Three Kingdoms.

  Chapter 2446 Strange attack

   Taixing six years, midsummer.

   Near Xuanwu Pool, a moderate epidemic suddenly broke out.

  The original construction site near Xuanwu Pool was suspended. All laborers and craftsmen were arranged to go to the epidemic prevention station in a mountain depression in Qinling Mountains for inspection and observation.

  The epidemic came so suddenly and even fiercely that many people in Chang'an heard about it, and there was a lot of discussion for a while. Fortunately, for the time being, the disease only occurred near Xuanwu Pool. As for the cause of the epidemic, one theory is that the new battleship offended He Bo; Bad food was mixed in the kitchen...

  Anyway, everyone has their own opinions, and the common people often just listen to it for fun. As long as the epidemic does not spread to other places in Chang'an, it will be no big deal.

  But some people know that this is indeed caused by bugs.

  The epidemic prevention station is located at the foot of the Qinling Mountains, a short distance from the labor camps in the Qinling Mountains. Built in a depression similar to a basin.

Because when Fei Qian took in Jingzhou refugees before, even though he did some epidemic prevention work near Wuguan, and carried out some cleaning and treatment, the virus in the incubation period was still unavoidable, or he was reinfected during the transfer process. Because of the epidemic, another epidemic prevention station was built here to accommodate, diagnose and treat patients who may be infected with the epidemic, and to isolate them for the epidemic.

There are a total of 175 craftsmen in Xuanwu Pool, 500 soldiers on duty, and more than 200 laborers who have been in charge of various heavy jobs in Xuanwu Pool for a long time. This is the number of nearly a thousand people. Fortunately, the epidemic prevention station was built to treat refugees, so it was built a little bigger, otherwise it might not be able to accommodate so many people.

  Two days ago, the first ones to go to the epidemic prevention station were of course craftsmen big and small. After confirming that only a small number of craftsmen suffer from a certain degree of diarrhea and vomiting symptoms, and most of the other craftsmen are relatively healthy, it is the turn of the rest of the laborers and soldiers.

Because there are some soldiers in the epidemic prevention station itself, and there are also some soldiers on duty in Xuanwu Pond, and the important craftsmen have already settled in the epidemic prevention station first, the next ones are some labor labor, and naturally there is no need to deploy additional soldiers. guard.

For most of the laborers and craftsmen in Xuanwuchi, although they felt that this incident was a bit sudden, they did not think about it in other places. In addition, the task of developing and manufacturing warships in Xuanwuchi had basically been completed before, and many People think that it is not too bad to have this opportunity to take a break.

Today is the last group to go to the epidemic prevention station, and it is also the group with the largest number of people, mainly laborers, and a small number of sick soldiers. After these people have left, Xuanwu Pool will be temporarily closed for a period of time. According to the standard of plague prevention promulgated by the general, thorough cleaning and disinfection will be carried out, and it will not be restored until the Xuanwu Pool is safe for the living area.

  Because of the large number of people, the team was drawn very long.

After the queue entered the range of the Qinling Mountains, the field of vision suddenly became somewhat depressing. The continuous mountains seemed to be photographed directly on the face, and the undulating mountains seemed to be giants one by one, laughing at humans. The little one wriggled slowly along the mountain road.

  In front of nature, human beings are like bugs, but some choose to live in the sun, while others just want to hide in the shadows.

  Because the road leading to the epidemic prevention station is not as easy as the official road, and the winding mountains are quite steep, so the guards who were originally riding horses had to dismount after reaching the foot of the mountain and led the horses on foot.

  More than two hundred laborers and a small number of sick soldiers formed a regular queue, while a small number of soldiers who were still healthy were on both sides of the queue.

  The queue had to go around a small mountain, and then walk over a short section of the suspension bridge, before finally entering the valley with the stream, which is where the epidemic prevention station is located.

From the perspective of future generations, such a place is simply a natural oxygen bar. There must be many high-ranking officials and nobles who are tired of staying in the city and want to build a small house to live in, in order to prolong their life, so that I can be healthier and stay in power longer, so that I can better serve the people with their hearts.

  But now, this small suspension bridge seems to separate life and death, sickness and health, making everyone who arrives here a little uneasy.

  Because it is said that they will be quarantined and reviewed in the epidemic prevention station...

  The team marched halfway up the mountain for more than an hour, and when they reached the vicinity of the suspension bridge, they gradually slowed down.

  The suspension bridge is built on a natural cliff. Although the distance between the two sides of the cliff is not large, it is very steep. Controlling the suspension bridge is equivalent to controlling the entrance and exit.

  The guard leader of the soldiers who led the way cautiously ordered the entire team to stop, and then sent two soldiers to negotiate. After the two soldiers returned, they began to let the queue slowly pass the suspension bridge.

  The suspension bridge itself is not wide, and there are no protective measures like those of later generations. If you accidentally fall off the cliff, you will definitely die...

  The queue moved forward slowly and passed in an orderly manner. After walking for about half an hour, when most of the people in the queue had reached the opposite side, and there were only a few soldiers and laborers left at the end of the suspension bridge, suddenly a soldier found that in the ravine behind, suddenly there was Some strange figures appeared!

   Immediately, these figures attacked the only few soldiers in the queue!

A few people howled and rushed forward, regardless of whether the ones standing in front were soldiers or laborers, anyway, they would cut and kill anyone they saw, and a few people followed behind, shooting at the soldiers who stayed on the suspension bridge. Bow and shoot!

  『Enemy attack! 』

The soldiers in charge of guarding or escorting only carried ordinary knives and spears, and did not have weapons all over their bodies like the elites in field battles. Therefore, when they were attacked, they had no way to attack the long-range archers. Suppression or counterattack, plus the laborers who were still on the side of the suspension bridge began to flee instinctively after encountering a surprise attack, and some laborers even pushed each other when rushing to cross the suspension bridge, and fell straight down the cliff from the bridge , making the scene even more chaotic...

After the soldiers in the epidemic prevention station arrived and took firm control of the suspension bridge, the attackers and the laborers who had remained at the other end of the suspension bridge were gone, and when the soldiers lined up cautiously across the suspension bridge and went to the opposite side to shrink, On the other side, there are only some corpses left...

  Originally in the back of the labor force, except for some who died on the spot, many of the rest escaped. Although most of the slaves in Xuanwuchi are paid, and only a small part are pure slaves, but when the slaves escaped first, under the death and panic, they didn't think much about the slaves later. , and fled without a brain.

  The news quickly spread to Chang'an. Such an inexplicable attack immediately plunged the entire Chang'an into tension.

The number of inspections and soldiers increased, and many pedestrians and caravans were questioned. Some people who escaped inside were arrested. At the same time, Kan Ze sent out the hounds that smelled the smell, and followed the traces. find out...

  ...(⊙⊙)...

  Tongguan.

  Fan Cong touched his chest and felt his heart beating.

  Recently he feels very uncomfortable, like something is about to happen, and it's not good.

  In the past two or three years, Fan Cong has gotten used to living in this area of ​​Guanzhong. This habit is peaceful, easy, even happy. He originally thought that he only needs to hide in the pass carefully, like the gravel attached to the bricks and stones, inconspicuous and unobtrusive, or he will leave the pass quietly after a certain period of time , Returning to his hometown, or leading an important military operation by himself, bid farewell to the spy career and embark on another height in life.

   For this reason, he quietly played the role of an ordinary and ordinary middle and low-level official in Tongguan New City. All along, this kind of life has been peaceful and stable, as if he has forgotten his original duties.

  But recently, he discovered that the surrounding environment seemed to have some changes from the past.

  Fan Cong couldn't tell what the change was, just like seeing someone in a dream, but couldn't see the face clearly. It was also like the **** smell that was smelt in the wind under the city head after General Hussars came to Tongguan in person.

In the past period of time, several colleagues around Fan Cong were transferred away due to different reasons, and the matters he was responsible for also changed slightly in the process of such a series of mergers and dissolutions. . These changes seem to be very reasonable, because each personnel change is not aimed at Fan Cong alone, but a group of people, and there are good reasons for it, and there is nothing puzzling about it.

  But during this process, Fan Cong gradually felt that such a transfer and arrangement made it more and more inconvenient for him to do some things...

   Perhaps it was such an inconvenience that caught Fan Cong's attention.

  『Perhaps my time is coming...』

  Sometimes, Fan Cong would inevitably feel such pessimism.

  It was like that time when I watched the execution under Tongguan City, I always felt that I would be the next one to be dragged to the execution platform.

  No one wants to die.

  However, when faced with immediate death and delayed death, human beings often make some deviations in their choices, just like Fan Cong. In fact, this kind of psychology is not difficult to understand, especially for many smokers in later generations, anyway, smoking an extra cigarette now will not die immediately...

Tobacco leaves, produced in America, were first used by Indians, because after smoking, there will be various changes, which will cause a certain degree of mental excitement, increase blood flow, and promote platelet aggregation, so that Indians can hunt has certain advantages. After all, when the Indians discovered tobacco leaves, the overall life expectancy of human beings was about thirty or forty years old, so there was no need to consider old age at all.

  When Fan Cong was young, he didn’t think about what would happen to him when he was old. He even thought that if he couldn’t make a career, he wouldn’t be afraid even if his body was broken, but now...

  He doesn't know what's right for him.

As a Tongguan official under the command of General Hussars, although he is not a high-ranking official, he has a worry-free life and some spare money to spend on expenses. As a spy sent by Cao Cao, Fan Cong did not feel that his spy career It can bring him so much spiritual enjoyment and how much spiritual comfort he can get.

  Even though he gave convenience and assistance to some people in some matters, but... these are the whole of his life?

When he was preparing to come to Huqi at the very beginning, Guo Jia, the military adviser, summoned them and had a heart-to-heart talk, telling them that as children from poor families, their opportunities and space for advancement are limited. There is no way for them to revive the lintel without doing something more remarkable.

   This is a fact, and it is also the reason why Fan Cong is willing to be in a dangerous place and become a spy.

But what he didn't expect was that one year had passed, two years had passed, and then three years had passed. He had thought that the army of General Cao Cao would be ushered in soon, and Cao's army would usher in a grand attack on a large scale. Ten thousand people, the grand plan of attacking in four directions still seems to be a dream.

  The upper road passes through the Taihang Mountains to enter Shangdang, the middle road enters Tongguan, the lower road enters Wuguan, and the other side road is to enter Hanzhong...

  The military division’s sacrificial wine was so eloquent that their blood boiled when they heard it.

   After all, Jizhou and Yuzhou have a larger population, which means that there are more troops, so Jizhou and Yuzhou have an advantage, isn't it?

   After Fan Cong got up every day, standing in the yard, he would look eastwardly. He was completely unaware of what kind of psychology his habit represented. He just gradually became tired in the process of day after day, day after day.

  It's like smoking a cigarette and taking a pill can give you a long-lasting excitement, but the effect becomes worse and worse as you go on, and even how much you eat doesn't help.

   What's more, Fan Cong felt that someone might have found him...

  Every time he thinks about this incident, Fan Cong is always afraid. He is afraid that one day soldiers will suddenly rush in front of him. At that time, will he die bravely, or will he struggle to get confused?

The "Qin An" who came to Tongguan last time, or the guy called "Wei An", or what it doesn't matter, when he left Tongguan to go to Guanzhong, he slightly mentioned that if Fan Cong wanted to, he could find him immediately. If the opportunity leaves, he will arrange for someone to take Fan Cong back to Xu County.

   But Fan Cong was hesitating. I have been hesitating all the time.

  Because he doesn't know what he should do. go back? Continue to be an unknown and poor boy, living in a corner of the county town until you die? And will it be suspected that it was his negligence or betrayal that caused the previous Tongguan incident? Will he be imprisoned for review and released only when he is very old? Or even died in prison?

No one can give Fan Cong an accurate answer, or what kind of promise, just like the four-way army that the military master swore to offer wine before, it is still a fantasy until now, so Fan Cong finally rejected "Wei An", saying that he still Continue to stay in Tongguan. Of course, what Fan Cong said is still very good. For example, the general Wang Shi is about to come, and he should do more for the general. For example, if he stays in Tongguan for one day, the possibility of conquering Tongguan will be increased by one point...

   But now Fan Cong knows better than anyone else that if he wants to get to Tongguan, he must first pass Hangu Pass, and is General Cao Cao really capable of breaking through two passes in a row and marching into Guanzhong?

  『Brother Fan, what are you thinking? ’ Wang Ling, a petty official sitting next to Fan Cong, seemed to be curiously asking.

  Fan Cong hurriedly put back his wandering thoughts, coughed lightly, "It's nothing, or did you accidentally catch some wind and cold last night?" 』

  『Brother Fan, you should be more careful...」Wang Ling put a document on the other side, "I heard that the inspector of Zhiyinjian is coming here... nothing can go wrong..."

  『That is natural. ’Fan Cong nodded.

  Zhi Yinjian, inspector...

   What is this for? Fan Cong couldn't help but fell into deep thought again.

  Wang Ling glanced sideways at Fan Cong, then lowered his head, his heart was also tumbling. Two days ago, he received a request from Guanzhong, saying that he was going to take a few people out of the customs, but at this time he heard that the inspector of Zhiyinjian was coming, so he not only had to be careful not to be discovered, but also worried about the neighbors. This guy, trying to get him not to implicate himself, is really frustrating...

  Wang Ling was originally not named Wang, but his surname was Sun.

  The grandson of Sun Quan...

  Since Sun Ce died, he changed his name to Wang Ling. Under the arrangement of Mrs. Wu, he traveled from Jiangdong to Jingzhou, and then from Jingzhou to Guanzhong.

Sun Ce did not die on the battlefield, but was wounded by spies, so unfortunately he died early. This made the whole Sun family resentful, and it also made Sun suddenly wake up. It turns out that there are such people outside the battlefield, who can After doing such things, that is, after Sun Quan ascended the throne, the Sun family began to send out manpower continuously.

Wang Ling hid very deeply, and never had direct contact with those in charge of operations, but only indirectly provided some convenience for these people, such as arranging some vehicles and ships, and other than these, he never took the initiative to inquire about information or He took the risk to do some assassination, so Wang Ling felt very safe until he was transferred from Linjin to Tongguan, and then sat with Fan Cong...

  Wang Ling didn't know that there was something wrong with Fan Cong, but by chance, he ran into someone following Fan Cong.

  Because the attention of the stalker was on Fan Cong, the stalker didn't notice Wang Ling's gaze, nor did he see Wang Ling's face that suddenly turned pale.

Then, under deliberation, Wang Ling gradually noticed many things that were wrong, which made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles, but he couldn't say that he would leave immediately. In addition, during this period of time, Dali Temple was thoroughly investigating those officials who left without reason, and The inspection of checkpoints has been strengthened. Even if Wang Ling wants to get away immediately, it may not be a wise thing.

   So much so that Wang Ling began to suspect that it might not be a pure coincidence that he was transferred here from Linjin.

  While secretly cursing that damned Pei Yuan and this equally damned Fan Cong, Wang Ling had no choice but to start planning for his own life...

  The key is those guys in Chang'an...

   After a while, Wang Ling couldn't help but sighed in a low voice, and the slight exhalation sound was like the short chirping of crickets in the corner of the wooden house in the official house.

  These bugs hiding in the gaps, although they have sound, are invisible. Perhaps the day they are revealed is their death day.

  (end of this chapter)