Though the little wolf cub looked pitiful and a bit listless, there didn’t seem to be any major problem with its body. Ali, whose understanding of the giant wolf-god was based solely on hearsay, had no idea why it would suddenly start shedding fur in the middle of winter.

“Uncle Ali, is Little Wolf okay?” Ajing’s eyes turned red when Ali didn’t answer. He didn’t even dare touch the little wolf cub.

Ali shook his head. “I can’t tell what’s wrong. It looks just like normal shedding.” Standing up, he added, “There’s nothing wrong with its body. Let’s observe for a few days and see.”

“Shedding? But why would Little Wolf shed in winter?” Ajing asked, confused.

Beastmen also shed sometimes, but that usually happened in summer—and by then, their fur would already have been retracted, so it wasn’t very noticeable. The giant wolf-god’s shedding, however, was completely different. Winter was bitterly cold—if a beast lost its coat now without growing new fur, it wouldn’t survive even a day.

But the little wolf cub’s fur was indeed falling off, and there was no sign of new hair growing in. Ajing couldn’t help worrying—what if it didn’t survive the cold? He gently covered the little wolf cub again with the fur blanket. Perhaps sensing Ajing’s distress, the little wolf cub stretched out its pink tongue, licked his cheek, and gave a soft whimper, as if to comfort him.

Since none of them could find the cause, there was little else they could do. Chen Qi went to prepare some milk fruit and meat for the little wolf cub, while Ali gathered up the white fur that had scattered when he lifted the blanket.

After eating, the little wolf cub curled back up by the fire and fell asleep again. Though everyone had already seen its patchy fur, the cub clearly didn’t want to show itself—it tucked its whole body into the blanket, leaving only its nose exposed to breathe.

Ali stayed for a while, but when there was nothing more he could do, he returned to the workshop at the school. Chen Qi, however, remained behind with Ajing to look after the little wolf cub.

That evening, when Aze came back from his shift and saw the little wolf cub’s condition, he immediately made a small temporary bed beside the fire. He piled several layers of furs underneath and replaced the little wolf cub’s blanket with Chen Qi’s own snow bear cloak.

The little wolf cub lost his fur very quickly. By the next day, half of that beautiful white coat had fallen off, revealing patches of tender pink skin beneath—it looked as unsightly as could be.

During this period, when others in the tribe heard that the little wolf cub was sick, they all brought meat he liked to visit him. When he saw people coming, the little wolf cub burrowed back into the blanket again and stubbornly refused to let anyone see what he looked like now. Chen Qi felt both heartache and amusement at the sight. In the end, he had no choice but to accept all the meat they brought and briefly explained the little wolf cub’s condition, reassuring them before sending them away.

By the third day, all the little wolf cub’s fur had fallen off completely. Even while hiding in the snow bear’s fur, he couldn’t stop shivering. Chen Qi lit another fire behind him, warming the whole room until it finally felt better. The only comfort was that the little wolf cub’s appetite wasn’t affected. Aside from being furless, afraid of the cold, and needing to stay indoors every day, he wasn’t much different from usual. Occasionally, to keep everyone from worrying too much, he would get up and walk a few steps, but that snow bear fur cloak had become his new skin—he never took it off.

Chen Qi modified another piece of snow bear hide into clothing for the little wolf cub. With the cover of the garment, the little wolf cub was finally willing to wander around the room when not sleeping. However, the two fires never went out. To take care of the little wolf cub, Ajing even moved his own bedding out and slept beside the fires with him every day.