November arrived not with a whisper, but with a scream.
The transition from the golden hues of autumn to the stark gray of winter happened overnight. The wind, once a welcome ally that turned the windmill, became a biting enemy, howling through the cracks of the log cabin like a pack of starving wolves.
Li Shun stood by the window, watching the first flakes of snow fall. They were light and powdery at first, dancing in the air, but within hours, the sky turned the color of old iron, and the snow came down in sheets.
"It's early," Han Qiang said, standing behind him. He was checking the seal on the window frame with a strip of rawhide. "The almanac said the heavy snows shouldn't be for another two weeks."
"The almanac didn't account for the Westland's microclimate," Li Shun replied, pulling his sheepskin coat tighter. "Or maybe the world just wants to test us."
He turned to the room. The cabin was crowded. The three new workers—Old Scar, One-Ear, and Wang Da—sat around the hearth, cleaning tools or mending clothes. Li Ming was at the small desk, attempting to write letters by the dim light of a whale-oil lamp.
"Listen up," Li Shun commanded. "This isn't a drill. We have a barn full of hay, but we need to make it last until April. That means strict rationing for the animals and double shifts for the humans."
He pointed to the roster on the wall.
"Wang Da, you take the first night watch. Check the trough heaters. If the water freezes, the cows won't drink, and they'll lose condition. One-Ear, you're on snow removal. Keep the path to the manure pile clear. I don't want a buildup of gas in the barn."
"Yes, Boss," they chorused. The informality of "Boss" had stuck. It felt more real than "Young Master."
---
The winter of the Great Liang Dynasty was unforgiving.
Within three days, the snow had piled up to the window sills. The world outside was a blinding expanse of white, broken only by the dark shapes of the barn and the windmill, which creaked and groaned under the weight of ice.
Inside the barn, the air was warm but thick with the smell of manure, hay, and animal breath. The cows stood in their stalls, munching contentedly on the hay Li Shun had fought so hard to save.
Hei Bao, the massive black bull, was housed in a separate, reinforced pen at the end of the barn. He stood like a statue, his breath pluming in the cold air. He seemed indifferent to the weather, his thick hide protecting him from the chill.
*He's acclimating well,* Li Shun thought, checking the bull's water trough. *The system said he was resilient, but this is impressive.*
Li Shun walked down the line of stalls, checking the cows. These were the "rejects" he had bought—the old, the dry, the unwanted. But under his care, they had filled out. Their coats were glossy.
He stopped at the stall of 'Flower', the mottled cow who had survived the bloat. She was lying down, chewing her cud. She looked... different. Restless.
Li Shun crouched down, checking her hindquarters.
**[SYSTEM SCAN: COW #4 (FLOWER)]**
**[STATUS: PREGNANT]**
**[GESTATION: 270 DAYS (DUE IN 2 WEEKS)]**
**[CONDITION: STRESSED]**
Li Shun frowned. *She wasn't bred by Hei Bao. She was already pregnant when I bought her from the farmer in Chapter 3. The farmer said she was 'dry', but he was wrong. Or she caught early.*
This calf would be a local breed, not the enhanced Angus he was planning for the spring. But a live calf in winter was still an asset. A dead one was a tragedy.
"We need to watch her," Li Shun told Han Qiang later that night. "She might go early. The cold is stressing her system."
---
The storm broke on the fourth day, leaving behind a stillness so profound it hurt the ears.
Li Shun was in the cabin, reviewing the feed ledger, when the door burst open.
It was Wang Da, his face pale, snow coating his eyebrows.
"Boss! Come quick! It's Flower! She's down!"
Li Shun didn't ask questions. He grabbed his medical bag—a simple leather satchel containing the Advanced Veterinary Kit he had unlocked—and ran out into the snow.
The barn was a chaotic scene of lowing cows and frantic movement. Flower was in her stall, lying on her side, her legs kicking weakly. A clear fluid had stained the straw.
"She's water broke," Han Qiang said, already there, holding a lantern. "But the calf isn't coming."
Li Shun knelt in the straw, ignoring the muck. He washed his hands in the basin of warm water Wang Da brought.
"Let me see."
He carefully inserted his hand into the birth canal. He felt the calf. A leg was back. The calf was in a breech position—backward—and twisted.
*Difficult birth. Dangerous.*
"Han Qiang, I need chains. The iron links we use for the gate latch. And soap. Wash your hands."
Li Shun had watched videos on calving, but doing it was visceral. The heat, the pressure, the smell of blood and fluid.
"The calf is stuck," Li Shun gritted out. "I have to reposition it. Hold the lantern steady."
He worked by touch, pushing the calf back slightly to free the trapped leg. Flower bellowed, a sound of pure agony, straining against the contractions.
"Easy, girl," Li Shun murmured. "We're trying to help."
He managed to loop the chain around the calf's protruding hooves.
"On the next contraction, we pull," Li Shun instructed Han Qiang. "Not like we're fighting a war. Like we're towing a cart. Steady, consistent pressure."
Flower strained. Her flank shuddered.
"Now!"
Li Shun and Han Qiang pulled on the chains, leaning back with their full weight.
Slowly, inch by inch, the calf emerged. First the hips, then the barrel of the chest, then the head.
With a final, wet slide, the calf tumbled out onto the straw.
It was motionless. Covered in a thin membrane.
Li Shun didn't hesitate. He grabbed a handful of straw and vigorously rubbed the calf's chest. He cleared the mucus from its nose with his fingers.
"Breathe," he commanded. "Breathe, damn you."
He slapped the flank. Rubbed again.
Nothing.
The workers watched in silence. Even Hei Bao in the next pen had stopped chewing and was watching.
Li Shun felt a pang of despair. *Is this the reality of nature? A struggle just to end in silence?*
No. He wasn't going to accept that.
He picked up the calf—it was heavy, a good fifty pounds—and swung it gently by its hind legs, letting gravity help clear the lungs. He did this twice.
Then, a cough. A sputter. A weak, bubbling inhale.
*Cough.*
The calf shook its head, trying to lift it.
"It's alive!" Wang Da cheered.
Li Shun let out a breath he felt he had been holding for a century. He laid the calf down in front of Flower.
"Let her clean it," Li Shun said, sitting back on his heels, wiping his bloody hands on his apron. "It's a heifer. A female. We just saved a milk cow."
He looked at the calf. It wasn't black. It was a mottled brown and white. A local breed. But looking closer, Li Shun saw something.
**[SYSTEM SCAN: CALF #001]**
**[GENETICS: LOCAL DRAFT (85%) / UNKNOWN VARIANT (15%)]**
**[TRAITS: HARDINESS (HIGH), GROWTH RATE: MODERATE]**
*She's a mongrel,* Li Shun thought. *But she's the first life born on this land. That makes her special.*
"Name her," Li Shun told Wang Da. "You found her."
Wang Da looked at the shivering calf. "Snow," he said. "She was born in the snow."
"Snow it is."
---
The successful birth boosted morale higher than any speech could have. It proved that the Westland could sustain life, even in the dead of winter.
But the winter wasn't done with them yet.
Two days later, Li Shun was checking the fence line on snowshoes he had fashioned from bent wood and rawhide. The snow was deep, drifts piling high against the leeward side of the barn.
He stopped. He squinted.
In the distance, on the ridge of the southern hill, a shadow moved.
It wasn't a tree. Trees didn't move with purpose.
He held his breath. The shadow moved again, loping effortlessly through the deep snow.
Grey fur. A bushy tail. Yellow eyes that caught the light even at this distance.
*Wolf.*
Not just one. As he watched, three more shapes crested the ridge behind the first.
A pack.
Li Shun's blood ran cold. Wolves in the Great Liang Dynasty were not just wild dogs; they were monsters of the mountains, known to take down full-grown elk. A pack of four could slaughter a herd of cattle trapped in a pen.
He turned and ran back toward the cabin, his snowshoes slapping the crust of the snow.
"Han Qiang!" he shouted as he burst through the door. "Weapons! Wolves on the southern ridge!"
Han Qiang didn't ask questions. He grabbed his crossbow and the heavy spear they kept by the door. He handed a crossbow to One-Ear and Old Scar.
"How many?"
"Four at least. Maybe more."
"They're hungry," Han Qiang said grimly. "The deep snow drives them down. They smell the hay, and they smell the cattle."
"Will the fence stop them?"
"A hungry wolf can dig under a fence in minutes," Han Qiang said. "And they'll test the wood. We need to defend."
---
That night, the ranch was a fortress.
Li Shun had the men light barrels of oil-soaked rags around the perimeter of the barn and cabin. The flames danced in the wind, casting flickering shadows against the snow.
They took shifts. Li Shun, Han Qiang, and One-Ear took the first watch, standing on the roof of the barn where they had a clear line of sight.
It was past midnight when the howl came.
It started as a low moan, rising into a high-pitched shriek that pierced the frozen air.
*Owooooooo!*
"They're close," One-Ear whispered, his knuckles white on his crossbow.
"Steady," Li Shun said, though his own heart was hammering. He held a cocked crossbow. He had practiced, but he wasn't a soldier.
Movement in the shadows beyond the firelight.
A grey shape slinked out of the darkness. It was massive, larger than a German Shepherd, with hackles raised. It tested the air, sniffing toward the cattle pen.
It approached the wooden fence. It began to dig.
"Wait," Han Qiang whispered. "Let it commit."
The wolf dug frantically, throwing snow behind it. It was halfway under the fence.
"Now!" Han Qiang shouted.
*Thwack!*
Han Qiang's crossbow bolt flew. It struck the wolf in the flank. The beast yelped, a high, sharp sound, and tried to scramble back, but it was stuck.
Li Shun fired. His bolt missed the wolf but hit the fence post next to it, splintering the wood and startling the animal.
One-Ear fired. His aim was true. The bolt hit the wolf's neck.
The beast thrashed and fell silent.
But the commotion triggered the rest of the pack.
Two more wolves burst from the darkness on the other side of the yard, sprinting toward the chicken coop.
"Left flank!" Li Shun yelled.
He reloaded his crossbow, fumbling with the bolt in the cold. Han Qiang was faster. He vaulted off the roof into the snow below, spear in hand.
"Sergeant!" Li Shun screamed.
Han Qiang ignored the height drop. He landed in a roll, coming up in front of the coop just as a wolf leaped at him.
The wolf snarled, jaws snapping. Han Qiang didn't flinch. He thrust the spear forward with the precision of a master.
The spearpoint pierced the wolf's chest, pinning it to the ground.
The third wolf skidded to a halt, seeing its packmate fall. It snarled at Han Qiang, circling him.
Li Shun finally got his crossbow loaded. He aimed from the roof.
*Exhale. Squeeze.*
*Thwack.*
The bolt struck the snow inches from the wolf's feet. The wolf, startled by the attack from above and the death of its leader, tucked its tail and vanished into the night.
Silence returned to the Westland.
Li Shun climbed down from the roof, his legs shaking.
Han Qiang stood over the dead wolf, wiping blood from his spear. He looked at Li Shun and nodded.
"Two kills. One ran. The pack will move on. We've proven this territory is defended."
Li Shun walked over to the dead wolf by the fence. It was a beautiful, terrible creature.
"Skin it," Li Shun ordered, his voice steadying. "We'll make rugs. And hang the skulls on the gate. A warning to others."
He looked at his men. They were pale, shaking with adrenaline, but they were unhurt. The cattle were safe. The calf, Snow, was safe.
"Good work," Li Shun said, clapping One-Ear on the shoulder. "Go inside. I'll take the rest of the watch."
As the men went inside, Li Shun stood alone in the snow, looking up at the moon.
The wolves were gone. The winter was cold. But the ranch was still standing.
*We can survive anything.*