Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Flame Hound: How am I supposed to live after this!

The Flame Hound’s fangs were huge, as thick as half a grown man’s forearm, so a normal small toothbrush clearly wouldn’t work.

She had checked the campus store, and the toilet brushes in this world were super expensive: “One costs 8 credits? That’s robbery.”

So she went to Back Mountain, shaved a block of wood, and made one herself: “Since it’s for you anyway, making it at home is a great deal.”

Qian Qi took advantage of a careless moment, yanked a tuft of fur off the Flame Hound, and said with a grin, “Right?”

“Awooo?”

Feeling a sudden chill on its body, the Flame Hound turned and saw a freshly bald patch. It stared in horror at Qian Qi’s hand reaching in again.

[No way! Why are you plucking my fur? I look awful. How am I supposed to show my face in the dog yard now!]

In no time, the room turned into chaos. The dog leaped and scrambled to dodge her devil claws, while she chased after it, laughing wildly and plucking without mercy. Screams and excited whoops mixed together until everything was a mess.

Dog fur floated everywhere and landed on the nose of Liu Wang Da at the door, who stood there so shocked his mouth hung open. He sneezed and muttered, “Whoa, this classmate is fierce. Where did Old Master Li find such a powerhouse?”

Then, trembling a little, Liu Wang Da opened his Light-Brain and sent Old Master Li the video of Qian Qi plucking fur. He typed in their chat room under his handle [Prosperous This Year and Successful]: “Old Master Li, this won’t get taken out of my pay, right?”

Old Master Li replied under [Old Li Loves Walking Magibeasts]: “Hahahahahaha.”

Liu Wang Da blinked: “???” He thought, [What does the laughing mean? Am I getting docked or not?]

After almost an hour of work, Qian Qi finally finished the dog hair toothbrush.

“Mm, so pretty.” She loved the red bristles and was about to praise the Flame Hound, but one look at its patchy bald coat made her swallow the compliment. She coughed and said, “It’s for your dental health. Please understand.”

The Flame Hound spat at her with a “ptooey,” clearly a bad habit it had learned from a certain Human.

Qian Qi didn’t mind. She poured cleaner on the brush, put her foot on the Flame Hound’s lower jaw, and, with the spirit of a lumberjack, started scrubbing its yellowed fangs with strong, steady strokes.

Ten minutes later, she flicked its now white, glossy tusk with her middle finger and said with great satisfaction, “Tsk, so clean.”

The Flame Hound, whose tooth almost popped from that flick, went silent: “…”

“Our A Tu, you can show off those big white teeth when you go out now,” said Qian Qi as she cupped its big face and kneaded it a few times. “Alright, I’ve got to go clean the other rooms.”

Leaving Room 1, she crossed to Room 24. Before the Flame Hound inside could react, she lifted her hand and gave it a loud slap.

The Room 24 Flame Hound froze: “???” It huddled in the corner, those orange red eyes watching Qian Qi scoop up poop, and it honestly had no wish to eat her.

Back when she was fighting with the Room 1 Flame Hound, she kicked over the bucket. Some poop was still on the floor, so her clothes got splashed with dirty water. These beasts might look like dogs, but they were not like poop eating dogs. Food touched by poop, especially poop from their own kind, was something they really couldn’t stomach.

Did Qian Qi know that? Of course she did.

It didn’t stop her from slapping them.

Qian Qi believed in the “stick plus date” method of teaching. When a kid behaved, you gave a sweet date. When they didn’t, you used the stick. Warmth and strictness together made education work.

That was how the dean who raised her had taught her when she was little. “Look at me now,” she thought, “so well behaved and upright. I’m a living example.” [Hands on hips, very proud.]

After cleaning, Qian Qi raised the toothbrush, ready to brush Room 24’s fangs too. But as soon as the bristles touched its tooth, the Flame Hound in Room 1 sprang up. Gnawing the iron bars with sharp teeth, it growled at Qian Qi, furious.

[How can you use my fur to brush another dog’s teeth? That’s my fur. That’s my toothbrush. I do not allow it!]

Qian Qi glanced at the raging Flame Hound, then looked away without a care. She thought it was angry about fairness: why had she only plucked its fur and not the others?

But what could she do? She only had one brush. The other dogs would have to wait.

“Don’t worry. I’m very fair. When this brush wears out, it’ll be their turn. How often are you supposed to change a toothbrush again? Humans do every three months. For Magibeasts… feels like one week.”

She muttered to herself, and the Flame Hound at her feet shivered.

[Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?]

After work, Qian Qi headed for the door where Old Master Li was waiting. He smiled and said he wanted to discuss something: “Little Qian, tomorrow at 3 in the afternoon, the Beast Taming freshmen have a practical class in the Beast Taming Plaza to try training Flame Hounds. I’m short on hands. Want to help?”

Her eyes lit up and she nodded right away. She had never seen how Beast Tamers trained Flame Hounds. With a chance like this, of course she wouldn’t miss it. She was sure she would learn a lot of ways to build deep bonds with them. Thinking of that made her excited.

Leaving the Magibeast Storage, Qian Qi set out for the Back Mountain Plantation. Halfway there, she got a payment notification. Right after, Chen Tong called.

He came in hot, yelling so loud he nearly broke her eardrum: “Qian Qi-Dong Fang Qian Qi, that’s you, right? Hurry up and delete that post!”

She could picture him hopping mad like a clown. Picking her ear, she said lazily, “What are you talking about? Something Dong Fang Qian Qi did has nothing to do with me, Qian Qi.”

Chen Tong was grinding his back molars. He had only taken leave for a few days, and when he came back, the campus forum had a trending topic: “#My eyes are burning! A certain well known senior from the Magibeast Department owed Qian Qi 5 million credits and, to repay the debt, actually went into adult work?#” It had passed the old Hemostasis Potion thread and climbed to number one.

Now the whole school thought he had really “gone to sea,” and people were messaging to ask his nightly rate.

“I’ve transferred 50,000 credits to you. Delete it right now,” he said, then hung up with a bang.

“Tsk, what’s the rush? You still haven’t reimbursed me for the clothes,” Qian Qi sighed. “A few days away and Senior Chen’s temper is worse than ever.”

She remembered how he used to lean close and speak softly by her ear, saying she should just wait and see. “Fine,” she thought, “next time I’ll be kind and sell him a few bags of chrysanthemum tea to cool him down.”

Humming a cheerful tune, she went to Back Mountain to care for her Magiplant darlings.