Chapter 69: The Gu Poison in the City

With the internal energy cultivation of Li Miao and Wang Hai, the fatigue of two days of galloping on horseback was not too great a drain.

So the two whipped their horses all the way, and in the middle, they changed horses with merchants on the road, arriving in Tai'an City ahead of time.

The two hadn't eaten a proper meal in the past two days and had been on horseback the whole time, so they both felt a bit hungry at this moment.

"Eat first, and after eating, we will go up the mountain overnight. Let's see what kind of tricks the Ming Sect is planning," Li Miao said.

Wang Hai had no objections.

So the two found a wine shop, tied their horses at the door, entered, ordered a few small dishes, and began to eat.

As they ate, Wang Hai sighed.

"Battalion Commander, this task is truly... I originally thought it was just Zuo Lishan's business, at most bringing along a Flag Leader or something."

"Now, both the Left and Right Envoys have come. That Flag Leader Zhou, who was also a figure the Commander-in-Chief had a headache about for many years, can't even be ranked here now."

"This task, let alone changing to another Battalion Commander to do it. Even if Deputy Commander Bu came, he would also be trapped in it."

"Now a eunuch has been inserted to stir things up... I don't know what exactly happened on the Commander-in-Chief's side."

Li Miao, however, smiles.

Wang Hai doesn't know about this, but he is very familiar with it.

Of course, Li Miao and Wang Hai left the capital together, and he had never seen the people sent by Shuntian Prefecture, so he naturally didn't know what changes had occurred in the capital.

But he is very familiar with eunuchs snatching the Embroidered Uniform Guard's tasks.

"Execute first, report later, with Imperial authority. This is the 'Western Depot', isn't it."

It's just that the Great Shuo is quite different from the Great Ming of Li Miao's previous life; regardless of whether this is the Eastern Depot or the Western Depot, it is far later than the Great Ming for it to have only started to show signs of appearing now.

Li Miao picks up a piece of food: "I don't really care about the eunuch's business; at worst, I'll beat him up and take him back to Shuntian Prefecture."

"I have been serving under the Commander-in-Chief for twenty years; it has always been him taking the blame and me going to die."

"Since he didn't have anyone call me back, it means he intended for me to deal with that eunuch. That old man is probably already writing a memorial of confession in Shuntian Prefecture."

It can only be said that Li Miao understands Zhu Zai too well.

He was only seven or eight years old when he came to this Great Shuo, without parents, and when he woke up, he was huddled in a pile of beggars in a corner. Because his bone structure was exceptionally good, he was discovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and taken away to be trained. By the time he entered the Embroidered Uniform Guard at fifteen, he had always been serving under Zhu Zai.

If we really talk about relatives in this Great Shuo, Xiaosi counts as one, and Zhu Zai counts as one. Wang Hai can only count as half.

After twenty years of getting along, Li Miao knows Zhu Zai's thoughts like the back of his hand. Zhu Zai also knows clearly what Li Miao will do. So even if Li Miao doesn't know the situation, he won't be as hesitant as Wang Hai.

Back to the present, the two lower their heads to eat, and after eating, Wang Hai calls out: "Waiter, bill."

The waiter runs over, but stops halfway, sneezes, and then runs over in a hurry.

Li Miao sizes up the waiter from head to toe, sniffs, and his expression sinks.

"Waiter, are you feeling unwell?"

The waiter replies in a hurry: "Yes, guest. I might have caught a cold yesterday, and I have a bit of a headache and fever."

"But I haven't been to the back kitchen today, and others come to take the orders; the food you are eating is absolutely fine, guest, please rest assured."

"Oh..." Li Miao looks carefully at the waiter's eyes; the whites of his eyes are full of bloodshot veins and faintly red, which indeed looks like he has caught a cold.

"I have traveled north and south and know a little bit about the art of medicine. Why don't I take your pulse?"

In these years, seeing a doctor and getting medicine are very expensive, and ordinary people are reluctant to see a doctor when they are sick. For things like colds, they all just endure it themselves.

The waiter has actually been feeling quite uncomfortable since he got up today, but as a poor person, he has no surplus food and lives day by day.

If he doesn't work today, he will be hungry tomorrow, so he is just bracing himself to do his work.

Hearing Li Miao say this, the waiter smiles embarrassedly: "Guest... no need to trouble yourself. A little cold, just cover up and it will be fine."

"Spending several strings of coins to get medicine for such a small illness is not worth it."

Li Miao says: "In my opinion, this doesn't look as simple as a cold."

"Let me take your pulse."

Having said that, regardless of the waiter's refusal, he reaches out and directly locks onto the waiter's pulse.

Does Li Miao know how to see a doctor?

Of course not. But he is naturally not doing this on a whim to deceive the waiter.

Li Miao secretly channels a thread of true energy into the waiter's pulse.

People who don't practice martial arts have their meridians blocked as they age, so ordinary sect disciples start practicing martial arts around the age of ten, when their muscles and bones are initially formed and their meridians are still open, making it twice the result with half the effort to build a foundation at this time.

This waiter is not very old, about eighteen or nineteen, and his meridians are mostly blocked, so Li Miao can only channel a thread of subtle true energy to avoid damaging his meridians while simultaneously investigating the situation inside his body.

Upon this investigation, Li Miao's expression turns cold.

The waiter originally wanted to refuse, but Li Miao's grab was too fast, and he didn't see it clearly. After his pulse was locked by Li Miao, he felt a warm current flowing into his body, and his originally cold body recovered quite a bit.

He just wanted to open his mouth to thank him, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"Wah—"

He vomits a pile on the ground suddenly.

Li Miao lets go and dodges, fixing his eyes on the pile of filth.

Inside, there are clearly several blood-red, hair-thin insects with white rings wriggling.

Wang Hai has been paying attention to Li Miao's actions since just now; he knows Li Miao would never act without a reason, and seeing the insects at this moment, he stands up immediately.

"Battalion Commander! This!"

Li Miao looks down at the pile of things, his voice sounding cold: "Gu insects."

"Hai'er, you and Xiaosi have the Love Gu planted, so you know Xiaosi's location."

"Go find Xiaosi immediately, bring her and the Huashan Sect people over, and come to the prefectural Yamen to find me."

"As for that Five Mountains Sword Alliance meeting, let Cheng Yuanzhen toss and turn. If the situation here is as I think, I fear it involves thousands of lives, and we can't take care of those Jianghu people."

"Go quickly!"

"Yes!" Wang Hai immediately takes the order, walks quickly out the door, flips onto his horse, and gallops toward the city gate.

"Guest! This, this!" The waiter also sees the insects at this moment, trembling all over with fear, unable to speak clearly.

Li Miao lifts him by the collar, uses light-body technique, and heads directly toward the Tai'an City prefectural Yamen.

Along the way, Li Miao's ear technique hears coughing sounds continuously coming from the houses on both sides of the road, and even some vomiting and groaning sounds.

Pedestrians on the road see him moving like lightning, still carrying a screaming person, and all dodge away.

Li Miao scans left and right, and with just one glance, he sees several pairs of bloodshot eyes.

A moment later, Li Miao arrives at the prefectural Yamen.

Boom!!!

He kicks open the gate, reaches out to take out his Embroidered Uniform Guard waist token, channels true energy, and actually uses the Buddhist "Lion's Roar" technique to call out.

"This official is Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander, Li Miao!"

"All officials and soldiers, come out for this official now!"

The sound is like a great bell, spreading throughout the city.

(End of chapter)