Zhu Su was determined to neutralize all plants from poison. He did not want to see any creatures die again. He thought much harder than before so as to process the plants perfectly.
One of the failed plants was Shanglu. Everyone was perplexed as they found out that fact, including Li Heng. Zhu Su had followed the information obtained from Shennong Bencao Jing. But why could it still fail?
Zhu Su examined those leafy soybeans. There was nothing wrong with them. Still doubting his observations, he also asked Li Heng, Guo Songmi, Shao Rong, and other experts. They all agreed that there was nothing wrong with the soybeans.
"Perhaps the amount is inadequate?" Zhu Su remained hesitating.
"You've used it in large amount, Your Highness. Adding more will make the basin filled with soybeans, not water, and it can't be boiled," Li Heng replied.
"So, then, what's wrong?" There must be something wrong, otherwise, the monkeys would not die. Zhu Su kept thinking, and thinking. He checked the clay pots used to boil the plants, but still, he found nothing wrong with them. He had checked everything, and he found nothing. So, he had to give up and labeled Shanglu as a plant that could not be consumed, even if it had been processed?
His gaze turned unfocused as he looked at the pond in front of him where a lotus floated on. For some reason, the lotus caught his attention. He kept watching at the lotus swaying here and there...
And suddenly, he got that idea.
"We mustn't only boil Shanglu, instead we must soak it first! That's the problem! The problem is in the soaking process!"
Standing up as if he just got electrified, Zhu Su soon walked hastily to the Medical Center. He took a basin, immersed Shanglu in there, and covered it.
"Well, this time I will soak Shanglu for two days and one night if necessary!..." Suddenly remembering something, Zhu Su took Shanglu out, then threw away the soaking water.
On the other hand, Zhu Su's enthusiastic and peculiar action drew the attention of several team members.
"Your Highness, why do you suddenly change the water?" Payloth could not help but be curious.
"I have to make sure that Shanglu's poison can be neutralized properly. Even though our water is of good quality, it doesn't taste fresh because it has been stored and soaked in the interior. I want to soak Shanglu in freshwater, inside the water which comes directly from the river."
They all nodded as they had fully understood. "We will take the clear river water!" The Team of Wellbeing members exclaimed enthusiastically.
Not long after, a large number of basins - the Shanglu was soaked in the water originated from the clear river inside them - had been lined up tidily in the middle of the Medicine Center.
"I won't soak it just for a few hours. I will soak it for one or two nights. This way, I hope that the water can vanish the poison," Zhu Su announced. "Later, we will stew Shanglu together with other leafy soybeans. Just like the theory in Shennong Bencao Jing! Well! This time nothing wrong will occur! It won't cause death again!"
Zhu Su also revised the error about Xiangzishu. Previously he thought that he only needed to boil it a little longer, that it was enough to boil it once and no need for him to reboil it. But apparently, it was still inadequate. The monkeys still died of poisoning. He thus intended to change the method. First, he tried the same method he used to reduce Shanglu's poison, he soaked Xiangzishu for two days and one night then boiled it with leafy soybeans. But when he tried it again on another monkey, an unwanted reaction still occurred, even though the monkey did not die. Still, the monkey repeatedly vomited, had diarrhea, and screamed in pain, until it finally vomited Xiangzishu and became pious enough to be handled by Liu Ku.
"That means, this method isn't the perfect one although it doesn't cause the monkey to die. Still, I have to find another way. But, what is it?"
While Zhu Su was busy thinking, his gaze turned to Deng Linping. That teenager was daydreaming. Such an abnormal appearance, since Deng Linping usually looked cheerful and excited. He was used to be humming while looking at the medicinal herbs and learning new things by asking here and there. But now, he just sat in a remote area and did nothing. Even when Zhu Su approached him, he still did not budge from his daydream, and his eyes were still gloomy and vacant.
"Linping," Zhu Su summoned.
Deng Linping was still in reverie.
"Linping!" Zhu Su summoned with a louder voice.
Only then did Deng Linping returned back to reality. And when he realized that it was Zhu Su who called him, he got even more shocked. "Your Highness... call me?!?"
"What are you doing?"
"Do... nothing..."
"You look different from usual. Do you feel unwell?"
"Uhmmm..." Deng Linping thought for a while. "I don't think so... I don't feel sick..."
"Then why are you daydreaming? Look, it's so cloudy now, you may catch a cold."
"Thank you very much for your caring... but... I'm in the mood to be alone like this. It makes me feel a bit better..."
"You like to be alone?"
"I don't know... I get used to living only with my mother. So, surrounded by a crowd in a sudden, I am not used to it..."
"But you're so excited to ask the others?"
"Yeah... Maybe, I never get into society before. I am unskilled in social life, so everything I do, I do it wrongly and displease the people around me."
Zhu Su understood now what made Deng Linping's attitude changed so drastically. He remembered what Hu Nayin and Zhu Youdun said earlier. "What makes you think like that?"
Deng Linping made no answer, instead, he returned to stare at the gray cloud with a vacant stare.
Zhu Su sat beside him. "I know that there is something wrong between you and the other members of Team of Wellbeing. Maybe you are afraid to tell it because you feel sorry for them, but you can be sure I won't extend this case. I just want you all to be in harmony and work well, so I will be very careful with my actions. Okay! Can you tell me about your problem?"
"I... never thought that my passion in medicine will screw up things and harm others..."