It's "heartless" again.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lan Feiyu said, "Xi'er, you've already experienced the effects of being 'black-hearted'."
I answered "yes," but I still didn't quite understand the harm involved, and made a judgment without knowing the full extent of the danger: "Isn't it just a drug?"
It's not that simple—Lan Feiyu continued her lesson, "Xi'er, you only chewed on its core, for a short time and in small quantities, so you only felt dizzy and weak. But the 'black heart's' abilities are not limited to just that."
I shuddered with fear as I recalled how weak and confused I was, and how I almost died in the river.
If you collect hundreds or thousands of flower buds, add other medicines, and use the right preparation method, you can concoct a drug that can make people lose their minds and become like walking corpses.
That was the prototype of the "medicine man".
"Prototype?" I asked rhetorically. This word, combined with Lan Feiyu's solemn expression, gave me a feeling that things could get even worse.
Lan Feiyu nodded silently. She glanced quickly toward the cave and sighed softly, "If it were just a lack of feeling and knowledge, it wouldn't kill anyone, much less cause such a horrific death."
The tragic death of Mu Qing's younger sister horrified me. I suppressed the churning in my stomach and tentatively asked, "Could it be that the 'medicine person' had undergone some kind of training and could obey its master? But what about that way of dying? Surely the 'medicine person' couldn't have been poisoned?"
“Xi’er,” Lan Feiyu looked at me with a wry smile and said in a low voice, “You’re right. That ‘medicine man’ was created by Xian Asa with great effort, as a weapon of slaughter. Initially, the ‘medicine man’ did not have such capabilities, but now… Xian Asa released the ‘medicine man’ in the hunting grounds, presumably to test its effectiveness.”
The more I listened, the more alarmed I became. My mind felt like it was filled with a thick clump of rice paste, which I couldn't stir no matter how hard I tried. Instead, I ended up with a headache. I temporarily put aside my wild fantasies about the "medicine people" and asked Lan Feiyu directly, "How did you find out about the 'medicine people'? Were you by Asa's side to gather information about these things? And how did Mr. Tao find out?"
I remember that in the conversation I overheard earlier, Mr. Tao was the first to mention "medicine man" and told Lan Feiyu that the "medicine man" of Prince Asa had been successfully completed. I couldn't help but wonder how Mr. Tao, who was so dashing and charming, could be any different from a Han Chinese in appearance and speech, and how he got involved in the chaos of the succession struggle in Bozhou.
Lan Feiyu pondered for a moment, her smile growing even more bitter. She lowered her eyelids and sighed, "I was present when that 'medicine man' first attacked. The person that Asa wanted to get rid of back then was my father."
"Old King?!" I exclaimed. Lan Feiyu quickly leaned forward, covering my mouth with one hand and making a shushing gesture with the other.
After I nodded knowingly, she sat up straight and continued to tell me about the harrowing experience of the day the "drug man" appeared:
On a crescent moon night in early spring, the old king of Bozhou presided over the annual spring festival in the palace. The palace was open to the public that night, and the people of the city could enter the palace to enjoy themselves with the princes and nobles.
After the grand ceremony of worshipping the heavens and praying to the gods, there was endless singing and dancing, and the noise was extraordinary. The palace was not closed again until midnight.
Lan Feiyu had already gone to sleep, but she seemed to have a premonition that night. She was restless and tossed and turned until midnight, unable to fall asleep. So she got up, dressed properly, and went to the old king's bedroom.
In the borderlands, things weren't as elaborate as in the Central Plains. Although Lan Feiyu was the king's daughter, she didn't usually live in the palace. She held two positions and mostly stayed at the clinic, only sleeping temporarily in the palace. She didn't have any guards or servants by her side, and she didn't encounter any patrolling warriors in the palace. Alone, she had just reached the entrance of the king's bedroom when she heard a series of ominous commotions inside, mixed with the king's father's stern shouts.
If this were in the royal palace in the capital, it would be unimaginable. Although I am not qualified to enter the emperor's bedroom—and of course I have no intention of going—I have heard from the young lady that it is so big that if you play hide-and-seek there, you can hide for ten days or half a month without being found.
Startled, Lan Feiyu rushed into the palace without hesitation. Only after entering did she realize that there was no one guarding the door, which was extremely unusual.
Although the Lan family of Bozhou was just a small barbarian country, the throne had been passed down for five generations. The king was undoubtedly the ruler of Bozhou, and it was impossible for him to be without anyone to protect him at night.
I was incredibly nervous listening to this, and I unconsciously sat up straight, gripping Lan Feiyu's hand tightly. I knew she was definitely not in any danger, but I still held my breath, almost blurting out, "How are you?"
Lan Feiyu's hands were icy cold. She lowered her head, not looking at me, and continued, "I was empty-handed at the time, and I ran towards my father's sleeping quarters with my last breath. When I got to the hall in front of that house, I saw... a 'medicine man' tearing apart a guard."
She swallowed hard, finally looked up at me, her pupils filled with lingering pain and a hint of fear.
"You, you mean the old king was also killed by the 'medicine man'? But... how come I heard he died of illness? You also said that the old king and your brother died suddenly and mysteriously, but if they were killed by the 'medicine man,' could Prince Asa really have been able to cover up everything?" I asked hesitantly. To be honest, even with the corpses of my sister Mu Qing's close relatives as evidence, I hadn't seen the thing that terrified Lan Feiyu. It was still a bit of a mystery. Although I felt the timing was wrong, I still asked the question after some hesitation.
“Illness…” Lan Feiyu chuckled softly. Her smile made me squeeze her hand again. She closed her eyes and smiled at me again. “Xi’er, you are really smart. You just haven’t experienced enough yet. What you can’t imagine is exactly the truth.”
She fell silent until the kite suddenly appeared, startling me so much that I jumped up.
Yuanzi looked down at Lan Feiyu with disdain and said coldly, "You've been rambling on for so long, haven't you finished yet? I'll say it for you. Zhao Xi, the king of Bozhou, was forced to take medicine by Xian Asa to save his son and daughter's lives, but probably because of his age, he couldn't survive and died—even if he had survived, he would have just become a puppet-like 'medicine man,' so it was better for him to die, don't you think, Lan Feiyu?"
I was somewhat puzzled by Yuanzi's strange attitude, and couldn't help but feel indignant on Lan Feiyu's behalf, arguing, "How can this be called nagging? Those are Yu'er's father and brothers! Besides, even if she is nagging, I have to listen to her nagging!"
Unexpectedly, Yuanzi ignored me completely and continued, "As for Lan Feiyu's brother, that fool who returned from the Central Plains, thinking he had mastered Han customs and was invincible after being enlightened, was extremely frank in his confession after being tricked by his two sworn brothers. He said he didn't want to be the ruler of Bozhou, and he didn't even intend to stay in this vassal state anymore. He completely submitted to Dongchu and became a prefecture under its rule. Zhao Xi, your Dongchu is so greedy. Not only those two ambitious princes, but even Lan Feiyu doesn't want to keep a lackey brother."
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