Chapter 1443: Water Seizure

Following this, under the direction of the Military Doctor, everyone searched the surrounding area for various poisonous Grass. It was indeed difficult to find a large quantity of any single type of poisonous Grass in one spot, but there were many kinds of poisonous Grass; anything inedible was either foul-tasting or poisonous, so they soon gathered a large pile.

There was no Grass here that could kill a person instantly, like castor beans or the like, but when mixed together, the toxicity might still be quite strong, and the quantity was so large.

It just so happened that the water level in the pool was low, so the Soldiers used stones and wooden sticks to crush these poisonous Grass, forcing out their juices and letting them flow into the pool. For now, it was just on the mud, but as the water gradually rose, it would mix in, and by then, the water in this pool would be nothing but poison.

Once they were done, they threw away the crushed and mangled Grass, covered the area with tree branches, and everyone scrubbed their hands with mud and rinsed them with water. After confirming there was no residue left on their hands, they prepared to withdraw quickly.

The Regimental Commander also used a tree branch to write "Water is poisoned, do not drink" on the ground, and wrote it deeply into the mud of the pool as well. The water wouldn't rise over it for a while, so the people behind should still be able to see it. He hoped they would definitely see the words and not drink it by mistake.

Afterward, as everyone was leaving, some already felt their hands itching and turning red; this was from coming into contact with the milky, poisonous juice of one of the plants. However, the Military Doctor had no solution, only telling them not to scratch and to just rub them with dirt. This amount was not enough to kill them.

The Soldiers who wanted to survive could only endure it, and if they couldn't stand it, they would rub their hands with dirt.

Fortunately, not long after, they arrived at their previous camp. Because they had had plenty of time last time and no enemies harassing them, they had organized the camp quite neatly, and things like firewood were already available, so the task of setting up camp was completed quickly.

Today was different from the past; after setting up camp, they cleared away the surrounding brush and Grass to improve their field of vision, and placed their Bow and Crossbow and Arrow behind trees, ensuring they could pick them up at the first moment and then hide behind the trees to attack.

The cattle were very quiet; having drunk their fill of water, they could now eat. The Soldiers found Grass and tree leaves for the cattle, letting these cattle, which had worked hard all day, eat their fill quickly.

The camp fire was lit, and the meal was cooking. After a tiring day, everyone really needed to eat something hot to replenish their strength; if they didn't eat now, they might not have such a good opportunity later.

The Soldiers responsible for the rear guard also circled around to the water source. They waited for a long time without seeing the enemy pursue, and now they had relaxed their vigilance. However, they had not forgotten their mission. Seeing the water source, they prepared to replenish their supply; after all, there were quite a few of them, and being able to carry more water would certainly reduce the pressure on the entire team, because on the road back, there would be a full day without a water source, and they would have to rely on stored water.

Just as they went down, wanting to find a good place to stand, they discovered the words left on the ground and the dense footprints. The water had already been poisoned; although they didn't know how it was done, it definitely could not be drunk, so they hurriedly put away their water gourds.

Although the words were very clear, the enemy certainly wouldn't recognize them, but they still used their feet to trample them out, then immediately hurried back, preparing to head to the camp to reunite with everyone.

The morale of the Wulenge Tribe led by Bosa was becoming increasingly low. They had been forced to supplement with a little of the food they carried halfway, but the quantity was so small that everyone barely touched it to their lips; those few food scraps weren't even enough to cover the loss from their mouths to their stomachs, so their bellies were still empty.

Bosa could only continue to make empty promises, constantly pointing at the tracks on the road, telling everyone that they were just ahead, just ahead, that they would definitely find a place to stop at night and couldn't possibly keep traveling, and that they were about to catch up.

With empty promises combined with insults and coercion, the team was forced to keep moving forward. On the road, their Soldiers also secretly used their fingers to stick to salt grains in their leather bags and stuff them into their mouths. Anyway, they wouldn't get much of anything from conquering this tribe, at most a few slightly larger meals; the ones who would get rich were these Leaders, so it was better to get the salt into their own mouths first. This trip could then be considered worth it; after all, salt was the most precious thing.

It was almost dark when they finally arrived at the water source. Bosa was very excited, because they hadn't expected there to be a water source here; this was excellent news for the exhausted army. They also saw the dense footprints on the ground, which meant that the cannibal tribe must have drawn water here.

Looking at the footprint marks in the pool, in some places the water hadn't completely covered them yet, so Bosa concluded that the distance between them and the cannibal tribe wasn't very far. They must be camping somewhere just ahead; this was the experience they had summarized as hunters—after all, humans were animals too.

As the Leader, Bosa was the first to step forward. When the water was relatively clear, he scooped up a large handful and sent it to his mouth, but he found that the water in his mouth tasted a bit strange, with a relatively strong grassy flavor, while the salty taste was not very strong. Moreover, this pool was very clean, with no rotting leaves and no toads, which didn't quite make sense, because this pool looked very "new" and not like one in the wild. But he couldn't say why; what could be strange about a pool? If the cannibal tribe could drink it, why couldn't they? So Bosa let down his guard and drank deeply. Compared to the rotten taste of water soaked with many leaves, this grassy flavor was actually quite good.

After he had his fill, he gave up his spot: "Come, all of you, come and drink water. Drink your fill first, and then we will continue to pursue. Look at these footprints, they definitely haven't gone far. It's almost dark now, they will certainly find a place to rest; they can't possibly keep running!"

Everyone did indeed see the fresh footprints on the ground; this time Bosa was truly not lying. So, after a few Leaders finished drinking, the rest of the people began to crowd toward the small pool, fighting for the water source. Soon, the water in the pool became extremely muddy, and because everyone had mud in their mouths, they would use the water to rinse their mouths, then spit it back in and continue drinking. Through this repetition, the small pool of water had become extremely filthy.

The Soldiers who squeezed in last saw only the meager muddy water. To drink or not to drink? It was indeed a difficult choice. Although they weren't picky, this was just too disgusting; they couldn't bring themselves to drink it. Fortunately, the spring was still bubbling with clear water, slowly pushing away the sewage. The Soldiers behind then went to fight for that bit of clear water, throwing themselves directly into the mud to grab it.

Bosa couldn't be bothered to manage them anymore; at least let them drink their fill. For now, he would treat it as a rest, so he sat on a wet, slimy stone to rest and digest the water he had just drunk.