Chapter 120 Don't be afraid, little wolf cub.
The setting sun pierced the mountains and forests, and the sporadic chirping of birds and the heavy buzzing of insects enveloped the entire wilderness. The noisy night wind carried a few wisps of coolness, and dusk gradually deepened.
With mottled lichen covering her legs, Qi Tang sat cross-legged under the tree in frustration, taking a vicious bite of the wild fruit in her palm.
Not only was it impossible to get out of the desolate mountains and wilderness, but there was also no sign of Leng Lingqi.
With her soul trapped in the barrier, her spiritual power was also restricted by 80-90%. Qi Tang strongly suspected that this was a long-planned conspiracy.
Her quest for revenge has already been half-ruined by Leng Ling; if she doesn't break through the barrier soon...
Everything's ruined!
She simply couldn't understand how she had ended up like this.
If Song Ju finds out...
Her vision went black, and she threw the miscellaneous wild fruits in her arms onto the ground, fell down, covered her face, and said, "How dare you do this to me, Leng Lingqi! Just you wait."
Qi Tang took a deep breath, stared at the towering old tree above her head, and poked it with a vengeful gesture. The crisscrossing grooves rubbed against her fingertips, hard and rough, yet the bark in the chunks that peeled off was actually tender new flesh inside.
The protruding cracks and the soft new flesh together created a savage vitality. Her eyelashes fluttered, and somehow she thought of that scarred back.
She subconsciously loosened her grip, rolled her eyes, and muttered softly, "How did it get so messy?"
Before the words had even finished, as if the word "misery" had been foretold, a long, drawn-out wolf howl suddenly echoed from the depths of the mountains and forests.
Qi Tang froze, then suddenly stood up and hugged the thick tree trunk tightly, subconsciously holding her breath.
Are there wolves?
Suddenly, as if struck by a sudden thought, she silently smacked her forehead. How could she forget that in her snowy night illusion, the air was filled with the howling of wolves, and Leng Lingqi... His roars when he lost control also sounded like wolf howls. Wolves must be roaming freely within her inner demons.
As if to confirm this, the howls of wolves rose and fell in succession, echoing heavily in the valley and penetrating to the core.
The wolf pack is approaching!
Qi Tang's heart tightened, and a chill ran down her spine. She instinctively clutched her neck. Was his inner demon not trying to kill her outside, but deliberately trying to lure her in to kill her?
She created a barrier for him, wasn't that... killing herself?
The wolf howls grew louder and louder. Her eyes widened, and she frantically looked around, completely disoriented. In the end, she could only tremble as she climbed up the tree trunk.
A pack of wolves—they couldn't fight them, they couldn't outrun them, and if they didn't hide, they were doomed.
That damned Leng Lingqi, where did he go? Why did he leave her all alone with his inner demons?
Qi Tang tightened her legs, pressed her waist down, and pressed her lower abdomen against the thick tree branch. Several abrasions appeared on her exposed skin, but she didn't glance at them. She just wiped the cold sweat from her temples and covered her mouth and nose tightly.
Deep in the dense forest, a pack of wolves sped past, their gray fur peeking through the thick branches, and the rustling of withered leaves seemed to fill the air.
Qi Tang's resting place was on higher ground, upwind, and quite a distance away. As long as she didn't make a sound, she probably wouldn't disturb the wolf pack. Even so, her heart was in her throat, and her knuckles turned white as she gripped the tree trunk.
But soon, she saw something and her gaze froze.
That is...
The alpha wolf suddenly turned around, its deep green eyes seemingly locking onto her through the heavy shadows of the trees.
Wolves will see direct eye contact as a provocation.
The thought flashed through her mind, and she quickly closed her eyes, afraid to look again. Her fine eyelashes trembled slightly, and her breathing grew slower and slower. Had she seen wrong?
She clenched her fingers, as if there were a walking, upright creature...
After closing her eyes and thinking for a few breaths, Qi Tang couldn't help but open them again. The dense branches swayed gently in the wind, and she could vaguely see the wolf pack following the crescent-shaped footprints on the ground downwards. The formation was loose, and there were no wolves walking upright.
She breathed a sigh of relief, finally calming down and realizing she had been too nervous.
The wolf pack, having already set their target, quickly disappeared into the forest. Qi Tang clung tightly to the tree trunk, afraid to move, until the moon rose above the treetops, at which point she stiffly tried to climb down.
Wolves aren't good at climbing, so she had to find a high cave to hide in and wait until daytime to go find Leng Lingqi.
Her fair toes lightly touched the ground, rustling the withered leaves. She patted the wood chips stuck to the scratches and squatted down to pick up the wild fruits scattered on the ground one by one.
With a clatter of ankles, a green fruit rolled forward with a thud, rolling all the way into the depths of the bushes.
Qi Tang took two steps, then sighed and turned back, only to be met with a pair of cold, blue eyes, like phosphorescent flames hidden in the darkness, utterly merciless, like a drawn sword, its tip piercing the throat and reaching the depths of the soul.
It's a wolf.
The wild fruits she had painstakingly picked up suddenly fell to the ground, and Qi Tang's scalp tingled for a moment. Before she could even think, her body instinctively turned around and ran away.
The withered leaves and broken branches were trampled down, making a rustling sound.
Her wolfish instinct to chase was instantly triggered. She had only run a few steps when something pounced on her from behind and knocked her to the ground. Her hip hit some gravel, and she was in so much pain that her eyes turned red. She instinctively shrank back and used her arms to protect her throat.
The pain of her canine teeth piercing her flesh shot through her. She gritted her teeth and opened her eyes, about to cast a spell to fight for a chance of survival, but suddenly stopped, her pupils trembling slightly.
What she saw was not a wolf, but a child dressed in wolf skin! He was still young, but his face was full of wildness and ferocity. He was tearing at her skin and sucking her blood, just like a starving wolf cub.
To the wolf pack, a deer is nothing more than a moving granary. He stared intently at her amber almond eyes, which were filled with water, and bit down on her throat without any emotion.
Wolves do not torture their prey; killing them by biting their throat is the fastest way to hunt.
This deer lacked antlers capable of piercing a wolf's abdomen, had poor jumping ability, and was deformed like the wolf, making it an excellent hunting target.
However, before he could even take a bite, a wild fruit got stuck in his jaw, fitting perfectly.
Ignoring her shock, Qi Tang tensed her waist and abdomen, used her spiritual power to flip him over and pin him to the ground, tore off strips of cloth from her body and bound his wrists in circles, tying them tightly into a knot, and then binding his kicking ankles.
In those few short breaths, he struggled violently, scratching Qi Tang until she was covered in blood, and he himself was also cut by the rubble on the ground. Yet he still roared, scratched, and even bit her as if he felt no pain.
Qi Tang was almost certain that the wolf she saw walking upright in the tree was the four or five-year-old child in front of her.
She collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. If it had been a fully grown wolf that attacked her, she probably would have been devoured.
Thankfully, it's just a child.
She pressed her wildly beating heart, and through the hot tears welling in her eyes, looked at the wolf cub in front of her, desperately scratching at the strips of cloth, trying to escape.
He was only covered by the skin of a dead wolf carcass, stained with blood, rust, and mud. He was disheveled, covered in wounds and scars, and his feet were covered in thick calluses.
Her gaze fell on his scarred little hands, his nails clogged with blood and grime, cracked and bleeding from his desperate struggle.
Qi Tang took two steps forward on her knees, unsure where to put her hands, so she stopped mid-air and placed them lightly on either side of his shoulders, trying her best to reassure him, "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you..."
But the child seemed unable to understand human speech. Instead, he struggled frantically like a wolf cub that had fallen into a human trap, his howls muffled in his chest as if he were about to cry blood.
And indeed, with a snap, the wild fruit stuck between his teeth broke in two.
Despite his young age, his bite force was astonishing. Drops of blood trickled down from the corner of his torn lips. He arched his back, and his mournful wolf howl resonated throughout his chest.
Qi Tang's heart stopped for a moment. Without thinking, she rushed forward and frantically pressed the wild fruit against his slightly open mouth again.
The howl calling for the wolves was stuck in his throat. His eyes were bloodshot, he was completely enraged, his lips were torn again, and blood seeped from between his fingers, as if he were struggling in his last moments before being hunted down.
Qi Tang stood frozen in place, at a loss, looking at his body covered in wounds and blood, so anxious that she bit her tongue.
She gripped the hem of her skirt and wiped the blood trickling down his lips and chin, asking frantically, "Are you alright...?"
Even though this wolf child was as fierce as a wolf, he was only four or five years old. His body was covered in wounds, and she had no idea what to do.
We can't keep him bound forever, but he's also terrified and faints, so we dare not let him go.
He roared desperately, the pain in his lungs growing more and more intense. Sensing her approach, all the muscles in his body tensed up as if they were about to burst. He lunged forward, his pupils shrinking, and slammed his head into her throat.
Qi Tang's eyes were fixed on him; how could she not look away from a child whose hands and feet were bound?
But she paused as she turned to the side, enduring the pain as she hugged the wolf cub that had bumped into her heart. Like her junior sister comforting the Yuyun dog, she gently placed her hand on his head and slowly stroked it from the top of his head down the back of his neck.
Dogs and wolves shouldn't be that different, right?
She hugged him tightly, softened her voice, and gently coaxed him in his ear again and again.
"Don't be afraid, I mean no harm."
"Don't be afraid."
Unlike the howls of wolves born in the wilderness, the sound beside his ear flowed into his ear canal like the juice of a mulberry, and he subconsciously trembled his ears.
He couldn't understand her words, but perhaps it was the warmth of her fingertips that reminded him of the fur under his mother's belly when he was a cub. With each gentle stroke, his rapid breathing and racing heartbeat gradually calmed down.
Even so, his muscles remained taut, and his vigilance did not diminish in the slightest.
In the wilderness, defeat is fatal, and being hunted and eaten is the only outcome, without exception.
Feeling the struggle in her arms lessen, Qi Tang finally let out a breath, ruffled his messy hair covered in grass clippings, lowered her head and carefully placed her hand on the wild fruit, tentatively coaxing him: "Does your mouth hurt? If you're good, don't yell or bite, I'll let go of you, okay?"
Although he couldn't understand human speech, he was still a human, not a wolf. As a four-year-old child just beginning to learn, he should be able to vaguely understand some of her meaning.
He slowed his breathing, his eyelids tightened, and he stared intently at the pale fingertips on his cheek.
The growling finally stopped, and Qi Tang's gaze fell on his cracked lips. She carefully pulled the wild fruit stuck in his teeth.
However, the wolf was waiting for the fatal blow.
Almost the instant it was removed, he bared his teeth and growled as he bit down.
As it pounced, the silver lock hidden among the wolf pelts finally fell out, gleaming with a cold, silvery light in the dim forest.
Her gaze unconsciously followed the shimmering silver light downwards, her hand clutching the wild fruit froze completely, and the word 'abandoned' on the lock shone ever larger in her amber pupils.
With a tremor in her eyes, she was knocked to the ground, gravel crushing her shoulder blades, and a canine tooth bit into her vulnerable neck.
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