When Chuck saw the fleeing gray wolf bite down on Kanae's calf, his heart sank to the bottom.
He didn't bother to think about why these three women had suddenly appeared here at the crucial moment he was killing the wolves, especially why they just happened to block the path of the last fleeing gray wolf…
He could only rush over at the fastest speed.
Fortunately, Chuck's physical quality was already far beyond ordinary people, and he had sensed the danger beforehand. Thus, he reached Kanae's side only about fifteen seconds after the gray wolf bit her.
"It hurts!! Let go of me!!"
She was still struggling against the wolf, her slender calf tightly gripped by the gray wolf. Her face was pale from the pain, but she stubbornly resisted.
However, the wolf, terrified by the earlier events, was almost indistinguishable from a mad dog. No matter how she struggled, resisted, or even hit it, it wouldn't let go.
Even Kanae's usually calm and gentle eyes were now filled with tears from pain, terror, and despair.
Chuck didn't waste time. He quickly leaned down.
Without even using his spear, he grabbed the wolf's upper and lower jaws with his bare hands.
Then, he used his maximum strength to forcefully pry them apart—
Crack.
Accompanied by a grating sound of shattered jawbone, the gray wolf's ferocious eyes instantly glazed over. It released its sharp teeth, slumped to the ground, and was completely lifeless.
"Wuwuwu…"
The wolf's teeth finally let go. Blood flowed from her slender, firm, tanned calf. Kanae's lips were blue. She collapsed on the ground, trembling all over. Tears finally fell from her eyes, and she sobbed helplessly.
Chuck casually tossed the wolf's corpse aside, knelt down, and frowned as he checked the injury.
Unsurprisingly, the last wolf had left a nasty bite wound on the girl's calf, especially four sharp canine teeth marks. The wound was deep, and blood was slowly seeping out.
It seemed that although the bite was deep, it fortunately hadn't hit the calf's artery.
That was a blessing in disguise.
"Kanae… Kanae?"
Chuck looked up at the stunned, incessantly sobbing athletic girl, raising his hand to lightly pat her shoulder.
She reacted with a startled gasp, her body tensing up instantly, leaning backward subconsciously in horror. Her still-bleeding calf tried to push back against the ground.
But Chuck quickly raised his hand and tightly grasped one of her wrists, finally making her somewhat regain her senses.
"Don't be scared, it's me."
Once the momentary fright subsided, Kanae raised her hand to wipe her face. Her tear-blurred vision gradually cleared, revealing a familiar tall figure.
"…Mr. Chuck?"
"Don't worry, you're safe now."
Chuck smiled and nodded reassuringly. Then he pointed behind him.
Kanae followed his direction and saw the gray wolf that had just bitten her calf lying on the ground, blood dripping from its mouth, now a corpse.
The desperate fear finally dissipated at this moment, and Kanae could no longer control her emotions. She sat on the spot and cried loudly like a child.
"Waaaaah—"
Chuck, who was about to give her simple first aid, was startled by the sudden loud cry. He turned and saw large, pearl-like tears streaming down the face of the previously calm and gentle athletic girl, just like in an anime scene.
He couldn't help but offer a wry smile.
He lowered his head, took out the fiber cloth he had just woven yesterday from the Storage Space, gently lifted her blood-stained ankle, pressed the fiber cloth onto the wound, and tightly tied it with two thin fiber threads.
Although this bandaging wouldn't do much, at least it would stop the bleeding simply.
"Just a moment…"
Kanae cried for a while, then quickly quieted down, pursing her lips as she looked at the blood-stained cloth wrapped around her leg. She spoke softly.
"Sorry, Kanae. Bear with it for a bit."
Although Chuck tried to bandage her as gently as possible, the wound looked painful even to him. For an eighteen-year-old girl to remain still and not flinch was already very brave.
Once the bandaging was complete, Chuck frowned, contemplating the wound on her leg.
The bite was quite severe. If not handled properly, infection, tetanus, or rabies—any complication worsening could be life-threatening.
Chuck didn't hesitate and decided to take Kanae back to the cabin for treatment.
Objectively, this was just an accident, but since the wolf pack dispersed because of Chuck, and he had a good impression of Kanae, he naturally couldn't leave her alone.
The bite was deep and would take time to heal. He should first take her back to the cabin, let Julia try to stabilize her injury with herbs, and then figure out how to find materials to synthesize some sterilizing and pain-relieving potions…
Just as he was thinking this, a figure running from a distance finally arrived, belatedly.
"Kanae!!"
Tang Yumo was nearly in tears now.
She had been following cautiously precisely because she was worried that something might happen to the two girls. But she never expected that when the accident truly happened right before her eyes, she could do absolutely nothing!
From start to finish, she watched helplessly as the wolf opened its bloody maw and bit Kanae's calf, and then watched Chuck, who had run over from afar, cleanly kill the vicious wolf with his bare hands…
That was all.
After treating Kanae's injury, Chuck moved slightly forward, next to Kanae, and whispered.
"I'm going to pick you up now, alright?"
Kanae was momentarily stunned, then subconsciously nodded.
Or perhaps, in this situation, the only thing she could do was listen to Chuck.
"Good, grab my shoulders."
Chuck placed his hands on her back and under her knees, then, as slowly and steadily as possible, lifted Kanae in a princess carry.
A few drops of blood dripped from her slender ankle onto the ground. Her ample chest, defying her age beneath the JK uniform, pressed against Chuck's chest. Her eyes under her short hair were still shaken.
She grabbed Chuck's collar tightly, like a drowning person clutching a lifesaver. But just then, Tang Yumo suddenly spoke loudly from the side.
"Chuck… what are you doing?"
"Huh…"
Chuck looked at Tang Yumo, a trace of confusion in his expression. He turned to the old acquaintance who used to be his tutor and inexplicably replied.
"I'm taking her back to treat her wounds, obviously?"
"You…"
Tang Yumo's face turned ashen at his words. Several beads of cold sweat rolled down her cheeks.
In that moment, she was in internal conflict, but it ultimately dissolved into helpless silence.
She watched Chuck carry the injured girl away toward the other side of the stone beach cliff, eventually disappearing into a crevice in the distant rock face.
Tang Yumo knew that this beast probably wouldn't let go of such a good opportunity.
But she also knew that if such a severe wound wasn't properly treated on this hot, humid deserted island, it would absolutely endanger her life.
And she did not have the ability to help.
Similarly, Kaoru, who had been sitting on the ground all along, watching everything that unfolded and seeing her friend carried away by that man, gradually returned to a calm expression.
In that brief time, she had understood many things.
But just then, a hand gently grasped her wrist, and Tang Yumo's somewhat desolate voice rang out in her ear.
"Kaoru… shall we go back?"
"Don't touch me!"
As if touched by something filthy, Kaoru flinched all over, violently pulling her arm away. Then she turned around, her face flushed, looking at the "Ms. Tang Yumo" who had once taken such good care of her.
"You said you would protect us… What exactly can you protect?!"
Kaoru accused her hysterically and angrily.
Despite her words, her expression wasn't one of blame or disgust, but rather shame and self-reproach.
If Kanae hadn't pulled her away in time, she would have been the one bitten by the wolf.
If it hadn't been for her willful action just now, this unprovoked disaster wouldn't have happened.
This string of truths was nearly overwhelming her. Her self-preservation instinct made her subconsciously want to shift the blame onto Tang Yumo.
But to her surprise, Tang Yumo's face paled at the remark, and she actually nodded.
"You're right… I was overestimating myself."
"It's all my fault…"
Boom—
A muffled thunderclap sounded inexplicably in the distance.
The previously clear sky seemed to be covered in a layer of gloom at that moment.
Tang Yumo raised her hand, her trembling fingers gripping the gold-rimmed glasses on her nose bridge, slowly taking them off.
She wasn't actually nearsighted, but she liked to wear non-prescription glasses to protect her eyes when reading books or looking at electronic devices. After a while, she became lazy about frequently taking them on and off, so she just wore them all the time, and it became a habit.
This Lindberg frame was a gift from her university professor father on the first day she officially became a teacher. In her heart, it represented the start of her teaching career and the first step on her life journey.
She looked down at the glasses in her hand, a look of struggle on her pale face, but she ultimately couldn't bring herself to destroy them.
Carefully putting the glasses away, Tang Yumo said nothing more. With hollow eyes, she slowly turned and walked away alone, heading back the way they came.
"Darling~ You're back—"
The moment the wooden door was pushed open, Julia, who was sitting on the bench by the dining table passing the time with Gu Mòmo by watching cached TV series on her phone, turned around with a look of pleasant surprise. She was about to greet her beloved man with a flying hug and kiss, when…
Both her action and expression froze mid-air.
The man she loved had returned from his outing, bringing back a busty, short-haired schoolgirl!
What the F.
Who is this now?
But before Julia could ask, her eyes immediately focused on the blood-stained cloth on the girl's leg and her pale face.
She instantly understood the situation, and her face grew serious.
"Mòmo, make some space on the bed. Julia, can you prepare some pain-relieving and antiseptic herbs? The kind you used on me before."
"Okay, leave it to me!"
Julia nodded briskly and hurried into the storage room.
Hearing the commotion, Gu Yitong finally got up from the bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. After clearly seeing the situation, her beautiful face froze, and then her brows furrowed.
Without even needing Chuck to instruct her, she quickly got out of bed, put on her dress, stepped into her flip-flops under the bed, and fetched firewood to start a fire outside to boil water.
Gu Mòmo, having received the instructions, quickly made the bed. She then fetched her clean towel and helped Chuck settle Kanae down. She sat by the bedside, gently wiping away the sweat that had beaded on the latter's forehead from the pain.
"Arigato…"
Kanae pursed her lips tightly. Seeing so many unfamiliar women made her nervous, so she could only thank the cute little girl closest to her.
When Gu Mòmo heard her speak, and in Japanese like an anime character, her big, watery eyes widened.
She had never studied Japanese, but at that instant, her powerful memory and language ability instinctively found the appropriate response in her mind. She actually spoke, replying in slightly stiff Japanese, "You're welcome."
Chuck, who was about to remove the makeshift bandage nearby, suddenly looked up at Gu Mòmo. Realizing what had happened, he shook his head with a wry smile.
The more he understood Gu Mòmo, the more he felt that people really couldn't be lumped together.
Over the next twenty minutes, to Chuck's surprise, no one in the house asked any extraneous questions.
Treating the injured person was completely recognized as the absolute top priority.
The blood-soaked cloth was quickly replaced. The wound was washed with lukewarm boiled and cooled water to remove residual saliva and dirt, wiped dry, and then covered with mashed herbs—according to Julia, this time the mixture had a richer variety of herbs, which might be more effective.
Throughout the process, Kanae did not cry again. She kept her lips tightly sealed without saying a word. This display of strength earned the unexpected admiration of the three women in the house for the unfamiliar short-haired girl.
It wasn't until half an hour later, after Kanae's leg wound had been simply treated and she was lying on the bed in exhausted sleep, that Chuck called Julia and the Gu mother and daughter outside.
The four set up wooden chairs under the awning and sat together.
Chuck briefly explained the context, without mentioning his solo fight against the wolf pack.
"In short, my thought is to let her recover here with us, at least until her wounds are mostly healed."
After he finished, he surveyed the expressions of the three women.
To his surprise, neither Julia nor the Gu mother and daughter expressed any objections or dissatisfaction.
"But Darling, her situation isn't looking good."
Julia turned to look toward the cabin, worry evident in her blue eyes.
"Exactly. The bite on her calf is very deep. Inflammation might not even be the most serious problem. If tetanus or even rabies develops, I fear…"
Gu Yitong pressed her legs together, her hands resting on her ample knees anxiously clasping her fingers, her brows tightly furrowed.
Seeing their concern for Kanae, Chuck also felt relieved and nodded gravely.
"I will handle this."
Without further ado, Chuck stood up immediately, and under the confused gaze of the three women, he walked toward the slope again.
Kanae's condition was temporarily stable, and Chuck had a rough idea about the potion.
However, problems needed to be solved step by step.
After all, the situation had occurred so suddenly that Chuck hadn't even had time to retrieve the spoils of the battle just now!
Walking up the slope and across the stone beach, Chuck quickly returned to Red Stone Hill where he had fought the wolves.
Wolf corpses were scattered around, some charred, some killed by his own hand.
Chuck walked step by step, finally stopping in the depressed area that was emitting a blue glow.
His mood was incredibly excited and a little expectant. He slowly leaned down and picked the three alluring blue Higanbanas…