Beast Taming: I'm Really Not a Cultivation Master

Chapter 327: Chapter 297: This Is the Power of Love

Li Qian stood on the walls of Outpost Nine, silently watching. Soon, he noticed something was wrong.

”I remember One-horned Rhinoceroses being a very docile type of Extraordinary Creature. Why are they so agitated?” he asked Elder Tie, who was not far away.

”Normally, they are quite docile and almost never attack human Beast Masters on their own. That’s what I can’t figure out either,” Elder Tie said, his brow furrowed.

Li Qian continued to ponder, slowly piecing things together. ”I recall that this time of year is supposed to be the mating season for the One-horned Rhinoceros and the Unihorn Tyrannosaurus...”

He murmured to himself, a clue gradually forming. He had seen this information before in the data he had copied from the Mu Family.

”Could it be related to that? Elder Tie, why don’t you check inside the outpost? See if any Adventurers have been hunting One-horned Rhinoceroses,” Li Qian suggested.

Elder Tie thought the idea was a bit absurd and that it was an unlikely cause. But with no other leads, he figured it was worth a shot.

He ordered the other guards at the outpost to search inside. The outpost wasn’t large, about the size of a small town.

Before long, just as the Wind Thunder Lion and the Thunderous Griffin were locked in fierce combat with a group of One-horned Rhinoceroses, a series of roars suddenly erupted from within the outpost.

”ROAR! ROAR! ROAR...”

These roars appeared out of nowhere. Clearly, some Pet Beasts had just been summoned, or perhaps released from their Beast Taming Balls.

Elder Tie had been stationed at this outpost for over three days and had become quite familiar with the roars of the One-horned Rhinoceros. He instantly identified the Extraordinary Creatures behind these calls.

They were One-horned Rhinoceroses.

”Damn it!” Just as he couldn’t help but curse, guessing that Li Qian’s words had hit the mark, a guard came rushing over.

”What are you waiting for? Hurry up and release those One-horned Rhinoceroses!”

”Compensation? Compensation my ass! That bunch of Pet Beast Merchants, recklessly capturing One-horned Rhinoceroses and nearly causing the whole herd to stampede. They’re lucky I’m not settling the score with them!”

After hearing the guard’s report and confirming that the incident was indeed caused by Pet Beast Merchants inside the outpost capturing a large number of One-horned Rhinoceroses, Elder Tie couldn’t help but curse out loud.

”They want compensation? Fine. Tell them to come talk to me personally.”

Elder Tie gave the order with extreme firmness. The young guard didn’t dare hesitate for a moment, immediately retreating to carry out his command.

”Hurry!” Irina urged, seeing several Unihorn Tyrannosauruses in the distance begin to stir restlessly after hearing the roars from within the outpost.

There was a considerable number of those Unihorn Tyrannosauruses—seven or eight of them—and their strength had all reached the Dominator Level. If they charged over together, they would undoubtedly cause immense trouble.

Elder Tie saw this as well. He whipped his head around, glaring furiously toward a certain spot inside the outpost.

As a Summoning Array lit up, the Four-Winged Mantis—a Pet Beast Li Qian recognized—suddenly appeared. Elder Tie and it shared a telepathic bond, so the Four-Winged Mantis immediately knew why it had been summoned.

It didn’t delay for a second, moving swiftly. Its figure abruptly vanished, and a few breaths later, a group of people appeared on the walls of Outpost Nine.

The oldest was around forty or fifty, while the youngest was in his early thirties. The moment they suddenly appeared, they were all given a terrible fright.

Only after they got a clear look at their surroundings and the situation did they let out a long sigh of relief.

Elder Tie glanced at them, giving them no time to adjust. He said directly, ”Right now, you have two choices. First, release all the One-horned Rhinoceroses you’ve captured. Second, keep holding onto them, and I’ll send you out there to ’negotiate’ with them.”

As he spoke, he pointed toward the battlefield in front of them, his tone icy and devoid of any emotion.

There were five of them in total, all Pet Beast Merchants involved in capturing the One-horned Rhinoceroses. They subconsciously glanced over, and couldn’t help but flinch when they saw the fierce battle raging below the wall.

”Th-this...” One of them, who looked to be the oldest, couldn’t stop his teeth from chattering as he stammered, his voice faltering.

”You have one minute to think about it.” After giving them their options, Elder Tie looked directly at his watch, adopting a countdown posture.

”Sir, this shouldn’t have anything to do with us. We’ve hunted plenty of One-horned Rhinoceroses before, but something like this has never happened!” a slender man in his mid-thirties with a mustache spoke up.

Elder Tie didn’t respond, his eyes still fixed on his watch, apparently with no intention of explaining. A moment later, he said flatly, ”Thirty seconds left!”

The mustached man heard this and immediately grew nervous. ”You can’t do this! I’m going to file a complaint! This is extortion! It’s against the rules!”

”Yeah, we worked hard for over half a month! You can’t just let us walk away with nothing.”

”You have to at least give us some compensation!”

”...”

The five Pet Beast Merchants began to argue amongst themselves, looking as if they were trying to pressure him into backing down.

But Elder Tie didn’t even give them a sideways glance, his gaze still fixed forward, watching the reactions of the several Unihorn Tyrannosauruses.

”Ten seconds left!” Elder Tie’s icy voice rang out again.

The five men looked at each other, their faces a mix of complex emotions: unwillingness, helplessness, despair, and conflict... In the end, it all melted into a sigh.

One by one, they took out the Beast Taming Balls from their pockets and released the One-horned Rhinoceroses.

’That’s quite a lot of them,’ Li Qian couldn’t help but mutter as he watched the more than one hundred One-horned Rhinoceroses being released.

”ROAR! ROAR! ROAR...”

After being released, the group of One-horned Rhinoceroses seemed momentarily disoriented but quickly grew excited. They began to gallop toward their herd in the distance, letting out joyous roars.

Irina and Elder Tie took the opportunity to communicate with the Thunderous Griffin and the Wind Thunder Lion, ordering them to pull back.

This group of over a hundred One-horned Rhinoceroses quickly rejoined their herd, and the rampaging rhinoceroses gradually began to calm down.

”So, still think it wasn’t your fault?” Elder Tie shot a cold, sideways glance at the five Pet Beast Merchants. ”This is the best possible outcome. If Outpost Nine had been destroyed because of this, it wouldn’t have ended with you just taking out your Beast Taming Balls. You’d probably have spent the rest of your lives ’making license plates.’”

”But before...” Seeing the herd of One-horned Rhinoceroses and the few Unihorn Tyrannosauruses retreat, the five Pet Beast Merchants were a bit dumbfounded. This was the first time they had ever encountered such a situation. One of them wanted to argue but found himself at a loss for words after opening his mouth.

Li Qian smiled and explained for him, ”The situation now is different from before. This is the One-horned Rhinoceroses’ mating season. You forcibly broke up so many budding romances—of course they’d be furious!”

”So that’s how it is!” Hearing this, all five Pet Beast Merchants had a look of sudden realization.

Li Qian looked at Elder Tie and added with profound meaning, ”This is... the power of love!”

As he said this, he intentionally yet casually glanced toward Teacher Han Ke. The hidden meaning behind his words was truly thought-provoking.

Elder Tie wasn’t a fool; how could he not understand the double meaning in Li Qian’s words? In a rare sight, the old man’s face flushed red, and he was momentarily at a loss.