Qin Tianru’s eyes flickered slightly as she confirmed the direction. She swallowed the breadcrumbs in her mouth slowly, then waved her right hand—still clutching half a loaf—through the air, and the bread vanished.  

In the next moment, her right hand moved again, and now she held a sharp Swiss army knife.  

Qin Tianru stiffened, not daring to move her neck even slightly, afraid that any motion might alert the unseen threat. She focused all her attention on her left ear, straining to catch the faintest sound from the nearby disturbance.  

The area around them was overgrown with weeds, left untended for so long that they had grown dense and tall, reaching halfway up an adult’s torso.  

At this moment, Qin Tianru suddenly felt as if the entire world had fallen into silence—so quiet that all she could hear was the rapid pounding of her own heart, thudding loudly from tension.  

She tightened her grip on the Swiss knife, forcing herself to steady her emotions.  

She couldn’t panic. She couldn’t lose her composure.  

Beside her lay an injured man who needed her protection. If even she gave in to fear and surrendered, they would both end up as a wild beast’s dinner tonight.  

The rustling could only mean one thing: a wild animal was nearby. This place was as desolate as it could get, and at this hour, there was no chance of encountering another traveler.  

The answer was obvious. But right now, she had no way to escape.  

First, her slender arms and legs were no match for the agility of a wild beast. Second, she had no sense of direction and was completely unfamiliar with the terrain—where could she even run?  

And most importantly, her future love interest was lying here, injured. She wasn’t some superhuman who could hoist him over her shoulder and flee. Of course, she also couldn’t just abandon him to be devoured.  

Since escape wasn’t an option, they would have to face it together!  

Suddenly, a pair of eerie green lights flickered in the grass—like glowing eyes, piercingly sinister in the pitch-black night.  

“Owooo—”  

The howl of a wolf sent a violent shiver down Qin Tianru’s spine. Instinctively, she pressed closer to her future partner, wishing she could just burrow into his arms and hide.  

“Hey… friend? Comrade? Buddy? Future boyfriend, wake up! There’s a wolf! What do we do? I’ve never dealt with this before—I don’t want to die young!”  

Qin Tianru’s face crumpled with barely suppressed tears, her eyes reddening as she whispered urgently into the man’s ear. All the while, her gaze remained locked onto the movement in the grass ahead.  

“It’s coming! It’s walking toward us—what do we do?!”  

Tears pooled in her eyes, but she was too terrified to even cry. From the day she was born until now, she had always lived in peaceful, prosperous times.  

Even though her family, the Qins, lived in a mountainous village, wild beasts never ventured near human settlements. And unlike her elder sister, who often roamed deep into the forests, Qin Tianru had rarely encountered wild animals.  

The only “beasts” she had interacted with were spiritual creatures, thanks to her sister’s unique abilities—but spiritual beasts and wild animals were entirely different.  

This was her first time coming face-to-face with a wolf.  

She had never been around animals much, let alone raised any. Because of her own supernatural affinity, her love had always been reserved for plants and flowers.  

This sudden time-travel had caught her completely unprepared. Aside from the Swiss knife in her hand, her storage space didn’t contain a single other weapon for self-defense.  
As the wolf advanced toward them with steady, powerful strides, Qin Tianru pressed even tighter against the man. Her bright eyes, now wide with fear, tracked the wolf’s every move while her mind chanted desperately: Don’t see us, don’t see us, don’t see us…