blue sheep is huge! We can take it back and eat it.”
Song Wei’s mouth watered at the sight of the sheep—she was craving roast lamb.
This wild blue sheep should belong to them now, right?
“Woof! Woof!”
Duoji’s barks came from not far away.
Song Wei and the others looked over and saw the limping Duoji barking furiously at a spot on the mountain.
Even injured, after Hasanmu bandaged its wound, the dog kept running around despite its limp.
“Are there still wolves up there?!”
“Duoji, come back!”
Afraid that more wolves might be lurking, Hasanmu quickly called Duoji back.
Song Wei and Lin Zhen followed.
When they got closer, they understood why Duoji was barking.
It was the snow leopard.
The snow leopard was severely injured, its white fur with black spots now stained red with blood.
Yet, it still stubbornly blocked the entrance to a cave, eyeing everyone warily.
But the leopard couldn’t even stand anymore—it was nothing but a paper tiger.
Before they could do anything, the snow leopard swayed and collapsed to the ground, its eyes closing.
Song Wei stepped forward to check. “It’s not dead—just unconscious from blood loss.”
Hasanmu said, “I’ve only heard of snow leopards before. I’ve never seen one in all my years.”
This area was dangerous for herders, so they usually avoided it.
Snow leopards were rare. They could climb rugged cliffs and mainly preyed on blue sheep, which also scaled steep rock faces.
“Squeak—rawr!”
From inside the cave behind the snow leopard came a weak, high-pitched cry.
The three exchanged glances, and since Song Wei was the smallest, she crawled inside.
Before long, she emerged with three kitten-sized cubs. Their eyes were open, but the blue film hadn’t faded yet. Their paws and little bellies were pink and soft, their bodies fluffy and chubby.
Adorable!
Song Wei’s eyes lit up.
“Three little ones.”
Hasanmu’s eyes sparkled too.
Lin Zhen: Alright, fine, I’m also pretty intrigued.
Snow leopards were stunning, and their cubs were just as irresistibly cute.
Humans are visual creatures—there’s no resisting such adorable predators.
“They’re probably hungry. What do we do?” Hasanmu looked at the other two.
Song Wei: “We take them with us, obviously.”
“But what about the big one—”
Before he could finish, Song Wei stuffed the three cubs into Lin Zhen’s arms, crouched down, and picked up the unconscious mother snow leopard herself!
Hasanmu: !!!
Didn’t you injure your arm?!
“Let me do it, let me! What if your wound reopens?”
Lin Zhen was also worried. “Maybe I should—”
Song Wei: “I’m fine. Who knows when this one might wake up? If it bites you, will you react in time?”
Hasanmu: Weak.jpg
He probably wouldn’t.
After carrying the snow leopard out and treating its wounds, Song Wei continued holding it as they moved on.
Snow leopard. Wolves.
The question now was how to transport everything back.
In the end, Hasanmu went back first and returned with a cart.
They had brought one for herding anyway—it was necessary for carrying supplies.
While Hasanmu was gone, Song Wei and Lin Zhen found the wolf pack’s den.
It wasn’t too far but not too close either, just next to the snow leopard’s territory.
The bad news? The den had wolf pups inside.
Five of them, yipping and whining.
Killing them? They were too young—it felt cruel.
Leaving them? They wouldn’t survive on their own, and their fate would be even worse.
“What do we do?”
Song Wei was conflicted.
She hadn’t hesitated to kill the adult wolves that threatened her and her uncle.
But these little ones reminded her of the two dogs she had at home—she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Lin Zhen was also troubled.
Wolves weren’t like dogs.
Their wild instincts ran deep, making them nearly impossible to tame.
The herders here raised livestock and wouldn’t waste time trying to tame wolves—it was too risky.
“One of them is even white—quite pretty,” Song Wei muttered as she held the white wolf pup.
“Let’s take them back first and ask Hasanmu how they usually handle situations like this.”
So when Hasanmu, Yu Wei, and the others arrived with the cart after hearing the news, the group suddenly had five more wolf pups in tow.
The three snow leopard cubs and five wolf pups were all about the same size, roughly two months old, crawling around on the ground and yipping loudly.
Their little voices were piercing.
And way too noisy.
Song Wei crouched on the ground, covering her ears as she stared at the rowdy bunch.
“Finally, you’re here. My head’s about to explode from all the noise.”
Yu Wei’s face paled. “Wolf pups?!”
“Yeah, we found them in the wolf den.”
Hasanmu and the others looked grim.
The two older men puffed on their cigarettes, frowning.
“What are we supposed to do now?”
Noticing their expressions, Song Wei asked, “What’s wrong? How do you usually deal with wolf pups when you find them?”
Hasanmu’s eyes darkened with reluctance. “Either leave them—they’ll starve—or… smash them to death.”
Song Wei sucked in a sharp breath.
“But that’s rare. When there’s enough prey on the grasslands, wolf packs seldom target our herds. They’re afraid of our rifles.”
Rare, but not unheard of.
“Has no one ever tried raising wolves?”
Hasanmu shook his head. “Wolves can’t be tamed.”
Song Wei muttered, “Well, Wolf One and Wolf Two at my place are doing just fine.”
Hasanmu froze. “Wait—you’re telling me you keep wolves at home?!”
Everyone’s eyes snapped toward her.
Song Wei and Lin Zhen nodded. “But they’re timber wolves.”
“They’re still wolves! Don’t they bite people?!”
Song Wei shook her head. “Nope. They’re actually pretty well-behaved. They escort the kids to and from school every day, lead the village dogs on hunting trips into the mountains, and even bring back prey.”
Hasanmu, Yu Wei, and the others gaped. “You’re talking about wolves?!”
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
Even if they weren’t the same breed or from the same environment, wolves couldn’t possibly be that different!
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