Chapter 1419 — An Exorbitant Price
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
The Medicine King and Zhao Qibing were simply a match made in heaven, a pair made on earth — both of them utterly black-hearted. In truth, the moment the Medicine King laid his fingers on Old Yu's pulse, he knew the old man had been poisoned.
Vicious as this poison was, it posed no great difficulty for the Medicine King.
If Wei Zhao could neutralize it with ease, then naturally the Medicine King felt no pressure either; in the art of medicine the Medicine King was in fact not one whit inferior to Wei Zhao. The difference between them lay only in this: one devoted his studies to healing and saving lives, the other to ruining people and making money.
"Mm... this poison is a ferocious thing! It is a rare toxin of a thousand years!" The Medicine King released Old Yu's wrist, his brows tightly knitted. "This is no ordinary poison — it is a toxin long lost to the world, one I have only ever seen described in a few ancient texts... and now your pulse matches the descriptions in those texts exactly!"
"Then... what is to be done?" Old Yu was frightfully alarmed. He too had heard of the Medicine King's great name; anyone who could serve as one of the chief physicians of the hidden Zhao family was surely no simple figure. If even he called this poison ferocious, then was Old Yu not likely to lose his life at any moment?
Thinking of this, Old Yu felt utterly wretched. He had gone to the ancient tomb and very nearly thrown his life away, yet the hidden Yu family treated him with such cold indifference — it made his blood boil!
"It is not that there is no cure. As it happens, when I read of this thousand-year rare poison, I also read of its antidote. Old Yu, you have picked up a life — you are lucky in your fate to have met me. Had it been anyone else, you would simply be waiting to die!" The Medicine King came from one of the hidden great families, and held no small standing in the hidden Zhao family, so when he spoke to Old Yu there was no deference in his tone at all.
"Ah! Medicine King, I beg you to save my life — I will most certainly reward you richly!" Hearing that there was hope, Old Yu's face flushed, and he hastily clasped his hands in salute.
"Easy, easy... as for rich rewards, there is no need to speak of them at all. You are of the Yu family, I am of the Zhao family, and our two families are joined by marriage. Of course I will not shrink from my duty!" the Medicine King said, with an air of great righteousness.
"In that case, my thanks!" Old Yu said hurriedly.
"However..." the Medicine King turned the conversation. "This poison is exceedingly ferocious, and the ingredients in the antidote are naturally exceedingly precious — thousand-year fleeceflower root, ten-thousand-year snow lotus, three-thousand-year ginseng, and so on, all rare and costly medicines. The cost of these ingredients..."
"Rest assured, I will bear these costs — how could I let you spend your own money, Medicine King? You are curing my poison, and I am already endlessly grateful; how could I let you lose money?" Old Yu said hurriedly. "How much will these medicines cost?"
"Not much — one billion is enough!" the Medicine King nodded.
"How much?" Old Yu was stunned, not quite catching it.
"One billion!" the Medicine King repeated.
"Gah!" Old Yu was instantly petrified, his mouth agape, unable to speak. One billion? What kind of cosmic joke was this? One billion to cure a poison? Even if the antidote were made of diamonds, it would not be worth that!
The Medicine King's words shocked even Zhao Qibing. One billion — the Medicine King truly dared to name such a price! In Zhao Qibing's view, three hundred million or two hundred million would have been the absolute ceiling, yet the Medicine King had asked for so much. Truly ruthless!
But Zhao Qibing liked it!
"Young Master Zhao, isn't the fee here a little too expensive?" Old Yu finally came back to himself and said to Zhao Qibing.