A thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, her face sallow, kept thanking him in a tearful voice while ignoring the filth on the ground as she crawled around picking up scattered medicinal herbs.
After gathering the herbs at her feet, she glanced toward the alley entrance.
Clearly, there were more herbs scattered there, but the little girl didn't dare to go and pick them up.
"Stop picking them up," Tang Wen sighed silently.
A crisp sound rang out.
The girl froze, staring in shock at the silver coin that had landed in front of her. "Sir? I... I'm not selling myself."
Tang Wen looked at her scrawny figure: ...
"You're overthinking it. Go to the pharmacy and buy a few more doses."
"I... I don't dare to go back."
Tang Wen glanced in the direction where the burly man had disappeared and asked, "Do you know where the Blackwater Gang's pharmacy is?"
"Yes, but it's very expensive there."
"Let's go there. Lead the way," Tang Wen's voice was icy.
The little girl shrank back, too scared to say more.
The Blackwater Gang naturally had its own pharmacy.
Tang Wen entered and pulled out Elder Li's token, exempting him from all costs.
The pharmacist personally packed up twelve doses of medicine and handed them to Tang Wen, along with the prescription the little girl had brought. He whispered, "This is an old injury."
Tang Wen nodded. Old injuries were hard to treat.
He couldn't control life and death for others.
But since he had decided to help, he might as well see it through.
He escorted the little girl all the way back to her home.
Passing by a rice shop, the clever girl used the silver Tang Wen had given her to buy two bags of rice.
The shopkeeper glanced at Tang Wen and sent a slave to carry the rice back for her.
Soon, the three arrived at a quiet, secluded street where a woman stood anxiously at the door.
Seeing the little girl, and Tang Wen and the male slave behind her, the woman's face turned pale. She ran over, knelt on the ground, and hugged the girl tightly. "Sir, sir, I'm not selling my daughter! I'm not selling her, I'm not!"
Tang Wen was taken aback but forced his voice to remain cold. "Shut up."
After the male slave left, he turned to the woman.
Her face was smeared with soot, but Tang Wen could still tell she was quite attractive.
No wonder she didn't go out to buy the medicine herself.
She was even more noticeable than her daughter.
Tang Wen didn't explain. He turned and rode away.
The little girl, however, quickly explained the situation to her mother.
Realizing her mistake, the woman repeatedly thanked Tang Wen and hurried after him.
"Don't block the road!" Tang Wen muttered to himself: I'm really not cut out to be a good person.
"Sir, please, leave us a way to survive!"
Tang Wen frowned, about to say he didn't do good deeds for recognition.
But seeing the pleading look in the woman's eyes, he suddenly understood something. "Black Water Inn. My surname is Tang."
With that, he ignored the woman and the girl's kowtowing gratitude and left.
The little girl and her mother helped each other up.
"Mom! I brought back twelve doses of medicine. Will Dad get better after taking them?" The girl blinked her clear eyes and looked at her mother.
The woman's eyes welled up as she hugged her daughter. "Yes, your father will definitely get better!"
Leaving the street, Tang Wen couldn't shake the image of the woman's pleading eyes.
From the little girl's fragmented words and the pharmacist's comments, he deduced that her father—the woman's husband—was likely nearing the end of his life.
When that time came, the mother and daughter, left without support, would likely have no choice but to sell themselves into slavery.
Having been in Mountain Chasing City for only a few days, and just stepping out once, the events he encountered had already left him feeling a profound sense of disparity.
The upper class, like the Huang family and Elder Li, lived a life of luxury and privilege.
The lower-class slaves were not even considered human.
Ordinary people, like the mother and daughter pair from earlier, were just one step away from losing their humanity.
Returning to the quiet courtyard of the Black Water Inn, Tang Wen began preparing medicine.
Taming the "Water Sprite" was something he absolutely had to accomplish.
If he succeeded, he would be able to establish himself within the Blackwater Gang and gain a certain level of status.
After that, he planned to investigate the Bai family, accumulate merits, and learn the Dark Night Divine Fist within the gang.
His Beast Taming Art was his greatest reliance.
However, his proficiency-level Beast Taming Art was not yet secure.
If he could advance to the expert level, he would be more confident.
Tang Wen ordered a servant to bring a clean stone mortar, and he meticulously ground the medicinal ingredients into fine powder.
By the time he finished, it was already dark.
The Blood Raven was flying swiftly from the wilderness toward Mountain Chasing City.
Under the cover of night, Tang Wen quietly left the city and met the Blood Raven about a hundred miles away from Mountain Chasing City.
At this point, Tang Wen followed the prescription given by Old Crow, carefully measuring and mixing the powdered ingredients. Then, he took out a small vial of "Soul Crow's" Blood Essence.
He combined it with the medicinal powder and formed three dark purple pills.
"Quick! Swallow it."
Tang Wen didn't dare delay for a moment, as the potency of the pills began to diminish the moment they were made.
"Caw! Caw!"
The Blood Raven let out excited cries, but before it could make a third sound, a pill was shoved into its mouth.
It swallowed the pill in a few gulps.
Its aura immediately surged.
The Blood Raven, having undergone one evolution, was a Mid-level Exotic Beast.
In the natural world, it was almost impossible for a Mid-level Exotic Beast to advance to a Superior Exotic Beast.
But with the Blood Essence of an Extraordinary Beast, anything was possible.
Half an hour passed, and the Blood Raven let out painful cries.
Tang Wen reached out and touched it, finding its body scalding hot—hot enough to cook an egg.
He quickly took out a bamboo tube, soaked a towel in ice water, and placed it on the Blood Raven's body.
Then, he fed it the second pill.
If any other Beast Tamer were present, they would have been horrified and tried to stop him.
A Blood Raven, whose maximum potential was only a Superior Exotic Beast, was already incredibly fortunate to consume one Blood Essence pill.
Feeding it two was truly a waste of precious resources!
After several rounds of pouring water, the Blood Raven's temperature finally stabilized.
But the evolution was not yet complete, and Tang Wen didn't hesitate to feed it the third pill.
The Blood Raven's aura surged once again.
However, under the repeated and intense effects of the powerful medicine, its condition was far from good.
Its body temperature rose again, as if on fire.
Tang Wen used the remaining water to wet a pile of sand, dug a cool, deep pit, and placed the Blood Raven inside, covering it with the wet sand.
He hadn't brought enough water.
If this didn't work, he would have no choice but to... He glanced down.
Time passed slowly.
Just as Tang Wen was about to use "warm water" to cool it down, the Blood Raven's temperature finally stabilized.
The sand covering its body became scorching hot, as if it had been baked under the midday sun.
After some thought, Tang Wen dug the Blood Raven out, removed his coat, and wrapped it up. He then slowly made his way back to Mountain Chasing City.
Mountain Chasing City had no curfew.
However, entering and exiting at night was subject to stricter scrutiny.
When questioned by the guards, Tang Wen simply flashed Elder Li's token.
The guards looked at him with surprise, gave him a quick once-over, and let him enter the city without further ado.
As Tang Wen walked through the city gate, he suddenly overheard the guards whispering among themselves:
"The waist token of Elder Li from the Blackwater Gang! Judging by his age, is he Elder Li's grandson or son?"
This city gate was no less formidable than the Blackwater Gang.
They gave face when it was due, but they didn't hold back when it came to gossip:
"Heh, who can say for sure?"
"Whether it's a son or grandson, they're all from the Li family, aren't they?"
"Hahahaha"
Tang Wen paid no heed and carried the Blood Raven all the way back to the inn's courtyard.
In the yard, there was a hand pump well.
He placed the Blood Raven into a large wooden basin, positioned it under the pump's outlet, and continuously pumped water to pour over the raven.
From night until day, he worked tirelessly through the night.
Finally, the Blood Raven's condition stabilized.
It had evolved.
[Beast Taming Art, Proficient → Expert (299/12000)]
The Beast Taming Art had leveled up.
After a night of hard work and the use of precious herbs, it was all worth it.
Tang Wen carefully reflected on his experience and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Expert-level Beast Taming Art had granted him an active ability.
[Beast Taming Art, Expert (299/12000); Trait: Mental Calm]
By expending energy, he could calm down a Mutated Beast that was agitated or even enraged.