Isolated town in northern border region

That night, Xiao Lie led his men to administer Si Ni Tang (a traditional Chinese medicine formula) to each of the critically ill patients in Liushugou.

The first batch of temporary accommodations were set up in Liushugou early the next morning.

If there are no tents, then use the method of building fortresses in northern Xinjiang.

Cut bamboo, weave frames, and paste mud.

Several people worked together and built more than a dozen simple bamboo and mud houses before dawn.

On the evening of the third day, a second batch of more than a dozen rooms were erected.

On the fourth day, smoke rose again from the ruins of Willow Gully.

Recovered patients with mild symptoms led uninfected people to clean wells, burn filth, and chop firewood to boil water.

Xiao Lie and several literate young people worked through the night to compile a simple "epidemic prevention poster".

The sign above, written in plain language, says: Drink boiled water, wash your hands frequently, and drink more salt and sugar water if you have diarrhea.

The people gathered in a circle, listening to Xiao Lie speak word by word, like children learning to read.

"His Highness even thought of this for us..."

An old man wiped the corner of his eye.

"Thank God!"

Xiao Lie leaned against the old locust tree at the village entrance, looking at the lights that had been lit up again, and let out a long sigh.

A soldier walked over carrying a bowl of porridge.

"Your Highness, we've almost finished the provisions we brought. What should we do next?"

"Take your men and send the seriously ill back to the camp so that Xu De can receive proper treatment."

"Leave all the dry rations and ten men, and come with me to find the source of the pollution."

"Once the source is cleared, this body of water will naturally recover in time."

Xiao Lie took the bowl and was about to drink when Le Duo, an old soldier from the Canglang Cavalry, suddenly strode in from outside the village.

His steps were hurried, and his expression was solemn.

"Your Highness, please come and take a look."

Xiao Lie put down his bowl and followed Le Duo to an old pine tree outside the village.

Ledo parted the withered vines at the base of the tree, revealing a palm-sized circular mark on the trunk.

The mark is quite old, and the edges have been blurred by wind and rain, but the outline is still clear.

It was a coiled dragon pattern, with its body bent and its head held high.

Xiao Lie's pupils suddenly contracted.

He instinctively gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.

It is that precious sword bestowed upon me by the late emperor!

The same dragon pattern was engraved on the sword guard, with the same posture and the same curve; it was as if they were made from the same mold!

"Do you know what this is?"

Xiao Lie's voice was somewhat strained.

Ledo's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice hoarse.

"Your Highness...this is the insignia of the late Emperor's personal guard!"

"Back then, every one of the late emperor's personal guards had this pattern engraved on their armor."

"They call themselves the 'Panlong Guard'."

He paused.

"I saw this mark when I accompanied the late emperor on his expedition to the northern frontier."

Xiao Lie's fingers traced the dragon pattern, remaining silent for a long time.

"The late emperor's personal guards..." he murmured.

"Why would their markings appear in the mountains of Qingzhou?"

Ledo shook his head.

"This humble general does not know."

"But this mark... can't be wrong!"

He squatted down and rummaged through the soil next to the tree roots, revealing a deeply buried arrowhead.

"It's a road sign!"

"If we follow this direction, we should be able to find traces they left behind."

Xiao Lie looked in the direction of the arrow.

In the darkness of night, the path meandered and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest, like a silent snake, pointing silently into the heart of the mountains.

He was silent for a moment, then said softly.

"The people left behind by the Emperor?"

"Is that the same bodyguard surnamed Tie from back then?"

"What does this mark have to do with the plague?"

Unfortunately, no one could answer him.

Xiao Lie stared at the arrowhead buried deep in the soil for a long time in silence.

The arrow was rusty, but it was definitely buried there intentionally.

"Make a note of this place first."

He said to Ledo.

"The most urgent task now is to save lives."

Ledo nodded, then filled the soil back up around the tree roots, restoring the original state.

Xiao Lie turned around and walked back to the village, picked up the bowl of porridge that had gone cold, and finished it in a few gulps.

Then he stretched his shoulders and called over a few soldiers.

"Tomorrow morning, bring some dry rations and come with me upstream."

The next day, just as dawn broke, Xiao Lie led ten soldiers from the Trapped Camp upstream along the stream.

The mountain path became steeper and steeper, the vegetation became denser, the stones were covered with a layer of moss, and the ground was slippery.

The further up you go, the clearer the stream becomes, but the faint stench in the air grows stronger.

Xiao Lie walked at the front, bent over, like a hunting dog that had smelled blood.

After walking for about two hours, Xiao Lie suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.

He stared at a shallow beach ahead, where several large rocks lay across the water, and the water flowed through the cracks between the rocks, carrying a murky, dark color.

"This is it!"

A dark, indistinct object was wedged among the boulders on the shallow beach.

Xiao Lie stepped over the stones, squatted down, and examined them carefully.

It was a bone, thick and black, covered with a layer of dark green moss, but its outline was still clear.

A horse's shinbone!

Xiao Lie brushed aside the rubble and withered branches around the bones, revealing more remains.

Half a horse skeleton lay scattered in the crevices of the rocks in the shallows, its ribs leaning haphazardly into the mud and sand at the bottom of the water, its spine broken into several pieces, its skull wedged between two large rocks, and its eye sockets staring blankly at the sky.

The skeleton was still covered with some rotting flesh, emitting a nauseating stench.

"This is... a warhorse?"

Xiao Lie's voice sounded somewhat uncertain.

A wolf knight responded in a deep voice.

"Judging from the skeleton, it's a species from northern Xinjiang. They're big and have a robust skeleton."

Xiao Lie didn't say anything and continued searching.

He dug out seven or eight broken pottery shards from the mud and sand around the horse bones.

The glaze on the pottery jar is rough, and some fragments still have a layer of dark brown stains on the inside.

Xiao Lie stretched out his nose, and a foul stench rushed into his nostrils!

"Damn it! Who the hell put that earthenware pot in dung?!"

"Ugh~"

Xiao Lie gagged a few times.

"Open this whole section!"

"Set it on fire for me!"

Xiao Lie was now certain that the plague in Qingzhou was a meticulously planned man-made disaster!

"These things were deliberately thrown into the river."

Xiao Lie stood up, his voice as cold as a knife.

"Some people want to spread the plague throughout the eastern part of Qingzhou through the water source."

"Tens of thousands of lives!"

Xiao Lie felt a tightness in his chest and wished he could draw his knife and slash wildly.

After a long silence, Xiao Lie finally suppressed his anger and regained his rationality.

"Back to camp!"

It was noon the next day when we returned to the camp.

After Xu Degang finished giving an acupuncture treatment to a critically ill patient, he saw Xiao Lie return and immediately put down what he was doing to greet him.

Xiao Lie told him about his discovery in Willow Valley.

Xu De was stunned after hearing the whole thing.

"Man-made?"

"That's absolutely inhuman!"

"Your Highness... someone wants to turn Qingzhou into a ghost town!"

Xiao Lie raised a finger and put it to his lips.

"Stop it!"

"This matter cannot be spread. If the people find out now that this deadly plague was caused by someone, the situation will get out of control, and it will easily alert the perpetrators."

Xiao Lie turned around and went to the high platform at the entrance of the camp. He gathered the people who were able to walk and briefly announced a few things.

"The water source in Liushugou has been cleaned up, and the seriously ill patients in the village are all recovering."

"From today onwards, everyone will move to Willow Gully."

"Then, starting from Willow Gully, we'll expand outwards, leaving no village untouched!"

The people listened quietly, nodding frequently.

At this moment, they were completely convinced of Xiao Lie's abilities.

Imagine if a prince personally went deep into the disaster area to rescue people and actually brought them back to life, what would anyone have to doubt?

After arranging things, Xiao Lie turned around and found Jiang Min.

"Come, I have something to ask you."

The two walked to the old locust tree behind the village, where there was no one else around.

"Does the princess pay particular attention to intelligence about the late emperor?"

Jiang Min's pupils twitched slightly.

"Why did Your Highness suddenly bring this up?"

"Because I discovered something in the mountains."

Xiao Lie spoke softly, handing the sword at his waist to Jiang Min.

"There are actually dragon-patterned insignia belonging to the late emperor's personal guard in the mountains and forests of Qingzhou!"

"So I would like to ask, in the intelligence gathered by the Bureau of Geography in Qingzhou, is there anything related to the late Emperor? Anything is fine, even just a few words."

Jiang Min thought for a moment, then her expression became serious.

"In the files of my Bureau of Folklore in Qingzhou, there is indeed a record from a very long time ago, back when you and I were just learning to walk!"

"Emperor Wu of the Great Chu once intended to build a horse breeding farm in the eastern mountains and forests of Qingzhou."

Xiao Lie narrowed his eyes.

"A horse farm?"

"Yes, the eastern part of Qingzhou is backed by Cangshan Mountain, with vast mountain grasslands, and the climate and fodder are very suitable for raising horses."

"At that time, Emperor Wu had already sent people to survey the terrain, demarcate the land, and draw boundaries."

"But later, the northern barbarians launched a surprise attack on the border of the Great Chu, and the matter was left unresolved."

Xiao Lie unconsciously clenched his fist.

Horse farm...

The insignia of the late emperor's personal guards...

The water source was poisoned...

These three things are like three puzzle pieces, each independent yet subtly interlocking.

suddenly!

A startling conjecture popped into Xiao Lie's mind!