Chapter 78 Other Snow Leopards Xu Nian: Found a New Home
"Dog?" The word seemed unfamiliar to Los. He subconsciously tilted his head slightly, revealing a confused expression. Compared to Los, Xu Nian was also obviously surprised. He said, "Haven't you seen a dog before?"
After thinking for a moment, Ross shook his head.
It is a wild snow leopard that has grown up in the wild and has never seen a dog.
Xu Nian's tail swung gently. He squatted on the ground with his furry ears standing up proudly. He finally found a piece of knowledge that Los didn't know, but he, Xu Nian, knew very well.
He immediately said, "Dogs are usually raised by humans, but if you don't know dogs, you probably haven't seen humans either. Dogs are generally very obedient and affectionate, but that's not always the case. Occasionally, accidents can happen."
The roars from the other side grew more and more pronounced. Xu Nian wagged his tail faster, tilting his furry head toward the source of the noise. His gaze remained fixed on Los as he added, "For example, this kind of thing, if I'm not mistaken, should be a bit ferocious."
Los had never seen a mastiff before, so he couldn't tell what kind of animal it was based on just a few words. But after hearing the roar, he immediately became alert and quickly asked the questions he wanted to know most: "Does it live alone or in groups? How big is it? What is its fighting power?"
After being bombarded with questions, Xu Nian searched his mind for the appearance of mastiffs and answered with a resounding voice, "They travel in packs. They're a bit large, but if you compare them to snow leopards... they're probably about the same. They're not as agile as snow leopards, but they're usually used to herd sheep, so they're very good at fighting and are ferocious. Therefore, their combat power has always been very impressive. A group of mastiffs can even cooperate with each other."
Los thought about what Xu Nian said, trying to judge whether the mastiff would pose a major threat to him.
"Let me put it this way. Mastiffs and wolves are both dogs, so they should be considered distant relatives, that is... a very distant relationship. But they still have some similarities, such as fighting, traveling in groups, and cooperating with companions," Xu Nian added.
After hearing this, Los understood what type of competitor the Mastiff was. He didn't know much about Mastiffs, but he knew a lot about wolves.
When it mentions the wolf pack, it grits its teeth. They are extremely insidious and cunning, and they are also noisy, day and night!
Snow leopards like quietness, but as long as there are wolves, quietness has basically nothing to do with it.
Xu Nian's words were verified at night. At first, the roars of the mastiff and the snow leopard were heard, but the sounds died down after a while. It was estimated that the winner had been decided.
But at night, Los understood the meaning of Xu Nian's words "very similar to a wolf pack".
“Woof woof—woof woof woof—woof woof woof oh—”
“Woof woof woof!”
"Woo woof woof woof woof woof oh—"
Los closed his eyes, wanting to sleep, but he could hear the barking of the dogs from such a distance. They seemed to have encountered something that made them emotional. In short, they were noisier than a pack of wolves.
Moreover, this sound was different from the howl of a wolf. The howl of a wolf was at least smooth and long, but this sound was like a small firecracker, barking one after another, with clear pronunciation, so that it was difficult for Los to sleep with his ears covered.
"Are they nocturnal?" Los thought for a moment and asked.
"Not really..." Xu Nian pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe he encountered something exciting. Dogs are like that, they bark at the slightest movement."
The wolves' voices are slow and long in order to adapt to hunting in the wild. They can communicate with their companions without being too abrupt. Dogs' voices are meant to warn their owners. If they detect any movement, they will naturally bark loudly, trying to drive away the enemy while also notifying their owners.
But this is a bit torturous for the snow leopard who likes quietness. Los feels that finding a new home is urgent.
After tormenting for most of the night, the dogs finally calmed down. Xu Nian and the others then lay down together and fell asleep. However, before dawn the next day, they heard the familiar barking of dogs again.
Los even opened his eyes, he calmed down a bit, and began to miss the sound of the wolf howling.
It was really noisy.
However, Los and Xu Nian followed the sound, not only to look for prey, but also to understand the situation of this group of mastiffs to prevent being caught off guard if they encountered them. So they knew about it in advance so that they would have an idea in their mind.
When they went around the small hill and walked to the front, they saw the scene in the snow and probably understood why the group of mastiffs barked so fiercely last night.
They stood on the rock wall and looked at the mastiffs resting below. They were very large, with shiny fur, and their bodies were covered with snow. They had no nests, so they just lay on the ground.
This group of mastiffs seemed to have gotten used to this. The ones that hadn't woken up yet were covered with thick snow, while the ones that had woken up were whispering to each other, but because they were of different species, Xu Nian couldn't understand.
"Is that prey?" Xu Nian saw some blood still remaining on the ground, and could vaguely see a little bit of the horns of the almost eaten prey sticking out from behind the rock.
"Mountain sheep." Los recognized them immediately and said, "It seems they don't have a fixed place to live. I'm afraid they move around."
Xu Nian looked at this group of mastiffs. If they had owners, they would definitely have a fixed residence, but those without owners were indeed wandering around everywhere, and these mastiffs did not seem to have owners.
Otherwise, they would have gone back to work and would not be lying here sleeping.
"Five." Xu Nian counted them, feeling a little uneasy. If there were only two or three, it would be okay, but five was a bit too many. What was even worse was that he didn't know if there were only five mastiffs in the pack, or if there were only five lying here and the others had gone out hunting.
This doesn't look good no matter how you look at it.
"They're not as agile as wolves and can't climb the rock face." Los assessed the mastiff's range and strength and said, "Find a cave on the rock face to rest. As long as we can climb the rock face, they'll be invincible."
However, the rock walls here are not as steep as where Los lived before, so Xu Nian is still a little worried. At present, the method given by Los is the most suitable one. He shook his tail gently, and then immediately climbed up the rock wall.
However, just as Xu Nian was about to continue climbing, he suddenly heard Los's voice behind him, saying, "Niannian, stop."
Upon hearing this, Xu Nian quickly stopped. He was very obedient in this regard. Then he saw that Los, who was originally looking around behind him, quickened his pace, walked in front of him, and then lowered his head to sniff around.
Xu Nian was walking towards a cave on the rock wall. At that moment, Los half-crouched close to the cave and sniffed. His nose twitched slightly, and his furry ears stood up alertly. Seeing Los so cautious, Xu Nian also became nervous. Unfortunately, his sense of smell had not yet recovered, so he could only guess, "Is there any smell?"
"There are other snow leopards in this territory, and they left their presence in this cave, but they don't live here... They may be passing by, or they may live nearby." Los expressed his judgment, and Xu Nian nodded. Just as Xu Nian was about to continue speaking, Los suddenly turned sideways and stood in front of Xu Nian, then let out a warning growl towards the rock above his head.
Although Xu Nian didn't see or smell anything, it didn't stop him from trusting Los 100%. He immediately hid behind Los as if he was familiar with the place, and looked around cautiously, trying to find out if there was anything unusual.
"Come out." Ross said, "I can smell you, and even the scent of your two cubs."
Los' voice was low and threatening. Although he told the other party to come out, his whole body was tense and he looked like he was ready to fight at any time.
As soon as these words were spoken, a tiny sound came from the originally very quiet rock wall. Xu Nian immediately raised his head and saw a tiny tail sticking out from behind the rock wall.
No need to guess, it must be a snow leopard. As a snow leopard, Xu Nian is very familiar with this beautiful furry tail.
After a while, a snow leopard showed its head. It looked down at Los and Xu Nian with a face full of vigilance and even some rejection.
It thought it was a pair of snow leopards, but it turned out to be two male snow leopards. This is very rare and it was a little surprised.
"Who are you?" This snow leopard had obviously lived here for a long time, and showed very obvious rejection of Xu Nian and Los, two foreign snow leopards.
Snow leopards will also compete with each other for prey and territory, and plunder living space. This female snow leopard is with two cubs. Although Xu Nian did not see the two cubs, since Los said so, it must be correct.
"We're here to look for a cave." Xu Nian stood behind Los, his eyes fixed on the female snow leopard. It was easy to tell she was exhausted, her fur a little disheveled, and she looked unwell. Los lowered his head and said, "She's injured... and it's a serious injury."
Los's voice was not small, and he did not deliberately lower his voice. His eyes fell on the embarrassed female snow leopard. Such an injury was not a good thing for the snow leopard. It would not only affect its hunting, but also make it a target of other predators.
For example, Los.
It has no so-called sympathy, it will only analyze the opponent's combat effectiveness.
"You want a cave? I know a place that's great for that." The injured snow leopard clearly sensed Los's ill intentions, but with his perceptiveness, he also saw that Xu Nian was easier to talk to. He immediately said, "I can take you there, but... you can't do anything to me or my cubs."
It was still more afraid of what Los would do to the cubs. After all, if it died, the male snow leopard would definitely not allow other snow leopard cubs to stay in this territory.
Xu Nian and Los exchanged a glance, and Xu Nian whispered, "It's not appropriate to fight now. Even if it's injured, it's still an adult snow leopard."
Xu Nian paused again and added, "It's older than you and me. After all, you're only two and a half years old. You must have a lot of combat experience. If we fight to the death, we might get hurt. Even if we do defeat it in the end, we'll still face the same situation it's in now. There's a pack of mastiffs out there, and other wolves and their kind, and maybe even a brown bear."
What Xu Nian said was also within Los' consideration. Just because it has a bad temper doesn't mean it can't think. Fighting at this time is obviously not a good way to solve the problem.
"Okay." Los responded, "I hope the place you mentioned can satisfy me."
The injured snow leopard finally breathed a sigh of relief, its tail drooping gently. It nodded and said, "Follow me."
After saying that, he immediately turned around and climbed higher up the rock wall. Xu Nian and Los looked at each other and immediately followed. They originally wanted to find a more suitable cave, and now with the snow leopard leading the way for them, it saved them a lot of trouble.
"My name is Muhe." The snow leopard led the way and said without looking back, "You've come at the right time. Many blue sheep are heading this way. Hunting will be much easier in the future."
"We came here just to follow the mountain goats." Xu Nian responded.
Xu Nian discovered that the snow leopard in front of him seemed to be leading the way, but in fact it was also very cautious. It always kept a distance from them so that it could escape at any time to prevent the two snow leopards from suddenly attacking.
“But there are a lot of dogs here.” The snow leopard slowed down and added, “Lots and lots.”
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