HBWnovel Chapter 127 A Mistake
Chapter 127 A Mistake
After everyone changed into new clothes and masks, the clothes, fabric, and sacks that had been taken off were all burned.
Some people felt heartbroken looking at the burned clothes, many of which were winter clothes stuffed with cotton. How could it not be a pity to burn them? But the epidemic was dangerous, so they had to endure the heartache.
After tidying themselves up, they fumigated the carriage with sulfur before they were completely at ease.
After everything was settled, everyone drove the carriage into the woods to rest.
After falling asleep again, Meng Fuqing heard rustling voices outside while half-asleep. She opened her eyes, got up, and pulled the oilcloth open a crack.
Fifteen paces away from their resting place, a number of refugees stopped.
Meng Fuqing could even see that the refugees were wearing face masks, which meant they must have bought food from them.
She stared at them quietly for a while, and only looked away when she realized that they were not approaching their resting place.
While the others were still resting, Meng Fuqing couldn't fall asleep.
She rubbed her eyes and slipped into the private space to wash up.
While washing up, she could still hear the white wolf howling outside the villa. She ignored it, used the vines to get a box of cut fruit, and ate it while strolling around the backyard of the villa.
The various fruit trees in the backyard are lush and leafy, but for some reason, the trunks grow very tall but they don't bear any fruit.
Meng Fuqing had a basic understanding of how this space worked, but she still had only a vague understanding of its inner workings. In this situation, she could only wait and use her special abilities to induce birth.
Back in the front yard, she walked to the villa's door. The white wolf stood gracefully with its back to her, still howling.
Since being captured and brought into the space, Meng Fuqing has checked the space and nine out of ten times he has heard it making noises, as if it were complaining or cursing.
As for who was being insulted, Meng Fuqing didn't understand and didn't believe it was herself.
To help the white wolf understand who its current benefactors are, Meng Fuqing doesn't feed it much each day. She's trying to tame it by boiling it like a frog in lukewarm water.
This time, she fed it a few pieces of chicken breast and also fed it some chicken and duck.
After the white wolf wolfed up the meat, it lay lazily on the ground, looking completely relaxed. She opened the villa door, walked over to it, and tentatively reached out to touch its fur.
The white wolf slowly raised its head, glanced at the two-legged beast, and then lay back down without bothering to pay any attention to it.
Meng Fuqing couldn't bear to see it so idle, so he decided to release it to work for him.
Before leaving the space, she wrapped some Yunnan Baiyao in oil paper, took it and walked out of the space. Outside the tent, there was a lot of noise.
As soon as she emerged from the tent, Niu Er happened to see her and immediately went up to her and told her about the refugees' situation.
"Boss, the refugees said they rested near us last night, and when they saw us hurriedly leaving in the middle of the night, they followed us, thinking that following us would be the right thing to do. Are they trying to cling to us or what?"
"They'll give up once they can't keep up with our speed, so we don't need to worry about them."
While Zhao'er was helping Shan Qiyu cook, Meng Fuqing found Doctor Zheng and handed him Yunnan Baiyao.
"I bought the medicinal powder on a whim in Yezhou City. The shopkeeper said it was very effective for external injuries."
Dr. Zheng was arrogant and believed that no one in the world could prescribe better medicine than him. He only accepted the medicine reluctantly because he was in dire need of it.
When Meng Fuqing was about to leave, he called him back to pay him.
“It’s not you who’s injured, so why are you giving me money? I’ll deduct it from Xie Jin and Du Zhong’s grain sales money.”
Doctor Zheng was overjoyed and, for the first time, praised Meng Fuqing lavishly.
Meng Fuqing resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.
After a quick meal and a short rest, the convoy resumed its southward journey.
The refugees at the back of the convoy were dumbfounded when they saw this.
Their legs couldn't keep up with the speed of the carriages, and they were carrying provisions with them. They were exhausted from chasing the caravan and hadn't even had a proper rest when the caravan was about to leave again? Was someone chasing them?
On second thought, they realized that they were indeed chasing them.
"Forget it, there are so many of them, they should have known they wouldn't take us with them..."
Some clever people, gazing thoughtfully in the direction the convoy had departed, finally spoke up after a long pause: "Something seems amiss. With so many of them, even the Yezhou government has to give them some face. Why are they leaving in such a hurry?"
Following his train of thought, someone wondered, "Could something major have happened?"
Everyone fell into deep thought, and after a moment, many of them thought of one thing—"plague"!
The plague spread extremely quickly among the refugees, and shortly after Meng Fuqing and his group left, the city gates of Yezhou were no longer opened to the refugees.
Meanwhile, some of the refugees who remained in Yezhou gradually contracted the disease.
High fever persists, headaches and abdominal pain continue, and some people develop large red patches on their chest and abdomen.
The plague raged among the people, and the refugees who escaped Yezhou City in time narrowly escaped the calamity. After learning about the plague in Yezhou, they wished they could burn incense and kowtow to Meng Fuqing and the others.
At present, Meng Fuqing and others are still hurrying away from Yezhou City because they are worried about pursuers and plague.
After the grain was sold, the convoy had many more empty trucks, and everyone, adults and children alike, could get on and travel, making the journey much faster than before.
During this time, Meng Fuqing handed over the task of driving the carriage to Meng Ranran, and sent Meng Ali to ride in the same carriage as Doctor Zheng. He himself sat in the carriage, poured the money from selling grain into alcohol to disinfect it, and then divided it into three portions.
She took one portion for herself, deducted the cost of the medicine and the money she spent on the process from Xie Jin and Du Zhong's portions, and then delivered the remaining two portions to them.
She earned more than two thousand taels of silver from selling grain alone.
They walked for another two days without incident, and everyone felt more relaxed than ever before. But this relaxation was accompanied by the arrival of a crisis – someone in the group started to develop a fever.
This man was Huang Daji, who was shot in the buttocks by an arrow.
Huang Daji's injuries were not serious, but he was busy escaping that night and did not treat his wounds in time. When he went to see Doctor Zheng the next day, the area around the wounds was already red and swollen.
Doctor Zheng applied the medicinal powder that Meng Fuqing had brought to him. His condition was gradually improving, but the fever caught everyone off guard.
After realizing he had a fever, Huang Daji followed the "Twenty Rules" and promptly informed Dr. Zheng of his condition.
After he was injured, he was unable to drive or ride a horse, so his younger brother Huang Dali drove him. After informing everyone of the bad news, the two of them voluntarily separated from the group and went into self-isolation.
The entire convoy stopped, everyone staring intently at Doctor Zheng, Meng Fuqing, Niu Er, Xie Jin, Qi Liang…
Meng Fuqing didn't know why there were still people rushing to get close to people with fevers.
She looked at Xie Jin and Qi Liang, "What are you two doing getting involved in this mess?"
“Those two are also my brothers,” Qi Liang said.
Meng Fuqing looked at Xie Jin, "You?"
Xie Jin: "I'll stay with you and observe from afar."
Meng Fuqing: ...When did she say she wanted to observe from afar?
As the eldest of the two Huang brothers, Meng Fuqing was genuinely worried about the loss of the few subordinates he had painstakingly gathered.
Most importantly, modern zombie viruses have no effect on her, let alone ancient plagues.
"Hey, you two can just stand here and watch from a distance."
The two were not the type to obey so easily. Meng Fuqing turned his head and added, "Don't force me to take action."
Both of them paused for a moment, and immediately separated to the left and right after Meng Fuqing left.
As we approached, Doctor Zheng was already taking Huang Daji's pulse. His expression changed several times, and he remained silent for a long time.
"Dr. Zheng, what's wrong with my brother? Please say something..."
"Dr. Zheng, am I going to die...?"
The two brothers had long, drawn-out expressions, as if they feared their days were numbered.
Doctor Zheng looked grim and asked Huang Daji, "How many layers of clothing are you wearing?"
Huang Daji hesitated before answering, "Three winter coats."
"Take off your lower garment so I can see your injury."
Huang Daji and the other two immediately looked at Meng Fuqing.
Meng Fuqing took several steps back and watched from a distance with Xie Jin and Qi Liang.
A short while later, Dr. Zheng returned angrily, shouting, "These little bastards, are they trying to play me for a fool?"
Huang Daji, still lively and limping, got out of the car and apologized repeatedly.
Through their conversation, Meng Fuqing finally understood that Huang Daji was too afraid of death. He had heard that injuries and colds made one susceptible to the plague, and since the carriage he was in had no side chambers, he had put on all his clothes and covered himself with a quilt.
He felt hot all over while sitting in the car and thought he had contracted the disease, which led to this whole commotion.
Meng Fuqing's expression was indescribable.
Xie Jin walked to Meng Fuqing's side, suppressing a laugh, "Does Miss Meng have a single one of her subordinates who is intelligent?"
As soon as the words were spoken, a cry for help suddenly rang out from the woods beside the road, startling the birds in the forest. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound.