Chapter 52: Bad Idea

The chestnut-haired boy was one of the four people Xie Sen met in the forest. He laughed at Xie Sen’s words, then looked at Julos. “Julos recommended that I come to this store to bathe the lion beast. This is my friend’s contract beast, and it especially doesn’t like bathing. My friend asked me to help on a whim. I didn’t expect to meet you.”

Xie Sen thought, No wonder. Gold Medal announced that they wouldn’t do business with Julos, so he appeared here accompanied.

Xie Sen raised his eyebrows at the chestnut-haired boy’s big smile.

“Rohat, what’s your nonsense?” Julos frowned impatiently. “The lion beast is almost tearing the place apart. Why don’t you hurry up, and let them help it take a bath.”

The chestnut-haired boy, also known as Rohat, seemed accustomed to Julos’ attitude, and didn’t care much. He looked at Xie Sen and said, “By the way, you should take a look. I don’t know if it’s because its beast master isn’t here, but it’s more resistant to bathing than usual.”

Xie Sen looked at the big lion that appeared to be running and roaring like a madman. He watched its line of motion, walked to the path it must pass, took two steps back to make sure he wouldn’t get hit and held out a hand to touch it.

Not long after, the big lion ran past him. He reached out in time to brush the big lion on the hind leg. The big lion continued to run forward, but it had a slight pause in its footsteps before it continued to run.

Xie Sen frowned, and said, “It seems to really hate bathing.”

He had seen all kinds of difficult contract beasts go meek after Xie Sen’s touch, but this was the first time he met one like this lion beast that didn’t buy it.

After it passed them, the big lion didn’t continue to run in circles, but turned to their right, and went straight to hit the gate they had entered from not long ago.

“Whoa, little Ha, calm down!” Rohat was startled, and scrambled up next to the big lion, as he urged, “If you don’t want to wash, forget it. Don’t crash that.”

Xie Sen quickly walked to the tail of the big lion, and while careful to keep a distance, he reached out to touch its hind leg. He vigilantly watched the reaction of the big lion, ready to retreat at any time. The big lion’s speed of hitting the door slowed down. Gradually it stopped hitting the door, and seemed to be a little confused. It turned its head to look back, and swept over Xie Sen’s wrist with its tail.

Xie Sen was slightly relieved to see it quiet down. He touched it on its hind leg again, then stepped forward and pulled its legs back with a little force.

The big lion quickly realized his intentions, and followed the force backward all the way to the bath. Although its size wasn’t as large as a giant lion beast, it also wasn’t small. After it fell in the water, it splashed around. Now Xie Sen’s body was wet. He didn’t care much, as this kind of thing was very common in the bath area. Later he would go to the drying room to dry for a while.

“You’re amazing,” Rohat exclaimed.

A’Qiang took out the germ removing pills as he laughed, “Sen is the best caretaker in our department.”

Xie Sen put his hand on the lion beast to soothe it, and shook his head. “That’s too much. I just have a better affinity. There’s still a lot to learn about the profession.”

The lion beast leaned its big head against the shore, and its clear, beautiful eyes looked at Xie Sen, as it occasionally moved its neck to rub against his hand.

Xie Sen took a soft brush with a long handle to clean it. A’Qiang also took one in his hand, and washed it on the other side.

“Julos, let’s go over and sit for a while. Even if it is so well behaved, it will take at least twenty minutes to finish washing it.” Rohat said.

Julos’ eyes lingered on Xie Sen for a few seconds, then he nodded and went to sit in the owner’s lounge area, while he glanced at Xie Sen from time to time.

Rohat raised an eyebrow. “What, are you interested in him? Didn’t I tell you, he seems to be a pair with Maine. They acted very intimate in the forest before.”

“Heh, no vision. He’s a pseudo-male,” Julos said sarcastically.

Rohat looked at him strangely. “Weren’t you interested in him before? You kept asking me about him in the forest.”

“I just thought what you said wasn’t credible, so I asked more questions,” Julos said coldly.

“Also.” Rohat curled up his hand to support his chin. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. I really wasn’t exaggerating at all. Yan Qi tried to bond, he failed once and then tried again and succeeded. The only difference between the two times was that on his successful attempt, Xie Sen was next to the contract beast. I doubt it’s reasonable that he can make the contract beast submissive to a beast master and make a contract.”

The corners of Julos’ mouth ticked lightly as he whispered, “Very reasonable indeed.”

Rohat lightened his voice, “A’Qi said not to tell anyone. If you hadn’t been curious about what happened to me in the forest, I wouldn’t have said anything. You shouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Mn, won’t tell anyone.” Julos stared at Xie Sen, and casually responded.

Rohat looked at him a few times. “I say, you had to come to Gold Medal with me today, not to keep me company, but to see the giant lion beast, right? Look at your absent-mindedness. Do you want to go and see it now?”

Julos pondered for a moment. “Sure, I’ll go and see. I’ll be in touch when I have to leave.”

Rohat nodded, “Okay.”

Julos took a deep look at Xie Sen, who was bathing the lion beast, then left the bathing area and went straight to the feeding zones.

He was stopped after crossing Zone 3. The guard at the gate said, “Sorry, the back area is not open to the public.”

Julos looked at him sarcastically. “Not open to the public? Do you know who I am? Why can’t I just go in and take a look?”

“Master Cox.” Of course the guard knew who he was. He had been on the hot seat for a few days a while back, but there were orders from above not to allow extraneous people in. He didn’t sound vague at all. “I’m sorry, this is a decision from the top of our company. No one can enter without the boss’s permission.”

Julos stared at him. “What if I have to enter?”

The security guard frowned unnoticeably. He had a particularly bad impression of this person who was interfering with his work, but had to hold his temper because of his status. “I’m sorry. If you want to force your way in, we’ll have to inform our colleagues and ask you to leave.”

Julos’ face was particularly ugly. When he saw that they didn’t take him seriously, he said in a cold voice, “I’ll see how long Gold Medal can stay open!”

The security guard looked at his back, and said to his colleagues, “He thinks he can do whatever he wants because his family is powerful? If he wants to touch Gold Medal, he doesn’t even know who our boss is.”

“He’s just a spoiled fool,” A colleague echoed disdainfully.

Xie Sen kept an eye on Julos’ movements while he was giving the lion beast a bath, and as soon as he saw him leave, he immediately contacted Sun Mao and told him to keep an eye on Zones 4 and 5.

It didn’t take long for Julos to return. Xie Sen noticed that he looked very pale, and guessed that he wanted to go see the giant lion beast, but was stopped.

Twenty minutes later, the lion beast had finished its bath. Xie Sen led it to the left side of the bath bank, while A’Qiang held a large blower fan to dry its body and mane. Five minutes later, the lion beast became a big, clean, flowing-maned lion.

“Handsome!” Rohat rubbed the neck of the lion beast, and praised it. Then he looked at Xie Sen. “It’s the first time I’ve seen it so well behaved when bathing. Thank you so much.”

Xie Sen politely said, “You’re welcome. It’s our job.”

Rohat took the lion beast and left. Julos looked at Xie Sen, then followed him out.

After Xie Sen finished bathing the lion beast, he didn’t receive work for a while, so he went back to the lounge to rest. He asked Sun Mao what happened after Julos just left in the middle, and got the reply he had guessed at.

At nearly noon, he followed the feeder of Zones 4 and 5, as the two carried the food buckets to Zones 4 and 5, to see the senior contract animals.

The feeder said cheerfully as they walked, “They are really too smart. When I got the job I was worried if I would make mistakes, but I didn’t think it would be easier than feeding the D class contract beasts. I think they can even understand what I say.”

Xie Sen said, “Senior contract beasts are already very intelligent, so this situation should be very common, right?”

“No,” the feeder shook his head. “It’s not the same. They’re the smartest I’ve ever seen. In the past with the senior contract beasts, they could understand me when I made gestures. But now with the ones in Zone 4 and 5, they understand when I don’t do anything but talk.” He smiled shyly. “Sometimes when I talk with my colleagues, they look at us, and I even think they are listening to our gossip!”

The corners of Xie Sen’s mouth curled up, and he mused, That’s not thinking, it’s definitely knowing.

The feeder swiped open the door to the combined Zones 4 and 5, then the two went in together. The feeder whispered, “Look, they’re like all different kinds of people, huddling together and growling. It’s almost like they’re talking.”

Xie Sen said, “Can’t contract beasts communicate with each other?”

“No. There’s a saying that one mountain can’t have two tigers, right? The stronger the creature, the more territorial they are. Any one of them is considered the top creature in the forest.”

Xie Sen couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He had seen the toddler film, and cartoons. The protagonists were many different cute versions of the contract beasts. The content was their adventures or life together. Children could use this to get to know contract beasts.

A tiger whistle came, and within a few moments the huge tiger beast ran up to Xie Sen. The feeder was startled. “What? What’s wrong?”

When he fed them yesterday, these contract beasts lay still, and he was secretly thankful for that. Why were they suddenly so excited today? Xie Sen took a hold of the giant tiger’s raised front paw and laughed. “Nothing. It’s greeting me. We know each other well from the forest.”

The feeder looked at the big guy close at hand, and dragged the beast food towards the stone trough then pulled away. “Standing in front of this guy is really too stressful. Your plant system beast master aura is really powerful, and too pleasing to contract beasts.”

Xie Sen laughed, “It’s just a higher affinity.”

He listened attentively as the giant tiger beast told him about the accommodations. “It’s nice here, and we all like it, but it’s a bit boring with no creatures but us except for the eating spots.”

Xie Sen was curious. “So how did you all get by before?”

The giant tiger beast’s big head tilted, “Hunting, rest… Huh, that’s strange. Before, I also didn’t feel bored. When I rested my head, it was empty. Now I think about the east and west. Last night, each beast’s experience was finished, and the chat turned to the story of the ancestors.”

The corners of Xie Sen’s mouth twitched. “Don’t you all need to rest?”

“Rest,” said the giant tiger beast. The contract beasts who were lying in place called out towards them. “They called us over.”

Xie Sen and the giant tiger beast went to the group of contract beasts. Eight contract beasts in very tacit understanding were lying around in a circle, heads in. Xie Sen sat in the middle of them.

Xie Sen thought to himself, Fortunately, they are all highly intelligent contract beasts that I know. If it were a regular beast, I would have been stunned.

He touched their paws, and asked them one by one how they were doing. Each one gave the same feedback. They were all bored, and they all said that this wasn’t the case in the past.

Xie Sen thought about it and figured that  it had something to do with the increase in their IQ. They could understand a lot of things they couldn’t before. Their minds were open, and the memories in their heads were mostly the same life they used to repeat every day. Not to mention, that now they didn’t even have to hunt. It would be normal to feel bored.

He said, “Is there anything you want to do?”

The giant tiger beast said, “I want to listen to people talk. Human life is so colorful.”

The black leopard said, “I also want to watch the news. The feeders always talk about ‘Have you seen the news?’ The news must be good.”

The spotted leopard, “I want to watch what my brother wants to watch.”

The two giant elephants, “I want to watch it too.”

The giant wolf, “And the TV. They’re discussing a drama.”

The giant lion beast lay on its side, and waved its tail. “I want to watch them all.”

Xie Sen looked around, and finally stopped at the left wall not far from their nest. He suggested, “How about getting a projector, and putting it on the wall to show you the news or TV?”

The giant rhinoceros who had not spoken before, now said in a calm tone, “It would cost a lot of money, wouldn’t it? Yesterday the feeders said, ‘What’s the boss thinking? So many high-class contract beasts sitting here, not selling them, and giving away food every day. Isn’t that a waste of money?'”

Its big black eyes blinked, it appeared exceptionally intelligent. “Although we only have one meal a day, we eat a lot of food, and the daily food costs a lot of money, as well as labor costs, and the rest of the equipment costs. We thought too simply before, believing that it would be fine to give back double the food after our spirits were restored.” It paused. “But your human society is not the same as the forest. Living here not only consumes food, but these other expenses. If you add the projector instrument, it will cost a lot of money, right?”

Xie Sen looked at it in surprise. He hadn’t expected a beast to think so much.

The giant tiger beast said, “Yes. It’s the rhinoceros beast that thought of everything.”

The giant wolf beast said, “Then what should we do? Do we find a way to earn the money back?”

Xie Sen was amused. “Do you want to make a contract with someone else?”

The giant rhinoceros beast said, “The chance of meeting a beast master that I like and can submit to is too small.”

The others nodded in agreement. Xie Sen smiled, and stroked their paws. “Don’t think too much about it. You’re paying back double the food. The extra part is converted into money. It’s enough to cover the rest of your expenses.”

They each have to eat at least thirty or forty pounds of meat, and together almost three hundred pounds. Large meat was five star coins a pound, so a day’s food cost one thousand five hundred. The rest of the daily expenses were also about one thousand five.

“A’Sen!!!” The feeder’s voice suddenly rang out. He shouted especially loud, and the word Sen just about broke the sound barrier. The voice trembled, as if in great fright.

Xie Sen patted the giant tiger’s fleshy paws. The giant tiger stood up, and took a few steps back to make a hole in the circle enclosure. Xie Sen walked out through it, and waved toward the feeder who wasn’t far from the trough. “What’s wrong?”

The feeder was relieved to see him, and stood up holding the food bucket. “I was scared to death. I thought you were surrounded by them.”

He had been distributing the beast food in the trough. But when he turned his head, he didn’t see Xie Sen’s figure, only eight contract beasts gathered together, their heads lowered towards the middle. Almost as if they were eating with their heads down. His first thought was that Xie Sen had been eaten by them, and was terrified.

“Nonsense. How could we eat A’Sen? He’s our friend!” The giant tiger beast yelled at the feeder.

“I’m a vegetarian.” The two giant elephant beasts said at the same time.

“What nonsense, we don’t eat people.” The rest of the contract beasts yelled at the feeder, displeased with his nonsense.

The feeder had just been startled by his own wild thoughts, and now by their abrupt roars. His feet went limp as noodles, and he could barely stand straight while propping himself up with the food bucket.

“What…What’s wrong?” The feeder was puzzled. “Hungry? The food is ready. Don’t be mean to me!”

Xie Sen shook his head with a smile, and went over to pat him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s probably because you’re standing here blocking their place to eat.”

“Oh, oh.” The feeder hurriedly grabbed the barrel, and walked out, “This isn’t enough, there’s more.”

“I’ll help you.” Xie Sen said.

The two carried in a total of five buckets of food. When they finished sharing, both of them were exhausted and panting.

“Fortunately, except for the giant elephant beasts, they all only eat one meal. The giant elephant beasts are good for food, or specially go to the forest to find the grass,” The feeder commented.

Xie Sen and the feeder watched the contract beasts finish their food, and made sure they were eating normally before they left.

After he left Zones 4 and 5, Xie Sen contacted Long Teng directly about installing the projector and then said, “How much do they cost per day? I’ll transfer the money to you!”

Long Teng’s father personally gave the order to house the contract beasts, so Manager Sun and the others definitely wouldn’t ask the boss for money, however the expenses were real.

“No,” Long Teng said. “Father isn’t short of money anyway. I’ll have the projector installed now so I can go play with them this afternoon.”

Xie Sen looked at the disconnected communication, and shrugged helplessly. Long Teng’s personality was really windy.

He was just about to turn off the communicator when it rang. He looked at the contact, and had a smile on his face.

Xie Sen looked at the time, “Yes, I get off work at noon. How about you?”

“I’m having lunch with the other party,” Maine said and paused. “I thought of you, and called you on the pretext of coming to the bathroom.”

Xie Sen’s ears reddened slightly, and the corners of his mouth curled up. “Didn’t we just meet this morning? You weren’t that clingy before.”

“You’re mine now,” Maine whispered. “Not before. I wasn’t in a position to.”

Xie Sen blinked. He hadn’t expected Maine to think this way. “We were friends before.”

“I don’t want you as a friend. You said there will be many friends, but I don’t want many.” Maine said lightly.

Xie Sen reminded himself, I’m still thinking the same thing as before, but now that they’re in a relationship, there’s no need to get hung up on such things.

He laughed, “Don’t you have to have lunch with your partner? Don’t take too long. I’m going to eat too, then I’m going to take a nap, so I’ll go straight home after work.”

“Okay.” Xie Sen had no choice but to end the communication first.

Xie Sen woke up from his nap after lunch, and heard that the projector had been installed.

He took advantage of his free time to go to Zones 4 and 5. As soon as he entered, he heard a lot of noise inside.

The giant tiger beast and Long Teng were fighting with each other. The remaining seven were lying on the ground as they watched the news played by the projector, and occasionally turned their big heads to discuss it with their companions to the left and right.

He couldn’t help but smile. It felt amazing to see a group of huge beasts watching TV.

He looked at the battle of the man and the beast. The giant tiger beast was large and also flexible. Its strength was even more frightening. Each time its claws moved towards Long Teng and Long Teng dodged, he felt the ground shake a little. He watched with anxiety and trepidation, for fear that Long Teng would be carelessly hurt.

Luckily, they didn’t fight for long. The giant tiger beast stopped. Long Teng laughed and rubbed its neck. “Great!”

Xie Sen walked over, rubbed the tiger’s front leg, and looked at Long Teng. “Don’t fight anymore. What if you get hurt?”

Long Teng smiled brightly. “It’s okay, I just want to feel the ability of an A class contract beast.”

The giant tiger beast said, “It’s okay to have a little fight like this. I’m just playing with him. I’ll stop even if he can’t dodge it.”

Xie Sen praised, “That’s great.”

After making sure the contract beasts were satisfied, Xie Sen didn’t stay long and left after receiving his work assignment.

The afternoon passed quickly. Xie Sen took on a tricky job near the end of the day, and left twenty minutes later than usual. When he made it to the end of the day, he sent a message to Maine, and said that he was leaving work late to avoid worrying Maine. He finished his work, and went straight to the parking lot. He was heading toward his shuttle when a man suddenly stepped from behind the side of the shuttle he was passing, and stopped him.

“Julos?” Xie Sen frowned. “Something wrong?”

Julos stared at him, and got straight to the point. “You’ll be my mate!”

Xie Sen looked at him and thought he was a fool. He didn’t understand this man’s brain circuitry. Deflated, he said, “No way.”

He pointed at Xie Sen and said, “You’re just an adopted son. No power, no money. If it wasn’t for the fact that you’re a plant-based beast master, I wouldn’t even look at you. Don’t play games with me, or I might change my mind. Then you’ll regret it.”

Xie Sen gave him a blank look. “You change your mind now! Also, I really don’t want to see you at all.”

“You!” Julos snickered. “For that useless bastard Maine? I’m going to inherit the Cox family.”

“How dare you call someone useless?” Xie Sen looked at him incredulously. “Don’t you feel ashamed to say that?”

Julos’ face sank. He took a few steps forward, and waved his hand towards Xie Sen. “Who are you? You don’t get to taunt me.”

Xie Sen took two steps back, and quickly summoned a watermelon vine to bind him. “Are you crazy?”

Julos’ movements were stopped by the vines. The only thing he could move freely was his raised right hand. His face was dark while his eyes shone with a strange light. “Surely you are a plant-based beast master.”

His right hand retrieved his sharp knife from his bag to cut the watermelon vine. He couldn’t cut it instantly. He showed a surprised expression, then pulled hard. The watermelon vine broke off, and fell to the ground.

Xie Sen felt the pain in his flesh. His watermelon vine!!!

He recalled the watermelon vine, ten meters of vines cut into two, almost twenty lost points.

Julos walked towards Xie Sen again, as he sneered, “To the win.” He reached out and grabbed Xie Sen’s collar. Xie Sen commanded three meters of vines to bind his hands. This time, Julos was warned. The moment he saw the vines, he used a backhanded force to cut them off with the knife.

Then he realized that the vines would be used by Xie Sen even if they were broken, so he quickly sliced them short, and then continued to reach for Xie Sen.

Xie Sen stepped back and leaned further, as he allowed another three meter vine to bind his right hand, while a seven meter vine bound his feet.

When he leaned back, he revealed his long neck. Julos was watching and saw the red marks on it. He said disdainfully, “So Maine already touched you.” The corner of his mouth curled up. “Didn’t he always dislike people getting close to him? It seems he cares about you. Suddenly, I have a better idea.”

Xie Sen looked at his grim expression, and knew he had a bad idea. He kicked him in the waist while he was tied up. “Don’t even think about you, you bastard! Get out.”

Julos fell backwards, and rolled on the ground as he landed. He switched the knife to his left hand, his face vicious as he cut away the vines on his right hand and then went to cut free his legs.

Xie Sen saw that something was wrong. He didn’t want to spend any more energy on him, so while Julos’ legs were still tied, he ran towards the shuttle. As he ran he thought that he had to find a way to finish Julos, or at least not let him stay in Star City. The man was like a □□□.

As an A class beast master, Julos’ bottom line was really good, and his running speed was very fast. So even as Xie Sen was almost to the shuttle, he was about to catch up with Xie Sen and reached out to grab Xie Sen’s shoulder.

Xie Sen was about to exchange the vines and then summon them, when Maine suddenly came out from the side of his own shuttle. He reached out, took him in his arms, then raised his foot sideways and kicked at Julos harshly.

Julos stopped in time, and leaned his body back to avoid his attack.

Maine scowled, and moved Xie Sen behind him. “Wait for me here,” he said, and walked towards Julos with a dark expression.

Julos’s eyebrows were full of hostility. He took the knife in his right hand, and swung it towards Maine. “You’re just in time. Go to hell!”