The little ones were finally able to leave the den. For the next two or three months, it actually became the hardest time for Little White.
She had to nurse the children while also going out to hunt.
Sometimes she would bring back half-dead mountain rats to teach the kits hunting techniques…
During that period, Little White grew noticeably thinner.
The most obvious change was that her fur was no longer as glossy and smooth as before.
It even looked a little patchy, and her whole figure appeared exhausted and sickly.
Bai Heng could only continue watching all of this as a silent observer.
As for Little Red’s disappearance… although Bai Heng occasionally thought that the fox might one day return with weary steps and appear in front of that tree hollow, as time passed day by day, he knew very clearly that if it hadn’t returned after so long, it never would…
This incident made Bai Heng realize that he shouldn’t invest too much emotion in the things around him.
He had already unconsciously lived through two or three thousand years.
Under the erosion of time, even mountains and rivers gradually became unrecognizable, let alone those weak and short-lived creatures.
Whatever appeared in his field of vision was a rare surprise.
Whatever disappeared from it was simply one of the countless insignificant little events in the ever-changing world.
Bai Heng corrected his attitude and accepted his identity.
He was nothing more than a long-dead witness. He would not ask for too much.
Everything he saw before his consciousness became completely blurred or even dissipated was worth feeling joy over.
Of course, he would still feel regret for Little Red and worry for Little White and her children.
Bai Heng did not deliberately suppress or sever these emotions.
Only by still possessing them could he feel his own existence, stay conscious for longer periods, and better ignore the loneliness and hardship of being trapped inside a piece of amber.
With this mindset, Bai Heng seemed to have found a way to view everything like an animal documentary.
Day after day, he watched Little White and her children until the present.
Fortunately, the “single mother” Little White was far more resilient than Bai Heng had imagined.
She endured the most difficult period and somehow managed to raise all four little ones until they grew up.
After the kits were able to hunt simple prey on their own, Little White’s physical condition gradually improved.
Now, a year later, the whole family lived quite peacefully in that tree hollow.
However, a new problem arose.
The little ones had grown to be about the same size as their mother.
Two of the sturdier ones were even a size larger than Little White.
Their cozy “tree hollow home” could no longer comfortably fit so many big foxes.
From what Bai Heng saw, in the past one or two months, those two largest “little ones” had been sleeping outside the tree hollow at night… Yes, they had been kicked out by Little White.
At first, the two of them whimpered pitifully, looking quite miserable like children thrown out by their mother…
But they quickly got used to it. So what if they slept “outside the door” at night?
During the day, they still played happily with their siblings and, using their strong bodies, would catch prey to bring back and please Little White.
Bai Heng noticed that Little White initially accepted their offerings and showed affection toward the two “little ones,” but she still drove them out of the hollow every night… Every time he saw those two strong “big foxes” acting as obedient as kittens in front of Little White, Bai Heng felt so happy he wanted to laugh.
This situation lasted for two months.
In the days that followed, Bai Heng found that Little White no longer accepted the prey brought by the two big ones, and her attitude toward them grew much colder.
The two big foxes seemed unaware of the change and continued living each day cheerfully and playfully as always.
Bai Heng realized it was almost time.
At least from Little White’s behavior, the two big foxes—who could easily catch decent prey every day—were ready to leave and “establish their own territories.”
Two months later, one early morning, Little White emerged from the tree hollow and let out a howl, waking the two big foxes who were sleeping in.
The two big foxes approached her affectionately, but Little White suddenly took an aggressive stance, scaring them into backing away repeatedly.
After recovering from the initial shock, the two big foxes perhaps thought their mother wanted to play with them like when they were young.
They began pouncing at her in a playful manner. However…
Even though the two big foxes were much sturdier than Little White, she was truly ruthless this time.
She quickly bit them until they yelped in pain and could only run around with their tails between their legs.
Not long after, Little White chased the two big foxes away in different directions.
If either of them tried to approach her territory again, they would immediately suffer fierce attacks from her.
Three days later, those two big foxes never appeared in Bai Heng’s vision again.
Little White continued living as usual with her remaining two smaller children, as if she had only ever had these two kits.
Bai Heng was not worried about the two big foxes that had been “kicked out of the house” either.
It was not yet autumn, and food was still abundant in the forest.
With their size and hunting skills, the two of them would probably live more comfortably than Little White, who still had two dependents.
Thinking of this, Bai Heng felt slightly puzzled. All four were raised by the same mother.
Although the remaining two were a bit smaller, their hunting skills were just as good, and living independently would not be a problem.
Why had Little White kept them?
Was it simply because the tree hollow couldn’t fit everyone?
This thought did not linger long in Bai Heng’s mind, because he soon realized the two that had been driven away were male foxes.
By next spring, all four children would be fully grown.
If they remained in the same territory, it would indeed cause a lot of trouble…
For animals, driving away grown males from the territory was quite common.
After autumn arrived, Little White and her two daughters became much more active.
The mother and two daughters spent long hours every day hunting and eating outside.
They needed to build up thick layers of fat and grow long, warm coats before winter came.
The two daughters took after their mother—they were pure white foxes.
Having eaten more during this period, they gradually grew plump.
Their movements were no longer as agile, but they looked endearingly clumsy.
They brought back nuts and other easily stored foods to stockpile inside the tree hollow.
Once winter arrived, they would hardly need to go out at all.
After the withered yellow leaves had all fallen, pure white snowflakes soon blanketed the trees.
Almost all signs of life were buried beneath a vast, cold expanse of white.
For so many years, this was the season Bai Heng disliked the most.
Everything he saw was a monotonous, lonely white, which reminded him of the long period when he had no vision. It was difficult to endure.
Fortunately, winter would always pass.
After spring arrived, the world would once again burst with vibrant colors and flourishing life.
It was precisely because they had endured the cold winter that the renewed colors would bring Bai Heng even greater delight.
He had already endured more than a thousand years of such cycles.
A short winter was nothing to him.
Perhaps he should “hibernate” for a while as well. He hoped that when he woke up, the snow would have melted and spring would have arrived.
Just as Bai Heng was preparing to sink his consciousness into slumber…
Thud! Swish swish swish—
A human figure fell from the sky, smashing into the snow and creating a deep crater.
The surrounding trees shook, sending snow cascading from their branches.
Bai Heng looked toward the sound.
The person had landed right in front of the tree hollow.