Everything was vacant. Just pitch-black. The endless pitch-black.
His body was now very light. His strength had completely disappeared, the condition strangely made him so light.
He did not want to know anything. Did not want to care for anything.
"Wu Qi... Wu Qi!"
Huh, who is that? Who bothers my rest when it makes me so serene right now?!
"Wu Qi... you must recover... you must get up!"
This voice... impossible?!
It was Hu Nayin's voice. "Lady Hu... do you call me?!"
Suddenly appearing before him, Hu Nayin was looking at him worryingly. Hu Nayin tried to climb hills and mountains, looking for plants which she then made into a healing concoction for him.
"Wu Qi, you must recover! Don't waste our efforts! You must recover, don't leave us! All of us, really need your existence!"
"Lady Hu!" Definitely... that was definitely... he won't give up on this illness definitely, even if it was really painful. Those who are still healthy may not know what it is like to be on the border between life and death. It really hurts... it hurts because we are straightly in the middle of it, neither really alive, nor really dead...
He must get out of here, for sure!
Towards real life!
But, he could not... could not...
No matter how hard he tried, he still could not do it.
"I must be alive! I must be alive!... for..."
The face of Hu Nayin, who was looking at him pitifully, suddenly blurred, replaced by another face. She looked at him as pitiful as Hu Nayin... even more.
She was, Xue Mei.
"Wu Qi! Don't give up, keep fighting! You can do it! You will survive! You will! For the sake of happiness we will knit together!"
"Xue Mei!…" Wu Qi shouted. He mustered his strength as hard as possible. Yes, he had to fight, for Xue Mei!
Despite everything. Hu Nayin had become his past. Hu Nayin was not her companion, Hu Nayin and he was only allowed to be teammates. If he kept storing this feeling, then not only he would hurt himself, he would also hurt the other two women. Yes, he would hurt Hu Nayin and Xue Mei. Hurting Hu Nayin, for wanting her who did not belong to him. And hurt Xue Mei.
Xue Mei was the woman he should pay the most attention to right now. Xue Mei accepted him the way he was, and Xue Mei was determined to love him despite everything. Xue Mei knew that it was still difficult for him to let go of his feelings for Hu Nayin, but Xue Mei sincerely wanted him as his life partner.
Yes. He must be alive, for Xue Mei!
Wu Qi opened his eyes.
"Captain Wu!"
"Sir Wu Qi!"
A Nuo and his men cheered. "Thank Heaven! We thought you had been summoned by the Almighty, but it turns out that the Almighty still allows you to remain with us! Thank You, Heaven!"
Wu Qi cast led a glare towards all of them. Slowly, he smiled weakly. "Of course..." His breath was gasping. "I still have to be in this world... because I... still have to... Aaaauuucchhh!"
"Captain Wu!"
"Master Wu Qi!"
Once again, all of them shouted. Wu Qi's eyes bulged. His whole body was trembling violently. He was convulsing.
"Aaarrgghhh…" Wu Qi kept convulsing, screaming in excruciating pain. While his panicked men began to grab his hands and feet, and some got the physician.
No! For His Highness... for Ming... for Xue Mei... I can't die!
One more time, Wu Qi fell into the dark hole. No matter how hard he tried to escape, he could not escape from the prison God of Death had built to besiege him.
***
"Wu Qi... please... you can't die!"
Hu Nayin tried desperately to find an antidote for the disease. She was so guilty, because of the disease she created, now the lives of Wu Qi and all San Hu Wei soldiers were at stake. This guilt was so immense it enveloped her head, chest, and whole body. There was no way to escape this bondage of guilt unless she found an antidote to help them all. She had climbed the hill to find the right plants herself. Even though everyone had forbidden her, Hu Nayin still did not care.
"Stop this dangerous act, Lady Hu." Qu You said. "You are no longer a female physician, you are now a lady. Your life is no longer owned only by yourself. If you lose your life, it will make an unfortunate impact on the entire Zhou Fan Wang Guo."
"But it's because of me then so many people get miserable now! What's the point of my nobility if it causes others to suffer?!" Hu Nayin screamed hysterically.
"But Lady!..." Qu You was still trying to prevent her, but blocked by Liu Ku.
"Lady Hu is right. Since we create this disease, we must be responsible for solving all this."
"But this is all because of you, Liu Ku! You should be responsible for yourself, don't involve Lady Hu!" Qing shouted impatiently. All members of the Team of Wellbeing were glaring at him. Indeed, from the start, they had disagreed with the creation of the disease. And then they figured out that the disease attacked their own side, they were getting even more furious. Right now, they were protesting, demanding Liu Ku's fully accountable.
"It is not Lady Hu who should be responsible! It is you who should be responsible, Liu Ku!"
"You're the one who keeps provoking Lady even though she doesn't want to continue it, isn't that your fault?!"
Liu Ku looked at the angry expression on their faces. But as usual, his expression was like a hard wall, rough and hard to understand. It was obvious that he did not get bothered by their angry protest.
"Of course I'll also get responsible. Don't you know that I'm working for it?"
"What is it?! Letting Lady Hu work alone is the evidence that you are working?!"
"Fool." Liu Ku cursed softly. He squinted at the jars behind him. "You see those jars? Those are all medicinal herbs that I'm researching to find an antidote. When I am working, Lady is climbing the hills to look for plants, so if I don't know that Lady Hu has left the palace then it's not my fault. And most important, I'm not a bastard who can only point fingers at someone else. I am responsible for what I've done! But, how about you, guys? What is your contribution as Team of Wellbeing in this critical time?!"
Liu Ku frowned angrily at all members of Team of Wellbeing, who were so shocked that they suddenly turned speechless. "What is your contribution as members of Team of Wellbeing?! You are also supposed to find the antidote, right? Yet instead you just protest me and do nothing. You just let the atmosphere more screwed up! Do you still deserve to be the Team of Wellbeing?! No, you don't deserve that. From now on, change your predicate into Mistake-Finding Team!"
They were all stuttering, their thought that Liu Ku only washed hands off was not proven. Guilty and ashamed, they fell silent, did not blame Liu Ku anymore, and let Liu Ku and Hu Nayin work hard.