C8 I Want to Help It!

The gray wolf glanced up at Lee Cha, mustering the strength to rise. With a shaky gait, it departed.

It was, in fact, the same injured gray wolf they had encountered earlier.

Lee Cha harbored no fear toward the wounded creature.

His concern was that any skirmish might trigger its howls, drawing the attention of the wolf pack or possibly a tiger.

Retreating a few steps, he was startled by a sudden creaking noise.

The earth before him gave way, a cascade of deadwood plummeting into a gaping hole three meters deep.

Lee Cha's heart raced with the realization that he had been standing at the very brink of the abyss.

One more step forward, and he would have tumbled in.

Judging by the echo of the tumbling timber, the pit was alarmingly deep.

"Brother Wolf, my thanks!"

There's a saying that wild wolves seek out a secluded spot to pass away in solitude.

"Forgive the intrusion. May you find peace..." he whispered to himself.

Now taking a new path, Lee Cha proceeded with heightened caution, testing the ground before him with his harpoon.

Minutes later, the path widened, and the soil beneath his feet was stable and visible, signaling an end to the threat of sudden collapses.

He skirted around a massive tree, too large for three people to encircle, and then stumbled... "Damn, did I forget to check the almanac or light incense before leaving today?"

A wild boar, the size of a young calf, was rooting around in the dirt nearby.

Its coat was pitch black, bristling with coarse and fine hairs, the mane on its spine standing tall, muddied with clumps of earth.

Lee Cha fixed his gaze on the boar, inching backward.

Crack! A tree root snagged his heel, sending the wooden box in his hands clattering to the ground.

Pitter-patter!

In that frozen moment, man and boar locked eyes, time standing still.

The boar slowly pivoted, its curved, sharp tusks pushing against its swollen upper lip.

Moist black mud clung to its snout, and its eyes, dark as bell metal, mirrored Lee Cha's silhouette.

Run!

Without hesitation, Lee Cha spun and bolted.

"Oink!"

The black wild boar let out a howl and charged with its sturdy limbs in hot pursuit.

Oink, oink, oink...

As Lee Cha ran, he glanced back to see the wild boar barreling through behind him like a tank, plowing through the thorny underbrush that had been tripping him up, sending a shiver of terror down his spine.

"Damn it, I didn't steal your food, nor have I ever eaten one of your kind. Why the aggression?" he shouted.

The only reply was the ever-closer sound of oinking, and he could even smell the foul breath being exhaled from the boar's large nostrils.

In a flash, he grabbed a tree he passed, using its resistance to pivot sharply and crouch low as he changed direction.

Oink! The boar's tusks narrowly missed his backside.

It worked! Lee Cha's heart leapt with relief.

The boar, unable to slow down in time, skidded forward several meters before coming to a halt.

Using quick turns and dodging past obstacles, Lee Cha managed to throw off the boar's charge. But as his energy waned, the distance between them was closing again.

As the forest began to thin out, a sinking feeling hit him.

Of all the times, why now? Should he head back into the thicket?

Crash.

"Damn!"

Caught off guard, he tripped over a dry branch and tumbled headlong, rolling several times. Dazed, he watched the oncoming boar and closed his eyes, bracing for the worst.

But then, a deep growl erupted.

A gray shape burst from the bushes beside him with a roar.

The boar let out a shriek, abruptly stopping and wheeling around to flee in the opposite direction.

Lee Cha scrambled to his feet and saw the familiar form of the injured gray wolf.

The wolf gave him a fleeting look before limping away.

Catching his breath, Lee Cha stood and watched the wolf's retreating figure in silence. Once again, I've intruded upon you, brother wolf.

You've saved my life twice now. My gratitude is beyond words. If we cross paths again, I promise you a feast.

He suspected the gray wolf had been startled by his footsteps and, mistaking the boar's charge for an attack on itself, had instinctively launched into a defensive counterassault.

But in that moment, despite being an atheist, he found himself inclined to believe in destiny.

Taking a deep breath, he dusted off the dirt from his clothes and set out once again.

The sound of the stream's flowing water reached his ears, and he was tempted to dash toward it.

Having wandered aimlessly only to end up back where he started, his thirst was unbearable. Yet, he forced himself to halt and cautiously made his way to the stream's edge.

Reassessing his bearings, he noted the stream flowed northeast, forming a right angle with the tiger's roar.

Aware that a tiger's territory could span dozens of kilometers, he proceeded with care, silently offering up prayers that he wouldn't cross into the predator's domain.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Beyond the babbling brook, an unusual sound arose, reminiscent of footsteps on water.

Lee Cha's heart skipped a beat. He swiftly took cover behind a large rock by the stream, then slowly peeked out, eyes scanning for the source of the noise.

In an instant, he was rooted to the spot in shock.

Before him was a gray wolf, its right hind leg marred by several bleeding gashes.

Its frame was lean, its coat coarse and sparse, resembling a dog deprived of proper nourishment.

Limping on three legs, the injured one held aloft, it hopped and struggled with each step.

Clutching a palm-sized fish in its jaws, it wobbled toward the forest's dry edge, eager to savor its catch.

But the wolf collapsed, struggling to rise several times before conceding to gravity.

It longed for the fish, reaching with its snout, but the fish eluded it with a leap.

The wolf watched, tongue lolling, gasping in short bursts.

It was the same resilient gray wolf he had come to recognize.

Witnessing this, a shiver ran through Lee Cha.

You're not seeking a place to die, Brother Wolf, but fighting to live on, aren't you?

In that moment, he understood that this indomitable creature had never surrendered.

Since the moment it fell, realizing it couldn't keep up with its pack, it had been scheming.

Determined to survive as an outcast, it refused the pack's pity, choosing instead to retreat, silently tending to its wounds, and living on with fierce determination.

"I want to help it," Lee Cha murmured to himself.

Yet, an internal voice challenged him. Help it? How? You're no veterinarian.

Ever heard of an ingrate? Wolves are bloodthirsty, sly hunters. You help it now, aren't you afraid it'll turn on you, snarl, bite, or worse—call its pack to finish you off?

Besides, you're in a tight spot yourself. You should just turn tail and go. Its presence might even draw the tiger's attention away from you.

Lee Cha felt torn... Better to just leave. Everyone's selfish, and I want to stay alive.

Logic prevailed.

But just then, the gray wolf, mustering some unknown reserve of strength, lunged forward and finally clamped onto the fish.

Yet, it could no longer tear into its catch.

Lee Cha's mind raced. 'I have to help it!'

Why? The voice prodded again.

Panting, he replied, "I don't know... I've been that helpless, that defiant."

He approached the gray wolf slowly, seeing in its eyes a reflection of his younger self—

Drenched in a downpour, wracked by hunger and fever, he huddled in a corner awaiting death until an old beggar came along...

With a deep sigh, he squatted down, pointed to the wolf's wound, and whispered, "Brother Wolf, do you want my help? If so, give me a sign."

The gray wolf met his gaze with a low growl.

Lee Cha nodded. "Alright, Brother Wolf. If I save you, you'll owe me. Keep me safe in these woods... at least that much."

He didn't really expect the wolf to comprehend, it was more about reassuring himself.

Standing up, he scanned the area, his eyes settling on a green plant.

Eternal Leaf Grass—excellent for stopping blood, fighting bacteria, and viruses. Every forager knew it.

He picked a handful, rinsed it in the stream, and examined the wolf's wound. It wasn't large, but the gash was long and still bleeding.

In the wild, it's crucial to clean wounds with fresh water.

He gently tipped the Chang'e wood carving out of the wooden box and carefully poured water over the gray wolf's wound.

The stream was alive with movement, its waters crystal clear, revealing fish and tiny shrimp darting about—surely a sign of its purity.

Once the wound was cleansed, he packed it with crushed Eternal Leaf Grass and secured the dressing with a strip of tree bark.

Then, he began filleting the fish with his knife, addressing the wolf, "Brother Wolf, no, Sister Wolf, I've done all I can after feeding you. Now, it's up to you to pull through. If you run into a tiger, give me a heads-up, will you? It'd be a shame to waste our shared trials and tribulations..."

The gray wolf watched him intently, its gaze almost contemplative, the earlier aggression gone.

Ha!

A low growl echoed through the air.

Lee Cha shot a sidelong glance at the wolf and cautioned, "Sister Wolf, I've saved you. You better not turn on me, no biting the hand that feeds..."

He paused, realization dawning. The gray wolf was struggling to breathe; it couldn't have produced that robust growl.

Could it be...

Holy shit! He spun around, his skin prickling with alarm.

The massive brown-black wolf had come back, now standing just five meters away, mouth agape, its menacing teeth bared.

It was enormous!

He gulped. From his perch in the tree, the wolf had seemed merely robust.

But on the ground, it was a different story—more than robust, it was towering and muscular, its head nearly reaching his waist.

Ha, ha, ha...

A succession of deep roars spilled from the shadows of the trees, and soon after, dozens of green eyes glinted in the darkness.

A wolf pack!

This is it, this is the end. I'm such an idiot. Why did I even stay to save this wolf? Lee Cha braced himself against the tree, his hand white-knuckled around the harpoon.