Ding!

[ Scanning Mate Kael’s injury... ]

[ Diagnosis: Shattered left scapula detected. ]

[ Severe fracture in upper three ribs detected, risking a punctured lung. ]

[ Extensive deep tissue muscle damage detected. ]

[ Severe internal bleeding detected: Axillary artery damage, Subclavian vessel damage, and hemorrhaging into the chest cavity detected. ]

Wait, wait, wait, wait!!! Is he dying!!!???? Nuan’s mind screamed in absolute horror, the survival host’s cool demeanor completely shattering. Hurry up! Stop giving me a medical report and tell me how to save him right now!

Urgently, she pressed her palm flat against Kael’s uninjured right side, pinning him down to make absolutely sure he didn’t try to move his compromised chest framework.

[ Checking System Inventory... ]

[ No items found in current inventory capable of treating extreme internal hemorrhaging or arterial damage. ]

"Oh, shit! What do I do now?!" she whispered, frustration and rising panic choking her throat.

She looked down at Kael. His breathing was shallow, his lips turning a terrifying shade of pale blue, and his golden eyes were slowly fluttering shut.

"Hey, hey! Keep your eyes open! Don’t you dare close your eyes on me!" Nuan yelled, gently slapping his face to keep him tethered to consciousness. "Stay with the logistics, Kael!"

[ Mate Kael has lost consciousness due to blood loss. ]

"Goddammit!!" Nuan slammed her fist into the mud.

"Seems like you need help."

A chillingly familiar, smooth voice glided from the deep shadows of the woods. Eryx slithered gracefully into the open clearing, stopping right before the bloody scene.

"Eryx... what the hell are you doing out here?" Nuan demanded, her hand instantly twitching.

"Do you think it is truly the time for such questions?" he asked softly, leaning his upper body downward.

Through Eryx’s slitted serpent eyes, Kael’s physical form wasn’t hidden by flesh or mud.

His highly specialized pit-organ thermal vision mapped out the wolf’s internal systems perfectly—the erratic movement of pooling blood, the dangerous heat of the ruptured vessels, and the fading, struggling rhythm of his heartbeat appeared like glowing patterns in the darkness.

"His blood is filling his chest from the inside. It is far too warm in there," Eryx observed, his voice entirely calm.

Thermal vision, She swallowed. "Can you help him? Do you have the medical gear?"

Eryx smiled like a benevolent saint. "Sure..." Reaching into his waist sash, he pulled out a few tiny, hollowed-out bamboo bottles.

Unlike a normal person hurriedly searching for medicine, he moved with unsettling calmness.

He lined the bottles up carefully, his long fingers adjusting them with almost surgical precision. One drop from one bottle. Two drops from another. A small pause as his slitted pupils narrowed, calculating something only he understood.

Nuan watched him silently.

Nuan noticed his fingers never trembled once. Not even when Kael’s heartbeat grew weaker.

It wasn’t the calmness of someone who didn’t care.

It was the calmness of someone who had already dissected the entire problem in his head and was simply following the solution.

The way he handled those tiny bottles was almost more frightening than the medicine itself. It wasn’t the hesitation of someone experimenting... it was the confidence of someone who already knew exactly how much could save a life and exactly how much could end one.

Great. Fantastic. The suspicious snake guy is basically a walking biology laboratory, Nuan thought. Why does that somehow make me trust him more and less at the same time?

Eryx finally selected one bottle and gently popped open the wooden cap.

"If you allow me to make him drink this."

"What is that?!" Nuan asked defensively, instantly scooting closer to shield Kael’s face. "Is it another ’borrowed transaction’?"

"It is my own creation. It will slow down his internal bleeding... I believe."

"How can I trust you?" Nuan pressed, her mind racing. Snakes always bring problems to the mouth, be it a forbidden apple or a sketchy bottle of medicine, she thought warily.

"Pss..." Eryx let out a soft, sibilant hissing sound, his smile widening with lazy amusement. "Very well then. Let us sit quietly and watch him slowly die."

"Tsk... do it!" Nuan snapped, backing away just enough to give him access. "But if something goes wrong because of your potion, I swear to God I am not letting you escape this jungle in a single piece!"

"I like that threat of yours... it is far greater than your actual size."

"Don’t underestimate my size! Look at the giant adult moose sitting right next to me and speak! No, fuck it, just do it! Whatever medical aid you have, provide it now!" Nuan commanded, gently using her fingers to part Kael’s cold lips.

Eryx slowly licked his own lips, tilting the bamboo bottle to pour a very small quantity of a thick, purplish liquid directly into Kael’s mouth.

Once the fluid cleared Kael’s throat, Eryx capped the first bottle and opened a second one. He gave it a firm shake, tipping a few tiny, dark green balls of crushed leaves into his palm.

Eryx violently crushed the dark green leaves between his pale fingers, instantly releasing a sharp, incredibly volatile chemical scent that made Nuan gag.

"Ugh, that smells absolutely horrible!" Nuan wheezed, pinching her nose shut.

"It is medicine," Eryx answered smoothly, holding his crushed, wet fingers directly beneath Kael’s nose, forcing the unconscious wolf to inhale the pungent, vaporous aroma.

"It smells like a literal dead swamp, Eryx!" Nuan complained, unable to completely block out the overpowering stench.

"Then the swamp is saving his life," Eryx whispered, his split tongue peeking out to taste the air, checking the chemical reaction.

"How so? What exactly is that for?" Nuan asked, her survival logistics brain needing data.

"This will not repair his fractured lung," Eryx explained. "It will only stimulate his nervous system to ensure he keeps breathing long enough for his own clan’s healing traits to take over."

"Okay, and that purplish liquid? Is it working?"

"That is to constrict his vessels and slow his internal bleeding. And... I can feel it working already," Eryx murmured, his slitted eyes fixing onto the thermal heat signature of Kael’s mangled left shoulder.

Ding!

[ Mate Kael’s Internal bleeding rate reduced significantly. ]

[ Respiratory system stabilizing by 12%. ]

[ Warning: Mate Kael’s overall condition remains critical. Immediate rest and immobilization required. ]

"Thank God!" Nuan let out a shaky breath, though her jaw remained clenched. But the bleeding is still happening... I need to get him back to the pack safely! Her mind raced, mapping out the tactical nightmare of moving a 300-pound unconscious beastman with shattered ribs and internal hemorrhaging through a dense, uneven jungle.

Eryx, finished with his immediate medical intervention, glided smoothly over to the lake’s edge. He dipped his pale hands into the water, elegantly washing away the crushed green leaf residue.

Without turning around, his voice drifted back to her. "You must be calculating how to carry him to his pack right now, yes?"

"Huh? Yeah, obviously," Nuan snapped, her anxiety flaring. "I have to get him to the den framework. If his condition deteriorates out here in the wild, what am I supposed to tell Selka and the rest of the wolves?!"

Eryx turned around, a slow, mesmerizing smile gracing his features. "Well then... I can carry him smoothly back to his territory on my back, if you do not mind. Oh, but I must warn you, my mobility is quite lacking. You likely already know my kind is among the slowest movers on the forest floor."

Nuan gulped, looking from the massive, unconscious wolf-man to the python beastman.

Her survival encyclopedia instantly pulled up the structural data. Reticulated python top speeds in the open land barely reach 1.6 kilometers per hour. That is an agonizingly slow logistical transport.

But then, her brain countered. Wait... a slow, rhythmic, low-impact glide is actually the absolute best way to transport someone with a shattered scapula and bleeding chest cavity. If a wolf carries him, the bouncy, high-impact running will puncture his lung completely.

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at Eryx’s calm expression. "Why are you doing this? Why are you offering your help for free?"

"I believe we now know each other well enough to offer mutual aid, do we not?" Eryx murmured, his sloped pupils catching the morning light. "I am helping you with your burden today... and you will help me with mine tomorrow. A simple, borrowed transaction."

Nuan took one look at Kael’s stabilizing but pale face and made her choice. "Okay. Do it!"