'Hu hu' The little wolf bared its teeth and let out heavy panting. Compared to Auris's sleek and shiny fur, this little wolf was very thin, and its fur was patchy. Seraphina could tell from its greedy and hesitant look that it probably hadn't had a full meal in a long time.
She gripped the bone spike tightly with one hand, while the other hand slowly reached into her pocket to feel for the lighter. A wolf's weaknesses are its nose and fire. If she could seize the right moment, she could scare this little wolf away.
The human and the wolf stared intently at each other. If Seraphina's concentration slackened even a little, the little wolf would surely rush over and disembowel her without hesitation.
"Three, two, one..." Just as she was about to take out the lighter, she suddenly saw the little wolf let out a whimper - like cry and then dash towards the opposite side of the stream. She was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly felt a gust of wind pass by. Then, a larger grey shadow rushed over from behind.
"Ah..." It was Auris! Seraphina watched the two rapidly running shadows. Although the little wolf was agile, Auris behind it was clearly superior and soon caught up with the little wolf.
"Roar!" It flipped the little wolf over with one paw and then bared its sharp teeth and bit into its back. Auris shook its head from side to side, and the little wolf was thrown far away.
Seraphina watched as the little wolf rolled several times on the ground, hit a tree, and then staggered to its feet and silently slipped into the bushes to escape, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.
Auris roared angrily into the forest, giving the same feeling as when it saw the fire in the cave just now. Its limbs were tensed, its paws firmly gripping the ground, its fluffy tail wildly swaying behind it, and the long fur all over its body seemed to stand on end, making it look fierce and terrifying.
Suddenly, it turned its head and looked over. Blood from the little wolf was dripping from its bared mouth. When its fierce green eyes fixed on her, Seraphina trembled involuntarily all over. She subconsciously backed away, and the bone spike in her hand looked pitifully insignificant in front of the giant wolf.
She was even weaker than the little wolf in front of the giant wolf. Maybe she was as powerless as those little birds.
So, was it coming after her? What would it do to her?
Seraphina stared at it. The coconut fruits hanging on her had already fallen to the ground, and she didn't even notice the water splashing on her feet. However, before she could make a move, Auris suddenly turned its head and walked towards the stream.
'Hu hu' It tilted its head and bared its teeth at her. Seraphina couldn't guess what it meant. Was it telling her to leave or to stay?
Then, before she could figure it out, she saw Auris run to a tree. Just like any canid marking its territory, it lifted its hind leg and urinated at the base of the tree.
This was the first time Seraphina had seen Auris urinate in front of her. In the past, during the day, if it wasn't out hunting, it was basking in the sun at the entrance of the cave. Many times, before she even realized it, it had already returned from relieving itself outside.
Marking territory seemed to be a rather ordinary behavior for Auris. It scratched the ground and then left its claw marks on the tree where it had urinated. After doing all this, it looked at Seraphina again.
'Hu' The blood - stained wolf paw stepped on the stone by the stream, slowly and rhythmically. But to Seraphina, all this was strangely terrifying.
She gritted her teeth and backed away. Auris, perhaps sensing her resistance, stopped. It gave her a deep look and then leaped into the jungle.
It's gone... She let out a sharp breath and then slowly crouched down, supporting herself with one hand on a tree trunk. Only when she put her palm on her chest did she feel her heart pounding like a drum.
"I have to get out of here." But the subconscious in her mind told her that the nearby area was the territory marked by the giant wolf. Weak animals wouldn't dare to approach here anymore. The stream side was already the safest place.
After hesitating for a long time, Seraphina finally picked up the coconut fruits at her feet. In the end, reason prevailed. She didn't choose to flee in a panic.
Her only pair of shoes had been wet from the splashed water. Seraphina didn't want them to be ruined so soon. Moreover, after wearing them for so many days, both the smell and the color were already almost unbearable.
Taking advantage of the still - strong afternoon sun, she simply sat on a stone and scrubbed her shoes.
The tool she used was a clump of plants she had grabbed randomly by the stream. When she used it to rub the stains on the shoe surface, Seraphina realized that the fibrous structure of this clump - shaped plant was rather coarse. Normal - strength rubbing wouldn't damage it, which made it a very good cleaning tool.
Seraphina named it 'Thread - like Banyan' because it was a linear and clump - shaped green plant, a bit like waterweed but very flexible. She looked around and found that this kind of thing grew abundantly by the stream, but there was hardly any in the dry forest.
While drying her sneakers, she waited with her bare feet. The sun was shining directly above the stream, splitting through the thick deciduous forest and shining on her, giving her sporadic warmth.
It seemed that after the little wolf and Auris had left, the stream side was even quieter. Even the herbivores that had originally come to drink water had disappeared.
Regarding this, Seraphina was more convinced of this kind of pheromone transmission in the animal kingdom. The territorial marking of higher animals was probably the difference between Brahmins and Sudras to the animals lower in the food chain.
'Rustle' She was looking at the sneakers placed on the stone and didn't hear the sound of an approaching animal behind her. It was only when something long dragged on the ground that she noticed something was amiss.
"Er..." Seraphina jumped to her feet. In front of her, Auris threw a dead prey. It gently scratched the ground and then saw the sneakers she had left to dry. It walked over very naturally and lay down beside them to bask in the sun.
Seraphina froze there. When she came to her senses, she realized that she was standing on sharp little stones with her bare feet, and the soles of her feet hurt a bit. She quickly found a few leaves of the Broad - leaf Coconut to wrap around her feet.
While she was doing these things, Auris had been lying on the stone watching her. Its green eyes were very calm. If it weren't for the dirty sneakers beside its head, Seraphina would probably have run away.
'Hu hu' It seemed dissatisfied that she was ignoring the prey it had caught. It pawed at the animal and easily tore the corpse in half and then pushed it towards her.
Seraphina was shocked that it was still willing to give her food. The little wolf just now was clearly a cub of the giant wolf clan. Judging from Auris's attitude, not killing it was already the biggest concession an adult wolf could make. And perhaps this was the normal way of survival for the giant wolf clan.
"What on earth do you want?" She couldn't help asking aloud. She was neither a cub nor a kindred. What was this giant wolf thinking? She really wanted to know.
Seraphina sighed. When she looked down, she noticed that the prey on the ground was different. It was something like a wild boar, but with long hair all over its body, especially the mane around its neck was very thick.
She really wanted to call this animal a wild boar because apart from the long hair, it was almost identical to a wild boar.
Seraphina hesitated as she looked at the prey at her feet. If she wanted to figure out Auris's attitude now, the best way was to test it.
To test how deep its bottom line was.
"Maybe I'll regret this." She muttered to herself. She selected a sandy - gravel area by the stream, slowly gathered a small pile of dry firewood with her hands, and then built a circle of wet stones beside it to prevent the fire from spreading. In this way, a simple fire pit was set up.
While she was doing all this, Auris seemed to sense something and got up, starting to growl in her direction. Seraphina could see its wrinkled nose and bared fangs due to panic when she looked up. She was a bit scared, but she noticed that it didn't run away or show any sign of attacking her.
This meant that she was on the right track. Auris's obsession with her was far deeper than she had imagined.
'Hu wu' When she used the lighter to light the dead leaves in her hand, Auris was already extremely frightened. It was pawing the ground vigorously, and the muffled growl in its throat grew louder. Seraphina guessed that it was probably at its limit.
She also quickly got things done. A few more branches were added, and the fire grew bigger.
'Woo woo' Auris had retreated to the other side of the stream. Seraphina could tell from its stance that it seemed that it would rush over to put out the fire at the first sign of trouble.
"It's okay. Don't be afraid." She placed her shoes on a branch and put them a little farther away from the fire to dry. Then she took out her Swiss Army knife and casually cut a few branches to skewer the meat.
After the long - lost smell of cooked meat wafted out, Seraphina no longer cared what Auris was thinking. Her whole heart was already set on the roasted meat.
Although there were no seasonings, because the wild boar meat was fresh and had less of a fishy smell than the Horned Deer, the roasted meat was surprisingly delicious.
Seraphina watched as the smallest piece of meat quickly changed color and sizzled with oil on the fire. She couldn't resist anymore. She wasn't afraid of the heat and just grabbed it with her hand and swallowed it whole.
Only after eating two pieces did she react. She waved at Auris, who was still on guard by the stream, "Come here."
It was clearly also curious about the smell of the cooked meat, but was still wary of the threat of the fire. It was rather hesitant, taking three steps forward and one step back. But finally, it still came closer.
"Come, eat." Seraphina took the largest piece of meat with fat attached from the fire. Because it was too thick, the inside part was still a bit red and half - cooked, but this also happened to suit the giant wolf's taste best. It sniffed it and then ate the meat until there was almost nothing left in just two bites.
Once started, there was no stopping. She herself only ate a few small pieces of meat, and almost the rest went into Auris's stomach. Seraphina looked at the now - empty fire pit in front of her and sighed that a wolf was really an animal that could never be satisfied.
'Hu hu' Something furry was rubbing against her neck. Seraphina shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably, "Hahaha!" She laughed because it tickled. She pulled its big head towards her with one hand.
"Now, you won't oppose the fire anymore, right?" She got closer to its head. A pair of black eyes and a pair of green eyes looked at each other. Auris blinked first. It jumped to the side of the pile of charred remains of the fire, sniffed it, and then once again demonstrated the ability of a canid. It quickly used its hind legs to rake a pile of wet leaves and buried the fire.
Seraphina looked at its action speechlessly. Oh well, at least she could roast meat now. And Auris had also accepted the fire. She didn't have to leave.