Zhuang Hao and the others found a tea house and sat down inside.
Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong sat opposite each other, and the atmosphere between the two was a little tense. Qi Shaofu sat between them and was full of eager attentiveness as he poured water for them.
"Fourth Brother, have you heard about what happened with the Yi Family?" Qi Shaofu asked.
Qi Shaorong glanced at Qi Shaofu, "Do you mean the matter of how Yi Huo turned Yi Bing into a waste inside the secret dimension, leading Yi Bing to then poison and harm Yi Huo in return?"
Qi Shaofu nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes! Yes! It's that."
Qi Shaofu was full of sighs as he said, "To think that in the past, the Yi Family had two outstanding talents, it really caused people to go green with envy. Who would've ever thought that in less than a month's time they'd both become wastes. This morning, Yi Huo went to Yi Bing's bedroom and had wanted to strangle Yi Bing to death. Luckily they were discovered early, otherwise it could've ended in mutual destruction for the both of them."
Qi Shaorong pouted and said, "Really?" He hadn't thought that the Yi Family brothers would've actually gotten to this point already.
Qi Shaofu nodded and said, "The Seven Imperial Talents were fine before, but now they've actually fallen to this extent. Yi Bing had become a waste previously, so Yi Huo was able to hold onto seventh place of the Seven Imperial Talents with great difficulty. This time, the Seven Imperial Talents rankings will have to change again."
After the Hundred Schools Competition, the top three spots remained unchanged, Qi Shaorong took fourth place, Qian Mian was fifth, Qi Shaokang changed from fourth to sixth, and Yi Huo fell to seventh place. Now that Yi Huo has been poisoned, he probably won't be able to keep his seventh place spot.
Qi Shaorong snorted softly and said indifferently, "If you ask me, there's really nothing impressive about Yi Huo and Yi Bing. As the saying goes, when there are no tigers in the mountains, the monkeys are the rulers. In fact, Yi Huo and Yi Bing are the same as Chen Yuan. They're all useless people who are just relying on their family's good fortunes [1]. I alone can deal with a dozen people in a fight! Young Master Zhuang, what do you think?"
"Fourth Young Master Qi, what you're saying is very correct, how could Yi Huo and Yi Bing be compared with you! If you smash a bundle of scrolls at them, it would be difficult for them not to die!" Zhuang Hao said.
Qi Shaorong: "…" Does Zhuang Hao look down on him for using the help of external forces? Isn't financial power also part of a person's strength? Zhuang Hao, this guy, was really muddle-headed.
Qi Shaorong casually asked Qi Shaofu, "Yi Huo's no good anymore, so who's ranked seventh now?"
Qi Shaofu moved his eyes around, and there was some awkwardness on his face.
Some doubt flashed through Qi Shaorong's heart, "Who is it, say it!"
"Chen Yuan!" Qi Shaofu said.
Qi Shaorong, "…Why is that good-for-nothing again [2], is the Imperial Capital short on people?"
Qi Shaofu, "Actually, Chen Yuan isn't that bad. Brother Chen can also be considered a genius…"
Qi Shaorong glanced at Qi Shaofu and said, "Chen Yuan that waste can also be considered as good? Since when have geniuses become so worthless, it looks like not only are there no tigers in the mountains, there are no monkeys either, only rabbits are left."
Qi Shaofu: "…"
"Fourth Brother, where did the Ghost Doctor go? I heard that after he cured the war horses, the royal family also wanted to thank him well, but he disappeared again." Qi Shaofu asked.
"Third Brother, what are you asking so much for, is it possible that you've also secretly fallen in love with the Ghost Doctor?" Qi Shaorong asked.
Qi Shaofu shook his head quickly and said, "No, no, I just think the Ghost Doctor is a little mysterious."
"Third Brother, it's good as long as you don't have any inordinate ambitions. It's my responsibility to tell you that you don't stand a chance!" Qi Shaorong said.
Qi Shaofu: "…"
Zhuang Family.
"Elder Brother, you went to look for Qi Shaorong?" Zhuang Qian asked.
Zhuang Hao nodded and said, "Yes! I haven't seen the Ghost Doctor for a long time now. I wanted to ask him where the Ghost Doctor went, but he didn't want to say."
Zhuang Qian said slightly contemptuously, "Elder Brother, why would Qi Shaorong be willing to tell you, have you forgotten, Qi Shaorong and you are love rivals! He can't help an enemy." Zhuang Qian secretly thought: Elder Brother seems have become stupid all of a sudden. A problem that even he managed to figure out, Zhuang Hao wasn't able to.
"How do you know that Qi Shaorong and the Ghost Doctor are in a couple's relationship? I've always felt that the relationship between these two was strange." Zhuang Hao said.
Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "Elder Brother, did you not know, the Fourth Prince confessed to Qi Shaorong, but unfortunately, Qi Shaorong ruthlessly rejected him. Rumour has it that the feelings between Qi Shaorong and the Ghost Doctor are as deep as the sea, so Qi Shaorong wasn't even interested in a prince. How I see it, Qi Shaorong's feelings for the Ghost Doctor aren't any less than yours. Moreover, Qi Shaorong is very likely to have an actual relationship with Ghost Doctor."
Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao with a little pity in his heart. No matter how strong his Elder Brother was, he still has to face disappointment in love.
Zhuang Hao gritted his teeth and took out an eggshell.
"Elder Brother, what is this?" Zhuang Qian asked curiously.
"The light unicorn's eggshell." Zhuang Hao said.
Zhuang Qian's eyes widened and he said, "Ah! If you have this thing, you can track down the position of the light unicorn, and then you'll also know where the Ghost Doctor is. Elder Brother, you're really bad!"
Zhuang Hao gave Zhuang Qian a glance and activated his magic power. The magical elements in the air quickly started fluctuating.
Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao and asked, "Big Brother, how is it? Have you found it?"
"It's in the direction of Tianlan College, but I'm not clear where exactly it is." Zhuang Hao said.
Zhuang Qian blinked and said, "How could it be over by Tianlan College, the Ghost Doctor shouldn't have been hidden by Qi Shaorong, right!"
Zhuang Hao's face suddenly darkened, and Zhuang Qian rubbed his nose innocently.
Qi Shaorong's dormitory.
The snow-white unicorn was full of excitement as it buried itself under the light-element crystals. Qi Shaorong lightly kicked the little unicorn, and the little unicorn turned its head around in dissatisfaction, bared its teeth at Qi Shaorong, then twisted its head back and burrowed into the pile of light crystals again.
"Everyone says that you're so valuable, but why do I feel like aside from eating, you can't do anything else! Little thing, you should behave a little better for me, you know?"
The little unicorn raised its head and somewhat resentfully neighed at Qi Shaorong twice [3].
Qi Shaorong looked at the little unicorn and said, "What are you crying for? You eat my food and use my stuff, and you even dare to yell at me, shut your mouth for me!"
The little unicorn unwillingly shut up.
Qi Heng looked at the little unicorn, then looked at Qi Shaorong, and said, "Young Master, this unicorn seems to be very young. You shouldn't have such high demands for it, this is a unicorn after all! A fully matured unicorn can even usually reach the saint level."
"If it weren't for this little guy having good future prospects, then I'd be unhappy raising it."
"This unicorn is already at the seventh level," said Qi Heng.
Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes, unicorns really were creatures who were blessed by the heavens. They're already at the sixth level upon being born, and after eating a few light crystals they'd already be at the seventh level. He himself had to spend so much effort facing different setbacks until he could reach the sixth level, but this little guy had already raced up in front of him.
Qi Shaorong raised his hand and looked at the mark on the back of his hand. The mark seemed to be becoming more and more distinct. Not being able to figure out what this thing was really worrying.
Qi Shaorong's sat down on the sofa with a gloomy face.
Yi Fan walked in and asked, "Young Master, you were looking for me?"
Qi Shaorong raised his head, glanced over at Yi Fan, and said, "There was something troubling me, so I went to the library and flipped through a lot of resources, but didn't find the answer that I was looking for. I wanted to ask you for help."
Yi Fan nodded and said, "Young Master, feel free to ask away. What I know, I definitely will say it without reserve and I won't hold anything back."
Qi Shaorong removed the glove from his hand, and an image appeared before Yi Fan's eyes.
"Do you know what the meaning of this image is?" Qi Shaorong asked.
Upon seeing the image on the back of Qi Shaorong's hand, Yi Fan suddenly widened his eyes, and some alarm appeared in his gaze.
Yi Fan's eyes were wide and he didn't speak for quite a while.
Qi Shaorong's pupils shrunk a little, "Looking at your appearance, this thing really doesn't seem to be something good."
"Young Master, I think that you already probably have a guess." Yi Fan was quiet for a while, then finally opened his mouth to probe at Qi Shaorong.
Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "This image is probably related to Zhuang Hao. When he had gifted this unicorn to me previously, I hadn't wanted to receive this favour from him, but there was a voice from the bottom of my heart telling me to accept it, so for some reason, I just inexplicably accepted it. Also, yesterday when he was asking me where the Ghost Doctor was, I almost told him that the Ghost Doctor… Is me."
Yi Fan looked at Qi Shaorong, his face was full of embarrassment and awkwardness.
Qi Shaorong looked at Yi Fan and said, "If you have something to say, then just say it. Don't worry, I can bear with it."
Yi Fan gritted his teeth and said, "Young Master, you know beast tamers are very mystical. They have the ability to let monster beasts serve them, and in some aspects, humans share a lot of similarities with monster beasts."
Qi Shaorong: "…" According to what Darwin has said before, humans evolved from monkeys, and monkeys can naturally be classified as monster beasts. "I understand, humans can also be considered to be a type of monster beast."
"Beast tamers are already rare enough, and among them, there's a type of beast tamer who's even rarer, there's probably only one in every thousandth. Those kinds of beast tamers are known as golden beast tamers [4], not only can they make monster beasts submit to them, but also humans. I've only ever seen them be introduced in ancient records before." Yi Fan said.
Qi Shaorong looked at Yi Fan and said, "So, what you're saying right now is that I've been contracted by Zhuang Hao like a monster beast?"
Yi Fan looked at Qi Shaorong's ugly expression and said, "Young Master, don't be angry!"
Qi Shaorong hooked up the corners of his mouth coldly, "Angry? I'm not angry! A person who regularly walks by the river naturally can't avoid getting their shoes wet [5]!"
Yi Fan: "…"
"If I'm correct, then this contract should have only been half-completed," said Yi Fan.
"What do you mean?" Qi Shaorong asked.
Yi Fan hesitated and said, "Zhuang Hao had probably only contracted you by accident, he probably wasn't very skilled at it in the first place anyway. So this contract will have some effect on you, but there should be a limit to its effectiveness."
Qi Shaorong closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "If I had known earlier, then I wouldn't have been so polite to him. I should've just thrown a bundle of scrolls at him and directly knocked him out before doing anything."
"Things have already progressed to this point, so there's no point in saying any more. The fact is, it's not like Zhuang Hao is someone who's incapable of kindness. Young Master, how about you just go ask Zhuang Hao to help you remove the contract." Yi Fan said.
Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes and said, "You want me to yield to Zhuang Hao? Let me consider it, then we'll see."
Yi Fan nodded and said, "Alright." Yi Fan secretly thought: Qi Shaorong was someone who not only had godly medical skills, but he had also created the famous Allure Cosmetics stores. Such an ambitious and proud person, asking Qi Shaorong to lower his head for Zhuang Hao really would be a little difficult.
"Young Master, you can think it over, and ask the principal for help." Yi Fan said.
Qi Shaorong glanced at Yi Fan and said, "Let me think about it a little more. Right, those two brothers from the Yi Family have both gotten into trouble. Yang Man has lost two talented sons one after the other, I'm afraid that she���ll place her suspicions on you now."
Yi Fan nodded and said, "I know."
"The Yi Family sent an invite to the Ghost Doctor, offering 1 million gold coins for the Ghost Doctor to head over and give an examination. I rejected it." Qi Shaorong said.
Yi Fan narrowed his eyes, 1 million gold coins, this number wasn't little! Yi Xun was very stingy with his own money, on the surface, all of their expenses were covered using his mother's dowry. All these years, the money that originally should've belonged to him, usually without even being able to reach his hands, had all already been cleanly taken away by the servants who had wanted to kiss up to those in higher power.
"Many thanks, Young Master." Yi Fan said.
"The reason why I rejected it wasn't only for you, but also because there's really nothing I can do to solve the problem that you had created for them." Qi Shaorong said.
Yi Fan smiled and said, "No matter what, I should still thank you, Young Master."
Footnotes:
Useless people: "Wine sack, food bag".
Good-for-nothing: "Rice bucket".
Barked: So there are a lot of onomatopoeia's in Chinese, and I couldn't figure out how to make this one make sense in English. I know that visualizing a unicorn barking might seem weird, but "crying", "chirping" or anything else would make even less sense, and it's not really "growling" in this case either. *Edit: I changed it to "neighed" lol.
Golden: Could also mean something that's precious or valuable.
A person who regularly walks by the river naturally can't avoid getting their shoes wet: This one is pretty self-explanatory, basically Qi Shaorong is saying that it's just what he gets for going up against Zhuang Hao.