The biting wind roared like a savage beast, and snowflakes swirled through the sky. A vast white haze swallowed heaven and earth.
Across the boundless grassland, a lone wolf with a crippled leg struggled onward.
It was starving and desperately weak. It needed food to stay alive.
But fate had been cruel. Once the leader of its pack, it had been badly wounded in a fierce struggle and driven out.
Now it could barely move, let alone muster the speed and strength to hunt.
Exhausted as it was, the stubborn old wolf dared not stop.
It knew that if it did, its body, already pushed to its limits, would quickly lose heat. The bitter cold and blizzard would swallow it, leaving it to sleep forever beneath the frozen earth.
Just as it was about to collapse, unable to take another step, it spotted something lying on the ground in the distance.
The sight spurred it forward. As it drew closer, the blurred shape resolved into a plump gazelle!
The gazelle lay motionless, with no sign of life.
Dark red blood trickled from its mouth and nose, and its neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, as though it had been struck by tremendous force.
The starving wolf had no time to dwell on that. It bared its fangs and bit deep into the gazelle's soft belly.
Fresh, tender organs spilled out, still giving off traces of warmth. The brutal blizzard had not yet frozen them.
The wolf devoured this rare feast. Every mouthful gave it fresh hope of survival.
As the wolf ate, its keen ears suddenly pricked up!
A rhythmic vibration came through the ground beneath its paws. Alarmed, it stopped tearing at the meat and listened intently.
Then a deafening clack-clack reached its ears, growing louder by the