Chapter 36: Cold Fear

"I say, Fourth Brother, is it not a bit too strange for us to go like this?" Zhao Yuncheng asked, looking at the carriages before him.

These few carriages now appeared to be fully loaded with goods, but in reality, they were filled with dry rations and their weapons and bows.

According to Mo Dao's plan, they were to pose as traveling merchants to enter Qingzhou and investigate signs of that band of bandits.

If this method were used within the territory of Xingyuan Prefecture, there would naturally be no problem.

But the place they were going to now was Qingzhou, which had been experiencing a drought; it was so desolate there that not even birds could be found, let alone bird droppings.

And since they were going there to trade, it looked suspicious no matter how one viewed it.

Unless one had a grudge against their own money, who would engage in such a business destined to lose capital?

"We are not going to look for that group of bandits, only to look for their tracks. If that group of bandits sees us and avoids us because we are unusual, then we are even safer.

If they do not avoid us and instead want to rob us, if there are few of them, we take out our weapons and fight them; if there are many, we run."

Mo Hu provided the explanation for Mo Dao's arrangement.

What they were looking for were the tracks of that band of bandits, not to encircle and annihilate that group of people.

And in that godforsaken place, as long as people walked through, they would definitely leave tracks.

They only needed to go in and inspect carefully for a round; whether they encountered the group of bandits or not was unimportant, and not encountering them was actually safer.

Mo Dao smiled and nodded; his younger brother was not wrong, this was indeed his intended plan.

"Let us move quickly. Is there enough water on the carriages?" Chen Mo asked slowly, looking at the desolate, deathly silent, and still parched land ahead.

It seemed that even after he had fled to Xingyuan Prefecture in Ding Prefecture for so long, the drought in Qingzhou had still not received any relief.

The only thing somewhat unusual was that the drought seemed to be confined only to this area of Qingzhou; less than twenty miles away, in Xiaojing Town, the rainfall was still abundant, and the wheat seedlings in the fields were growing gratifyingly.

This kind of distinct, clear-cut drought really looked somewhat abnormal.

"It is prepared. It is all hot water that has been boiled and cooled. The water skins are sealed tight to ensure they will not spoil, and the amount is enough for our men and horses to drink for half a month," Ma Cai reported.

The group then moved forward together, traveling more than thirty miles first, and then each drove a carriage and, holding maps, separated one after another.

What they had to do was reconnaissance; a group of people gathered together was too large a target, and the efficiency was too slow.

Scattering individually was more efficient, and the risk did not increase.

If they met a small number of bandits, they would fight; if there were many, they would run directly.

That band of bandits definitely could not run as fast as them; even if they had horses, they would have at most two or three.

There was absolutely nothing here for horses to eat; the cargo of dry rations on Chen Mo's carriage was actually not much for people, it was mainly horse feed.

Since that band of bandits was roaming in this place, it was destined that they could not have many horses, and perhaps not even one.

Therefore, unless there was a master archer among those bandits who could shoot a seven-stone heavy bow from a hundred paces and hit the target ten times out of ten like Mo Dao, they were not in much danger.

If there really were such bandits, encountering them could only be blamed on one's own bad luck.

The group then dispersed and traveled, heading off according to their set directions.

The road Chen Mo took was the easiest and generally quite flat; this was also Mo Dao looking after him.

After all, among the few people leading the soldiers this time, Chen Mo had the least seniority; although his strength was sufficient, his experience was lacking.

Therefore, letting him take the easiest and most convenient road would save him from getting lost and also allow him to finish investigating the area he needed to check more quickly.

Chen Mo was actually not very familiar with this road; he felt he should have walked this road before, but at that time he clearly had no mood to remember these things.

There were many large trees on both sides of the road that had long since withered; spring had arrived, but they still looked as they had in the past.

The deeper he went, the stronger the sense of familiarity with this area became in Chen Mo's mind; more than half a year had passed, and there was no change here—it was still withered, yellow, and deathly silent, without a hint of life to be seen.

Chen Mo drove the carriage, slowly moving forward, while Ma Cai and several other Soldiers followed behind the carriage, walking quickly.

The area they were responsible for investigating was actually not large, only the part near Xingyuan Prefecture, and this part had also been divided by Mo Dao into several small areas.

Chen Mo was mainly responsible for only one small patch of that area; he just needed to walk through it once, and regardless of whether he found anything or not, he could leave.

As for the situation over in Yangyang Prefecture, the Yangyang Prefecture garrison was responsible for investigating it, and it had nothing to do with them.

If the tracks of the bandits appeared over there, then there were only two possibilities.

First, they were preparing to plunder Yangyang Prefecture; second, they had just finished plundering Yangyang Prefecture and were returning.

The former still had nothing to do with them, and they did not need to worry about it.

And for the latter, the Yangyang Prefecture garrison would certainly send intelligence, and they would definitely be able to learn the movements of that band of bandits.

Although Chen Mo was driving the carriage, his eyes were still observing the movements of the ground all around; although the road here was a long-neglected official road, it was still much better than a dirt path in the countryside.

If bandits had passed through here recently, they would inevitably leave tracks.

Ma Cai and the others were also nervously searching everywhere; they had never been on a battlefield, let alone killed anyone.

This time, even if it was just looking for the tracks of thieves, it made them feel both nervous and excited.

Killing bandits, the reward obtained was not as good as killing barbarians on the battlefield, but killing one thief could still earn a reward of three taels of silver.

If they killed three thieves, there was even a chance to change from an ordinary Personal Soldier to a Squad Leader.

In their hearts, they were all still pondering how to perform meritorious service.

Driving the carriage for two consecutive days, a low and familiar thatched shed gradually appeared before his eyes.

Chen Mo only felt familiar with the surrounding environment, but he did not have a particularly deep impression of it; however, he remembered these thatched sheds very deeply.

Because he had eaten food in this thatched shed; he had been fleeing from famine for a long time, and he could not remember exactly how many people he had killed or how far he had walked, but he remembered every instance of when he had eaten.

Because compared to other things, eating was undoubtedly rare during the flight from famine and was more worth remembering.

"Let us hurry on our way; we will rest at that shed at noon today," Chen Mo instructed the few Soldiers and raised the reins to urge the horses.

After walking another few dozen yards, Chen Mo hurriedly reined in the horses; he saw clearly that there was still a dark, shadowy figure in the shed, wearing layer upon layer of clothes, appearing as if they were a disaster victim.

But as far as Chen Mo knew, ever since the New Year had passed, not a single disaster victim had escaped from Qingzhou.

It was not because the drought had been relieved, but because the people had all died, and no one could escape anymore.

But looking at the other person's appearance, they did not look like a thief or bandit either; could it be that there were really disaster victims who had not escaped?

Chen Mo felt suspicious in his heart, slowly climbed down from the carriage, and took out his weapon; it was a Steel Spear nearly seven feet long.

"What's wrong, Brother Mo?" Seeing him rein in his horse, Ma Cai hurriedly caught up.

"There is someone ahead; take your weapon and come with me to take a look," Chen Mo instructed cautiously, walking slowly toward the shack.

Although the other party was only one person and looked extremely frail, even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit.

Being cautious and careful is never wrong.

As he drew closer to the shack, Chen Mo finally saw the person's face clearly, and in an instant, a chill ran through his entire body, his hair standing on end.

Chen Mo considered himself to have no small amount of courage; having fled as a refugee, he had even seen cannibalism, and while he felt fear and disgust at first, after seeing it so much, it was actually just that.

Later, after falling into the Grey Mist, he had also seen extremely bizarre creatures like the Blood Monkey.

These things had made him afraid before, but never to the extent he felt today; he felt terrified, and even his hand holding the weapon was trembling slightly.

Because he clearly remembered that face; that person had clearly been killed by Zhao Yu before.

The Dagger had been driven three inches into their eye, leaving no chance of survival.

Yet the other party was now standing alive right before his eyes!

They were even smiling at him, smiling while drooling!

(End of chapter)