Chapter Seventy-Two: I Am a Veterinarian; Who Do I Fear?

After Kuata took human form, he became a middle-aged man with a broad, fleshy face, well over two meters tall, built like a bear with a tiger’s back and waist, every muscle in his body corded with bulging veins. He looked for all the world like the bodybuilders Chu Tian had seen on Earth.

Yet this muscle-bound giant was now deathly pale, cold sweat beading on his face from time to time. Even so, Kuata forced himself to bargain with Chu Tian, that shameless profiteer. “Fradino, I am the empire’s highest-ranking magical beast. Treating my body is your duty! What right do you have to demand money from me?”

Kuata’s tone was seething with anger, because before Chu Tian, that quack veterinarian, had even asked about his condition, he had blithely named a treatment fee of five hundred thousand gold coins. Kuata had labored for decades for the Caesar Empire and managed to save only a few million gold coins. Back in the Quarry Fortress battle, he had nearly died fighting with all his strength, and in the end he had received only a reward of one million! And now, this Fradino fellow was demanding a tenth of his entire fortune.

“Praise the Goddess of Life. If that is how you put it, then go and seek His Majesty’s aid,” Chu Tian said carelessly, glancing up at Kuata, who towered over him. Then he rolled his eyes and went on, “As long as His Majesty gives the order, I’ll cure you at once!”

Chu Tian was not afraid that Kuata would truly go to see Luddy the Third, because Best would never allow it, and Kuata himself certainly would not want to go either. If Luddy the Third learned of this matter, two things would surely happen: first, Best would be removed from office; second, Kuata would be stripped of his right to participate in the war.

Best, having failed in his role as caretaker, would certainly be punished. As for Kuata, concealing his injuries was itself a breach of contract. Once the matter came to light, neither of them would fare well. Chu Tian seized on exactly this weakness, which was why he dared to make such an exorbitant demand, opening with a price of five hundred thousand gold coins.

“Sir Kuata, you’d better agree,” Best also stepped in to persuade him. He had already grimly paid out one hundred thousand gold coins. If Kuata did not bleed a little as well, and if Chu Tian was angered into leaving in a huff, then both their days would likely become miserable. “Once your body is healed, that little bit of gold can be earned back in no time.”

Kuata wavered. His body had been growing worse by the day, and as a magical beast of physical combat, he relied on a powerful body. If he refused Chu Tian’s treatment, then he would have to force himself onto the battlefield and be torn apart by the high-ranking magical beasts of the enemy lines. If he did not go to the battlefield, then he would be violating the contract, and such a thing was forbidden by the dignity of a ninth-rank magical beast. So Kuata had only one path left.

“Your Highness Fradino, five hundred thousand gold coins is too much. How about two hundred thousand?”

“Teacher, please help Sir Kuata!” Even Dio, standing nearby, could not bear it any longer. Someone as great as his teacher, how could he be so petty over gold coins?

Praise the Goddess of Life! And you still dare haggle? Chu Tian was furious. Ignoring his student, he said, “Five hundred thousand? It’s seven hundred thousand now! Not a single copper coin less!” With that, he looked coldly at Best and Kuata, as though eyeing livestock about to be slaughtered.

“You!” Kuata’s eyes widened in rage. With a sudden grab, he seized Chu Tian by the collar and lifted him into the air. “Say that again! How many gold coins?”

Heh. Chu Tian sneered inwardly. You want treatment and don’t want to pay? Is a veterinarian that easy to bully? Meeting Kuata’s glare without the slightest fear, Chu Tian said coldly, “One million gold coins.” Chu Tian was no longer the bumpkin who had first arrived on the continent of summoned beasts. He had even dared to extort the Dragon Emperor, so what was this little ninth-rank Kuata?

Moo! Kuata’s eyes turned red. With a low growl, he raised his right arm and lifted Chu Tian high over his head. “Dare to say that again?!”

“What are you doing? Put my teacher down at once!” The moment Dio saw Chu Tian in danger, he lunged forward and clung to the arm that was thicker than his waist. But Dio’s strength was far too weak. Kuata merely gave his arm a shake, and Dio was flung away.

“Hmph.” Hanging in the air, Chu Tian snorted coldly and looked into Kuata’s eyes without the slightest fear. “One and a half million!”

If anyone else had threatened Chu Tian like this, he would have long since backed down, because his life mattered most. But against Kuata, Chu Tian was utterly unafraid. First, Kuata’s contract clearly stated that he absolutely could not harm a high-ranking imperial noble. Second, Chu Tian was not alone. If Kuata dared lay a hand on him, then he had best be prepared to meet the endless pursuit of the ninth-rank Apache with his crippled body!

However, Chu Tian seemed to have underestimated Kuata’s temper. Veins sprang up across Kuata’s forehead, and a bloodthirsty light flooded his round, brass-rimmed eyes. In a low voice, he snarled, “Believe me when I say I could kill you right now!”

“Sir Kuata, His Highness Fradino is an imperial duke!” Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Best hurriedly seized Kuata. “Do you want to violate the contract?” Originally, Best had been very dissatisfied with Chu Tian’s extortion and had even wanted to use Kuata’s hand to teach the cunning little fox a lesson. But he had not expected Kuata’s temper to flare so violently that he truly wanted to kill Chu Tian. At that point, the consequences were no longer something he could bear, so he had to stop it.

“Haha, Lord Best, it’s fine. Kuata is only joking with me,” Chu Tian said. He did not believe Kuata would really dare to kill him. A magical beast that broke its contract would be despised by every intelligent race on the continent. “Sir Kuata, my treatment price is exactly this much. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my magical beast companion, Apache.”

The strength in Kuata’s hand grew heavier and heavier. Chu Tian’s eyes turned cold, and he clearly felt the naked intent to kill. In this crisis, he deliberately mentioned the strongest magical beast under his command.

“Th-then... one and a half million gold coins...” Kuata suddenly shuddered hard and, trembling, set Chu Tian down. Even the hard muscle of his face broke into an unexpected smile, and his tone became much more respectful. As he helped Chu Tian straighten his disordered robe, he said with a laugh, “Heh heh, then I’ll entrust my body to Your Highness.”

“Praise the Goddess of Life! The Goddess has said that healing the sick and saving lives is the greatest glory of every priest. Rest assured, I guarantee you’ll be healthier than before!”

Hoo—Chu Tian let out a long breath inwardly. That had been far too dangerous. After fusing with the Dragon Emperor’s blood, his senses had become much sharper, and he could clearly feel that Kuata had truly been willing to kill him. Heh, fortunately I still have Apache to scare you.

Best, Dio, and even Chu Tian himself believed that Kuata’s change in attitude was because of Apache. But the truth was known only to Kuata himself: what had terrified him was absolutely not Apache, who was of the same rank. It was that inexplicable flash of golden light in Chu Tian’s eyes when his killing intent had peaked, a light identical to the Dragon Emperor’s gaze.

That unsettling radiance—Kuata, who had lived for over a thousand years, had seen it once when he was very young. That time, the rivers of blood that flowed and spread changed the thousand-li gorge connecting Caesar and the Great Plain of the Hanging River into a place renamed Red Earth.

Under Chu Tian’s instruction, Kuata slowly described his condition: nausea, vomiting, and frequent bouts of stabbing abdominal pain. All these symptoms had appeared after he was struck in the abdomen by the claw of a ninth-rank dragon during the Quarry Fortress battle.

“Then after violent shaking, does your abdomen cramp immediately?” Chu Tian asked while narrowing his eyes and thinking.

“Yes!” Kuata nodded. “And when the pain strikes, I have checked my own body. Sometimes there is even bleeding inside my abdomen.”

“Teacher, may I ask Sir Kuata a question?” Dio, who had been standing behind Chu Tian all this time, spoke up. His youthful face was still somewhat bewildered, but more than that, it showed confidence. Under Chu Tian’s careful instruction over these past months, Dio had already become a qualified veterinarian. Of course, in Dio’s own view, it meant that his ancient priestcraft had made some modest progress.

Chu Tian was very satisfied with his student’s response. Turning back, he asked gently, “Do you want to ask whether Sir Kuata’s abdominal pain should be occurring at regular intervals?”

“Yes, exactly.” After his teacher guessed what he was thinking, Dio became a little embarrassed. “Teacher, am I right? Sir Kuata’s illness should be that one, shouldn’t it?”

“Heh heh, correct. You got it right!” Chu Tian was absolutely not stingy with praise for a clever student, and besides, only if Dio grew quickly could Chu Tian become more at ease. Dio would treat the magical beasts up front, while Chu Tian would take the money in the back. Heh, Chu Tian could hardly wait for such a wonderful life.

“Your Highness, have you already determined Sir Kuata’s illness?” Best was thoroughly bewildered by the exchange between master and disciple. In his understanding, priests first assessed the severity of a patient’s injuries before deciding whether they could be treated. Yet Chu Tian and Dio were talking about some sort of disease here, which made Best exclaim inwardly that ancient priestcraft truly was miraculous.

It was no wonder Best felt this way. Ordinary priests on the continent only cared about how badly a patient had been injured and never studied any illness at all. If someone was wounded by high-level magic or battle qi, then even a torn patch of skin could count as a terminal condition. But if the injury arose naturally, then a broken bone and a common cold were basically the same thing to a priest; only the life energy they drew upon differed.

“Praise the Goddess of Life! Kuata’s body will definitely recover before the war!” Chu Tian said with complete confidence. Although Kuata required a major operation, that was not beyond him. Now that he knew Kuata’s true form, the surgery could begin. “Kuata, return to your original form. I’m going to treat you!”

“Your Highness, please wait,” Best stopped Chu Tian. “Kuata’s true form is enormous. This palace simply cannot contain it. We should find another place.”

Enormous? Could it be bigger than my Cloud Finch Boeing? Chu Tian scoffed at Best’s words. Who in the world did not know by now that Duke Fradino’s magical beast companions were all huge?

In truth, Kuata was not really that colossal. He was only about as large as five or six warhorses. But in front of Boeing, he truly was nothing special. Still! Chu Tian had no time to compare the sizes of magical beasts. Damn it, no one had told me Kuata is a cow!

...Chapter Seventy-Two: I Am a Veterinarian, and I Fear No One

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