For a whole half month, with the Imperial Capital as the center, dozens of highly decomposed bloody corpses appeared in and outside the cities throughout the capital area. The news of the corpse plague spread like wildfire in the capital area, causing great panic among the people and bringing enormous pressure to the court.
In such panic, even the latest court gazette did not contain any news about the Ganzhou earthquake in January, and it seemed that not many people paid attention to it. After all, for many ordinary people living in the capital area, the corpse plague was the real imminent threat. As for the news from Ganzhou, who could care about it at the moment
As soon as those bloody corpses appeared, the court immediately determined that it was the work of the White Lotus Sect. The city gates and streets of the entire imperial capital were once again covered with wanted portraits of the White Lotus sect. The court also continued to increase the rewards for those wanted members of the White Lotus sect. As long as the people in the entire capital area provided the information about the White Lotus sect bandits to the government, they would be given 12,000 taels of silver for every person they captured. Such a reward was unprecedentedly high in the Han Empire. As for the officials, as long as they could capture a member of the White Lotus sect, they would be promoted and rewarded handsomely.
In the entire capital area, at that time, the assistants of the government offices, the henchmen of the Ministry of Justice, the garrison of the Imperial Mabu Division, the local criminal police, and the mobilized militia were all mobilized to search for the White Lotus bandits. In order to avoid the corpse plague, those who died in the capital area in the past few days were no longer buried, but cremated under the supervision of the government, and the bodies were not allowed to be left behind. For this reason, there were many disturbances among the people, but they were all suppressed by the fear of the corpse plague...
In this atmosphere, seeing that the imperial court and local government officials were too busy with the White Lotus Sect and the blood corpse, the atmosphere in the capital became tense again, and people were panicking everywhere, wondering when a deadly epidemic might break out. Yan Liqiang was really desperate and directly ordered Fang Beidou to step up efforts and start frantically forging government road permits on a large scale, playing a game of "robbing people" with time...
The court gave Yan Liqiang 5,000 travel passes every month, but the number of travel passes that Yan Liqiang asked Fang Beidou to forge exceeded 50,000 in just half a month. In addition to those used by Yan Liqiang and his friends themselves, many other travel passes were distributed through various channels. Unknowingly, Yan Liqiang became the first person in the history of the Han Empire to "make fake certificates."
Under such circumstances, Fang Beidou, who was in charge of handling the fake pass, did not dare to stay in the troubled Imperial Capital any longer. Instead, he left the Imperial Capital and went to Huizhou, where he disguised himself and hid his real name. He began to communicate with Yan Liqiang via carrier pigeons, ready to flee at any time...
The effect of the fake pass was very good. Under Fang Beidou's operation, he took advantage of the network of relationships and the word-of-mouth effect of the "Han Empire Times" in the capital area, and used silver and passes to pave the way. All kinds of skilled craftsmen and their families in the capital area who had no connections were divided into large numbers and brought out by Fang Beidou and his team. They followed the caravans, the escort agencies, some took boats, some took cars, and groups of people, like goods on an assembly line, followed the route arranged by Yan Liqiang and his team, and headed for Ganzhou and Qiyun County.
The entire capital region was in chaos, but in this chaos, the business of various four-wheeled carriages, cattle and horse livestock transactions, and escort agencies in several states adjacent to the capital region were strangely booming. The crude imitation four-wheeled carriages that were not easy to sell at this time of year, the expensive rhinoceros horses, ordinary mules and horses, and even strong blue cattle with good foot strength were in short supply for a while. The shopkeepers who ran these businesses and the carpenters and blacksmiths who built the carriages all started to look for goods and work overtime in their workshops. The endless silver from the Datong Bank in the northwest and cloth merchants from all over the country paved a road of hope to the northwest for the people who left the capital region.
At this time, a four-wheeled carriage was the hope of survival for many people who had just obtained a pass to leave the capital with their families.
Yan Liqiang still stayed in the Imperial Capital. At this time, Yan Liqiang was already convinced that the White Lotus Sect's ultimate weapon, as Hua Ruxue had told him, was to create a large-scale plague in the capital area. Damn it, the White Lotus Sect even used biological weapons. Fang Beidou's people had not yet withdrawn, and the heavenly calamity had not yet arrived. Yan Liqiang certainly would not allow the White Lotus Sect to cause a big mess in the capital area at this time.
…
Late at night, at midnight, the earth is dark, the sky is covered with leaden clouds, and most of the stars are like fireflies hidden in the mist, looming. The hustle and bustle of the day has passed, and when night falls, sin often comes with it...
Yan Liqiang was like a nail nailed on a tree trunk, standing upright on the trunk of a cedar tree that was so big that several people had to hug it, at the top of the highest mountain in the Deer Garden. He looked down from above, with his clothes fluttering, and quietly looked at the vast land outside the Deer Garden. In the distance, the burning braziers and torches on the walls of the Imperial City were connected in a line in the darkness, flickering, and were particularly conspicuous tonight. In Yan Liqiang's eyes, the flickering flames turned into a deep cold light.
The night wind blew on Yan Liqiang's hair and cheeks. Although the night wind was still a little cold, a hint of spring warmth could be felt in the coldness.
Yan Liqiang stood on the highest mountain top in the Deer Park. Above Yan Liqiang's head, in the sky that was difficult for most people to see with their naked eyes, a huge golden eagle with fire eyes was flying through the clouds like a high-altitude reconnaissance plane stranded in the sky. Its sharp eyes were scanning the ground inch by inch.
Yan Liqiang has been standing at the highest position in the Deer Garden for a week.
Ever since the Fiery Golden Eagle was summoned by Yan Liqiang, every night these days, Yan Liqiang would stand on the top of the highest mountain in the Deer Park, waiting quietly for something to happen.
A large-scale plague has not yet broken out, so the White Lotus' actions will continue until they produce an effect. Although the White Lotus has been quiet for a few days in the capital city as everyone is on high alert, Yan Liqiang believes that the White Lotus will not stop and will definitely take further action. Such a thing is completely impossible to accomplish during the day and is only possible at night. If he is alone, even if he waits for the opportunity, the area he can take care of is always limited, and it is impossible to catch any trace of the White Lotus. But if the Fiery Golden Eagle is there, then everything will be different.
The evening breeze on the top of the mountain made Yan Liqiang's dark hair fly. Yan Liqiang stretched out his hand in the air, carefully feeling the scent of the evening breeze flowing through his palms...
"So, this is the feeling of freedom..." Yan Liqiang looked at his fingers and smiled slightly, with a happy, detached, calm and resolute state of mind that others could hardly understand.
Ever since half a month ago, when Yan Liqiang disregarded everything and even made the worst plan and asked Fang Beidou to work hard to frantically forge government passes, Yan Liqiang felt that an invisible shackle that was wrapped around him and bound him was shattered and disappeared. He felt like he had walked out of a cement shell and was reborn.
Sometimes, when you are determined to break free from the shackles, overcome fear, and face and fight against a behemoth that you have never dared to face before, the first gift you receive is the freedom that comes from the heart - fate will determine where you will appear, and power will tell you what rules you should follow, but they can never make you unfree, unless you choose to give in and no longer listen to the voice from deep in your heart and above the starry sky, just like a bird breaking its own wings.
Tonight, the wind blowing across the hills was very nice, the clouds in the sky were very nice, and Yan Liqiang waited quietly, just like he had done in the previous few nights.
Just after midnight, a message came from the golden eagle in the sky. Yan Liqiang's eyes flashed, and his figure instantly blended into the wind, rushing towards the southwest of the Deer Park like a gust of wind...
(End of this chapter)