42: Plague outbreak

The person who spoke earlier scoffed, pointing at the rolling smoke in the distance and saying,

"Tch, didn't you see that smoke? They can't even burn the corpses now, so how could they have the time to deal with us!"

As soon as these words were uttered, the entire squad burst into laughter.

But just then, someone suddenly saw dense figures in the sandstorm, a surging mass of people, so many that for a moment it was impossible to tell how many there were.

The scout thought he was seeing things and rubbed his eyes hard, looking again.

This time, he finally saw clearly: they were cavalry from the Northern Barrens!!

"Enem...y...attack......."

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~!"

However, he had barely shouted two words when countless whooshing sounds filled the air, and a dense rain of swords fell from the sky, instantly riddling the scout squad like a sieve.

Twenty thousand Northern Barrens soldiers, mounted on warhorses and clad in armor, stood silently in the howling wind, their eyes cruelly fixed on the distant Great Gan army camp.

Everyone wore scarves over their faces and were covered in the white lime needed for disinfection, clearly fully prepared.

Tuoba Man slowly raised the horsewhip in his hand, without a single wasted word.

"Charge!"

Instantly, the sound of hooves roared, and the ground began to tremble slightly.

........

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere in the tent became lively, and Yang Hongguo, with a drunken face, said to Chen Xiuyu,

"Cough cough cough~!"

"Hahaha, loyal bones are buried everywhere in the green mountains, why bother with returning wrapped in horsehide? Young Master Chen truly speaks to the hearts of us soldiers!!"

"Young Master Chen, would you grace us today by reciting this poem aloud, so that we rough fellows can also experience your charm?"

At this moment, Chen Xiuyu was also slightly tipsy and smiled proudly.

"Heh heh, why not? I, Chen, write poems precisely for everyone to read and appreciate!"

But just then, everyone felt a slight tremor in the ground, and Yang Hongguo couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"It seems this General is truly a bit too drunk; I'm even feeling an earthquake."

Su Yiyao, whose eyes were practically glued to Chen Xiuyu, suddenly felt something was wrong, her expression abruptly changed, and she shouted loudly,

"No, it's not a hallucination, it's the movement of a large group of warhorses galloping!!!"

"What??!!!"

At this, everyone in the tent trembled, and the alcohol instantly turned into cold sweat that streamed down their bodies.

At the same time, coughing outside the tent was incessant.

"Cough cough cough~!! Cough cough cough~!!"

"Something's wrong, why am I coughing more and more severely!!!"

"Cough cough~! Me too!! I feel aches all over and can't exert any strength!!"

"Pfft~!"

Someone even coughed so violently that he spat out a mouthful of blood, rolled his eyes, and fell directly to the ground.

"Dog Dan'er, what's wrong with you!!"

Like a chain reaction of dominoes, more and more people fell from their seats, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood, and for a time, the entire military camp was almost enveloped by the sound of coughing.

Hearing the commotion, Su Yiyao and her group had just rushed out of the tent when they saw the shocking scene before them.

"The food was poisoned??!!"

The first thought that came to everyone's mind was that the food was poisoned, but this was immediately rejected.

The army's daily cooking ingredients—firewood, rice, oil, and salt—were all inspected by special personnel, and even the water used for cooking was not overlooked; it was impossible for anyone to poison the food!

Seeing everyone coughing so violently, Yang Hongguo's body suddenly trembled, his eyes instantly widened, as if he had thought of something.

"It's the plague!! It's the plague raging in the Northern Barrens!!"

Hearing this, Su Yiyao and Chen Xiuyu both showed expressions of horror and retreated backward.

Chen Xiuyu even disregarded his image, tearing two strips of cloth from his clothes, wrapping one around his face, and handing the other to Su Yiyao.

"Cough cough cough~!! Cough cough cough~!!"

Gu Xingxian also began to cough violently at this time, but perhaps because he was, after all, a Martial Dao Eighth Grade expert, his body was much stronger than ordinary soldiers, so his reaction was not as severe as the others.

"Impossible, the army disinfects daily, how could we get the plague!!"

"And no one had symptoms yesterday, why would it collectively erupt today!!!"

Watching most of his tens of thousands of soldiers fall to the ground, vomiting blood incessantly, and the rest looking weak in their limbs, Yang Hongguo felt his scalp tingle, unable to believe the scene before him.

No one answered him, because no one understood what was going on.

"Look, what's that in the sky!!"

Someone with mild symptoms saw countless black dots falling from the sky towards the army camp and immediately shouted.

"Thump thump thump~!"

Then everyone saw bodies falling like hail, one after another; the already withered corpses were directly smashed into pulp by the violent impact, and black, foul-smelling blood splattered everywhere, covering everyone.

The scene was incredibly bloody and tragic, like a living hell.

Looking at the scattered, smashed bodies, someone slumped to the ground, their face ashen.

"It's those plague-ridden corpses from the Northern Barrens!! It's the people from the Northern Barrens playing tricks!!!!"

No sooner had the words fallen than a cloud of battle dust rolled up in the distance from the main camp, the ground trembled even more violently, and then dense Northern Barrens cavalry were seen rushing towards them.

"Kill!!"

No talking, no greetings, only a cold, merciless word: kill.

Fifty thousand cavalry instantly broke through the Great Gan army camp's fences, like a pack of hungry wolves rushing into a sheepfold.

Wherever they passed, each time a Northern Barrens battle blade fell, a Great Gan soldier's head would fall.

The Great Gan side quickly reacted, picking up their weapons to resist, but their bodies were powerless and they coughed incessantly, making them no match for the fiercely combat-capable Northern Barrens soldiers.

The battle instantly became a one-sided situation, and even Chen Xiuyu joined the fray.

Already a Martial Dao Sixth Grade expert, his combat power was terrifying; the precious sword at his waist was drawn, and he moved gracefully through the crowd, with large numbers of Northern Barrens soldiers falling from their warhorses wherever he passed.

"Brat, you're seeking death!!!"

A Northern Barrens General wielding two axes noticed Chen Xiuyu, roared, and swung his axes at Chen Xiuyu.

"Hmph!"

A cold glint flashed in Chen Xiuyu's eyes, he swung his long sword, and the General's two axes, along with his head, were simultaneously cut off.

Looking at the long sword in his hand, Chen Xiuyu revealed a satisfied smile.

This White Rainbow Piercing the Sun Sword was a top-grade weapon given to him by Su Yixin before he left; how could it be blocked by an ordinary weapon?

He swung another sword, and wherever the sword light passed, Northern Barrens cavalry fell in swathes like mown leeks.

However, in the face of a twenty-thousand-strong army, one person's strength ultimately could not sway the battle; no matter how many Chen Xiuyu killed, he still could not stop the Northern Barrens soldiers from madly slaughtering the Great Gan soldiers.

........