Chapter 127

Chapter 127: "We Can Start by Learning to Catch Small Animals, Like Rabbits."

[Haha, Snowy Owl: You poke the back of my head and ask why I’m not opening my eyes.]

[Help, I really thought the snowy owl was facing Lin Jie with its eyes closed just now.]

[Snowy Owl: I was thinking, I’m facing the wall here.]

Lin Qianyu cleared her throat, withdrew her hand, and smoothed out the dent she had just made, “Alright.”

Another new snowy owl.

“Chiu!”

The snowy owl’s call had little intimidation, similar to the difference between a cat and a newborn kitten’s sounds.

The white owl looked fierce, but with this call, it didn’t seem so scary.

The arctic fox in Lin Qianyu’s arms twitched its ear tips at the sound; its big tail wound and unwound around her wrist.

“Standing like this isn’t very comfortable, is it?” Lin Qianyu stroked the arctic fox’s ears, observing the snowy owl’s claws, which only gripped the edge lightly. Whether it was stable on the table or not, it couldn’t stand there long.

Lin Qianyu thought for a moment, placed the arctic fox beside the snowy owl, and selected four or five sticks of suitable thickness from the firewood pile stored earlier.

“Owls usually lie on grass or perch on branches to sleep.” Lin Qianyu used an axe to whittle the sticks, occasionally lifting them to measure their size.

Staring at the wall all the time was boring; she decided to make a frame for the snowy owl to fly on.

Due to the ice house’s structure and limited materials, the frame wouldn’t be very elaborate or delicate.

The whittled sticks were placed horizontally in a corner, fixed at the right height.

The kitchen area of the ice house had the thickest, strongest ice; pushing hard, the sticks got stuck quickly.

Lin Qianyu pulled twice; the force was just right—not strong enough to pull them out—so she went on to set the other sticks.

While fixing the sticks, she joked, “Using the upper space like this.”

Now, even if a blizzard raged outside and prevented going out, the snowy owl could fly around inside and perch on the sticks.

Using sticks as short beams, the white environment got a little decoration; matching the color of the wooden table inside, it looked quite fitting overall.

“All done.” Lin Qianyu placed the highest stick, jumped onto the table, and smiled at the snowy owl, “Want to try flying up? Grabbing the stick with your claws should be easier than grabbing the table edge.”

The snowy owl could hook the whole stick with its claws, but when grabbing the table edge, it could only rest lightly and seemed like it might fall at any moment.

It spread its wings and fluffed up its feathers, making the whole owl look round and fluffy.

Although its eyes were open, the snowy owl showed no intention of flying up.

“Not going? Don’t like the height or the material? It’s all natural wood—I even peeled off the bark outside. Standing on it should definitely be more comfortable than on a branch outside.”

“Or is it that there’s no snow on it? The branches outside are covered with snow, so it’s hard to replicate inside,” Lin Qianyu pondered. “How about—”

“Chiu!” The snowy owl turned its head back and forth twice, ignoring Lin Qianyu’s rambling.

In the blink of an eye, the snowy owl flew up by itself.

[Snowy Owl: Master, please stop nagging, stop it, Master!][Hahaha, the snowy owl must be thinking, are you humans all such chatterboxes?]

[Help—when the raptor got angry, it didn’t attack, but instead stepped on the sticks as Lin Jie said. Who understands this, family? Raptors like this deserve to be held close and thoroughly petted! Pet it till it squeaks!]

[Friendly reminder: The following scenes are only to be viewed in Lin Lin’s livestream. If you meet a snowy owl outside, don’t rush to hug it. Wild arctic owls will beat you until you’re howling.]

...

The snowy owl flew two rounds above, stepping on almost every stick, and finally landed on the highest stick, folding its wings.

The ice house is small; even if nothing is placed high up, it’s much more spacious than the floor.

But the snowy owl, with fully spread wings, is still quite large. Most of the time it runs with its claws, hopping onto sticks to step on them.

Like it’s completing a mission.

Lin Qianyu watched the snowy owl half-spread its wings, making it look like it was arching its back, its two claws moving very quickly.

—It’s running very hard!

The snowy owl must be very tired.

When it noticed Lin Qianyu looking at it, it paused and blinked at her when their eyes met, “Chiu…”

It seemed to understand something, lowered its head and scanned the sticks inside the house, finally flying over to the one by the door curtain that hadn’t been stepped on.

The last stick inside the house was also stepped on.

The arctic owl puffed out its chest standing on the stick, its wide eyes bright and spirited, “Chiu!”

Lin Qianyu: “...”

Realizing what the snowy owl was doing, Lin Qianyu couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “—Haha!”

This is just too cute!

She was only amused watching the snowy owl running on the floor, but the owl misunderstood and thought there was still a stick it hadn’t stepped on, so it deliberately flew over and stepped on the last one.

Mission accomplished.

The snowy owl looked at the human below whose eyes curved in laughter, tilted its head, “Chiu?”

Lin Qianyu fiddled with her phone and took a picture of its head tilt, imitating its sound, “Chiu!”

The snowy owl tilted its head in another direction, seeming even more puzzled.

[Arctic Owl: Three grammatical errors in one sentence, how did your teacher teach you?]

[Shouldn’t it be more like “curious,” since before you could understand, but this sentence you don’t understand?]

[Sniff… I really feel this snowy owl will obediently let you pet it. Even when angry, it’s just puffed up and the petting feels better. I love it so much.]

Lin Qianyu took down the towel she had hung up to dry. After soaking and squeezing it, the towel was only half the size of a bath towel but still twice the size of the common towels outside.

She folded it once in the middle.

Lin Qianyu used the dry towel as a blanket, draping it over the edge, “You can also sleep here at night.”

Little owls sleep lying down because compared to other birds, their heads are heavier. Lying down reduces the burden on their neck vertebrae.Adult owls aren’t too particular about their sleeping positions.

The temperature inside the house is warm.

The compressed towels hung up to dry are wrung out and sometimes warmed by the fire, so they dry quickly.

Lin Qianyu took down the other towels as well, folded them together and gave them a shake. Just as she was about to stack them, her fingertips paused, and out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to catch sight of something.

She held the towels and glanced sideways toward the direction of the arctic wolf pack.

Although they were allowed to roam freely and go into the inner room where there was more space,

perhaps because their injured companion was lying on the table, their range of activity was always centered around that table, especially when resting.

At this moment, the five arctic wolves all had their gaze very unified, staring straight at Lin Qianyu’s hands—

...more precisely, at the towels in her hands.

Lin Qianyu hesitated briefly, then, in front of them, shook the towels in her hands, then slowly raised them.

The arctic wolves also slowly lifted their heads.

When Lin Qianyu lowered her hand, the wolves lowered theirs simultaneously.

The ones on the sides did the same, no need to mention.

The arctic wolf pack was perfectly in sync, not a single one falling behind.

After a slow circle, Lin Qianyu twirled the hanging towel around her finger and wrapped it around her hand, and the wolves also turned in a circle.

The small sticky-headed one sitting at the front didn’t quite keep balance and let out a “woo” as it bumped into its companion beside it.

[!!!]

[Ahhhh, bad human!]

[Awoo—so cute, so cute! Let me bite its ear, just one bite, I’ll only bite once!]

Lin Qianyu laughed heartily and squatted down in front of the arctic wolves. “Are you okay?”

“Awoo!” The little sticky one had barely steadied itself after falling, and its tail behind it was already wagging.

Getting closer, it rubbed against Lin Qianyu’s neck, then turned its head to lick her cheek, making continuous “woo woo” sounds from its throat.

Lin Qianyu covered its head with the towel.

With something on their ears, whether heavy or not, arctic wolves reflexively turn their ears away.

Lin Qianyu pressed it down with the towel, gathering the towel hanging on both sides of its furry head to the jawline, “Look! A new species of seal discovered on Polar Island, revealed by non-professionals—this has never been seen by the public before, the Arctic Wolf-Leopard!”

The arctic wolves didn’t understand the meaning, though they understood the words. Following Lin Qianyu’s rising tone, the little sticky one also raised its head, “Awoo!”

Wolf-leopard!

It howled louder than anyone else.

It didn’t understand, but was supportive.

The little spotted seal vaguely heard familiar words and rolled on the ground, “Ah awoo?”Who called me?

The little snow leopard licked its paw, ran over, and placed its front paw on Lin Qianyu’s knee. “Awoo!”

It’s calling me!

Maybe because of the word “leopard,” the furry family members tend to pick out words they understand when they don’t get the whole sentence.

Lin Qianyu raised her hand, hugged the little snow leopard into her arms, and petted its head in a messy way.

“Awoo, awoo…” The little snow leopard squinted its eyes, its fur all ruffled from the rubbing, its voice changed tone, but it still insisted on howling.

Lin Qianyu scratched under its jaw, then lifted it up and headed toward the bedroom.

“Listen to the sounds outside.” She gently rubbed the little snow leopard’s belly, pondering, “When will this blizzard end? There’s no news from the rescue station.”

Before, they used to announce snowfall amounts and snow thickness, estimating it would stop within a few days.

But later… when it would stop, no one could say—it was just a matter of fate.

Lin Qianyu sat by the bed, dragged over a sleeping bag, curled up, and leaned it against her lower back like a pillow. “If we can’t go out, we’ll just do crafts inside.”

“How about knitting sweaters for you all?” Lin Qianyu fiddled with the little snow leopard’s whiskers.

But the furry family at home can withstand the cold with just their fur, so sweaters are just small gifts to wear for fun—the warmth doesn’t really matter.

The little snow leopard opened its mouth. Cat whiskers are very sensitive; a light touch means being scratched, a harder touch might get bitten.

But the little snow leopard just raised its paw to rub its own face, then turned its head to rest on Lin Qianyu’s palm.

Its wet little nose brushed against her wrist. Lin Qianyu weighed it in her palm, rubbing the little snow leopard’s neck, “The fur scarf has grown out.”

She crossed her hands in front of the little snow leopard’s body, lifted it up high before her eyes, “Is Tangyuan looking better than before now?”

“Woo…” The little snow leopard’s golden-clear, beautiful beast eyes were full of confusion.

[It feels like it has grown a lot. When I saw it before, it was skin and bones, its fur all matted, so pitiful. Now looking at it again, the change is huge.]

[Animals loved like this will grow flesh crazily.]

Lin Qianyu held it with one hand, rubbing it against her cheek, “When you grow a little bigger, let Xuetuan teach you how to hunt, okay?”

“Awoo!” The little snow leopard has a special fondness for hunting, tilting its head affectionately to nuzzle her, “Woo!”

Ibex!

Lin Qianyu thought for a moment, “That might be a bit difficult.”

The little snow leopard won’t grow big enough anytime soon to confront an ibex head-on.

Lin Qianyu coaxed, “We can start by learning to catch small animals first, like rabbits.”

The little snow leopard’s fluffy tail wagged, “Awoo!”

Eat!

Lin Qianyu put the little snow leopard on her lap, rubbed its ears, pinched its paw pads, and asked, “Want to eat ibex?”

She pondered, “It seems like the ibex at home are all gone. When the snow stops, let’s go catch ibex together, okay?”“Woo…” The little snow leopard lazily lifted one paw in front of it, then brought it close to its mouth and licked it, then stopped moving.

It looked like it was biting its own paw.

Suddenly, as if it had confirmed something, the little snow leopard’s eyes slightly squinted, it raised its head and softly called out, “Awoo!”

“Hm?” Lin Qianyu raised her eyebrows, “Me? Are you offering it to me?”

“Woo!”

Author’s note: Good night, sleep early, love to every one of you.