Chapter 406: The Infiltration of Seven Colors Palace

Chapter 406: The Infiltration of Seven Colors Palace

However, at this moment, from the back to the hall, everywhere was covered with bright red blood, and everywhere lay people in horrifying conditions.

"A total of thirty-eight people have died, and a hundred were injured. Fortunately, it was in the morning today. If it had been in the afternoon or evening, there would have been more people in the pools, and perhaps more incidents would have occurred!" said Eunuch Gao.

"It's horrifying; the flesh just fell off, and the temperature in the water was frighteningly hot. I don't know what happened!"

"I just dipped one foot in, and it got scalded, causing blisters. What is the Fragrant Tower trying to do—cook people alive? Has the manager gone mad?"

"It doesn't seem like boiling water to me, it seems like something else, because some people's flesh just fell off, as if the pool was filled with some kind of corpse-dissolving powder!"

Everyone was talking at once, and Xiao Yin and the city lord also arrived.

"What happened?" Xiao Yin came to Ruo Xi Baby's side and asked Nurse Jin.

"Your Majesty, this servant is not entirely clear. We were just about to go upstairs for tea. The Imperial Tutor and Master Jing'en went to bathe. Shortly after they entered, we heard screams, and then we saw this horrifying scene!" said Nurse Jin.

"What is this, what happened? Forensic examiner, come quickly and examine this!" the city lord also immediately shouted.

"Uncle, go check on Little Heart and Jing'en—they haven't come out yet," Ruo Xi Baby patted the emperor's shoulder.

"Alright, uncle will go and check!" The emperor nodded and immediately stepped into the pool.

"Your Majesty, it's too gruesome inside..." Eunuch Gao hurried over and said.

The emperor shook his head: "It's alright, I'll go take a look!"

Eunuch Gao followed the emperor as they walked inside.

Ci Xin was there, and so was Master Jing'en. Their robes were not removed, just loosely tied around them.

"What happened?" Xiao Yin walked over and asked Ci Xin.

"There's nothing unusual in the water, just ordinary hot spring water, and the temperature isn't high either. These flowers are also unaffected!" said Ci Xin.

"Your Majesty, these deceased appear to have been poisoned; their skin looks different!" the forensic examiner came over and said.

"Why is their skin so pale? Is it because of soaking, or is there another issue?" Xiao Yin asked.

"The water in every pool is normal, and all the materials are fine, and at that time... it seemed like many people escaped together, and some were unharmed, which proves it's not the water or these flowers," said Jing'en.

"Let's go outside and investigate!" After inspecting the pool, Xiao Yin had some water taken out and ordered the bodies to be cleaned up.

The emperor personally presided over the court and began to investigate the case.

Of course, it wasn't just the emperor presiding; our Ruo Xi Baby was also held by the emperor, clutching her milk pot, watching the scene before her.

In the city lord's mansion, all the doctors in the city arrived to help bandage the injured.

"Xier, look!" Xiao Yin lifted his chin.

"Mm!" Ruo Xi Baby nodded: "The problem still lies within their own bodies. These people's skin is translucent, the meridians under their skin are very clear, and the speed of blood flow is obviously abnormal!"

"Little Xier is so smart!" Xiao Yin turned his head and softly said to Little Xier.

Seeing the emperor and the little girl whispering, the people, though unsure how they communicated, found it quite magical.

"Has Wen Xu returned yet?" the emperor looked up and asked.

"Your Majesty, I have arrived!" Wen Xu hurried in from outside, even leaving his horse behind.

"Check them out!" Xiao Yin ordered.

"Right away!" Wen Xu quickly turned around, inserted silver needles into their wrists and checked their pulses. "What’s your usual diet?"

"We eat flowers; it’s a tradition handed down by our ancestors in Ten Thousand Flowers City. A hundred years ago, our ancestors fled from the west and had nothing to eat but flowers. Over time, it became our way of life, and eating flowers became our daily sustenance!"

"Yes, we usually live on flowers or sometimes the fruits that the flowers bear—nothing else!"

"Could the flowers we’re eating be the issue? But we eat them normally—it must be the bathhouse causing this!"

The people spoke together, their pain making their faces even paler, each looking like a ghost.

"Shut the doors!" Xiao Yin commanded.

"Block the windows!" Wen Xu also ordered.

"Oh my god, what’s happening?"

"Why are we like this? This isn’t normal for us!"

"Yes, this isn’t how we are at home!"

In the dark, the injured folks glanced at each other, clearly noticing each other’s greenish hues, which was downright terrifying!

"If this hasn’t happened before, it might’ve just started. If they've been frequenting the hot springs, then it could only be..." Ruo Xi Baby glanced at the shopkeeper who was being held kneeling aside.

"Hmm?" Little Ruo Xi squinted, and her tiny hand shot out.

"Ahhh!" The shopkeeper, about to stand up and escape, suddenly fell, convulsing uncontrollably.

"Grab him and interrogate him right here!" Xiao Yin coldly shouted.

"Your Majesty, please, have mercy! I really don’t know, I really don’t know!" the shopkeeper cried out.

Wen Xu pulled out detox pills from his kit and gave them to the people to eat.

"Perhaps ordinary people wouldn’t be affected by the poison because they usually eat grains and have a mix of things in their bodies. But you injured folks are different—you’re cultivators, surviving solely on flowers, wanting to become flower fairies!" Ci Xin, holding his arms, looked at them and said: "In your bodies, there's only one thing. Once the poison enters your body, it quickly enters your bloodstream, gets absorbed, and circulates throughout your body!"

"No, no, I don’t want to cultivate, I just..."

"We didn’t want to cultivate either, but we can’t eat anything else—we can only eat flowers. Otherwise, we’d die from stomach pain!"

The people spoke out, their helplessness making the onlookers curious.

"Why are you helpless? Eating flowers is our ancestors’ tradition, we eat them too, but we also eat other things!"

"We..."

"They were just controlled, forced to eat!" Ci Xin looked at the group and said: "Seven Colors Palace—are you all disciples of Seven Colors Palace?"

"What? That poisonous Seven Colors Palace? Our Ten Thousand Flowers City would never associate with Seven Colors Palace!"

"Seven Colors Palace—when did they infiltrate us?" the city lord frowned and said.