I nuzzled in Xie Zhuo’s arms for a long time, and he finally stroked my head.
His palm was warm, his movements gentle. His hand wasn’t as large as I remembered, but the light caress was so familiar.
Almost instantly, I became so excited that tears welled up in my eyes.
I buried my head in his embrace, nuzzling continuously, until he placed both hands under my front legs and picked me up.
“Whose little wolf are you?” he asked me.
I let out a soft “woof,” my voice puppy-like, telling 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 these words calmly, making me feel even more heartache. I struggled in his hands, wanting to throw myself back into his arms.
He also seemed afraid of hurting me while holding me, and quickly set me on his lap. Then I used one leg to support my body, with my two front legs on his chest, stretched my neck, raised my head, and stuck out my tongue to lick his chin.
Apart from acting like a dog, I couldn’t think of anything else this body could do to comfort him.
Xie Zhuo couldn’t handle my frantic licking, repeatedly tilting his head back, until he couldn’t stand the ticklish feeling anymore and laughed once, only then did I stop.
“Woof woof woof!”
I told him, “Smile!”
“Woof woof woof!”
Xie Zhuo, you should smile more!
He looked at me, and I gazed longingly at him. He stroked my head again, and I skillfully nuzzled against his palm.
He didn’t speak. After a moment, I saw his expression sink slightly again as he turned to look at the tent flap.
“You should go back now,” he said, picking me up.
I struggled, calling out: “I really am a dog! Not a wolf! I’m not from your tribe! I came here specifically for you, where are you sending me back to!”
Xie Zhuo, of course, didn’t understand. He carried me to the tent flap, crouched down, looked at me for a long time, then, with both hands cradling my belly, without lifting the tent flap, he sent me out through the gap between the flap and the ground.
Outside the tent flap, many Snow Wolf Tribe members were watching, seemingly curious about the little puppy’s “woof woof woof” from inside. Everyone seemed to be doing their tasks, but also seemed to be paying attention to what was happening here.
“Mother…” a child whispered to his mother, “Xie Zhuo didn’t eat the little dog alive.”
His mother immediately covered his mouth.
I glanced at everyone, pawed at the ground, and rushed back inside through the tent flap.
Inside the tent, Xie Zhuo seemed about to return to sitting on his bed. Seeing me dash back in, he stared blankly for a moment.
“Go out,” he said. “You can’t stay here.”
Seeing him coming over to carry me away again, I used my three legs to jump onto his bed. He came after me, so I jumped back to the ground.
In that moment, I felt a sense of competitiveness—absolutely, I must not let him catch me!
So, to avoid Xie Zhuo, I used my three legs to maneuver frantically around the room, darting about.
Under the table, around the stools, on the bed, I even jumped up and clung to the tent itself. After all this commotion, we had turned the room upside down.
Finally, Xie Zhuo stopped chasing me, not because he was tired, but because I was exhausted. I curled up in his pile of bedding, my three paws firmly grasping the blanket, even clenching it tightly with my mouth, in a “if you dare throw me out, I’ll take your blanket down with me” stance.
After all that chasing, Xie Zhuo wasn’t even breathing hard. He just stood by the bed looking at me for quite a while…
“Very well,” he said. “When your father and mother come looking for you, you can go with them then.”
Xie Zhuo walked to the edge of the bed.
Afraid he might be tricking me, I still held tightly onto the blanket.
But Xie Zhuo seemed to understand my state of mind perfectly. He didn’t come near me, just crouched beside the bed, resting his head on the edge, quietly watching me.
After a while, I let go of the wariness from our chase and released his blanket.
He no longer intended to drive me away, so I crawled over to him again. I used my nose to nudge his face, and he raised his hand to gently stroke my head. My tail began to wag involuntarily behind me.
This is wonderful, Xie Zhuo.
At this moment, this is a joy I wouldn’t have dared to dream of since you left.
I slept in Xie Zhuo’s tent all night, until the next morning when tribe members came to offer him soul power. I lay quietly to the side, watching.
As a spirit, I had accompanied Xie Zhuo watching this scene many times, and I was very familiar with how he looked when receiving soul power. So I keenly noticed Xie Zhuo’s emotional changes today.
At the beginning, he often looked at me, seeming a bit reluctant, afraid the next person would speak up and tell him to return me.
But as time passed and almost all the people offering soul power had gone without anyone claiming me, he became anxious and worried.
He kept examining everyone’s expressions and constantly observing my demeanor.
I guessed he must be wondering if I, too, had been abandoned by my parents, which was why no one was willing to claim me.
To prevent him from worrying, I tried to appear calm and at ease, like a yawning, sleepy dog with no desires or demands from life.
Only after everyone had left and the soul power offering ritual was complete did Xie Zhuo come to my side and stroke my head: “Whose little wolf are you?”
“Woof,” I said: “I’m a dog…”