Chapter 152: Different People, Different Fates
The thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl lifted her sallow face, thanking him repeatedly through her sobs. Ignoring the filth on the ground, she knelt and began picking up the scattered medicinal herbs.
After gathering the herbs at her feet, she looked toward the mouth of the alley.
More herbs were scattered there, but it was clear the young girl was too afraid to go get them.
"Leave them," Tang Wen said with a silent sigh.
CLINK.
The girl froze, staring blankly at the piece of silver that had landed in front of her. "Sir? I... I’m not selling myself."
Tang Wen looked at her scrawny, bean-sprout-like frame...
"You’re thinking too much. Go to an apothecary and buy a few more packets."
"I... I’m too scared to go back."
Tang Wen glanced in the direction the thug had vanished. "Do you know where the Black Water Gang’s apothecary is?"
"Yes, but it’s very expensive there."
"That’s where we’re going. Lead the way," Tang Wen said, his voice ice-cold.
The young girl flinched, too frightened to say another word.
Of course, the Black Water Gang had its own apothecary.
Tang Wen walked in, produced Elder Li’s Token, and the cost was waived completely.
The physician personally prepared a full twelve packets of medicine and gave them to Tang Wen. He also handed back the girl’s prescription, whispering, "This is for an old injury."
Tang Wen nodded. ’Old injuries are difficult to treat.’
It wasn’t his place to meddle in the lives and deaths of others.
But he believed in finishing what he started.
So, he escorted the young girl all the way home.
On the way, they passed a rice shop. The girl, quick-witted, used the silver Tang Wen had given her to buy two bags of rice.
The shopkeeper glanced at Tang Wen, then had a slave carry the bags home for her.
Before long, the three of them reached a secluded, quiet street where an anxious-looking woman was leaning against a doorway.
She saw the young girl, then Tang Wen and the male slave behind her.
The woman’s expression changed drastically. She rushed over, fell to her knees, and threw her arms around the girl. "Sir! Sir, I’m not selling my daughter! I won’t sell her! Never!"
Tang Wen was taken aback. He forced his voice to become cold. "Be quiet."
After the male slave had gone, he turned to the woman.
Her face was smeared with soot, but Tang Wen could still discern that she was rather comely.
’No wonder she doesn’t go out to buy medicine herself,’ he thought.
’She’d attract even more attention than her daughter.’
Tang Wen offered no explanation, simply turning his horse to leave.
The little girl, however, quickly explained the situation to the woman.
Realizing her mistake, the woman thanked him profusely and hurried after him.
"Don’t block my way!" Tang Wen grumbled to himself. ’I’m really not cut out for this ’good guy’ thing.’
"Sir, please, tell us your name!"
Tang Wen frowned, about to say that he preferred to do good deeds anonymously.
But then he saw the pleading in the woman’s eyes.
Suddenly, he understood. "The Black Water Inn. My surname is Tang."
With that said, he ignored the kowtows of gratitude from the mother and daughter and rode away.
The mother and daughter helped each other to their feet.
"Mom! I brought back twelve packets of medicine. Father will get better now, won’t he?" the little girl asked, blinking her clear eyes as she looked at her mother.
The woman’s eyes stung with tears. She pulled her daughter into a hug. "He will. Your father will definitely be all right!"
As Tang Wen rode away from the street, the image of the woman’s pleading eyes lingered in his mind.
From the girl’s few words and the physician’s comment, he pieced things together.
Her father—the woman’s husband—was likely on his deathbed.
When he died, the mother and daughter would lose their provider, and their only path forward would likely be selling themselves into slavery.
He had only been in Ganshan City for a few days, but this single trip outside had already exposed him to a jarring reality.
The upper class, people like the Huang Family and Elder Li, lived lives of privilege, far above the common folk.
The slaves at the bottom were treated as less than human.
And ordinary people, like that mother and daughter, were just one step away from losing their right to be considered people at all.
Back in the quiet courtyard of the Black Water Inn, Tang Wen began preparing the medicine.
He absolutely had to succeed in taming the Water Spirit.
If he succeeded...
...he would be able to establish a foothold in the Black Water Gang and gain some status.
After that, he could plan his investigation into the Bai Family, accumulate merits, and learn the Black Water Gang’s Night Divine Fist.
The Beast Taming Skill was his greatest asset.
But his Master Level Beast Taming Skill wasn’t a sure thing.
He’d have a much better chance if he could raise it to the Expert Level.
Tang Wen had a servant bring him a clean stone mortar, and he proceeded to grind the medicinal herbs, one by one, into a fine powder.
By the time he finished, night had fallen.
A Blood Crow was streaking across the wilderness, heading toward Ganshan City.
Tang Wen slipped out of the city under the cover of darkness. He met up with his Blood Crow dozens of miles from Ganshan City.
Only then did Tang Wen, following the recipe from Elder Ya, carefully measure and mix the powdered herbs. He then took out a small vial of Blood Marrow from a Soul Crow.
He mixed it with the powder and rolled the concoction into three dark-purple pills.
"Quick! Swallow this."
Tang Wen couldn’t afford to waste a single moment. The pill’s potency began to diminish the instant it was created.
"CAW! CAW! AHH!"
The Blood Crow shrieked with excitement, but after just two caws, a pill was shoved into its beak.
It swallowed it down in a couple of gulps.
Its aura immediately skyrocketed.
Having already evolved once, the Blood Crow was a Middle-level Exotic Beast.
In the wild, it was nearly impossible for a Middle-level Exotic Beast to advance to a High-level Exotic Beast.
But with a pill made from the Blood Marrow of an Extraordinary Exotic Beast, anything was possible.
Half an hour later, the Blood Crow let out a pained cry.
Tang Wen reached out and touched it. The Blood Crow’s body was scorching, hot enough to cook an egg.
He quickly took out a bamboo canteen, soaked a towel with icy water, and draped it over the Blood Crow.
Then, he fed it the second pill.
If any other Beastmaster had been present, they would have frantically tried to stop him.
For a Blood Crow, whose potential capped out at the High-level Exotic Beast rank, to consume even one Blood Marrow Pill was an incredible stroke of luck.
Feeding it two was an outrageous waste of a priceless treasure!
After dousing it with water several times, the Blood Crow’s temperature was finally brought under control.
But the evolution wasn’t complete. Without hesitation, Tang Wen fed the third pill into its mouth.
The Blood Crow’s aura surged once more.
However, with the terrifying medicinal power repeatedly coursing through and tormenting its body, its condition was deteriorating rapidly.
Its body temperature began to burn like a furnace again.
Tang Wen used his remaining water to soak a pile of sand, then dug a deep, cool pit.
He placed the Blood Crow in the pit and covered its body with the damp sand.
He hadn’t brought enough water.
’If this doesn’t work...’
’...then the only thing left to do is...’ He glanced down.
Time trickled by.
Just as Tang Wen was about to resort to using his own "warm water" to cool it down...
...the Blood Crow’s temperature finally stabilized.
The sand covering its body had become scalding hot, as if it had just been baked by the midday sun.
After a moment’s thought, Tang Wen dug the Blood Crow out, wrapped it in his outer coat, and started the long walk back to Ganshan City.
Ganshan City had no curfew.
However, the checks for entering and exiting at night were naturally stricter.
When questioned by the Guards, Tang Wen simply flashed Elder Li’s token.
The Guard’s eyes widened in surprise. After sizing Tang Wen up for a moment, he let him pass into the city without another word.
As Tang Wen passed through the gatehouse, he overheard the Guards behind him whispering.
"A token from Elder Li of the Black Water Gang! Judging by his age, I wonder if he’s Elder Li’s son or grandson?"
This city gate wasn’t under the Black Water Gang’s jurisdiction.
They might show deference, but that didn’t stop them from gossiping freely.
"Heh heh, who can say?"
"Son, grandson... either way, he’s one of Old Li’s spawn, isn’t he?"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Tang Wen couldn’t be bothered with them. He carried the Blood Crow all the way back to his courtyard at the inn.
There was a hand-pump well in the courtyard.
He placed the Blood Crow in a large wooden basin, set it under the pump’s spout, and began pumping water over its body.
He worked through the night and into the morning.
Finally, the Blood Crow’s condition stabilized.
The evolution was a success.
[Beast Taming Skill, Master → Expert (299/12,000)]
His Beast Taming Skill had leveled up.
The night of hard work and the precious medicinal ingredients had not been in vain.
As Tang Wen carefully examined his new skill, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Expert Level Beast Taming Skill came with an active ability.
[Beast Taming Skill, Expert (299/12,000); Trait: Spiritual Soothing]
By expending his own energy, he could calm an agitated, or even enraged, Exotic Beast.