Inside the tent, Deng Jiugong asked with difficulty, "Old Qian, weren't you at Three Mountains Pass? Why have you come here too?"
Qian Bao looked at Deng Jiugong, who should have been a valiant figure but was now little more than skin and bones. His eyes reddened. "Commander, Your Humble Servant... Your Humble Servant has medicine!"
Deng Jiugong shook his head. "You... several more men have fallen ill lately. Deng Yi's illness flared up last night, and he died."
Qian Bao persisted. "Your Humble Servant has medicine, medicine that can cure the plague! Someone will bring it soon. Everyone can be cured! Once we're well, we'll march south together again, fight Yu Yue and Nanyue, subdue all the tribes of Baiyue for His Majesty, and expand his lands. Then we'll go to Chaoge together to claim our rewards. Everyone will..."
Deng Jiugong fell silent. He closed his eyes, his parched lips stirred, and tears rolled down his face.
"Does your medicine really work? Can it really cure us?"
"It works!" Qian Bao said. "Your Humble Servant is eighty percent certain!"
Deng Jiugong shook his head. "Deng Yi was a household retainer who followed me here when I first took up my post at the pass. He started as a guard. You should have known him too."
Qian Bao recalled him and nodded. "He was a real man. He killed eight enemies during the Yu Yue rebellion."
Deng Jiugong smiled bitterly. "He went on ahead of us. His son is in the army and has fallen ill too. I visited him before he died. He said General Qian was a skilled physician and would surely cure the plague. He said that although he hadn't held on long enough for the medicine to arrive, his son surely would."
"I've come with the