Chapter 227: Chapter 227 Why are you coughing?

In less than thirty minutes, Jie Chen indeed brought someone over to tie up the horses.

Unexpectedly, however, he saw Xiang Ying and Qi Fengyi putting cotton wraps around the hooves of the dozens of horses in the stable.

Jie Chen was taken aback and was about to thank Xiang Ying, but she walked past him with her light and airy steps.

She even casually greeted Skinny Monkey and Acid Scholar but never looked at him.

Jie Chen frowned slightly and turned back to see that Xiang Ying had already walked far away.

Skinny Monkey and Acid Scholar were making faces at each other.

Look, their sister-in-law is still giving the Vice General the cold shoulder!

In the deep black snowy night, the Exile Team set off.

Jie Chen, wishing to make it easier for those behind him, ordered the rear supply convoy to go first.

The heavy cartwheels rolled over the snow to flatten a path, and the Exiled Criminals, with ropes tied around their waists, trudged against the wind.

Xiang Ying seemed to always sit inside the carriage, indifferent to everything, but actually used a drone to continuously fly back and forth to make sure no one fell behind and got separated.

To her surprise, the always trouble-loving Sixth Prince and Xiang Qianqian were exceptionally calm.

Truly a change from their usual behavior.

Everyone kept moving forward, and as the sky began to brighten, the snow fell even harder.

Jie Chen’s judgment was not wrong; if they had chosen to stay where they were the previous night, they would probably have been unable to move an inch by now.

Fortunately, as the dawn fully broke, they finally saw the outline of Bai City from afar.

This city, standing in the midst of the snowstorm, had become their beacon of hope despite the prevailing plague.

Jie Chen’s spy soldiers had already taken his Token there earlier, and now the City Garrison, knowing of his arrival, saw a group of people and horses approaching from afar and immediately beat the drums to alert the soldiers within the city.

As the troop drew near, someone from above the city gate shouted, “Is the approaching party led by Vice General Jie Chen?”

Jie Chen looked up, frost and snow completely covering his silver armor, his face adorned with icicles.

“It is I, open the gates!”

The soldiers turned to relay the message, and before long, the thick city gates were slowly opened.

They finally entered the city.

A man dressed like a military general in armor, marched over with his troops.

With a clasp of his hands, he addressed Jie Chen: “I am Bu Feng, the Marching General of Bai City. The Lord Garrison Commander heard of the Vice General’s arrival and specifically asked me to wait here to welcome you.”

Jie Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly: “Where is the Lord Garrison Commander?”

Bu Feng sighed: “The Commander has been struck with the plague and can no longer rise from his bed.”

A brief silence, accompanied by the desolate wind and snow, drifted among the crowd.

Even the City Garrison Commander had been infected; the situation in Bai City must be grim.

Bu Feng took the initiative to break the silence.

“We have already found places to accommodate the Vice General and these Exiled Criminals, but with the plague at hand, our city’s resources are also very scarce, and the court’s relief supplies have not yet arrived. The provisions we are supposed to supply to the Vice General, most likely are not available.”

Per standard practice, whenever the exile convoy led by Jie Chen arrived at a town, the local officials were to assist him with replenishing supplies.

But now Bai City could hardly fend for itself, naturally having nothing spare for the Exile Team.

Jie Chen nodded gravely: “No matter, we only need a place to shelter from the snowstorm. My thanks, Marching General.”

Bu Feng clasped his hands: “It’s best that the Vice General understands. Please follow me.”

The entire team followed him into the city, Xiang Ying gently lifted the curtain, hugging Xiang Xiuxiu inside, and they both looked out.

The sky was filled with snowflakes falling wantonly, leaving the entire Bai City scarred and sore.

Streets that may once have been bustling, now most of the houses were damaged with broken doors and windows, some had even collapsed.

The remnants of walls and broken columns, wrapped in the harsh wind carrying snowflakes, seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment—as if they would topple over entirely any second now.

Xiang Ying saw that not far away, on the streets, several stalls were haphazardly toppled over, covered by a thin layer of snow.

There were no corpses on the ground, but signs of vandalism on the nearby houses hinted that there must have been some sort of conflict in Bai City.

The other Exiled Criminals, having witnessed the dire state of the entire city, shook their heads and sighed.

They discussed among themselves—

“Bai City has been ravaged by an epidemic; the people here must have suffered greatly, but why aren’t there any bodies to be seen?”

“They must have died, all buried under the heavy snow!”

No sooner had the words fallen than suddenly, a ragged old man ran out from the side.

With heart-wrenching screams, he yelled: “It’s terrifying!! They’re falling down one after another!! Help! Somebody help!”

Everyone was startled, and Jie Chen turned his head to see two soldiers chasing after the old man.

They quickly pinned the old man down in the snow and tied him up.

Bu Feng rebuked: “Take him away at once! Can you bear the responsibility if the epidemic spreads?”

The old man was hastily escorted back into a dark alley.

Jie Chen looked at Bu Feng and asked with a frown: “What’s this about?”

Bu Feng replied indifferently: “Oh, since the Deputy General has just arrived, you might not be aware. This epidemic has been quite tricky. We’ve been waiting for supplies from the court, and all the medicinal herbs in the city are exhausted.”

“The only method now is to confine those who are infected together, to prevent them from running out, in hopes of stopping the spread of the epidemic.”

Jie Chen’s frown deepened.

Bu Feng seemed to be aware of the cruelty of this method.

Yet he casually said: “What else can be done? There is still half of the population in the city that needs to survive.”

Hearing this, Jie Chen could only silently nod in agreement.

As they walked on, Xiang Ying operated a drone, following the old man who had just been dragged away into the alley.

Through the screen, she first saw a narrow alley that they passed through, then came to the outside of a spacious courtyard.

These courtyards used to be residential houses, but now they have been divided into separate, isolated dwellings.

The two soldiers who had dragged the old man threw him into one of these quarters and immediately shut the door, securing it with chains.

Soldiers were stationed and patrolling around these areas, each with a longbow on their back, ready to shoot immediately if anyone tried to escape.

Xiang Ying quickly counted; there were countless number of people lying on the ground in the courtyard, and probably even more inside the houses.

More than a dozen people were crammed into a small courtyard.

All these people were infected with the disease, coughing continuously. Even if a healthy person entered, it would be the end for them.

Just as Xiang Ying was about to delve deeper for investigation, her screen flashed a warning that the drone was leaving the signal range!

She hurriedly retrieved the drone and peered out through the curtains to see that the place Bu Feng had found for Jie Chen was a space far away from the infected area.

It used to be a Martial Arts Arena, now conveniently used to station Jie Chen.

There were two rows of houses, with limited capacity for habitation.

But Jie Chen knew this was all they could be offered.

He bowed his hands and said: “Thanks to the Marching General, please also convey my gratitude to the Lord Garrison Commander.”

Bu Feng nodded lightly: “Of course, but if I may speak frankly, the Deputy General should depart as soon as the snow stops.”

Before he left, he suddenly turned back, looking deeply at Jie Chen: “However, if anyone among you feels unwell, you must inform me in time.”

Jie Chen nodded, taking note of the symptoms the sick exhibited.

Symptoms such as coughing, coughing up blood, high fever, and so on.

After seeing Bu Feng off, he coughed twice, but brushed it off as nothing and instructed the Acid Scholar and the others to set up the camp.