When the veterinarian hurried over, five or six more horses were lying down one after another.
The commotion in the camp woke up everyone in their sleep. Yuwen Chengchao did not want to cause panic among everyone, so he ordered everyone to stay in their tents and not move around, while the guards guarded the entire camp.
The veterinarian, dressed in disheveled clothes, hurried over and was shocked when he saw the horses lying on the ground and smelled the overwhelming smell of manure.
Carrying a small medicine box, he walked to a horse and asked someone to hold up the horse's head. He took a tool and pried open the horse's mouth. He looked inside. His face was solemn. He saw the mud-like horse dung, and even more.
It shows a look of horror.
"What's going on?" Everyone nearby remained silent. After the veterinarian finished the examination, Yu Wen Chengchao immediately asked.
The veterinarian said, "Wait a minute." He asked, "Who is responsible for feeding the horse?"
Someone raised his hand and said, "Here are the three of us." There were two people standing next to him.
"Come here." Yuwen Chengchao pointed at the man.
The man came forward timidly, cupped his hands and said, "The little hoopoe is responsible for feeding the horses here."
"What did you feed the horse?" The veterinarian frowned and said, "Bring me the horse food."
The hoopoe hurriedly turned around and said, "Go quickly and get the remaining horse materials."
The two people hurried away and soon came over with two buckets of horse feed. There was only a small half of the bucket left in each. Yu Wencheng frowned and asked the veterinarian: "Do you think there is something wrong with the horse feed?"
"It must be a problem with the horse feed." The veterinarian did not think twice and was very sure: "If only one or two horses show symptoms, there are other possibilities, but so many horses all have diarrhea, it can only be a problem with the horse feed." Take it.
The wooden spoon scooped a spoonful out of the horse feed bucket. Someone was holding a torch and lighting it up. The veterinarian went up to smell it, took a small branch, turned it over and over in the horse feed, and then stepped forward and opened his eyes.
With big eyes, Yu Wen Chengchao whispered: "What did you find?"
"Master, please look, the color of the grass roots here is wrong." The veterinarian raised his head and said: "It is black in color. Logically speaking, this situation will never happen."
"What do you mean?"
"There is poison in the horse feed." The veterinarian said with a solemn expression, "Horse diarrhea is caused by poisoning."
Everyone around them changed their expressions. Qin Xiao was also shocked. He suddenly thought that when he fed the Black Overlord before, the Black Overlord not only did not eat, but also had an unusual reaction. Now it seems that the Black Overlord is worse than his horse.
Du is very smart and has discovered that there is something wrong with the horse's material.
At that time, the veterinarian obviously did not think that the problem was with the horse feed, and did not even check the horse feed. He only examined Black Bully.
Thinking about it now, Qin Xiao was secretly glad that Black Overlord was extremely spiritual, otherwise he would have ended up like this if he had eaten horse food.
While he was talking, more horses fell down one after another.
The horses pulling the caravan and the mounts of the guards totaled more than seventy horses in total. They were divided into two groups on the left and right sides of the camp. There were nearly forty horses here, and most of them had fallen down by this time.
At this time, I heard someone shouting from the opposite side, and I knew that the horses over there were also in the same trouble.
"Sir, are these horses dangerous?" Someone next to him asked at this time. Qin Xiao looked over and saw two shopkeepers from Tian Dou running over at some time. There were more than a dozen people gathered around. Qin Xiao was not there just now.
Pay too much attention, it was Shopkeeper Tian who asked the question.
The faces of the two shopkeepers were extremely ugly, and the anxious look on their brows could not be concealed at all.
Dozens of trucks of goods are all owned by the Tiandou family. The value of these goods is naturally very high. Once they are lost, it will definitely cause a heavy blow to the two families, even if they are not bankrupt.
To transport goods, you can only rely on horses. If there is something wrong with these horses, the goods cannot be transported at all.
"Don't worry, Manager Tian." The veterinarian knew Manager Tian and said, "Although these horses have been poisoned and have diarrhea, it is not life-threatening. I brought some medicine, but there are too many horses poisoned, and the amount of medicine is only enough for thirteen or four horses.
Take.”
Yuwen Cheng said: "Sir, hurry up and prepare the medicine, and give it to the guards' horses first."
What he is considering now is not whether the caravan can continue to move forward, but to ensure that the team can cope with dangers that may come at any time.
The combat effectiveness of the guards must be guaranteed. If you choose to rescue, of course you must save the war horses first.
"Master, even if you take the medicine, it will take five or six hours at the fastest to take effect." The veterinarian said: "As for the other horses, drink more water. It will take a day at the fastest to recover." He looked up and looked up.
Tianse: "I definitely won't be able to walk tomorrow, and I won't be able to leave until the morning after tomorrow at the earliest."
"So from now on until the morning of tomorrow, we will be trapped here?" Yu Wen Chengchao asked.
The veterinarian nodded: "Unless we can find the medicine and take it immediately, we may be able to leave tomorrow afternoon. However, the amount of diarrhea medicine is not enough, and there are no materials for temporary medicine preparation nearby. There is really no way for the old man." He handed over and said: "
My lord, forgive me."
"Sir, first take the medicine and give it to the war horse." Yuwen Cheng said, "The others quickly get water and let the horse drink more water." He turned to look at the groom named Hoopoe and said, "Come with me."
Hoopoe was uneasy. Yuwen Chengchao led Qin Xiao and others to the lake, and then asked Hoopoe: "The horse feed is poisonous, what do you say?"
The hoopoe knelt down and said: "Master, I really don't know that there is poison in horse feed. Even if I eat the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, I don't dare to feed the poisonous horse feed to the horses."
"My eldest son, Hoopoe has been in the trading house for five or six years." Shopkeeper Tian who came with Yuwen Chengchao said: "He goes out twice a year at least, and each time he leads someone to feed the horses.
, there has been no mistake for many years.”
"You are overthinking." Yu Wen Cheng said, "I didn't say it was the Hoopoe who poisoned me. I asked him if there was anything unusual about the ingredients today."
When Hoopoe heard what Yu Wen Chengchao said, he breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He thought for a moment and then said: "Same as before, we took the horse feed from the car and put it into buckets.
Inside, use a wooden pestle to pound the ingredients, then add some water and salt, and everything is fine from beginning to end."
"The goods on the car are always guarded." Ning Zhifeng frowned and said, "You are responsible for the horse feed and salt, right?"
"That's right." Hoopoe said immediately: "There are five people responsible for feeding the horses. We will send people to take turns on duty day and night. There won't be any problems."
In fact, everyone present understood that when a caravan travels, in addition to the goods, the most important thing is the food along the way. Whether it is people or horses, three meals a day are indispensable.
Food is the top priority. Just in case, we are really afraid that someone with ulterior motives may try to manipulate the food, so there will be people guarding it day and night.
On the edge.
"Dapeng, you and Hoopoe go check the horse feed and salt in the car to see if there is any problem." Yuwen Chengchao ordered, and Hoopoe hurriedly took Dapeng there. After Hoopoe left, Ning Zhifeng said:
"My lord, someone poisoned the horse feed. Naturally, their purpose is to trap us here."
Yu Wencheng nodded and said, "Yes. Although there is Zhuma Lake here, which is suitable for camping, the terrain is very dangerous and is actually the most suitable for an ambush."
The two shopkeepers Tian Dou looked at each other with ugly expressions on their faces, and they couldn't help but glance at Qin Xiao.
Qin Xiao was thoughtful at this time.
"Wang Xiao, what are you thinking about?" Yu Wencheng looked at Qin Xiao and asked.
Qin Xiao then said: "Master, I'm wondering who wants to trap us here? Is it the Wutuo people? We have only been out of the customs for two days. Although this place is nominally the territory of the Wutuo people, it is deserted and remote.
There is not a single person in sight, and there is no tribe of Wutuo people." After a pause, he continued: "Although the White Wolf King burned down Tangren City, he did not kill all the merchants in the pass, and he also allowed them to do business in Xifeng Fort.
Therefore, the White Wolf King still leaves some room, which the eldest son has already said before."
Yuwen Chengchao nodded and said: "Exactly. The White Wolf King's performance really proves that he does not want trade to be interrupted."
"We are a caravan now." Qin Xiao said: "Since the White Wolf King allows merchants to stay in Xifeng Castle, logically speaking, he will not easily send troops to attack the caravan. This is the jurisdiction of the White Wolf King.
Even if the Wutuo cavalry appears, they are from the White Wolf King. For many years, the Wutuo cavalry has not attacked the caravan. Since the White Wolf King does not want the trade to be affected, the Wutuo cavalry certainly does not dare to attack the caravan easily." Look.
Yuwen Chengchao said: "So even if someone wants to attack the caravan, it cannot be the Wutuo people."
"What Deputy Commander Wang said is correct." Ning Zhifeng said immediately: "I also think it cannot be the Wutuo people. Even if the Wutuo people have this idea, there is no need to ambush here. We are heading towards them now. When we arrive
In the hinterland of the White Wolf tribe, they are better at taking action."
"Could it be a horse thief?" Shopkeeper Tian couldn't help but ask.
"Horse thieves were indeed rampant in this area in the past, but in recent years they have been beaten to extinction by the Wutuo people." Yuwen Chengchao said: "Zhuma Lake got its name because the caravans that came and went would camp here. If
There are really horse thieves here, how can the caravan dare to stay here, or even leave a famous name like Zhuma Lake?"
Everyone felt that what Yuwen Chengchao said was reasonable.
"If he's not a Wutuo person or a horse thief, then who could he be?" Shopkeeper Dou also asked doubtfully, "If someone doesn't want to harm us, why would they poison the horse feed and trap us here?"
Shopkeeper Tian smiled bitterly and said: "It would be easier if we knew where the other party came from. But we don't know anything. This... this is really worrying."
"If someone really wants to attack the caravan, it will be within this day." Qin Xiao said: "The veterinarian has said that although these horses have diarrhea, they drink a lot of water and can set off the day after tomorrow. So the person who poisoned them can only
They just want to trap us here for a day." His eyes became sharp: "Now we need to find out who poisoned us first? We have guards day and night. It is impossible for people outside the caravan to have the opportunity to poison.
, it can only be that there is a traitor in the caravan. Before the enemy attacks, we must find out the traitor first, otherwise the enemy will cooperate inside and outside, and we will be in even greater trouble."