Approaching the old medicine woman (a title Gu Liang had heard from the beasts) proved far more difficult than anticipated. Her status within the tribe was unique and detached. She resided in an isolated courtyard far from the central area, near the edge of the forbidden forest. A sparse fence of thorns and animal bones encircled her dwelling, as if declaring its distance from the outside world.Ordinary beastmen never disturbed her unless afflicted by illness or injury, approaching only with reverence and offerings to seek healing.
As a slave, Gu Liang had no reason to approach that place. He could only observe from afar, seeing occasional beastmen enter with arms clutched or legs limping, emerging with stronger herbal scents—sometimes genuinely improved, other times still grim-faced.
How could he cross that invisible barrier? Asking her directly was nothing short of a pipe dream. He needed an opportunity—a reason that would allow him to enter the Medicine Woman's sight "legitimately" and briefly.
The opportunity arose from an accidental "contamination." Days of relentless rain had left the tanning shed damp. A batch of hides he'd processed, improperly dried, began developing moldy spots along the edges. To orcs who prized flawless leather, this was a grave mistake and waste.
The apprentice sent to collect the hides frowned deeply upon seeing the moldy ones, his displeasure palpable for the first time. "These are unacceptable," he declared coldly. "The High Priest will be displeased."
Gu Liang's heart sank. Realizing his mistake, he immediately apologized and promised to find a solution. The apprentice snorted coldly, confiscated the other acceptable hides, and tossed the moldy ones aside with obvious disgust.
Gazing at the skins he'd painstakingly prepared only to see his efforts ruined, Gu Liang felt both heartbroken and anxious. He knew simple scraping and washing wouldn't completely remove the mold stains, and the musty odor had already seeped deep into the leather.
Just then, an idea flashed through his mind: the herbalist! She dealt with medicinal herbs year-round—perhaps she knew how to eliminate the musty odor, or even prevent mold growth?
It was an extremely risky excuse, but also the only plausible reason to approach the herbalist at the moment.
Summoning all the courage he'd gained through his "trading" wisdom, he waited until the apprentice had walked far away. Then, clutching the two most severely mold-damaged hides, he took a deep breath and headed toward the herbalist's small courtyard.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0t2C26qzy
This wasn't a simple request for help. For the first time, he was using a problem he'd created as his "ticket" to step into a completely unknown realm—one explicitly marked as off-limits. His heart pounded wildly. With every step, he was testing the invisible boundaries of this world.
The closer he got to the courtyard, the more pungent the bitter scent of herbs filled the air. Inside the wicker fence, plants utterly unfamiliar to Gu Liang were laid out to dry on stone slabs or hung beneath the eaves. The herbalist, hunched over, was laboriously pounding something in a stone mortar, muttering to herself.
Gu Liang halted outside the fence, hesitating to step inside. Swallowing nervously, he addressed her in the most respectful tone he could muster: "Medicine... Medicine Woman..."
The old woman paused her movements and slowly lifted her head. Her face was deeply lined, yet her eyes were unusually sharp and bright, as if they could see straight through one's soul. She looked Gu Liang up and down, her gaze sweeping over his slave mark and the moldy hide in his hands. Her voice was hoarse, like scraped bark: "Slave? What are you doing here? Get out."
"I... I'm sorry, Mistress..." Gu Liang hastily raised the leather in his hands, stammering his explanation. "I... I was treating this leather... it got moldy... I heard you know the most... I wanted to ask... if there's any way... to fix it?" He forced his voice to sound helpless and pleading, like a desperate wretch trying to minimize his losses.
The herbalist's cloudy gaze settled on the moldy hides, then flickered to Gu Liang's still-swollen palm (the infection hadn't cleared even after washing off the herbs). She snorted derisively. "Moldy hides? You come to me? I treat people, not hides!"
Gu Liang's heart sank.
But the herbalist didn't immediately shoo him away. She set down her stone pestle and shuffled slowly over. Peering through the fence, she examined the mold spots closely before leaning in to sniff. "A fishy stench seeping in, mixed with a hint of lye..." She suddenly asked, "Was it softened with brain marrow and ash?"
Gu Liang startled—he hadn't expected her to know the method—and nodded hastily.
"Hmph, the brain method," the herbalist muttered, her tone neutral. Yet her piercing eyes lingered on Gu Liang for an extra moment. "At least you've put some twisted thought into it, unlike those fools who just pound away with brute force." She pointed at his hands. "Your hands are rotten?"
Gu Liang instinctively pulled his hands back.
"Stick it out!" the herbalist commanded.
Gu Liang hesitated, then extended his hand. The herbalist's withered, chicken-claw-like hand seized his wrist with surprising strength. She examined the swollen, pus-filled wounds closely, her brow furrowing deeper.
"Fool!" Her derisive snort stung like a whip. "Washing it with dirty water and applying bitter herbs? Wanna make it rot faster?"9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZRn5f8gGj
Gu Liang stiffened. Emma's ghostly gestures and icy gaze overlapped violently with the herbalist's sneer.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcU59lBh4fi
"Who told you to use that?" The herbalist's sharp gaze sliced through him.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2iPTbj4ta
Gu Liang's throat tightened, unable to utter a single word.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKq3CtJrbtQ
The herbalist didn't expect an answer. She spat contemptuously. "Stop-bitter herb for rotten flesh? That's the second torture for fools! It soothes the surface itch while the pus festers beneath, rotting to the bone without warning! Come to me half a day later, and these hands of yours would stink too foul to feed to dogs!"
She released his hands, turned back into the courtyard, rummaged through a pile of drying herbs for a moment, then tossed a small bundle of dried grass with purple blossoms and several dark, resinous chunks smelling of pine resin over the fence.
"Crush them, mix them together, blend with clean water into a paste, and apply it. Change it daily," she snapped. "Scrape off the mold from the skin, then smoke it with the fumes from burning these resin chunks! Whether it can be saved depends on the Beast God's whim! Now get out! Don't bother me again!"
Gu Liang scrambled to gather the herbs and resin from the ground, stammering his thanks. "Thank you! Thank you, Medicine Woman!"
"The price!" the herbalist suddenly snapped. "Next hunt, bring me the freshest snow hare liver! Dare to forget, and don't come crawling back when your guts rot next time!"
"Yes! Yes! I'll remember!" Gu Liang hastily agreed, clutching his hard-won "reward" and knowledge as he practically fled the small courtyard.
Back at the leather shed, his heart still pounded wildly. Though the process had been perilous and he'd been charged a "consultation fee," he had succeeded! Not only had he obtained what might be genuinely effective medicine and learned how to treat mold spots, but more importantly—he had crossed that fence!
He immediately treated the wound as instructed. The paste made from crushed purple hay mixed with pine resin was a deep green, its pungent smell sharp and stinging. Applying it to the wound brought a fierce, burning pain, but soon after the sting came a deep, cooling sensation. The redness and swelling seemed to visibly subside slightly.
It worked! Gu Liang felt a surge of excitement.
Next, he scraped away the mold spots from the hide, lit a small piece of resin, and carefully smoked the affected areas with the smoke. The rich pine resin scent effectively drove away the musty odor, and the smoked surface dried out, halting the spread of the mold spots.
Surveying the treated wound and the now-restored leather, Gu Liang exhaled a long sigh of relief.
This adventure had yielded far more than he'd anticipated. Not only had he resolved the immediate crisis, but more importantly, he'd stumbled upon a new survival principle.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSDeLCl9ZN
The medicine woman's rules were clear and ruthless: Problem (injury/illness) → Price (snow hare liver) → Solution (medicine/method). No ambiguous guidance, no coincidences needing interpretation—everything was priced openly, a straightforward exchange of goods for silver.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoz9eJHq6Cl
This brutal fairness, compared to Emma's "help"—as elusive as a mist-shrouded gift, its repayment date unknown—actually gave him a twisted sense of stability. At least here, he knew precisely what he needed to exchange for what knowledge.[Target Individual Gu Liang successfully accessed tribal medical resources, received effective treatment, reduced physical risks, and established a new knowledge acquisition channel (medicine woman). His autonomous initiative and survival confidence increased, reducing single-source dependency on the host. Positive dependency value decreased by -2% (due to acquiring alternative support). Current positive dependency value: 14%.]
Far away, Emma learned of Gu Liang's situation through a system notification. Seeing he had found the medicine woman and received proper treatment, she exhaled softly in relief. Yet her gaze grew complex upon noticing the declining dependency value.
"Well..." she murmured to herself, "He can't always rely on me. Finding his own path is the foundation of survival."
Yet she knew that Gu Liang's growing initiative also meant he might sooner uncover this world's core rules—sooner realize certain truths. When that happened, would he still need her? Or could she still "guide" him as easily as she did now?
Gu Liang had gained new "eyes," while Emma needed to reassess her "script." A Lie's patience and the tribal undercurrents were both accelerating.
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