newbobooks Chapter 945 The Corpse in the Deep Ditch
Chapter 945 The Corpse in the Deep Ditch
After finishing his rant, the leader of the refugees turned his gaze toward the other side of the city gate.
The refugee was scolded, his eyes held an unreadable expression, but he remained silent.
At this moment, Lu Qingqing and her group were walking forward along the path.
The path was completely dried out, and many wild grasses sprouted from the ground.
Although the ground is not very smooth, at least it won't be slippery when it's dry.
Lu Qingqing felt more at ease as she led Xiaobai away.
During this time, Xiaobai encountered some grass that it liked to eat and even took a couple of bites.
The further you go, the narrower the road becomes, and the more potholes appear on the ground.
With the wild grass growing on the ground blocking the way, it's easy to twist your ankle when walking.
Yan Xu walked ahead, reminding the people behind him to watch their step.
Everyone's attention was almost entirely focused on the ground.
At this moment, a soldier in front exclaimed in surprise:
"Hey, look at this, isn't that a tire track?"
After he finished speaking, the people next to him also crowded over to take a look.
"Huh? It really is!"
However, these wheel tracks look more like those of a wide-wheeled cart commonly used by the government.
Yan Xu turned around to look when he heard this.
He and Bai Song used to be on duty in the city, and sometimes they would be assigned to do other work by their superiors.
I am very familiar with this kind of wide-wheeled cart specially used by the government.
After confirming, he followed the tire tracks and found that there were still tire tracks in some places ahead.
Following the path, it wasn't long before we came to a narrow trail that was blocked by mountain walls on both sides.
Because of the mountain wall blocking the sun, some areas inside don't get any sunlight.
The roads are still muddy.
Seeing the tire tracks in the wet mud, Yan Xu's heart skipped a beat.
This location is not too far from Dongyuan City, and government carts pass by here.
What exactly happened here?
As he was wondering, he heard Qin Lang shout from behind:
"There's a stench of corpses ahead, everyone put on your masks!"
Upon hearing this, the group immediately took action.
He put his mask back on tightly, which he had loosened a little while rushing on his journey.
Some even pulled out a mask from their pockets and wore two masks.
In fact, the reason why everyone has this reaction speed is because they have experienced it too many times.
During my previous journey, I would occasionally see corpses by the roadside.
Almost every time, it was Qin Lang, who was driving the carriage ahead, who noticed.
As soon as he shouted, everyone immediately adjusted their masks.
Unfortunately, nobody knows how this plague virus spreads.
When faced with life and death, no amount of caution is too much.
Back to the present, after everyone had adjusted their masks, Yan Xu led the group forward carefully.
They hadn't walked far when they saw a deep ditch ahead of the path.
On the ground in front of the ditch, there were many old clothes, shoes, headscarves and other items scattered around.
Combined with the tire tracks on the ground, everyone guessed what was going on.
Yan Xu led his men forward to investigate, but before they even got close, they smelled a strong stench of corpses.
He covered his mouth and nose and continued forward, peering down.
At the bottom of the deep ditch, one could vaguely see corpses piled up on a small hill.
Upon seeing the dense mass of corpses, he couldn't help but take a step back.
It would take quite a few people to fill the bottom of such a large trench.
Not to mention, they even piled it up into the shape of a small mountain.
What exactly happened in Dongyuan City?
Yan Xu thought for a moment and quickly told his men to retreat.
After retreating several meters away, the soldier who saw him finally couldn't help but speak.
"Second Brother Yan, those piles of corpses down there?"
How many people must have died!
Yan Xu shook his head.
"Don't think about it too much. This place is not safe to stay for long. Let's leave first."
As he spoke, he led the way down the small path that turned west.
Behind her, Lu Qingqing was also pondering this matter.
Judging from the state of the soldiers guarding the city walls of Dongyuan City, there should not be a large-scale outbreak of plague within the city.
After all, in this day and age, it is very difficult to control a plague.
Most of the time, a plague wipes out the entire population of the infected area.
It will take quite some time before it disappears.
Therefore, whenever a plague broke out in a feudal dynasty, the rulers would immediately seal off the affected area.
If people can't get out, the plague virus can't get out either.
If the plague were to break out in Dongyuan City, there probably wouldn't be such spirited guards on the city walls.
But if there hadn't been a plague outbreak, where did all those corpses in the ditch come from?
Lu Qingqing thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
The procession continued forward, and after a while, the stench of the corpses gradually dissipated.
At the same time, they were getting closer and closer to the foot of the mountain.
Not only were wild grasses sprouting on the ground, but many miscellaneous trees nearby were also budding.
Occasionally, they could even hear a few clear and melodious birdsongs.
If it weren't for the stench of the corpse, everyone would have been able to appreciate the peaceful and tranquil scene.
At this moment, many people in the group were still whispering about what had just happened.
Yan Xu ignored it; he was focused on finding a water source.
Behind him, Qin Lang was also looking around.
After surveying the terrain, he guessed that to find the river, he would probably need to cross at least one mountain.
Besides guessing based on the terrain, another factor was the corpse in the ditch earlier.
If the soldier was right, the corpses in the ditch were indeed dumped there by the soldiers of Dongyuan City.
They would then inevitably avoid water sources.
In other words, there should be no river in this area.
Qin Lang looked at the towering mountains in front of him, then at the last rays of sunlight at the foot of the mountains to the west.
He told Lu Qingqing and then went ahead.
He shared his guess with Yan Xu, who, after looking around, also decided to turn back.
After the decision was made, the soldiers walked back much faster.
It gets dark early now, so if we go back early, we won't have to travel at night.
On the return journey, everyone in the group hurried along, and there were hardly any people left to talk.
Everyone was in a hurry, and Little White didn't even have time to nibble on some grass.
Sometimes, when I see something I really like to eat, I quickly take a bite and then rush back to the group.
On their way back, as they passed the deep ditch where the body had been dumped, everyone covered their mouths and noses and ran forward.
Thus, by the time they returned to the gates of Dongyuan City, it was just getting dark.
The people guarding the camp rushed forward to greet them when they saw them return.
After asking around, they were relieved to learn that no one was injured.
Just as Yan Xu was about to tell Bai Song about the corpse in the ditch, he suddenly discovered that two more groups of people were stationed not far from their camp.