Chapter 13: A New Home, a New Residence, and a Nighttime Snow Leopard Attack

For a fleeting moment, Chu Feng felt a surge of lingering fear. He had never imagined that the snow leopard would follow him all the way down the mountain. If it were just him alone, he might not have been too worried—gripping his axe firmly, he could surely fend off a wild beast. But this was his home. He was not alone. He had his wife and daughter with him. If they were to face the snow leopard, they would stand no chance of defending themselves.

Snow leopards, as members of the cat family, are incredibly agile. The fence stood a full one and a half meters high, yet the creature had effortlessly leapt into the yard. Fortunately, Chu Feng’s house had just been renovated today. Had it been the old, dilapidated house, the snow leopard might have broken inside. Likely, the way he had been handling meat so conspicuously today—combined with the heavy scent of blood from the pig and lamb meat over the past couple of days—had drawn the snow leopard in. It had probably been starving for some time and dared to descend the mountain in search of food.

Chu Feng hurriedly shut the windows and grabbed the axe from under the bed. Zhou Xiaoxiao tugged his arm anxiously. “What’s going on?” she asked, evidently unaware of the situation.

“There’s a big cat outside,” Chu Feng said plainly.

Chu Miaomiao was already snoring softly in bed. Children tend to be carefree, but precisely because of this, Chu Feng felt an even greater responsibility to protect them. Their house had a low roof; while the walls had been reinforced, the roof had not. If the snow leopard managed to leap onto the roof, it might break through and fall inside. Thankfully, snow leopards tend to roam alone and are rather timid by nature. In the wild, size determines dominance—heavier creatures command respect. A snow leopard could not possibly outweigh a grown man. This was the confidence Chu Feng held through his expertise.

He gripped the axe tightly. “When I open the door, you close it immediately, understood?” he instructed Zhou Xiaoxiao seriously.

“What will you do?” she asked, still holding onto him.

“There’s no need for me to risk going outside. We just close the door tight. If it can’t find food, it’ll leave.” Chu Feng shook his head. “There’s meat stored in the woodshed. That’s our winter food supply. Plus, the roof hasn’t been reinforced. If it jumps up there, it could cause serious damage. We have to make it afraid, or it will keep coming back.”

Zhou Xiaoxiao knew little of such matters and could only nod hesitantly.

In his previous life, during outdoor livestreams, Chu Feng had ventured into many dangerous places and faced all sorts of wild animals—ferocious bears, venomous snakes, countless insects and rodents. He had never encountered a leopard before, but he was not afraid of one. After all, none of those creatures was more ferocious than a leopard. Moreover, the snow leopard was relatively small, more akin to a cheetah. If luck was on his side, he might even get a taste of it. After all, this world surely had no wildlife protection laws.

With a shout, Chu Feng grasped the axe and charged outside. The snow leopard measured about a meter in length, weighing around thirty to forty kilograms. Suddenly confronted by a human over eighty kilograms in weight and one meter eighty tall, wielding a weapon and charging forward, the snow leopard was startled. It leapt onto the roof of the woodshed, watching cautiously from above at the much larger human. It also smelled the scent of meat beneath its feet.

The snow leopard was starving; otherwise, it would never have dared invade human territory. It was determined not to leave without food. Chu Feng growled fiercely beneath the woodshed, axe in hand. The snow leopard crouched low, glaring down with a series of low growls. The standoff lasted until Chu Feng retreated into the kitchen, dug out some coals from beneath the stove, and took out a torch.

Since acquiring lard, Chu Feng had fashioned a torch for protection. No matter how fierce the beasts on the mountain, none could stand fire. Sure enough, when Chu Feng emerged with the torch, the snow leopard’s eyes flickered with obvious panic before it jumped down and fled back up the mountain. Only then did Chu Feng breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhou Xiaoxiao had not yet closed the door tightly. Seeing the snow leopard finally leave, she rushed out, despite her thin clothing, and embraced Chu Feng. “You scared me to death...”

“It’s okay now,” Chu Feng said, patting her back with a free hand, though his eyes grew serious. There was no way this was truly over.

Judging by the creatures he had seen on the mountain, Chu Feng guessed they were in a high-altitude region, where flora and fauna were scarce. This year’s relentless snowfall had surely cut off the wildlife’s food sources, forcing these beasts to risk descending into human settlements. If it were only to steal a little food, that might be tolerable, but carnivores venturing into the yard posed a greater threat.

Opening the woodshed, the remaining meat was frozen under a mound of snow; some had already been cured into bacon hanging from the beams. These were what had attracted the snow leopard. Meanwhile, their dog, Benben, slept soundly inside the woodshed, completely unaware of the intruder. Had Chu Feng not been so vigilant, and the snow leopard entered the woodshed, the poor dog might have lost its life.

“You just know how to sleep,” Chu Feng scolded Benben, who then startled awake and ran around him.

The woodshed held many of Chu Feng’s tools. A set of bear traps he had found on the mountain was kept there. After returning home, he had hidden his strung bow, loosening the string and storing it in the woodshed. The strings were made from deer sinew. Chu Feng carefully rewound the sinew and set the bear traps anew.

He did not want any danger threatening their little family. In this world without wildlife protection laws, whether it be snow leopards, bears, or tigers, if they posed a threat to his home, Chu Feng would never let them go unpunished.

“I know it won’t come just once,” Chu Feng muttered as he climbed the ladder beside the woodshed roof, carrying a freshly cut pound of lamb. He set the trap, placed the meat atop it, and, still uneasy, rigged several snares with rope.

If the snow leopard did not come, so be it. But if it dared return, one leopard pelt would be worth more than all the lamb and pork skins combined.

With everything set, Chu Feng yawned and returned to the room with Zhou Xiaoxiao. Now all that remained was patience and waiting.

“Do you think the big cat will come again?” Zhou Xiaoxiao asked.

“Who knows? If it dares come back, I’ll make sure it never leaves,” Chu Feng replied, holding her as they lay on the kang.

Soon, they both drifted into a drowsy sleep. It was then that the distant call of Du Dahai echoed from outside.