In Honkai with Tom Cat

In the midst of the endless snow, Li Huan kept moving forward.

"The snow is really heavy..." Li Huan, who initially had his hands in his pockets, now stretched them out in front of him to block the snow from hitting his face.

"Hah, this is really something." Despite the harsh weather, Li Huan laughed. "Back in the original world, I always looked forward to snow during the winters at home. This is the first time I've seen snow this heavy."

Although he looked a bit disheveled fending off the wind and snow, thanks to Tom's magical sweater, Li Huan could still maintain his calm and joke around in such an environment.

"Too bad I don't have time. Otherwise, I'd love to build a snowman or make snow angels."

"Could this be Russia?" Li Huan joked, "With snow like this, that's the place I remember best."

Maybe to ease the loneliness, Li Huan started talking to himself, but there was no reply.

"Ugh…" He sighed, "Is this what they mean when they say you only realize what you had after it's gone?"

Li Huan missed the system that usually kept him company. When he was traveling to Sky City, he relied on chatting with the system to keep him entertained. Now, with the system unable to respond and faced with this dull journey, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic for that snarky companion.

"He was right, maybe I should have brought Tom along. It would be way less lonely."

But after glancing around at the harsh environment, he quickly dismissed the idea. "Nah, if Tom came along, he'd probably freeze into a cat popsicle in seconds."

After walking for a while, Li Huan stopped by a large tree. "Man, it'd be nice if something happened right now."

Leaning against the tree, he half-jokingly muttered, "Like, a girl in distress or something."

Just as those words left his mouth, a faint, childlike voice called out from not far away, "Help…"

Though the voice was soft, Li Huan heard it clearly.

His relaxed expression immediately shifted to seriousness. "Wait, seriously? I was just joking…"

"Help…" The voice came again, weaker this time, but it was definitely real.

Li Huan quickly moved away from the tree and ran in the direction of the voice. Every minute or two, the faint cries for help echoed, guiding his way. But each time, the voice grew fainter, indicating that the person was in bad shape.

As he heard the cries weaken further, Li Huan grew anxious. If the voice disappeared before he arrived, he might lose them for good.

But luck seemed to be on Li Huan's side today. Just before the voice completely faded, he found its source in a shallow pit not far from him.

Standing at the edge, Li Huan looked down into the pit. At the bottom lay a girl, no older than ten.

She had beautiful long white hair that reached down to her waist. Her face and body were covered in bruises and injuries, and her right leg was twisted unnaturally, likely broken from a fall.

Judging by the long snow trail leading from a nearby slope, it seemed the girl had fallen down the hill and ended up in this pit.

Without hesitation, Li Huan jumped down into the pit. It wasn't too deep for an adult to climb out of with some effort, but for a little girl with a broken leg, getting out on her own was impossible.

He walked over and gently picked her up. "Hey, are you okay? Hey!" He shook her lightly, but the girl's vacant eyes, pale lips, and trembling body told him she was in bad shape.

"This is bad…" Li Huan touched her hand, feeling its icy coldness. He understood her condition immediately.

"Hypothermia… She's been lying in the snow for too long with a broken leg."

Although Li Huan wasn't a medical expert, even he could tell how dire the situation was.

"Such a pain…" He looked up at the falling snow, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

A freezing snowstorm, an unknown forest, and an injured girl — it was a dangerous combination. In most normal situations, it would be a nearly impossible dilemma to solve.

But this wasn't a normal situation.

Without hesitation, Li Huan immediately took off his sweater.

As soon as the sweater came off, the freezing wind hit him, making him shiver uncontrollably. The below-zero winds chilled him to the bone, and his nose started running.

But he quickly put the sweater on the girl, relying on its magical warmth to help restore her body temperature.

At the same time, he took out his Dream Hammer from his inventory and struck the girl's injured leg with it.

To an outsider, it might have looked like Li Huan was cruelly hurting the child, but that wasn't the case.

As the wooden hammer hit her broken leg, the girl's face first showed a painful expression, but then it relaxed. Her leg, which had been twisted, started twitching before returning to its normal state.

Li Huan put away the hammer and gently touched her leg, feeling for any signs of pain.

Seeing that she didn't react, and her face looked calm, he relaxed.

"Just as I thought," he said, looking at the now-cooling combat healing ability in his skill bar. "Though it says it randomly cures a status ailment, if you know where the injury is, you can target it precisely."

Halfway through his thought, Li Huan sneezed loudly.

"Ugh, so cold." He sniffled, "What a hassle. I can't take the sweater back yet."

The girl in his arms needed the sweater more than he did, so he'd just have to tough it out.

With Tom's sweater warming her, the girl's body temperature should stabilize, and her most serious injury was healed. It was just a matter of time before she woke up.

Li Huan thought to himself, then sneezed again.

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