Lin Mu looked at the slightly haggard looking man and was surprised.

"What happened to you?" Lin Mu said, looking at Jing Luo.

"Ah, nothing much. I just finished some work at the last moment." Jing Luo replied.

"What kind of work?" Lin Mu asked, but then guessed that Jing Luo might have finished making some spirit tool or weapon.

"You're going to like it!" Jing Luo said with a smile.

"I'll look forward to it. But before that, where's Wu Hei? You called me here because of him, right?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Come on in, he's talking with the Royal advisers." Jing Luo answered.

Lin Mu nodded his head and told Little Shrubby to shrink down.

~shua~

Little Shrubby quickly shrunk down and jumped onto Lin Mu's shoulders, taking his place there.

"What happened in the capital? How did the king and prince die?" Lin Mu asked Jing Luo while walking to the main hall.

"We don't exactly know yet. People have said that it might be assassination through poisoning but our guess is something else." Jing Luo said, hinting at something.

"The Human controlling Blood curse… so it really was that." Lin Mu replied.

"Unfortunately yes. We're still investigating more such reports, and from the initial ones that have been received, it seems like a great possibility." Jing Luo stated.

Lin Mu's expression darkened upon hearing this, as he didn't know just how many people might have died. Even if they knew that Gu Yao mostly controlled people at the higher ranks, there was no saying how many there exactly where.

No records of the official numbers were recorded anywhere in the headquarters and even Wu Hei didn't know about it.

"Minister Wu, we need to address the aristocrats as soon as possible! The cause of deaths of the king and the prince not being officially announced is only causing great unease among them." A voice was heard coming from behind some doors that were partially closed.

"Yes! They are even more scared and confused since Minister of war and minister of commerce passed way in the same manner and were discovered this morning." Another person spoke.

Jing Luo gestured to Lin Mu and opened the doors.

~CREAK~

"Huh?" The people inside looked at the opening doors and saw Jing Luo appear with another man and a cat that seemed to be sitting on his shoulder.

"Who's that?" Some of the people whispered to each other.

They already knew of Jing Luo and were told that he was here as an adviser to Wu Hei. But they didn't know of Lin Mu. They were even more intrigued due to how Lin Mu looked. His demeanor and appearance made them think that he was certainly not normal and was perhaps some core disciple of a sect.

They all could sense the faint spirit Qi fluctuations coming off Lin Mu's body after all. Lin Mu mostly kept them restrained now, thus it made others feel like he was at the core condensation realm realm.

"Good, you're here Lin Mu!" Wu Hei said with a look of relief on his face.

"What's going on?" Lin Mu asked.

"Who's this, Minister Wu?" the royal advisers asked.

"This is who we've been waiting or all this time." Wu Hei replied. "Lin Mu should be able to give us a concrete reason as to why they died." He said before looking at Lin Mu.

"Please come with me. The corpses are kept in the refinement hall." Wu Hei spoke.

"Alright." Lin Mu nodded, having understood what must have happened from these conversations.

Everyone walked to the refinement hall and Wu Hei showed the corpses to Lin Mu. They were kept on two long work tables that had inscriptions carved on them. Just from one look, Lin Mu could tell that they were all preserved and cooling formations that were used to keep herbs for a long time.

Lin Mu looked at the corpses and saw that their faces were really pale, with traces of blood on their seven orifices.

Furrowing his brows, Lin Mu came to stand beside the corpses. Then using his spirit sense, he checked the bodies. But when he reached their abdomen and tried to check on the Dantian, he was surprised.

"Their Dantian is… shattered?" Lin Mu muttered.

"Yes. The cause of death is a shattered Dantian, which led to their cultivation base being crippled. The blood leak from the seven orifices also shows that they experienced a Qi deviation." Wu Hei spoke.

Lin Mu nodded his head and tried to sense for any traces of the Human controlling blood curse. After about a minute of it, he finally confirmed it.

"It really was that… The human controlling blood curse was the reason behind their death." Lin Mu stated.

Hearing this, Wu Hei's face fell and his complexion paled.

"You said there were more people that died like this? Can you bring in their corpses, too?" Lin Mu asked.

"Yes! I'll call for them." One of the advisers went to get them.

Meanwhile, Lin Mu spoke to Wu Hei in a low voice.

"Have you talked to Wu Teng or have any news about him?" Lin Mu asked.

"No… after you killed Gu Yao and destroyed the headquarter, all chains of command and communication seemed to have fallen. I've asked for scouts to check out the Vermillion legion, but it will take them another day to reply." Wu Hei replied.

"Hmm… the traces of the human controlling blood curse on these two have faded greatly. Thus it is a bit hard to tell if they truly died because of it. Plus, there is the muddied Qi of the pills of grace as well, I've read that they can have an effect like this too.

So I'm doubtful whether it might have been caused due to it too." Lin Mu said, not wanting to decide quickly. holds © this.

Wu Hei simply nodded and looked at the corpses for a bit.

About five minutes later, the adviser returned with two more corpses in tow.