After leaving with the guards, Leng Yu asked:
"Your Highness, now that we're here, could we see Xue Beng? We were friends, after all."
Hearing this, Xue Xing thought for a moment, then nodded. Whether he liked these children or not, the people behind them were all ministers and nobles who stood with him and supported Xue Beng.
Thus, Xue Xing nodded and said to Leng Yu and the others:
"Xue Beng is recuperating in the room ahead. Keep your voices down when you go in!"
Leng Yu and the others nodded repeatedly to show they understood.
Then, they headed toward Xue Beng's room.
After entering, Leng Yu and the others saw Xue Beng lying on the bed. Leng Yu spoke up:
"What kind of misfortune is this? We were playing together yesterday, and now he's lying there without moving."
"Yeah. Who knows how long it'll take for him to recover."
Just as they were lamenting, someone suddenly cried out:
"Hey, hey, hey! Look! Xue Beng is vomiting blood!"
Hearing this, Leng Yu and the others all looked toward Xue Beng and saw blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Leng Yu immediately shouted outside:
"Your Highness, something's wrong! Xue Beng is vomiting blood!"
Outside, Xue Xing had originally been furious when he heard people shouting in the room. He had clearly said not to yell after entering, so as not to disturb Xue Beng's recuperation. Why had they started shouting the moment they went inside?
But upon hearing what followed, Xue Xing grew anxious as well. Why had Xue Beng begun vomiting blood?
The next instant, Xue Xing rushed into the room. To Leng Yu and the others' astonishment, he saw Xue Beng lying on the bed, blood beginning to flow from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, Xue Xing immediately shouted:
"Healing Spirit Master, come quickly!"
Hearing this, the Healing Spirit Master standing guard outside immediately ran in. Seeing Xue Beng on the bed, he promptly used Soul Power to examine him. After finishing the examination, the Healing Spirit Master was shocked and staggered back repeatedly.
The Healing Spirit Master was frightened because he had discovered something he had failed to notice before. Originally, he had only found slight damage to Xue Beng's internal organs, injuries that could be healed through rest.
But now, he discovered that Xue Beng's internal organs not only had damage, but also fatal injuries. He had somehow failed to notice them before. Now that he had found them, however, it was already too late. Unless a Titled Douluo took action, or a healing-type Soul Master of Soul Douluo rank or above acted immediately.
Not to mention that there was no one suitable for the task, Dugu Bo was impossible—after all, these injuries had been inflicted by Dugu Bo's granddaughter. Dugu Bo had wanted to kill Xue Beng at the time. As for the Ye Family of Nine Heart Begonia, though they met the requirements, it would already be good enough if they did not seek revenge. How could they be expected to save him?
Moreover, even if they went to beg them now, there would not be enough time by the time they arrived. Xue Beng could not be saved.
After considering this, the Healing Spirit Master dropped to his knees and said:
"Lord Xue Xing, the prince is beyond saving."
"There is a crack in His Highness's internal organs. If it had been discovered at the beginning, there might still have been a chance. But I do not know why it was not discovered then."
Hearing this, Xue Xing froze. The next moment, he grabbed the Healing Spirit Master before him.
"Why wasn't it found before, but now that he can't be saved, it's been found?"
"My lord, I don't know either. During the previous examination, I found no such crack, but now it has appeared."
As soon as the man finished speaking, before Xue Xing could fly into a rage, Xue Beng on the bed suddenly began bleeding from all seven orifices and convulsing.
Xue Xing immediately asked:
"What is going on?"
Seeing this scene, the Healing Spirit Master lowered his head even further and said:
"Your Highness, judging by Prince Xue Beng's condition, his life is hanging by a thread."
As soon as the Healing Spirit Master finished speaking, Xue Beng stopped moving. Xue Xing stepped forward and touched him, only to find that Xue Beng had stopped breathing.
Xue Xing was instantly enraged. He kicked the Healing Spirit Master to the ground and shouted:
"It's all your fault, you quack! If you had discovered it earlier, Xue Beng wouldn't have died. You killed him!"
"Guards! Come in and drag him out to be executed!"
Upon hearing this, the guards outside entered, preparing to take the man away.
Faced with this, the Healing Spirit Master panicked and hurriedly said:
"My lord, you cannot blame me! I was not the one who injured His Highness, and when I failed to discover it earlier, what if the Poison Douluo had used Soul Power to seal it away first, making it impossible to detect? Then, when the time came and the Soul Power dissipated, it emerged! You cannot place all the blame on me!"
Hearing this, Xue Xing panicked as well and immediately shouted at the guards:
"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and gag him! It's bad enough that he failed to save the prince, and now he dares slander a Titled Douluo!"
The next moment, the Healing Spirit Master's mouth was gagged, and he was taken outside to be executed.
Then Xue Xing said to Leng Yu and the others:
"You should all go back. After you return, you are not to speak a single word of what you heard just now. Understood?"
Leng Yu and the others did not dare say anything more. They nodded and immediately left.
Once only Xue Xing and Xue Beng's corpse remained in the room, Xue Xing went to Xue Beng's side and looked at his once lively nephew, now reduced to a cold body.
Xue Xing naturally took the Healing Spirit Master's words to heart. Others might not know the Healing Spirit Master well, but did Xue Xing not know him? The man had served at his side for many years.
Thus, Xue Xing knew there were only two possibilities for the fatal crack in Xue Beng's internal organs. Either it had been there from the beginning, just as the Healing Spirit Master had said.
Or someone had secretly harmed Xue Beng while he lay here.
Xue Xing considered the latter impossible, because everyone who could enter Xue Beng's room was one of his own. The only outsiders might have been Leng Yu and the others, but they were Xue Beng's friends, and their families were tied to his side as well. They could not have done such a thing.
After thinking it over, there was only one possibility left: the one the Healing Spirit Master had mentioned. The crack had been there all along, but someone had temporarily sealed it with Soul Power so it could not be discovered immediately.
There was only one person with such strength—Dugu Bo.
Xue Xing also knew just how much Dugu Bo doted on his only granddaughter. It was entirely possible that Dugu Bo had done something like this. Once Xue Beng died, Xue Xing could hardly confront a Titled Douluo over a corpse. And did he really dare accuse a Titled Douluo based solely on a Healing Spirit Master's words? Did he think Titled Douluo were so good-tempered?
In the end, Xue Xing could only swallow this grievance and have the Healing Spirit Master executed, putting the matter to rest. Yet hatred for Dugu Bo had already taken root in his heart.