Transmigrated into Hoh Xil - Chapter 7

Heaven and earth had blurred into one.

The rescue patrol vehicle struggled forward through the gale.

Sand and stones battered its windows.

Having failed to find Xia’er, the rangers sat in silence on the return journey.

Xiao Li was the first to speak. He sucked in a breath. “The temperature’s dropping. It’s getting cold.”

The team member holding the radio explained, “This is nothing yet. When a blizzard is raging, nighttime temperatures in Hoh Xil can fall to around forty below zero.”

Imagining that bitter night cold, Xiao Li rubbed his hands together. “Then what about Xia’er? Could he freeze to death?”

“Wolves live in packs. Faced with extreme conditions, they possess survival wisdom honed over millions of years. Of course, there are exceptional cases. Xia’er, for example, no longer has a pack to protect him. Injured as he is, he can’t hunt, which means he can’t take in energy. Hunger will make it difficult for him to maintain his body temperature.”

The outlook was grim.

The rangers had more or less accepted that Xia’er was unlikely to survive.

What a terrible loss.

Xia’er had been such an extraordinary wolf.

Xiao Li gazed at the murky sky.

He saw a raven.

Its wings spread, the raven rode the air currents and glided effortlessly, keenly surveying its territory.

On a gentle slope, yaks gathered in a herd and took their final meal before the blizzard arrived. Their thick layers of fat would be enough to withstand the brutal cold ahead.

Plateau pikas busied themselves reinforcing their burrows and improving the insulation within.

A powerful current overturned a loosened stone, revealing a lichen tiger beetle tucked into a crack underground. Utterly motionless, the beetle folded in its antennae and legs and curled into a ball.

“Caw—”

With its exceptional eyesight, the raven circled for a while and memorized the spot.

Once the storm ended, it would return to feed.

Here—

in Hoh Xil—

every living creature deserved awe.

In an environment this harsh and unforgiving, they had survived for thousands upon thousands of years without vanishing.

How could anyone not admire them?

Xiao Li clenched his fists as a powerful conviction suddenly rose within him.

“Xia’er will be all right!”

Pah.

Disgusting.

Perhaps because they were scavengers, Himalayan griffons tasted indescribably awful.

Hunger did not allow me to be picky. After hastily plucking away its contour and flight feathers, I gave Xia’er the softest, most tender meat.

He had just shared the Tibetan fox with me.

The fox had yielded less than three kilograms of edible meat, nowhere near enough to fill the shriveled stomachs of two adult wolves.

The Himalayan griffon I had caught through sheer luck weighed only about five kilograms.

Together, however, they were just enough to comfort our empty bellies.

Well? Aren’t I amazing?

When we finished eating, I proudly tipped my muzzle up at Xia’er.

“Huff—”

Xia’er lay beside me. Apparently resigned to my inability to clean myself, he patiently groomed my tangled, dirty fur.

His tongue passed over my cheeks and ears in turn. When he reached the back of my neck, he paused.

I asked him with my eyes—

*What’s wrong?*

Xia’er lowered his head and licked my face again.

His movements were exceptionally careful and gentle.

Like a softly falling snowflake.

I couldn’t help it. I simply couldn’t.

My tail wagged.

I might resist the instincts of a wolf, but instincts were called instincts because they came from the heart.

I rubbed against Xia’er’s neck and surrendered, letting my tail wag faster and faster.

After that, I shamelessly enjoyed being waited upon by the wolf king.

Hehe.

I had earned this.

We were sheltering in a rock fissure on the leeward side of the valley. Tashi huddled nearby and, whenever Xia’er and I were not looking, crunched on the remains of the fox’s skeleton.

Every so often, he glanced back at us, moving with extreme caution.

I pretended not to notice.

After all, he had proved useful.

Before the blizzard arrived, I had searched hard and collected several plants identical to the “herbs” Tashi had brought back.

I fed some to Xia’er and found a way to crush the rest into a poultice.

For the next several hours, I anxiously watched his condition.

Outside, wind and snow screamed.

Inside the fissure, two wolves and one dog pressed into a single heap.

Hehe.

Thank goodness I had possessed the foresight to pick up a thermal blanket discarded by some hikers.

Now it was proving invaluable.

The blanket covered Xia’er and me.

He was enormous, with an exceptionally thick coat and a high body temperature. Curled against his flank and warmed by his heat, I felt wonderfully safe.

This position also made it easy to observe his wound.

Listening to the heavy snow strike the rocks and breathing in the clean fragrance of herbs, I gradually grew drowsy.

…

Xia’er.

You have to get better.