The water in the brook was stirred up, and ripples spread out one after another. Pei Ying clung to Huo Tingshan's shoulders and watched him wading through the water.
Previously, the water level had reached a little above her knees, but now it only seemed to reach his knees.
She had walked through it herself and knew how slippery the stones at the bottom of the water were, yet he walked steadily. Pei Ying hardly felt any jolts on his back.
The firelight reflected on the water, refracting floating glimmers like starlight.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Pei Ying caught a glimpse of a fleeting bright light at the junction of light and darkness not far away.
"Huo Tingshan, there seems to be something on the right..." The hand on his shoulder tightened involuntarily, wrinkling the man's robe.
Huo Tingshan stopped and turned his head to the right. As soon as he stopped, the black - armored cavalry behind him naturally also halted.
No one moved, only the constantly expanding water waves remained.
Pei Ying nervously stared at that spot. But now there was nothing there, and the rippling water waves passed through without any obstruction.
"What did madam see just now?" Huo Tingshan asked.
Pei Ying whispered, "Something shiny."
Huo Tingshan carried her and continued walking forward. "It's probably the stones. The stones here have been polished very smooth by the flowing water, and they look bright when the firelight shines on them."
"It's not the stones," Pei Ying said firmly. "Stones don't move, but that thing did."
Huo Tingshan offered another guess. "Then it's the light refracted by the torches on the water."
Pei Ying pursed her lips and finally couldn't help whispering, "I don't think so either."
Huo Tingshan smiled. "Then we'll go over there later to have a look. Otherwise, madam will keep thinking about it after we get back."
By this time, they had reached the other side. The shore here was quite steep, and the obtuse angle formed by the water surface and the small rock wall was very small, steep and high.
Huo Tingshan had been carrying Pei Ying on his back. Now, the hands supporting her legs moved up, and he circled her waist with his hands. Then, with just the strength of his arms, he swept Pei Ying from his back to his side and then held her in his arms.
This series of actions was as smooth as flowing water and almost happened in an instant. Pei Ying only felt a tightness around her waist. Before she even had time to be surprised, she was already in his arms.
Huo Tingshan held her waist tightly with one hand and supported her legs from below with the other. The muscles in his arms tightened and exerted force, directly lifting Pei Ying up and placing her on the shore more than a meter above the water.
Pei Ying stood there in a daze, incredulous. One moment she was on his back, and in the blink of an eye, she was on the shore, feeling as if she were floating in the clouds.
After sending the precious girl up, Huo Tingshan lifted his robe and stepped forward, and soon came out of the water.
Pei Ying stepped aside to make way for the best landing spot, and the black - armored cavalry behind came ashore one by one.
The sound of lifting robes, the dripping of water, and the sound of boots splashing out of the water mingled together.
The scene wasn't noisy, but it definitely wasn't quiet either.
Pei Ying stood on the side away from the waterway and quietly watched the black - armored cavalry coming ashore one after another. As she watched, she faintly heard some other sounds.
It seemed like there was something rubbing, making a rustling sound, along with a wet and sticky sound.
"Huo Tingshan..." Pei Ying turned to call him. Just as she was about to tell him about the strange noise she heard, she saw that the man beside her had already turned his head to look in the direction from which the sound came.
And that direction was exactly where Pei Ying had said there was a "shiny thing" before.
"Madam is right. It's neither the stones nor the refracted light," Huo Tingshan drew out the ring - pommel sword from his waist and casually pushed Pei Ying behind him.
"Are you going over there? Maybe we should take another way back," Pei Ying said as she grabbed the corner of his robe when she saw him about to step forward with the sword.
Huo Tingshan squeezed her hand. "It's dark in the cave, and it's easy to set up an ambush. I have to find out what it is to be at ease."
How could he leave an unknown thing beside the team? It was like not allowing others to snore beside one's own couch.
Since she couldn't persuade him, Pei Ying could only watch as Huo Tingshan stepped forward with a torch in one hand and a sword in the other.
Like clearing a path through the wilderness, the firelight gradually dispelled the darkness there. Then Pei Ying saw a scene that made her hair stand on end and even feel a little nauseous.
Not far away, there was a huge black python. Compared with ordinary pythons, it was an absolute giant.
Pei Ying had never seen such a big python before.
It was extremely long and thick. Its tail extended into the darkness behind, making it impossible to estimate its approximate length. The waist of this python was as thick as an ordinary bucket. A young girl in her prime would probably only be able to barely hug it with both arms.
At the moment, the python's abdomen bulged unusually in a spindle - like shape. As the python opened its mouth, the "spindle" on its waist was wriggling rapidly.
"Huo Tingshan, don't wait for it to vomit out the thing in its belly," Pei Ying said with a pale face.
When a python encounters danger after eating, it will quickly vomit. After vomiting out the food, it can regain its full combat power.
Huo Tingshan responded and quickly stepped forward.
The black-armored cavalry were all startled when they saw the giant python. After the initial shock, they swarmed forward.
No one knew how many years this giant python had lived in the cave. Its snake skin had become as hard as stone through years of cultivation. When swords and knives struck the snake scales, they made a "clang" sound similar to the collision of metals.
The approach of the torches made the giant python even more irritable. At first, it only had its mouth slightly open, but now it opened it wide.
Huo Tingshan stood right in front of the python's head and could just see a small cluster of black things emerging from the python's mouth. These things were stuck together, looking very much like wet hair.
Without hesitation, Huo Tingshan took advantage of this moment and stabbed his ring - headed sword into the python's mouth.
Although the snake skin was hard, the exposed flesh inside the mouth was undoubtedly soft. Huo Tingshan used great force. With this stab, not only did he push back what the python was about to spit out, but the sharp blade also cut through the python's esophagus.
The pained python flew into a rage and thrashed its head and tail wildly. Its long tail was extremely powerful, and when it whipped around, it was like an iron whip, forcing two black - armored cavalrymen on either side of the tail to retreat continuously.
When the snake's tail hit the rock wall, with a "thud", it actually smashed a protruding small stone into pieces.
However, it was not easy for the python to shake off the restraint on its head. The food that had reached its throat was pushed back again. This unshakable weight was like an oversized weight, putting the python at a disadvantage.
Huo Tingshan's ring - headed sword was stabbed straight in, and he tried his best to fix the wriggling snake's head with the sword. The veins on his hand holding the sword bulged, and he shouted, "Bring me a sword!"
Sha Ying immediately handed over his own sword. Huo Tingshan took it with his left hand and used both swords to stab all the way from the snake's mouth to its heart.
In the distance, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
Soon, another group rushed out from the corner. The leader was Huo Zhizhang.
Huo Zhizhang heard the unusual noise over there and thought there was an ambush in the cave. He hurriedly brought his men over. "Father, you..."
When he arrived, through the gap in the encirclement, he was caught off - guard and saw an oversized giant python. Huo Zhizhang shivered.
This snake was so big.
After Huo Tingshan used both swords, the python's wriggling amplitude decreased significantly. The black - armored cavalry on the side swarmed forward like a pack of wolves at the signal.
Pei Ying nervously watched Huo Tingshan, her heart in her mouth. He was standing right in front of the snake's head, less than a meter away from the snake's head.
"Mother."
It was not until her hand was held that Pei Ying realized that her daughter had come to her side at some point.
"Mother, it's okay," Meng Ling'er held her mother's cold hand. Although her little face was also deathly pale, she still pretended to be calm and said, "Father is very powerful. He has already subdued the snake. And we have so many people here. Can't we deal with just one snake?"
Seeing that the python's struggling movements were getting smaller and smaller, Pei Ying slowly let out a breath.
She had read such a view before: primates have an innate fear of reptiles. This is not only due to sensory experience but also because in ancient times, reptiles were predators.
Generations of primates have warned the young in the group to be careful of these long, thin, tree - climbing predators. So, after thousands of years, the fear program seemingly engraved in the genes is automatically activated when encountering snakes.
Pei Ying didn't know whether this view was correct or not, but seeing that giant python really made her hair stand on end.
Huo Tingshan waited quietly for a moment. After the python completely stopped moving, he looked back at Pei Ying.
The firelight was warm orange, and he saw the unmasked paleness on her face. The man paused for a moment, and his voice softened. "Madam, go to the front with the kids first. I'll come later."
Pei Ying looked at the snake.
The snake was already dead. What was he going to do?
"Mother, let's go to the front first," Meng Ling'er took Pei Ying's hand and walked away with her.
After Pei Ying and the younger generation left, Huo Tingshan used his sword to cut open the python's abdomen.
"Plop." The gastric juice and other tissues fell out, and besides that, there was... a corpse.
Seeing the clothing of the corpse, Huo Tingshan let out a soft snort. "So, the unlucky guy is someone else."
When he arrived, the cave was already occupied by the Youzhou Army. When Huo Tingshan saw the bulging snake's belly earlier, his first reaction was that someone in the team had been swallowed by the snake at some point.
He couldn't just let one of his own soldiers be buried here. He thought of taking the body back for burial. But looking at the clothing, this unlucky guy was not a Youzhou soldier.
Chen Yuan remembered something. "General, when I chased the enemy into the cave, two of them escaped into the water. I think this is one of them."
Huo Tingshan kicked the corpse into the river. "Let's go back."
*
At the Youzhou military camp.
"Achoo." Pei Ying got off the horse and kept sneezing.
Huo Tingshan looked at Xin Jin, who came forward to greet them, and directly gave an order. "Hurry up and tell the cooks to boil two barrels of ginger water. Put a lot of ginger in it. One barrel is for Madam to take a bath with, and the other one should be distributed."
Taking a ginger - water bath and drinking ginger water are both excellent ways to dispel the cold. In the past, whenever a soldier in the army caught a cold, simply having a ginger - water bath could make eight or nine out of ten of them recover quickly.
Pei Ying went to take a bath.
The stalactites brought back from the cave were packed into boxes, waiting for subsequent disposal orders.
Huo Tingshan looked at Sha Ying still standing in front of him. "What are you standing there for? Why don't you go and change your clothes?"
Sha Ying had also waded through the water earlier, and his trouser legs and shoes were all wet.
Sha Ying looked solemn, with his back teeth itching. "General, what's your plan next? Li Sizhou and his men are so despicable. They want to take the lives of our 150,000 soldiers in the Youzhou Army. If this..."
"What do you mean by this?" Huo Tingshan interrupted him.
Sha Ying then realized what he had missed. "Haven't they reported it to you yet?"
Huo Tingshan gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing.
Now Sha Ying understood. The general had gone straight to the cave after returning to the barracks and hadn't had the chance to learn about the poisoning incident.
So Sha Ying told him the whole story from beginning to end.
Huo Tingshan knew about the poisoning, but Guo Dajiang hadn't mentioned the specific method at that time.
Now he heard from Sha Ying that the enemy had thrown dead and rotting poultry and pigs into the upper reaches of the river to spread the epidemic. As for why this could cause an epidemic, Sha Ying wasn't quite sure. He just said it was "what the mistress said". Hearing this, Huo Tingshan immediately shouted angrily, "Ridiculous!"
Sha Ying also thought it was extremely absurd.
Once the epidemic broke out, it was very likely to spread along the official roads to nearby townships and counties, and then from these small places to large counties either by water or land.
Large counties had a population of at least 100,000. Prosperous places like Chang'an could easily accommodate a million people. If the epidemic spread, it would truly be a scene of bones lying in the wild and no crows cawing for miles.
"Li Xiaotian, what a fool!" In a fit of extreme anger, Huo Tingshan was actually amused. "I wondered why Li Kangshun looked so stupid. It turns out his father is a fool too."
Sha Ying nodded in agreement.
"The camps of the two armies aren't that far apart. Does he really not fear that the epidemic will turn back on him when he tries to infect our Youzhou Army?" Huo Tingshan sneered.
Thinking of the two groups of people who had acted before and after, Sha Ying said, "General, I suspect that Governor Cong of Jingzhou is involved in this."
"No need to suspect. It must be him. With the allied forces of the various states approaching, Cong Liuqi can't just sit back and do nothing." Huo Tingshan scoffed. "It's really strange that the people under his command support such a despicable wretch to claim the throne. Are they all just like rats? If we catch a military general or a strategist from Jingzhou some other day, beat them hard before killing them to see if we can beat out their true forms."
Sha Ying was speechless...
For some reason, Huo Tingshan suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Chen Yuan said he chased the enemy into the cave, and two of them escaped into the water. One was eaten by a snake, and they couldn't find the other one. Right?"
Sha Ying didn't understand the purpose of this question, but he answered truthfully, "Yes. After the four hunters were captured on the spot, Chen Yuan led his men to chase after the sounds in the forest. They killed some and captured three alive, and finally, two escaped."
Huo Tingshan said in a deep voice, "You and Chen Yuan lead two thousand cavalry back to the cave right away. One thousand and five hundred of them will search inside the cave. Don't miss the hidden corners behind the underground rivers and the stone pillars. The other five hundred will search the forest outside the cave. I want that escaped man alive or dead."
Sha Ying was shocked.
Two thousand cavalry? Why was the general going to so much trouble to find that escaped person? They already had the other three captives and the four "hunters" for interrogation.
Although he didn't understand, Sha Ying quickly took the order. The horses' hooves thundered, and the cavalry quickly left the camp.
It wasn't until the sound of the cavalry's hooves faded away that Huo Tingshan withdrew his gaze from the direction of the Sizhou Army's camp.
Now, when he recalled this morning, Li Xiaotian's calm and composed demeanor during their meeting clearly showed that he was confident. He was certain that the "poisoning" would succeed and that their Youzhou Army would soon turn from "hungry wolves" into "sick chickens".
Since he was so confident, then let the "facts" be like that for the moment.
As long as they found that escaped person and stopped him from going back to report the situation, and then spread the news that the Youzhou Army had killed a group of "Jingzhou scouts" during a patrol, Li Xiaotian probably wouldn't suspect that his plan had failed.
After all, ordinary people didn't know that such a method could cause an epidemic.
After standing outside for a while, Huo Tingshan turned around and walked back into his tent.
Pei Ying had taken a ginger - water bath and felt warm all over. Her stuffy nose had also cleared up.
She tied the thin belt of her bellyband and was just putting on her inner garment when she suddenly heard the sound of the curtain being lifted. The beautiful woman paused for a moment, looked up as if sensing something, and sure enough, saw a tall figure walking around the screen.
He had a gloomy face and looked rather intimidating.
Pei Ying thought he must have learned about the epidemic and was about to ask when suddenly he pulled her into his arms.
His arms were like iron bars, tightly encircling her. The force was so strong that Pei Ying felt as if she was being embedded into his flesh and blood.
At that moment, she seemed to hear the overly noisy beating of his heart.
