Urbaner Blumentraum - Kapitel 104
Feng Xuese's mind grew increasingly troubled as she thought about it, and she sighed softly: If only her eyes hadn't been injured...
Zhu Huihui knew what he was thinking, so she took his hand and said, "Hero, I have met the divine physician Lady Wan from Beikong Valley. She has promised to come and treat your injuries."
Feng Xuese was taken aback: "Really?" How did this child run into Madam Wan? Oh! Shen Han said that Huihui was injured by his and Zhu Liuyue's music. Did Zhu Liuyue send her to the Valley of Sorrow? What has she experienced in the past month? And how did she know about the families of Generals Yu and Qi?
She had many questions in her mind, but knew that now was not the time to talk. She simply said "Okay" and handed Chen Muwan to Zhu Huihui: "Huihui, take good care of Miss Mu!"
Zhu Huihui was very unhappy, and her cheeks immediately puffed out: "You want me to take care of you again!"
Feng Xuese had anticipated her pouting, and poked her cheek with her index finger: "You're bullying me this time, be careful—"
"—Watch out, or you might cut off my hand!"
"Good to know!"
"Tch! Can't this hero say anything else? Always the same few lines!" Zhu Huihui sullenly picked up Chen Muwan and slammed her onto the chair with a "thump," the action simple and rough!
To be honest, she had virtually no sympathy for Chen Muwan's situation. Although Miss Mu had given her medicine and helped her treat her injured leg, it was all out of consideration for Feng Xuese; she didn't owe her any favors. The ones who were truly kind to her were Mr. Chen and Mrs. Wan. They didn't even know who she was, yet they took care of her wholeheartedly—so no matter how they treated her later, she felt no resentment or hatred.
Everyone present felt immense pity for Chen Muwan, lamenting that such a delicate, porcelain-like girl was treated so poorly by this boorish man. Yan Shenhan and Xi Yeyan, in particular, were deeply indebted to Chen Muwan for healing their injuries, and couldn't help but feel angry—but what could they do? Zhu Huihui was the only girl on the entire ship; they couldn't very well expect a bunch of grown men to take care of Miss Muwan, could they? Sigh! This girl is so clumsy, more like a monkey than a girl…
Chen Muwan, disturbed by Zhu Huihui's antics, slowly awoke. Before she even opened her eyes, tears streamed down her face. Qin Diao, Shuying had served her since childhood, their bond as mistress and servant incredibly deep. And Feng Jueya, since joining the Sorrowful Valley, had doted on her even more. Unexpectedly, just an hour or two later, all three of them had passed away together…
She was heartbroken and cried so hard she almost fainted again.
Zhu Huihui advised, "Miss Mu, please stop crying. You're not well, and you'll make yourself sick if you keep crying! Aren't you just making the dead worry? It's like they're already dead, and you still won't let them have some peace and quiet, forcing them to come back and visit tonight..."
Chen Muwan cried even harder after hearing this.
Feng Xuese shook his head. Was this how you comfort someone? Was she trying to console Miss Mu, or was she trying to scare her? He couldn't bear to listen any longer and said, "The dead are gone, but the living can still live. I hope Miss Mu will take good care of herself!"
Though her words were few, the earnest tone of her voice seemed to offer great solace to Chen Muwan's grief. Having struggled on the brink of death since childhood, and being a healer herself, she possessed a more open-minded perspective on life and death than most. Although still sorrowful, she knew that Feng Xuese was absolutely right, and her tears finally subsided.
She wiped away her tears and stood up gracefully. However, her body was too weak and she had just suffered a blow. She could barely support herself. She felt dizzy and weak in the legs, and her body swayed as if she was about to fall. Zhu Huihui quickly supported her.
Chen Muwan said gratefully, "Miss Zhu, please... take me to see Uncle Feng and the others..."
Look at her deathly pale face; to use a common saying, it's like she's "crying her eyes out over a hole." Zhu Huihui said, "What's so interesting about a dead person! Miss Mu, you should rest."
Chen Muwan shook her head and said only, "I'm sorry to trouble... Miss Zhu..."
"Since you insist on seeing it, then see it, just don't cry anymore!" Zhu Huihui helped Chen Muwan to the side of the corpse.
Chen Muwan knelt on the carpet, staring blankly at the corpses of Qin Diao, Shu Ying, and Feng Jueya. Recalling their voices and smiles in life, and their care and love for her, tears welled up in her eyes again.
It was heartbreaking to see such an elegant and beautiful woman weeping silently, and those present offered their condolences.
Zhu Huihui felt a huge headache coming on. If she wanted to cry, she should just open her mouth and scream! She was truly terrified of this woman; she wouldn't cry, and instead, she'd just shed tears and wail!
She was dizzy from Chen Muwan's whimpering and squatted beside the corpses, sighing. Actually, she didn't feel sad about the deaths of these people—her petty nature still remembered the extremely contemptuous looks the two maids and Old Man Feng had given her!
The corpse's death was horrific. In the past, Zhu Huihui would have run as far away as possible. But now she was extremely knowledgeable. She had seen many corpses, even the most gruesome ones, and had frequented cemeteries and crawled into coffins. Therefore, she had developed an extremely bold nature and was basically indifferent to corpses.
As she watched, she pondered, "Tsk, this piano playing... the pink clothes are all stained red, how many stab wounds has she suffered? Shuying has fewer wounds, her head was severed, but it's still connected by a layer of skin, the technique is really good! Old Feng is in a much worse state, several bloody cuts on his limbs, exposing the bone, and there's a big hole in his chest..."
She suddenly exclaimed "Huh?" and looked up: "That's strange!"
Feng Xue asked, "What?" He had been wanting to know the condition of the corpse, but the scene had been too chaotic for him to ask.
Zhu Huihui told him, "Great hero, there are eight corpses here. But only Mu's three servants were hacked to pieces by the blades. The other five corpses, three men and two women, are completely unharmed, as if they were asleep, with very peaceful expressions..."
Feng Xuese pondered for a moment, then raised her eyebrows: "There are a total of 327 people on Xuan Yue Water Island, of whom 43 are first-rate fighters; 106 are slightly weaker but still second-rate masters; and the rest, even the ordinary servants, are skilled in martial arts—Huihui, if you want to get rid of these people, what would be the simplest and quickest way?" He had been managing Xuan Yue Water Island for Fang Jianwu for days and knew its strength very well.
"Me?" Zhu Huihui paused for a moment, then answered naturally, "Why be so polite? I'll just poison the water and kill them!"
Upon hearing this, everyone had the same thought: Zhu Huihui is truly wicked! Her idea is exactly the same as the murderer's!
Nishino En said, "The incident at Xuan Yue Shui Yu happened around dinnertime, so—"
Yan Shenhan said, "—So, the poison wasn't put in the water, but in the food!"
Chief Steward Qin had already received reports from the "Fang, Xin, Wu, Ji" pairs of guards among the Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon, and had a very detailed understanding of the matter. He further explained: "A total of 344 corpses were found on Xuan Yue Water Island. Of these, 296 were poisoned, and 58 were easily killed by different weapons. None of them showed any signs of resistance. The wounds on the three friends from Bei Kong Valley were more serious, with different shapes and sizes of wounds. It is speculated that they were attacked and killed by multiple people. There are also 14 corpses of men in black, who were killed by Young Master Xi Ye."
More than three hundred lives were lost on Xuan Yue Water Island, not a single one was spared! Feng Xuese's killing intent burned fiercely, forcing her to take a deep breath to calm herself before slowly asking, "What kind of poison is that?"
Everyone looked towards dawn and dusk.
These five corpses, judging from their clothing, belonged to two guards, a cleaning maid, a servant, and a cook. They were found lying in different locations on Xuan Yue Water Island. The reason for bringing these corpses back was to examine them to see if the poison inflicted on the people of the manor was the same.
Not to mention that west Yeyan, Yan Shenhan, and Chief Steward Qin were all highly knowledgeable, even Liu Yue's subordinates were all elites who had examined the body before it was moved.
The five corpses had almost identical external characteristics: dark blue spots resembling copper coins on their bodies, duck egg blue whites of their eyes, blue blood droplets on their pupils, dark blue blood clots the size of beans bulging on the blood vessels under their tongues, and blue lunulae at the base of their fingernails.
Although everyone knew these people died of poisoning, there are countless poisons in the world, and none of them were experts, so they didn't know what kind of poison it was. Since ancient times, medicine and poison have had some similarities, and perhaps the divine healer from the Valley of Sorrow can enlighten them.
Suppressing her grief, Chen Muwan gestured for Zhu Huihui to help her examine the other five corpses. After examining them for a while, she looked up and said, "Although I've never seen this kind of poison before, I once heard my mother say that in a foreign land, there is a rare plant called 'Tianyi Lotus,' with purplish-blue petals and snow-white stems. If you take its stamens and mix them with medicine, you can obtain a highly toxic crystal that is no different in color, shape, or taste from table salt. The blood of the poisoned person will slowly turn dark blue—the characteristics of these five corpses are exactly the same as the 'Tianhai Ning Shuang' poison that my mother described!"
Looking at Qin Diao, Shu Ying, and Feng Jueya, she said sadly, "Uncle Feng and the others all carry antidotes made by my mother. Although they may not be the right remedy, even the most potent 'Heavenly Sea Frost' may not be as strong as my mother's medicine—"
Everyone suddenly realized why the three people in Beikong Valley died in different ways: they had taken the antidote in time, and when the enemy saw that they were not poisoned, they swarmed at them and killed them in a fierce battle.
Zhu Huihui tilted her head and thought for a moment: "I know. The enemy infiltrated the kitchen and put 'Heavenly Sea Frost' in the food. Then the food was sent to various places, and most of the people in the village ate it and were poisoned. A few people didn't eat it for various reasons, but the poison took effect slowly. Before these people realized that their companions were poisoned, they were killed by the enemy—" Suddenly she stared at Xiye Yan, "How come you're not dead?"
Nishino En wasn't poisoned to death, but he nearly died of anger from her words. Apparently, she wasn't happy that he wasn't dead!
He glared at her irritably and said, "If Old Yan and I hadn't been waiting for your brother to come back for dinner, we would have been poisoned too. But don't be happy—if I die, the first thing I'll do is come back and take you away!" He and Yan Shenhan had been waiting for Feng Xuese to return, so they hadn't eaten first, which was actually a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune.
Zhu Huihui asked, puzzled, "Who is my brother?"