Chapter 56 Rotten Leaves and Lots of Insects
Today's autumn hunting ceremony is going to be really "lively"!
Just as Chu Xuanyi was madly complaining in his heart, there was a sudden commotion in front of the team. Then, a fast horse came back and reported loudly:
"Your Majesty! We've found... found the body of a soldier in the forest ahead! The manner of death... the manner of death is extremely strange!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the entire team instantly became tense!
Even Ah Jiu, who was still laughing and playing, stopped chewing the cake, wrinkled his nose, and muttered softly, "Huh? What a stinky smell... like... like rotten leaves and... and lots of little bugs..."
Chu Xuanyi's heart skipped a beat, and his expression instantly became extremely solemn.
The thing he was most worried about finally happened! These lingering demons from the Withered Vine Sect were indeed still intent on stealing. They actually dared to attack during the Autumn Hunt Ceremony, right under the Emperor's feet!
"Your Majesty!" Chu Xuanyi dismounted, "I request your permission to go and investigate!"
The emperor's face was livid. The sudden death of Imperial Guards during the Autumn Hunt was undoubtedly a blatant provocation! He said in a deep voice, "Permitted! Xiao Yu, take a team and accompany the Imperial Master! We must thoroughly investigate! The rest of you, remain on guard and strengthen your protection!"
"I obey your order!" Xiao Yu also had a cold look on his face.
When Jiu heard that there was going to be some excitement... no, there was a "case" to watch, her eyes suddenly brightened up. She didn't care about the candy crumbs on her skirt and jumped down from the carriage swiftly. She walked quickly with her short legs towards Chu Xuanyi.
"Sir, wait for me! I want to go smell it too... No, I want to see those 'lots of little bugs'!"
Chu Xuanyi's forehead veins jumped, and he almost gritted his teeth and said, "Ajiu! This matter is of no small importance. This is not the time for you to play around! You stay here honestly..."
"But," Jiu tilted his head, pointed at his nose, and said seriously, "I smell it! It's a bit like the smell of bugs on the old man in the Imperial Hospital last time, but with a bit more... um... the fishy smell of soil and rotting wood! My lord, your nose isn't as sharp as mine. What if you missed some important clue?"
When she said this, even the emperor, who was about to scold her, paused. Ah Jiu was indeed the first to "hear" that the Chief Medical Officer of the Imperial Hospital had been poisoned by a Gu.
Xiao Yu glanced at Ajiu and said in a deep voice: "National Master, let her follow you. Maybe... she can really help." He thought of Ajiu's previous "feats" that seemed to be nonsense but always succeeded, and he felt a sense of inexplicable trust in his heart.
Chu Xuanyi: "..." He wondered if Xiao Yu had also been infected by Ajiu's "lack of brains"! But the situation was urgent, and he didn't bother to argue with the little girl. He could only say with a dark face: "Follow closely! No running around, no touching, and no eating!" The last sentence was completely redundant, but considering Ajiu's "criminal record", he felt it was necessary to emphasize it.
"I know, I know! Sir, you are like my master now. Every time before going down the mountain, you have to say a lot of things, and your ears are about to get calluses!" Ajiu stuck out his tongue and trotted to catch up with Chu Xuanyi and Xiao Yu.
Upon seeing this, Censor Qian also hurried forward, his fingers clenched in a circle, an unfathomable look on his face. "Master Imperial Master, Your Highness the Regent, wait a minute! Let me calculate again to see where this evil spirit comes from and what evil spirit is causing this trouble!"
Chu Xuanyi felt his temples throbbing, and he growled, unable to bear it any longer: "Censor Qian! If you dare to spread rumors and mislead the public again, I will put an end to your lies!"
Censor Qian shrank his neck awkwardly, not daring to say anything more, but his eyes were still filled with obsession with the "evil spirit".
The group soon arrived at the clearing in the forest that the scout had mentioned. They saw several of the earlier Imperial Guards surrounding a certain area with panicked expressions. The air was filled with what Ah Jiu had described as a "stinky smell," which was even stronger than before.
After pushing aside the last bush, the scene before them made Chu Xuanyi and Xiao Yu gasp at the same time.
A soldier dressed in Imperial Guard uniform lay facedown on the ground, his eyes wide open, his face frozen in a look of utter terror. The exposed skin of his neck and wrists was covered in dense, tiny black spots. Those spots... were actually wriggling slightly! It was as if countless tiny insects were burrowing beneath his skin!
"Hiss--" Even though Xiao Yu was used to the bloody battlefield, he couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling at this moment.
"Ah!" Ah Jiu seemed to have discovered something new. Without waiting for everyone's reaction, he took two steps forward, squatted down, and stretched out his little finger, as if he wanted to poke those wriggling black spots.
"Ajiu, don't touch it!" Chu Xuanyi was quick to grab her desperate little hand and said sternly, "This is the 'Withering Glory Gu'! It's much more powerful than the one on the Imperial Hospital's Chief Judge!"
Ah Jiu was pulled away, but he didn't get angry. He just blinked his big eyes and stared at the corpse curiously: "Oh... So these are the upgraded versions of bugs! Sir, look at them wriggling, don't they look like... like earthworms turned out from the mud after the summer rain? Only the color is a little darker, and the size is a little smaller... I don't know what they taste like..."
Chu Xuanyi felt like the veins on his forehead were about to burst! He had lived for over twenty years, and had seen all sorts of monsters and demons, and dealt with all sorts of difficult and complicated illnesses. But in front of this little girl, all his cultivation was wasted!
He was now certain that the old charlatan had sent him a calamity star, specifically to annihilate him!
"Ajiu!" Chu Xuanyi's voice was no longer a low growl, but close to a roar. He lifted Ajiu like a chicken and carried her behind him, blocking her from the disgusting corpse. "I repeat, this is not something you should be looking at! It's certainly not something you should be thinking about 'how it tastes'! Besides eating, can you think of something serious?"
"Yes!" Ah Jiu poked his little head out from under Chu Xuanyi's elbow and answered confidently, "I still want to sleep, I still want to play, and I also want to get a bigger pond for the koi in the Imperial Master's Mansion. They seem a little depressed lately..."
"Shut up!" Chu Xuanyi felt like he was about to have a myocardial infarction.
Xiao Yu's face remained sullen as he carefully observed the surroundings of the corpse. He squatted down, used his dagger to push aside the fallen leaves beside the corpse, and then picked up a bit of soil and felt it carefully with his fingertips.
"National Master," Xiao Yu stood up, his expression solemn, "There are no signs of a struggle here, and the deceased's sword was unsheathed. It seems he was subdued in an instant, perhaps without the strength to resist."
Chu Xuanyi nodded, his eyes sweeping around. "It takes time for the withering Gu to take effect, but judging by his condition, the insects are already all over his body, indicating that the person who administered the Gu was extremely skilled, and the dosage was enormous. Furthermore..." He pointed at the neck of the corpse, "Look at the way these black spots are spreading. They started from the large blood vessel in the neck and quickly invaded the entire body. This doesn't seem like a normal contact Gu. It's more like... it was directly injected, or through some specific medium."
At this moment, Ajiu, who had been blocked behind Chu Xuanyi, suddenly sniffed hard and asked "Hmm?"
"Sir," she poked her little head out from under Chu Xuanyi's armpit again, pointing her little finger at the ground next to the corpse, her tone a little confused, "The mud over there smells different from the mud we use to grow radishes in the back garden of our Imperial Master's Mansion!"
Chu Xuanyi: "..." He felt his patience had reached its limit. The smell of mud? Is now the time to discuss the smell of mud? What the hell is the mud used to grow radishes in the Imperial Master's Mansion? When did he allow radishes to be grown in the Imperial Master's Mansion?
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