Chapter 23 You Choose One Xu Nian: Me? Are you sure? ...
"How badly injured was he?" Xu Nian thought quickly as he listened to Los's question. Then he said seriously, "I accidentally fell off the cliff while chasing mountain goats."
"..." Ross was silent for a moment.
If it was any other snow leopard, this might not be true, but if it was Xu Nian, Los suddenly felt that it was very likely.
"Actually, the fall wasn't particularly serious." Xu Nian accurately caught the slightest hint of unease on Los's face and took the opportunity to exaggerate, "He just fell from a very high mountain. He hit his back, his claws, his legs, his head... well, he passed out."
Seeing that Los did not continue to ask questions, he breathed a sigh of relief. His ears were slightly pressed back because he was frightened before. The whole snow leopard looked a little scared and timid, and his beautiful eyes looked at Los cautiously.
In fact, there were still some questions that had not been asked clearly, but when Los saw Xu Nian's well-behaved look, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. His tail shook gently behind him, and the tip of the tail was slightly raised.
"It's like you saved me, too. Remember our first meeting? You saved me from a brown bear. Otherwise, I would have been hunted down by it." Xu Nian retracted his paw and licked the fur on the back of his paw. He squatted like a snow leopard, seeming quite sensible. He looked at Los obediently, his face full of gratitude. "I know I should repay your life-saving grace, so I'm willing to stay by your side."
"..." Los turned his head slightly, looked at Xu Nian seriously, and reminded him, "Not only did you save my life, but you also bit and stepped on my tail."
"Yes, yes, yes." Xu Nian nodded immediately, as if everything Los said was right, and coaxed him, "I will apologize to the tail and take care of it until it recovers."
After saying that, Xu Nian was about to stretch his head to look at Los's tail, but Los turned his head away, picked up his tail, and walked towards the mountain. As he walked, he said coldly, "It's not healed yet."
"Oh...oh!" Xu Nian nodded.
Los turned and left, so he didn't see Xu Nian's helpless expression. Xu Nian always felt that he was being scammed, otherwise why had his tail not healed after more than 20 days?
But when he looked back at his long furry tail, he suddenly thought that maybe it was because the snow leopard's tail was relatively fragile?
But at least he fooled Los. Xu Nian sighed and sat down in the snow. He sighed and licked his paws. It was really uncomfortable to walk on the tightrope.
He looked at the distance with some melancholy. The place was covered with heavy snow everywhere. He didn't know where Luo Yin was now. He hoped that it would come slowly.
He lowered his head and licked his paw. The wound on the previous injury was a little cracked because he stepped on the rocks, and there was some blood on the fur next to his paw.
…
Because Xu Nian's claws were slightly injured, Los did not let him go out hunting with him, but he almost always brought back prey, which allowed Xu Nian to fully experience the feeling of being raised by a snow leopard.
He looked down at his wound which had almost healed in two nights, and licked it with nostalgia. This day was so comfortable.
"I'll go hunting with you tomorrow." Xu Nian, who had been eating for free for several days, felt a little guilty. He moved closer to Los and whispered, "My claws are healed."
He was so close that his breath sprayed on Los's ears when he spoke. Cats' ears are as sensitive as their tails. Los's ears twitched subconsciously, and only the side where Los was speaking twitched.
Los subconsciously lowered his head and rubbed his paws, and then licked his fur.
"I can't just sit here and eat for free without working." Xu Nian's conscience came to his mind. After all, the snow leopard in front of him was quite easy to deceive. Perhaps it was because wild animals were not cunning. Los believed almost everything he said. Xu Nian moved closer and said, "I can hunt with you too."
Los could only glance at the snow leopard that always approached him. He shook his head, scanned the other side again, and then chuckled, "Didn't you say that Luo Yin was supporting you? I can support you as long as it can, or even longer."
"Can this be compared?" Xu Nian was a little surprised.
Ross looked at him and said, "What did you say?"
"...I said, didn't you say it raised me so that I can't hunt anymore? You would never do that, right?" Xu Nian couldn't quite remember the specific words, but he felt that was roughly the meaning, so he said earnestly, "Believe me, I have grown."
After a moment of silence, Los flicked his tail gently. He seemed to be thinking about something. After a moment, he said, "Hmm."
Xu Nian felt that Los was indeed a proud, cold, but gullible snow leopard. He looked down at his paws and looked at himself. He was also a growing snow leopard.
In the middle of the night, with wind and snow, Xu Nian opened his eyes, lying under a rock, licking his paws. A month ago, he had never imagined that one day he would be able to live on a snowy mountain, and as a snow leopard.
"It won't snow too much tonight." Los was squatting on the mountain wall. He turned his head and saw that Xu Nian was still awake. He stood up and walked to Xu Nian's side. He lay down silently, his tail wagging gently. Then he seemed to accidentally put it on Xu Nian's back and said calmly, "Don't worry, go to sleep."
Los often puts his tail on Xu Nian. At first, he was a little uncomfortable, but after a long time, he got used to it. Now at night, if Los doesn't put his tail on him, Xu Nian will hug his tail and sleep as a cushion.
"Come inside a little. You'll get wet outside." Xu Nian moved his body closer to the rock wall, his side pressed against it. He swung his tail gently and said, "It's not a big place here, but if we try, we can still accommodate two snow leopards."
When Xu Nian lived here before, it was easy for Los to come in. Now he is well taken care of, his fur is much fluffier, and he occupies a larger area, so the two snow leopards can only sleep close together.
Los glanced at Xu Nian lightly, then moved his body silently and stuck close to Xu Nian.
After Xu Nian fell asleep, Los saw that he had changed to a sleeping position with his limbs spread out, occupying most of the space in the cave. Los was almost squeezed out little by little. Los snorted coldly and moved to the side a little more with an expressionless face. Sure enough, Xu Nian's spread-out posture was more comfortable, and with his furry body, he looked like a snow leopard pancake.
Xu Nian slept comfortably that night without any dreams. When he woke up the next morning, Los was again standing on the cliff looking down at the mountain.
They all seemed to enjoy getting up early. Xu Nian couldn't help but yawn as he watched the circling vultures catch a pika and take it back. Hearing the noise, Los turned to look at Xu Nian, then stood up and said, "We're going hunting. Are you sure you want to follow?"
"Follow." Xu Nian perked up immediately after hearing this. He shook his head vigorously to clear his mind, and quickly followed behind Los, saying, "Trust me, I can play a huge role."
"Likely?" Ross asked.
"I'll do whatever you ask me to do." Xu Nian paused and added, "I'm good at being obedient."
The very obedient Xu Nian always occupied the nest that originally belonged to Los. Los looked at him, afraid that he would say "I'm sorry" again, so he quickly stopped the topic and turned to walk down the mountain.
Seeing this, Xu Nian immediately followed behind him with great tact.
Los seemed to have remembered something. As he was going down the mountain, his paw stepped on the rock wall and he suddenly said, "When your paw was injured before, you still stood here and waited for me to come back."
Xu Nian took a look at the claw mark and immediately understood what Los was referring to. He knew that Los had misunderstood, but he couldn't say, "I didn't wait for you. The claw mark disappeared here because I rolled down. I actually went to find Kaie to ask some questions." He couldn't say these words at all, not even a word of them.
However, before he could speak, Los continued, "Did you also wait for Luo Yin like this when you were injured?"
The topic jumped a bit too quickly. Xu Nian relied on his intuition, shook his head, and said honestly: "I don't have it."
He really didn't, because he had never seen Luo Yin, it was all a lie!
Upon hearing this, Ross turned his head expressionlessly and continued walking forward with a cold attitude. However, his tail, which usually balanced his body behind him, was raised high up uncontrollably, almost turning over, which made Xu Nian amazed.
*
A blue sheep was looking for food with its head down. It had no idea that danger was coming. It was still trying to dig away the snow with its head down, and was pushing its head against the snow.
However, he did not notice that a snow leopard was quietly approaching on the rock wall behind him.
The snow leopard's claws stepped on the snow very lightly and almost silently. It crouched with its muscles tense. Although cautious, its speed was not slow. It was quietly approaching the grazing blue sheep. The other party finally realized something was wrong and immediately ran away.
The mountain goat is naturally an expert at running between mountain walls. If it were any other predator, it might have been thrown off. But unfortunately, this time, the one chasing it was not another wild beast, but a snow leopard that was also lingering on the rock wall.
A wonderful pursuit began immediately. Los was extremely fast, running along the mountain wall. He did not hesitate at all when he encountered a broken place, but jumped directly. He did not even have any cushioning when he landed, and continued to chase.
Its muscle lines were stretched and smooth due to its extreme speed, which quickly shortened the distance between it and its prey. Then, before the ibex was ready to jump again, it pounced on it, bit the ibex's neck hard, and rolled it down the cliff.
It would not let go at all, biting the ibex tightly until it fell down, using the ibex as a cushion. Both of them fell on the snow pile. Los immediately shook his head hard, enlarging the wound on the ibex, and blood splattered. The ibex's struggling limbs began to slowly become weak, until finally it let out a desperate whimper.
This is an adult blue sheep. For Los, it is enough for him and Xu Nian to not have to look for prey for a while.
It got up and held the mountain goat tightly in its mouth without letting go. After the goat was completely dead, it picked it up and dragged it up the mountain.
Xu Nian has seen Los hunting many times, but he never gets tired of it. Who doesn't like to watch snow leopards hunting? It is simply a visual feast that is close at hand.
When Los returned with the mountain goat in his mouth, a hint of wildness still lingered in his cold expression. His face was stained with the blood of his prey, and his long, furry tail trailed behind him. He asked, "What do you think?"
"Very good, great, amazing!" Xu Nian said immediately.
"Is your claw really healed?" Los nodded and asked again.
Xu Nian immediately raised his furry paw to show Los, but since he could only see the fur on the surface, he simply lay on his back on the ground, raised his paw and opened it directly, revealing the paw pad, and said, "There is no wound at all, it is really healed."
Los almost lost the ibex in his mouth. He lowered his head and frantically picked up the ibex again. Then he flicked his tail, turned around and continued walking up the mountain. As he walked, he said without looking back, "Very good, you chase the ibex next time."
"Who?" Xu Nian got up from the ground and immediately asked, "How about a rabbit?"
"Blue sheep." Los stopped and said, "Blue sheep, argali, you choose one."
"..." Xu Nian felt the same feeling as when he was knocked away by the argali. Those huge horns were a nightmare. He shrank his neck timidly, lowered his head and followed Los, saying sullenly, "Ibex."
A barely perceptible smile flashed across Ross's eyes.
But on the way, he unexpectedly met Kaie, who was also out looking for prey. The other party looked annoyed, with his tail hanging down, looking a little irritable, and was also climbing up.
Los climbed faster, and Xu Nian fell behind him. So Xu Nian and Kaie went around a large rock together, and suddenly they were face to face. Both snow leopards flew up. Xu Nian hid behind the rock almost "whoosh" and immediately turned around and shouted, "Los!"
It is common for snow leopards to be easily frightened, but it is very rare among snow leopards for Xu Nian to fly up, hide, and shout for help so smoothly, almost uniquely so.
Unfortunately, most other snow leopards live alone, and no one will come even if Xu Nian shouts at the top of his lungs. But when Xu Nian calls Los, he will come immediately.
"What's wrong?" Los turned around almost the moment Xu Nian flew up in fright. He stepped on the rock, looked at Kaie, and was about to say something when he suddenly smelled something. Just before Kaie was about to speak, he raised his hind paw and kicked him away. Then he faced the bewildered Xu Nian and said, "It's okay, it's gone."
Xu Nian opened his mouth and realized that it was Kaie. He was about to let Los spare the leopard, but Los kicked the other person away.
"...Ah?" Xu Nian glanced at the traces left by Kai'er's fall, thankful that the snow leopard was resistant to falls. He nodded, swallowed his saliva, and said with a more obedient expression than before, "Yes, it...it's gone."
Xu Nian shook his body, pressed his ears back timidly, and glanced at Los's powerful hind paws.
The sound of the claw kicking Kaie made Xu Nian understand a lot more instantly. He felt pain in his bones just by listening to the sound, and he was once again convinced that there seemed to be real differences between leopards. For example, Los's claws could directly kick another snow leopard down, but his claws were scratched by the rocks, so he could only walk by hooking his claws.
Indeed, wild snow leopards are so wild.
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