Book excerpt: The ruined city of Pataliputra wore a haunted look. Withered trees, cattle and vultures loomed in the sky. You could only see broken buildings and the pain on the faces of few surviving inhabitants. Krishna arrives in Dholakpur un-announced, and goes straight to meet Bheem asking for help. Bheem and team readily agree, and the next morning they set off to Pataliputra, with Kalia, Dholu & Bholu sneaking in, as usual. On reaching Pataliputra, they find everything strange. The people are scared and refuse to talk. In the night, they discover that people actually turn into dead people. The team is scared and thoroughly confused. On persisting, they get to know the story about the king and soothsayer from the people of the village. They also encounter the royal siblings, who are unfriendly and rude to them. The soothsayer is the one who controls the royal siblings and the entire city of Pataliputra. Lord Krishna and Bheem propose to meet him but are turned down. They later learn that there is a ritual to be performed on a full moon night to save Pataliputra from a curse. But what is this curse? And who is the soothsayer? Is Bheem able to help Lord Krishna? Do the people of Pataliputra see the smile of a beautiful day again? To get answers to all these questions, just keep reading!