The Suffering Little Wolf Girl

“You girl… sigh.”

Wan Shuang looked at Xun Xue’s state, feeling a mixture of amusement and exasperation. After a long moment, it all turned into a long sigh.

Her gaze fell back on Xun Xue, turning to business. “So, that human in the ice prison… what do you plan to do with her? We can’t keep her locked up forever, can we?”

“Oh, Sister Wan Shuang~ Do you even need to ask me?”

Xun Xue looked up, her azure eyes filled with a clear innocence. She subconsciously nuzzled her daughter’s soft head with her cheek and said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “You’re the leader! Of course, you get to decide on matters like this!”

The subtext was clear: Apart from my little Qiancha, what does it matter to me whether anyone else is locked up or released?

“…”

Wan Shuang felt a throbbing in her temples again.

Well, that was a pointless question.

She took a deep breath and, resigned, spoke again, this time stating her decision directly. “Alright. Then I’ll decide to let her go. She is, after all, a fellow disciple of your daughter. It’s not right to keep her locked up, and I can’t put her in a difficult position.”

More importantly, the Tianyuan Sect would sooner or later come to investigate. It was better to show goodwill and establish a friendly connection.

“Mmm-hmm, whatever Sister Wan Shuang says is fine!”

Xun Xue nodded nonchalantly, her attention instantly returning to the little treasure in her arms.

She looked at Lu Qiancha’s drooping, slightly messy blue ears and, as if it were the most natural thing, lowered her head and gently licked the soft auricle a few times with her warm tongue.

“!!!”

Lu Qiancha, who had been playing dead, instantly jolted!

The warm, moist sensation shot through her sensitive ears like an electric current.

She almost instinctively raised her paws and forcefully pushed at Xun Xue’s nearby face, her voice still laced with a hint of a lingering, aggrieved sob as she shouted, her fur on end, “Wh-what are you doing!”

“I’m helping you groom your fur. This is how I was groomed when I was little. It’s very comfortable.”

Xun Xue’s movements paused, her azure eyes full of pure confusion. She tilted her head, not understanding what the problem was.

Lu Qiancha was about to say something when she suddenly caught sight of Wan Shuang, who was still sitting quietly off to the side—those silver-gray eyes were staring at her with an amused expression.

In that instant, Lu Qiancha shivered. The protest that had been on the tip of her tongue was instantly swallowed. In the end, all she could do was blush and mutter awkwardly, “It-it’s itchy… stop licking…”

“Then I’ll be gentler.”

As if she had just been given permission, Xun Xue’s eyes curved happily. Not only did she not stop, but she went a step further—she opened her mouth slightly and took Lu Qiancha’s small, delicate ear tip entirely into her warm, moist mouth. Her tongue even intentionally or unintentionally swept over the sensitive little cartilage inside the ear.

“Mew~”

An indescribable current, a mixture of itchiness and a strange comfort, instantly swept through her entire body!

Lu Qiancha’s whole body shuddered violently. Her eyes squeezed shut uncontrollably, and a sound, both accusatory and strangely soft, escaped her throat! The tip of her ear, enveloped in warmth, twitched uncontrollably, and all the strength in her body seemed to be drained away by this overly intimate gesture…

Wan Shuang watched the interaction between mother and daughter with a helpless smile. She thought to herself: That’s not how you groom fur…

Shaking her head, Wan Shuang decided to give this mother-daughter pair, who looked like sisters, some much-needed private space. She stepped out of the wooden hut, preparing to tell the prison guards to release the human.

The Frozen Earth Ice Prison.

The cold was bone-chilling, the icicles like knives. Shangguan Yunzhu sat cross-legged on the cold black ice bed, her eyes closed as she tried to circulate her spiritual energy to recover. However, her thoughts were in a tangled mess. Senior Brother Lu Qiancha, who had been captured with her… how was he? Would those snow wolves harm him? An intense worry was about to consume her.

Click—!

The sound of a heavy black-ice iron door being unlocked suddenly came.

Shangguan Yunzhu’s eyes snapped open, her gaze as sharp as a sword.

The door opened, and a silver-gray figure, wrapped in a powerful aura, stepped in. It was the wolf clan leader from before, the one who had exuded that terrifying pressure—Wan Shuang.

“Human,” Wan Shuang’s icy voice echoed in the empty ice prison, devoid of any emotion. “You can go.”

With that, she turned to leave, as if she had only come to deal with a trivial matter.

“Wait!” Shangguan Yunzhu stood up abruptly, a residual aura of crimson flames faintly fluctuating around her. She suppressed her hostility and demanded, “For what reason did your clan capture us Tianyuan Sect disciples without cause?! Also, my fellow disciple who was captured with me, where is he now?!”

“You damaged my clan’s killing formation and stole our treasured herb. It’s only right that we captured you.”

Wan Shuang glanced at Shangguan Yunzhu and dropped these words.

“…!” Shangguan Yunzhu’s breath caught, and her face instantly flushed red!

If it weren’t for that killing formation, she would have already fallen into the venomous hands of Qiong Gong and his men.

She took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to argue, and solemnly cupped her hands at Wan Shuang’s back, her voice sincere. “Senior… it was truly a last resort to destroy your clan’s formation in order to escape a deadly situation! This junior… on behalf of my fellow disciple and myself, I deeply apologize to your clan!”

“There’s no need for an apology.” Wan Shuang’s tone was indifferent. “Your fellow disciple… has already paid the price for his ‘transgression.'” (Referring to the eight hundred strokes on Lu Qiancha’s bottom)

She paused for a moment before saying, “Go. Your restraints have been lifted.”

With that, her figure flickered and, as if melting into the shadows of the ice wall, disappeared.

“…?!”

Shangguan Yunzhu’s heart sank.

‘Paid the price? What price?! Senior Brother Lu… could he… have been severely punished because of me?’ A strong sense of worry and self-blame instantly overwhelmed her.

She hurriedly called out, “Senior! Wait! Where is my fellow disciple now?!”

Only her urgent shouts echoed in the dark, empty ice prison.

After a few breaths, an impatient voice transmitted from the cold stone wall, “Your fellow disciple has already left on his own. At this moment… he is probably no longer within the borders of our snowy plains!”

“…Thank you, Senior, for clearing my doubts!”

Shangguan Yunzhu cupped her hands at the empty ice prison. Although she was filled with doubts and worries, she had no choice but to leave for now. She quickly walked out of the prison, which exuded a cold, sinister aura.

She arrived at the snow wolf clan’s settlement.

What hit her was no longer the bone-chilling cold of the prison cell, but a wind carrying the crispness of ice and snow and the scent of hearth and home.

The view opened up before her. A large expanse of wooden houses and stone-built towers, built against the mountain, were scattered in an orderly fashion.

The figures coming and going were all, big or small, fluffy white-furred wolves. Children chased and played, warriors returned with their prey, women dried food…

Apart from the difference in race, the atmosphere of life was quite similar to that of a human town, just with the added ruggedness and tranquility of a world of frost and snow.

Just as Shangguan Yunzhu was looking around, trying to find a trace of Lu Qiancha or a path to leave, she suddenly caught a very conspicuous figure in the corner of her eye!

‘It’s Qianqian?!’

“Mmph…”

Lu Qiancha’s face, a picture of utter despair, was being affectionately and unceremoniously kneaded by Xun Xue, who had a doting smile.

Her small blue ears were occasionally affectionately nibbled on.

Her big, fluffy tail was held by the woman’s fair hand, the fur being gently plucked at, on and off…

She was like a large, exquisitely made doll, completely helpless in the arms of the stunningly beautiful woman. All she could do was let out a few very faint whimpers of helplessness and indignation in protest… and then, be completely ignored.

Shangguan Yunzhu quickly walked forward and, with a flash, politely yet firmly blocked the two figures.

Her gaze fell on the stunningly beautiful blue-haired woman. The other’s clear blue eyes held a natural charm and a hint of confusion.

“You are?”

Xun Xue tilted her head, looking at the human before her.

“You are… Qianqian’s older sister, right?” Shangguan Yunzhu said tentatively, her tone as polite and courteous as possible. “I am Shangguan Yunzhu. Previously, it was thanks to Miss Qianqian’s righteous rescue that I was able to escape. I apologize for blocking your path.”

She turned her gaze to the listless Lu Qiancha in Xun Xue’s arms, her eyes filled with concern and a complex gratitude.

Xun Xue stopped plucking at the tail, blinked her large azure eyes, and looked at Shangguan Yunzhu as if she were some novelty. Then, she broke into a smile, a hint of slyness and pride in it. “My name is Xun Xue~”

She hugged the little one in her arms even tighter, affectionately nuzzling her head with her chin, and added, “Also, you guessed wrong! I’m not her older sister. I’m this child’s—mother.”

“M-my apologies! It was my mistake. I hope Senior will forgive me!”

Shangguan Yunzhu hurriedly bowed, her cheeks slightly flushed, feeling extremely rude for her presumptuous judgment.

“It’s no matter.”

Xun Xue smiled faintly, then walked past the path that Shangguan Yunzhu had cleared.