Chapter 243: 1.5-24

Startled by the sudden appearance of two strangers that suddenly came out of nowhere, the older man stood up from where he was kneeling next to his beloved donkey and took a wary step forward.

From the old man's actions, it looked as though he was trying to protect the donkey from them, at the risk of his own safety. Xinya could tell the man loved his donkey dearly.

Because with every painful bray, the animal would emit Xinya could see the old man flinch. The sound of a creature in pain would be heartbreaking to anyone, but especially to someone who truly cared for it.

Xinya pitied the hurt animal, and by the subtle tugs on his hand, he could tell Melting Snow did as well. Giving the boy a quick glance, Xinya saw that he was wide-eyed and worried, his gaze entirely focused on the hurt animal.

After giving the boy's hand a quick squeeze, he turned his gaze back to the old man. Only to notice how leary the man was of them.

Realizing that the way he and Melting Snow appeared out of nowhere could have deemed questionable. Xinya released the child's hand so he could hold both of his hands up in front of him in a placating manner.

Looking the old man straight in the eye, he said, "We don't mean no harm; we are really here to help you and your donkey."

The old man stared intensely into Xinya and Melting Snow's eyes, trying to determine if the two boys were as sincere as they appeared to be.

When the older man saw that they were harmless, and not some thieves that came to rob him, his suspicious eyes changed to optimistic ones. "You really can help my poor Píngguǒ?"

"Yes, I can," Xinya began giving the older man a kind smile. "Your donkey will be safe in my hands."

"Yeah! You can trust Drifting Cloud, he will make your donkey as good as new," nodded Melting Snow.

After listening to the green-haired man's and the wolf boy's words, something told the old man he could trust them. That with their help, his darling Píngguǒ would be ship-shape in no time.

He had been so worried that his donkey would become lame, and he would have to put it down. But now he has hope that worry won't come to fruition.

The old man walked over to the two boys with shining eyes, grabbing the green-eyed man's hand, he began to shake it vigorously. "Where are my manners, my name is Tan Quan, and I would be extremely grateful if you could help Píngguǒ for me."

[Quest Created!]

Old Man Tan had woken up late this morning. In his hurry to send over some produce he promised to bring to his daughter's store, he tried to use his wheat field as a shortcut. The trip was going well until his donkey tripped over a rock and injured itself, causing the Old man's wagon to overturn, spilling his produce to the ground. Help Old Man Tan by healing his donkey so he can make it to town on time.

[Reward: 20,000 EXP/ 100 bronze coin/ Old Man Tan's Friendship]

"You don't have to be thankful, helping a hurt animal is something any kind-hearted person would do. And my friend Drifting Cloud is the kindest," Melting Snow told the man.

Nodding his head at the boy's words, the old man said, "I'm thankful that he is."

"It's nothing really," Xinya bashfully said, knowing that if it wasn't for his luck, he wouldn't even have known they were there. "Please show me to the animal so I can see where he is hurt."

"Of course, of course, right this way." The old man said before leading Xinya over to his precious donkey and pointing out where it was injured.

Squatting down next to the donkey, he began to examine it. The animal had a nasty gash on its leg and maybe a torn ligament from what he could tell.

Xinya really hoped that the process of healing animals was similar to healing humans, or he would be in trouble.

Seeing the serious look on Xinya's face, the old man began to worry. "How is it? Will Píngguǒ be alright?"

"I will try my hardest to make sure it is," Xinya replied consolingly. "Melting Snow, how about you take Mr. Tan off to the side so I can begin healing his donkey."

Nodding with understanding, the furry-eared boy grabbed the old man by the arm and walked him away so that Xinya was no longer in his line of sight.

As they walked away, Xinya could hear Melting Snow reassuring the man, telling him how great of a healer his friend was and that he would quickly fix up his donkey.

Shaking his head at the boy's total faith in him, Xinya opened his interface and pulled up his inventory. He took out a couple of potions as well as a first-aid kit he bought during one of his shopping sprees.

'I'm so glad I bought one after the whole Mayor incident.'

Closing out of his inventory, Xinya peered at the donkey to check its health status, like the Mayor in Errinisworth he could see an HP bar on top of its head.

He could see that the donkey's health bar was slowly depleting but not quickly enough to worry him. Signing in relief, he rubbed the donkey gently on the head, trying to calm it down.

"You will be alright Píngguǒ, I just need to give you something to make you feel better."

Picking up one of the HP potions he took out from his inventory, he fed it to the donkey while praying softly that it would work. As the donkey drank the red liquid down, Xinya was relieved to see that its HP went back up.

Only when the donkey's health was stable, was when he gave his full attention to the donkey's bloody injuries. Opening the first aid kit next to him, he took out some supplies and started cleaning up the donkey's wounds.

Just as he deemed the cuts clean enough and was readying for the next step, the sound of a notification went off.

[First Aid has leveled up!]

[You Have Learned the Mend skill!]

Mend: is an essential skill from a branch of the first aid skill line. This skill allows you to instantly mend any wounds on any living creature. *Cooldown 10 minutes - decreases per level.

'Now, this will come in handy!' Xinya thought happily.

Deciding to test out his new skill, Xinya put his hands over the animal's wound and said Mend. Suddenly a green glow emerged from his palms, and the donkey's large gash started to knit together like a sweater for Christmas.

Xinya was in awe at his new skill, the donkey now looked as if it was never injured. If it wasn't for its semi depleted health bar, he would think it never was.

Feeding the donkey another HP potion and a stamina one just in case Xinya grabbed it by its reins and pulled it upright in one smooth motion.

Noticing that his donkey was looking completely well now, Old Man Tan ran over and hugged it around its neck in almost tears. "I knew you would be alright Píngguǒ, I just knew it!"

Melting Snow, who also just realized the donkey was better, ran back over to Xinya with a bright smile and gave him two thumbs up while mouthing 'Good Job.'

"Thank you so much, boy, for saving my sweet Píngguǒ; how could I ever repay you?" Mr. Tan asked, turning towards Xinya and giving him a grateful smile.

"You don't have to repay me, It was the least I could do."

"No, I must do something, my darling Píngguǒ means the world to me. Where are you headed, I can give you a ride." The old man said, genuinely wanting to repay them.

[Quest Completed!]

[Reward: 20,000 EXP/ 100 bronze coin/ Old Man Tan's Friendship]

[You are now friends with Tan Quan! ]

[Tan Quan is now registered on your friend list!]

"That would be great, we were heading to town when we came across you!" Xinya told the man with a smile.

Glad that he could return the favor, Mr. Tan said, "Same as me! Just let me reload my wagon, and then we can be on our way.

"I will help!" Melting Snow said, bouncing over to the overturned wagon.

"I don't think you're strong enough too..." Mr. Tan trailed off in shock as he watched the small boy lift his wagon and set it upright all by himself. 'What in the heck does that boy eat to be so strong.'

Seeing the shocked look on the old man's face almost made Xinya giggle. "Don't worry about Melting Snow, he's stronger than he looks."

The old man just nodded slowly as he watched the young man pick up a wooden barrel full of fruit like it weighed nothing at all.