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Shi Wen as the two Hu Zai, their skin glistening and smooth, ran through the snow, trying to catch startled birds. He felt that they must have been quite uncomfortable being confined in the pasture.

It seems I need to take them out more often to run around and train them to hunt.

Shi Wen sensed that there were no large predators nearby, and that the two Hu Zai should be relatively safe under these circumstances, so he ignored them and headed uphill with his machete.

After walking for a short while, they saw greenery beneath the snow.

Yan Kexing recognized it at a glance. "That's a creeping pine up ahead."

Shi Wen took two steps forward, just two steps short, when a fierce gust of wind rushed in, causing him to stumble. He immediately reacted, turning around to shield himself from the gale. "Why is the wind so strong here?"

Yan Kexing reached out and pulled him into his arms, shielding him from the wind by turning his body slightly. "Just one step forward and you'll reach the mountain pass; the wind there is naturally strong."

Shi Wen, "So the creeping pine was forced by the wind to grow close to the ground, right?"

Yan Kexing: "You guessed right."

Gong Jiang and the other two followed silently behind, watching the two figures embracing. They exchanged glances, all feeling that the dog food was hard to swallow.

The wind was too strong at the mountain pass, so they had to cross the mountain a little to find a sheltered spot with creeping pine trees and then cut off their branches.

The branches of the creeping pine are relatively thin, so they can easily cut them down with a machete.

The only troublesome part is selecting creeping pine trees.

They tried to look at the thin, damaged, or insect-bitten branches.

In this way, by cutting off the old branches, they will grow stronger new branches next year.

"Woof--"

"Roar--Woof--"

They hadn't been chopping for long when the low growls of the Hu Zai carried on the wind.

Shi Wen immediately recognized the sound as the Hu Zai preparing to attack.

He Yan Kexing, stopped chopping wood, took two steps forward, walked to the edge of the mountain, and looked down.

Two Hu Zai were chasing a bird on the snow.

The bird seemed to be injured, as it wasn't flying very high.

The two Hu Zai took turns leaping up and pouncing on the bird.

Several times, the tiger's powerful claws pressed the bird to the ground, but the bird escaped again, flying diagonally into the air.

Yan Kexing said in a low voice, "They're practicing hunting."

"Do all felines have a habit of toying with their prey?" Shi Wen wondered, watching the two Hu Zai pounce and release the bird repeatedly, exhausting it. "They could have easily caught the bird in one go."

Yan Kexing: "He must have eaten a full breakfast and isn't hungry now, which is why he has the leisure to do this."

After watching for a while and seeing that the two Hu Zai were not in any danger, the group continued to cut down the creeping pine trees.

The cut branches are bundled together, and each person will carry one bundle to the vehicle.

While they were chopping, the two Hu Zai, perhaps tired from playing, came over with a bird in their beaks looking for Shi Wen.

When it ran to Shi Wen's feet, the Hu Zai that was carrying the bird placed the bird at Shi Wen's feet and bumped Shi Wen the other Hu Zai walked around him.

The two Hu Zai clearly intended to give him the bird they had captured.

Meanwhile, whether from excitement or exhaustion from running all the way up, the two Hu Zai were panting heavily, their tongues lolling out, just like dogs.

Shi Wen their hospitality, he quickly patted his two big heads and said, "Thank you, but I don't want any. You can eat it yourselves."

Yan Kexing poked at the bird with a branch of the creeping pine to check on it. "It's a grey-backed falcon, dead."

Upon Shi Wen that it was a bird of prey, Shi Wen exclaimed in surprise, "Tigers truly deserve to be called apex predators."

They do not interfere with the Hu Zai's hunting behavior.

The two Hu Zai eventually have to return to the wild. Excessive interference will leave them confused and unable to adapt to the wild environment.

It's fine as it is now.

The two Hu Zai rubbed against Shi Wen, occasionally raising their big heads to observe his expression. Seeing that he really didn't want it, the two Hu Zai picked up the grey-backed falcon and ran to the side to eat.

Shi Wen never trimmed their nails. Now they have sharp, hard nails and long, powerful teeth. They quickly tore open the grey-backed falcons' fur and began to gnaw on them.

Not wanting to Shi Wen the blood, he chased the two Hu Zai downwind to eat.

Sure enough, the two Hu Zai picked up the grey-backed falcon and ran away quickly.

When Shi Wen cut down a branch of a creeping pine, he looked down and could no longer see them.

They may have run into the Linzi and continued hunting.

"Let's take a break first," Shi Wen sniffed. "Let's find a sheltered place to rest; we don't need to cut down so many creeping pines."

He hadn't fumigated creeping pine before; he could just cut a little bit to try it out. There was no need to transport large bundles back as a remedy to prevent livestock from catching colds.

Yan Kexing determined the wind direction. "This way."

The group found a sheltered spot, sat down, and drank some water.

Thanks to the thermos, the tea inside was still warm and didn't freeze completely.

Everyone drank some tea and felt much better.

The temperature is quite low today, but it's still relatively dry. They're dressed warmly enough, and as long as they don't stand in the wind, they won't feel cold. They can relax without worry.

It's nice to sit and enjoy the scenery.

Shi Wen Yan Kexing sitting next to me; it was quite warm huddled together.

He looked down the mountain at the snow-covered plains, the forests, the wilderness, and the sky... The scene before him was completely different from anything he had seen in the previous twenty years.

Shi Wen gradually drifted off into a daze and leaned against Yan Kexing's thigh, dozing off.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, the two Hu Zai came running over again, carrying something in their mouths.

This time they carried twigs with orange-red to brownish berries on them.

The color of the fruit complements the color of the Hu Zai's fur, making it look very special.

Shi Wen looked at the Hu Zai running towards them with a puzzled expression, but quickly recognized the fruit. "Sand dates?"