The snow is not satisfied, and the rain does not fall in spring.

In Chenjun County, the blazing white sun scorched the earth, and the cracked soil covered the cobwebs, which made people feel frightened.

There are only dead branches left on the mountains, and there is no trace of greenery to be seen, and there is a dead silence between heaven and earth.

The viscous and sluggish heat rushed to his face, Yan Zhaole stopped his horse and looked at Chen Jun dozens of miles away, and many corpses were scattered on the road outside the city.

Some of them could still be distinguished, some were rotting and stinking, and some were only a dry skeleton, and these corpses were all poor people, dressed in coarse linen clothes, crawling out of the city, but some near, some far away.

Very few people make it out alive.

There are also some bones with sword marks on them, which should have been hacked to death by random knives.

If it was just these corpses, the rotten breath would not fill the entire world, Yan Zhao frowned.

"Your Highness, there are definitely more than these corpses here, there should be many more exposed to the wilderness."

Xun Yu and Xu Song looked at these corpses with ugly expressions.

"Each of you takes a team of men and horses to see if there are any living mouths in the vicinity, or how many dead bodies there are." Yan Zhao coldly ordered, and the two of them took a team of men and horses to search for them.

In this land, people are forced into a desperate situation, not only drought, but also famine, epidemics, and corrupt officials who eat people and do not spit out bones.

Yan Zhao's expression was solemn, I'm afraid there is nothing to live here.

After half a day, Xun Yu and Xu Song, who went out to check, returned: "Back to Your Highness, there is no one in the nearby village, there is no living mouth, and there is a corpse pit not far from the city, there are countless dead, the stench is stinking, and the mosquitoes and flies are black and pressing. "

The situation is really not optimistic, even if he brings a lot of food, he can't save the people here, and what is more lacking here is water than food.

"Leave a team of men and horses to guard the food, and you two will follow me into the city!"

"Yes!"

I don't know what the situation is in the city, Yan Zhao only hopes that there will be some life, and a few days ago the wire report said that the original county magistrate here called Li Xiude had absconded a few months ago, leaving a group of people who had nowhere to redress their grievances.

The lack of water and food could not wait for the relief of the imperial court, and some of them left here early to join relatives and friends, leaving behind some poor people who had lived here for generations.

The Li Xiude people did not know where to hide, but they still controlled the place, and ordered the defenders to lock the people in the city, and kill all those who disobeyed.

Countless people who died of hunger and thirst were thrown into a huge pit outside the city, and soon the pit was filled, and the defenders did not want to bury them, but still piled up their bodies there.

As the weather grew hotter, the piles of dead bodies slowly began to decompose, mosquitoes and flies scattered everywhere, and the thirsty and hungry people in the city gradually developed red spots.

At first, people only wanted to be able to drink water and fill their stomachs, but then more and more people had red spots on their bodies, and people realized that the disease was contagious, and it was an epidemic.

Plague is more terrible than drought and famine, and not only the people in the city, but also the soldiers who defend the city are afraid.

The desperate people united and formed a force to be reckoned with, wantonly killing the defenders of the city, opening the city gates and fleeing in all directions.

However, although the neighboring prefectures and counties were silent about the situation in Chen, they were well aware of the magnitude of the disaster and refused to open the city to accept these refugees.

These prefectures and counties themselves are also in the midst of drought, and there is limited food and water, so they cannot give much to the displaced people in Chen County, not to mention that these displaced people are still carrying epidemics.

One mistake and the whole city is ruined!

Yan Zhao could have given up the place where the drought and epidemic originated on this trip, but he couldn't bear it, all the mistakes were made by the imperial court, what did he do with the people?

The gates of Chenjun were wide open, the cracked ground was still stained with scarlet blood, the rotting corpses were dressed in sergeants' armor, and the city was dead and empty.

The doors of the paved houses on the street were wide open, as if they had been looted by bandits.

From the middle of the day to the rising of the moon, Yan Zhao led people to search the whole city, but there was no one alive, and the entire Chen County turned out to be a dead city.

The scavenging crow quacked on the bare branches, smearing the dead night with an eerie misery.

"Your Highness, you can't stay here for a long time, there is no way to live, please let Your Highness get out of the city quickly." Xun Yu spoke.

"Yes, Your Highness! The people who died of the epidemic here are almost piled up into a mountain of corpses, so let's get out of the city quickly. Xu Song looked at the black-spotted corpses on the street, frowning and persuading.

He didn't agree with His Highness coming here, but His Highness insisted on coming, and they had no choice but to hope that the heavens would bless him and make His Highness's trip safe.

Yan Zhao lowered his eyelids slightly and stared at the black crow pecking at the dead corpse, his expression was indistinguishable.

The originally bright eyes were covered with a layer of gloom, which was frightening, Xun Yu and Xu Song couldn't help but raise their hearts to their throats, and they didn't dare to speak again, such a look, they had never seen it on His Royal Highness's face.

He seems to have changed as a person, so strange that the two of them don't know each other, and he is full of oppression, and this kind of momentum they have only seen in His Royal Highness the Prince.

Just when they were worried, they suddenly heard the sound of beams falling apart, followed by the exclamation of a young woman, and before they could react, Yan Zhao flew over.

Brought a girl out.

She had palpitations, her face was pale, she gasped for breath, the towel that covered her face fell, revealing a pair of black and white eyes and a white face, and as soon as she landed, she crawled away with her hands and feet, and shouted: "Go away!" Go away! Don't touch me! "

Yan Zhao saw her frightened and said softly: "Don't be afraid, girl, we are not wicked people." "

Shen Zhiyu eased up, the man in front of him was bright and beautiful, his demeanor was outstanding, and his good-looking eyes revealed a gentle and quiet light, like a pool of water shining with moonlight, and the defense in his heart dropped half and said softly: "The little girl is out of shape, please don't blame Lang Jun, Lang Jun doesn't look like a person here, why do you want to come to this place where the corpse plague is rampant?" "

Her eyes were slightly lowered, her long, thick eyelashes fluttered uneasily, her cheeks were slightly sunken, her lips were slightly pale, her light blue skirt was covered with dust, her slender white fingers were full of green and yellow branches, and her voice was weak.

"Girl, this is the seventh son of the Holy Lord, His Royal Highness King Zhao, and he is here for the drought and epidemic in Chen County." Xun Yu saw that she was still a little scared, and explained softly.

Although Shen Zhiyu is very grateful to the man who saved her, she refuses to let down her guard, and now Chen County is full of epidemics, and many people have come recently, all of whom hide their faces in black scarves and kill people when they see them.

The old master told her that this was because the people above had no way to remedy it, and the only way to completely eradicate the epidemic was to kill all of them.

Although this group of people didn't look like wicked people, Shen Zhiyu didn't dare to take the risk: "Your Highness, I can't afford to wait, Chen Jun is no longer saved, please don't waste your energy, leave early." "

Yan Zhao stepped forward slowly, staring at her with dark eyes, and saw Shen Zhiyu pinching the corners of her skirt and retreating uneasily.

"Let me ask you, is there a living mouth here but you?"

"No... No. The man's long body and jade body shrouded her under the shadow, his dark eyes were heavy, full of oppression, Shen Zhiyu was a little tight, and the voice of the reply was like a gossamer, as if it was broken in the next moment.

"In that case, then you will go with us." Yan Zhao looked at her for two seconds and said.

"No... No! I can't go with you! "

Shen Zhiyu saw that someone wanted to step forward to hug her, but she hurriedly refused, and the tails of her eyes were slightly red.

"Girl, why are you doing that? You can't stay here for long, so what's wrong with leaving with us? At least you won't have to worry about food and water, and you won't have to worry about epidemics. You probably came out in the middle of the night to find food. "

Xu Song was a little puzzled.

Seeing him mention the epidemic, Shen Zhiyu seemed to suddenly have a word and immediately said: "You better leave quickly, I... I can't go with you, I'm infected with the epidemic, and I'm going to die in a few days, this epidemic is so fierce that you'll all die if you take me. "

After saying this, she was a little weak and gasped for air.

Yan Zhao looked at her pale face and said to Xun Yu, "Give her some food and water." "

Shen Zhiyu hadn't drunk such pure water for a long time, she had been drinking muddy water dug from the ground for months, eating only branches and leaves, and recently she had begun to look around the city for food, hoping that the dead lord's family would have some food left.

But this is just a fantasy, if there are people how can they starve to death, but fortunately, many people have died of the epidemic, and once the epidemic is infected, they will soon die.

She had no choice but to step over the black-spotted corpses and find something to fit into their stomachs from their homes.

But this is extremely risky, and one accidentally will be infected with the epidemic, but she really has no way out.

I didn't come out tonight to look for food, but to go to the pharmacy in the city to find some herbs, and develop them into a medicinal powder for the people who are still alive to avoid the epidemic.