Chapter 1704: Tie He

Chapter 1704: Chapter 1704: Tie He

The witch doctor said this, and the general in charge of the barracks turned dark, but the fact was indeed so.

The damn Bastard Chu civilians, who knows what tricks they have, are elusive. Even with strict defenses, the new camp still suffers from rotworm disease.

"General Shu Tang, we really can’t drag this out any longer. I beg you, for the sake of Da Rong and the warriors, please ask the Heavenly Khan to order a withdrawal!" The witch doctor knelt, kowtowing to the general in charge of the Insect Disease Camp.

Inside the Insect Disease Camp, the other witch doctors and suffering Rong soldiers saw this and also silently knelt down... From mid-April to early June, they’ve been tormented by rotworms for nearly two months. People die every day, and now tens of thousands have died from the rotworm disease. Their warriors are so precious that they cannot afford more deaths!

"What are you all doing? Get up quickly!" Shu Tang shouted at them, but it was no use; no one rose.

"Shu Tang, my brother, I don’t have much time left, and I’m infected with the rotworm disease, an evil that has invaded my body, preventing me from facing the Heavenly Khan in person. But my loyalty to the Heavenly Khan is witnessed by the gods... Please withdraw the troops. If we withdraw now, recuperate for three years, we could still destroy the Bastard Chu. But if we continue, not only will our warriors die out, but even the generals and the royal family, blessed and protected by the Witch God, will also perish."

The speaker was Shu Ming, a clan brother of Shu Tang, both confidants of the Da Rong Tian Khan and generals, carrying Divine Medicine that originally protected them from rotworm disease.

However, during a clash between the armies, the Divine Medicine he carried was knocked away and unnoticed in time, leading him to contract the rotworm disease.

Now he was weak and frail, with a gradually swelling belly, indicating the rotworms had entered his stomach. He wouldn’t last long.

"Sixth Brother, get up quickly." Shu Tang, enduring the horror of the rotworm disease, tried to help Shu Ming up himself.

But Shu Ming quickly backed away, stopping him: "Don’t come; you’ll doom yourself."

Shu Tang said, "Sixth Brother, I have Divine Medicine to protect me."

Heh, Shu Ming laughed. Is that Divine Medicine really that powerful?

Shu Ming, stricken with rotworm disease, began to doubt the Divine Medicine and the Great Wizard... Now, it seemed to him that the Great Wizard, who cultivated rotworms, deified them, and resolutely used them to attack the Bastard Chu, was simply an evil entity!

The Great Wizard dragged down the robust Da Rong army into this plight.

"We must persuade the Heavenly Khan, have him withdraw the troops, we must retreat, or else Da Rong will perish from this, and we will die without peace!!" Shu Ming roared fiercely, and due to urgency, his belly suddenly ached intensely, causing him to roll on the ground with fresh blood seeping rapidly from his distended belly.

Shu Tang watched in worry, wanting to save him, but was pulled back by a witch doctor: "You can’t go... He’s... the rotworm has broken through his stomach~"

When the witch doctor said this, his voice was trembling.

"What?!" Shu Tang was chilled to the bone. Such incidents had occurred in the Insect Disease Camp but were documented by witch doctors and submitted to him; this was the first time he witnessed such a tragic situation firsthand.

And the one breached by the rotworms was his clan brother.

No matter how much Shu Tang wanted to defeat the Bastard Chu, at this moment, he was frightened, giving rise to the thought of earnestly persuading the Heavenly Khan to retreat.

"Ah——!" Shu Ming continued rolling and screaming in agony, but no one could assist him.

Finally, unable to endure, he slit his throat with a hidden dagger.

Before dying, he instructed Shu Tang: "Withdraw the troops!"

With a thud, Shu Ming’s body collapsed, and Shu Tang was frightened into kneeling.

The witch doctors and infected Rong soldiers wept silently... They had always viewed the Bastard Chu as lambs reared by Da Rong, thinking it would be easy to conquer the Bastard Chu, seize their lands, devour their grain, and sleep with their pretty women... But now it had come to this?

Why?

They were clearly sanctified people blessed by the Witch God, coming merely to enjoy the Bastard Chu’s belongings and women, as they had often done before. How had this time led to such devastation?

Rotworms, it’s the rotworms, all caused by the rotworms bred by the Great Wizard!

If they hadn’t used the rotworms and had engaged in honest battles with the Bastard Chu soldiers, they would have slain them long ago, filling the bellies of the Bastard Chu soldiers’ women. Why suffer here?!

"General, please inform the Heavenly Khan to retreat the troops. If he doesn’t, the warriors from the Insect Disease Camp will storm the Royal Tent, infecting the Heavenly Khan with the rotworm disease too!" The Rong soldiers from the Insect Disease Camp shouted in unison, determined and fierce.

Shu Tang was alarmed, knowing very well that these Rong soldiers dared do so because they knew they wouldn’t survive, wanting to take someone down with them before death.

"Don’t be agitated; the Heavenly Khan is aware of your suffering... Rest assured, I will immediately speak with the Heavenly Khan about this. Meanwhile, return to your tents and recuperate." Shu Tang appeased the angry Rong soldiers and, after they reluctantly entered the tents, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Keep a close watch on them. If anyone dares lead and leave the Insect Disease Camp, kill~" Shu Tang instructed his Golden Tent Troop Commander quietly.

"Yes." His ten Golden Tent Troop Commanders replied, knowing the Insect Disease Camp was on the edge of mutiny and needed strict surveillance, or the consequences would be unimaginable.

Shu Tang looked toward the witch doctor and asked: "Is there really no other way? The Bastard Chu also suffers from rotworm disease, but they don’t seem to have lost many lives?"

Could it be that the lives of Da Rong warriors were even less valuable than the Bastard Chu civilians? Why was it only Da Rong’s warriors who were dying?

The witch doctor replied: "General, unless the Great Wizard personally comes to treat the Insect Disease Camp, there’s nothing we can do."

But the Great Wizard would never come.

When the Great Wizard cultivated the rotworms, he only developed the Divine Medicine to prevent them, but didn’t create an antidote to lure or kill the rotworms.

With no remedy at hand, he naturally dared not come.

As for whether he might be questioned by the Rong people in the future, heh, as long as the Great Wizard claimed: This is the will of the Witch God, and Da Rong should endure this catastrophe, yet afterward, Da Rong will receive greater blessings, achieving victory in all battles!

This witch doctor used to trust the Great Wizard greatly but having witnessed the horrors of the Insect Disease Camp, he dared not believe anymore... Perhaps the Witch God truly existed, but the Great Wizard acting under the name of the Witch God might not be a good entity.

"General, please withdraw, or else we will all die here." The witch doctor urged, his voice already tinged with sobs.

Shu Tang’s expression turned grave upon hearing this. He didn’t reply but left the Insect Disease Camp, riding towards the New Camp, twenty miles away.

The Heavenly Khan’s Royal Tent was at the heart of the New Camp, guarded by layers of Rong soldiers.

However, Shu Tang, being the Heavenly Khan’s confidant, managed to meet the Heavenly Khan within an hour.

Rushing over in the middle of the night to request an audience, the Heavenly Khan, Tie He, was slightly displeased and asked: "Is there a cure for the rotworm disease in the Insect Disease Camp?"

Shu Tang shook his head: "No."

No?

Then that means the condition of the infected Rong soldiers has worsened.

"Then continue burning the camp to clear the rotworms."