25 Chapter 22. Shortened Distance, Floating in a Sandstorm

The scorpion's tail!

But because he felt the sting, Xie Lian was able to grab his tail and catch the snake appropriately. He squeezed it so hard that the snake became unconscious. Even after being stung, Xie Lian's face never changed, and tossed the animal to the ground nonchalantly, "Everyone be careful, there may be more snakes around here ..."

He felt a grip on his wrist before he finished his words, and looked to find it was San Lang who caught and held his wrist.

"San Lang?" Xie Lian looked at the boy in confusion.

San Lang's expression was rather unpleasant; beyond description, so cold that it made everyone afraid to see it. His eyes focused on the wound on the back of Xie Lian's hand which was now swollen thanks to the poison from the can. Small puncture wounds become enlarged to the size of a knife because of the swelling craze.

Without a word and a frown on his forehead, San Lang grabbed Ruoye from Xie Lian's arm and immediately fastened it tightly to his wrist, preventing his poison from increasing or spreading. Since they knew each other, Xie Lian had never seen San Lang look like this. He opened his mouth to speak but San Lang turned to pull the dagger from the waist of one of the merchants. Nan Feng saw and immediately knew what San Lang would do, and lit a torch. Unseen, San Lang burned the tip of the dagger to disinfect before returning to Xie Lian and drawing a cross in the mouth of the scorpion's prick.

When he was about to lower his head to his hand, Xie Lian hurriedly said, "It's okay! The poison is aggressive, sucking it won't be of much use. I don't want you to be poisoned too ..."

San Lang ignored him, tightened the grip on Xie Lian's hand and put his lips on it.

His hands trembled slightly and Xie Lian could not explain what was the reason.

Next to him, Fu Yao said in disgust, "I can't believe you did something like this and stabbed yourself. What did you do to catch snakes when the child might not even be bitten? You just made trouble without needing."

His words might be true. Xie Lian remembers the way San Lang played with snakes in the cave; he probably won't care about any attack and won't be bitten. But just in case. In case San Lang didn't notice the snake and was bitten, it was too late.

Xie Lian waved a hand that wasn't poisoned, "Don't mind it. It doesn't hurt, and I won't die from it." "Are you really not in pain?"

Asked Fu Yao. "Right. I don't feel pain anymore." Xie Lian answered honestly.

Because Xie Lian had the worst fate, every time he ventured far into the mountains, eight out of ten he would step on a poisonous snake or meet poisonous insects, and be bitten, stung, stabbed, or poisoned in thousands of ways. Maybe because of her heavenly status, she could not die, so at most she had a fever. After three days and three nights of fever, he will get better when he wakes up and continues as if nothing has happened. Gradually he becomes increasingly insensitive to pain, and only lives with him.

Right after the words left his mouth, San Lang finally looked up. The red swelling on the back of Xie Lian's hand had faded, red blood stains seemed to stick on San Lang's lips.

His eyes were very cold, and he turned his gaze to the unconscious snake on the ground. "BOOM!" The snake suddenly exploded into a pool of blood and flesh.

The sudden explosion frightened everyone, but no one knew who did it. Even if blood doesn't splash on anyone, there's still a blanket of anxiety. Tian Shen, who still remembered that Xie Lian was also stung, asked anxiously, "Gege, you were also bitten! What will you do?"

Xie Lian felt a bandage on his wrist and smiled, "Don't worry, my child. We will still stick to the original plan to go to the ruins of Ban Yue and look for ShanYue's fern."

Another trader asked, "You guys left? What about us? Should we also send someone to go with you?"

"You all can stay here. Ban Yue area is a dangerous place, the more people there, the more accidents can happen. We will find ferns and bring them back to you within 24 hours." Xie Lian said.

"Really ... Really? Thank you very much! -"

"How can we possibly ..." A number of traders began to stutter to thank them, but then their faces changed as Xie Lian continued to speak, "To reach Ban Yue as soon as possible, I want to borrow the guide you have for a while, if not what -What."

Naturally, what Xie Lian meant meant A-Zhao. Traders move from being grateful and relieved to hesitating. Xie Lian knew where they came from. They were afraid that Xie Lian would run away with their guide as soon as he found ShanYue's fern; and even if A-Zhao doesn't run, time will still be delayed. However, none of them wants to go to that evil place where 'at least half is lost'. Their worries were completely understandable, so Xie Lian added, "And in case something else strikes you, Fu Yao will stay until we return."

A man for a man, now there is insurance that Xie Lian will return. The traders finally agreed and nodded, "All right. As long as A-Zhao is willing."

Xie Lian turned to A-Zhao, "Are you willingly willing to help us, my friend? If not, that's fine too."

A-Zhao nodded and said, "Yes. But the ruins of Ban Yue are actually not difficult to reach; keep going in this direction."

After saying goodbye to the merchants, A-Zhao led with Xie Lian, San Lang, and Nan Feng following right behind. Moments later, Xie Lian asked, "A-Zhao, do scorpion snakes often appear in this area?"

"Not often. This is also my first time seeing them." A-Zhao answered.

Xie Lian nodded and had no more questions. To be honest, he had indeed lived in the Ban Yue area for several years, and this was also his first time seeing a scorpion snake. A-Zhao's answer didn't go out of place. Nan Feng was aware of Xie Lian's intentions and asked in a low voice, "Are you suspicious of this A-Zhao?"

Xie Lian answered in a whisper, "Watch him now because we are with him."

In the past San Lang would usually talk to him first, but since the previous incident the boy did not look approachable, walking calmly and quietly. Xie Lian didn't know what was going on and didn't know how to talk to him, so he kept going too.

The four continue their journey through the vast Gobi desert; the hurricane had long since passed, and without a hitch they advanced quickly, and soon they could see the weeds here and there growing in crevices of stone and sand. At sunset, Xie Lian finally saw an ancient fortress on the horizon.

The fort was hard to see because it was sand-colored, camouflaged in yellow and became one with the desert. Some parts of the fort's walls are also split and buried. When they approached, they found the fortress walls very high, towering over hundreds of feet. It's not hard to imagine the beauty of his past, how magnificent it is.

After passing through the gate, the four of them officially entered the kingdom of Ban Yue.

After crossing the gate are wide and empty city streets, dilapidated houses on each side; rotten beams, broken bricks scattered about. Out of habit, A-Zhao warned others, "Please be careful and don't leave the group alone."

The other three don't need that reminder. The true Ban Yue Fort might be different from what was imagined, and Nan Feng wondered, "This is Ban Yue's kingdom? It's smaller than a capital!"

"A desert country is only as big as an oasis built on it." Xie Lian explained. "At its peak, the population here is only around ten thousand. Actually enough to live in a small fortress like this."

Nan Feng continued to observe his surroundings, "It might only take a few days to surround a country of this size."

Xie Lian shook her head, "Not necessarily. Don't underestimate the people of Ban Yue, Nan Feng. Even if their population is not more than ten thousand, they maintain an average number of soldiers of four thousand. There are more men than women; apart from the ones sick and old, and farmers, most men joined the army, and most of them were more than nine feet tall, each more cruel than the next, with a club in their hands, they would continue to fight even with swords through their chests They are very difficult to fight. "

A-Zhao was shocked and glanced at Xie Lian, "You know a lot."

Xie Lian continued to smile and was about to converse again when Nan Feng pointed at a building further ahead, "What wall is that?"

The building is not the right word to describe it, because it is a giant enclosure formed by four large mud-colored walls without doors or roofs. Each wall is more than a hundred feet long, and at the very top there is a pole, with something tattered attached, flying in the wind. That is a terrible picture.

Xie Lian looked and said simply, "That's the Sinner's Hole."

The name certainly didn't sound fun. "Sinner's Hole?" Nan Feng frowned.

"You can think of it as a prison. It was made specifically to imprison a sinful criminal." Xie Lian explained gravely.

"How do you imprison someone if there is no door? Throwing them from above?" Nan Feng asked.

Xie Lian hesitantly answered, and San Lang suddenly spoke, "They were pushed in. And inside the hole was full of poisonous snakes and starving wild beasts."

Hearing him finally speak, Xie Lian was relieved, but when he looked at San Lang, the boy looked at him and turned around. Nan Feng cursed, "That's not a damn prison ?! That's torture! So cruel! Are the people of Ban Yue having a headache or a psychopath?"

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, "Not all of them. Some of them are very charming ..." He stopped suddenly. "Wait."

The other three stopped, and Xie Lian pointed up, "Is that someone hung on a pole above the wall?"

In the dim light from the sunset and with such a long distance, it was difficult to see what was actually hung on the pole. But getting closer and observing its shape, it became clear it was thin people in black clothes, their clothes were messy, hanging in the wind like ragdoll.

"That's really a person," San Lang confirmed. "And she is also a woman."

When A-Zhao saw the hanged person, his face turned white like a piece of cloth. This is a frightening and unpleasant look so even calm people like him can't stand to see it. At that moment San Lang slightly turned his head, and said in a low voice, "There's someone here."

He is not the only one paying attention. Xie Lian also heard fur feet approaching. The four of them immediately moved to hide in many houses that looked dilapidated by the roadside. Xie Lian and San Lang entered one house, and Nan Feng and A-Zhao hid in a house across the street. Soon after, at the end of the broken road, a female cultivator dressed in white was revealed.

The woman was wearing a young white robe, a shaker on her arm, wandering along the road, peering here and there, her eyes shining and jelly, as if she were in the garden behind her own home, and not the ruins of Ban Yue. Walking right behind him was another woman dressed in black, her hands behind.

The woman in black looked beautiful but cold, her eyes pierced, her hair long and loose, as if emitting a cold aura from her person. Even though he walked behind the female cultivator, no one would consider him a subordinate.

It was the same two women they had seen outside the inn that had been left at noon.

By the time they were passing too fast and Xie Lian could not see the details of the black woman, but she now clearly saw that she was indeed a woman. If the one in white is Witch Ban Yue, then who is in black?

The witch swung her shaker casually and said, "Now where are those people going? We were careless for a moment and they all disappeared. Do I have to dig and kill them one by one?"

As Xie Lian thought, the two men saw them as they stepped into the fortress. The woman dressed in black approached and calmly said, "You can call your friends to help you to kill them."

The 'friends' in question must be warriors from Ban Yue. The witch laughed, "I don't like to call others. I prefer to call you. Are you not happy?"

The woman in black completely ignored him and said, "There's nothing fun about being called by people like you for something like this. Go away."

The witch raised her eyebrows but continued to walk away. Listening to them, it sounds like they are close. They were not ordinary people, so the woman in black must be someone famous. Someone close to Witch Ban Yue? A mysterious cultivator? Or is there a queen or general they don't know?

Xie Lian tried to connect the dots quickly in his mind, but held his breath. Now is not the time to find someone like that. It seemed like the witch had a strange personality; if he found them and eagerly summoned the legendary Ban Yue warrior, nine feet tall, holding a wand, more time would be wasted in fighting them. Twenty four hours. One wasted hour is another hour they sink deeper into danger. But, nothing helped his bad luck; whatever he does not want to happen will always happen. The woman in black walked past the house where Xie Lian was hiding, but they stopped in the middle of the step, her sharp gaze landed on the rotting shelter where she was hiding.

The witch was far ahead but noticed that the woman in black had stopped and she was walking again. "Oi, why aren't you walking?"

The woman in black didn't look back at him. "You. Back off."

"Okay." The witch responded obediently and completely moved. The woman in black will raise her hand when suddenly, a loud roar explodes from across the street!

That house Nan Feng and A-Zhao hid inside collapsed! The collapse of one house caused another collapse on the entire path leading to the cave. Dust and sand rolled into the air and covered the entire road. Inside, black shadows jumped out, firing flames that flowed towards the magician, but the woman in black ran forward and blocked the magician from danger. With his left hand still behind him, he flipped his right palm and easily absorbed the flame before reflecting it back. The black shadow parried with him while running away, and soon disappeared. The witch immediately chased after him, but the woman in black looked at the house behind her before leaving to follow the witch who had already left.

"Bless you, Nan Feng," Xie Lian thanked him mentally. All of this happened so quickly, but Nan Feng did not hesitate to somehow know that they would get into trouble and create diversions to lead the enemy astray. He was the only one who jumped out, so A-Zhao must still be inside the collapsed house. After making sure the witch and the woman in black really did leave, Xie Lian dragged San Lang out of their hiding place and called out, "A-Zhao are you still alive? Are you hurt?"

A few moments later, a frowning voice came from under the rubble, ".. I'm fine."

Xie Lian was relieved. "Luckily."

Even though Xie Lian believed in Nan Feng's ability to control the accident and would undoubtedly leave enough space for A-Zhao to remain safe, it was still more convincing to see it with his own eyes. He raised one of the rotten beams with one hand, and after a while A-Zhou appeared from below, covered in dust from head to toe. He patted himself slightly and returned to his stoic expression.

"Now there are only three of us left," said Xie Lian. "Nan Feng is running a diversion so we need to move faster. Do you know where we can find ShanYue's fern, A-Zhao?"

The young man shook his head and said, "Sorry. I only know where the castle is, but I've never been here before, so I don't know where the fern can be found."

San Lang spoke, "They say that ShanYue's fern prefers a small, shady place with thin roots but large leaves, like heart-shaped peaches. Why don't you search near a large building?"

"Large building?" Xie Lian pondered.

If they talk about large buildings, there are no buildings bigger than palaces. In legend, it was after the celebration that the queen took ShanYue's leaves, which could mean ferns growing in the palace grounds.

The three of them averted their gaze far away, and in the center of the fortress was indeed a palace built of bricks.

From a distance, the palace had an aura of grandeur, but looking closely, it was not much better than the dilapidated houses on the street. Through the palace gate there is a large park; maybe in the past it was not a park but a square, but with years of being abandoned, weeds thrived and spread.

Indeed, it was not sand under their feet but mud. This is most likely the last sign of an oasis that once existed; ShanYue can grow among all other plants.

"Don't waste time," said Xie Lian, "We only have 24 hours, but be careful of scorpion snakes."

A-Zhao and San Lang muttered in agreement and bowed their heads to start searching through the plants there. As they searched, Xie Lian suddenly remembered that if Sorcerer Ban Yue could control the scorpion snake, there would definitely be many of them crawling in his territory. Since they entered the fortress they have not seen a snake.

He stood tall and would speak when one of his hands felt a long object.

Looking down again, he emphasized that it was a human leg!