The trip to the county seat was an all-day affair. The ox cart, pulled by the family's old, bony beast, creaked and groaned over the frozen ruts of the road. Li Wei sat on the pile of straw in the back, bouncing with every jolt, while Zhao Feng walked alongside, his hand never straying far from the cleaver at his belt.
Next to Li Wei sat ten-year-old Li An, bundled up like a ball of yarn. His eyes were wide, taking in the world beyond the village boundaries. For him, this was an adventure.
"Brother," Li An whispered, pointing at a distant pavilion visible over the trees. "Is that the County Magistrate's office?"
"It is," Li Wei said, checking the wolf pelt to ensure it wasn't being damaged by the friction. "Remember, An-er. Eyes open, mouth shut. The city is full of wolves, too. They just wear silk instead of fur."
As they neared the city gates, the traffic thickened. Farmers bringing vegetables, merchants with carts of goods, and patrols of guards in leather armor. The smell hit them first—woodsmoke, manure, roasting meat, and the unwashed bodies of thousands of people.
Li Wei jumped off the cart as they passed through the heavy wooden gates. The city was bustling, a chaotic symphony of haggling and shouting.
"Uncle Qiang," Li Wei called out to the driver, a distant relative who owned the cart. "Drop us at the West Market. We'll find our own way back."
After parting with a few copper coins for the ride, Li Wei led his small party through the crowded streets. He had a plan. He needed capital, and he needed it fast.
**[Target Location: Treasure Pavilion (Pawnshop).]**
The shop was tucked away in a side alley, smelling of mothballs and old paper. A sharp-eyed shopkeeper sat behind a high counter, looking down his nose at them.
Li Wei unwrapped the wolf pelt. "North Ridge Grey Wolf. Killed three days ago. Winter coat. Thick, undamaged."
The shopkeeper picked up a bamboo stick and flipped the pelt over, inspecting the hide. He grunted. "Fur is patchy here. And the smell... fifty copper coins."
Zhao Feng took a step forward, his knuckles cracking. "Fifty? That wouldn't buy a chicken!"
"Fifty, or get out," the shopkeeper sneered. "I know who you are, Zhao Feng. Don't make me call the guards."
Li Wei held up a hand, stopping Zhao Feng. He looked at the shopkeeper calmly. He accessed the System.
**[Market Analysis: North Ridge Wolf Pelt (Grade B). Current Market Price: 180-220 Copper Coins.]**
"One hundred and fifty," Li Wei said. "The fur is dense, and the 'patchiness' is just dirt. I can wash it. But I won't. You want a trophy for some rich hunter? This is it. One-fifty, or I walk to the East Market and sell it to the hat maker."
The shopkeeper's eyes narrowed. He looked at the pelt, then at Li Wei. He saw a boy who knew the price of things.
"One hundred and twenty. Final offer."
"Deal."
Li Wei took the string of coins. One tael and twenty copper coins. It was a decent sum—a month's wages for a laborer. But it wasn't enough to buy a bull.
He paid a copper coin for a street vendor to watch Li An, giving the boy a sesame cake to keep him happy.
"Stay here, An. Read your book. We're going to the livestock pens."
The livestock market was on the edge of the city, a chaotic, muddy square filled with lowing cattle, bleating sheep, and shouting handlers. It was loud, smelly, and to Li Wei, it smelled like opportunity.
He walked past the prime pens. Fine oxen, sleek and strong, were being auctioned for five or six taels. Too expensive.
He headed for the back, where the "culls" were kept. The sick, the old, the injured.
"That one is lame."
"That one is too old to plow."
"That one is barren."
The farmers here were desperate, trying to offload animals that ate fodder but produced nothing.
Then Li Wei saw him.
In a separate pen, chained to a heavy post, stood a bull.
It was a monster compared to the local Yellow Cattle. It was mostly black, with a white face—a throwback to forgotten genetics, a rare mutation in the local stock. It was muscular, with a wide chest and thick shoulders. But its eyes were wild, rolling with panic. It snorted, sending steam into the air, and stamped its hooves, churning the mud to slop.
Three men were trying to prod it toward a gate, but the bull slammed its horns against the rails, shaking the entire pen.
"Careful! That beast is mad!" a handler shouted. "It killed a man's dog yesterday! Vicious brute!"
**[Target Identified: Crossbreed Bull (Predominant Black Angus/Hereford traits).]**
**[Status: Highly Aggressive.]**
**[Cause: Infected horn base (Root inflammation). Pain level: Extreme.]**
**[Genetic Potential: S-Class. Muscle density: High.]**
Li Wei stopped. He saw what the others didn't. The bull wasn't evil. It was in agony. An infection at the base of the horn was like a nail driven into the skull. It made every touch feel like torture.
"Boss," Zhao Feng muttered. "That thing looks like it wants to kill us."
"It's in pain," Li Wei said. "Look at the left horn. It's favoring it."
He walked up to the pen. The handler, a sweaty man with a club, looked at him. "Get back, boy. This one is going to the slaughterhouse. No one can handle him. He's crazy."
"How much?" Li Wei asked.
"Heh," the handler laughed. "You want him? Two taels of silver. But you have to get him out of here alive. I'm not helping you load a man-killer."
Two taels. Li Wei had one tael and twenty coppers.
"I have one tael and fifty copper coins," Li Wei lied smoothly, jingling his pouch. "And I have a way to calm him down. If I can walk him out of the gate on a lead rope without him killing me, you sell him to me for that price."
The handler stared at him. "You're insane. But... if you die, it's not my problem. Deal."
Zhao Feng grabbed Li Wei's arm. "Wei, are you crazy? You can't fight that thing with a stick."
"I'm not going to fight him," Li Wei said, handing his staff to Zhao Feng. "I'm going to talk to him."
He took a coil of rough rope from a nearby post. He didn't enter the pen immediately. He stood by the fence, ignoring the shouting crowd that was gathering to see the "suicide."
He closed his eyes for a second. He needed to project calm. He took a deep breath, holding it, then letting it out slowly, dropping his heart rate.
He climbed the fence and dropped inside.
The bull spun, locking eyes with him. It lowered its head, horns aimed at Li Wei's chest. The ground rumbled as it pawed the earth.
Li Wei didn't look at the horns. He looked at the shoulder. He made himself small, non-threatening. He started to hum—a low, droning vibration he used in Montana to calm spooked herds. It wasn't a song; it was a frequency.
The bull snorted, confused. The two-legged thing wasn't running. It wasn't screaming.
Li Wei moved slowly, circling not toward the head, but toward the flank. He kept his distance, staying in the bull's blind spot.
"It's just the pain, big guy," Li Wei murmured, barely audible. "I know it hurts. I can fix it."
He reached the left side of the head. The bull swung its massive head, nearly clipping him. Li Wei ducked, moving with the motion like a matador.
He had seen the swelling. A large, pus-filled abscess at the base of the horn.
The System flashed.
**[Emergency Action Required.]**
**[Method: Pressure point sedation + Pain blockage.]**
Li Wei lunged. He didn't lunge for the rope. He lunged for the bull's neck. He pressed his thumb hard into a nerve cluster just behind the jaw, a technique that often stunned animals for a split second.
The bull froze, its eyes rolling back slightly in shock.
In that instant, Li Wei didn't back away. He placed his hand gently on the swollen horn base. He channeled the System's energy—there was no magic pill, but there was the *knowledge* of exactly where to press to relieve the pressure.
He found the softest spot.
"Squeeze," he whispered.
He pressed down hard on the abscess. Pus and blood squirted out, steaming in the cold air.
The bull roared, a sound of rage and pain. It reared up. The crowd screamed.
But Li Wei didn't let go. He massaged the area, draining the infection, relieving the pressure that had been driving the animal mad for weeks.
"Hold... still..." Li Wei gritted his teeth, hanging onto the massive animal.
Suddenly, the bull shuddered. The rage left its eyes. It exhaled, a long, shuddering breath. The screaming pain in its skull was gone.
Li Wei let go. He quickly slipped the rope around the bull's neck, not tight, but loose enough to lead.
He stepped in front of the bull. He looked into its eyes.
"We're going home," Li Wei said.
He tugged the rope gently.
The black-and-white bull, the terror of the market, lowered its head and followed. It walked calmly behind Li Wei, like a puppy on a leash, out of the pen, past the stunned handler, and toward the gate.
The handler's jaw was on the floor. "By the ancestors..."
Zhao Feng stood by the gate, his mouth open. He looked at Li Wei, then at the bull. "How... how did you do that?"
"Magic," Li Wei said with a tired grin, handing over the pouch of coins to the stunned handler. "Or maybe he just realized I'm the one who feeds him."
He handed the lead rope to Zhao Feng. "Here. Your first job. Don't let him eat the cabbages."
Li Wei looked at the bull. It was magnificent. It was his first step toward the herd.
**[Ranch Update: New Livestock Acquired.]**
**[Animal: 'King' (Local Bull - S-Class Genetics).]**
**[Ranch Points: 15.]**
They walked back toward the city gate to meet Li An. They were one bull richer, and Li Wei had just established a reputation he hadn't expected: The Beast Tamer of Stone Roll Village.