Chapter 137 - 137: Glimpse of Hope
In a certain dense forest.
When Wan Zhilin heard his subordinate’s report, he was in disbelief. “Ten assassins were completely wiped out?!”
The subordinate lowered his head. “Yes, Master.”
Wan Zhilin took a few deep breaths to calm his shock and anger. “What level are the ten assassins at?”
His subordinate clenched his fists. “A!”
The assassins under Wan Zhilin were divided into five levels according to their strength, A, B, C, D and E.
Normally, only when killing a general-level personnel would ten Level-A assassins be mobilized.
Wan Zhilin’s face twisted. “Who exactly is Chu Qingzhi?”
The subordinate replied nervously, “She’s just a farm girl.”
“Farm girl?” Wan Zhilin was so angry that he was about to laugh. “Do I look easy to fool? How can a farm girl kill ten Level-A assassins so easily?”
The subordinate said firmly, “Master, I’ve investigated her identity thoroughly. It’s absolutely true. I don’t dare to lie to you.”
Wan Zhilin shouted, “Investigate again.” He didn’t believe that Chu Qingzhi was a simple farm girl!
The subordinate replied, “Yes, Master.”
Wan Zhilin gritted his teeth and became irritable. “Tang Jinghong is already difficult enough to deal with. Now, someone called Chu Qingzhi came out of nowhere…”
At night, the bright moon hung in the sky.
Yuan Hongjun, who had rushed back to the capital from the southern border, changed direction and headed to the northwest after hearing about the refugee crisis.
At this moment, a young man with delicate skin was hiding on a big tree and looking at the refugees in front of him with his clear eyes.
There were at least 50,000 to 60,000 of these refugees. This location was already quite far from the northwest. Why were they here?
Yuan Hongjun’s mind was filled with questions.
He did not know which general the Imperial Court had sent to deal with this matter. He hoped that it was a reliable one. Otherwise, these refugees would probably be doomed.
In history, there were many times when such refugee crisis erupted. When no methods proved useful, the Imperial Court would order to exterminate all the refugees.
At the thought of this, he took out a pen and paper and wrote the situation here on the patter. Then, he went to the courier station and revealed his identity. He asked them to send the letter to Tang Jinghong.
In his heart, Tang Jinghong was more reliable in the entire Daling Dynasty.
It was not that there were no other generals in the Daling Dynasty, but their methods were too cruel. These refugees were quite pitiful and didn’t deserve to die.
Yuan Hongjun walked out of the courier station and changed into a tattered outfit. He returned to the gathering place of the refugees and found an opportunity to blend in.
He had to gather some information. It was obviously abnormal for these refugees to gather here. There must be something going on.
Even though Tang Jinghong and Chu Qingzhi had kept the matter of the epidemic a secret, for some reason, this news still spread. The matter was so serious that it could explode at any moment.
At this moment, everyone outside Xu City was in a state of panic.
A young woman looked at Chu Qingzhi and asked with white lips, “Miss Chu, is there really an epidemic?”
At this point, there was no need to hide it anymore. Chu Qingzhi nodded. “Yes.”
The young woman fell to the ground. Tears immediately rolled down her eyes. She choked. “Epidemic? Then my child, my husband…”
Chu Qingzhi squatted down and comforted her. “Believe me, I’ll think of a way to cure everyone.”
The young woman’s eyes were filled with despair. She said in a daze, “They are infected with an epidemic. How can you cure them?”
Chu Qingzhi lowered her voice. “Since 1 can find water, I can naturally find a way to cure them. Give me some time, okay?”
The young woman saw the determination in Chu Qingzhi’s eyes and nodded slowly. “Miss Chu, thank you.”
Chu Qingzhi patted the young woman’s shoulder. “Things aren’t that bad yet. Don’t give up so early.”
The young woman’s body trembled slightly, and hope reignited in her eyes. “I understand.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled and said, “Take good care of your family. Nothing will happen.”
“Ok.”
Chu Qingzhi comforted many people.
Tang Jinghong placed one hand behind his back and stared at the gentle figure in the crowd.
A soldier dismounted from his horse and ran over. “General, there is no wormwood in Liao City.”
Liao City was the closest city to Xu City.
Tang Jinghong rubbed his eyebrows. “Continue searching in other cities.”
“Yes, General.”
In the next half a day, many soldiers came back to report one after another, but only one or two people brought back four to five catties of wormwood. No one else found it.
Suddenly, Tan Yibin walked towards Tang Jinghong with a panicked expression. His forehead was covered in cold sweat. “General, something big has happened.”
“What is it?” Tang Jinghong thought to himself, What can be worse than this?
There was indeed something worse than this…
Tan Yibin’s voice trembled slightly. “General, there’s a locust plague heading over from the southwest and will arrive in about two hours!”
Tang Jinghong’s heart tightened. Even someone as calm as him could not help but feel flustered. “How, how did this happen?”
Chu Qingzhi walked over. “Why do you look so pale?”
Tang Jinghong frowned and looked at Chu Qingzhi. He said solemnly, “Qingzhi, there’s a locust plague heading over from the southwest.”
Chu Qingzhi was stunned. “What?” However, it was not strange for a locust plague to appear during drought seasons.
“Let’s go and take a look.”
Tang Jinghong instructed the deputy general to take care of the situation and left with Chu Qingzhi.
On the way, Chu Qingzhi saw Tang Jinghong’s serious expression and comforted him. “Locusts are edible. Moreover, fried locusts are very crispy and delicious.”
Tang Jinghong’s eyes lit up. “Good idea.”
However, the two of them did not expect that there would be an even bigger surprise waiting for them…
Following the direction, the two of them rode their horses at full speed.
An hour later, Chu Qingzhi and Tang Jinghong saw the locusts flying in the sky. It was a spectacular scene, but it was also shocking.
Chu Qingzhi raised her hand and grabbed one. “We’re quite lucky. This locust is edible.”
Suddenly, Chu Qingzhi smelled something.
She dismounted, took out her dagger, and slit open the locust’s stomach.
Tang Jinghong was puzzled. “Qingzhi, why did you cut its stomach?”
Chu Qingzhi carefully examined the thing in the locust’s stomach. Then, she grabbed more than ten and studied them. “Jinghong, the crisis is solved.”
Tang Jinghong was really very smart. He understood what Chu Qingzhi meant. “Did those locusts eat wormwood?”
Chu Qingzhi smiled. “Smart.” She stood up. “Jinghong, let’s go back immediately and make some smoke. When they fly over, we’ll knock them out. When the refugees eat the locusts, they will be cured.”
Tang Jinghong hugged Qingzhi tightly. “Lucky Star, Qingzhi, you’re Daling Dynasty’s lucky star.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled. “You can hug me after we settle the matter. We are running out of time.”
Tang Jinghong let go of the girl in his arms and felt excited beyond words. Qingzhi was too awesome.
The two of them quickly returned to the camp and gathered the soldiers to make preparations..