Hearing that Pei Ying was going to the large cave, Sha Ying was extremely worried and apprehensive. If there was an ambush in that place and the mistress and the young lady were unfortunately captured or killed, he would be extremely guilty.
One excuse after another flashed through his mind. Finally, Sha Ying honestly told Pei Ying about his concerns.
It's better to tell the truth. The mistress is not an unreasonable person. She will understand.
Pei Ying hadn't thought about the possibility of an ambush. "Well, how about sending some people to help Captain Chen? Wait until they've cleared the cave, and then I'll go over."
Sha Ying nodded and immediately dispatched some troops to support. At the same time, he sent a black - armored cavalryman galloping back to the main camp to mobilize more troops.
"Mistress, these four people should be taken back to the barracks first," Sha Ying said.
Pei Ying looked at the four people tied up like mummies with vines. Deep disgust welled up in her eyes. "They are so despicable. They deserve to be punished severely."
They wanted to use the epidemic to deal with the Youzhou Army. They only saw the immediate benefits and didn't think about the surrounding people at all. An epidemic is different from an ordinary war. The former is uncontrollable. Once it breaks out on a large scale, there's no turning back.
In the 14th century, there was a terrible plague in Europe. The shadow of the Black Death hung over everyone's heart at that time, and people lived in constant fear.
It's no exaggeration to say that within less than five years, the Black Death took away nearly one - third of the population in Europe.
If the epidemic really breaks out, not to mention the 150,000 troops of the Youzhou Army, even the combined forces of several nearby counties and the Sizhou Army might not be enough to deal with the great plague.
"Burn these corpses," Pei Ying pointed at the corpses of the strange birds and wild boars. Then she looked at the several black - armored cavalrymen who had just gone into the river. "You go to a place upstream to take another bath, and then go straight back to the army. Go to Doctor Feng's clinic to get some wormwood and light it to fumigate your whole body. If you feel unwell tomorrow, report it immediately."
Then Pei Ying pointed at the four donkey - carts and the empty barrels. "Kill the donkeys and burn them together with the carts and barrels."
Who knows where these things came from and whether they are contaminated with the virus.
However, after saying this, Pei Ying gave herself a reminder.
Those four people couldn't be taken directly back to the barracks.
Pei Ying changed her mind. "Place those four people outside the barracks. Tie them to a tree or throw them into a pit. Then order someone to watch them from a distance."
Her rare solemnity and the change of her mind made Sha Ying even more worried. He was even a little frightened. "Mistress, are those four people infected with the epidemic?"
Pei Ying said, "They don't seem to be infected for now. They should have come into contact with the corpses of those strange birds and wild boars not long ago. Getting infected is a process. Now block their mouths so that the droplets can't spread. There should be no big problem. When we get back to the barracks, also use some wormwood to fumigate them."
Seeing that she wasn't extremely panicked, Sha Ying put his heart back in his stomach.
Indeed, if those four people were infected with the epidemic, the mistress would never take them back.
After everything was arranged, everyone started to act separately.
Those four "hunters" were taken away. The donkey - carts, barrels and those corpses were piled up together.
Pei Ying personally watched as the fire was lit and waited quietly in the distance as the corpses were gradually devoured by the flames.
Not long after, the black - armored cavalrymen mobilized from the barracks arrived. They didn't stop and went to the cave under the guidance of the guards.
During the time before the black - armored cavalrymen came back, Pei Ying and her daughter continued to walk upstream. They picked a lot of wild chrysanthemums. On the way, Meng Ling'er also collected other herbs she recognized.
After about an hour, the black - armored cavalrymen sent out before came back, and Captain Chen also returned with them.
He reported, "Mistress, the large cave has been thoroughly investigated. You can go there at any time."
Pei Ying was overjoyed and immediately got on her horse and followed the returning black - armored cavalrymen.
After passing through the jungle and walking along a winding mountain path where horses could hardly move forward, Pei Ying saw a lot of horses. Most of them were left by the black - armored cavalrymen when they got off here. She also saw a huge opening in the ground in front.
It was as if an invisible giant hand had grabbed the ground and torn it apart to both sides. It was also as if a huge beast disguised as the land was lying here, opening its blood - filled mouth waiting for people to throw themselves into the trap.
Meng Ling'er's face changed slightly. "This cave opening is more than two zhang wide."
Captain Chen said, "It's even bigger inside. It's more than a hundred zhang long."
Meng Ling'er was greatly surprised. "More than a hundred zhang long? Wouldn't it go through the mountain range?"
Captain Chen couldn't answer the latter question. "We haven't found another exit for now."
Hearing this, Pei Ying asked curiously, "What made the noise at first? Were there the enemy's people lurking there?"
Captain Chen looked solemn. "It was the Sizhou troops lurking there, but those four 'hunters' should not be from Sizhou. When the enemy saw the 'hunters' being captured, they wanted to retreat."
If they were from Sizhou, why would they act in batches?
Pei Ying murmured, "They have formed an alliance. If the 'hunters' are not from Sizhou, which side are they from?"
Troops from other states were coming soon, such as Yongzhou, Yuzhou and the more distant Yizhou. It was so strange that they formed an alliance with Sizhou to deal with Youzhou. They were supposed to gather to attack Jingzhou. Why had it now become a situation of targeting Youzhou?
Unless the one who formed an alliance with Sizhou was Jingzhou.
Jingzhou knew that it was at a disadvantage now and didn't want to fight against five states alone. So it wanted to find an enemy as a partner. Moreover, if they used the epidemic as a weapon to deal with Youzhou before the states gathered, the situation could become two against three.
The more Pei Ying thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
However, it was all just speculation. The truth would depend on what happened next...
Meng Ling'er gritted her teeth. "Those people have been captured. We'll interrogate them well later and make them spill all their dirty tricks."
Pei Ying was also concerned about another thing. "Captain Chen, have those bandits been caught?"
Captain Chen looked ashamed. "Most of them have been caught, but two of them jumped into the water pool. The cave was dark. After several rounds of searching, we didn't find their traces. I suspect they escaped underwater."
Just as Pei Ying was about to speak, the little girl beside her said first, "It's understandable. The cave is more than a hundred zhang long..."
Seemingly aware of the gaze from the people beside her, the little girl turned her head and blinked at her mother. Her voice became a little softer, but she didn't stop talking. "It's dark inside, and the light from the torches is limited. It must be difficult to find people."
Pei Ying had been looking at her daughter. At this time, she silently shifted her gaze to Captain Chen, who slowly lowered his eyes.
The atmosphere became strangely awkward.
Seeing her daughter gradually stop and looking a little confused as to why no one was responding, Pei Ying quickly said, "Let's go into the cave."
The strange atmosphere just now dissipated immediately.
The cave opening was more than two zhang wide. It was overgrown with weeds and moss. The moss climbed up the thick stones, dyeing most of them like a colorful painting.
The moss on both sides was intact. Pei Ying noticed that there were trampled marks on the moss on the ground, as if someone had been in a hurry and accidentally slipped down from the cave entrance.
Different from the karst caves developed into scenic spots in later generations, there were no steps here. The arc extending inward from the cave entrance was very steep.
"Madam, let me help you down," said Sha Ying, bending her elbow and holding out her arm horizontally.
Pei Ying didn't refuse. She immediately held on to Sha Ying's arm and slowly came down from above. Fortunately, she was wearing riding clothes instead of a ruqun dress today, which made it much more convenient for her to go down.
Even so, Pei Ying didn't dare to be careless and took each step very cautiously.
The whole group entered the cave safely.
Outside, the sun was shining brightly. Once inside, a chill hit them, making people shiver involuntarily.
"It's so cold here," Meng Ling'er rubbed her arms.
Chen Yuan, standing beside her, silently took a torch from a black-armored cavalryman. The blazing fire dispelled the chill.
A group of black-armored cavalry had already entered the karst cave earlier. They held torches and stood apart, acting like human candlesticks.
The light of the candles reflected on the pitted rock walls, which looked like the bark of a withered tree, and seemed to turn into distorted and old faces. The strange rocks were jagged, and the "old men" on the rock walls silently watched the intruders.
The gurgling sound of running water and the ticking sound came together, making people feel even colder.
"This place is so gloomy. There seem to be many faces on the rock walls," Meng Ling'er suddenly remembered a travelogue she had read a few days ago.
The traveler had traveled all over the country and said that he had encountered countless strange things. For example, in some places, even in the hot summer, it was extremely cold. The traveler explained that it was because the place was originally a place that gathered yin energy, and later, by chance, it became a battlefield.
Millions of corpses were lying on the ground, and the blood flowed for miles. The blood soaked into the land, locking the souls of thousands of the dead, preventing them from being reincarnated. Over time, the dead souls became evil spirits.
The evil spirits attached themselves to the distorted rock walls and would make strange cries like those of babies in the middle of the night to attract passers-by to go deeper.
She definitely didn't want to be the only one scared, so Meng Ling'er stammered and told everyone.
Pei Ying turned to look at her daughter. The little girl was walking beside Chen Yuan, getting closer and closer. As she walked, she nervously looked at the surrounding rock walls. The light of the torch shone on her face, and it could even be seen that she was a bit pale.
The man beside her would look at her every two steps and occasionally gently pull her arm to prevent her from stepping on the small pits on the ground.
Pei Ying paused for a moment and pretended not to see.
It seemed that Nannan hadn't noticed yet. Let it be like this for now.
Pei Ying corrected her daughter's feudal superstition. "Nannan, that's all nonsense. The coldness here is not because there are evil spirits gathered. It's because this is underground, out of the sun, and there are water pools. There may even be an opening in another part of the cave, and the cool wind blows in. Naturally, it's cold under such circumstances."
Meng Ling'er frowned. "Why do the rock walls here look like human faces?"
"That's caused by water erosion. The water has eroded the stones over the years. This kind of limestone..." Pei Ying suddenly stopped.
Not only did she stop talking, but she also stopped walking.
"Madam?" Sha Ying immediately stopped too.
Pei Ying's eyes lit up. "It's limestone! It's really like getting a pillow just when you're sleepy."
Limestone is an important flux in glassmaking and has always been indispensable.
Not only limestone, but karst caves often also contain quartz sand. However, the two are different. The former is very easy to find. Those upright or inverted stone pillars and stalactites are actually limestone, and you can just cut them off and take them away.
But quartz sand usually exists in the karst cave in the form of tiny particles. When you shine a light on it, it looks like "a sky full of stars".
Everyone didn't understand what Pei Ying was talking about. A stone was just a stone. Why did this stone have a repeated character in its name?
Pei Ying didn't expect them to understand either. She casually pointed to a rock. "Carry this back."
Sha Ying opened her eyes wide and looked at the rock. Except for the traces of "worms" crawling on it, this rock didn't seem to have anything special.
But the black-armored cavalry beside her had already received the order.
So several black-armored cavalrymen drew their ring - headed knives and chopped at an inverted stalactite.
"Bang."
The sound of the knife hitting the stone echoed in the karst cave.
Sha Ying's ears suddenly twitched, and then her face changed. "Madam, no! Something is coming!"
