Novel Bin Chapter 9: Hidden Mission Triggered
Chapter 9: Hidden Mission Triggered
"There's a saying: 'Every wrong has a perpetrator, and every debt has an owner.' I'm just a doctor who treats and saves people. If you're the vengeful soul devoured by the treant, please don't trouble me! I'm leaving now!"
Charlotte's throat twitched, and he turned around, preparing to run away.
This was just too terrifying!
Someone inside the treant's throat was greeting him?
This was beyond his capabilities. He would gladly forgo those hundred copper coins!
"Hey, hey, hey! Doctor Charlotte, don't go!" The voice from the throat sounded increasingly urgent.
"Oh damn, this mysterious person is not to be trifled with! They even know my name!" Charlotte was greatly shocked, and his determination to flee grew stronger.
"I'm Guy! The dwarf blacksmith from the corner ironworks. Last month, you treated my ears!" the voice from the throat said.
Charlotte's footsteps halted. Indeed, he remembered this person.
Guy, the dwarf blacksmith from Baka Street, was a sturdy, chubby fellow with a blind left eye. But he had decent skills. Last month, he had come to Charlotte to have his ears treated. The previous owner of Charlotte's body had transplanted a dog's ear onto him, curing his hearing problem.
"Are you a person or a ghost? What's going on?" Charlotte asked.
"Early this morning, the treant came to me to have its teeth replaced. While I was fitting the teeth, I accidentally rolled into its throat and got stuck. Please help me get out," Guy's voice came from deep within his throat.
So, it was a dental surgery accident?
Charlotte couldn't help but find it amusing.
"Where are you currently stuck? How's the situation? What help do you need from me?" Charlotte asked quickly.
Now the situation involved two individuals, and if mishandled, it could result in two deaths.
"I'm completely stuck now. Damn it, just a moment ago, it swallowed a few times, nearly sending me to the rectum! I can't crawl out on my own. Throw a rope down, I'll tie myself up, and then you find someone to pull me out," Guy grumbled from deep within the throat.
So, he's a foreign object with his thoughts.
But that's good news.
If Charlotte were to venture deep into the treant's throat, attempting to loosen the object that was stuck, it would essentially condemn the treant to death.
Charlotte crawled out of the treant's partially open mouth and, in the process, shoved in a wooden stick taller than a person to support it.
The treant had already fallen into a semi-unconscious state, and its breath was becoming weak.
Charlotte rushed into the clinic and quickly came out carrying a thick and heavy iron chain. He tied one end to a large stone pillar near the clinic's entrance and then carried the chain back into the treant's mouth.
"This treant has already stopped breathing, right?"
"What is that doctor doing carrying an iron chain inside? Doesn't seem reliable at all!"
"This human doctor is indeed unreliable. He doesn't even know magic. How can he be called a doctor?"
The onlookers mocked and jeered, and some had already set their sights on the treant's pockets, intending to take advantage of the situation.
"I can't pull you, so I tied the iron chain to the stone pillar. You have amazing strength, so grab hold and climb out on your own!" Charlotte stood on the base of the treant's tongue and extended the iron chain towards the throat, letting it drop down.
"Okay! Thanks!" Guy's voice came through.
Charlotte quickly ran out of the treant's mouth, taking a few steps back to distance himself from the iron chain.
As he watched the dying treant, all he could do at this moment was wish it good luck.
Crash!
The iron chain tied to the stone pillar suddenly stretched taut, then trembled slightly. The friction caused the pillar to shed fine powder.
"What's happening!"
"Is this magic?"
"Enchanted iron chain?"
The onlookers looked on, their expressions filled with astonishment.
Pop!
A sound, similar to a cork being pulled from a bottle, came from the treant's mouth. Soon after, a sturdy dwarf, covered in green liquid, crawled out of the treant's mouth.
"I finally made it out!" Guy wiped his face, a mix of frustration and a hint of relief are evident.
Charlotte glanced at Guy's barrel-like belly. If it weren't for his plump figure, he would have ended up in the remnants of the digestive tract.
"How did a dwarf crawl out?"
"Isn't he the owner of the blacksmith shop on the street corner?"
"It's him! How did he get eaten by the treant?"
The onlookers immediately grew noisy. This development exceeded their expectations.
The obstructing foreign object had been removed, but the treant had fallen into a state of unconsciousness, with its breath remaining extremely weak.
Charlotte turned and entered the clinic, quickly returning with a bundle of potions and once again entering the treant's mouth.
Three bottles of hemostatic potion, and three bottles of intermediate stamina potion, were poured directly into its throat.
The hemostatic potion is used to restore throat injuries, while the stamina potion can help him recover more quickly.
Charlotte stepped back, looking at the treant lying on the street, waiting for the potions to take effect.
Revealing a weakened state in front of others was extremely dangerous in the Abyss.
Treants belonged to a gifted race, requiring no arduous training. Once they reached adulthood, they possessed fourth-tier strength, making them an existence most people dared not provoke.
But an unconscious treant fell outside that range.
"Cough... cough..."
The treant lying on the ground suddenly coughed violently twice. Its closed eyes abruptly opened, as if a drowning person had finally been dragged ashore, greedily gasping for air.
Two seasoned thieves who had already circled the treant were startled and quickly fled.
Using one arm, the treant propped itself up from the ground and knelt, its murky eyes looking at Charlotte standing at the entrance of the clinic. In a deep voice, it asked, "Did you save me?"
"Emos, you idiot! Why did you chew so many teeth, nearly choking me to death? If it weren't for Dr. Charlotte, we would both be dead. My lifelong reputation as Guy would have been ruined!" Guy scolded the treant, then turned to Charlotte with gratitude on his face. "Thank you very much."
"No need to thank me." Charlotte nodded slightly, then looked at the treant and said, "The treatment fee is 100 copper coins, three bottles of hemostatic potion for 300 copper coins, and three bottles of intermediate stamina potion for 600 copper coins, totaling 1,000 copper coins."
"Thank you." The treant nodded slightly, glanced at the crowd, and reached into the cavity on the left side of its chest, pulling out a silver coin and some copper coins. After a brief count, it handed them to Charlotte.
Charlotte carefully counted and returned one extra copper coin.
He liked patients who paid promptly and didn't talk too much.
[Ding! Completed the quest of Treant Emos! Rewards received: 100 copper coins! Due to positive responses from the crowd during the treatment process, the additional influence of +100 as a renowned doctor!]
Huh? This additional reward is great!
Being observed was worth as much as ten patients.
Feeling his purse a little more full, Charlotte's mood became even more delightful.
"You didn't use all the money for a tooth filling as medical fees, did you?" Guy looked at the treant.
The treant looked at the copper coin in its hand, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'll get the tooth filled next month."
"Damn it!" Guy gestured an irritable middle finger. "I've already fixed your teeth, and you still want to wait until next month. You almost cost us our lives. You can't do business like this, can't do it."
"Dr. Charlotte, thank you for saving my life. If you need anything forged, feel free to come and find me. I'll give you a free order," Guy patted his chest and said to Charlotte, then he sniffed his hand with a disgusted expression. "It stinks too much! I'm going to take a bath first. Goodbye!"
After speaking, he ran off without looking back, spinning like a top.
Charlotte certainly wouldn't refuse such a good offer of a free order.
He even felt that it would be a waste of this free order opportunity to have Guy forge a surgical knife. Why not have him forge a large 40-meter-long sword instead?
Iron was still valuable in the Abyss.
It should fetch a good price if sold.
The onlookers dispersed, and many people regarded Charlotte, the human doctor, with a bit more admiration.
Charlotte was also preparing to go back and take a bath, and change his clothes.
After several trips to the treant's oral cavity, he emitted a foul odor as well.
However, the treant didn't leave. It stood at the entrance of the clinic, seeming somewhat hesitant.
[Ding! Treant Emos seems to need help. By communicating with it, you may trigger a hidden quest and receive special rewards!] the system's prompt sounded.
Charlotte, who had already turned around, halted his steps and turned back to look at the treant. He asked, "Is there anything else you need help with?"
"You're a doctor. Can you help me lift the curse on my body?" The treant crouched down, its murky eyes looking at Charlotte, filled with hopeful anticipation.
"A curse?" Charlotte looked at the withered skin all over the treant's body.
The treant's gaze dimmed slightly as it said, "Yes, five years ago, I fought against a black sorcerer. Just before he died, he cursed me, making it so that I can never see sunlight again. Otherwise, my entire body will wither and die."Updated from nov𝒆lbIn.(c)om
Black sorcerers were entities belonging to the chaotic evil faction, practicing dark and malevolent magic that often took many innocent lives.
Looking at this pitiful treant, a race that relied on sunlight for growth, being subjected to such a vicious curse was heart-wrenching.
Forbidding the treant from basking in the sun was no different from depriving a human of the right to breathe.
This also explained why it appeared in the Abyss.
Apart from the underground dens of the northern goblins, this should be the best haven for a treant cursed like this.
Without sunlight, the treant's strength would stagnate or even regress and its injuries would be unable to heal.
That was also why, as one of the races with the strongest regenerative abilities, it couldn't heal the injuries on its body.
[Ding! Treant Emos has issued a quest to you: Lift the black sorcery curse on its body. Quest reward: 300 copper coins! Special reward x1!]
The special reward was quite enticing, usually yielding good items.
However, as a doctor, Charlotte had to treat his patients sincerely.
Facing the treant's hopeful gaze, Charlotte said, "Give me a detailed description of the appearance of that black sorcerer and the specific manifestations of the curse on your body. I'll find some time to research and see if I can find a solution."