When Zhu Su returned to his residence, it was still as quiet as before he left. Mu Ying and the others had not returned from the battlefield yet. Zhu Su immediately entered the house, headed straight towards the bedchamber where the emperor was lying down.
"Fu Huang!" Zhu Su approached the emperor, who looked back at him with wistful eyes. "I've taken a Fangshi with me, he will be able to give you the antidote and heal you!"
The emperor replied in a weak voice, "Alright..."
Zhu Su nodded at Liu Ku. The Fangshi thus bowed respectfully, and began to take the emperor's pulse.
"It is Poison of Sun Desert," Liu Ku muttered slowly. "It won't be easy..."
"What do you mean?!" Zhu Su felt his heart beat faster. Liu Ku's words were beyond his expectation. He started to fear.
"His Majesty possesses a strong body, normally people will immediately die because of this poison. After all, this poison has been designed in such a way that it will be almost incurable..."
"You mean, you can't cure His Majesty?! But you just boasted that you have the antidote!" Wu Qi demanded.
"Almost incurable... But it appears that His Majesty has a strong body. I can use this method - "Yi Du Gong Du". Fights Poison with Poison. It's the only way to destroy the Poison of Sun Desert. But, I must emphasize something - it is high-risk. Because the Poison of Sun Desert is specifically designed to murder, it has no specific antidote, and my ancestors did not know how to cure it except by using Yi Du Gong Du. And, the risk of Yi Du Gong Du is, if it fails, then the victim will die."
"You, how dare you! Just now you were so boastful, then bothered us, and now you say that you are doubtful about your big talk!" Rui squared off, he was ready to hit Liu Ku. Yet Zhu Su held him back.
"What kind of Yi Du Gong Du will you do?" asked Zhu Su worryingly.
"10 grams of scorpion."
Zhu Su gasped. "Scorpion?! We are only allowed to use it no more than 6 grams, aren't we?!"
"You are going to heal His Majesty, or not?"
Zhu Su bit his lower lips. He was stuck in a dilemma.
"If the Emperor loses his life, you must endure the death sentence!" Wu Qi snapped.
Liu Ku shrugged. "Ah... You royals are indeed very fond of menacing and threatening. If somebody fails to do his job, you will kill him. I tell you, as healers, we also want to gain success in healing," He said cynically, then folded his arms. "Well then... it's up to you. If you don't believe me, it's okay, kill me right now! But I tell you... it's you who will get the loss if you kill me. But if you let me boil the antidote, there is 50 percent of chance that His Majesty can be cured. Which is better, then?"
Wu Qi and the other members of Team of Wellbeing growled angrily, yet did not dare to continue their protests since their bluffing was instead reciprocated by Liu Ku. Zhu Su himself, after taking a deep breath, now turned around. "Okay Liu Ku, come with me to the medical center."
Bowing respectfully, Liu Ku followed him.
When they arrived at the medical center, Liu Ku looked around with awe in his eyes. "Your medical center is far better than Xie Wang's."
"So you can make a good antidote in this good place, right?" Zhu Su tried to cheer Liu Ku up, hoping that the happier Liu Ku would be more willing to try his best in making the antidote. "And if necessary, I can enlarge and beautify it, better than now..."
"Really? Wow... fantastic!" Liu Ku withdrew the medicine ingredients out of his bag, then began to concoct the formula with great enthusiasm. This time he even hummed cheerfully. Zhu Su shook his head confusingly while watching his manner.
Li Heng returned when Liu Ku was boiling the medicine. "I do apologize, Your Highness, I have left for so long, but only these few herbs I can find to cure His Majesty... Eh, what kind of smell is this?"
"Physician Li, welcome back!" Zhu Su greeted. "Let me introduce someone to you. This is Liu Ku, Xie Wang's Fangshi, and now he is boiling the antidote for Fu Huang."
"Former Xie Wang's Fangshi, my Lord. Am I your formal follower now? Or... still not?..."
"Formal, of course! Don't worry! It's just a little mistake!" Zhu Su quickly corrected his words. Geez, this kid is so sensitive! Also has sharp tongues! Looks like I have to be very careful when talking to him!
"Xie Wang's... Fangshi... he is on our side?..."
Noticing that Li Heng still did not know about what actually happened, Zhu Su told about what he just experienced.
Abruptly Li Heng stepped towards Liu Ku, shouting, "You're mad! You are going to give an overdose of venom of scorpion to His Majesty?!"
Liu Ku himself, stared back at Li Heng with a rigid expression, his usual style, "Hey old man, do you know what kind of poison is in the Emperor's body? Poison of Sun Desert! The most hazardous poison coming from Gobi Desert, made under the sun at the time when it reaches its peak of heat at Xiazhi * ! The only one who can fight it is the dwellers of the desert - the scorpions from Gobi Desert!"
This statement sounded reasonable to Li Heng. He paused for a moment. Then, he sighed. "We are gambling with the future of Ming by using this concoction..."
Zhu Su pressed his lips. He was so anxious while waiting for the boiling concoction on the stove to be done. He was eager to speed up the time so that the concoction could be done directly at this moment, and he did not need to wait any longer.
Finally, the time had come. The concoction got cooked. Pitch-black and viscous, the concoction gave off an unpleasant odor to Zhu Su and Li Heng. Both of them were truly in fear, but on the other hand, Liu Ku was still in relaxed manner as they headed towards the emperor's bedroom. Liu Ku's strange behavior astonished Zhu Su.
If Fu Huang dies, he will be sentenced to death. How can he still relax as such?... Well, hopefully, his confidence can make Fu Huang recover.
...
* Xiazhi = Xiazhi marks the summer solstice. It begins when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 90° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 105°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 90°.