Chapter 17.2

Qilin was visibly annoyed, refusing to let Mu Ling kiss it and repeatedly pushing its forehead against her chin.

Undeterred, Mu Ling persisted, planting kisses on its ear, eye, and nose in succession.

Eventually, Qilin relented, seemingly overwhelmed by the affection. It lay back down, grumbling softly, with a distinctly gloomy expression.

Seeing that Qilin had finally settled, Mu Ling unwrapped its bandage, addressing the audience, «Everyone, look here. Qilin’s right hind leg was bitten by a snake. The bite is quite deep, and it’ll take a couple more days for the fang marks to scab over.»

She then followed the familiar procedure: disinfecting, applying medicine, and rewrapping with fresh gauze and bandages. Throughout this process, Qilin couldn’t resist turning its head to nip at Mu Ling’s hand several times. Each time, she simply pushed its face away, embodying the role of a stern, no-nonsense nurse.

「This woman’s got some serious guts」

「Forget door gods for the New Year, they should put up a picture of the zoo director. She’s definitely fiercer than a door god!」

Once the thigh wound was treated, Qilin swiftly tucked its leg underneath its body, tail clamped tightly, clearly unwilling to let Mu Ling near its rear any longer.

Unfazed, Mu Ling shifted her attention to Qilin’s back.

Qilin was noticeably more compliant during the back treatment. Given the larger wound area, Mu Ling worked at a slower pace. By the end, Qilin was nearly dozing off.

Only when it heard Mu Ling packing up the medical kit did the great beast drowsily turn its head to look at her.

Mu Ling affectionately patted the tiger’s head, saying, “Qilin’s been such a good patient today. You deserve a meat paste treat as a reward. I’ll fetch it for you.”

Before she could move, Wei Li had already retrieved a can from outside and tossed it to her.

Mu Ling opened the can and emptied the meat paste into Qilin’s bowl.

Qilin promptly rose, leaned over for a quick lick, and in one swift gulp, devoured the entire mound of meat paste.

「Deep Abyss Mouth!」 exclaimed one viewer.

「I want to kiss and hug Qilin too! Oh, I’m going crazy!」

「It actually cooperated during treatment! When will we learn about Qilin’s mental state? Has its nerve damage truly healed? How did you manage to treat it?」

「Do other zoos have retired war beasts like this?」 someone asked.「 Any staff from other zoos care to comment? Don’t be shy; I’m sure there are competing zoos gathering intel here!」

「Cough, cough… The two B-grade retired war beasts in our park remain quite xenophobic, sensitive, and increasingly depressed. We’ve given them our best enclosures, but they’re still unhappy. God knows how shocked I am to see this Ripper Tiger so docile. Only those in the field can truly appreciate how mind-blowing this is.」

「Even us non-professionals find it astounding」

「Beast tamers’ brains must be shrinking from the shock」

After finishing with Qilin, Mu Ling gathered the medical kit and moved on to treat the wolf cub.

The little wolf was outside, gnawing on a sofa leg. Mu Ling called out, “Little wolf!”

Hearing her voice, the wolf cub released the furniture and limped towards her.

Mu Ling entered the cub’s enclosure and sat on the ground. Without hesitation, the little wolf jumped into her arms, tail wagging as it playfully nibbled at her collar.

「It jumped into her arms on its own! Ah, Cute!」

「Damn, I’m powerless against such fluffy creatures!」

Mu Ling gently pulled her clothing free from the cub’s mouth, repositioned it to face away from her, and began unwrapping its bandage.

The wolf cub’s wound was located near the shoulder of its front leg. As the bandage came off, a horrific, gaping injury was revealed.

The audience was visibly stunned.

「What the hell! You couldn’t tell from the outside that it was this badly hurt!」

「What kind of weapon could pierce and tear like that? How did such a small pup end up with such a severe injury?」

「Ouch, just looking at it is painful!」

Noticing these comments, Mu Ling explained, «Wolves can tolerate pain about 5.1 times better than humans. Plus, the medication contains painkillers, so the little wolf isn’t suffering too much.»

«This wound was caused by a tree trunk. When we found it, the cub had fallen down a slope and gotten impaled on a sharp piece of wood. Luckily, the wound is far from its heart, and we discovered it in time to save its life. Pups have excellent recovery abilities; with proper care, we should be able to remove the bandage in about a week without any lasting effects.»

«Our real challenge now is that the cub can’t be separated from its mother for too long, or she’ll go berserk. Qingjiao is already a retired, injured wolf, so we can’t risk agitating her. We’ll have to return the cub to the mountain by tonight at the latest.»

Mu Ling sighed,« Once it’s back, we won’t be able to change its dressings. Our staff suggested mixing medicine into its food during daily feedings, but with only internal medication and no external treatment, who knows how long the wound will take to heal.»

As she spoke, Mu Ling fondly rubbed the cub’s head. The little wolf, oblivious to everything, was still happily gnawing on Mu Ling’s slippers.

「Ah, so they took the little wolf away without Qingjiao’s permission. Qingjiao must be very worried now.」

「You really believe this is Qingjiao’s cub?」

「I’ve already checked online. There are reports of Qingjiao being sent to Bi Ke Zoo after retirement. She should indeed be there」

「But what does that prove? They could’ve bought a Dark Snow Wolf cub on the black market and attributed it to Qingjiao to legitimize it. Or maybe it’s just a Muerla Red Wolf in disguise.」

「I’ve compared some photos, and this does look like a purebred Dark Snow Wolf cub. But usually, you’d need both parents to be Dark Snow Wolves for such a purebred offspring. If Bi Ke Zoo only has Qingjiao, how could mating with a regular wolf produce such a purebred cub?」

「No way! Did Qingjiao unexpectedly become a mother?」

Wei Li, noticing the comments taking an odd turn, was about to alert Mu Ling when suddenly, a panicked scream erupted from outside the veterinary station: “Wolf! Xiao Wei! A wolf pack is descending from the mountain! Quick, come out!”