CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 35: SIBLINGS

Cold, hungry.

In the icy world, all that could be seen was a boundless white expanse.

The big tree above was laden with thick snow and ice, with sharp icicles hanging down, extremely sharp.

At this moment under the tree covered with snow and ice, a small figure of a Jackal Wolf Person was carrying another young Jackal Wolf Person on his back, struggling through the thick snow.

Stepping on thick snow, sinking deep into it, the resistance of the snow hindered the small Jackal Wolf Person’s steps. Both toes had become numb from the cold, but he still gritted his teeth, holding tightly to the young Jackal Wolf Person on his back, showing no intention of letting go.

"Brother... can we... survive...?"

A weak voice came from behind, like a fragile flicker of light that might extinguish at any moment in the storm. Meng Bi couldn’t even feel the breath of his sister behind him.

His heart tightened at this moment,

even deeper was a profound despair toward the boundless world of snow ahead.

"It’s okay, Aisha, we will definitely survive."

Meng Bi gritted his teeth, his lips turning bluish-purple.

He suppressed his somewhat rapid breathing and spoke with strength and resolve.

"Aisha, you have to hold on. Didn’t you love eating meat the most? Soon, we’ll have meat to eat. Then we’ll find a warm grass nest, light a bonfire outside, let the flames burn all night, and we won’t fear the cold anymore. Do you remember those red flowers? I remember you loved that valley filled with red flowers, saying that when the wind blew, it was like a sea of red. Winter will soon pass, and when the snow melts and the weather warms, the plants will grow, and the valley’s flowers will bloom again. Then you can run on it like the wind..."

As he spoke, tears welled up in Meng Bi’s eyes. He clenched his teeth to forcibly prevent himself from crying.

His feet had been walking in the snow for a long time, trembling, as if they might collapse at any moment.

But he still stood firm, walking step by step, leaving a trail of footprints behind him as he staggered forward with determination.

"Yes... Is that valley still there..."

On Meng Bi’s back, Aisha, with her weak breath and dry eyes, suddenly glimmered with light, as if seeing that fiery red sea of flowers, seeing the mountain wind sweep across the land, the sea of flowers swaying, and herself running on it.

That was her happiest time.

Back then, their parents were still around. She had just been born and once ran outside, accidentally entering that valley.

The nest was warm back then, and they had food every day. They weren’t starving like now. She could run with the wind across the sea of flowers in the valley, with her brother close behind.

When did it all change?

The light in Aisha’s eyes slowly dimmed.

War suddenly broke out. Another tribe attacked them, and their parents died in the battle. She and her brother, Meng Bi, were captured by another tribe.

Being captured was more like becoming slaves, disposable slaves.

They had to work hard every day, but never received any food.

It seemed that in the eyes of the victors, not killing them was merely because they couldn’t be bothered to lift a knife, leaving them to die from hunger and exhaustion.

If it hadn’t been for Meng Bi accidentally running into the tribe leader’s warehouse during the chaos and stealing a large piece of jerky, they would’ve starved to death during the cold winter long ago.

However, food eventually runs out. Even if they ate the large piece of jerky sliced with tree bark and grass roots, it inevitably got eaten.

The new tribe leader didn’t give them food, and soon after the start of the cold winter, the tribe seemed to face a food crisis. They planned to slaughter the captured slaves as provisions, which Meng Bi overheard secretly, prompting him to escape with Aisha when the guards were off guard.

Yet, the new tribe was like Hell, and staying there meant losing their lives.

How kind could the icy expanse of nature be to them?

During the cold winter, Beastman Tribes often expelled a portion of the Beastmen to fend for themselves in the frozen wilderness. But even then, in such circumstances, only one in ten survived, let alone the two underage Jackal Wolf People?

Cold, hunger, starving beasts...

All sorts of dangers sought to keep them in the snow forever. Relying on bark and grass roots, they struggled to survive and continued trekking south.

No direction, no goal, taking it step by step, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

Had it not been for the luck of finding a frozen dead wolf during their escape, they would’ve perished in the wind and snow already.

But good luck would not accompany a person for long.

Not long after, battered by wind and snow, with hunger and cold, Aisha, who was still very young, fell ill, lost the ability to move, and grew increasingly weak without sufficient nutrition.

Meng Bi wouldn’t give up. Aisha couldn’t walk, so he carried her.

But what use was that? The cruelty of nature wouldn’t be moved by their perseverance. It was cold; it was merciless.

Now, the Jackal Wolf siblings were at the brink of life and death.

"Brother, let me go... I can’t go on... Without me, you can survive..."

Even in her enfeebled state, Aisha could sense the current situation.

She knew her brother loved her deeply, but persisting like this would just drag him into death.

Abandoning her, he still had a slim chance of life.

"Aisha, I won’t allow you to say such things again. Trust me, brother will definitely take you to that good place where we’ll have enough to eat, warmth to stay in, where there will be no more hunger and cold. That dream place, it must exist!"

Meng Bi’s eyes were completely red, large drops of tears falling, his voice choked with sobs.

"Brother, stop lying to me... Let me go... I know... I can’t survive this cold winter... If you have the chance... go back and take a good look at that valley full of red flowers for me, okay? I was the first to discover that place..."

A hint of proud smile appeared on Aisha’s pale face,

but her voice became weaker, softer...

Her head was dizzy, about to fall into sleep.

"Aisha, hold on, listen to your brother, you must hold on, okay?"

The choked voice echoed, icy cold wind blowing against him, Meng Bi felt something was about to depart.

He knew his sister needed rest,

in this icy weather, she needed a warm bonfire, she needed some warm food.

But he had none,

nothing at all.

A vast white land, a cold, chilling despair.

Just as he was sinking into total despair, a magnificent column of smoke suddenly rose from a distant hill.