As soon as Yuan Qiyu entered the room, he walked straight to Yuan Heng, blinked his eyes, tilted his head and asked,
"San'er... Third Uncle... What's wrong with you? Why are you still hugging Mother and crying?"
His voice was soft and his eyes were full of innocent curiosity, as if he really cared about Yuan Heng, and he even changed his tone and called him "Uncle".
Yuan Heng almost jumped up from Yuan Zhao's arms like a catapult, his face turning red and white. He didn't expect that his most embarrassing side would be seen by Yuan Qiyu.
He gritted his teeth and cursed himself in his heart, thinking that he was such a jinx. He really showed up as soon as Yuan Qiyu was mentioned.
Yuan Heng smiled awkwardly, stretched out his hand, and grabbed Yuan Qiyu's head, trying hard to cover up his previous gaffe.
"No! I'm not crying! You're dreaming!"
Yuan Qiyu was not convinced, he struggled to break free and refuted with wide eyes,
"I haven't even slept yet! Xiaobai came looking for me! Xiaobai is injured!"
Yuan Heng then looked over and saw that Yuan Zhao had already walked to Xiaobai.
Xiaobai is now about the size of a hunting dog.
I saw it lying at the door, its originally snow-white fur was now dirty, stained with dust, and even had some bloodstains on it, and it was impossible to tell whether they were its own or someone else's.
Yuan Zhao's heart tightened, and he squatted down to take a closer look. He gently brushed away its dirty hair with his fingers, his eyes becoming more solemn.
She soothed Xiaobai softly and asked, "Xiaobai, why are you hurt?"
The Yuan family had always known about the little white tiger's extraordinary abilities. To have been injured so severely, it must have encountered a formidable foe.
Xiaobai's tail drooped down, and its amber eyes were suddenly filled with mist. It rubbed its head gently against Yuan Zhao's palm, making a low "whimpering" sound.
Yuan Zhao gently stroked its head, frowning.
Although she is not as good as Zhizhi in communicating with animals, she can feel Xiaobai's anxiety and uneasiness.
Her heart sank, and she asked softly, "Xiaobai, where is Zhizhi?"
When Xiaobai heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. He immediately stood up, grabbed Yuan Zhao's sleeve with his front paws, and pulled him out eagerly.
Yuan Zhao's heart suddenly tightened.
"You want to take me to find Zhizhi?"
Xiaobai whimpered and wagged his tail gently, obviously impatient.
But it had just taken two steps when its feet gave way and it staggered to the ground, letting out a faint gasp.
"Oh! Xiaobai!" Yuan Qiyu exclaimed, and quickly broke free from Yuan Heng's arms, threw himself to Xiaobai, and touched its head with an anxious look on his face.
Yuan Heng also squatted down, carefully examined Xiaobai's hind legs, parted the hair, and his face instantly darkened.
"The injury is serious..." he said in a deep voice.
Hidden under the hair, a large piece of flesh was torn off, revealing a hideous blood mark. Although the blood had coagulated, the wound was still hideous.
Yuan Zhao's heart tightened immediately, and he stroked Xiao Bai's head gently, his eyes full of heartache and worry.
"Xiaobai, is Zhizhi in danger?"
Xiaobai tilted his head and managed to sit up with difficulty, scratching his ears with his front paws, his movements a little clumsy.
Yuan Qiyu leaned over to take a look and exclaimed in surprise,
"Mom! There's something in its ear!"
He carefully pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from Xiaobai's ear. The paper was stained with blood and dust and rolled up tightly.
Yuan Zhao quickly took it and unfolded it quickly.
The piece of paper was not big, with a few random strokes of straw ash on it. The crooked lines were messy and it was difficult to see what was written on it.
Yuan Heng also came over to look, frowning and staring at the painting for a long time, his face full of confusion.
"Is this a painting by Zhizhi?"
Yuan Qiyu leaned over, looked carefully with wide eyes, recognized one of the little men, and said without hesitation,
"This is Zhizhi! This is her drawing of herself!"
Yuan Zhao looked in the direction his finger was pointing, and sure enough, under the brushstrokes of grass ash, a small figure was standing next to it. Although it was crooked, anyone familiar with it could recognize it as Yuan Zhizhi at a glance.
"Who... is this?" Yuan Qiyu pointed at a tall figure in the painting, somewhat puzzled. "It looks like an adult, sleeping with his eyes closed..."
Yuan Zhao looked carefully for a moment and finally saw the clue.
The adult in the painting is lying down, and the little man is standing beside him.
There were many dotted marks scattered around the two of them, and it looked like they were in some open area.
She frowned slightly, a guess suddenly emerged in her mind, and she raised her eyes and said,
"This should be Duota... Zhizhihua probably meant that they were in the desert, Duota was injured, and she was guarding him."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Heng immediately stood up and stared at the crude painting with a serious expression.
"Datta is injured?"
Yuan Zhao nodded, with a hint of worry between his brows.
Now Domin has not stopped searching for Dota, claiming that "I want to see him alive or his body dead."
Judging from the painting, he is injured and unconscious, with only Zhizhi guarding him, and his situation is very dangerous.
If they were found by Doming's people, the consequences would be disastrous.
Yuan Heng's expression became increasingly nervous, with a hint of anxiety in his eyes.
"Then shall we send people to search now?"
Yuan Zhao stroked the note gently, turned his gaze to Xiao Bai lying on the ground, and shook his head gently.
"We can't tell the exact location from this painting alone. We have to ask Xiaobai to take us there."
Hearing this, Yuan Qiyu looked down at the weak Xiaobai and touched its head with heartache.
"But Xiaobai is in this state now, can he still take us there?"
Yuan Zhao pondered for a moment, then decisively turned to Yuan Heng and said in a deep voice, "Go find the veterinarian who usually takes care of the war horses in the barracks. Find someone you can trust."
Yuan Heng nodded immediately and left quickly. A moment later, he came back with an experienced veterinarian from the army.
The veterinarian squatted beside Xiaobai and carefully examined its wound. His face was solemn. He bandaged it while reporting to Yuan Zhao.
"Your Highness, judging by the tear marks on the wound, these should be claw and tooth marks from a desert wolf..."
"Desert wolves are extremely skilled hunters, usually traveling in packs and capable of hunting prey several times their size."
Yuan Zhao's heart sank. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Is this wolf wild or can it be domesticated? Has the Northern Qiang ever used this kind of wolf?"
The veterinarian nodded, his expression grave. "That's right. These wolves are the Northern Qiang tribe's secret weapon during wartime, specializing in attacking war horses and disrupting their formations..."
"They are extremely fast and silent. Although the white tiger is faster than most prey, the desert wolf has an advantageous terrain in the desert."
"Judging from these injuries, it must have been trapped for a long time. It's lucky to have escaped."
Yuan Zhao's hands slowly tightened, his eyes fell on Xiaobai, and he became even more worried.
“How long will it take to recover?”
"Fortunately, most of them are just flesh wounds. With the best medicine, they should heal in five days at the fastest and a month at the slowest."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
