Chapter 58

#Drink slowly, be careful it’s cold

I snuggled against Xie Zhuo for a long time before he finally reached out and patted my head.

His palm was warm and his movements gentle. His hand wasn’t as large as I remembered, but the soft strokes felt so achingly familiar.

In that instant, I was overwhelmed with emotion and my eyes welled with tears.

I buried my head in his chest, rubbing against him again and again, until he placed both hands beneath my front legs and picked me up.

“Whose little wolf are you?” he asked.

I gave a soft “awoo,” my voice tender and childish, and told him, “I’m a dog…”

But he didn’t understand at all. “You can’t stay here.”

He said, “Your father and mother will worry.”

He spoke calmly, which only made my heart ache more. I struggled in his hands, trying to fling myself into his arms again.

He seemed afraid of hurting me, so he quickly set me down on his lap. I braced myself with one back leg, draped my front paws on his chest, stretched out my neck, and tilted my head up to lick his chin.

Looking like a dog was the only thing this body of mine could do to comfort him.

Xie Zhuo was caught off guard by my frantic licking and leaned his head back again and again. Finally, when it tickled too much, he laughed—and only then did I stop.

“Awoo awoo awoo!”

I said to him—“Smile!”

“Awoo awoo awoo!”

Xie Zhuo, you should really smile more!

He looked at me, and I stared longingly back at him. He reached out to pat my head again, and I eagerly rubbed against his palm like I’d done it a thousand times before.

He didn’t say anything. After a while, I saw his expression grow somber again. He turned to look at the curtain over the door.

“You should go back,” he said, picking me up once more.

I struggled and cried out, “I really am a dog! I’m not a wolf! I’m not one of your kind! I came here just to be with you—where else could I go?”

Of course, Xie Zhuo didn’t understand. He carried me to the curtain, crouched down, and after looking at me for a long while, gently cupped my belly with both hands and slipped me out through the gap between the curtain and the floor without even lifting it.

Outside the curtain, several members of the Snow Wolf Tribe were watching us. They seemed curious about the “awoo awoo” noises coming from inside. Everyone looked like they were still doing their own thing, but they were clearly paying attention.

“Mom…” a child whispered to his mother, “Xie Zhuo didn’t eat the little puppy.”

His mother immediately covered his mouth.

I glanced at the people outside, then pawed at the dirt on the ground and charged right back through the curtain.

Inside the tent, Xie Zhuo had apparently planned to lie down again. When he saw me reappear, he froze for a moment.

“Out,” he said. “You can’t stay here.”

As he approached to pick me up, I leapt onto his bed using three legs. He came after me, so I jumped back down.

At that moment, I was struck with a need to win—I absolutely couldn’t let him catch me!

So, to dodge him, I dashed around the tent like crazy on three legs—under the table, under the stool, onto the bed, and even leapt up and hung off the tent itself. The place was a mess.

Finally, Xie Zhuo stopped chasing me—not because he was tired, but because I was. I curled up in a pile of his blankets, clutching them tightly with all three paws, and even clamped the fabric in my mouth, as if to say: “If you throw me out, I’ll take your blanket down with me!”

Xie Zhuo stood beside the bed, watching me for a long time. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“…Alright,” he finally said. “When your parents come for you, you can go with them.”

He came over to the bed.

Wary that he might be bluffing, I kept my grip tight on the blanket.

But Xie Zhuo seemed to completely understand how I felt in that moment. He didn’t come any closer. He just crouched down by the bed, rested his head on the edge, and quietly watched me.

After a long while, my guard slowly dropped from our chase, and I finally let go of the blanket.

He no longer intended to drive me out. I crawled toward him again, nudging his face with my nose. He raised his hand and gently patted my head. My tail started wagging behind me before I even realized it.

It felt so good, Xie Zhuo.

Right now, in this moment—it was better than anything I’d ever dared to dream of since you left.

I spent the night in Xie Zhuo’s tent. The next morning, when the tribesmen came to offer him soul power, I lay quietly to the side, watching.

As a spirit, I’d already watched this ceremony many times with Xie Zhuo. I was very familiar with how he looked while receiving soul power, so I immediately noticed a change in his mood today.

At first, he kept glancing at me, seeming reluctant to part with me, as if he feared someone might speak up at any moment and ask him to return me.

But as time passed and the people offering soul power began to leave—without a single one claiming me—his expression shifted to anxiety and worry.

He kept studying everyone’s faces, then looked back at mine, over and over again.

I guessed he must be wondering: Had I been abandoned by my parents? Was that why no one wanted to take me back?

To ease his worry, I tried to act calm and relaxed, just a sleepy little dog yawning lazily, without a care in the world.

Only after everyone had left and the ceremony was over did Xie Zhuo walk over and stroke my head. “Whose little wolf are you?”

“Woof,” I replied. “I’m a dog…”

He looked puzzled. “Why did you come here?”

“Woof.” I rubbed my head against his palm. “To be with you.”

From that day on, I stayed in Xie Zhuo’s tent.

The people of the Snow Wolf Tribe never bothered me. When it came to Xie Zhuo, they tried their best to remain indifferent. With no one bothering me, I could relax and enjoy myself.

But now, it’s Xie Zhuo himself who’s making me anxious.

Back on that frozen lake, Xie Ling’s words must’ve shaken him deeply.

I’d spent at least one or two years searching for a body that matched my spirit. And in all that time, Xie Zhuo hadn’t stepped out of his tent once.

I stayed in the tent with him for two days before I realized I couldn’t let him keep wasting away like this. I had to find a way to coax him outside, to let him feel the breeze and the sunlight again.

But as a crippled little dog, there was no way I could drag him out by force.

So I tried to lure him out. I played with him in the tent, and once he seemed to be having fun, I’d dash out through the curtain, just far enough for him to see my fluffy feet from inside. Then I’d bark, “Awoo!” inviting him to come out.

But Xie Zhuo never followed.

I’d wait a bit, then run back in.

He would stand at the curtain, watching me, gripping it as if held back by some unseen command. He refused to lift it.

“Awoo…” I pawed at his foot.

“I’m not going out, little wolf. I’m staying right here.”

Play couldn’t move him. That made me even more worried.

But just as I was stewing in anxiety, an opportunity came…

I got hungry…

Ever since I entered this little puppy’s body, I learned some basic breathing and qi circulation techniques. I managed to sustain myself for many days by absorbing the scattered spiritual energy of heaven and earth—just like the entry-level practices of cultivation. But after all, I am a dog. Over time, I started to struggle.

My stomach growled, and my mouth grew parched.

I rummaged around the room, trying to figure out how to tell Xie Zhuo I was hungry, so he’d go out and find me something to eat.

But Xie Zhuo didn’t eat either—every day, the soul power offered by the tribe far exceeded what his body actually needed.

I couldn’t speak, nor could I gesture. Finally, I turned my gaze toward the candle I had once entered… and the candleholder beneath it.

I jumped onto the table, grabbed the candleholder in my mouth, and banged it against the tabletop, like a beggar clanging a bowl for food.

Xie Zhuo stood by the table, watching me. After a long moment, he said, “You like playing with that?”

“Aw?”

Why would you think that?

Xie Zhuo laid the candleholder on the ground and gave it a little push, sending it rolling away.

I was furious. I picked it up again and clanged it on the ground—ding ding dang dang—but he just looked amused and tossed it even farther.

I ran after it again, tail wagging, and brought it back.

After a few rounds of this, I was livid.

Are you playing fetch with me!?

“Woof!”

I barked in righteous anger, all three paws lifting off the ground in my fury.

Xie Zhuo laughed so hard his eyes crinkled. “Little wolf, you’re so cute.”

But you’re clearly just playing with me like a dog!

I was tired. I ignored the candleholder and flopped onto the floor.

The tent fell silent. Xie Zhuo crouched beside me. “Little wolf?”

I let out a pitiful whine.

“Done playing?”

“Whiiine…” I was out of strength.

He finally seemed to realize something was wrong and grew a little anxious. He picked me up, and my belly growled cooperatively right on cue.

“Whiiine…” I’m starving, man…

Xie Zhuo held me for a while, gazing at me.

“Are you… hungry?”

Thank heaven! You finally get it!

Thankfully, he’d often wandered outside in the past—even if he’d never been hungry himself, he knew what it meant.

I responded immediately, “Aw!”

He glanced around the room. Naturally, there was nothing edible here. At last, his gaze turned to the tent flap.

I thought he would hesitate a long time. After all, no matter how I’d tempted him before, he never once stepped outside.

But to my surprise, he paused only briefly—then lifted the flap and walked out, carrying me in his arms.

The wind and sunlight once again fell on Xie Zhuo’s face.

The breeze was gentle, the sunlight warm. I looked up at him.

Seeing the light and the people again, his expression turned momentarily dazed.

The tribe didn’t ignore him like they had in the past. They turned to look as well—curious about the boy who hadn’t come out in over a year.

Xie Zhuo only stayed silent for a moment, then held me and went to find food.

He moved quickly, not letting himself get caught in his feelings, and took me straight to the water jar—as if, more than his own emotions, he cared about my hunger and thirst.

“Water.” He placed me on the ground and cupped some from the jar with his hands.

The cold water was warmed by his gentle palms. I lapped at it from his hands with my tongue. Maybe the touch tickled him, because he narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Drink slowly, be careful—it’s cold.”

The moment I heard those six words, a deep, soul-etched familiarity wrapped around me. I couldn’t help but lift my head and look at him.

In the breeze, backlit by the light, I suddenly realized—after all the days of soul offerings from the Snow Wolf Tribe, he had finally begun to resemble a youth again. In his features, in his aura, I could now see… the familiar person I once knew.