Chapter 588 Encountering the Hu People

Lu Qiniang now likes riding horses very much.

Every time I run across the vast wilderness, with the wind whistling in my ears, what haze in my heart cannot be dispelled?

Now she is learning horse riding and archery from San Ya, and every time she feels like a female general.

Although in fact, she is just an ordinary woman.

Erya once wrote to her asking what she planned to do in Changzhou.

Lu Qiniang replied, just live your life, can she really go to heaven?

Wherever she is, she lives her life steadily and does what she can.

But you still have to have dreams in your heart.

After more than an hour, the pleasant whistling of the wind in my ears gradually subsided, leaving only the heavy breathing of the horse and the rustling of the soft earth under its hooves.

Lu Qinniang pulled the reins, and the chestnut horse under her also slowed down its pace tacitly, spewing out a cloud of white mist.

"It's a great ride!" San Ya also stopped and praised loudly. She dismounted swiftly and patted Zhuifeng's neck. "Did you enjoy your ride today?"

Chasing the Wind

He shook his head and snorted in response.

Hu Rui also dismounted his docile chestnut mare and carefully checked the harness.

"Let's go," Lu Qiniang said, "They are all sweaty, let's go to the river and wash them."

Not to mention close companions like horses, even if she raises pigs, she has to take good care of them.

The Qingliu River sparkles in the afternoon sun like a flowing silver ribbon.

The river is shallow and the banks are covered with lush grass, making it a great place to wash horses.

The three of them led the horses to a flat river beach downstream.

Lu Qiniang took out a bristle brush and a cloth towel from the cloth bag she carried with her and started working.

San Ya had rolled up her trouser legs and stepped barefoot into the cool river water. She used a brush to scrub the mud off Zhui Feng's legs and abdomen, while she complained that Hu Rui was slow.

Hu Rui was not annoyed, and said with a smile: "That's enough, I have to come out tomorrow and wash up."

Just then, a loud sound of horse neighing and human voices came faintly from upstream.

"Is there anyone coming upstream to wash horses?" San Ya stood up and stood on tiptoe to look around.

Lu Qiniang also stopped and looked in the direction of the sound.

I saw six or seven people gathered a hundred steps upstream, driving twenty or thirty horses into the river. It was quite a scene.

"Wow, whose cavalry is this? What a grand display." San Ya muttered.

Marco is a valuable asset.

"Maybe it's a caravan." Hu Rui said.

He thought of how lively it was every time Erya had people deliver things to her.

Lu Qiniang frowned slightly.

When she looked at the horses, she always felt something was wrong.

When they walked into the water, their steps seemed a little unsteady, not as energetic as Zhuifeng and the others.

Some of them were even staggering at the water's edge, their heads drooping and their tails wagging weakly.

The person scrubbing the horse seemed rough and impatient, and the horse would occasionally let out a few painful neighs.

"Saya, Hu Rui," Lu Qiniang's voice was solemn. She pointed upstream, "Look at those horses. Aren't they a little listless? They don't look very energetic."

Based on her many years of experience in raising pigs, she thinks there might be something wrong.

Hu Rui also put away his smile and looked carefully.

He has been following Doctor Hu since he was a child. It is his instinct to identify patients, and he also has a doctor's keenness in looking at livestock.

"Yeah, something's definitely not right. Some of the horses seem to have more secretions from their mouths and noses, and their hind legs seem weak when they walk, like they have a fever and are weak."

Lu Qiniang's heart tightened.

She had experienced African swine fever and was instinctively wary of the word "disease".

"No, we have to go and warn them." Lu Qiniang put down the brush and said to Sanya and Hu Rui, "What if it's a sick horse? If we wash them all together like this, the river will rush down and everyone downstream will suffer. I'll go and talk to them."

"I'll go with you." Hu Rui also stood up.

"I'm going too!" San Ya tied Zhuifeng's reins to a tree on the shore.

The three of them walked quickly upstream.

The closer we got, the more distinct the smell of sweat, horse manure, and a faint, stale fishy smell became.

Most of those who washed the horses wore ordinary coarse cloth shorts, but their expressions revealed an indescribable wariness and hostility.

Lu Qiniang walked to the edge of the crowd and said to a large man who looked like the leader, "Brother, excuse me. I'm a horse washer downstairs. Your horses don't look very well. Are they feeling unwell? Should we see a veterinarian first? If they're sick, they could be contagious if they're all together, and the damage could be huge."

Not to mention, it may pollute water sources and affect other people's livestock.

The big man was struggling to hold down a struggling horse, and he suddenly raised his head when he heard this.

He was a burly man with a face full of flesh, and he looked Lu Qiniang up and down with fierce eyes.

Perhaps because he saw that Lu Qiniang was a woman with a little girl and a boy, he looked at her with contempt.

He sneered and shouted in a gruff voice, "Where did this nosy woman come from? Our horses are fine! Get out of here! Don't get in the way here! If you keep nagging, I'll be rude to you!"

Several men nearby also stopped what they were doing and gathered around with unfriendly looks, with obvious hostility and an intention to drive them away.

Lu Qiniang was startled by his roar, but she did not retreat. Instead, she felt even more strange.

Who wouldn’t be anxious when such a valuable horse gets sick?

If others remind you, you will still get checked even if you are really not sick.

What's more, these horses are already so obviously sick.

She suppressed her anger and said sincerely, "Brother, I have no ill intentions. It's just that this river affects the drinking water of many people in the city..."

"Get lost!" the big man interrupted her impatiently, even taking a step forward, his spit almost spraying on Lu Qinniang's face. "If I say it's okay, then it's okay! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll throw you into the river to feed the fish. Get lost now!"

Seeing that the other party was unmoved and had an extremely bad attitude, Lu Qiniang knew that it was useless to say anything more.

She pulled Hu Rui, who was still trying to argue, and shook her head at him and San Ya, whispering, "Forget it, let's go back first, keep an eye on our horses, and stay away."

The uneasy premonition in her heart became stronger and stronger.

The three of them turned around and walked back.

Lu Qiniang looked back every few steps, looking at the sickly horses and the roughly washed people, and always felt that the scene was indescribably weird.

"Bah! What a joke! It's like a dog biting Lu Dongbin!" Hu Rui, like the hot-tempered Hu Divine Doctor, cursed as he walked, "Your kindness is taken for granted."

San Ya remained silent.

After the three of them returned, she lowered her voice and said, "Mom, Hu Rui, this isn't right. They seem to be—Hu people."

"What? Hu people?"

In a flash, Lu Qiniang figured something out.

"Could it be that the Hu people deliberately brought in sick horses?"