Shang Qing Qing changed her earlier evaluation of Fang Yuan.
The achievement in chasing away the Steam Spouting Yak was quite significant, not necessarily for the act itself - Shang Qing Qing could have done it as well given enough time or she could've eventually asked someone else.
She had considered the fact that Fang Yuan might've succeeded, but she hadn't expected Fang Yuan to have completed it so quickly. She had estimated that if he was going to actually succeed, it likely would have taken him a few days. Instead there was still time before sundown, and they were already done with her task.
'I will need to keep a closer eye on him,' she thought to herself as she flew away.
Fang Yuan, for his part, turned his attention towards his aperture - towards the person he had noticed once before and whose words had triggered the sequence of events that led him to finish the killer move.
Wang Tian. Was it mere coincidence that he had noticed this person twice, or was there something deeper going on? He wasn't actively monitoring everything in his aperture all the time though he had wills set up all over the Fang Yuan continent. They transmitted information regarding what happened directly to him.
'I see. So, this young man's tribe was completely slaughtered because they thought that there was a Gu Master within it. It was a hypocritical attack as there are some Gu Masters among them - but hehe, typical righteous path, they didn't even know he existed before attacking him.' Fang Yuan laughed in his heart coldly. It was ironic in several ways.
Wang Tian, however, was currently in a very sorry state; his body was shuddering from fever, and sweat coated him all over. He was in no position to appreciate the humor in his situation. 'Looks like he either has a cold or pneumonia,' Fang Yuan thought to himself.
There were several things Fang Yuan could do to intervene; some of them had a lighter touch than others.
For example, he could redirect a Doctor Gu to appear near him, and that could help him cure himself.
Or, Fang Yuan could use a Pill Path gu worm on Wang Tian and he wouldn't even notice it before he was cured.
Or, Fang Yuan could make use of the people in the surrounding area and have them come and take care of Wang Tian.
Fang Yuan would have loved to intervene in some way or another, not necessarily out of a sense of compassion for Wang Tian, but simply because he needed Gu Masters to grow and develop within his aperture. That was, of course, his main aim and something he had been rather unhappy with the people on Fang Yuan Continent for neglecting.
The problem was that he had already burned himself twice: first with the Jade Eyed Stone Monkeys, and secondly with the Deep Dwellers. Whenever he had tried to intervene up until now, no matter how small, it had led to things backfiring on him.
While all of the solutions in his mind were light touches, they could have unintended consequences later down the line. It also wasn't in the spirit of what the Integration Formation was trying to do: just letting the humans within the Fang Yuan Continent develop.
"Well, it appears you're just going to have to deal with this yourself. Whether you live or die is entirely up to your fate and luck. I think you'll find a way out of this without me even interfering if you truly are as fortunate as you seem."
With that, Fang Yuan turned his attention away from Wang Tian and to other matters.
***
Time within this aperture continued to flow faster than the outside world. Wang Tian was in a sorry state. His body ached all over, but he still felt thirsty and it only got worse with time as he sweat out a large amount of his body's water reserves.
Somehow, he managed to make himself stand up and wander over to a nearby stream with fresh water.
His body ached all over; even when he was still, it was worse while walking.
Every single step felt painful. Every single creaking of his joints felt like he was being punched in them. His throat, however, would not let him rest in the cave, and he knew that despite how painful it was right now, if he didn't drink water and stay hydrated his chances of recovering were low.
He wandered to the stream and started drinking. Every single gulp of clean water took a massive effort. He only managed half of what he would normally drink, but he felt he could drink no longer. Even something as simple as drinking water was difficult.
He then lay down there near the stream, collapsed on the grass by its side, bereft of the strength needed to go back to his cave.
He stayed like that for a few hours, his breathing haggard as the illness continued to ensnare him within its grasp. He was so sick that he didn't even notice the others approaching until he was completely surrounded.
His eyes flew open as he barely registered the sound of what seemed like animals. He turned his head very slowly to see that a group of humans riding atop horses had surrounded him.
A chill went down his spine, and he immediately tried to move despite his illness. He had heard stories of the human tribes who had domesticated horses; they tended to wander from place to place, living a nomadic lifestyle rather than settling down in one area.
Not only that, but life among them was quite brutal. They tended to attack other tribes, stealing things from them as they did not grow their own crops. The lack of crops meant that they could only hunt, leaving them to have a number of strong hunters and bowmen among them and with their mounts they were quite successful in these raids.
'Oh no, they're going to enslave me,' Wang Tian thought. Since they had no land, the only form of property among them other than their horses and weapons were slaves.
He tried to move. The people on horseback stared at him and began laughing.
"We thought that we had managed to find someone useful, but he seems to be at death's door anyway."
"Come on, let's have our horses drink."
"Should we kill him?"
"Why? He's hardly a threat."
"I meant as a mercy towards him."
"Ignore it."
One of the men dismounted his horse and checked Wang Tian's forehead first and then his pulse. Wang Tian nearly flinched at the contact, but the man simply said, "Relax. I'm trying to see what's wrong with you."
A moment later, the man said, "This boy has the ague."
"Well, in that case, his days are numbered."
"No point bothering with him then."
There was a pause.
"No, wait," came the voice of the same man who had checked his pulse. "Let's take him with us."
"But what use is he to you?"
"We may be able to treat him."
"Old Tie - your son also died from the ague. Are you feeling some sort of concern for him?"
"Well, who wouldn't feel concerned looking at him? He doesn't even look like he's fifteen years old."
"He might not even be thirteen yet."
Wang Tian was actually eighteen, but much like how his young appearance had helped him survive earlier he made no protest to this declaration.
He realized there was a chance that he would survive, and that they might not end up taking him as a slave.
Even if he ultimately was their slave, there was always a chance of him escaping later so long as he lived.
The thing was, if they thought he was so sick that he was going to die to the point where they didn't even want to enslave him, it meant his end truly was near and that he should give up - but this man's intervention signaled the opposite.
"Alright, we'll take him with us."
The men were burly and strong. They easily picked him up, placing him on a hammock which they secured between two of their horses. Wang Tian felt every single bump along the road ache throughout his bones. But for better or worse, he was now forced to go along with these people.
'I can only hope that things turn out well from here,' he thought to himself as the horse-riding people made their way down along the stream.