Chapter 2: The Approaching Storm
The wind outside the cave had changed its tune, shifting from a low, mournful wail to a shrill, piercing shriek, as if countless invisible whips were lashing madly against the ridges and rocks.
Lin Youyou stood frozen at the cave entrance. The faint, rust-like scent of blood lingering at the tip of her nose now felt like a more immediate and tangible threat compared to the raging blizzard outside.
To go out meant being instantly swallowed by the white chaos, her body heat rapidly stolen by the severe cold—the outcome was clear. To stay meant facing the unknown, bleeding source of danger hidden deep within the cave.
Her heart hammered violently against her ribs, feeling as if it might shatter them.
"Calm, Lin Youyou. You must stay calm," she whispered to herself again, her voice trembling slightly in the confined space of the cave mouth.
She took deep breaths of the cold air, tainted with that strange scent, forcing herself to analyze the situation.
Returning to the storm was certain death. While the blood scent inside was unsettling, it was, for now... stationary. No growls, no sounds of movement, only dead silence and that persistent odor.
Perhaps it was a dead animal? Or a creature so severely injured it couldn't move?
The instinct for survival eventually overpowered her initial fear.
She decided to risk staying, but not unprepared.
She shifted her trekking pole into a grip better suited for striking, while her other hand, trembling, pulled a high-power flashlight from the side pocket of her backpack.
Taking a deep breath, she thumbed the switch.
A beam of blazing white light pierced the darkness of the cave depths, slicing through the heavy shadows like a sword.
The light first illuminated the uneven rock walls and scattered gravel on the ground, then slowly moved towards the source of the scent.
At the edge of the beam, she first caught a glimpse of a stark, dark red.
The red was not yet fully dry, gleaming dully under the flashlight, splattered like stars on the gray-white rock, tracing a horrifying path.
Lin Youyou's heart leaped into her throat. Holding her breath, she steadfastly followed the trail of blood with the flashlight beam.
The light finally settled on a corner in the deepest part of the cave.
There, lay a massive, silver figure, far larger than she could have imagined.
Even curled up, the creature's size was startling, roughly estimated to be at least two meters long. It possessed a coat of stunning silver-white fur, still discernible beneath the dust and bloodstains. Now, however, that coat was marred by a crisscross of terrible wounds. The deepest one ran almost the entire length of its back, flesh torn open, still slowly oozing beads of blood. The small pool of blood gathering beneath it was still expanding; the heavy metallic scent emanated from here.
What shook Lin Youyou to her core was this: the moment the flashlight beam hit it, the massive head, which had been lying limp on the ground, seemed to sense the light and twitched almost imperceptibly. Then, with great difficulty, its tightly shut eyelids cracked open a sliver.
What eyes they were!
Even in its severely weakened state, the pupils held an almost translucent silver, like frigid stars hidden deep within the polar night of the snowfields.
Now, these silver eyes were filled with indescribable pain, bone-deep exhaustion, and... a razor-sharp alertness belonging to an apex predator. They looked towards the light, towards Lin Youyou's direction, seeming unfocused, yet the instinctual pressure and scrutiny they held instantly made Lin Youyou feel as if she'd been plunged into an icy abyss, her hands and feet turning cold.
It was alive!
And it was absolutely no ordinary wolf!
Whether it was its astonishing size, its uniquely noble fur, or those eyes brimming with intelligence and latent power, all proclaimed its extraordinariness.
Lin Youyou almost screamed in fright, instinctively stepping back. Her heel kicked a loose stone, producing a faint clatter.
The sound seemed to further irritate the giant beast. A low, hoarse, almost inaudible growl rumbled in its throat as it tried to lift its head in a threatening gesture.
But the slight movement seemed to drain its last vestiges of strength. Its head fell heavily back to the ground, the silver eyes closing weakly. Only the faint, barely perceptible rise and fall of its chest testified to its tenacious hold on life.
Seeing it lacked even the strength to lift its head, Lin Youyou's frantically beating heart strangely calmed a fraction.
Fear remained, but another emotion—a strong wave of pity and compassion, like spring water breaking through ice—began to well up inside her.
It was too severely injured, so much so that it was powerless against her, a sudden intruder and 'threat.'
She was a girl raised in a peaceful city. Faced with such a massive, mysterious, and critically injured beast, reason told her to retreat immediately, find a corner to hide in, and wait for it to die or for the storm to stop.
But looking at the expanding pool of blood beneath it, watching its muscles twitch occasionally with pain, recalling the glimpse of those silver eyes filled with agony and pride... she found she couldn't.
This wasn't just a wild beast. It was a living being enduring immense suffering.
In her backpack, she had an emergency first-aid kit.
It was meant for humans, but the basic principles of cleaning, disinfecting, and stopping bleeding should be similar, right?
"I... I don't mean to harm you," she spoke to the seemingly unconscious giant in an extremely soft, slow voice, as if afraid of disturbing it.
"You're losing so much blood... I have to try to help... or... or you'll die."
She knew it probably couldn't understand, but the monologue was more to soothe her own nerves, stretched taut to the breaking point.
Clutching her trekking pole and flashlight like talismans, she inched forward with extreme slowness. Every step was cautious, trying not to make a sound.
The closer she got, the stronger the metallic scent became, and the more oppressive the silver wolf's massive form felt. She could clearly see the coagulated blood clots in its fur, the glimpses of white bone deep within the wounds.
Finally, she stopped about two or three meters away from the silver wolf.
At this distance, she could faintly feel the weak heat emanating from its body, and could more directly sense the fading of its life.
She gently leaned the trekking pole against a nearby rock wall, then carefully placed the flashlight on a slightly higher rock ledge, letting the beam generally illuminate the area of the wolf's injured back.
Taking a deep breath, she very slowly shrugged off her backpack, unzipped it, and retrieved the white first-aid kit marked with a red cross.
Opening it, she found neatly arranged iodine swabs, sterile gauze, bandages, medical tape, scissors, and some basic pain relief and anti-inflammatory pills. The supplies were limited, but they might be crucial for stopping the bleeding.
She picked up a packet of iodine swabs and several of the largest sterile gauze pads. Taking another deep breath, as if approaching a live bomb, she held her breath and reached her hand towards the most severe wound on its back...