Chapter 10: Mother, Will You Hold Me?

Jin Lin reached out and felt his neck, finding his hand covered in snow residue.

He felt further down—his armpits, the base of his thighs—everywhere was covered in snow residue.

Had that female just said he had a fever, and she was using snow to cool him down?

Jin Lin remembered that in his sleep, his breathing had indeed felt as uncomfortable as breathing fire, but soon, a chill had spread across his neck and forehead, and his body temperature had slowly begun to drop.

Could what she said be true?

Jin Lin looked toward Qiao Xixi. Even in the dimness of the cave, he could clearly see her small, thin body curled up within the animal skins.

According to the temperament of rogue beasts, shouldn't she be dying to see him dead so she could seize all his food?

Jin Lin was puzzled; he felt that Qiao Xixi was somewhat different from the rogue beasts he had encountered.

By the time Qiao Xixi woke up, the sky outside was already bright.

The moment she opened her eyes, she was met by three pairs of wide, eager eyes staring at her.

"Mother, you're finally up! If you hadn't woken up, Qiao Qiao would have thought you died, wuu wuu wuu..."

How could Qiao Xixi bear to see the little cub so heartbroken? She hurriedly scrambled up and pulled Qiao Qiao into her arms, soothing her softly.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Mother was just too tired and slept a little late."

Qiao Xixi felt moved in her heart. It seemed her education of the cubs over the past few days had been effective; they all knew how to care for her now.

"Then Mother, can you hurry and roast some meat for us to eat, okay?"

Qiao Xixi looked down, not missing the bright, pure smile in the depths of Qiao Qiao's eyes. The tiny bit of emotion that had just risen in her heart instantly vanished!

She thought they were worried about something happening to her, but it turned out they were just afraid no one would roast meat for them to eat.

Seeing as she was hungry too, Qiao Xixi stood up to slice the meat and roast it.

Just as she had finished eating, Qiao Ang rushed toward the cave entrance, his small face flushed red from exertion.

Just as he burst out, Qiao Xixi heard his youthful, startled cry.

"What happened?"

Qiao Xixi stood up and walked to the cave entrance, completely stunned.

The cave that had been easy to enter and exit last night was now piled with snow half as high as the entrance.

Qiao Ang had already disappeared into the snow.

"How did the snow suddenly become this thick?"

Qiao Xixi walked outside the cave. The snow was already deep enough to submerge her thighs; if the cubs walked out, the snow would almost cover their heads.

Most terrifying of all, it was still snowing outside.

"It never snowed this heavily in previous years."

"This is an Extreme Cold."

Qiao Xixi turned her head, somewhat surprised that Jin Lin would respond to her.

Seeing her surprised gaze, a strange light flashed through Jin Lin's golden eyes.

"I misunderstood you last night. I'm sorry."

This time, it was Qiao Xixi's turn to be surprised. She hadn't expected him to apologize immediately after realizing his mistake, and her displeasure toward him lessened slightly.

She raised her eyebrows and said with an air of magnanimity, "I am a generous female; I won't hold a grudge against an uncultured male like you."

Looking at her smiling face covered in dirt, Jin Lin turned his gaze away, speechless.

"What did you mean just now, by 'Extreme Cold'?"

Jin Lin looked at the snow at the cave entrance, his expression darkening.

"During an Extreme Cold, it will be much colder than usual cold days, and the snow will fall even more heavily. This level is only the beginning."

"Only the beginning?"

Qiao Xixi's heart sank halfway. If the snow was already this thick at the very beginning, if it continued, they would be trapped here to die.

No, she had to find a way to leave.

"You won't be able to walk out."

As if seeing through Qiao Xixi's thoughts, Jin Lin spoke calmly.

Meeting Qiao Xixi's puzzled gaze, Jin Lin said, "The position of our cave entrance is relatively high, but the snow has already submerged nearly half of it. This means the path below the entrance has even deeper snow. If you want to leave, you can only go up the mountain, but the mountain is full of fierce beasts."

Qiao Xixi thought of that black-furred long-toothed beast. If they encountered it, how could she escape unscathed?

"We can't leave, and you can't either?"

Jin Lin lowered his eyes without answering. Just as he took a deep breath, he began to cough violently.

The wound on his leg was secondary; what was life-threatening was the sharp pain in his heart that forced him to sit here and wait for death.

"I can't let the cubs wait here to die with me."

After saying this, Qiao Xixi turned and walked out of the cave.

Since staying meant waiting for death, she might as well take a gamble.

Jin Lin watched Qiao Xixi's silhouette quickly vanish into the heavy snow, but as soon as he moved, a stabbing pain shot through his chest, making his vision go dark and causing him to collapse back down.

As Qiao Xixi walked out of the cave, almost half of her body was submerged in the snow, and the cold was making her lower body nearly lose sensation.

Looking out, everywhere was a vast expanse of white; the rocks that could be seen yesterday had all disappeared today.

She turned to look back at the cave, but even the mountain rocks were invisible, making it impossible to estimate how thick the snow clinging to them was.

Qiao Xixi transformed into her beast form and headed up the mountain, but after only a few steps, her entire body became stiff from the cold. Having no choice, she reverted to her human form and returned to the cave to build a fire for warmth.

"Mother, are we unable to get out?"

Young cubs also feel an instinctive fear when facing extreme environments. Looking at such thick snow, Qiao Qiao's beautiful little braids swayed uneasily.

Qiao Xixi soothed her softly, "We won't. You must be hungry; Mother will roast some meat for you first."

Qiao Xixi roasted the meat somewhat absentmindedly. Even after it was done, neither Qiao Ang nor Qiao Lie had returned.

Qiao Xixi walked to the cave entrance. "Qiao Ang, Qiao Lie, come back and eat!"

She called out several times, but there was no response from outside.

The two cubs had just gone out to urinate; how could they be gone for so long?

Worried, Qiao Xixi stepped into the snow.

"Qiao Ang, Qiao Lie!"

Looking at the vast white snow, Qiao Xixi's heart rate accelerated.

When Qiao Ang woke up this morning, his stomach felt uncomfortable, so he had rushed outside to find a place to relieve himself.

But he had run too hard just now, triggering many snowdrifts on the mountain to fall. The snow directly submerged his head; he could only find the path back to the cave in the snow, but he hadn't realized he was wandering further and further away.

"Stupid female, stupid female, where are you?"

No matter how he walked, he couldn't find his way out, and Qiao Ang was panicking immensely.

"Stupid female, Qiao Qiao, Qiao Lie, where are you..."

"Wuu wuu wuu, stupid female, I'm scared..."

Running around like a headless fly had already exhausted him. He slumped down in a snowdrift, his small face full of despair.

The icy cold of the snow also caused the little cub's temperature to drop rapidly, and his eyelids became incredibly heavy.

He was so sleepy; he really wanted to sleep.

The cub's tiny body collapsed into the snow, and the white mist from his breath covered his small face.

Back on the ice plains, he had seen that white bear female holding her cub in her arms. The white bear cub looked so comfortable and happy.

He had been very curious back then whether a mother's embrace was truly warm.

But his mother would never embrace him...

"Mother, I'm so cold... I want a hug."

Just as Qiao Ang was about to close his eyes, a light suddenly appeared above his head, and a pair of slightly cool hands pulled him out from the thick snow.

"I finally found you, Qiao Ang. You scared Mother to death."

Qiao Ang, who was so cold he was nearly losing consciousness, was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace. He kept his eyes tightly shut, whimpering as he burrowed into Qiao Xixi's arms.

"Mother, can you hold me?"

(End of Chapter)