What was I doing?
For money I haven't even gotten, I just escaped a bear's jaws, and now I'm going deeper into these dangerous mountains and woods?
That's just stupid!
I actually thought I could catch that fox alive on foot in this forest??
His own stupidity made him laugh.
He felt like a reckless clown who didn't know his own life was at stake.
How was this any different from what the original owner of his body had done before being buried by a blizzard?
Su Wei cursed his own stupidity inwardly, but luckily, he had come to his senses quickly.
He had only lost his head for a moment. Now that he had come to, it wasn't too late. He hadn't gone very far.
Su Wei looked up at the sky.
The sky had grown darker, the clouds hung low, and the wind had turned shrill, howling as it whipped up sprays of snow.
It looked as though another blizzard was coming.
Even if it wasn't a blizzard, Su Wei could tell from the memories he had inherited.
The wind and snow tonight wouldn't be mild!
Besides, the original owner had died in the last blizzard.
Am I going to follow in his footsteps?
Just for eight thousand dollars?
If he lost his life, never mind eight thousand-even eighty million would be useless. Then the land and the cabin would be lost too.
Su Wei began to tremble from the cold and the lingering fear.
He had been too impulsive, losing his head over that money.
No, I have to leave here right now.
The most important thing now was to get down the mountain and return to the cabin that could shelter him from the wind and rain.
Having realized that, Su Wei hesitated no longer.
He checked his bearings and prepared to circle back to the route he had been taking down the mountain.
But as he turned around, he caught another glimpse of white out of the corner of his eye.
The blue-eyed white fox had actually come back.
It stood on a rock seventy or eighty meters away, watching him, its body taut and ready to run again at any moment.
There was something indescribable about those ice-blue eyes in the darkening woods.
Su Wei froze.
What's going on?
Is it provoking me?
He stopped and faced the white fox from a distance.
Even now, he couldn't help marveling at how stunning the little fox was.
It was the very image of a snow spirit.
But he couldn't understand why a wild animal would run away and then come back.
A thought that shouldn't have surfaced popped into his head again.
Is it injured and unable to run far?
Or is its den nearby?
Su Wei's heart began to beat faster again.
He decided to try one more time.
This time, he didn't dare rush at it. Instead, he stepped lightly, lowered his center of gravity, and edged toward the fox little by little.
With every step he took, he tried his best not to make a sound.
But after he had edged forward five meters, the fox jumped down from the rock and retreated five meters.
Not a bit more or less. Exactly five meters.
It kept a safe distance from him the whole time.
Su Wei stopped.
The white fox stopped too. It even tilted its head, continuing to watch him with those ice-blue eyes.
Su Wei frowned.
This thing... has it become a spirit?
Refusing to believe it, he tried to get closer again.
The result was exactly the same as before.
He took a step forward, and it took a step back.
He stopped, and so did it.
This was no hunt. The fox was playing him for a fool.
After all that back-and-forth, Su Wei not only failed to close the distance but was instead led another few dozen meters deeper into the mountain woods.
He gave up completely.
Su Wei straightened up and leaned against a tree, feeling like a fool.
He had actually been led around in circles by a fox, wasting precious strength and time.
He looked at the fox in the distance. It was leisurely licking the fur on its paws, as though it didn't take him seriously at all.
Watching it, Su Wei didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
What a cute little thing.
He glanced at the sky again. The clouds hung even lower, and ice crystals had begun to ride the wind, stinging his face.
He couldn't delay any longer.
He had to get down the mountain before dark, or he would be in danger.
"All right, you win."
Su Wei spoke self-mockingly in the white fox's direction.
"Count yourself lucky. Hurry up and go, and don't let me or any other hunter run into you again. Better yet, stay far, far away."
His voice wasn't loud, and it quickly scattered in the wind.
With that, he paid the fox no more attention. He turned and strode down the mountain.
In the end, the lure of eight thousand dollars couldn't compare to his life.
He had to stay alive.
Only by staying alive would he have a chance to make money and hold on to the land that belonged to him.
Su Wei's figure soon disappeared into the woods, leaving behind only a trail of footprints of varying depths.
Long after he had left.
The blue-eyed white fox finally poked its head out from behind a tree, its ice-blue eyes gazing in the direction Su Wei had disappeared.
It twitched its nose and sniffed hard at the air.
It circled twice on the spot, somewhat anxious, looking up from time to time in the direction Su Wei had gone.
At last, it seemed to come to a decision.
It set off on all fours, not as fast as before, but carefully stepping into the footprints Su Wei had left behind.
Neither too far nor too close.
It slowly followed after him.
Chapter 5: The Blizzard Returns, Danger Appears Again! The Little White Fox Asks for Help??
Su Wei had no idea that a little white tail was doggedly following behind him.
All he could do now was keep his head down and hurry onward.
Icy snow pellets rode the wind, stinging as they struck his face.
The lingering fear of escaping the bear's jaws hadn't faded, and his strength was spent. The bone-deep cold kept creeping into his body through his soaked collar and pant legs.
Su Wei shivered uncontrollably from the cold, but all he could do was hold his clothes tightly shut, hoping for a trace of warmth.
The wind and snow really did slowly grow stronger.
The snow grew deep, and he trudged on with one step deep and the next shallow, finding it harder and harder to walk.
Su Wei pulled the phone, which was almost out of battery, from his pocket.