Sueños Florales en la Ciudad

Capítulo 124

A strange smell permeated the room, a mixture of the stench of blood and the sweet, rotten odor, like dozens of kinds of vegetables and fruits piled together and rotting, giving one an indescribable sense of disgust.

Zhu Huihui ignored all of this. Her first action was to cover her nose with her sleeve, and her second action was to rush to Feng Xuese and ask, "Great hero, are your eyes alright?"

At this moment, no one paid any attention to her except Feng Xuese.

He gently took her hand: "What's wrong with Huihui?" This had almost become a habit of his. In the dark world before him, whenever he encountered something uncertain, only by holding those soft little hands would his heart be strangely calmed down.

"Great hero, everyone from the Blood Pavilion has been killed. We only managed to rescue Song Xiaobei, but she's been poisoned. Madam is saving her!" Zhu Huihui said succinctly.

Although Feng Xuese was confused by what he heard, he was quite shocked. He had no connection with the "colluding" couple, yet everyone from the Bloodstained Pavilion had been killed? What was going on?

Just as she was about to ask for clarification, she heard Chen Muwan say, "Mother, what kind of poison is this? It's incredibly potent!"

Madam Wan's face was as cold as ice as she said, "How could Yu Xiaoyao's poison not be potent?"

Mr. Chen's expression was cold and stern, his gaze sweeping over Zhu Huihui's face like lightning.

Zhu Huihui knew that her teacher was doubting her again. She wanted to explain, but she only moved her lips and finally didn't say anything.

Although she didn't know Yu Xiaoyao, ever since she heard Liu Yue tell the story of the baby girl's arm pattern on the boat, and thought of her own mother's mysterious and strange behavior, she had begun to doubt her own background. She wanted to defend herself, but she felt she lacked the confidence to do so. Therefore, for the first time in her life, she decided to swallow her anger after being wronged.

Upon hearing the name "Yu Xiaoyao," Chen Muwan's face turned ashen, and her body trembled slightly: "Mother, that woman... is she still alive?"

Madam Wan glanced at her daughter's frightened expression and forced a smile: "Although the poison belongs to Yu Xiaoyao, the one who used it may not be her. Child, let's save the person first, and discuss this matter later!"

She instructed, "Mu'er, go and tell the servants to boil a pot of hot vinegar! Please have the two hall masters carry the patient to the bed, being careful not to get blood on them. Remember to scald them with hot water and change their clothes when you get back, and it's best not to drink alcohol for seven days. Miss Zhu, please tell me in detail how the patient was poisoned?" She gave three instructions in one breath.

At that moment, Chen Muwan walked to the door, called over Granny Ding who was standing outside, and instructed her to prepare hot vinegar. The two hall masters of Fengxue City carefully lifted Song Xiaobei onto the bed, then quickly returned to their room to prepare for a bath and change. Zhu Huihui kept her mouth tightly shut, her little face expressionless—even though the two hall masters of Fengxue City were present, why did they insist she speak? Of course, it was because they thought she was someone close to Yu Xiaoyao, therefore she was the one who poisoned her!

Maple Snow said gently, "Grey, tell me, what happened?"

Zhu Huihui was quite petty, harboring resentment because of the fact that the madam had wronged her, and she interpreted everything people said as suspicion. But when Feng Xuese said the same thing, she didn't complain at all, pouting and saying, "That day, after I left Hidden Spirit Island, I met Brother Liuyue on the lake. He had received news that the Fusang turtles were heading towards Snow Peak Mountain, so we traveled together..."

She was impetuous by nature and used to exaggerate and occasionally boast. But ever since Feng Xuese went blind, she had to tell him what she saw. In order not to influence his judgment, she only told him what she saw, without adding comments or opinions, and presented the information clearly and in detail so that Feng Xuese could understand it clearly.

"Another family annihilation case," Feng Xuese said grimly. "Such a familiar method! Are they those 'old friends' again?"

Zhu Huihui understood his meaning and said, "Brother Liuyue also believes that it was those Japanese turtles who did it!"

"Are they Japanese?" Madam Wan murmured to herself, her brows furrowed with worry. "How... could they be Japanese? This poison is clearly the Purple Essence Ice Sun, created and formulated by Yu Xiaoyao herself. I've seen it many times more than ten years ago, I have no reason to mistake it!"

Mr. Chen suddenly stood up and said, "During the battle of Giant Whale Island in the East China Sea, all the survivors saw her fall into the sea severely injured, but no one saw her body because the sea was full of sharks, so everyone naturally assumed that she had been swallowed by a group of sharks..."

Madam Wan's body trembled: "You mean... Yu Xiaoyao didn't actually die? She... fell into the hands of the Japanese?"

The couple looked at each other for a moment, each seeing what the other was thinking in the other's eyes, and then they both shook their heads at the same time.

Chen Muwan was horrified: "Father, Mother, you're saying that Yu Xiaoyao isn't dead? She surrendered to Fusang?"

Mr. Chen's face darkened slightly: "Mu'er, you must remember what your father and mother said! That little devil Yu is willful, reckless, and vicious; she kills innocent people indiscriminately and does all sorts of bad things, but she will never betray us and defect to the enemy!"

The couple were open-minded and, despite their deep-seated hatred for Yu Xiaoyao, they greatly admired her talent, wisdom, and courage in fighting the Japanese pirates at the cost of her life, if they set aside their personal grievances.

Feng Xuese had heard a little about the grudges between Chen and Wan and Yu Xiaoyao back then, and was quite impressed by Mr. Chen's magnanimity after hearing his words.

Just as Madam Wan was about to speak, her face suddenly turned pale. She clenched her fist tightly, but her fingers were so weak that she couldn't close them at all. It was as if all the strength in her body had been drained away, and she couldn't even hold a small silver needle.

The silver needle fell to the ground with a "ding" sound. Madam Wan swayed precariously, and Mr. Chen quickly reached out to support her. The couple slowly sat down on the ground together.

At the same time, Chen Muwan let out a soft cry and collapsed softly beside her parents. Feng Xuese also felt unsteady on her feet, bent her legs, leaned against the wall, and slowly slid down to the ground.

Everyone felt their bones were soft and weak, unable to muster any strength. This feeling was extremely comfortable, as if they were still in the moment of waking up from a summer afternoon nap, their whole body feeling soft and relaxed.

Zhu Huihui stood among the crowd, her eyes wide, looking left and right in surprise, not understanding what had happened.

So, all eyes were on her.

Chen Muwan suddenly said, "Miss Zhu, stop joking around, please give the antidote to everyone!"

"Antidote? What antidote—" Zhu Huihui suddenly realized and exclaimed in surprise, "Ah? You've been poisoned?"

Chen Muwan sighed and said softly, "Miss Zhu, Young Master Feng's eyes haven't fully recovered. If he's attacked by the poison again, it will cause him great harm. Besides, there's another patient in bed who needs my mother's treatment, so—"

"So you believe that I poisoned it?"

Chen Muwan didn't answer, but her humiliation was obvious: "Otherwise, why are you the only one who's alright?"

Zhu Huihui glanced around at Mr. Chen, Mrs. Wan, and Feng Xuese's faces, and saw that they were all closing their eyes and circulating their qi. Although they did not agree with Chen Muwan's words, they did not refute them either, which clearly showed that they doubted her.

Zhu Huihui bit her lip hard: "It has nothing to do with me! Believe it or not!" Of course she knew she hadn't done anything, but she didn't know why everyone else in the room had collapsed while she was fine.

A faint smile appeared on her snow-white lips as she said gently, "I know, it has nothing to do with you!"

Zhu Huihui felt a surge of warmth in her heart, and her eyes suddenly reddened. What did it matter whether Mr. Chen and Mrs. Wan believed her or not? The hero, after all, believed her!

She rushed forward: "Hero, have you been poisoned too? Are you feeling unwell? Does it hurt a lot? Let me carry you away!"

This must have been done by the Japanese turtle. Just thinking about the cruel methods of those men in black made her tremble, and she wished she could grow wings and escape.

Feng Xuese felt an unusual heaviness in his heart. Just now, he had tried to circulate his inner energy to expel the poison, but his dantian, which was usually full of internal energy, was completely empty; he couldn't muster even a trace of internal force. In that instant, many things came to mind: the Blood-Seeing Pavilion, Xuan Yue Water Island, the few ordinary families whose families had been wiped out, the massacre on the riverbank…

Could it be that the same fate has befallen Hidden Spirit Island today?

Despite his inner alarm, he tried his best to reassure her, "Grey, don't panic, go get my sword." But what good would a sword do? Right now, he could barely move a finger…

Watching Zhu Huihui go to retrieve the sword from the wall, Chen Muwan's lips moved slightly, as if she was about to speak.

Madam Wan stopped her with a look. Then, looking at a wooden bucket by the door, she asked, "Who brought this bucket in?"