I Became a Medical Genius in the 80s

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Wolfdog

Seeing the bear coming straight over, Beisitian knew it looked like a life-or-death struggle was unavoidable.

Actually, there was another way: wait until the wolf in the cave died and throw its body out. Maybe the bear would leave then, but thinking about the she-wolf already having cubs, Beisitian felt it would be too cruel to do that.

A healer’s compassion, this was what her master taught her when she became an apprentice.

To humans and to animals alike.

This compassion is not foolish; in situations like this, if it truly came down to it, she could only choose this to save herself. She couldn’t risk her life for a wolf.

But for now, it hadn’t reached that point. Considering the cubs inside the she-wolf, Beisitian decided to wait and see for the time being.

A wolf in front and a bear behind, the current situation wasn’t good. Beisitian had experienced more perilous situations before, so she wasn’t panicked, remaining calm and composed.

The current plan was to wait out the bear and see who outlasted whom.

The bear approached near the cave, circled around a couple of times, seemingly realizing it couldn’t get inside, and let out a few low growls, appearing somewhat agitated.

Beisitian retreated to a safe distance, even if the bear extended its paw in, it couldn’t reach her.

Soon after, the bear did indeed stretch its paw inside, clawing the ground and leaving deep marks.

For safety’s sake, Beisitian always held the talisman powder in her hand. Sprinkling this on an animal would cause it intense burning pain, and its fur would suffer large-scale burns. It’s highly lethal to both humans and animals, one of the talisman powders she frequently used in the mountains.

The bear seemed to know the wolf was in the cave, unwilling to give up without killing it, growling low and continually pawing inside.

Seeing it grow more agitated, Beisitian frowned, worried that the bear might crash into the cave, triggering a landslide was minor, but blocking the cave entrance would be major trouble!

What she feared didn’t happen. The bear suddenly stood up, looked southward, paused for a moment, put down its forepaws, and quickly left in another direction.

Not knowing if it had discovered something or was just patrolling the area, Beisitian dared not exit the cave for now, but with no more bear roars at the entrance, she finally sat down to rest for a while.

After resting a bit, Beisitian turned to look at the wolf. Upon closer inspection, she couldn’t help but smile, but for caution’s sake, she carefully identified it again.

This was not a wolf at all, but a wolf-dog, likely with more wolf blood or accustomed to wildness in the mountains, fierce enough to be mistaken for a wolf at first glance.

However, a wolf-dog brave enough to confront a bear could very well be called a wolf.

Not sure what breed this wolf-dog was, but it seemed to be a direct first-generation crossbreed of a dog and a wolf, a true wolf-dog, not like some domesticated wolf-dogs these days.

Such a wolf-dog still carried great ferocity, but with half-dog blood, Beisitian’s perception of it felt different.

Gently stroking the wolf-dog, Beisitian sensed its life force quickly fading, while the small lives in its belly remained vibrant, though this vibrancy would gradually pale with the mother’s decline.

As she petted its fur, her hand suddenly felt something around its neck. She quickly brushed aside the fur and found a dirty, gray rope inside.

This wolf-dog had been domesticated!

A domesticated wolf-dog surely wouldn’t attack humans, so Beisitian hesitated no longer, gently cleared the cave entrance to look outside, finding the open, unobstructed cave devoid of bear presence. She quickly exited and ran towards the mountain stream.

Fetching clean water from the stream in a kettle, she returned to the cave, dissolved the Spiritual Talisman into the clear water, then pried the dog’s mouth open to pour it in.

The wolf-dog’s fatal injury was at its neck, the blood pooled on the ground, and just the blood loss could claim its life.

Beisitian carried only basic hemostatic medicine powder. First, she sprinkled hemostatic powder on the injury, then tore the hem of her blouse to bandage it. The blood quickly stained the fabric, but the spread stopped, and with the help of the Xuan Talisman, the bleeding soon ceased.

The wound on its leg was minor, likely scratched by the bear’s claws; it was shallow and had stopped bleeding on its own.

Her current spirit was limited, and the Xuan Talisman’s effect underwhelming compared to her past life, only halting the wolf-dog’s life force from further decline.

Beisitian had no choice but to perform the Spiritual Talisman again, this time adding a small piece of Polygonum multiflorum about half the size of a fingernail into the clear water before administering it to the wolf-dog.

After the Xuan Talisman took effect, within a quarter of an hour, the wolf-dog gained a sliver of vitality.

Having performed the Spiritual Talisman twice, Beisitian felt somewhat exhausted, reclining on the ground to rest briefly and restore some spirit.

Before long, she heard soft whimpering nearby. Opening her eyes, she found the wolf-dog awake, struggling to get up.

”Just stay put and rest. You just regained some strength, trying to move now? Are you trying to die?” Beisitian said with a raised brow.

Upon her words, the wolf-dog whimpered once and obediently lay back down.

Beisitian tilted her head, wondering if the wolf-dog could understand her.

”Can you understand me?” Beisitian asked curiously.

The wolf-dog lay there staring at her, bewildered.

Beisitian: ”...” She felt a bit silly.

Recalling the rope on the wolf-dog’s neck, she figured it could understand simple commands like ”lie down.”

Wolves are intelligent animals, and wolf-dogs are no exception. Being domesticated, understanding commands wasn’t surprising.

Seeing the daylight outside starting to wane, Beisitian needed to return quickly.

”I have to go. You just stay here for the night, and you’ll recover some strength by tomorrow.” Beisitian said, leaving some water for it without worrying whether the wolf-dog understood, then turned and left the cave.

The bear had gone off in a different direction earlier, but Beisitian chose to take the original path back since it was familiar, and with no need to search for herbs, she moved much faster.

After traveling about two miles, Beisitian stopped helplessly and turned to face the big fellow trailing her.

”Not so dumb, are you!” Beisitian remarked with a wry smile.

The wolf-dog wobbled on its feet, persistently following her. She guessed it was probably hungry; after all, being gravely injured, it needed food to replenish energy.

Beisitian sighed, thinking where she could find food for it in this place.

Wild mice and rabbits were plenty, but they were wily. She had time to set traps, but not to wait.

Reaching into her basket, Beisitian pulled out the half bun she hadn’t eaten yet and tossed it to the wolf-dog, saying, ”There’s only this half bun left. Eat it up and go on your way.”

The wolf-dog caught the airborne bun in one bite, swallowing it in a few gulps. As Beisitian turned to leave, it once again, step by unsteady step, continued trailing her.