Chapter 686: Origin of Calamity

From afar came a shout, "What are you men doing? All of you, stop!" The voice resounded like thunder itself!

That was precisely the reinforcements that Yu ManLou had summoned reaching the scene.

The sound of fluttering robes sounded incessantly as experts from the Yu Family appeared in all directions. In a split second, the situation was reversed, removing all the rebelling people. Only the Second Prince was left with bloodshot eyes, shouting about beating and killing people.

Everyone had a cloud of fog in their heads. The rebels only had a strength of 3000-4000, but with just this paltry amount of strength, they wanted to attack the imperial palace, wishing for the chance to rule the dynasty? Moreover, the Second Prince himself should have the ability to summon over 20,000 people, so why did he only bring out this amount of strength? Wasn't this absurd?

Yu ManLou slowly walked up, his face devoid of joy or anger. He walked up towards his second son, before suddenly striking out with a vicious backhanded slap on his face. "PA!" The Second Prince immediately spouted out a mouthful of blood, and when he opened his mouth, tens of pearly white teeth fell out in orderly fashion. He swayed and fell unconscious without even a sound.

"Take them away! Put him into the Death Prison, and explicitly state that no one is to visit him! All who disobey will be executed regardless of status!" Yu ManLou's eyes were sharp like swords, cold and indifferent as he spoke.

"Reporting!" Another scout ran over on horseback, both man and horse sweating profusely. However, they were actually dressed in mourning clothes. The moment Yu ManLou saw this, a bad feeling surfaced in his heart.

"Reporting... to the Emperor, Third Prince... Third Prince... he..." The newcomer glanced at Yu ManLou, dismounting and trembling as he stuttered, simply unable to speak coherently.

"What happened to the Third Prince?" Yu ManLou's voice was even, but his robes trembled from the exertion of maintaining his composure. His voice also had a few hints of hoarseness within it.

"Third Prince... the guards in his residence actually carried out an armed rebellion somehow, and unable to adapt to the sudden change, Third Prince he... has been assassinated!" As he finished speaking, he knocked his head on the floor and burst out bawling.

Yu ManLou opened his mouth but was unable to speak. His body unconsciously took a step back, and suddenly felt that the future in front of him was completely blank. There was nothing left.

He had three sons, with the eldest LiuYun having been schemed against, his second son plotting a rebellion today, and his youngest actually being assassinated today as well!

From behind him came a 'putong' sound. The Empress who had just woken up from having fainted earlier fell like a piece of deadwood onto the ground. The pain she felt from losing her child was no less than Yu ManLou's!

Everyone present kept quiet out of fear, not daring to even let out half a bit of sound.

After a long while, Yu ManLou finally regained some semblance of clarity. He staggered forward, but as the experts of the Yu Family stepped forward to aid him, he suddenly froze, and with a spitting motion, he puked out a mouth of blood...

Yu ManTian stood by the side in a daze. While he had never liked those two nephews of his, seeing them in these circumstances today, he too could not help but feel a sense of heartache.

"Let's.... return...." Another lengthy period passed before Yu ManLou hoarsely gave the command. He woodenly turned around, and slowly walked in front, his posture seemingly a little stooped.

The great chaos that took place in Bright Jade City this time could be compared to a legion of bandits infiltrating into a city, wantonly killing and pillaging. The losses were great, to the point they were incalculable. A glorious city had actually turned into a scene of desolation and trauma, unable to return to its past glory!

The origin of calamity radiated from the Yu Family's residence as the core, radiating a circumference of more than 5km from the epicenter! Thousands of houses were burned, and the death count numbered in the tens of thousands. At the center where the chaos spread the most, everything had turned into literal ruins!

Families cried in pain and suffering! The white flags used to send souls off were all raised one by one, fluttering in the breeze. If one were to look with a bird's eye view, they would think that the land was covered in snow.

And up to this point, no one knew how or why this incident took place! Everything was muddled and in a mess, covered with a mysterious veil. While everyone wanted to find a scapegoat to take the blame, there was no one suitable to take the blame!

After three days, the disturbances finally settled down.

Yu ManTian, the Third Master Yu, had been busy rushing around for these three days to the point that his feet had almost practically not stayed in the same spot for more than a minute. His booming voice shook the area constantly. The only person who could be said to have benefited from this incident would only be Yu ManTian, as he was directly pardoned from his punishment by Yu ManLou, and instructed to clean up this mess. After this entire fiasco, those who Yu ManLou could trust were just too few.

A total of 60% of the officials belonging to the Yu Family had actually died in this mysterious calamity!

As for Yu ManLou, he had to lie on the bed after this entire incident. However much he was unwilling to utilize Yu ManTian, he no longer had a choice. In the entire city, the only person remaining from the Yu Family who still possessed authority was Yu ManTian...

Within Yu ManLou's bedchambers, Yu ManLou had on a strip of white cloth wrapped around his head, as though he was an invalid, lying propped up on his bed with a haggard expression.

"Your Majesty, the problem lies in Rainbow Jade Lake." An emaciated old man was kneeling in front of Yu ManLou as he spoke. "This official had begun to control and inspect the water sources after learning of this matter, and discovered that a large amount of a hallucinatory drug was mixed within the waters of Rainbow Jade Lake."

"Rainbow Jade Lake? Hallucinatory drug? Have you determined the compounds, and what countermeasures to take?" Yu ManLou mumbled to himself as he frowned. Because of its clarity, the waters in the lake became the main source of water for the Yu Family and the surrounding hundreds of people in their area. Furthermore, because of the existence of a spring at the bottom of the lake, the water was sweet and tasty.

"It's not really correct to describe it as a hallucinogen actually." The old man paused for a while before continuing, "The composition of this medicine is extremely weird, as it will give rise to strange fantasies to those who consume it, making them feel violent and vicious. In addition, their courage would also be magnified a hundredfold, and it is not wrong to say that they would have balls of steel." Raising his head, he glanced at Yu ManLou once before speaking again, "For all who consume this medicine, they would end up being unable to control their heart's desires, and would attempt to fulfill them at all costs, ignoring any and all consequences. This official here... tested the effects on five individuals. The first had nowhere to vent his desires and ended up killing his wife. The second ran straight to the brothel and ended up raping one of the staff there. The third ran into his office and beheaded his superior, and the last two actually went to try and rob a bank in broad daylight..."

"How could such a frightening drug exist in this world?!" Yu ManLou sucked in a breath of cold air. "Do you have any idea to collect and replicate it?"

A difficult expression appeared on the old man's face as he replied, "Replying to the Emperor, this drug is too unique and has never been seen before. Furthermore... Rainbow Jade Lake would turn back into its original state in at most a day later, with all traces of the drug completely vanishing. At the same time, all the affected people would also regain clarity, just like a dream. As such, this matter..."

"Since that's the case, based on your opinion, was this matter instigated?" Yu ManLou changed the topic.

"Before this incident, this official here had never heard of such a weird drug, and also... even in the historical records, there have been no sightings of such an incident. As such, this official thinks...." the old man swallowed with difficulty, "this should be considered a natural disaster, as the scale is beyond the ability of man."

"Is that so.... you may leave." Yu ManLou quietly lay back on his bed and closed his eyes. The old man bowed deeply before retreating.

"Natural disaster? How could this be a natural disaster? Beyond the ability of man?" Yu ManLou mumbled before a fierce look crossed his face as he hollered, "Men!"

Two men in black robes appeared soundlessly, causing Yu ManLou to feel a wave of sadness. As it turned out, when he had shouted, he had subconsciously expected the Soul and Spirit brothers to appear. However, he recalled that the brothers had already been laid to eternal rest back in Sky Bearing, and could no longer appear in front of him...

"Both of you, find a chance to infiltrate the depths of Rainbow Jade Lake. Search for any unusual occurrences and report."

"Yes!"

After the duo left, Yu ManLou furrowed his brow as he thought about it. He opened his mouth, ready to shout, but then closed it as he suddenly felt a wave of loneliness rush into him. To think that when he had met with such a huge problem, he would actually not have a single person to discuss this matter with...

Should this matter be classified as a natural disaster, or a man-made calamity?

Yu ManLou's senses told him that this matter should have some link to Ling Tian. However, Ling Tian right now was busy with the establishment of his empire and was also involved in deploying his troops to conquer other countries. How would he have the time to do such a thing?

Besides, if this matter was really caused by Ling Tian, how could he fail to capitalize on such a good opportunity? This was totally unlike his style! If Ling Tian really had this sort of weird toy, why how would he even have any opponents left in this world? He just needed to place this drug in the water source of his enemies before they fought. How could anyone put up a resistance against this?

During these few days, Yu ManLou had been acting ill, attempting to force the hand of the orchestrator of this incident out in the open. However, there had actually been no hidden undercurrents at all! This made Yu ManLou, who originally had a firm hypothesis, to start to waver in his conjectures.

In truth this matter was just as Yu ManLou had guessed, that this matter originated from Ling Tian's hand! However, the unforeseen event that arose from this was something that even Ling Tian himself did not expect!

During one of his medicine refining sessions, Ling Tian had inadvertently came across a unique kind of herb, which he named as "black plaster grass". The effect of this herb was similar to the poppy on Earth, the only difference being that its effect was much more tyrannical, making it a heavenly herb for synthesizing hallucinogens! He commanded the Crystal Pavilion that time to plant and collect these herbs in large quantities using his private channels.

The last time he paid a visit to Bright Jade City, the Crystal Pavilion informed him that they had amassed an entire warehouse full of the herb. Ling Tian conveniently used a few days time to mix it with the Heavenly Adhering Grass as well as the Water Soluble Pellet, grinding the compound into a fine powder. He actually had the intention to use it immediately but felt in the end that this compound was going against the harmony of the heavens and earth itself, and thus stayed his hand.

Before he left, Ling Tian had lugged three huge bags of the particular powder, wrapping them securely within oiled cloths, and submerged them within the Rainbow Jade Lake. He had buried them within the mouth of the spring, weighing them down with boulders. This was in preparation as a last resort.

If he still was unable to achieve victory at the final moment, then he would detonate this time bomb he set!

However, the actions of Yu ManLou during the opening ceremony of the Divine Prefecture Empire had thoroughly touched on Ling Tian's nerves. As such, he commanded through a messenger falcon to inform the Crystal Pavilion residing within Bright Jade City to rip apart the oiled clothes, allowing the drug to scatter in the mouth of the spring. The original efficacy of the herb would be lost when it came into contact with water, but with the addition of the heaven adhering grass and water-soluble pellets, it became a weird drug where its medicinal efficacy was best displayed in water!

What comes around, goes around! If Yu ManLou had not been so sinister, Ling Tian would never have resorted to such measures this time around!