Trapped After a Snow Mountain, Fed by Snow Wolves - Chapter 1

001 Escape from the Jaws of Death

A snow mountain.

The cold wind howled.

Her trekking poles were buried by the snow, and the greater part of Ji Yingran’s body was also submerged in the white snow, leaving her with no strength left to stand up.

The snow filling the sky fluttered before her eyes, and ice crystals condensed on her long eyelashes, blurring her vision.

Aside from the unceasing howl of the wind and snow, not a single other sound could be heard. It was dead silent.

Was she about to die?

She had gone mountaineering with five experienced companions, but a sudden avalanche coupled with a blizzard had caused her to get separated from them, leaving her lost and alone on this vast, snowy mountain.

She had lived her life step by step for twenty-eight years, and her only act of rebellion had simply been to come to the peak of the snowy mountain in the Arctic to gaze upon scenery she had never seen before.

But clearly, she had underestimated the danger and unpredictability of climbing a snow mountain, and she had also overestimated her ability to save herself after encountering danger.

And she had to pay for this misjudgment with her life.

Ji Yingran lay flat on her back in the snow, unable to even make out the outline of the sky. There was only the wildly dancing snow mist, which covered everything like a giant white net, blocking out even a shred of light.

The wind and snow carried ice particles, lashing against her face one after another until the pain made her numb.

She gave up struggling and accepted the reality of her impending death.

She closed her eyes wearily.

Crunch.

It was the muffled sound of a foot stepping on snow.

Ji Yingran snapped her eyes wide open, mustered her last ounce of strength, propped her upper body up slightly, and looked hopefully in the direction of the sound.

The blizzard obstructed her vision, reducing visibility to less than a meter, but Ji Yingran was certain that someone was approaching.

Were they her fellow teammates? Was it the rescue team?

Hope ignited deep within her heart, and the instinct to survive drove her to wave and shout, but soon, she saw the person gradually approaching.

Amidst the wind and snow, a white, gigantic wolf appeared.

Ji Yingran’s pupils dilated, the shout stuck in her throat, and her waving hand froze mid-air.

She was not even certain if it was a wolf, for it was more than twice the size of an ordinary wolf, with a visual body length of two meters and a shoulder height of well over a meter.

She had never seen a snow wolf of such massive proportions; it was practically comparable in size to a tiger.

Yet under the current circumstances, whether it was a wolf or some other beast did not seem to make much difference.

The very last shred of strength she had mustered was exhausted, and she fell back into the snow. Her body sank into the snow once more, enveloped by the cold and wrapped in fear.

She had originally thought the worst-case scenario was freezing to death on the snow mountain, but she had never expected there to be a fate even more gruesome than freezing to death: being treated as food by a wild beast and devoured alive.

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of wolf paws stepping on the snow drew closer, and Ji Yingran’s body trembled uncontrollably.

She wanted to run, but her frozen hands and feet left her without even the strength to stand. She could only let nature take its course and await her fate of being devoured.

She closed her eyes in despair, even her long eyelashes trembling.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Time seemed to stretch out endlessly.

Rip.

It was the sound of fabric being torn apart, coming from a short distance away.

Ji Yingran opened her eyes in puzzlement and turned her head to look. Half a meter away, her mountaineering backpack, which had been tossed into the snow, had actually been dug out by the snow wolf.

The backpack was easily ripped open by the snow wolf, which lowered its head to sniff. Seeming to catch the scent of something interesting, the wolf’s eyes lit up, and its entire head plunged into the bag.

Immediately afterward, the sound of crunch, crunch, crunch chewing traveled over.

For a moment, Ji Yingran was somewhat dazed. Was that wolf eating the things inside her bag?

To make it convenient to replenish her energy halfway through the climb, she had packed some food in her bag, including a few packs of compressed biscuits and a couple of blocks of chocolate.

With the snow wolf’s entire head buried in the bag, although she could not see what it was eating specifically, judging by the chewing sounds, it was undoubtedly crunching on the compressed biscuits.

Soon, the chewing stopped, and the wolf’s head finally emerged from the bag.

The snow wolf was still unsatisfied and licked its lips. Not having eaten enough, it continued to paw at the bag.

It fished out everything inside: emergency medical supplies, climbing ropes, spare cold-weather clothing, and tossed them about until everything was in complete disarray and a total mess.

By the very end, finding no more food that suited its palate, it lost interest. The wolf turned its head and locked gazes with Ji Yingran.

Those golden wolf pupils emanated a chilling sharpness amid the wind and snow.

Ji Yingran’s heart skipped a beat, and she hastily averted her gaze, not daring to look it in the eye.

In the eyes of the vast majority of animals, direct eye contact equates to a challenge. Under such circumstances, she absolutely must not make eye contact with it; she had to lower her head and adopt a submissive posture, otherwise, she ran a high risk of being attacked.

Ji Yingran lowered her head, closing her eyes tightly, squeezing them shut.

Humans perhaps were not on its menu; avoiding conflict with it offered a probability of surviving this ordeal.

Clinging to wishful thinking, Ji Yingran prayed that it would leave quickly.

Between freezing to death while lost in the blizzard and being swallowed whole by a wild beast, Ji Yingran preferred the former. At least the former would leave her body intact and cause less suffering.

Once her eyes were closed, her hearing became exceptionally sharp. She could hear the roaring wind, the rustling sound of ice particles scraping against her clothes, and the solid crunch of the wolf’s paws treading on the ground.

Even though she could not see with her eyes shut, Ji Yingran could sense that the snow wolf was watching her.

Watching, sizing her up, probing, and feeling curious.

She could even feel the snow wolf’s warm breath, right before her very eyes.

Perhaps the snow wolf was pressing right up against her face at this very moment, staring intently at her.

Various imaginations flashed through her mind one after another, but no matter what, Ji Yingran did not dare to open her eyes; she feared that the moment she opened them, she would face the snow wolf’s fangs and sharp teeth.

She did not know how much time passed, until the sensation of being closely watched gradually dissipated.

Hesitantly, Ji Yingran slowly opened one eye.

Amidst the fluttering wind and snow, she saw the massively proportioned snow wolf walking away step by step, leaving behind only a blurred silhouette.

Ji Yingran opened her other eye as well, and the heart hanging in her throat finally dropped.

It had left. It seemed heaven still favored her after all; at least she did not have to be eaten, which could be considered a misfortune among misfortunes.

She let out a long breath, which turned into white mist. When she had confirmed that a freezing death was unavoidable in this icy wilderness, she had actually felt a sense of relief.

Yet, deep inside, she still felt a lingering sense of unwillingness and regret.

She had promised the three cats and one dog she kept at home that she would return as early as possible, but it seemed she would have to break that promise. She wondered if they would miss their owner.

The flowers and plants she grew in the garden would probably all wither away without her meticulous care.

Most importantly, her mom and dad would be heartbroken. At their advanced age, they would have to experience the pain of a parent burying a child.

She had been a law-abiding person all her life, but right as she approached thirty, her delayed rebellious phase had arrived, driving her to run all the way to the Arctic for an adventure, only to lose her life in the process.

Her mother, Ms. Ou, was an extremely tearful person who frequently needed her younger self to coax her. She wondered how Ms. Ou would react upon hearing the news of her daughter’s death.

Thinking of this, Ji Yingran felt a sourness in her nose, and her heart felt indescribably heavy.

So many, many things and people were left behind that she could not let go of, but no matter how reluctant she was, at this moment it could only turn into a helpless sigh.

Accompanied by a multitude of regrets and lingering attachments, she finally sank into boundless darkness, losing consciousness entirely.

She had a very long dream, dreaming that she had returned home and was staring at the ancient painting of the snowy mountain fairyland hanging in the living room.

A corner of the ancient painting was missing, an accidental find by Ms. Ou during her work, which had been hung in the center of the living room ever since Ji Yingran was very young.

Little Ji Yingran would often stand before the ancient painting, guessing what was originally depicted in that missing corner.

Guessing, pondering, and then she woke up.

When she opened her eyes, what greeted her was no longer the wind-swept snow of the sky, but utter pitch blackness.

Where was this? Was she still alive?

Supporting her body, Ji Yingran slowly crawled up from the ground. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make out her surroundings.

The light was too dim, allowing her to see only a rough outline; this place appeared to be a cave.

Her hand pressed against the cave wall, which felt very dry, and she could feel cold, rugged stones.

She felt her way along the cave wall all the way until a turn brought her into a narrow, winding tunnel.

At the far end of the tunnel, a glint of light dazzled her eyes.

Ji Yingran stopped all movement and stared fixedly at the brightness at the end of the tunnel. It seemed that the front was the exit.

Unclear of the situation, she did not dare to approach rashly. Frowning and hesitating for a moment, she finally gritted her teeth and walked toward the light.

The tunnel was not very long, and after walking for ten seconds or so, she reached the source of light. She cautiously peered outward.

The blinding white caused her to instinctively raise a hand to shield her eyes.

Transitioning from a dark environment to a brightly lit place made her eyes sting slightly, unable to open them due to temporary blindness.

After adapting slightly, she lowered her shielding hand and squinted to look at things.

A world of endless white, continuous mountain peaks; everywhere she looked was mountains and snow.

Ji Yingran glanced back at the narrow cave tunnel, then looked at the white glare outside, a wave of confusion rising in her heart.

There was simply no one around; who had brought her into this cave?

Could it have been an illusion produced before death, imagining that she had found a cave to temporarily take refuge from the blizzard?

Just as she was puzzled and perplexed, not far away, a thick, bulging mound of white snow moved.

Ji Yingran instinctively took a step back, wearing a vigilant look.

“Who is there?” Ji Yingran stared fixedly at that stirring mound of snow.

The amplitude of the snow’s movement grew larger and larger, accompanied by a crunching sound. Something was buried beneath the thick snow and was about to emerge.

Ji Yingran clenched her fists and swallowed nervously.

The next instant, a furry head popped out from the snow with a sudden thrust.

It was a wolf!

The snow wolf stretched its front limbs, shook lazily, and then shook its head.

With the shaking, ice particles rolled off its snow-white, fluffy fur like falling shattered diamonds.

The blizzard had stopped, and the sunlight was just right. Bathed in light and shadow, the snow wolf appeared ethereal and illusory.

Ji Yingran’s expression turned slightly dazed, inexplicably associating it with the ancient painting with the missing corner hanging in her living room.

She had guessed countless times what content would be painted on that missing corner of such a beautiful fairyland ancient painting.

Was it a Qilin only found in mythological legends, or perhaps a Pixiu, a dragon, a phoenix, and so on?

All those fantastical guesses were completely overthrown at this moment when she laid eyes on the snow wolf before her.

That missing corner depicted a snow wolf, a snow wolf so breathtakingly beautiful it felt as though it could only exist in a fairyland.

It was so breathtaking that Ji Yingran felt she might have already died in the wind and snow, and everything before her now was merely a pre-death delusion.

At the same time, the snow wolf sensed something, stopped shaking the snow off its body, and turned its head to look.

One human, one wolf, eye to eye.