Chapter 1434: Survival Depends Entirely on a Strong Birth Chart [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
It was not initially discovered that it was nuclear wastewater.
Chu Jie and Su Shiyilu's troops also found no problems.
Kang Shi sensed something was amiss: "Something unusual is bound to happen."
Su Shiyilu said: 【Abnormal? What's abnormal about it? If I were them, after such a humiliating defeat, with so many men lost, morale is still low. Without morale, how can we fight? We'd just flee at the first sign of trouble!】
It is normal practice to sabotage the target before withdrawing troops.
They can't hold onto this thing, nor are they willing to let the enemy have it.
[No, something still feels off.]
Kang Shi shook his head repeatedly, pacing back and forth in the makeshift tent, which annoyed Su Shiyilu. Chu Jie, still suffering from sensory lingering effects from the last battle, could close his eyes and find peace of mind, but Su Shiyilu couldn't: [Something's not right?]
Surely you can give me a reason, right?
Kang Shi suddenly turned around and said emphatically, "Given my luck, the enemy is far more likely to put up a stubborn resistance and trip us up than to be passive and lethargic. General, don't you agree?"
But this time is different.
The Allied forces in the central region clearly lacked fighting spirit, fighting and retreating in disarray, their actions best described as utter rout, allowing their side to easily seize control of the river. Although the enemy angrily destroyed the waterways before leaving, this level of damage did not affect Kang's water supply. Infrastructure was no problem either; Kang's troops could repair it in a few days.
Su Shiyilu: [...]
Wow, that's a really convincing argument.
Chu Jie, who had been pretending to meditate and recuperate, suddenly opened his eyes.
He said in a low voice, "Could it be that something was tampered with in the water?"
This answer was also personally ruled out by a group of military doctors who were dispatched; there were no poisonous creatures or parasites in the river water. If there was any problem, it was that the water in several batches of samples was more turbid and astringent.
Chu Jie raised his eyes and gazed at several batches of sample river water.
The initial river water samples taken after the explosion were dark gray in color and had no unusual smell. Even after settling, the water remained somewhat turbid. Samples were taken every two hours thereafter. The military medical personnel oversaw the inspections and even tested the water on prisoners. The results showed that the river water had not been poisoned.
Forget about poison, there weren't even many corpses left.
This is quite remarkable. During wartime, throwing corpses into rivers to pollute water sources and harm enemy soldiers downstream is a fundamental principle.
[It seems the strategist's intuition was wrong.] Aside from Kang Shi, Su Shilu had never seen a strategist or general who relied on luck as a reference point. Shouldn't they be using various schemes and plots? After a few laughs, Su Shilu remembered that Kang Shi wasn't exactly magnanimous either, and awkwardly added, [However, the Central Allied Forces are indeed cunning and we must be wary.]
Perhaps the rout is just a ruse; their real purpose is to lower their guard so they can launch a surprise attack at a crucial moment.
The army still needs to be on high alert for the next two days.
But then something terrible happened that very night.
[Report, Marshal, a large number of fish carcasses have appeared floating on the river.]
Upon receiving the news, Chu Jie and the others rushed to the riverbank.
The moon was full that day, its bright, cool light spilling onto the river's surface, creating shimmering, fish-scale-like patterns. Upon closer inspection, however, it was clear that these were swarms of dead fish, belly up. Because of a net placed downstream, these dead fish were densely packed together, almost without any gaps. Su Shiyi, ever outspoken, blurted out: "Didn't the physicians say the river hadn't been poisoned?"
Besides, this is living water, not stagnant water.
Even if it's highly poisonous, it couldn't possibly kill so many fish, right?
How much would be needed to achieve this effect?
[Investigate thoroughly; there may be spies hiding within the military!] Su Shiyilu immediately reacted and issued an order: [These dead fish didn't float in from above. The enemy has been fleeing for so long; if they had truly poisoned them, the poison would have taken effect long ago… It's most likely a recent event.]
It is highly likely that the poisoning was carried out by someone hiding in the military.
Su Shiyi's guess was also refuted.
The medical team repeatedly confirmed that there was no poison in the water, and the prisoners who tested the medicine showed no symptoms of poisoning. The medical team then offered another, more plausible theory: "These dead fish may have died from the previous explosion, not necessarily from poisoning..."
Both upstream and downstream have been investigated.
Su Shiyilu, hands on her hips, looked puzzled: "It's not this, it's not that, could it really not be the work of the enemy?"
The soldiers were instructed not to touch the river water first, but to use the water that had been stored beforehand.
The next day, before dawn.
Bad news came from the wounded soldiers' camp.
The wounded soldiers in the army were experiencing varying degrees of high fever and vomiting. The problem was that they hadn't drunk river water, and their food hadn't been washed with river water. The army doctor carefully examined the food that the feverish soldiers had eaten, but found nothing wrong with it. It wasn't poison or witchcraft; it was truly baffling. [Besides these wounded soldiers, a large number of prisoners of war were also experiencing unexplained high fevers.]
Most of them are ordinary people, while those soldiers with stronger physiques and who have cultivated some martial arts skills have relatively milder symptoms.
"Marshal, we have intercepted some strange objects downstream."
Some strange and heavy fragments.
Based on the shape of the fragments, a barrel-shaped structure can be vaguely seen.
Chu Jie asked the medical team: "Is this strange illness treatable?"
The medical team nodded in approval: "Treatment isn't difficult."
In fact, most patients' symptoms could be suppressed by infusing purified Qi of heaven and earth; the milder the symptom, the better the effect. Despite the military doctors' swift action, several soldiers who were already severely wounded could not be saved. Examinations revealed varying degrees of swelling and ulceration in their internal organs, particularly severe laryngeal edema, leading to their deaths from suffocation…
Without hesitation, Chu Jie ordered his men to move away from the water source.
Strangely enough, the symptoms subsided after I left.
Chu Jie sent the news from this location, along with some of the intercepted fragments, back to the central army camp, solemnly informing them that the water source might be contaminated by an unknown substance, and that the army needed to be even more cautious with its water usage. Not long after, Kang Shi discovered another extremely easily overlooked detail.
The energy of heaven and earth near the battlefield was too turbid and restless.
Su Shiyilu asked, puzzled: "Isn't this normal?"
Where is there a war that doesn't cause abnormalities in the energy of heaven and earth?
It usually takes about ten days to half a month for the condition to gradually return to normal.
Kang Shi shook his head and said, "No, it's precisely because everyone thinks that way that this point is more easily overlooked. I've thought carefully; the army camped near the riverbank for two days. Do you remember if the surrounding天地气 (heaven and earth energy) showed any signs of calming down during those two days?"
Su Shiyilu thought carefully: [No.]
Kang Shidao: [So that's where the problem lies.]
The source of the disturbance to the natural order had always been there, but because the great battle had just ended, our side hadn't discovered it immediately, allowing the true cause to take advantage of the situation. Kang Shi then packed up all the river water samples and sent them back to Chen Tang, who nearly went berserk upon seeing them.
Where did Kang Jishou find these things?
Shen Tang's face was full of disdain.
Ji Moqiu stood in front of her, using a hand seal to carefully envelop the items with a divine barrier, isolating them from radiation contamination. Shen Tang bypassed him, casually picking up a wooden stick to clear away the strange fragments piled on the cart. After removing the impurities, several faint engraved patterns were visible underneath. Gu Chi also crouched down to examine them closely: "They look crooked and twisted, like paintings. What kind of amulet is this?"
Shen Tang sneered, "Trying to ward off evil spirits? It just attracts ghosts."
Gu Chi's brows were almost knitted together, and he moved slightly away.
Afraid of being tainted by even the slightest bad luck: "It attracts ghosts?"
Shen Tang didn't know what to say. Did the middle branch just bring out all the nuclear wastewater that the internal branch had sealed and blow it up? The text above also proved the origin of this thing. Shen Tang disliked it and threw away the wooden branch, and did not forget to set it on fire and burn it to the ground.
"The words that little devils use, aren't they the kind that attract ghosts?"
Ji Moqiu considerately handed over a damp handkerchief.
Shen Tang carefully wiped her fingers with a handkerchief.
He couldn't help but curse a couple of times: "Damn it, what bad luck!"
Gu Chi: "..."
Compared to the words she hurled at him in her heart, her words were relatively clean.
He lifted the hem of his robe and squatted down like Shen Tang, asking curiously, "It seems that the master dislikes the word 'ghost'?"
"Of course I don't like it, if it weren't for..."
Shen Tang paused suspiciously at this point.
To be fair, it wasn't the first to dump pollutants into the sea; there were others who did so before. But to do it so blatantly and publicly, it truly stands out. This heinous crime deserves the wrath of the last human civilization.
Shen Tang turned to Ji Moqiu and asked, "What happened next?"
"First, there was a war to clear the area, then a volcanic eruption, and it sank into the sea." The natural disaster condensed the effects of continental plate movement that would take tens of thousands of years to achieve into just a few decades. The geographical location of that area was already dangerous, so it was normal for it to sink into the sea. "This can be considered a self-rescue act by the natural order of things." Given the weak physical condition of humans in the previous civilization, there would have been very few survivors.
Intelligent races are extremely difficult to create, and the Heavenly Dao ultimately showed mercy, leaving behind a tiny spark that, over the years, evolved into the new humans we see today. These new humans are far fewer in number than before, but their capacity for causing trouble is considerable.
During the apocalyptic catastrophe of the last human civilization, this tiny place was the first to perish, and the location of the ruins was also the most severely affected area in the sea due to residual radiation. After saying that, Ji Moqiu added, "Without a breakthrough in civilizational development, that place would be difficult to set foot in for thousands of years to come... Even the mutated and deformed sea beasts in the nearby waters dare not get too close, it's very dangerous."
It's dangerous and has no development value.
Gu Chi had no interest in these ancient messages.
He only cares about one question—
"So, this water is all undrinkable?"
Soldiers with good physical fitness can drink the water for a short time without fear of death, but the underground water system is extensive and these polluted waters spread everywhere. If ordinary people drink it for a long time, how can they not suffer health problems? Judging from the terrain modifications made by the Central Allied Forces, most of these polluted water sources will flow into the water system within Kang Kingdom.
Shen Tang: "...Fuck!"
Despite years of self-cultivation, he couldn't hold back and pointed to the sky, cursing, "You bastard, do you really think I'm some kind of Japanese devil?"
I wish I could open the altar again and argue with the heavens for eight hundred rounds.
Gu Chi sighed: "This is probably what the central branch wants."
This move would lead to a large number of ordinary people in the border regions of Kang Kingdom contracting serious illnesses. Reliable doctors in the community are already scarce, and those skilled in treating this disease number only a few dozen, a drop in the ocean. Even if they miraculously survive, those who drink contaminated water for a long time are more likely to give birth to deformed offspring, causing endless harm. Gu Chi felt terrified just thinking about it.
As expected, the lord's murderous intent intensified.
Shen Tang: "Did the Pantheon deal with the Wu Kingdom in the same way back then?"
Wei Lou remained expressionless: "Otherwise what?"
However, the Wu Kingdom did not know much about this matter and did not attribute the problem to the water source back then. Moreover, the Wu Kingdom's elite soldiers were mostly warriors whose potential was stimulated by Gu worms, and their lifespans were already short. They basically did not live to see the day when the aftereffects would occur.
Wei Lou only realized how dirty his opponents were and how many inside stories there were after he came into contact with the core of the Gods Society.
The inside story also involves the so-called previous human civilization.
His hatred for the previous civilization even surpassed his loathing for the Pantheon. The old man advised Shen Tang in the tone of someone who had been through it all: "This is not something that can kill you in a short time. At most, it is a slow poison. You can just leave it alone and ignore it."
If all else fails, just relocate the border population.
Once the central continent is conquered, that area will lose its function as a border, and it won't matter whether there are living people living there or not.
Gu Chi: "...Why don't you add fuel to the fire?"
Just as he was wondering if his lord would slaughter the allied forces who had retreated to the stone fortress in a fit of rage, the gentle high priest suddenly uttered a startling statement: "If it is only a small-scale purification, I should be able to handle it with my current divine power."
Shen Tang and Gu Chi turned to look at him almost at the same time.
"These abilities were all bestowed upon me by Your Highness; I dare not take credit for them."
Shen Tang had no idea when she gave this ability to others, but she knew without a doubt that it was related to her "past life".
She was more concerned with what Ji Moqiu had said.
"Purify? Restore the polluted water to normal?"
Ji Moqiu said, "If we define 'normal' by the standards of human drinking, then I can indeed do that."
The concept of pollution does not exist in the world as a whole.
"However, this process will take several days."
Shen Tang's mind raced, and she was about to speak when Ji Moqiu shook his head before she could: "Human strength has its limits; this is something we can't do."
"I haven't even asked it yet."
"Your Highness wasn't asking, 'Since I can purify this water source, can I purify a larger area, such as the ocean?'"
His answer was no.
Because his current divine power is far from sufficient.
"Perhaps it will be possible when Your Highness has completed all your merits."
Given His Highness's soft heart, even if he leaves, he won't leave a mess behind; he'll definitely clean it up before he can leave with peace of mind.
Shen Tang could only pull her thoughts back to reality and reply, "Mm."
The large cake drawn by Ji Moqiu wiped away the dust from her heart.
This gave her more hope for the future.
However, her joy did not last long. The side effects of the depleted fortune caused by the previous postponement of the altar ceremony came one after another, causing chaos and turmoil for Shen Tang. She was only able to survive because her own birth chart was strong enough.
Shen Tang: "..."
With her side crippled, Kang Kingdom lost a top-tier fighter. To avoid alerting the allied forces in the stone fortress, Kang Kingdom focused on a siege for the next few days. The former was likely traumatized, retreating to their lairs after several attempts to challenge them. The two sides were locked in a stalemate, and the situation entered a relatively stable period of confrontation. Shen Tang also took the opportunity to catch her breath, thankfully not having been cursed to death by Kang Shi in a foreign land.
(ノへ￣、)
I remember someone asking what happened to the other continents in this world; some were sunk, others destroyed. In the current context, the total population of the entire continent is probably less than two hundred million (this population figure is actually a huge plot hole, because the setting is a thousand-year-long period of chaos, with an average of three to five wars a day; it's normal for the population to dwindle to only tens of millions).
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