Outside the city of Anping, about twenty miles southwest of Anping, there is a small village at the foot of the mountain. At the head of the village, there is a one-person-high broken stone tablet, which is engraved with the words "Chenjia Village". Most of the people in the village have the surname Chen, so the village is named Chenjia Village. Chenjia Village is not big, with only a few hundred people, and the village road is not wide, and you can see the end at a glance. The village is close to the mountains, there is no shortage of wood, and most of the houses in the village are wooden, with a few earthen houses.

As the sun set and night was about to fall, two people appeared next to the stone monument at the entrance of the village.

Although Chen Hu had been in the mountains for four days, he had not been walking in the direction away from Anping during these four days. Therefore, after a whole day of difficult trekking, with the help of Dugu Zhishui, Chen Hu finally returned to Chenjia Village in the evening.

When he arrived at the entrance of the village, Chen Hu, who was already exhausted, instantly rushed home as if he had been beaten with chicken blood. Dugu Zhishui followed him, but he felt that there was something unusual in the village. It was too quiet, and it was supposed to be the time when the hunters who had gone out hunting came home, and there should have been many women chatting at the door while waiting for their men to come back. There were no children chasing and fighting in the village, and not even dogs barking.

There was a faint smell of burnt in the air, and Dugu Zhishui's face couldn't help but become a little ugly, and he had some bad premonitions in his heart. Chen Hu seemed to be completely unaware of the abnormalities around him, and he only wanted to hurry back home at the moment.

Chen Hu turned into a small alley, and after walking not far, his running figure suddenly staggered. He fell to the ground, fell to his knees, and did not bother to get up. He looked up and stared blankly at the distance. Dugu Zhishui followed his gaze, and saw that there were no more houses on both sides of the alley not far away, only coke that still emitted a faint white smoke.

Since each house was a separate courtyard, the fire did not seem to have spread too widely.

Suddenly, Chen Hu was like crazy, and he crawled towards the scorched earth. He jumped over the toppled fence and ran straight to the coke ruins, shouting: "Daddy, mother, son is back, Erhuzi is back, where have you been, father, mother......"

Chen Hu screamed for a long time and no one responded, and the whole village was as dead and silent as a ghost village. Dugu Zhishui looked around and found that there were six courtyards around him that had been turned into ruins.

Dugu Zhishui reminded: "Don't worry, ask your neighbors what is going on first." However, he didn't have much hope in his heart, he had just exuded his spiritual sense and probed, and he couldn't feel any aura fluctuations in the surrounding area......

Hearing this, Chen Hu hurriedly got up and ran to the door of the nearest courtyard, the courtyard was closed, he banged on the door and shouted: "Second uncle and aunt, are they all at home?" Chen Hu paused for a moment and walked directly into the courtyard. The door was open, but there was no one in the room.

Dugu Zhishui walked into another yard, where the gate and door were open, but the house was empty. He walked into a courtyard again, and the door was still wide open, but it was empty. The tables, chairs and benches in the room were all intact, and there were no obvious signs of fighting.

The two entered more than a dozen courtyards in a row, but they didn't find anyone, most of these courtyards were open, and it was obvious that the owner didn't seem to have something to go out. After searching unsuccessfully, Chen Hu turned around and met with Dugu Zhishui. Seeing that Dugu Zhishui shook his head at him, he suddenly squatted on the ground like a deflated ball, holding his head, and muttered: "How can this be, how can this be, where has everyone gone......"

Seeing that Chen Hu's mood was on the verge of collapse, Dugu Zhishui asked, "Is there a clan meeting or anything like that in your village?" Maybe there is something important that has brought everyone together. ”

After being reminded by Dugu Zhishui, Chen Hu suddenly remembered something, "Yes, yes, yes." The ancestral hall, the Chen ancestral hall, the ancestral hall haven't been seen yet. He got up and ran outside the village, saying as he ran: "Most of the people in Chenjia Village are surnamed Chen, and everyone is of the same ancestry, so when there is something important, the whole village will gather in the ancestral hall." ”

"Where's the ancestral hall?"

"It's halfway up the mountain. Chen Hu pointed to a low mountain next to him.

Dugu Zhishui followed Chen Hu to the Chen ancestral hall. However, before they could arrive, a faint fishy smell came to their nostrils. Dugu Zhishui suddenly reached out and grabbed Chen Hu's shoulder, Chen Hu suddenly stopped, and asked anxiously, "Benefactor, what's wrong?"

"There may be danger up there, I'll go myself. You wait for me at the entrance of the village, and you'd better find a place to hide first. After speaking, Dugu Zhishui was about to leave, and suddenly remembered something, "You must not enter the village again." ”

Chen Hu nodded violently, "Benefactor, how careful you are." ”

After that, Dugu's figure floated into the woods like a ghost. He quietly approached the direction of the ancestral hall pointed out by Chen Hu, and when he reached the vicinity of the ancestral hall, the smell of blood became stronger and stronger. At this point, it was completely dark. Dugu Zhishui hid in the bushes and saw a brick and stone building not far away, with a plaque hanging on it, saying "Chen Clan Ancestral Hall". At this time, there was a fire outside the Chen ancestral hall, and there were torches flashing around. Dugu Zhishui looked at the place where the torches were lit and found that there was a group of soldiers in black light armor who were burying something, and two people were watching them from a distance, one was wearing black armor and the other was dressed in brocade clothes, and these two people seemed to be the leaders. There were about twenty of those soldiers, and judging by the style of their armor, they were not Janissaries, nor were they city security troops.

Dugu Zhishui had never seen the armor styles of those soldiers, and he guessed that those people should be the soldiers of a nobleman in Anping. In front of the Chen ancestral hall is a flat land, where the village usually gathers for a meeting. At this time, the flat ground was covered with blood and filth, and there were some arrows scattered on the ground.

Dugu Zhishui's eyes narrowed, and he had already guessed the fate of those villagers. His ears twitched, and the conversation between the two leaders came to his mind clearly.

"My lord, how is the city now?" asked the black-armored officer respectfully.

"It's not good, but it's not too serious. It has been established that the plague is mainly spread by water. Every mansion in the city has a private well, so you won't have much of a problem with the food when it's properly heated. The brocade man replied.

"My lord, Your Highness sent us to seal off the village to prevent the spread of the epidemic, but he did not order it to be wiped out. Now these people do not obey the command and resist frantically, and their subordinates obey the orders of the adults to kill all these untouchables, and after returning to the city, I am afraid that it will be difficult to explain this matter, and then I will ask the adults to say a good word for the last general in front of His Highness. ”

The Jinyi man looked indifferently at the officer who bowed his head and clenched his fists, and said in a sarcastic tone: "What? Are you reminding me that this matter is all my order, and it has nothing to do with you?"

The officer's body suddenly stiffened, and he said in a panic: "My lord, my subordinates don't mean this......

The man in brocade waved his hand, "The water and food here have been contaminated, and these untouchables don't know how to protect themselves, they only know how to burn the bodies and houses of the sick and dead. As everyone knows, once someone is infected, as long as they come into contact with the filth excreted by that person, they will be infected immediately. Sooner or later, they will die, and it is better to kill them as soon as possible and leave no trouble. ”

"Yes, that's exactly what your lord said. The officer chimed in.

The brocade-clothed man looked at the soldiers who were carrying the corpses into the pit and reminded: "Be careful when you work, don't get dirty on these untouchables, otherwise the fairy Lao Tzu will not be able to save you." ”

Disposing of these corpses, which may have been infected with the plague, had already made the soldiers walk on thin ice, and after being reminded by the brocade man, their movements suddenly became more cautious. All the soldiers were fully armed, with cloth around their mouths and cloth wrapped around their hands, and when they were done, the cloth and tools were to be burned.

"Someone seems to be shouting just now?" the brocade-clothed man frowned, "If someone knows what happened here, do you know the consequences?"

"My subordinates understand, I have already sent someone. The officer replied respectfully.

"It's good to understand. The brocade-clothed man nodded, "When this is over, if there is no summons, you can't go back to the house for the time being, you can find a place to settle down." ”

"Yes, sir!"

The man in brocade turned around and got on his horse and left, and Dugu stopped the water before he saw the man's appearance clearly. It was a middle-aged man with a square face, with a beard about a finger long. Because that person's breath was not exposed, and the distance was too far, Dugu Zhishui couldn't see what that person's strength was. Fortunately, the mountain road does not lead directly to Chenjia Village, and there is a trail from Chenjia Village that can be brought up, but it cannot be passed by horses.

Dugu Zhishui followed the trail back to Chenjia Village, he had already heard that soldiers had come to the village to arrest Chen Hu, and he had to take Chen Hu away before they did. The soldiers didn't seem to have taken the path, otherwise the two sides would probably have met long ago.

At this point, Dugu Zhishui already roughly knew what was going on. During the time he left, there may have been a plague outbreak in Anping, and Chenjia Village was likely to be one of the sources, so this group of soldiers was ordered to come over and seal off the village. They didn't know how to gather the villagers near the ancestral hall, so that it would be easier for them to take care of them, otherwise with their little people, the village would be backed by a mountain, and it would be difficult to prevent anyone from escaping. The villagers apparently did not want to wait for death, so they clashed with the soldiers, and under the orders of the Jinyi people, the soldiers released arrows and killed all the villagers who were still alive.

Dugu Zhishui guessed that many of the villagers should have been infected at that time, and many of them should have lost their mobility, otherwise they would not have reacted so violently to the point where they are now, and it would be impossible for those twenty or so soldiers to kill the entire village so easily. As for Chen Hu's family, eighty percent of them were set on fire by the villagers, and it seems that his parents were not spared.

By all indications, this plague is very similar to the "cholera" recorded in ancient books. It is a virulent infectious disease with a rapid onset and rapid death, and it occurred many times in ancient times. Cholera is mainly transmitted through contaminated water and food, but also through the excretion of infected people. Eating cooked food and drinking boiling water can prevent cholera. Therefore, since ancient times, as the human race has gradually faded from its animal nature and no longer lived a life of wool and blood, this plague has become much less. But every time it happens, there are still countless deaths. The main reason is that this plague can be spread by flies, and once it breaks out, it is impossible to prevent it even if you eat cooked food and drink boiling water.

However, at this time, Dugu Zhishui had some doubts in his heart. The houses around Chen Hu's house were burned, indicating that his neighbors were also sick, and when he went to the village first, he did not see any other people's houses burned, and Chen Hu said that only his father had that kind of symptoms, so it seems that Chen Hu's family is the source of the disease. But why is Chen Hu okay? Their village uses a public well, and if there was a problem with the well water, the villagers should have been infected on a large scale a long time ago, so why does it seem that only a few families near Chen Hu's house were infected at first? Does this mean that the source of Chen Hu's father's illness was outside the village?

Dugu Zhishui had some questions that needed to be further asked to Chen Hu to get answers, so his speed was a little faster.