Chapter 13: Not to Be Trifled With

Chapter 13: Not Someone to Mess With

The afternoon sun, slanting westward, cast Si Jiu’s elongated shadow before the guardhouse. Coincidentally, this star system also boasted a "sun" and "moon," and the beastmen's planet experienced distinct day and night cycles, along with four well-defined seasons.

It was early autumn. The elderly rhinoceros security guard, ever unhurried with reading glasses perched on his nose, squinted, his prominent horn catching the light, as he strained to recall.

"That's right, I saw it clearly," the rhino elder affirmed in a deep, steady voice, characteristic of herbivores. "About half an hour ago, the head nurse left with her medical case. A brown leather case, its edges worn pale—I'm certain I'm not mistaken!"

Half an hour ago? She should have reached the hospital by now. She must have encountered trouble on the way.

A premonition, like creeping vines, quietly spread through Si Jiu's heart, tightening its grip.

Soon, Jun Qi, carrying an insulated medical case, jogged toward him, waving, his fluffy white tail swaying. Through his wrist communicator, he had already learned from Si Jiu that the head nurse had departed the sanatorium.

"The head nurse took the medical case—she must be delivering medicine to the hospital," Jun Qi panted, breathless from running. "She couldn't have had an accident, could she?"

"Let's search along the way first—" Si Jiu said, exchanging a worried glance with Jun Qi. Their eyes mirrored the same concern.

Before he could finish, Si Jiu, always acutely aware of danger, noticed a familiar figure charging toward them in the distance.

It was Ran Lie—Si Jiu wasn’t surprised. In fact, seeing him brought a slight sense of relief. But considering he might startle Jun Qi, who was already on edge—

Si Jiu’s expression tightened. He raised a hand, gently waving, signaling the approaching large dog to stop.

Ran Lie immediately understood, halting a short distance away.

Si Jiu then extended a finger, pointing to the side. This command to hide shouldn't be too difficult to grasp, right? Si Jiu followed with a subtle blink.

The big dog clearly comprehended his intent. Though with a reluctant pout, he obediently complied—*good dog*, Si Jiu mentally gave Ran Lie a thumbs-up.

So, when Jun Qi turned around, slightly puzzled, the big dog had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"What…" Jun Qi’s one gold, one blue eyes widened, his nerves now on high alert, seeing danger everywhere.

"It's nothing, Jun Qi. But if anything happens on the way, remember—take the medical case and run first," Si Jiu whispered to the nervous Persian cat, whose tail now stood rigidly upright.

Jun Qi nodded instinctively. Si Jiu’s composure possessed a unique, infectious quality, a stark contrast to his usual, routine-bound demeanor at the sanatorium, where he merely sought to clock out on time, indifferent to patient complaints and ostracization from colleagues.

The road from the sanatorium to the hospital was quite remote, winding through the outskirts with overgrown weeds on both sides. Further ahead, dense woods flanked the path, their leaves rustling uneasily in the afternoon breeze, a sound that stirred apprehension.

Even in the afternoon, this road was rarely traveled.

Along the way, Jun Qi kept close behind Si Jiu. The path was familiar, but the unknown situation with the head nurse amplified his anxiety on the deserted trail. Their footsteps echoed clearly in the silence, and he could even hear his own slightly hurried breathing. The deepening shadows of the woods only added to the sense of uncertainty and growing fear.

Si Jiu could sense Ran Lie shadowing them not far behind. Surprisingly, he remained as quiet as Si Jiu had hoped, but intuition told Si Jiu he was always there.

At moments like this, he seemed exceptionally reliable. He really should make him something delicious when they returned!

After about ten minutes, the surroundings grew even quieter, as if even the insects had fallen silent.

Jun Qi suddenly stopped, his nose twitching slightly.

"Si Jiu—" he whispered, his tone grave and slightly hoarse. "Do you smell that?"

Feline beastmen naturally possessed a keener sense of smell than humans.

Si Jiu also stopped, taking a deep breath. The afternoon breeze carried a faint, sweet, coppery scent.

Si Jiu recognized it—the smell of blood. Beastman blood was no different from human blood—

Both their hearts sank simultaneously.

Following the increasingly strong scent, they cautiously veered off the main path and ventured into the dense woods beside it.

Ran Lie followed behind, moving without a sound—his stealth was perfect. But Si Jiu could feel that he was on full alert, ready for battle.

They had only gone a few steps into the woods when—

"Head nurse!" Jun Qi exclaimed.

The head nurse lay unconscious against a large tree, her large hamster ears and nurse’s uniform tousled and dirtied with mud and dead leaves. Her face was pale, her eyes tightly shut, and a bruise on her temple was slowly trickling blood. The front of her chest was soaked in dark red blood, the color so deep it appeared black.

The brown medical case mentioned by the rhino elder was missing. Around the head nurse, the soil and leaves showed clear signs of a struggle and dragging.

Jun Qi immediately knelt beside the unconscious head nurse. His training as a top-tier caregiver took over, and he calmly began checking her vital signs—her carotid pulse was weak but present, her breathing shallow and rapid. The wound on her chest, likely from sharp claws, was still slowly bleeding.

Si Jiu quickly scanned the surroundings, every nerve taut.

His sharp eyes swept over every shadow, every tree trunk that could conceal danger.

He noticed several blurry but chaotic animal footprints near where the head nurse lay, their size clearly not matching her beastman form.

In the air, besides the heavy scent of blood, there seemed to linger a strange, violent odor.

The footprints were concentrated nearby, not leading away further into the woods—

This was bad!

"Roar—roar—"

An ear-splitting roar shattered the forest’s tranquility, carrying a wind heavy with the scent of blood. The creature, jaws gaping and extending its sharp front claws, lunged directly toward Jun Qi beside the head nurse.

"Ran Lie—" Faster than Si Jiu’s voice, a blur swift as lightning shot forward.

The big dog had already seized the moment, lunging from the side!

His agile yet massive body moved like a dark shield, cutting a precise and resolute arc through the air. Without hesitation, he intercepted the attacking lion-like beast!

"Growl—growl!" The big dog sank his teeth into the beast’s arm.

The tremendous impact forced a painful roar from the beast, abruptly halting its charge toward Jun Qi. Dragged down by Ran Lie, it was thrown fiercely onto a nearby clearing.

It was indeed the escaped perpetrator.

Si Jiu stepped forward, steadily shielding Jun Qi.

Jun Qi, stunned by the sudden attack, stood frozen in place.

Si Jiu helped him up, speaking softly, "It’s alright, trust me."

"The head nurse…" Jun Qi clutched Si Jiu’s sleeve, his voice trembling as he glanced worriedly at the nurse beside them.

Si Jiu’s gaze remained fixed on the intense struggle between the dog and the beast ahead. Meanwhile, he placed his hand over the head nurse’s chest wound. A gentle green light manifested, showcasing miraculous healing abilities. Fully exerting himself, Si Jiu broke into a sweat, yet his voice remained calm as water: "The head nurse will be fine too—"

He trusted his abilities, just as he trusted Ran Lie.

Ran Lie was indeed a first-class fighter, his ferocity and power far exceeding Si Jiu’s expectations.

Seizing the advantage from the impact, the big dog had already sunk his teeth with pinpoint accuracy into the thick forearm of the lion-like beast, his canines digging deep into its muscle. The massive beast roared in a mix of agony and fury on the open ground, its other front claw frantically clawing while its hind legs kicked violently, trying to throw off Ran Lie, who was pinned beneath him.

A low, menacing growl rumbled in Ran Lie’s throat. His limbs were braced against the ground like iron castings, every muscle in his body taut. No matter how wildly the beast thrashed, it was useless.

He held it down relentlessly, his terrifying bite force giving no quarter.

Seeing that his help wasn’t needed, Si Jiu focused even more intently on treating the head nurse’s injuries.

The bleeding stopped within moments. Not only were the external wounds healing, but the internal injuries were also rapidly recovering—bones realigning, organs mending, flesh regenerating.

Jun Qi stared with his heterochromatic gold and blue eyes, utterly stunned. He had always known that Si Jiu was called upon by the director to handle difficult medical cases in the sanatorium, but he never imagined Si Jiu possessed such a miraculous, almost magical, healing ability—turning the corrupt into the miraculous.

Meanwhile, against Ran Lie’s absolute strength and determination, the beast’s struggles proved futile.

With a sharp flick of his erect ears, a crisp, horrifying tearing sound echoed through the air—*crack!*

Accompanied by the lion-like beast’s piercing howl of agony, its thick limb, which Ran Lie had been savagely biting, was brutally torn from its body.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ran Lie used the momentum from discarding the severed limb to strike again. His head shot forward like lightning, precisely clamping down on the beast’s exposed throat—a fatal vulnerability exposed by its cry.

A single, lethal strike—

This time, there was no roar, only a dull, crunching sound of shattering windpipe.

All struggle from the beast ceased instantly.

Its body convulsed violently once before going completely limp. Only its eerie green eyes remained, glowing dimly on the ground.

And at that very moment, several more pairs of eerie green glints flickered among the trees.

Shit—there was more than one beast!