Chapter 1419 — An Exorbitant Price

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.

"Old Yu, you are mistaken!" Zhao Qibing waved a hand. "Old Yu, think about it — these are all treasures of heaven and earth, priceless medicines. Our Zhao family's stores are not plentiful either; we keep them above all for my grandfather and the family's finest to cultivate with. Now, to cure your poison, we must expend so many ingredients. If later some member of the family needs them for a breakthrough, there will be no place left to seek such treasures! My grandfather is on the verge of breaking through from the Earth Rank into the Heaven Rank... you know very well what a great sacrifice our Zhao family is making for your Yu family!"

These words made Old Yu furious beyond measure. Even if all those treasures of heaven and earth were genuine, they still should not cost a billion! Did they take him for a fool? The Yu family had treasures of heaven and earth too — no thousand-year fleeceflower root or ten-thousand-year snow lotus, perhaps, but lesser ones they did have. He did not believe the Zhao family possessed so many fine things!

Yet even in doubt, there was nothing to be done. Old Yu's life was now in their hands; he truly could not afford to fall out with them.

"Young Master Zhao, this fee is nothing short of astronomical to me. My purse is thin — could you see your way to... lowering it a little?" Old Yu asked, forcing down his anger. He had no choice but to ask; were he truly to let his fury drive him to turn and walk out, he would only go back to the hotel and wait to die.

"It cannot be lowered!" Zhao Qibing waved a hand. "Old Yu, I will speak frankly with you: this is only because it is you. For an ordinary man, our Zhao family would not be willing to part with treasures of heaven and earth for a billion!"

"This..." Old Yu nearly cursed aloud. So you fleece me and I am supposed to remember your kindness? But he dared not curse. "My purse is truly thin!"

Old Yu knew the wealth of the hidden Yu family inside out. Much of the hidden Yu family's money had been earned for them by the mundane Yu family — how could he fail to know that? But how could the hidden Yu family possibly hand over money to cure his poison? That phone call earlier had left Old Yu thoroughly disillusioned with the hidden Yu family; his heart had gone cold as ice.

In his eyes, he was nothing but a dog to the hidden Yu family — whether he lived or died was no concern of theirs at all! So Old Yu simply did not even entertain the thought of calling the hidden Yu family again to ask for money.

As for the mundane Yu family, Old Yu believed that if he asked Yu Shuixing for money, Yu Shuixing would surely give it to him — but he knew even more clearly just how much the mundane Yu family had at bottom! Though the mundane Yu family was wealthy, much of that money was earned for the hidden Yu family; over the years, the cash the mundane Yu family had actually made came to only a billion in total!

If that money were brought out to pay for the cure, how would the mundane Yu family manage then? Would it not be marching into decline? Such a thing Old Yu could not bring himself to do either!

"Oh? I have heard the Yu family's assets come to a billion. Old Yu, saying what you just said — are you not lying to me?" Zhao Qibing dug at his ear. "I may not be very clever, I, Zhao Qibing, but you cannot fool me as though I were a fool, can you?"