Chapter 39
Chapter 39: Distant Water Can’t Quench Near Thirst
At these words, the herders all hesitated.
They looked at each other, then all turned to Alatan.
Alatan spread his hands, quite nonchalantly. “I’m leaving anyway. The winter pasture Suhe found isn’t close. Even if we travel now, we can only hope to arrive before dark tomorrow.”
And that was if they were fast.
After they arrived, they’d still need to set up their yurts and build shelters for the livestock.
With snow this heavy, who knew when it would stop.
He didn’t want to spend another night in this wilderness.
“This is just the beginning of the snowfall – wild animals can still find some food.” Alatan looked at everyone, unusually serious. “But if we wait another day or two and encounter wolf packs… think about it!”
Even if they had hunting rifles, so what?
If a wolf pack swarmed them, who would stand in front?
Between starving to death and being shot to death, wild beasts wouldn’t have much reason left.
Especially once they smelled blood and got stimulated, they’d become even more ferocious.
After hearing this, everyone’s expressions became much more grave.
For a moment, the surroundings were completely silent.
Only the livestock occasionally let out soft sounds, and the torches made crackling noises.
Xie Changqing and his group didn’t care about all this – they had already mounted their horses and turned them around.
After a while, someone hesitantly led his horse forward. “I want to go.”
He looked at his family members and said with difficulty, “I’ve been surrounded by a wolf pack before… I don’t want to experience that scene again.”
That was the closest he’d ever come to death. Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
The others discussed among themselves, and after a short while, they all nodded. “That’s true… let’s go set up the yurts first.”
They could also pick a better spot at the winter pasture, with several close families living together.
Having many people had its advantages, and having few people had its advantages too.
If Erdun and his group were here, they could argue about whether to stay or go for half the night.
But now, they easily reached consensus.
Alatan walked ahead of the group and caught up with Xie Changqing and his companions.
He observed Xie Changqing curiously for a while before saying, “This one… called Changqing? I don’t think I’ve seen you before…”
Could he be new here? Or perhaps…
“He’s the veterinarian from our pasture.” Qiaoba smiled, extremely proud. “Don’t let his young age fool you – he’s got real skill.”
Remembering Xie Changqing’s efficient technique earlier, Alatan nodded. “That’s certainly true. I really opened my eyes just now.”
Their horse had passed by veterinarians before without anyone saying anything.
But Xie Changqing had spotted the problem with just a glance and cured it.
If not for that, they would have had to pick out another horse on the spot, change carts, load everything…
All that back and forth would have wasted precious travel time.
And Xie Changqing was so young too.
Even the other herders, hearing that Xie Changqing was actually a veterinarian, couldn’t help but sigh with admiration.
Such a young veterinarian – the Ninth Pasture was truly blessed…
“Hey? I heard that Chaolu and his group went to the Sixth Pasture? What’s that about?”
Qiaoba sighed. This matter was quite a long story…
Because they had livestock trailing behind, they definitely couldn’t go fast.
After all, even though there were fewer people now, they still had over a hundred head of livestock.
They worked hard to drive them forward, not letting a single animal fall behind.
In this weather, falling behind meant death.
They had to walk for a while, then rest for a while.
The pace was much slower than when Qiaoba and his group had come.
Qiaoba himself was fine, but he couldn’t bear to have Xie Changqing endure the wind all the way back.
“Hey? What are those carts for, why are they half empty?” Qiaoba had been eyeing them for a while.
“Hmm?” Alatan turned around and made a sound of understanding. “Those are for sleeping. In this weather we can’t sleep in tents – if we sleep, it’s all in the carts.”
Sangtu immediately caught on and said decisively, “That works. Changqing, you and Hairile, go get some sleep. You sleep for a while and I’ll wake you up so we can switch.”
His words were airtight, giving no room for refusal.
Alatan and his people naturally wouldn’t refuse – they were eager to build good relations with Xie Changqing’s group.
They immediately agreed and even brought out several pieces of good hide, laying them thick on the bottom and leaving two pieces for them to cover themselves with. “Don’t worry, it won’t be cold.”
With something blocking the wind from behind and curling up slightly, they could sleep quite comfortably.
Xie Changqing was indeed quite tired. Sangtu could catch up on sleep when he got back, but Xie Changqing would have to check on any livestock problems immediately.
“Alright, I’ll sleep for a while.” He yawned and went straight to sleep.
Honestly, even with the hide covering, it was still quite cold.
But these were the conditions – being able to sleep like this was already quite rare.
Rocking back and forth, Xie Changqing actually fell asleep.
Unfortunately, he didn’t sleep for very long.
Because soon, the sound of horse hooves came from behind.
“Ah, it’s Suren coming back!”
Suren was Suhe’s younger brother. The young man had left full of spirit and returned full of alarm. “Alatan!”
“What happened?” Alatan turned around to meet him, quite happy to see him catch up. “Did you run into any trouble?”
“They encountered a wolf pack!” Suren had galloped hard to catch up and was still shaken. “Many livestock were killed, and many more scattered and couldn’t be found… They’ve already started moving. He sent me ahead – we need to find a place. Someone was bitten by wolves, and Zhuolige says they can only be saved if they get here!”
Zhuolige was their pasture’s veterinarian, who had previously acted superior, saying that Alatan’s small group traveling at night was courting death.
Who would have thought that now it was his group that got ambushed by wolves…
Sangtu nearby couldn’t help muttering, “Wait, they have hundreds of people and brought sheepdogs – are they really afraid of a few wolves?”
Qiaoba coughed and gave him a meaningful look.
It wasn’t anything else – they were in such a sorry state mainly because Suhe wasn’t there.
Usually, jobs like scouting ahead and driving off wolf packs were all done by Suhe.
Unfortunately, Suhe was still lying in Sangtu’s house. Distant water couldn’t quench near thirst.
With injured people coming from behind, Alatan and his group had to stop.
They found a relatively flat area. Although it was covered with deep snow, they could only clear a space first and set up a tent.
“Put more felt blankets on the bottom, or it won’t be livable.” Alatan was quite troubled too.
“Don’t set up a tent.” Qiaoba dismounted and said helplessly, “The wolf pack tasted blood – the scent carries far in this weather. We’re not far from the mountains either, so who knows what other wild animals might be attracted.”
Everyone who was shoveling snow suddenly froze. “Huh?”
If they didn’t set up a tent, what were they supposed to do?
“Just clear out two carts and put them together. What’s there to fuss about at a time like this?” Qiaoba couldn’t stand watching and directly pointed them in the right direction. “Put two carts together, tie them tight with rope, and stuff things underneath to make them stable.”
Wasn’t this faster than clearing snow and setting up a tent? Plus it was clean and comfortable, and the bottom wouldn’t be cold. Lay down two layers of hide and it would be nice and warm.
Most importantly, after treating the wounded, they wouldn’t need to move them in and out – they could just pull the cart and go