Chapter 280 - Wolf Cubs (1/2)
Holding her younger brothers in each of her hands, Yu Xiaocao followed the gray wolf into the dark cave. Fortunately, in the past few years, her eyesight had been strengthened by the mystic-stone water that she added to their drinking, cooking, and bathing water. Although the cave was very dark, she could still vaguely see in the pitch dark.
As she walked, she reminded her two younger brothers about any loose stones under their feet. After stumbling for about a quarter of an hour, the gray wolf that was leading the way stopped.
Yu Xiaocao blinked and tried to look at where the gray wolf was standing. There was a smaller hole there, and it was about half of a person tall. If she and her brother ducked, they would be able to fit. There were indistinct sounds of small animals coming from it.
The gray wolf went in and took a small black animal out, putting it beside Xiaocao’s feet. Xiaocao squatted down to see that it was a pure black wolf cub. Xiaocao looked at the gray wolf’s belly in surprise, “You gave birth to a pup? It doesn’t look like you!”
The gray wolf’s blue-green eyes flashed with scorn, ‘I’m male. Male!’ He then turned his back and went back over to the hole and picked up a lure white wolf cub in his mouth. With one black and the other white, either of them looked like him!
“What do you mean by this? Are you showing off your children?” Yu Xiaocao guessed.
The gray wolf looked at her with contempt and shook his head. Yu Xiaocao thought of her worries that morning. Was this a gray wolf with intelligence, foreseeing the difficulties of hunting in the future, so he wanted her to help raise the cubs?
”Little wolf... Do you want me to raise the cubs?” Yu Xiaocao stared at the gray wolf's eyes as she asked, placing emphasis on each word.
The gray wolf looked lovingly at the two pups and nodded slowly. The mother of the wolf cubs went hunting a few days ago and never came back. She must've met an unfortunate end. The wolf cubs were crying due to hunger. The little cubs were too young to eat the prey that the gray wolf brought back, and they only survived till now by licking the blood remains.
Without their mother's milk, the blood of the prey wasn't enough to feed the two cubs. The gray wolf could only watch as his children became more and more weak, unable to do anything. He didn't expect that he would meet the human who gave him the good-tasting liquid from before. After drinking those drops of water, his physical fitness had improved drastically and his wounds healed faster. After gaining intelligence, his intuition told him that this female human would be able to help him save the life of his two cubs.
”Second Sister, if you have something to say, can we wait until we get out of here? It's too dark here, so Little Fangping is afraid!” Little Shitou didn't say he was afraid, pushing it on to Liu Fangping instead.
Liu Fangping, who hadn't been able to see for a while, was also afraid and said, ”Yeah, yeah! It's too dark, which makes it quite terrifying!”
Yu Xiaocao picked up the two weak wolf cubs and said to her two younger brothers, ”Grab onto my clothes and don't get lost. You too, Little Wolf, follow me!”
After walking for half an hour, three humans, one wolf, and two wolf cubs walked out of the cave and arrived at Yu Xiaocao's secret base—the hidden valley. The valley wasn’t spared by the locust plague. The originally brilliant flowers were completely gone, and the scene of verdant green trees was worse than when she came in the winter. The green vegetation had been eaten up, only leaving uneven branches and roots. The hideous ground was exposed with protruding stones. Fortunately, the small stream was still running.
The two little fellows, who were finally able to see again, saw the two puppies in their elder sister's hands and excitedly surrounded her, ”Second Sister, where did you get these puppies? They're so cute! Let me carry one!”
Liu Fangping jumped up and reached with his small hands. He screamed, ”Me too! I want to, too!” However, he was frightened by the gray wolf protectively baring his teeth. So, he obediently stood to the side and stared at the ‘little white dog’ in Yu Xiaocao's hands.
Yu Xiaocao looked down at the two cubs that probably weren't even one month old. They were so thin that she could see their ribs. The cubs' eyes were open. The black one had pure blue eyes, like a clear and transparent sapphire. The white one's eyes were taupe like a shining opal. The two little ones lay in her arms obediently and looked at her with two pairs of cute and trusting big eyes. This was because she had the same smell as their father.
The two wolf cubs were too weak. They were motionless in her arms and didn't even have the energy to look up. Had she come by any later, these two little guys would've been in a perilous situation.
Yu Xiaocao took the two pups over to the stream. She dropped a drop of mystic-stone water into the palm of her hand, diluted it with the stream water, and held it next to their mouths. Mystic-stone water was more tempting than their mother's milk. The two wolf pups, who hadn't eaten for a long time, instinctively licked the mystic-stone water. The mystic-stone water was quickly licked up. Yu Xiaocao didn't give them more because the wolf cubs were too small and weak to bear so much spiritual energy. If they drank too much, then it would be counterproductive!
While she was feeding them mystic-stone water, the gray wolf sat beside Yu Xiaocao and watched the two wolf cubs drink the water with loving eyes. His throat moved, but he resisted the temptation of the mystic-stone water.
Little Shitou and Liu Fangping sat beside Yu Xiaocao. Little Shitou looked at the thin appearance of the two wolf cubs and worried whether they could support them. Seeing the wolf cubs seemed unsatisfied as they licked their mouths after drinking the water, Little Shitou said, ”Second Sister, are the puppies hungry? I'll catch some fish and roast them! ”
The unique little white fish in the stream were tender and delicious. No matter if it was roasted or stewed in the soup, Shitou liked them. This time, since he came with his second sister to the secret base, he had purposely brought an earthenware jar and prepared to catch some small fish.