Chapter 332 - 330

Having spent so much time with killer whales, Yun Jiao quickly understood them, even if these weren’t the ones she usually saw.

A sickly little killer whale was pushed over.

This little killer whale was sick.

Just like the little Humpback Whale she had treated before, it wasn’t eating.

Ruling out external injuries, there was likely a problem with its esophagus.

The tricky part for Yun Jiao was that she couldn’t see any problem just by looking in its mouth.

That meant it would need surgery.

But Yun Jiao didn’t know how to perform surgery yet. Besides, an operation would have to be done on shore.

’Hiss... This is going to be a problem.’

Yun Jiao’s brow furrowed. "Wait for me here."

Yun Jiao decided to go find her master, senior brother, and senior sister for help.

After a moment of thought, she worried the local killer whale group might drive these newcomers away, so she led the small group of killer whales to them.

Fortunately, the interaction went smoothly. The resident killer whale group quickly accepted the newcomers’ request to stay for a while.

Yun Jiao put all thoughts of catching fish out of her mind.

She hurried home and asked her third brother to take her to the county on his bicycle.

Once at the clinic, she explained the situation and looked expectantly at her master, senior brother, and senior sister.

"Huh? Perform surgery on a killer whale?"

Her Fourth Senior Brother, Song Chengyou, looked utterly dumbfounded.

He had operated on people before, but when it came to animals, he had only ever performed surgery on small creatures like lab mice and rabbits for practice.

A killer whale, though? Never.

Elder Xu stroked his beard. "If it can’t eat, there’s a high probability of a problem with its esophagus or stomach. But without being certain where the problem is, surgery is very risky."

Modern hospitals have precision instruments for examining people, but not for animals.

At least, not in a small place like this.

The main issue was that animal welfare wasn’t taken that seriously yet.

And you couldn’t just transport a killer whale that large to a hospital.

"A killer whale?"

Just as Elder Xu was considering going with Yun Jiao to take a look, someone walked in from outside.

It was a man with a beard, rough skin, and round glasses. His hair was a bit long and messy, and he looked travel-worn.

The moment he appeared, both Qin Xin and Song Chengyou stood up.

"Senior Brother!" "Junior Brother!"

The newcomer was none other than Ying Chengye, the third of Elder Xu’s four disciples.

His lips were chapped and peeling from dehydration.

He didn’t look like a doctor at all. In fact, he looked more like a refugee from some arid wasteland.

A broad smile spread across his face. "Master, Senior Sister, Junior Brother, I’m back."

Finally, Ying Chengye’s gaze fell on Yun Jiao.

"So this must be the final disciple Master took on, our Little Junior Sister, Yun Jiao."

When Elder Xu had taken Yun Jiao as his disciple, he had written to his other two apprentices who were elsewhere.

After giving Ying Chengye an enthusiastic hug, Song Chengyou pulled Yun Jiao forward for an introduction.

"Third Senior Brother, this is our Little Junior Sister, Yun Jiao. Jiaojiao, this is Third Senior Brother, Ying Chengye."

Yun Jiao obediently greeted him, "Third Senior Brother."

Ying Chengye smiled. "Excellent, excellent. I didn’t expect our little junior sister to be so young. What a well-behaved little girl."

Then he returned to the previous topic. "I overheard you talking about a killer whale. What’s going on?"

Yun Jiao looked curiously at her third senior brother, and Song Chengyou whispered to her.

"Our Third Senior Brother majored in veterinary medicine in college. Back then, there were only three people in his entire program. After graduating, he came to study with Master for a while before running off to the Northwest."

Yun Jiao asked, "But doesn’t Master teach traditional Chinese medicine? Why did Third Senior Brother become a vet, and you study Western medicine?"

"Ahem..."

Song Chengyou’s gaze drifted away. "Well, you know... it never hurts to have another skill under your belt."

"Besides, it’s all medicine. It doesn’t matter what kind, as long as it can cure illnesses."

We treat people, but by treating livestock, Third Senior Brother is saving people, too.

There are a lot of herders in the Northwest. Third Senior Brother spent some time there, and he told us their livestock get infected easily. Sometimes one sick animal can infect many others, and a whole herd can be wiped out. The herders depend on those animals to survive. If the animals die, the people lose all hope. There were even cases of people taking their own lives over it.

Song Chengyou said with a heavy sigh.

"Those areas are remote, and there was no formal, standardized training on how to treat livestock. Most of it was just based on experience. That might work for minor ailments, but for many diseases, experience alone isn’t enough."

While the two of them were whispering, Qin Xin had already explained the situation to Ying Chengye.

Ying Chengye pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "I’ll go take a look."

Having dealt with animals so much, he was clearly more confident about handling the killer whale Yun Jiao had described.

Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up. "Thank you, Third Senior Brother!"

Her young, sweet voice was absolutely precious.

Yun Jiao rarely acted cute and spoiled with strangers, but when she did, her combination of being so small and adorable, along with that sugary-sweet, gentle voice, was more than anyone could handle. It made you want to give her anything and everything she desired.

’Little Junior Sister is really adorable,’ Ying Chengye thought.

Just as cute as the fluffy baby animals he was used to seeing.

Elder Xu stood up. "You two hold down the fort at the clinic. I’m going to have a look as well."

Qin Xin nodded. "Alright."

Song Chengyou wasn’t happy about it; he wanted to go see, too.

Qin Xin said, "Third Senior Brother, shouldn’t you rest for a bit? Or at least have a meal."

Ying Chengye was, indeed, starving.

After the meal, the group took a public bus to Bailong Village.

Yun Chen Nan didn’t go with them; he had run off to the library again and would be home later.

After bringing her master and Third Senior Brother home and exchanging some pleasantries with her family, they prepared to head out to sea to find the killer whale.

Yun Linhe and Yun Linhai weren’t back, so it was Yun Chenbei who borrowed a boat to take them out to sea.

"The sea is so vast. Can you really find the killer whale you were talking about?"

Yun Jiao was supremely confident. "Don’t worry, I can!"

With that, she jumped into the sea.

While they waited, Elder Xu looked out over the ocean and remarked wistfully,

"It’s a shame to be all the way out here and not do any fishing."

He just hadn’t brought a rod.

Barely ten minutes later, Yun Jiao returned.

She was riding on the back of a killer whale, with several other killer whales following behind.

It was Ying Chengye’s first time witnessing such a spectacle, and he was momentarily stunned.

It took him a long moment before he could speak. "Master... our little junior sister is really something else."

He had seen people with a strong affinity for animals.

He had met a Tibetan girl who could calm stampeding herds of cattle and sheep more easily than anyone else.

He had even seen a boy who could drive away a pack of wolves with just his gaze and a shout.

But people like that were extremely rare. In all his travels, he had only ever met two.

He never expected that today, he would meet a third—one who seemed even more powerful and mysterious than the other two.

"Master, Senior Brother."

Yun Jiao floated on the surface of the water, her hand stroking the head of a small killer whale. The animal looked listless and exceptionally thin.

"This is the one."