Chapter Forty: One Thousand Breaks One Hundred Thousand (Part Two)

With a single, simple probe, Xu Kang discovered that the corruption within the Yellow Turban Army was far more severe than he had imagined. Yet, this was hardly surprising; peasant uprisings inherently had immense limitations, and Zhang Jiao was nothing more than an opportunist lacking true talent and vision. Thus, what was once the Yellow Turban Army had degenerated into today's "Yellow Turban Bandits."

This situation greatly facilitated Xu Kang's plan to infiltrate their ranks. Disguised as a petty officer embezzling military provisions, he instantly dispelled their suspicions, smoothly deceiving his way through the Yellow Turban Army's gates. The opposition clearly paid little mind to their group of over two hundred, assigning barely a dozen guards to escort them after admitting them to the camp. As for the supplies they brought, no one bothered to inspect them; it seemed they intended to report to the local commander come dawn, allowing him to personally deal with these "embezzlers."

But the guards would never get that chance.

Once they were beyond the range of the arrow tower, Xu Kang shouted, "Take action!" Instantly, the two hundred supply soldiers swung their spears and halberds, hacking at the handful of Yellow Turban guards escorting them. With the advantage of surprise, the guards were slaughtered before they could resist, though their dying screams quickly alerted nearby Yellow Turban soldiers.

Cries erupted in the camp.

"Enemy attack!"

"The Han Army has infiltrated!"

"Help! Someone help—"

The clamor was accompanied by the metallic clang of gongs and drums.

Witnessing the chaos, Xu Kang's expression changed. He urgently called out to the supply soldiers beside him, "Set it ablaze!"

He thrust his torch into the straw on the nearest supply cart, setting it alight. Then, raising his spear, he stabbed fiercely at the hindquarters of the draft horse pulling the cart.

The wounded horse neighed loudly, bolting through the Yellow Turban camp with the burning cart in tow.

Seeing Xu Kang's actions, the other supply soldiers quickly followed suit. Soon, over seventy flaming supply carts were dragged by injured horses toward all corners of the Yellow Turban encampment.

As the horses charged wildly, cart after cart collided with tents, overturning and igniting them. The tents caught fire, which spread rapidly to the surrounding weeds, and the blaze grew fierce in an instant.

The Yellow Turban soldiers, startled from sleep, were thrown into confusion—some rushed to organize firefighting efforts, while others grabbed weapons and searched for the arsonists.

Xu Kang seized the moment. He summoned his warhorse and swung his spear forward.

"Head for the north gate! Follow me! Iron Pig, clear the way!"

With a resounding shout, Iron Pig let out a loud, piercing howl and charged ahead with all four hooves.

There was an old saying among mountain folk: "First the wild boar, then the tiger." It did not mean that wild boars were more formidable than tigers, but rather that the odds of injury or death from encountering a wild boar in the mountains were higher than from meeting a tiger.

When a wild boar rampages, even tigers must tread carefully!

Especially a beast like Iron Pig, weighing over five hundred kilograms—ordinary tigers were no match for it, as Xu Kang knew well.

Now, it was the Yellow Turban soldiers' turn to experience it firsthand.

A squad of five Yellow Turban soldiers, blocking Iron Pig's path, suffered one dead, one crippled, and three severely injured in a single encounter, sending another dozen nearby fleeing in terror, dropping their torches as they ran.

As they fled, they shouted:

"The wild boar—it’s eating people!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Save me! Please, save me—"

In an instant, the Yellow Turban soldiers searching for arsonists fled, those fighting the fire ran, and even the patrols carrying torches abandoned their posts. The entire camp descended into chaos.

Even Xu Kang, the mastermind behind it all, was momentarily stunned.

He quickly realized the cause of this pandemonium—it all traced back to one man: Zhang Jiao, the leader of the Yellow Turban Army.

At the end of the Han dynasty, plague ran rampant; nearly two-thirds of the population perished from infection, leaving nine out of ten households empty, and entire villages wiped out—a scene of utter devastation.

Of all these plagues, typhoid fever was the most terrifying.

There were no specialized medicines to combat typhoid bacillus, and after natural disasters, sanitary conditions were abysmal. Those who died from typhoid accounted for seven out of every ten deaths.

Faced with such a dreadful disease, were people helpless, left only to await death?

The answer, according to historical records, was no. At least two men found ways to fight typhoid: one was Zhang Zhongjing, revered as the "Saint of Medicine," and the other was Zhang Jiao, leader of the Yellow Turban Army.

Yet their approaches differed fundamentally.

In the face of the plague’s ravages, Zhang Zhongjing was deeply grieved and indignant, loathing the corruption of the rulers. He devoted himself to studying the diagnosis and treatment of typhoid, eventually composing the great Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases, saving countless lives.

Zhang Jiao, meanwhile, upon discovering a way to combat typhoid, founded the Way of Peace. He gathered followers through rituals involving talismans and water, ultimately raising the banner: "The Azure Sky is dead; the Yellow Sky shall stand!" and led a rebellion.

This method proved effective, successfully establishing a faith for the Yellow Turban Army, unleashing tremendous fighting power from this peasant force.

Even Dong Zhuo, who had trounced the Qiang and Xiongnu in the north, suffered heavy losses against the Yellow Turbans, fleeing in defeat.

But as the saying goes, "To forge iron, one must be strong oneself." The "buff" bestowed upon the Yellow Turban Army by Zhang Jiao vanished in emergencies, replaced instantly by two negative effects: night blindness and panic.

In this era, even a full meal was a luxury for common folk, let alone balanced nutrition. Most people suffered from malnutrition.

While malnutrition wasn't usually fatal, a deficiency of vitamin A led to a specific ailment: night blindness.

Night blindness meant an inability to see in the dark. Under normal circumstances, this was harmless, but in emergencies, it could be disastrous.

At that moment, the Yellow Turban camp was ablaze with tents, wild boars rampaged through the grounds, and soldiers were running and shouting.

But in the midst of all this, unable to see a thing, panic swept through the camp like wildfire.

Driven by instinct, the soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, stabbing at anyone who approached without hesitation.

The Yellow Turban Army—had completely unraveled.