Chapter 460: Could Not Escape
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation , Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The figure crept silently to Su Ying. After making sure that Su Ying had no reaction, he took out a cloth bag and poured the contents of the cloth bag into the fire.
The moment the powder in the cloth bag was poured into the campfire, the campfire burned even more intensely at once.
A cloud of thick black smoke billowed out and quickly spread in all directions.
The man turned around and wanted to run when he completed his task, but just as he turned around, he met Su Ying’s calm and composed eyes.
The man was startled. In the next moment, Su Ying grabbed him by the neck, dislocated his limbs, and threw him to the ground.
“Argh!”
Su Ying kicked a pile of the dry soil that had been heaped up nearby into the campfire. The roaring flames were instantly reduced by a lot, but before long, the fire was completely extinguished.
Su Ying held her breath to avoid the fumes and dragged the people on the ground to a location upwind of the smoke. After making sure that the thick smoke from the campfire would not blow in this direction, she took out a flashlight and shone it straight at the eyes of the person she caught.
“Argh!”
The strong light almost blinded him. Su Ying grabbed his face so firmly that she almost crushed his jaw.
“What did you throw into the fire?”
“Your Im… Imperial Highness, ugh… Spare my life. I was worried that the fire would burn too fiercely and that no one would notice it after we fell asleep at night. It might lead to a wildfire. I threw some sand to reduce the size of the fire.”
In the darkness, a look of hostility flashed across Su Ying’s face. “I still want to sleep. Don’t waste my time, understand?”
“Your imperial Highness, please spare my life. I… I really only threw… Oof!” Before the officer could finish his sentence, Su Ying broke one of his ribs. It hurt him so much that he almost fainted.
Su Ying slowly stood up and continued to shine the bright light at his eyes. The officer felt as if he was going blind.
“I’ll ask you one last time. What did you throw into the fire? If you don’t tell me,
I’ll feed you to the ferocious beasts in the mountains!”
The officer had never expected Su Ying to know martial arts. Not only did she know martial arts, but she was also so strong. He was truly afraid now.
“Your imperial Highness, please forgive me. That… that medicinal powder was given to me by someone. I also do not know what it is either. He only asked me to look for an opportunity to throw it into the campfire. He gave me 100 taels of silver and said… said that after the matter was done, he would give me another hundred taels… Argh!” Before the officer could finish speaking, Su Ying stomped on his palm.
“Who is the other party?”
“I… I don’t know. It’s… someone who came to look for me when he delivered water to the government office. I have never met him before”
“Before we catch that person, I will spare your dog life!
Su Ying immediately knocked him out and threw him into her interspatial store after injecting him with a sleeping drug. After confirming that he wouldn’t wake up for a few days, she left the interspatial store.
Su Ying reduced the light intensity of the flashlight and picked up a wooden stick from the ground. She went to the campfire and scraped out the residue inside. She wanted to know what had just been poured into the campfire.
She took out the ashes from the campfire. Judging from the smell and the reaction after inhaling it, it should be a kind of poison.
This poison was harmless to humans if consumed directly, but if it was thrown into a fire and burned, the thick smoke produced during the burning process would form a poisonous gas. People would be poisoned after inhaling it for fifteen minutes. It was similar to carbon dioxide poisoning, but the concentration of this poison was much higher. Even in the open wilderness, there was a risk of getting poisoned as long as one inhaled it.
When Su Ying woke up just now, the person had just released the thick smoke. The rest of the people did not inhale much, so it would not affect their bodies too much.
The news of her arrival in Luo City must have spread to the outside. Her own people had not even arrived, yet these demons and monsters had already popped up to seek death. They were really impatient.
Su Ying brought some firewood and started the fire again. She then dragged Zhou Qing and the others back to the fireside.
Zhou Qing woke up when the sky turned white. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Su Ying sitting cross-legged under the tree. She thought that Su Ying was still asleep.
Zhou Qing wanted to let Su Ying sleep a little longer, but Su Ying woke up the moment she stood up.
“Your Imperial Highness, you are awake.”
Su Ying kept watch until after the middle of the night. Then she woke the guards up before she went to sleep. She stretched and stood up. “I’m awake. Let’s get something to eat first. Once we’re full, we’ll continue on our way.” “Yes. I am thinking of starting a fire to cook some dried meat soup to eat with dry food. Eating this can also warm up the body.” The conditions in the wilderness were limited, so Zhou Qing was already doing her best to make Su
Ying a filling meal.
Su Ying didn’t have any objections. She wasn’t picky about these things. Zhou Qing placed the pot she had brought along on the fire and poured the water in the water bag into the pot. After the water came to a boil, she threw the dried meat into the pot to boil.
“That’s strange. How come that fellow Liu Qi is not around?” An officer’s puzzled voice rang out behind them.
Including Su Ying, they only had ten people in total in this outing. If one person was missing, it would be discovered very quickly.
“I sent him back to the city on some errands,” Su Ying explained with a straight face.
upon hearing Su Ying’s words, the officer didn’t ask any further. What the Empress did wasn’t something they could ask about.
After the meat broth was ready, Zhou Qing sprinkled a handful of salt on it and scooped a bowl for Su Ying. “Your Imperial Highness, eat it quickly while it’s hot. The night air in the mountains is cold. Eating this will help to drive away the cold.”
Su Ying accepted the bowl. “Alright.”
After eating their fill, the group continued on their journey. However, the higher they went, the steeper the mountain path became, and the horses slowed down.
SU Ying and her group got off their horses and led the horses forward on foot. They only let the horses carry the supplies, but even so, their speed was still not fast.
Su Ying wasn’t in a hurry. She also wanted to take a good look at the terrain on the mountain while she was passing through on her way.
On the third day after Su Ying left Luo City, something happened to the disaster victims outside the city.
The official managing the disaster victims rushed back to the government office on horseback. “My Lord, bad news. Something happened outside the city.”
Wei Zhongming was holding a bowl of braised pork rice. When he heard this, he almost dropped the bowl in his hand.
He fiercely took two bites of his food before glaring angrily at the officer who entered the hall. “What is it? Hurry up and tell me.” For some reason, the first thing that came to his mind after hearing the officer’s words was the fear of being questioned by Su Ying!
What the hell? Su Ying must have been acting so well that he almost thought she was real!
“A plague erupted outside the city!”
Crash!
Wei Zhongming’s hand loosened, and the porcelain bowl dropped to the ground. The braised pork with gravy instantly splattered all over the floor. “What did you say? Where did the plague break out?
The officer said with a terrified expression, “It’s… it’s the disaster relief area closest to Luo City. Last night, some victims started vomiting and having diarrhea. At first, we thought it was because of intestinal discomfort and didn’t pay much attention to it. However, in the middle of the night, more and more people fell ill. A few of them had already died while foaming at the mouth. I was afraid that it would look bad for you if the matter blew up, so I quickly disposed of the bodies. However, in the morning, more and more people fell ill. I was afraid that I couldn’t hide it anymore, so I immediately came to report it to you.”
With every word the official said, Wei Zhongming’s face became more unsightly.. Such a large-scale outbreak was definitely a plague!