Watching such a bloody scene, Emily Bennett shivered. She could hardly imagine how such a small wolf cub managed to struggle free from the fangs and claws of a pack of demons, then drag its battered body all the way to the edge of the forest, until she found it.

She began cleaning the terrifying blood and wounds, applying medicine, setting the broken bones, and attaching splints.

The lines of the spirit-gathering array drawn on the ground began to shimmer with a faint spiritual light. Spiritual energy in the world slowly gathered toward the small body lying at the center of the array.

The wolf demon’s eyes suddenly snapped open. At first, the pair of amber eyes were clouded with confusion, but the moment they landed on Emily Bennett, they instantly turned sharp, ruthless, and filled with murderous intent. He rolled over and reached out his paw, trying to push away Emily Bennett’s hand from his body. Unfortunately, his snow-white little paw was now soft and weak, and when it landed on Emily Bennett’s hand, it was no more than a gentle tickle.

“Don’t move, I just set your leg,” Emily Bennett said, holding his right leg and turning his body over, afraid he would break the painstakingly bandaged bone.

This action seemed to make the little wolf demon even angrier. He struggled furiously, kicking with all his might, completely ignoring his injuries as he tried to break free from Emily Bennett’s grip on his leg.

“I told you not to move! Why won’t you listen?”

Emily Bennett pressed down on the little wolf demon’s wildly struggling limbs, formed a hand seal with one hand, and shouted, “Bind!”

Immediately, four invisible restraints appeared on the ground, pinning the little wolf’s limbs wide apart and fixing him to the floor.

“I don’t have much patience, so you’d better behave. I’m treating your wounds, not butchering you, so what are you squirming for?”

Seeing that the bone she had worked so hard to set was starting to bleed again, Emily Bennett was furious.

The immobilized little wolf glared at her with deep hatred and loathing in his eyes, letting out a resentful growl from his throat.

Emily Bennett had dealt with many young demons before. Most of them were very innocent, full of curiosity and wonder about the human world. Only a few, perhaps hurt by humans at some point, became filled with hatred toward people.

But Emily Bennett didn’t care much. After all, most of the time, she was the one bullying these little monsters, not the other way around.

The little wolf demon had a severe penetrating wound on his lower abdomen, which had only been hastily bandaged to stop the bleeding on the way. Now that his limbs were restrained, Emily Bennett took out a razor and began shaving away the blood-matted fur around the wound.

When the razor touched his belly, the little wolf, who had been so fierce, turned his head away, folding his ears back against his skull. But the slight trembling at the tips of his ears betrayed the fear beneath his fierce exterior.

Emily Bennett’s heart softened a little. She realized her temper really wasn’t great—she’d been too impatient and probably scared this newly injured little creature. So she reached out and patted his messy head, adopting a gentle tone to comfort him: “Alright, don’t be afraid. I promise I won’t hurt you. I’m really just putting on some medicine. If it hurts, just let me know.”

The wolf demon was not grateful at all. He kept growling challengingly in his throat, baring his sharp teeth at Emily Bennett, his ears pressed angrily flat against his head. Unfortunately, this only made Emily Bennett want to tease him more. She deliberately flipped his ears up and rubbed them inside and out.

“Despicable human.” The sudden deep voice startled Emily Bennett.

The voice carried a unique, magnetic quality belonging to demons, but it was definitely not the childish tone Emily Bennett had imagined. It was a blend of youthful rawness and mature arrogance—clear, low, gloomy, and wild.

Emily Bennett withdrew her hand, finally realizing that this little wolf demon was not as young as he appeared. This cub-like form was probably just a protective measure he’d taken after being seriously injured, to reduce his spiritual energy consumption.

Many powerful demons, after coming to the human world where spiritual energy was thin, would shrink their forms to conserve energy instead of maintaining their massive beast shapes. Some would even instinctively take on human or half-demon forms, since the human body’s internal energy cycle was self-sustaining and most efficient for surviving in this world.

Realizing this, Emily Bennett felt a bit embarrassed to keep bullying this “adult” wolf.

“So you can talk. What’s your name?”

“Shameless and despicable human, I will never tell you my name.”

“You must not have a name, right? That’s fine, I can give you one.” Emily Bennett thought for a moment. “Let’s call you Little White, then. See, it matches Little Black at home. From now on, I’ll call you Little White, okay?”

“Don’t like it? How about Lucky? Or White Fur…”

After Emily Bennett came up with seven or eight names she thought were good (but were actually quite unreliable), that low voice finally sounded, unwillingly:

“South River.”