Compassion

Dusk was like congealed blood, pressing heavily over the scorched earth outside the Small Courtyard.

Chen An stood quietly inside the courtyard gate, his figure shrouded in the doorframe's shadow, as if he had merged with the surrounding environment. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the rough stone doorframe, feeling the texture and grain of its surface.

The doorframe had weathered the passage of time and was somewhat worn, but it remained solid and heavy. Chen An's fingers brushed lightly across it, as if he could touch the history and memories it carried.

His gaze fell on several faint marks on the doorframe. They might have been left behind by people from the past, or they might simply have been traces of time. They reminded him of the stories and legends that had once belonged to this courtyard, deepening his interest in its history and culture.

At that moment, Chen An seemed to form a special connection with the courtyard. His thoughts drifted along with the movement of his fingertips, immersing him in its ancient atmosphere.

The rumble of the War of Witches and Demons had completely died down, but the lingering stench of blood and burning still clung like a bone-deep parasite, reminding him of this land's cruelty. His gaze passed through the Safe Zone's gently rippling barrier and landed on the black shape curled up beside the brambles—a huge dog that was pitch-black from head to tail and covered in wounds.

It still maintained the posture Chen An had seen when he first encountered it. Three gashes along its back were deep enough to expose bone, while the puncture wound in its neck seeped pale pink foam with each weak breath. The claw marks across its abdomen gleamed dully in the dusk, like a spiderweb splashed with ink. Chen An crouched down and observed it through the barrier. The big dog's ears twitched, and its eyelids struggled to lift into a narrow slit. There was no ferocity in its brown-black pupils, only the unfocused pain of an animal on the verge of death. A nearly inaudible whimper squeezed from its throat, and its tail brushed faint marks into the scorched earth, as if using the last of its strength to prove it meant no harm.

"Spell burns... claw tears... and a penetrating wound..." Chen An muttered, his fingertip tracing the outlines of the injuries in the air.

Faint purple energy fragments clung to the edges of the burns on its back—the traces of Witch Tribe curse magic. The cut in its neck was clean and cold, with the jagged tearing characteristic of a Demonic Beast's claws.

The claw marks across its abdomen were dense and chaotic. Clearly, it had been surrounded and attacked by low-level Demonic Beasts in the chaos of battle.

The wounds intertwined, silently recounting how it had become a sacrifice amid the collision of high-level beings from the Witch and Demon Tribes.

Although the Black Dog's aura was faint, its massive frame and the pressure remaining in its bloodline were far beyond those of an ordinary Demonic Beast. To have survived on the edge of the battlefield during the Witch-Demon Tribulation, and even struggled this far... it was very likely a severely wounded Demon Commander who had been forced to reveal his true form.

The night wind began to rise, carrying a bone-chilling cold. The big dog's body suddenly trembled violently, and its breathing quickened. Bloody foam surged from the wound in its throat.

Chen An's heart clenched.

He remembered his days at an animal rescue shelter before transmigrating—the stray dogs whose legs had been broken by cars, the cats abused until they were skin and bones. Their eyes had been exactly like the Black Dog's now: pure will to survive, mixed with fear and pleading toward humans.

"Should I save it or not?" Reason warred within his mind. The Safe Zone was his absolute fortress. Bringing in an unknown being that might carry the Demon Tribe's karmic ties was a risk he could not measure.

Once caught in the vortex of the Witch-Demon Tribulation, there would be no escape from endless calamity. But if he left it alone, the Black Dog would certainly die when the cold dew descended that night. Its gaze and that whimper pierced the softest place in his heart like needles.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he had made his decision.

He turned and rushed into the stone house, bringing out the toughest vine rope he could find. He also grabbed a bundle of mugwort for stopping bleeding and some Dandelion Root for reducing inflammation. He had gathered them at risk around the Safe Zone, originally preparing them as medicine for himself.

Returning to the gate, he pushed open one half of it. The barrier rippled like water, and the stench of blood from outside rushed toward him. He walked over to the Black Dog, crouched down, and softened his voice as much as possible. "Don't be afraid. I'll take you inside."

The Black Dog's eyelids trembled. A muffled rumble came from its throat, though Chen An could not tell whether it was an answer or a groan of pain.

Chen An looped the vine rope around the Black Dog's chest and hind legs, then tied it into a secure harness.

When the rope touched its wounds, the Black Dog's body suddenly tensed, but it did not resist. It only let out a suppressed whine of pain.

Chen An gritted his teeth and hoisted the other end of the rope over his shoulder. He braced his feet against the ground and exerted force through his waist and abdomen—

"Urgh!" The heavy drag nearly made him stumble. The Black Dog weighed far more than he had expected, like a massive stone drenched in water. The scorched earth was plowed into a deep furrow beneath it, while gravel scraped against its torn, bloodied flesh and brought out fresh streaks of blood. The rough vine rope rubbed his palms raw with searing pain, and sweat mixed with dust as it trickled into his eyes.

He could only take one step, then rest for one step. Every exertion was accompanied by heavy panting and the Black Dog's suppressed whimpers.

The short distance of ten zhang felt like a journey of a thousand miles. When he finally dragged the Black Dog through the gate, and the barrier silently closed behind them, Chen An collapsed to his knees, his palms a bloody mess. He had no time to worry about himself and immediately checked the Black Dog's condition. Its wounds had torn even wider during the dragging, and blood had dyed the grass beneath it red.

He acted swiftly. Using a stone knife, he cut away the filthy fur stuck to the wounds, then repeatedly rinsed them with well water mixed with mashed Dandelion Root.

The pus, blood, and charred dead flesh washed away, revealing bright-red tissue. He applied a thick layer of chewed mugwort to the deepest gashes on its back, then bound them tightly with cleaned, soft tree-bark fibers. When treating the puncture wound in its neck, he was especially careful to avoid the exposed trachea, gently covering it with thin strips of linen soaked in medicinal liquid, woven from tree-bark fibers.

The claw marks on its abdomen were relatively shallow, so he sprinkled dry plant ash over them to stop the bleeding.

Throughout the process, the Black Dog remained unusually quiet. Only the uncontrollable trembling of its body whenever medicine was applied, along with its low whimpers, proved that it was still suffering immense pain.

When the final wound had been bandaged, Chen An was nearly exhausted.

He leaned against the fire pit and watched the Black Dog's breathing gradually grow steadier on the straw mat. Firelight leaped across its pitch-black fur, illuminating the white tree-bark fibers wrapped around its wounds.

"Stay alive." He spoke softly, unsure whether he was saying it to the Black Dog or to himself.

The night deepened, while the Safe Zone shut out the cold wind and beasts' roars beyond it. Chen An guarded the fire pit and added another log. In the dancing firelight, the Black Dog's chest rose and fell rhythmically, and its sleeping face seemed to hold a trace of strange peace.

Chen An gazed at it, his emotions tangled—was the compassion he had shown today a blessing or a disaster? And what kind of Variable would this mysterious "Black Dog" bring to this tiny Safe Zone?

He knew only that, in the cold night of the Primordial Wilderness, he had chosen to follow that last glimmer of light still alive within his heart.

(Chapter Thirty-Three—End)