Tens of thousands of people marched through the forest, a massive target. However, the mutated beasts in the mountains dared not provoke these marching teams. Many mutated beasts knew that these humans were not to be trifled with. If they were ordinary people, it would be one thing, but these people carried firearms and weapons, clearly prepared for battle.
Thus, when the army entered the forest, the nearby mutated beasts fled from afar, not daring to linger.
"The mutated beasts that destroyed Yanjing back then are probably in this forest," He Qiu'an thought to himself upon seeing a patch of forest nearby.
If he could, He Qiu'an wished he could kill all the mutated beasts in the world, but he was incapable of doing so, so he could only think about it.
The scouts in front had already drawn up many maps. These people had located the mutated spiders in the forest. The locations of these spiders were generally stable. They had nests in the forest and usually did not stray too far from them. Therefore, as long as they bypassed the spider nests, they would not encounter danger.
However, after walking for a short while, the group encountered their greatest crisis: the ubiquitous hairy caterpillars in the forest. These caterpillars looked harmless, merely eating leaves on the trees. But upon closer inspection, many light, fluffy hairs could be seen on the ground. These hairs were the poisonous spines of the hairy caterpillars, and contact with them would result in poisoning.
As a soldier passed under a tree, a hairy caterpillar suddenly fell from above, landing inside his clothes right at the back of his neck.
"Ah..." The soldier felt a sharp sting from the thing on his back and immediately let out a piercing scream.
Those around him rushed forward, cutting open his clothes. They then saw that his entire back had swollen up, with dozens of poisonous spines piercing his skin. The hairy caterpillar itself fell from his clothes onto the ground, where it was promptly stomped to death by the surrounding soldiers.
"Hurry, stop howling, we'll save you right away," those around him quickly comforted the affected soldier.
The most terrifying thing about walking in the forest was this. If one wasn't careful, caterpillars would fall from above. If they landed on one's body or head, it was manageable. Shaking them off would be fine, and the protection of clothes would prevent injury. But once they fell into the collar of one's clothing, there would be trouble.
Some soldiers smeared the mucus from the crushed caterpillar's body onto the affected soldier's back using leaves. Although they didn't know if it would work, it was the only option.
The tips of the poisonous spines on the caterpillars were very fragile. They would shatter upon contact with human skin, releasing their venom. The soldier who had just been affected had the caterpillar roll around on his back, and an unknown number of spines had already pierced his skin.
The soldier who had been screaming moments ago quickly lost all reaction, collapsing to the ground and foaming at the mouth.
"Take him for treatment quickly. He can't move now. This kid is really unlucky, for these caterpillars to fall into his collar." Someone nearby lamented the affected soldier's bad luck.
These mutated caterpillars were relatively large, some as big as a palm, so their poisonous spines were even more potent. In the past, people stung by hairy caterpillars would not experience severe reactions; at most, they would be red and swollen for a day or two. But now, encountering mutated hairy caterpillars could very well be life-threatening.
Of course, the human body was also very resilient. As long as one could endure it, it would be fine. However, the affected soldier was unable to move for the time being and could only lie in a nearby temporary medical tent to receive care.
"These damned insects, I didn't expect them to pose a threat to us so soon," He Qiu'an said with frustration upon noticing the insects on the trees.
If these insects on the trees attacked the army directly, it would be easier to handle. They could simply lure the insects to an open area and then eliminate them all.
Unfortunately, these hairy caterpillars on the trees, apart from eating leaves, hardly moved. Trying to lure these insects to an open area for a fight was completely impossible.
"If it's really not feasible, I suggest we take a different route. Instead of directly heading south, let's go west to the grasslands first, and then enter the pass from the grasslands," Lu Kaiyang proposed his opinion at this time.
"While this is a good idea, it would likely prolong the time. If a protracted war occurs, the supply lines would also be extended, which is very disadvantageous," He Qiu'an immediately rejected this suggestion.
"Then we'll just have to find a way to deal with these hairy caterpillars on the trees. In any case, we can't let these insects fall down at any time," Lu Kaiyang also appeared helpless.
At this moment, many soldiers thought of a way to defend against the caterpillars on the trees. Since these insects did not actively attack humans, they only needed to be careful of the insects above their heads. Therefore, they should focus on their hats.
Someone modified their hats, designing them with wide brims on all four sides. The top of the hat was higher, and the four sides were lower. If an insect fell on the hat, it would quickly slide off and fall to the ground.
However, this design was immediately met with comments: "Isn't this just making a straw hat?"
He Qiu'an was awakened by the soldiers' words. At this moment, he also realized that the only thing they needed to guard against were the insects that might fall from above. Thus, he immediately issued an order to Bingcheng to produce ten thousand straw hats in the shortest possible time and deliver them to the front lines.
With the protective gear for their heads, the soldiers continued south, quickly traversing large tracts of forest. Trouble arose that evening.
The group was busy cooking in the woods at dusk. After dinner, they began to rest. But at this moment, many people started foaming at the mouth, all suffering from food poisoning.
Upon learning of this situation, He Qiu'an immediately launched an investigation, focusing on the army's cooks. Since the soldiers under his command clearly suffered from collective food poisoning, it was likely that the cooks were the problem. If the cooks responsible for preparing food in the army were spies from other factions, it would be bad.
However, after the investigation, the cooks were cleared of any wrongdoing. The ingredients they used were brought from Bingcheng, and these ingredients were very clean and hygienic, with no possibility of contamination. Moreover, their cooking methods were flawless and should not have caused food poisoning.
"Could someone have been greedy and found some mushrooms in the forest, and then secretly eaten them?" He Qiu'an continued to ask.
There were many mushrooms in the northeastern region as well. Besides the southwest, the northeast had the most mushrooms. Years ago, there were mushroom forests in the forest, but they lacked intelligence. Therefore, if someone became greedy and wanted to eat some fresh mushrooms, it could lead to danger.
However, upon further inquiry, the soldiers suffering from diarrhea shook their heads and denied this: "We are now basically afraid to eat mushrooms. We don't even dare to touch shiitake mushrooms, so why would we actively eat mushrooms?"
"This is truly strange. If what you say is true, then where did the toxins come from?" He Qiu'an was very vexed. There was a food poisoning incident among the soldiers, but he couldn't figure out the source of the toxins at all.
Fortunately, a young man named Yang Ming from Yuzhou stepped forward and said, "After my observation, I think I know where these toxins came from!"
"You actually know where these toxins came from? Then tell me quickly, how did they get poisoned?" He Qiu'an urgently inquired.
Yang Ming extended his index finger and pointed to the sky, saying, "These toxins all came from the sky."
Upon hearing this, those around him expressed doubt, as this fact was simply too exaggerated.
"How could toxins come from the sky? The sky is clear for miles now, there's no danger at all."
"Young man, you need to be responsible for what you say. Have you considered that if you talk nonsense, you might be punished!"
"It's probably just this kid talking nonsense, trying to gain attention in front of everyone."
The surrounding soldiers spoke up, and some of the unfortunate ones looked up, trying to see if there was any danger in the sky, but they saw nothing but the blue sky.
"Why would I lie to you about this? If you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you right now." Yang Ming appeared rather stubborn at this moment.
Then, Yang Ming went to the side of a large pot, found a pair of chopsticks, and began to search in the pot.
He Qiu'an followed Yang Ming, wanting to see the root cause of the food poisoning. However, he could only see Yang Ming constantly fishing for something in the soup with his chopsticks, but he himself could not see clearly.
"This thing looks like hair. It's no big deal, it's just a few strands of hair! Eating them won't kill anyone." The cook carefully examined it and found that what Yang Ming was fishing out of the pot were black strands of hair, so he immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.
"Please look closely. This is not ordinary hair, these are the hairs that fell from the hairy caterpillars," Yang Ming explained earnestly.
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned. They gathered around and carefully examined the fine hairs picked from the pot. Even hair strands might not be this fine.
"Can such fine poisonous spines really cause poisoning?" The cook's mood became uneasy. At first, he thought these things were just hair and it would be fine to eat them, but now it seemed these hairs were poisonous spines from hairy caterpillars.
Lu Kaiyang explained at this time: "My student's special ability is enhanced vision, so he can see things that many people cannot. In your eyes, it might just be strands of hair, but in his eyes, these are the hairy spines that fell from the hairy caterpillars!"
He Qiu'an also reacted and immediately said, "Yang Ming, we owe you a lot this time. If you hadn't discovered this problem, we would still be in the dark. From now on, cooking must be done inside the tents, and outdoor cooking is prohibited."
"You flatter me, you flatter me. My special ability is nothing special. Besides finding a few details, it has no other use," Yang Ming said humbly. Although his words were very humble, his mouth was almost split to his ears, showing how proud he was at the moment.
"I didn't expect this kid to steal the spotlight. His special ability is useless, yet he's the first to achieve merit among us," Luo Hui couldn't help but say enviously upon seeing this scene.
"There's no need to be jealous. We're all brothers, so it's the same who achieves merit, isn't it?" Qu Zhaoqian quickly said.
At this time, many people noticed that the usually active Wang Xiqiang had disappeared. So everyone searched for him and finally found him under a tree nearby.
"You brat, are you trying to die? Hurry up and come over! Be careful of insects falling on you and making you wish you were dead," Qu Zhaoqian couldn't help but say.
"Shh, don't disturb me, I'm researching," Wang Xiqiang looked up and said to his friends who were shining lights on him.
"Are you trying to impersonate a college student like Zhu Bajie wearing glasses? You haven't studied any research knowledge, so who would believe you pretending to be a researcher?" Luo Hui couldn't help but mock, thinking that Wang Xiqiang was just putting on a show.
However, Wang Xiqiang said seriously, "Believe it or not, but in a few days, I'll show you how capable I am."