Chapter 388: Earthquake in Dongqing (XX)

Jiang Pengji wisely placed 50 tons of rations in this ‘warehouse’, it was impossible for Xu Ke and his 30 men alone to transport all of them back at one go.

He decided to retrieve one portion of the ration which occupied half the surface area of the transport carriage, the other half was filled with medicinal herbs from the medical storeroom and other items as tasked by Jiang Pengji. Xu Ke poked those weird looking sacks but based on his observations he still could not determine what was inside of them.

Then again based on their texture alone, he supposed they probably contained some powder-like substance.

“For example, lime…” A servant whispered from a corner, “Unfortunately, this sack is rarely seen.”

Expectedly, the servant has never seen such a sack, after all this was a manufactured paper bag.

Jiang Pengji took into consideration that cremation might be rejected so that they could only bury the dead bodies. If so, she must be prepared to prevent the soil from contamination, even the burial locations must be chosen wisely.

They searched everywhere in the desolate city. There were few items that could be used for decontamination. Left without a choice, she exchanged some sacks of lime to brace for the emergency.

Based on her understanding, there existed lime in the present era. Households used it from time to time to protect against moisture and mosquitos. It was also useful for erecting a grave as a layer of it would be scattered on its base…the only outlier was the manufactured paper bag.

Explaining this away was easy since Liu manor’s paper manufacturing factory has well-developed techniques.

Liu manor monopolizes the manufacturing of paper, therefore she gets the final say whether something is right or wrong.

More importantly, Xu Ke would not be insistent on such matters.

—-

Lime?

Xu Ke knitted his brows in surprise.

For safety’s sake, a group of people journeyed in the dark, following the carriage to take the route they came by. Potential dangers caused by the earthquake had just begun, the court hadn’t made any move to initiate rescue efforts. The survivors lived in fear… some degraded themselves to become violent mobs. It was unfortunate but unsurprising to see them engage in vices like burning, killing and robbing.

Nevertheless, they had intentions to avoid them yet blame it on their bad luck. From afar off, shimmering flames were seen, it was especially terrifying in the dark.

“Ghost fire — that’s ghost shadow—”

“Ghost shadow?”

Suddenly they saw, many thought the shadows from the firelight were ghosts. They instantly shouted in shock; anxious emotions spread amongst the people.

Xu Ke witnessed the situation, his expression was somber and lowered his voice in disapproval, “Shut up all of you! Look carefully, they are humans and not ghosts!”

His stern voice carried with it a commanding tone. Those servants were scared such that they kept silent; they didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.

Xu Ke’s voice became gentler and repeated, “Confucius does not speak of superstitions, he focuses his heart and refuses to be distracted, do not be afraid. They are humans.”

Anxiety overwhelmed the entire party; their throats in constant motion as they continuously swallowed their saliva.

The weather tonight was very warm, and they were presently tensed, subsequently, their foreheads broke out in a sweat and their palms were clammy.

“Keep quiet, all of us shall squat down to hide…” Xu Ke said, lowering his voice.

The light from the fire was pointing in their direction. Initially the size of a bean, the fire slowly became larger.

According to the direction these people are headed towards, they were intending to enter the city.

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Shangjing’s walls looked lofty, heavy and sturdy, however, having braved the rain and storms for hundreds of years, it’s inside was much weaker than it first appeared. The earthquake that occurred caused its walls to collapse resulting in massive damage. The army personnel guarding the gates disappeared. Its towering, big city gates had shattered to multiple pieces, to the point where it looked so flimsy that it was ready to break apart at any time.

To fight for survival, some people packed their household items as quickly as they could and traveled light and escaped outside through the city gates.

At present, the people are desperately wanting to leave, who would come into the city willingly?

Xu Ke furrowed his brows. He suspected that this group of people was sent by the court to administer aid and contribute to relief efforts.

If so, there was still hope for the people of Shangjing.

—–

After half an hour, Xu Ke dispelled the misgivings in his head.

That group of ‘ghost shadows’ had many people and the night was dark so Xu Ke could not determine the size of the group.

He turned his ear to listen, their footsteps were firm and solid, no one in the army talked, only the boring, repetitive sound of footsteps and carriage wheels could be heard.

Xu Ke had the foresight to order men to push over ten horse carriages to the dark corner beforehand. The men then carefully hid back facing the light, the moonlight is dim enough that they won’t be discovered. He has a strong intuition, but this does not equate to his fellow men and their hearts forged from strong metals.

Confucius focuses his heart and refuses to be distracted by superstitions, the saying goes, but man naturally fears the unknown. When faced with something they cannot explain, they often like to direct such phenomenon to ghosts and other phenomona.

They walked past a narrow road nearby, the distance between both horses and men incredibly close together. Upon seeing this, Xu Ke wore a solemn expression, and the people became nervous until they reached their peak anxiety. One servant even lost a lower battle, as he relaxed the organ beneath his stomach, a warm stench of urine drifted across.

Xu Ke looked on disapprovingly without speaking. Man proposes but the heavens disposes… his weak teammate still screwed up.

When that strange group of soldiers was midway through, a servant walking behind the troops appeared shaken and jumped in fear. Crying desperately for help, he couldn’t control his right arm which moved non-stop. From afar one could vaguely see a lengthy item dangling in the air, after a closer look, he saw a snake!

“Snake — there’s a snake —”

This person’s shout attracted the attention of the others, the army was chaotic, many of the servants undercover were terrified. With fast and nimble action, they evaded the person bitten by the snake. Coincidentally, this commotion also attracted the attention of this mysterious group of people.

“Who is there —”

Xu Ke was heavy-hearted, he sucked in his teeth. What rotten luck is this!

The circumstances he hated to see happened, the mysterious troops raised their spears and surrounded them

Flaming tongues of fire continually licked, it intermittently sounded with explosions. A sharp sword was placed threateningly at Xu Ke’s neck, his life was out of his control.

He took a deep breath and suppressed his distracting thoughts; he kept his posture upright and his black jujube garment was stained with blood. All the while he stood lofty and unyielding.

“These people look suspicious, arrest them all —”

Unbeknownst to them who spoke these words, the group who held spears stepped forward to arrest them.

“Wait!” Both sides faced each other. Xu Ke wasn’t threatened, he raised his hand and signaled for them to stop, before he calmly spoke, “The earthquake happened which left Shangjing in desolation, the survivors are few. I was tasked to transport the rations and medicines which concerns the lives of many people. Any delay is undesirable thus I appeal to all you strong men for your understanding. I saw your tracks earlier but to prevent any misunderstandings, I avoided them. If you all refuse to believe me, I am willing to go with you except there are many snakes, insects, rats, and ants. I have a humble request to make, can you kindly save my servant who was bitten by a snake?

These coalesce of people looked at each other in surprise. They had no idea how to deal with them.

Traveling at night was an exhausting affair and they were complacent. Thus, they didn’t notice a group of people so nearby “lying in wait”.

If these people had ill intentions, they would surely be defeated.

Before their eyes, a pathetic looking scholar seemed like the leader. Faced with over ten sharp spears directed at him, he never once flinched, let alone trembled in fear. Rather he spoke convincingly and hoped they helped to save others. This was strange.