Meng Huaize felt that no one could possibly be unluckier than him.
The child from Uncle Li’s family in the village had fallen ill. While preparing the medicine for him, Meng Huaize realized he was missing two crucial herbs. So, during some free time, he strapped on his medicine basket and headed up Chuanki Mountain to gather herbs.
Chuanki Mountain was vast and steep, treacherous in many places. Normally, Meng Huaize only gathered herbs from the outermost mountains, rarely venturing deeper into the range. This time, after searching the mountains for a long while, one of the herbs still eluded him, so he continued his search further into the depths of Chuanki Mountain.
It wasn’t until the sun was beginning to set in the west that Meng Huaize finally found the missing herb deep in the mountains. Before he could even feel a sense of relief, a sudden loud crash echoed through the mountain, causing the entire mountain to tremble. Immediately, birds and beasts scattered in every direction, the forest erupting in chaos, only to fall into eerie silence moments later.
Meng Huaize didn’t know what had just happened. Following the sound he’d heard earlier, he made his way forward. It wasn’t long before, as he pushed aside the branches in front of him, he froze on the spot in terror.
Right before his eyes, a snake and a wolf were locked in a fierce battle.
The snake was abnormally large, standing as tall as a century-old tree next to it. Opposing it stood a majestic black wolf, its stance high and mighty, exuding an air of arrogance and superiority.
Meng Huaize’s mind went blank with fear. His first instinct was to run, but his legs refused to obey him. They were rooted stiffly in place, leaving him unable to move.
And so, he just stood there, having provoked no one, only for the snake’s massive tail to swing toward him with incredible force.
His waist tightened as the snake’s tail coiled around him and dragged him closer. Before his sluggish mind could fully register what was happening, a golden object was shoved into his mouth.
No, perhaps “shoved” wasn’t the right word. It flowed into his mouth, taking advantage of the fact that his jaw had dropped open in shock.
Even though it was the size of a fist and clearly not something meant to be swallowed easily, somehow, he did.
Meng Huaize had no idea what he had just swallowed. In the blink of an eye, the snake spirit seemed to lose its last breath. Its tail smacked him hard against the ground, and he nearly passed out from the impact.
Struggling with all his strength, Meng Huaize crawled out from under the snake’s body. He had barely managed to get halfway free when he heard the black wolf speak.
Wait… did it just… talk?
Meng Huaize was utterly stunned.
This, this, this… this was a spirit beast! And this spirit beast wanted to kill him!
Standing before this giant wolf, Meng Huaize, a grown man, looked like a small child. If the wolf pounced, there would be no chance of his survival.
Knowing he couldn’t escape, Meng Huaize shut his eyes in despair, certain that his end had come. He braced himself for the pain, but instead of feeling anything sharp, he only felt a heavy weight press into his chest, like some sort of living creature had fallen into his arms.
Could it be that this wolf spirit possessed some kind of magic, allowing him to die painlessly and without feeling? Was he already in the underworld? Would he open his eyes and see the Bridge of Helplessness? Was there a wandering ghost standing beside him right now?
As these thoughts raced through his mind, a cold breeze seemed to sweep past his ears, sending a chill down his spine.
Just then, the heavy mass in his arms moved, and every hair on Meng Huaize’s body stood on end. His hands went numb, and he dared not move an inch.
The soft sensation pressing against his hands shifted, and from his arms came a babyish whimper. Meng Huaize froze, confusion breaking through the fear of death. Hesitantly, he squinted open his eyes and looked down, only to meet a pair of large, watery golden eyes.
Meng Huaize stared dumbfounded into the angry, beast-like eyes for a long moment before some of his awareness slowly returned.
A… a wolf cub?!
Meng Huaize’s gaze stiffly wandered around him. Behind him, the massive snake’s body had shrunk down to the size of a regular snake. The grass and trees around him were in disarray, and blood was everywhere, yet despite all this, the forest was eerily calm. The sun hung low between the cliffs, casting a soft golden light over everything. The intense, fantastical battle from moments ago now seemed like an illusion.
He was still on Chuanki Mountain, and he wasn’t dead!
Meng Huaize lowered his head again to look at the wolf cub in his arms. The little cub bared its teeth and let out a fierce growl, though it wasn’t even as intimidating as the village puppies’ yaps.
The wolf cub seemed to realize this too, and in a fit of embarrassment, it angrily tried to swipe at Meng Huaize with its chubby paw. Meng Huaize instinctively caught the cub’s paw in his hand.
Both of them froze.
The wolf cub was visibly furious, arching its back and letting out a threatening growl. Meng Huaize, regaining his senses, yanked the cub’s paw and threw it out of his arms, scrambling to his feet and bolting. However, his legs were still weak from fear, and he stumbled awkwardly for quite a distance before managing to get away.
As he fled, Meng Huaize couldn’t help but glance back, only to see that the wolf cub hadn’t chased him. It remained where he had thrown it, lying still on the ground, looking like a small, pitiful black lump.
Run! Meng Huaize thought to himself. He turned and took two steps before hesitating and stopping. Unable to resist, he looked back to take a closer look at the little wolf cub, realizing that it was injured.
Isn’t this the same wolf from earlier? The one that can talk? Meng Huaize trembled at the thought, but despite his fear, he couldn’t harden his heart and leave. He was a physician, and even though this was just a wolf cub, he found it impossible to ignore its suffering, especially since it was seriously injured. The wounds hadn’t been too obvious on the large wolf earlier, but now, with the wolf cub being only as long as Meng Huaize’s forearm, the injuries looked far more severe and alarming.
If Meng Huaize left it alone now, there was a good chance the cub wouldn’t survive the day.
His heart softened.
He hesitated in place for a long time, pacing back and forth dozens of times in indecision. Finally, with a gritted jaw, he picked up a long branch from the ground, bent low, and cautiously edged his way toward the wolf cub.
When he was still at a safe distance, Meng Huaize stopped, keeping his guard up as he leaned back and gingerly prodded the wolf cub with the branch.
The moment he poked it, the lethargic-looking wolf cub snapped its head up, a dangerous flash of gold in its eyes. Meng Huaize jumped in fright, his mind going blank. Without thinking, he dropped the branch and bolted, running for nearly a quarter of an hour. Only when the chaotic scenery behind him was long gone did he finally stop, gasping for breath and leaning on his knees.
Go down the mountain! If he went down now, everything would be fine. He just needed to get down the mountain! Meng Huaize repeated this thought, but his feet wouldn’t move. In the end, with half-hearted steps, he found himself grudgingly heading back.
The wolf cub was still lying there.
This time, Meng Huaize didn’t dare get too close. From a safe distance, he shouted at the wolf cub with a trembling voice, “Hey!”
As soon as he got the word out, all the courage in his tone vanished. “I… I saw that you’re injured. If you… if you promise not to eat me, I’ll help bandage your wounds.”
He shivered as he added a weak threat, “If… if not, I’ll leave, and you can stay here and wait to die. There are lots of wild animals on this mountain at night.”
Perhaps his words had moved the wolf cub, as it shifted slightly and fixed its eyes on Meng Huaize. Meng Huaize took a step back, gritting his teeth as his face went pale, barely suppressing the urge to flee.
Then, the wolf cub spoke: “I never intended to eat you.”
It really is a spirit! Meng Huaize shouted in despair in his heart, though outwardly he remained expressionless, his terror having numbed him.
The wolf cub continued, “I only wanted to kill you.”
With a stiff expression, Meng Huaize immediately turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Meng Huaize glanced back. The wolf cub seemed a bit irritated, a tuft of fur on its head sticking up rebelliously. “I won’t kill you for now. I’ll let you know before I do. How’s that?”
Of course, that’s not okay!
Meng Huaize felt a bit wronged. What had he done to deserve being killed? As this thought crossed his mind, his anger gave him a little courage. His face flushed red as he argued with the wolf cub, “Of course that’s not okay! I didn’t… didn’t do anything wrong. Why do you want to take my life?”
The wolf cub was equally enraged. “Because you swallowed my inner core!”
Meng Huaize felt even more wronged. It wasn’t like he wanted to swallow it! And besides, he still didn’t know if the thing would harm him. Who was he supposed to complain to?
“It’s not like I wanted to swallow it,” Meng Huaize retorted, his face turning red with frustration. He wasn’t used to arguing with others and rarely had to defend himself, so his words came out a bit stammered. “Your… your inner core… I don’t even want it!”
“Hmph,” the wolf cub scoffed, still as haughty as ever despite its predicament. “Either way, I must get my inner core back.”
Meng Huaize retorted, “Either way, you can’t kill me. If you try to kill me, I won’t help you.”
The sun had completely dipped behind the mountains, leaving only a few streaks of crimson in the sky as the moon began to rise. Meng Huaize and the wolf cub kept repeating the same arguments: the wolf insisting on retrieving its inner core, and Meng Huaize sitting far away, repeatedly saying, “You can’t kill me. If you try, I won’t save you.”
The surrounding mountains and forest were shrouded in the deepening blue of night. Wu Yue, still severely injured and missing his inner core, grew tired after bickering with the human for so long. His energy was draining, and he could barely maintain his adult beast form, forcing him to remain in his juvenile state, now reduced to bargaining with a weak human.
Wu Yue was too tired to continue arguing with the noisy human. He turned his head, burying it in the fur of his front legs, and ignored him.
It’s just a human, Wu Yue thought indifferently. Even though his inner core was now inside this human, there was no way for the human to escape. He could kill him once his strength returned, and it wouldn’t make a difference.
Meng Huaize had no idea what the wolf cub was thinking. Seeing its stubborn appearance, he gritted his teeth and stood up, preparing to leave. But, as expected, after a short while, he turned back.
Wu Yue found this human extremely annoying and grumbled, “Why are you coming back again?”
“Well…” Meng Huaize hesitated and then asked, “That… inner core you mentioned, is it really important to you?”
Isn’t that obvious? Wu Yue glanced at him.
Meng Huaize lowered his gaze slightly, as if speaking to himself. “It must be important…”
He raised his head again to look at Wu Yue. “Then, do you keep your word?”
Wu Yue perked up his ears, curious.
Meng Huaize continued, “You said you wouldn’t kill me for now and that if you were going to kill me, you’d tell me in advance…”
Wu Yue lazily scratched at the blood-matted fur behind his ear with his paw and let out a casual “Oh.”
After a brief pause, Meng Huaize said, “I believe you. Even though you want to kill me, you’d rather I not save you than lie to me. You’re probably not that bad.”
Wu Yue had never heard such a way of determining good and bad before. It seemed a bit too hasty, didn’t it?
“I’ll help you first,” Meng Huaize offered, “but you have to promise not to kill me. Once you recover, you have to at least try to think of other ways to retrieve your inner core from my body. If there’s no other way…”
Meng Huaize’s face went pale, and his voice trembled as he found himself unable to continue.
Wu Yue, however, grew a bit interested and asked, “And if there isn’t another way?”
Meng Huaize clenched his fists. Though his eyes still held fear, a trace of determination had emerged. “If that’s the case, and there’s really no other way but to kill me to get it back, then it’s your inner core. No matter what you do, you’d be in the right.”
His whole body trembled. Clearly, he had no desire to die, yet he still said such words.
Wu Yue had never seen a human before. This was the first human he had ever met.
He found humans rather odd.
After saying all that, Meng Huaize was already so nervous that he felt drained. Noticing Wu Yue staring at him, his nerves tensed again, and he stammered, “W-What are you looking at?”
“Alright,” Wu Yue said, “I agree.”