Snow Mane, Frost Wolf

Although Xia Hong could almost be certain Snow Mane was asleep.

When Xia Hong climbed down from the tree, he still kept as quiet as possible.

Once on the ground, he first moved cautiously southward.

He did not stop until he reached an oval boulder two or three meters across.

After surveying the surroundings, Xia Hong dug out a man-sized snow pit beside the boulder with his bare hands.

Once it was finished, he climbed in and lay down to test its size.

After confirming there was no problem, he walked fifty meters away from the boulder and took out the short black wooden stick he had been carrying on his back.

This was naturally no ordinary little wooden stick.

Small Torch: One can be generated for every 10 units of wood burned in a campfire. It can be carried on one's person and holds a powerful attraction for Frost Beasts.

He had brought this along before setting out, never expecting it would actually come in handy.

"Whether this works or not depends on this thing!"

Xia Hong looked back at the Ice Vast Tree, planted the Small Torch in the ground, then took out a flint and struck it hard twice. Sparks burst forth at once.

The tip of the Small Torch was white. The instant the sparks splashed onto it, it ignited, raising a crimson flame over half a meter high—the exact same flame that had burned the monster to death in the cave earlier.

The moment the flames appeared, Xia Hong sprinted toward the boulder.

When he reached it, he quickly crawled into the pit he had dug earlier, then manually dragged the surrounding snow over himself and buried himself.

Once he was covered, only his eyes remained exposed above the snow as he lay perfectly still and watched the torch.

Xia Hong still trusted the system's items.

After all, the image of that monster howling and shrieking as it burned was still fresh in his mind.

But he did not know just how strong the campfire's attraction was to Frost Beasts.

Would that Snow Mane be drawn over?

Xia Hong's question was answered very quickly.

Tap... tap... tap...

Before long, slow, tentative footsteps sounded from behind him.

The footsteps drew closer and closer. Xia Hong did not dare turn around, but those probing steps already told him enough.

Sure enough, when the Snow Mane with icy spikes covering its back passed less than ten meters from him, Xia Hong held his breath and did not even dare move his eyes.

Two black arrows were still lodged in Snow Mane's eyes. The pain was likely too intense for it to dare pull them out.

Unable to see, Snow Mane moved very slowly, stopping almost every few steps.

Yet strangely, the closer it got to the torch, the more excited it seemed to become, and its pace gradually quickened.

When it finally reached the torch, Snow Mane suddenly stopped.

It lowered its face above the torch. Though it had clearly come into contact with the flames, it showed no reaction to being burned. Instead, as the firelight enveloped its body, its breathing grew increasingly steady.

It even seemed... seemed to be...

Enjoying it?

From beneath the snow, Xia Hong's eyes were filled with confusion and incomprehension.

An expression of enjoyment had actually appeared on Snow Mane's face.

But as Xia Hong observed Snow Mane's body more closely,

the confusion on his face gradually turned solemn.

The people from Big Stone Camp had not merely shot out Snow Mane's eyes. Its body had also been carved open by arrows and Great Sabers.

Though fifty meters separated them, Xia Hong could see clearly that the bleeding wounds on Snow Mane's body had not only stopped bleeding beneath the firelight, but were healing at a visible rate.

He even had the illusion

that Snow Mane's aura was slowly rising beneath the firelight.

This torch could heal Frost Beasts?

Could it even let them cultivate and grow stronger?

In an instant, Xia Hong felt ten thousand horses galloping through his heart.

He had originally wanted to use the torch to lure Snow Mane over and keep it moving.

Snow Mane had already been injured. As long as he did not let it rest and recuperate properly in the tree, it would eventually bleed itself dry, exhaust its strength, and die.

Then he could pick up the spoils for free.

Who would have thought he would end up delivering warmth to it instead?

Not only could he no longer pick up any spoils, he had instead helped heal it—and placed himself in danger.

At this point, Xia Hong no longer thought about picking up any spoils. He only hoped the torch would go out quickly, that Snow Mane would hurry up and get lost, and that he could leave too.

But at that very moment, another accident occurred.

Roar...

A low, hoarse beastly roar suddenly came from behind him.

Snow Mane, which had been enjoying itself, immediately turned around, its expression becoming incomparably wary.

Bang...

A wolf-like Frost Beast leaped down from a tree and landed less than ten meters away from Snow Mane.

The Frost Beast was covered in blue mane, its body roughly two meters long. A ring of barbs encircled its neck, its mouth was full of dense fangs, and its bloodthirsty pupils first fixed dead on the torch before it let out a low growl at Snow Mane.

"It's a Bone-spurred Frost Wolf!"

Xia Hong recognized the Frost Beast's species at a glance.

The two most common Frost Beasts on the outskirts of Redwood Ridge were Snow Mane and Frost Wolf.

Both had actually appeared.

Xia Hong's heart grew heavy. On his first outing, encountering two kinds at once was certainly not something he considered good luck.

Clearly, as Redwood Ridge expanded, the activity range of the Frost Beasts was expanding as well.

Great Xia Camp was only around five kilometers from here.

If these Frost Beasts moved any farther outward, they could barge into the camp at any time.

If those Frost Beasts truly stumbled upon it by accident, it would be a calamity of extinction for the current camp.

Bang...

A huge crash pulled Xia Hong back from his thoughts.

Snow Mane and the Frost Wolf had already become locked in battle.

Clearly, even with both eyes blinded, Snow Mane was unwilling to surrender the torch.

And the Frost Wolf was determined to claim it, so the two naturally came to blows.

Snow Mane was larger than the Frost Wolf.

Moreover, just as Xia Hong had seen, after staying beside the torch for a while, Snow Mane's wounds had nearly healed. As it clashed with the Frost Wolf, it did not fall behind for a time.

But once again, Xia Hong gained a new understanding of Frost Beast intelligence.

After ramming into Snow Mane twice, the Frost Wolf immediately changed tactics.

Relying on its nimble body, it continuously dodged Snow Mane's charges to the left and right.

Sometimes, it even crouched down and slipped beneath Snow Mane's belly.

And every time it successfully crouched and evaded, it used its sharp claws and the ring of barbs around its neck to leave several deep wounds across Snow Mane's abdomen.

Snow Mane, which had just been healed by the torch, soon became covered in wounds again. Dark green blood poured continuously from the wounds in its belly, staining the surrounding ground green in no time.

And that was not all.

After a while longer, the Frost Wolf suddenly retracted its claws and stopped moving.

Not only did it stop moving, it began circling the ground with extreme slowness, its claws all tucked in as it walked through the snow using only its paw pads.

The Frost Wolf had actually realized Snow Mane was blind.

Xia Hong's exposed eyes were filled with shock.

If Snow Mane's earlier act of playing dead and luring its enemy deeper had been intelligence beyond instinct, awakened by its will to survive,

then the Frost Wolf's current display completely showed this:

Frost Beasts truly possessed intelligence, and it was absolutely not low.

This completely overturned Xia Hong's previous understanding of beasts.

Finally, after circling several times, the Frost Wolf seized a perfect opening. Its four paws exploded with force, and it pounced from behind, pinning Snow Mane beneath it and biting down on its throat.

Snow Mane writhed and struggled on the ground, once again bringing out the tongue that had previously dealt Big Stone Camp such devastating damage.

Unfortunately, the Frost Wolf was simply too fast. Even while clamped tightly around Snow Mane's throat, it could adjust its position and avoid Snow Mane's pointed tongue.

After stabbing wildly more than ten times without hitting it, Snow Mane changed tactics. Its tongue softened as it tried to coil around the Frost Wolf and strangle it to death.

Yet the Frost Wolf had a ring of barbs around its neck. Those barbs were no less sharp than Snow Mane's tongue, making them impossible to wrap around.

The two Frost Beasts continued grappling and struggling on the ground for over a hundred breaths.

In the end, the battle concluded with Snow Mane bleeding out, exhausted, and dead.

The Frost Wolf rose to its feet and spat out two mouthfuls of dark green blood. The savagery on its face gradually faded, replaced by a hint of smugness as it looked toward the still-burning torch.

It walked up to the torch and placed its head directly into the flames. Like Snow Mane before it, its face showed an expression of enjoyment.

But it quickly turned its head and scanned the surroundings, its expression becoming wary. It first glanced at Snow Mane's corpse on the ground, then looked back at the torch.

With almost no hesitation, the Frost Wolf tilted its head, clamped the torch in its jaws, and darted into the snow-covered depths of the dense forest.

Snow Mane had fallen and died, while the Frost Wolf had withdrawn. The snowfield immediately fell silent.

Only a pair of eyes beside the great boulder was now filled with astonishment and delight.