Chapter 13.1

Mu Ling’s hands trembled as she opened the medical kit. She took out the “Benzamorton,” prepared a clean syringe, estimated the little wolf’s weight, and injected half the recommended dose of the special drug.

After administering the injection, she waited a minute for the medicine to take effect. Once she felt the wolf cub’s heartbeat strengthen slightly, Mu Ling finally began figuring out how to remove it from the tree branch.

Extracting foreign objects requires skill—it can’t be done carelessly. If the force or direction is wrong, it could easily cause secondary injury to the cub. Moreover, the front elbow area is very close to the heart. Mu Ling held her breath as she irrigated the wound with a solution of saline and a bit of anesthetic, carefully lifting the little wolf as she flushed the injury.

By the time she had fully extracted the cub from the branch, Mu Ling was drenched in sweat.

Wei Li brought over a towel. Mu Ling placed the wolf cub on the clean towel, then set it on the ground for examination.

“The wound is already infected. We need to clean it immediately; otherwise, even if it survives tonight, it won’t make it through tomorrow. Brother Wei, we have to go down the mountain now.”

As Mu Ling spoke, she glanced toward Master Zhou and the others. These workers had originally planned to spend the night on the mountain. They had driven mountain RVs, intending to sleep in the wilderness, as it would take four to five hours to go up and down the mountain each day.

Now, after this unexpected encounter with wolves in the middle of the night, they feared the pack might come for them, which is why they had been hiding in the trees. Given the situation, Mu Ling couldn’t let them stay in such a risky place. So she said, “You all should come down the mountain with us. We can continue work tomorrow after confirming it’s safe.”

The workers readily agreed. Master Zhou said, “Our vehicles are parked in a clearing five kilometers away. We’ll need to trouble Brother Wei to guide us there first.”

Wei Li turned to look at Mu Ling.

She nodded, “Brother Wei, you go with them. I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Wei Li replied, “Then, Director, be careful. Keep in touch via the walkie-talkie.”

“Got it.”

After Wei Li left with the workers, Mu Ling carefully cradled the wolf cub and got into the vehicle.

Turning on the car’s interior light, Mu Ling checked the cub’s condition again. Then, with a flashlight in one hand and tweezers in the other, she carefully began removing the bits of wood embedded in the cub’s wound.

Time ticked by slowly, and Mu Ling remained completely absorbed in treating the little wolf. Suddenly, a sound came from outside the vehicle.

Mu Ling instantly froze, holding her breath as she peered outside.

The pitch-black tree shadows swayed like ghosts, and since it was so late now, with the dense canopy above blocking the moonlight, Mu Ling could barely see anything in the distance with her naked eye.

Mu Ling was terrified that a wolf pack might really appear. Their zoo housed a wolf pack—eight wolves in total, four males and four females. According to Brother Wei, these eight wolves lived as a group. Now, with one female wolf and one cub missing, the other wolves might follow their scent and come looking.

Mu Ling’s heart raced as she waited, tensely scanning the surroundings. After several more seconds of silence, the noise outside faded, and she finally relaxed. Just as she was about to continue cleaning the cub’s wound, she suddenly froze again.

She saw it.

About ten meters away, a pair of ice-blue beast eyes, emitting an eerie glow, stared at her intently.

Oh no, oh no, the wolf father had really come!

Mu Ling quickly averted her gaze—she couldn’t make eye contact. For animals, eye contact means provocation. Looking for even two more seconds could cost her life.

Mu Ling hurriedly ducked her head below the car window, then stretched to reach for the tranquilizer gun in the back seat.

If it really was the male wolf that had come, it definitely wouldn’t be alone. There might be other wolves nearby.

Too afraid to look, Mu Ling clutched the tranquilizer gun tightly to her chest, mentally reciting how to use it: first load, then aim, the gun has recoil, so when aiming…

“Knock knock.”

“Ahhhh!” The sudden knocking on the window startled Mu Ling. She quickly aimed the tranquilizer gun at the window, not even caring if it was closed or not. Her finger was already on the trigger, ready to shoot at any moment.

Outside the car stood Xiang Bie.

“Brother Xiang!” Mu Ling finally recognized him and, realizing it wasn’t a wolf, sighed in relief. She hurriedly unlocked the door. “Brother Xiang, you scared me to death! Get in, quick!”

Before he could say anything, Mu Ling had already grabbed his arm, pulling him into the car.

As she scooted over to make space, she forcefully pulled Xiang Bie inside with one hand and reached past him with the other to shut the car door. Finally, she peered outside furtively once more.

Xiang Bie: “…”

Xiang Bie’s back was pressed tightly against the seat. Mu Ling was too close to him. He pursed his lips and asked, “What’s going on?”

“There’s a wolf,” Mu Ling replied gravely.

Xiang Bie was startled and turned to look outside.

Outside was completely silent. There was nothing there.

Now that she had someone by her side, Mu Ling immediately felt braver. She pointed in one direction, her tone firm. “There, right there! Just now there was a pair of eyes, glowing blue. It must have been a wolf!”

Xiang Bie looked again, then calmly said, “It’s probably gone already.”