My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

Just as Ji Yunshuang guessed, Prince Duan is now essentially the source of infection; wherever he goes, the plague follows.

Lu Yinheng only learned after meeting Xu Xi that they had briefly fought with Prince Duan during their pursuit of him.

Without exception, all the soldiers who fought against Prince Duan soon developed symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, and weakness in their limbs.

Xu Xi immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, and hurriedly isolated the soldiers who participated in the mission in a separate place, and called the military doctor to come and treat them.

When Lu Yinheng arrived, he found that most of Xu Xi's soldiers had fallen.

His brows furrowed as he asked, "They've all been in contact with Prince Duan?"

Xu Xi looked at him with some surprise and said, "Could it be that this is all because of Prince Duan?"

He carefully recalled the scene when he met Prince Duan.

Although it was a short time, looking back now, it definitely feels very wrong.

He just couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

Thinking about Ji Yunshuang's words, Lu Yinheng felt that their illnesses must be related to Prince Duan.

However, there are still many things he doesn't understand.

Instead of answering his question, he asked, "Has the doctor examined you? What did he say?"

Xu Xi said anxiously, "The doctor couldn't figure out what the illness was. He just gave them some medicine to drink, but it doesn't seem to be working."

Lu Yinheng thought of the pills Ji Yunshuang had given him when they parted. He took them out and handed them to Xu Xi, saying, "This is the medicine the adjutant gave me when I came here. I don't know if it will work. You can give some to them first."

Xu Xi had no other choice but to accept Lu Yinheng's medicine and try feeding it to the soldiers.

After taking the medicine, the soldiers' illnesses did not improve immediately, but their symptoms were relieved to varying degrees.

Many soldiers who had been vomiting incessantly stopped vomiting. Soldiers who had been suffering from severe abdominal pain also experienced a significant reduction in pain.

Even so, these soldiers have lost their combat effectiveness and will not be able to carry out missions for a short period of time.

After carefully understanding the route taken by Prince Duan and the circumstances at the time, Lu Yinheng finally decided not to bring anyone with him this time, and to go alone to investigate the whereabouts of Prince Duan and the witch.

After learning of Lu Yinheng's plan, Xu Xi insisted on going with him.

“I know you don’t plan to take anyone with you because you noticed something was wrong with them and are afraid that more soldiers will end up like that.”

Xu Xi said, "I also fought against Prince Duan back then. I might have already contracted that inexplicable disease by now. I'll go with you, capture him, and find out what's going on. Maybe there'll still be a glimmer of hope."

Lu Yinheng looked at him, and after a moment, took out a mask and a pair of gloves from his bundle and handed them to him. "These are from General Ji. Try them on."

Xu Xi took it, put it on like Lu Yinheng, and then they set off together.

Although Xu Xi was not as skilled as Lu Yinheng, he had the advantage of being extremely familiar with the terrain of Ningxing Prefecture. The two worked together and quickly found the place where Prince Duan was hiding again.

This time, when the two found him, he was all alone with no one else around.

His clothes hadn't been changed in a long time; they were covered in blood and mud. He was drenched in sweat, as if he had just endured a painful ordeal.

This was completely different from the last time Xu Xi led his men to fight him.

It was completely different from the impression Lu Yinheng had of him in his previous life.

The two were on guard, but did not make a move immediately.

When Prince Duan saw Xu Xi, he hesitated for a moment, then a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. "Captain Xu, it's you! Go and find An Yi for me!"

A hint of doubt flashed in Xu Xi's eyes, and his heart was filled with suspicion. Had he forgotten that he had led his men to capture him before?

He said calmly, "Hasn't An Yi always been by your side?"

Prince Duan seemed to be stunned for a moment before he remembered that An Yi had been imprisoned by him.

What happens after they're locked up in jail?

It seems there was a big fire, and my memories after that are blurry.

He felt a sharp pain in his head.

"The bugs, the bugs are gnawing at my brain again!" His face contorted as he shouted, "Medicine! Medicine!"

As he spoke, he began to search his body, but found nothing. His whole body began to convulse.

Upon hearing the word "insect" and seeing his strange expression, Lu Yinheng suddenly felt a surge of suspicion. He asked, "What kind of insect?"

Whether it was due to the pain or not, Prince Duan subconsciously answered his question.

However, perhaps due to the intense pain, or for some other reason, his speech was somewhat slurred.

Lu Yinheng only vaguely heard the words "witch," "insect," and "brain," but he couldn't hear anything else clearly.

Before he could ask any more questions, Prince Duan, who had been writhing on the ground like a pretzel from the pain, suddenly straightened up, drew his sword, and stabbed at the two of them, cursing them with words like "traitors" and "traitors."

Lu Yinheng hadn't expected him to change so quickly. Fortunately, he had been secretly on guard and was highly skilled in martial arts. In his haste to draw his sword, he managed to avoid any loss.

The two exchanged blows with Prince Duan, their swordplay becoming intertwined.

Just as Lu Yinheng and Xu Xi were about to capture Prince Duan, a woman wearing a strange mask suddenly ran out of the forest.

The woman held a small bone whistle, about the length of her little finger, and blew it as she walked toward them.

Lu Yinheng wondered if he had misread it.

The instant the bone whistle sounded, he saw what appeared to be red thread-like worms swimming in Prince Duan's eyes.

Immediately afterwards, he felt that he was experiencing the same symptoms that the soldiers were having.

He endured the abdominal pain and swung his sword at Prince Duan, but because of the pain, the sword in his hand deviated slightly and failed to hit Prince Duan's vitals.

Xu Xi's symptoms were more severe than Lu Yinheng's. His body suddenly went limp, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground. Then, he uncontrollably collapsed to the ground and began to vomit violently.

In addition to abdominal pain, Lu Yinheng also soon developed symptoms such as vomiting.

Seeing the two men lying on the ground vomiting in a sorry state, the masked woman stopped blowing her bone whistle.

Presumably certain that the two would not survive, she did nothing more. She glanced at them only once before leaving with Prince Duan.

This was probably the most frustrating moment for Lu Yinheng since his rebirth.

He tightened his grip, but he still couldn't muster the strength to hold the sword and chase after them. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the two disappeared from his sight step by step.

The two lay on the ground for an unknown amount of time before Lu Yinheng finally regained a bit of strength and managed to reach into his robes and pull out a porcelain bottle.

This was given to him by Ji Yunshuang.

He distributed most of the medicine inside to the sick soldiers.

Now, only three pieces remain in the porcelain vase.

Lu Yinheng used all his strength to take one and put it in his mouth, then gave another one to Xu Xi.

After taking the medicine, both of them regained some of their energy.

At this moment, Xu Xi said, "I think I saw an insect in Prince Duan's eye just now. Did you see it?"