Chapter 23

"Wahhhhhhh!!!!"

Xie Lian withdrew his hand,

He was speechless. He realized that..,

Every time he saw or touched something in the darkness, in the face of such a terrifying scene, he didn't even make a sound, and the other party had already shouted first. In fact, he should be the most afraid, right?

The shrubs and grass in this garden were tall and dense. Just now, there was a person sneaking in the grass,

Xie Lian's hand landed on his calf. That leg quickly pulled away,

The grass in front of him rustled,

A person shouted, "Don't hit, don't hit, it's me, brother!"

Xie Lian took a closer look,

This was really unexpected,

The person who shouted "Don't hit, don't hit" was actually the thick-browed and big-eyed young man, Tiansheng. Tiansheng saw that he recognized him,

He heaved a sigh of relief.

However..,

After seeing that it was him, Xie Lian did not heave a sigh of relief,

Instead, he became even more vigilant. He raised an arm in front of him and said, "Didn't you stay here with the others to take care of the injured? Why are you here? Are you really Tiansheng? "

Appearing under such circumstances..,

It was more like something else was pretending to be him. Tiansheng hurriedly said, "It's me! It's really me, not only me,

There are also three uncles who came with me! They are inside,

If you don't believe me, look! "He pointed into the palace. Sure enough, not long after,

Three people ran out from the dilapidated hall. They were the group of merchants from before. When they saw Xie Lian, they were all stunned, and then they looked embarrassed.

Xie Lian exhaled and stood up. He patted the hem of his white clothes and said, "What happened to you guys?"

When he asked this, the merchants were all embarrassed and didn't say anything. After a long while, Tiansheng mumbled, "Brothers, not long after you left, Uncle Zheng's poison acted up again. He was very sick. We... didn't know when you would come back, and we were worried that you wouldn't be able to find him, or that you would come back late. Brother Zhao said that if we followed that road, we could find the Half Moon Kingdom, so we thought that with a few more people, it would be easier to find, so we also came... "

In the end, he still regretted it. She was afraid that Xie Lian and the others would escape with Ah Zhao after they found the Good Moon Grass. Still worried, she chased after them. Xie Lian could totally imagine that if Fu Yao couldn't persuade them, he might not even bother to stop them. People who stubbornly refused to listen to advice and rushed to their deaths could not be stopped.

Xie Lian helplessly said, "You guys are too bold. It's not like you don't know what might be in this city and what might happen. How dare you come here? "

Tiansheng knew that he did not trust them and felt a little guilty. He lay in the grass and did not dare to speak, probably because he felt awkward. He said, "I'm sorry, it was a matter of life and death. I panicked and …"

It couldn't be helped. It was only human nature to be cautious when it came to human lives. Moreover, he was willing to risk his life to obtain medicinal herbs for others, which could be considered as a form of camaraderie. Xie Lian didn't want to say too much. He rubbed the space between his brows and said, "You guys really are lucky that you didn't encounter anything on your way into this ancient city. By the way, how did you know to come to the palace to find the Good Moon Grass? "

Tiansheng scratched his head and said, "We didn't know where to look. But didn't the story that the red-robed brother told us about the Good Moon Grass picked by the Empress? Even the Empress can't leave the palace as she pleases, so I was thinking if I could come to the palace to try my luck. "

Xie Lian thought that this child's brain worked fast and got it right. At this moment, San Lang said, "I found it."

He turned around and saw San Lang waving his hand. What he held in his hand was a jade-colored leaf that still had a bit of root on it.

This leaf was about the size of a baby's palm. The roots were thin and peach-shaped, and the leaf had a pointed tail. Xie Lian didn't need to confirm with Ah Zhao to know that this was the legendary Good Moon Grass. Before he could say anything, San Lang had already grabbed his injured hand.

That hand had been stung and swollen to a frightening degree. But after San Lang helped him with the drug, although the poison had not been completely removed, the swelling had decreased significantly. At this moment, San Lang was holding Xie Lian's injured hand with one hand and holding the Good Moon Grass with the other. He closed his fingers and didn't seem to use much force. When he opened it again, the leaf had already turned into a pile of green powder. He carefully applied this pile of green powder on the back of Xie Lian's hand. He felt a gentle coolness slowly spreading from the wound. Xie Lian said, "San Lang, thank you very much."

San Lang didn't reply. After he finished applying the herb, he put down Xie Lian's hand. With this kind of atmosphere between the two of them, Xie Lian felt that something was a bit strange, but he didn't know how to ask. No matter how he asked, he just felt that something wasn't right. The others couldn't understand this subtlety. Tiansheng impatiently said, "Gege, do you feel better? Is this herb useful? "

Xie Lian snapped out of his daze and said, "It's a lot better. It should be correct."

Hearing this, the others became very excited. They all said, "Hurry, let's continue looking." Not long after, Ah Zhao also raised a handful of green leaves and said, "I also found it here."

The handful of Good Moon Grass in his hands was much fatter than the pitiful small piece San Lang had found just now. When everyone saw that the shape and characteristics were correct, they all rushed over. One after another, they exclaimed in surprise, "There's such a big piece here!" "So many!" "Hurry up and pick some more." "If we pick too many, can we sell them when we get back?"

They were busy picking the herbs. Xie Lian turned his head around and looked at the back of his hand. Speechless, he tried to find something to say. He said to San Lang, "You seemed to have searched the area they were looking for just now. Didn't you discover it at the time?"

After he opened his mouth, he also felt that this question was rather pointless. However, San Lang shook his head and said, "You don't need to use the grass there."

Xie Lian curiously asked, "Why?"

Unexpectedly, before San Lang could open his mouth to explain the reason, they heard a miserable cry. "Go away!"

Everyone was stunned. Their movements slowed as they asked one after another, "Who's screaming?" "I didn't!" "It wasn't me either … …"

Then they heard that mournful voice say, "Go away, you're stepping on me … …"

Only now did everyone notice — — this voice was actually coming from the side of their feet!

In an instant, the few people who had gathered there to pick the Good Moon Grass all scattered. Xie Lian had long since gotten used to this kind of situation. When others retreated, he would step forward. Thus, he walked to the place where the miserable cry was coming from. With a stretch of his hand, he slowly pushed aside the dense underbrush. With this push, the breathing of quite a few people on the spot froze.

They saw that under the underbrush, in the soil, a man's face was shockingly buried.

In this piece of land, there was actually a living person buried under the soil. Only his face was exposed!

This scene was truly incomparably strange. In a split second, the few merchants were so frightened that they hugged each other and screamed. Xie Lian once again skillfully comforted them. "Don't panic. Everyone calm down. It's just a face. It's no big deal. Who doesn't have a face, right? "

That face chuckled and said, "Did I scare you guys? Sigh … … I also often scare myself. "

Xie Lian half-squatted down and carefully examined the face buried in the soil.

This was a man's face. When it wasn't smiling, it was very flat. When it was smiling, there were many wrinkles. It was hard to tell if it was old or young, and it was also hard to tell if it was ugly or beautiful. After looking for a long time, he still couldn't make out what this thing was. Thus, he could only directly open his mouth and ask, "Who are you?"

That face buried in the soil asked, "And who are you guys?"

Xie Lian replied, "A passing caravan."

That face buried in the soil sighed and said, "Sigh. A passing caravan. I was once a passing caravan as well. However, that was already fifty or sixty years ago. "

When he said that, this scene became even stranger.

This person had actually been buried under the soil of this abandoned ancient city for fifty or sixty years. Was that still a person?

A merchant trembled with fear as he asked, "Then … … then why are you here … … ah?"

That face buried in the soil coughed a few times. With a wrinkled face, he said, "I … … I was captured by the Half Moon Empire's soldiers. I accidentally entered the city and was captured by them. They then buried me in the soil and turned me into fertilizer for these good moon grass … … "

So these good moon grass were all grown using living people as fertilizer. No wonder it was so fat!

Several merchants hurriedly threw the large amount of good moon grass in their hands onto the ground. They felt that what they had just done was no different from grabbing corpses. Xie Lian also couldn't help but lower his head to look at the back of his hand. However, he heard San Lang say, "There's no problem with that piece of herb."

No wonder San Lang had clearly searched this land but didn't pick those fat good moon grass. Most likely, when he saw this face buried in the soil just now, he guessed that these herbs were all grown using people as fertilizer. Thus, he directly ignored this thing and turned around to leave. It wasn't until he found a clean herb that had grown normally in a remote area that he applied it to him.

Xie Lian said, "San Lang is very considerate. Thank you very much."

San Lang shook his head, his expression still calm.

Ever since he had been stung by the scorpion tail snake before entering Half Moon Ancient City, his attitude had always been like this. When the two of them had been together a few days ago, he had always called him older brother, older brother, but now he didn't even call him that. Aside from helping him take the drug and apply the medicine, San Lang also seemed to be doing his best to avoid physical contact with him. This really made Xie Lian feel extremely strange. He couldn't fathom San Lang's attitude and felt a little uneasy.

At this time, the face buried in the soil spoke again, "I haven't seen a living person for many years. You … … you all stand over here and let me take a good look. Is that okay?"

Everyone looked at each other and unanimously felt that it was better not to do as he said. After a while, seeing that no one responded, the face buried in the soil muttered, "What, you guys aren't willing? Sigh … … what a pity … … "

Xie Lian turned his head and asked, "What's a pity?"

The face buried in the soil said, "Ever since you all came in, there's something I've been very concerned about. I've always wanted to use my own eyes to confirm it before telling you. That's why I asked you all to stand over here and let me take a look. That's because I want to carefully look at all of you one by one. "

Xie Lian asked, "What is it?"

The face buried in the soil laughed strangely and said, "I said you guys don't have to be afraid … … among you, there's a person I've seen fifty years ago."

As soon as these words came out, everyone's hair suddenly stood on end.

If there was a person that this face buried in the soil had seen fifty years ago, that person would be at least sixty or seventy years old by now. However, among the people here, the oldest one didn't look to be over forty. How was this possible?

Unless … … that person wasn't a 'person'!

Xie Lian's gaze swept across everyone's faces, starting from Ah Zhao to Tian Sheng. Slightly shocked, fearful, bewildered, and stupefied. Everyone's reactions were incomparably reasonable. If one had to say that someone's reaction didn't conform to common sense, then it could only be the completely unresponsive San Lang. However, to this youngster, not having any reaction was probably the most normal reaction.

He turned his head around and asked, "Who is this person you're talking about?"

The face buried in the soil twitched a few times before revealing an incomparably strange smile. It was as if he was doing his utmost to make himself look a little more reliable, but he couldn't conceal the sinister smile leaking from the bottom of his heart. He mysteriously said, "You … … If you come a little closer, I'll tell you."

When those words came out for the first time, Xie Lian believed eighty percent of it. But after this sentence, there was only fifty percent left.

Who knew if this monster wasn't trying to trick people into coming closer before suddenly launching an attack?