Zi Ming had been running thirty minutes non-stop. The mountain was colder than usual at dark, but tonight was incomparably freezing. Trees had started to lose leaves as the first signs of winter cropped up. Snow coated this area all year, but winter was a different matter altogether.

Even with his level of cultivation, each winter, Zi Ming felt some degree of hardship enduring the freezing weather. During snowfall, villagers would make fewer trips in these brisk mountains.

"Hu, hu..."

Zi Ming's breath became uneven. He finally reached his limits. The terrain was so cold that he didn't even feel pain from his injuries, but the strain they had caused him was manifesting.

He ran for another two minutes before his legs began trembling. The village was less than ten li away, but he couldn't muster any more strength to resist the weariness.

"Plop!"

Zi Ming dropped in the snow at last. He tried to get up, but his vision gradually became blurry as he ultimately lost consciousness and passed out.

The forest was eerily peaceful.

Besides the sound of whistling wind and rustling branches, there was nothing. The boy was basically defenseless at the moment.

He was in a very deep slumber right now.

If any animal decided to attack, he wouldn't be able to protect himself. The chances of him escaping death this time were close to nill. To make matters worse, the stench of blood on his clothes would also most probably attract carnivorous beasts.

Suddenly, something came running in the distance. It was a little ball of fur. The creature had its tongue stuck out as it ran in the middle of trees.

It was surprisingly the small pup Zi Ming had met before.

The place with the dead wolves was more than forty li away.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

At his top form, the sleeping boy would run this distance under fifteen minutes, but he was severely weakened.

Such speed and stamina couldn't be considered normal, however. Zi Ming was at the body refiner level five peak. Once someone reached this stage, their muscles and tendons would become reinforced. It was the very reason why the wolf from before wasn't able to rip his arm off.

Reaching this level, the body would be able to take more punishment and allow the cultivator to produce feats that normal humans couldn't accomplish.

This wolf-like pup most likely followed Zi Ming all the way back from the previous spot. It was even more glaring because, the boy had taken precautions, so as not to cross the territory of dangerous animals in the area. If Zi Ming had run in a straight line, he would have probably met death thousand times over.

The beast yelped as it caught the sight of the black-haired boy. He rushed in his direction and started sniffing his clothes, seemingly looking for something. The sniffs became more erratic as its nose got nearer the boy's mangled left arm. 

"Wuwu..."

The little creature's silvery eyes became brighter once he noticed the traces of fangs and the blood which had yet to dry. The crimson liquid was slowly dripping from the injuries and dying the snow red. It put its two front paws on the boy's member and began a lick motion.

"Slurp, slurp."

The pup didn't seem to understand the situation of the boy. He continued to lick and slurp on the warm substance for half a minute before something strange happened.

The wounds on the boy's arm started to close. A minute later, the blood had stopped flowing; as the red stain also ceased to expand around his elbow. The furry ball threw a hissy fit after it took note of the odd occurrence.

"Wu!"

The small beast tried to lick the snow but its sensitive tongue couldn't handle the chilly sensation rushing in. 

The creature seemed to be enraged at this. It tried the same thing several times in succession, but to no avail. After some time, it decided to give up on the impossible endeavor. It proceeded to lick on each and every cut and bruise it could come across on the boy from that point on.

Two minutes later, Zi Ming's body which was completely motionless before moved.

His head and face which were entirely still minutes ago shook abruptly. Zi Ming opened his eyes in confusion as his face was resting on the snow. He turned on his back with surprising ease as he put a hand on his forehead. 

He was feeling a terrible headache right now. He was agonizing over the pain before he recalled where he was.

"Crap! How long have I been asleep?" He said as he got up and took hold of his spear.

"Huh? How come I feel so light all of a sudden." Zi Ming was puzzled.

"Wuwu!"

A familiar sound came from behind.

When Zi Ming examined the source of the sound, he was taken aback. "Little guy, what are you doing here?"