Chapter 145: Little Wolf Cub

"Mo Qi, did we run into a pack of wolves?" Xi Miaomiao huddled close to Mo Qi, looking around nervously.

Xiao Zhang immediately stood up, shielding the two women behind him.

Mo Qi felt extremely anxious as well, but in such situations, panicking was the worst thing to do. She listened carefully and realized that the sound from earlier didn't quite sound like howling wolves; it was more like a puppy crying out for help in fear.

"Awooo! Awooo!" The sound rang out again.

"Sister Mo Qi." Xi Miaomiao looked on the verge of tears from fright.

"Don't be afraid, it probably isn't an adult wolf." Mo Qi took the flashlight from Xi Miaomiao's hand and said, "Brother Xiao Zhang, protect Miao Miao. I'll go take a look."

"No way!" Xiao Zhang refused instantly without a second thought. "Mo Qi, we should get out of here first."

Mo Qi shook her head. "Brother Xiao Zhang, the situation is unclear right now, and there's no telling what else might be waiting for us ahead. It's better to stay put for now and remain calm to handle whatever changes come. Don't worry, I'm just going to check if there are wolves active around here, I won't do anything reckless."

"Mo Qi, it's too dangerous." Xiao Zhang still disagreed.

"Awooo! Ooo!" The low sound came floating over once more.

Mo Qi felt a trace of hesitation in her heart. Running around blindly in the forest at night was undoubtedly a suicidal act.

Xiao Zhang pressed on with his persuasion, "Let's not walk ahead either. We should be able to climb this tree. Let's stay up in the tree tonight and wait for rescue tomorrow."

Mo Qi finally nodded. "All right. Brother Xiao Zhang, let's both give a hand and get Miao Miao up first."

The branches of this tree were about three or four meters off the ground, making it relatively easy to climb.

Xi Miaomiao originally wanted to decline, but seeing Mo Qi's persistence and not wanting to waste time, she gritted her teeth, stepped on Xiao Zhang's shoulder, and climbed up first.

"Sister Mo Qi, I'll pull you up." Xi Miaomiao sat astride a branch and reached her hand down.

"I know how to climb trees. Just sit tight and don't fall off." Mo Qi looked at the trunk, preparing to climb up on her own.

"Wait." Xiao Zhang frowned and listened intently. Mo Qi stopped as well.

"Rustle, rustle." Something was pushing through the weeds, heading straight toward them.

All three held their breath, their minds instantly jumping to the conclusion that wolves might have arrived.

Mo Qi gripped her flashlight tightly, aiming the beam in the direction of the sound. A faint green gleam appeared at the edge of the light.

"It's a wolf!" Xiao Zhang's voice was a bit strained as he instinctively clenched his fists.

Mo Qi held her breath as well, pressing her lips tightly together as she surveyed the surroundings. They might still stand a chance against a single wolf, but if they encountered a pack, they would truly be doomed.

The approaching wolf also seemed to hesitate for a moment before slowly stepping into the illumination.

It was still very small, about the size of an ordinary puppy.

Realizing there were no other wolves accompanying it, the three of them let out heavy sighs of relief.

"Awoo-oo-oo!" The wolf cub was covered entirely in mud, but it paid that no mind as it stumbled closer to Mo Qi and Xiao Zhang. It stopped about two meters away from them, looking at them with a pitiful expression and letting out low cries.

"What's wrong with it?" Xiao Zhang looked at Mo Qi in puzzlement.

Mo Qi frowned, looking at the mud-caked cub, and noticed its hind leg was injured.

"Oo-oo." The cub's eyes, gleaming with a faint green light, were watery, making it look exceedingly pathetic.

"It seems to be asking for help." As she spoke, Mo Qi slowly shifted her feet to move closer.

The moment she took a step forward, the cub immediately turned and trotted back the way it had come.

After running a short distance and realizing Mo Qi hadn't followed, it stopped, turned around, and looked back at her.

"It really is asking for help." This time, Mo Qi said it with absolute certainty. "Brother Xiao Zhang, watch over Miao Miao. I'll go check it out with it."

"Mo Qi, this is too dangerous." Xiao Zhang shook his head.

"Yeah, Sister Mo Qi. What if it's just pretending to be pitiful to lure you over?" Xi Miaomiao also chimed in with worry.

Mo Qi smiled. "Don't worry. Although wolves are social animals, wolf cubs are usually cared for by the mother wolf alone in turns. This cub looks only a few weeks old, yet it ran out on its own to seek help, which means it's the only one left."

Xiao Zhang also caught on. "A mudslide!"

"Very likely. Don't worry, I'll go take a look."

The cub ahead stopped again and looked back at Mo Qi. Looking into its eyes, Mo Qi suddenly thought of Mo Xiaobao.

Without further hesitation, Mo Qi quickly followed behind the cub.

The cub led her forward for about two hundred meters before stopping.

"Oo-oo." The cub trotted over and squatted down beside a boulder.

Mo Qi shined her flashlight over and discovered a mother wolf lying limply on the ground, its waist crushed by a boulder that had rolled down the mountain.

"Wuu... wuu." The cub lowered its head, letting out low whimpers as it licked the closed eyes of the mother wolf over and over again.

Mo Qi softened her footsteps as she walked over. Hearing the approach, the mother wolf managed to half-open its eyes with great difficulty, issuing a low, threatening growl at Mo Qi.

Even on the brink of death, it still wanted to muster every last ounce of strength to protect its offspring.

Mo Qi stopped in her tracks and softened her voice. "Hey pal, take it easy. I'm not going to harm you. Take it easy."

The mother wolf continued to watch Mo Qi with vigilant eyes.

"I know wolf packs are extremely sensitive and smart. You should be able to sense that I mean no harm." Mo Qi tried to make her voice even gentler. "Your condition is very bad right now, and the cub is very worried about you. Will you let me take a look?"

"Wuu... wuu." The cub burrowed into the mother wolf's neck, whimpering softly.

Without the mother wolf's permission, Mo Qi didn't dare to approach any closer. The two sides remained at a stalemate as time slowly ticked by. Until the very moment it closed its eyes for good, the mother wolf never relaxed its vigilance, not even a fraction.

"Hey, pal?" Mo Qi tried calling out twice, but the mother wolf did not open its eyes. Mo Qi moved a bit closer and only then realized that the mother wolf's abdomen was completely motionless, indicating it had stopped breathing.

"Wuu-wuu-wuu." The cub lifted its tear-filled eyes to look at Mo Qi, as if asking why she still wasn't saving its mother.

Mo Qi stepped forward. The boulders had blocked her view earlier, but now that she was close, she could finally see clearly.

The mother wolf's abdomen had been split open by the sharp edge of a rock, and its intestines had spilled out. The fact that it had miraculously managed to hold on until now was probably entirely due to its deep worry for its cub.

No responsible mother would ever abandon her child.

Mo Qi couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

"I'm sorry," Mo Qi murmured softly to the cub, "I couldn't help you."

"Wuu-wuu-wuu." The cub seemed to understand Mo Qi's words. It pressed against the mother wolf's neck, letting out low, mournful whimpers.

From this moment on, it no longer had a mother.

Crystal-clear tears streamed from its eerie green eyes, making Mo Qi's nose sting with sudden emotion.

"Shall we bury your mother together, okay?"

If the mother wolf's body were simply left here, it would inevitably end up being scavenged and torn apart by other predators.

The cub refused to budge from the mother wolf's neck, leaving Mo Qi with no choice but to pick it up.

The weeks-old wolf cub was so frail and thin that she could have easily crushed it with a single squeeze.

Mo Qi set the cub aside, and using the nearby boulder, she pulled up weeds with their roots and mud from the surrounding area to bury the mother wolf right where she lay.

With the mother wolf buried, the remaining issue was the cub.

Left alone in this forest, such a tiny creature would likely become prey for other animals within a single day.

What should she do? A headache began to form for Mo Qi.