This time Mu Ying attempted to beat Zhu Su's attacker. On the other hand, Zhu Su moved bravely from his shelter and then stepped forward, now was standing at the most riotous site. He shouted, louder than before, "Stop hitting, everyone! You're right! It's us, Ming people, who must be responsible for all of this!"
Zhu Su's shout was unexpectedly able to turn the chaos less tumultuous. Some folks, including the rebels, were now stopped attacking and stared at Zhu Su with curiosity.
"We the government indeed must be responsible for the welfare of Yunnan people. And that's why we are all here! We form the Team of Wellbeing, help the sick, and investigate the Witchcrafts of Xie Wang, what is it all for? It indeed shows our responsibility to you! Our hard work is in progress, and I'm certain it will definitely end in good results! I've brought an expert from Zhou Fan Wang Guo, he and his disciple are not just anyone. And together with us is Hu Nayin, as you already know her as an Esper of Healing. Hence, believe us! We will definitely get this matter solved well!"
Nobody got screwed up this moment. Everyone kept silent, their eyes stared straight to Zhu Su.
"I am Zhu Su, the fifth son of the Hongwu Emperor, I promise to smash the Witchcrafts of Xie Wang, and get you all free from the outbreak!" Zhu Su sharpened his voice. "The promise from a leader is not a children's game. Bear it in mind!"
A man in early forties, who seemed to be the leader of rebels, held his spear up, shouted, "Fine! We appreciate your determination, Ming Prince, so keep your promise! If you fail to keep it up, then I'll make sure that Ming honor, as well as yours, will be ruined!"
The man whistled. His followers went after him. Having been able to predict that they planned to run away, Mu Ying ran forward while ordering his soldiers, "Seize them!"
Yet the man was as slippery as an eel. He and his followers could disappear at once. Now it was only his words remained there, echoing inside Zhu Su's ears.
"We appreciate your determination, Ming Prince, so keep your promise! If you fail to keep it up, then I'll make sure that Ming honor, as well as yours, will be ruined!"
Zhu Su clenched his hands. His lips tightly closed. His eyes were flashing in anger.
Xie Wang... I must get him, dead or alive!
***
They had the streets cleared up from the pile of corpses, but the atmosphere there was still filled with eeriness. Many people were still passing by on the streets formerly, but now, the streets were almost deserted. And if somebody passed by, they would walk in a rush. As if they were avoiding something horrifying.
Avoiding the Witchcrafts of Xie Wang.
The deaths in a very large number just at one moment on the entire streets in Yunnan caused an impact Zhu Su was fear of. Nobody believed that it was no more than a natural disaster - as the evidence, dozens of people could die instantly. If it was not a curse, then what else?
"Probably because of poison, Physician Li? For instance, Hedinghong (arsenic)?" Zhu Su expressed his opinion.
"That's the problem, Your Highness. No sign of Hedinghong," Physician Li answered as he was leafing through a thick book. "A death sign from Hedinghong is crystal clear. Yet the sign in our case is vague."
Both of them, together with other members of the Team of Wellbeing, were now having a serious discussion in the courtyard of the government office. Actually, they preferred to discuss in the library, there were more books which could be used as sources for finding information. However, due to the dead bodies were in huge numbers, exceeded the capacity of the library, and direct information from the cadaver was certainly far more important than theory, they continued their investigation at the courtyard.
"Or maybe the reason is acupuncture? Needling at the vital point? One can die by cause of it?"
"Doing acupuncture at dangerous acupuncture point can also kill people. But the problem is, its effect won't be as fast as this incident. Well, we can get people killed rapidly with acupuncture, but it is effective merely for those who have a chronic disease and susceptible to disease, while the victims are most dominated by children and the productive age. And if we expect to get the effect rapidly towards them, then the process must be hard. And it will leave signs, not like what we're facing now."
Zhu Su was forced to be at a loss for words.
"Hu Nayin, can you hold their hands to find the fallacious Aura?"
Hu Nayin shook her head. "Please forgive me, Your Highness. I can only feel the Aura of the living human being."
Zhu Su put his forehead in the palm of his right hand, bowing in frustration. So, they had worked for about three hours, and they could not find the answer even for the cause of those victim's death?!...
"This is a war. A battle between me, Yuan Prince, and you Ming Prince. A battle to determine who is the most suitable to be the next ruler of Yunnan!"
It thus crossed his mind. Those icy, sharp eyes Xie Wang pointed at him last night. Those eyes contained a great desire to compete and defeat his enemy. And also, every word the former prince said with such a haughty voice.
"... a battle to determine who is the most suitable to be the next ruler of Yunnan!"
Zhu Su gnashed his teeth. He thought furiously, Xie Wang... how dare he, still eager to become a ruler after what he has done to those poor people! Just assume that his ability in such supernatural stuff is awesome, but may he be arbitrary to human lives?! And thus ignoring the true responsibility of a leader, to protect the people and not to threaten them!... But how to stop his ambition since I'm unable to handle even this problem?...