“Yao’er, you need to fly over on your own…”

With that, she kicked Hou Xiaotiao in the rear, then grabbed the rope herself and jumped into the river.

“Ah…”

Startled, Hou Xiaotiao clung tightly to the rope with both hands, swallowing several mouthfuls of river water before realizing something was wrong. “I’m not being swept away? I’m not dead…”

Seeing that Hu Jiao Jiao had also jumped into the river, Long Yao hurriedly flew overhead to follow her.

“Great! I’m not dead! I’m saved, I’m saved…” Confirming that he had narrowly escaped death, Hou Xiaotiao shouted excitedly.

But just as his voice fell, a few gray wolves appeared on the riverbank.

Hou Xiaotiao shuddered in fear and nearly lost his grip on the rope. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the wolves had no place to gain footing and were swept into the river, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

On the bank, the wolf pack’s leader stood with a group of gray wolves, glaring at them menacingly. It seemed that if they were even a step slower, the wolves would tear them apart.

Hou Xiaotiao, still trembling with fear, didn’t dare linger and quickly swam to the other side of the river, following the rope.

Exhausted after reaching the bank, he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

After a few seconds, he suddenly remembered there was a female still in the water. Frantic, he scrambled to his feet and reached out to pull Hu Jiao Jiao from the river.

Long Yao also hurried over to help, his small dragon claws grabbing the back of Hu Jiao Jiao’s clothes. He took a deep breath, puffed up his cheeks, and pulled with all his might.

“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!” His mother had saved him, so he wanted to save her, too.

Though, in truth, his efforts weren’t of much help.

With Hou Xiaotiao’s assistance, Hu Jiao Jiao finally made it to shore, collapsing onto the ground in a bedraggled state. It took her a while to recover.

Her body was far too frail—just crossing the river had taken half her strength.

Seeing Hu Jiao Jiao lying motionless on the ground, Long Yao anxiously flew over and nudged her hand with his head.

“Don’t worry, Yao’er. Mommy’s fine,” Hu Jiao Jiao said softly, regaining a bit of her strength. Seeing Long Yao lively and unharmed, she finally felt a weight lift from her heart.

Hou Xiaotiao lay on the ground, greedily sucking in air.

While he wasn’t paying attention, Hu Jiao Jiao quietly stood up, cut the rope tied between two trees, and stored the remaining rope in her space.

She had noticed how fast the river current was when she arrived, so she had taken out a rope from her space. Luckily, the river wasn’t too wide, and she had managed to fix the rope between the trees on both banks with a hook.

But…

She found it odd. In her dream, she had only seen Long Yao here, not Hou Xiaotiao. In the dream, Long Yao had escaped alone. Did that mean if she hadn’t come, Hou Xiaotiao would have died here?

Suddenly, Hu Jiao Jiao recalled that when she had arrived, Long Yao had almost been bitten.

If Long Yao had been alone and bitten by the wolves, he would have had little chance of survival. In the dream, he had managed to crawl away with half his body injured. Clearly, someone must have saved him.

Or perhaps…

Someone had traded their life for his.

Realizing this, Hu Jiao Jiao looked at Hou Xiaotiao with newfound gratitude.

Hou Xiaotiao had saved Long Yao’s life, and she would remember that debt forever.

“Hu Jiao Jiao, thank you for saving me just now. If you hadn’t killed those two gray wolves in time, I would’ve died here…” Hou Xiaotiao, having caught his breath, stood up shakily and quickly thanked Hu Jiao Jiao.

After this brush with death, he had long since forgotten any past grievances with Hu Jiao Jiao.

Thinking back to how he had once helped the other beastmen in the tribe hide Hu Jiao Jiao’s prey, he now felt a pang of regret. After all, Hu Jiao Jiao wasn’t at all the spoiled, arrogant woman everyone made her out to be.

Hu Jiao Jiao had just finished packing up the rope and erasing any traces. Hearing Hou Xiaotiao’s words, she quickly waved her hand.

“I should be the one thanking you. If it weren’t for your help, Yao’er would have already fallen prey to the wolves.”

Since Hou Xiaotiao had been willing to save Long Yao, he clearly had a kind heart.

No matter what had happened before, he was now Yao’er’s savior.

“Well…” Hou Xiaotiao scratched his head awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. It was the first time he’d heard Hu Jiao Jiao speak so gently. Normally, she would be yelling curses. Who knew her voice could sound so pleasant when she spoke softly?

Hu Jiao Jiao smiled gratefully, but then her gaze fell on the bloodstain on his leg.

Her brow furrowed, and instinctively, her hand reached behind her back.

“You’re injured?”

At her words, Hou Xiaotiao looked down at his left thigh. Pulling back the top layer of animal hide, he saw that the wound on his thigh was so deep that bone was visible.

Earlier, the cold river water had numbed the wound, washing away the blood. He hadn’t felt much at the time.

But now, seeing the blood gushing out, the pain suddenly hit him again. Gritting his teeth, he said, “It’s nothing, just a wolf bite. To be alive at all is already a blessing.”

The monkey beastmen weren’t skilled fighters, and they were no match for wolves in terms of speed. Encountering a wolf pack on flat ground was a death sentence.

That was why he had tried to send Long Yao away.

Upon hearing this, Hu Jiao Jiao frowned even more and quietly took out some hemostatic medicine and bandages from her space.

Hou Xiaotiao was a male with a mate, and in the beastmen world, males with mate couldn’t interact too closely with other females, just like women in ancient times.

Knowing this, Hu Jiao Jiao opened the medicine bottle, spread the bandage, poured a thick layer of yellow powder onto it, and handed it to Hou Xiaotiao with both hands.

“Hu Jiao Jiao, what’s this?”

Seeing her actions, Hou Xiaotiao looked puzzled.

“This is hemostatic medicine. If you tie it to the wound, it will stop the bleeding. You can do it yourself, right?” Hu Jiao Jiao explained briefly, changing the subject.

Hou Xiaotiao hesitated.

At that moment, Long Yao flew over.

“Rooo~” Long Yao wrapped his tail around Hou Xiaotiao’s finger, tugging his hand toward the bandage, urging him to take it quickly.

“Oh, yes, I… I can.”

Finally coming to his senses, Hou Xiaotiao took the bandage and wrapped it around his wound.

In just a minute or two, the bleeding had completely stopped, and the bandage was only slightly stained with blood.

Even Hu Jiao Jiao was surprised. She hadn’t expected the hemostatic medicine from her space to be so effective.

A thought flashed through her mind.

If the medicine from her space was truly this miraculous, once she unlocked more space and found more medicine, there might be a chance to heal her second cub Long Xiu’s eyes and the scars on her third cub’s face?

“Amazing, it really stopped the bleeding. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Hu Jiao Jiao, where did you get this medicine?” Hou Xiaotiao asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He had never seen such an effective medicine before. Even the tribe’s healer weren’t this skilled.

“Wait, not even the healer have medicine this good. Hu Jiao Jiao, could you be a Shaman?”

Shaman?

Hu Jiao Jiao paused.

Her mind quickly recalled the knowledge from the book. In the beastmen world, there were both healers and Shamans, both of whom could treat injuries.

Healers has basic knowledge of medicine, passed down through generations. Shamans, however, were like witches from fairy tales, able to use magical powers to heal beastmen wounds with miraculous results.

But Shamans didn’t rely on inheritance; their abilities were awakened through innate talent.

And only females had the potential to awaken as Shamans.