Chapter 212: New Identity

In the chaotic world where the Evil Plague rages, every time the temperature drops significantly in autumn, it is time for the Xianshou Army to mobilize and clear out the Plague Ghosts.

Low temperatures greatly restrict the movements of Plague Ghosts, making them easier to clear out and facilitating the search for supplies.

The various hunting routes of the Xinzhou Xianshou Army extend outward from Xinzhou.

In a certain village south of Xinzhou, a battalion of the Xianshou Army is stationed here.

This village had not been searched before; they came here to clear it out and could also look for grain left behind by the villagers, seeking supplies as replenishment. Unfortunately, they happened to encounter a short-term temperature rise that day, and the daytime temperature was slightly higher, making the difficulty of the clearing greater than expected, resulting in more casualties. But after all, it was the autumn and winter season, the short-term temperature rise was limited, and the agility of the Plague Ghosts was far inferior to that in spring and summer, so the casualties were only in the single digits.

Li Sihu was among that unfortunate single-digit number, and he was also the one with the highest rank among them.

He is a Deputy Commander, assisting the Commander in managing a hundred or so people.

He is not considered much by the nobles, but he still has some influence here.

Li Sihu was injured while slaying a Plague Ghost; at that time, seeing the wound, he held no hope, so he fought even more fiercely, even blocking a claw for his superior officer, trying his best to earn more merit before dying so that the compensation received would be greater, allowing his family to hold on longer in this chaotic world.

Li Sihu did not come from the Xinzhou Army; he was just an ordinary civilian before, doing odd jobs in the County Town to earn some rations for his family. After the world fell into chaos, forced by his livelihood, he joined the Xianshou Army. He joined late, his military merit was limited, and he did not catch the previous round of major promotions.

But because he had ambition and dared to fight, in the span of a year, he rose from a lowly Soldier to a Deputy Commander.

He had originally thought that he would scrape together more military merit during this Autumn Hunt and rise a bit higher, or at the very least, get rid of that "Deputy" title!

He fought fiercely, and when resting, someone once asked him why he charged so fiercely?

The *Xinzhou Times* said that the treatment for the Evil Plague has already taken a crucial first step, and perhaps in another year or two, it will be easier to treat, so he could wait a bit longer. By then, if one were infected, there would be a cure. But Li Sihu did not want to wait.

Perhaps in a year or two, that Master Huang would have more exquisite medical skills and better treatment methods.

But!

By that time, what would it have to do with me?

By that time, everyone will have returned to the familiar order.

In the past order, as a small person with no power, no backing, and not outstanding enough ability, how could I compete with those who have more foundation? Many people, on an ordinary battlefield, do not fear life or death, but in the face of the Evil Plague, based on their awe and fear of ghosts and gods, they do not dare to fight. So, Li Sihu thought, taking advantage of the fact that many people are now afraid of the Evil Plague, tied up, and dare not fight, this is my opportunity!

To speak realistically, the day the Evil Plague can truly be treated, human life will not be as valuable as it is now, and military merit may not be as clear and tangible as it is now; even if one dies in battle, the compensation received will be lower. In that set of order, for an ordinary person, climbing up from the bottom is very difficult!

Chaotic times produce heroes!

Wealth and honor are sought in danger!

Anyway, it's just a cheap life, why not make a dash for it?

So Li Sihu always charged very fiercely, and this year's Autumn Hunt, he charged even more fiercely.

However, wealth and honor are sought in danger, and the vast majority of people fall into this word "danger"!

He is the same.

But he has no regrets!

At least now this life is still worth quite a bit of money and grain.

Li Sihu was tied to a stretcher and carried out of the camp. Along with him were four other injured Soldiers.

He did not struggle; he was very quiet and did not care where he was being carried, completely holding a mindset of waiting for death.

What things could be left for his family had already been confirmed; there was nothing else to be concerned about.

According to past experience, Li Sihu believed that he, like the other wounded, was being carried to a quiet place to handle the aftermath.

But gradually, he noticed something wrong. They were transferred to another group of people and continued to be transported elsewhere. About an hour later, they arrived at a remote place with several tents. Li Sihu was sent into one of the tents, and here, he saw wounded from other battalions.

There were people talking outside the tent.

"Are they all here?"

"Yes, they are all inside."

Soon, seven or eight people entered the tent, wearing plain clothes and covering their faces; one could not tell what their identities were.

They cleaned the wounds of the wounded in the tent, applied medicine, and also changed the wounded into clean clothes and covered them with thin blankets.

There were modified stoves in the tent, so it was not too cold.

During this time, someone told Li Sihu and the others that there was a type of pill that needed them to test. As payment, an extra portion would be added to their compensation. No one was unwilling; anyway, it was a dead end, and being able to sell for a higher price before dying, one should be happy.

Li Sihu was the same.

Subsequently, another person entered from outside. Although he also wore plain clothes, judging by the respectful attitude of the people around him, he should be a small leader. That person carried a food box, inside which were pill-like objects. If one looked closely and felt the texture by pinching it, one would find it was like a layer of medicinal glue wrapping some kind of liquid. To prevent sticking, each pill was also coated with medicinal powder on the outside.

"One for each person, swallow directly. Do not bite through, do not chew, you must swallow directly!"

Li Sihu endured the discomfort and swallowed one.

The taste was not very good. There was the bitterness of the medicinal glue and a fishy smell. Fortunately, it was just swallowed directly; if it were really bitten through, it was hard to imagine what strange taste there would be. After a moment, they drank another bowl of medicinal soup to treat their injuries. The medicinal soup had a calming effect, and soon, the people in the tent fell asleep one after another. Two days later.

Among this batch of sleeping people, some could not open their eyes, but there were also lucky ones who saw the sunlight again.

Xinzhou, Zhao Fu.

"More than twenty, six survived."

Lao Zhao looked at the latest received message, his brow keeping a deep furrow.

That six could survive shows that it is indeed effective, which is very heartening.

Judging from the current situation, the success rate should be quite satisfactory.

However...

Lao Zhao looked at Wen Gu: "The number of people successfully saved is less than thirty percent! Are you sure you want to go out?"

Wen Gu looked at another piece of intelligence in his hand.

The results from Huang Dashi's second plan had already been used for testing.

The output was extremely limited, and they were still items with a short shelf life.

Wen Gu thought that Huang Dashi still needed to be spurred on to continuously improve the results.

Hearing Lao Zhao's words, he said: "The success rate of treating the Evil Plague should be higher than thirty percent; of the other dozen or so, some died from wound infection, not the Evil Plague." Lao Zhao still felt the risk was too high: "These are all dangers!"

Wen Gu wanted to go out; he wanted to go to Shenyi Gu.

Several months ago, Wen Gu had already been eyeing Shenyi Gu.

Lao Zhao was very satisfied with the research progress of the yellow thorn, but Wen Gu was not satisfied with this. He believed that the research direction of the yellow thorn was too limited and the risks were high. Regarding the Evil Plague, such a difficult problem still required a multi-pronged approach.

Since he could not find satisfactory medical talent in Xinzhou, he wanted to go to Shenyi Gu to take a look; there were many medical talents there.

At Shenyi Gu, a group of Masters were gathered together, yet they had not researched anything to this day. Wen Gu wanted to go and see what exactly was going on. Were they mired in internal friction, or were they content with the status quo?

If he discovered anyone with talent, he would poach them directly to Xinzhou! The quantity was not limited; the more, the better!

Lao Zhao did not agree at first, nor was he at ease with Wen Gu running so far away.

Only after multiple discussions did he loosen up, but Lao Zhao had a requirement: he must wait for Huang Dashi to develop a portable medicine. Wen Gu urging Huang Dashi to conduct the second phase of the plan trial so anxiously was precisely to have a little more security and to get Lao Zhao to agree.

Now that the results were out, the timing was also just right.

Seeing that Wen Gu had made up his mind, Lao Zhao no longer tried to persuade him, but asked, "Have you chosen the candidates for your entourage?"

Since Wen Gu was going out, Lao Zhao naturally had to pick people to take care of him.

Originally, there were arrangements for attendants, but due to this large-scale strict investigation, the original candidates were somewhat implicated. They might not necessarily have problems, but for the time being, he dared not use them. Therefore, Lao Zhao prepared another batch of people for Wen Gu to choose from.

"Just him." Wen Gu pointed at the identity information on a document.

Lao Zhao took a look.

"Li Sihu?"

His family background was clean, he still had a wife and children who survived, and before the chaotic times, he worked as a handyman in a Town, so he understood more about human relationships and worldly wisdom.

He had drive, ambition, no other bad records, and his recovery from injury and illness was also decent.

Although he was still not very satisfied with this Li Sihu, since Wen Gu had chosen him, Lao Zhao would not change him.

Picking up the prepared documents and credentials, Lao Zhao handed them to Wen Gu: "They were just processed; see if anything is missing."

Wen Gu took them.

On the official document proving his identity, the name displayed was not "Wen Gu," but "Rong Huan."

From "Rong" (to accommodate) and "Yi" (to change), "Huan" (to glow) like new.

If he wanted to go out and roam, he certainly could not use the identity of Wen Gu; that would simply be a target.

He could only put on a mask.

If the main account was inconvenient for speaking, then he would use a side account to interact with the outside world.

When Li Sihu woke up again and his consciousness was completely restored, he knew what kind of medicine he had taken.

Knowing that he was one of the six remaining lucky ones, Li Sihu felt complicated.

Before he could have too many reflections, he was faced with another big opportunity thrown at him.

His superiors told him that a noble person was going on a long journey and asked if he was willing to serve as an attendant by the noble person's side.

As soon as Li Sihu heard this, he knew that this noble person must have brought other important tasks.

He came from a grassroots background; besides striving, he had to tightly grasp every opportunity!

This was also a rare opportunity to perform a meritorious service.

What was it to be an attendant? As long as he could escort that person to complete the mission, his credit would definitely not be small!

"This subordinate is willing!"

Li Sihu hurriedly accepted this opportunity.

Never mind taking care of a person, even if it were a dog, he would take care of the dog properly!

Huang Dashi's pills were in a confidential trial stage, and the six people who were cured would not be publicized and were placed elsewhere.

Li Sihu did not know where the other five people were placed; after his consciousness recovered, he quickly entered the training stage.

When he was lying on the bed, someone explained things to him, and after he could get out of bed, he underwent other training.

The medicinal herbs used were all of high grade, and he had someone specifically taking care of his three meals a day.

The more this was the case, the more Li Sihu knew that the noble person he was taking care of must have a very special status. Once the mission was completed, the credit he could scrape together would be even greater! Li Sihu performed even more actively.

Nearly half a month later, Li Sihu was brought to a secluded courtyard.

"That Master is right here; do you already know what to do?" the person who led him over asked.

"Yes, I know everything!" Li Sihu replied respectfully.

His injuries had not fully healed, but his daily life was no longer hindered, and he looked quite spirited, with a lot of vitality in his eyes.

Although the title "Master" had become popularized, generally only those with a well-off family background were addressed this way.

Having a background and carrying a secret mission meant his rank was high!

Li Sihu's emotions were stirred.

The person leading the way left, and Li Sihu walked into the courtyard alone.

There seemed to be people talking in low voices inside the room, and a guard was standing outside.

That was a young man holding a sword, leaning casually against a corridor pillar, looking as if he were lost in thought.

His facial features were completely unremarkable, making people forget him after one look; if someone were slightly face-blind, they wouldn't recognize him even after seeing him several times.

When the other party was just standing there casually, there was no strong sense of presence, but the moment he raised his eyes to look over, the clearly calm gaze made Li Sihu's heartstrings tighten; the intuition he had cultivated from long-term fighting told him that this person was very dangerous.

He thought to himself: This should be the guard of "Young Master Rong."

The guards beside noble people were truly formidable; he must have saved the noble person many times!

Li Sihu was pondering how to introduce himself.

That guard smiled and said, "You must be the new attendant, right?"

He still looked plain and unremarkable when he smiled, and his voice sounded just like a passerby in a crowd.

"Yes, this subordinate... this humble one is Li Sihu, the attendant of Young Master Rong!"

"My name is Rong Yi, and I am a guard. From now on, we will work together," the man said.

Rong Yi?

Li Sihu noted it in his heart and also revealed a friendly smile.

Creak.

The tightly shut door opened.

A young man walked out from inside, looking to be in his early twenties.

His bearing was composed, seemingly carrying a hint of a scholar's gentleness, but with the movement of his hands, the neat sword sleeves designed for riding and archery diluted that scholarly elegance. He seemed neither quite a scholar nor quite a warrior.

Yet it was evident that his family background must be quite good.

Based on Li Sihu's experience of doing odd jobs in the County Town, he felt that regardless of what this person used to do, he should rarely have been treated with neglect.