Ch.22: Shortened Distance; Adrift in Sandstorms 3
The scorpion tail!Yet because of the sting, Xie Lian was able to grab hold of the tail and capture thesnake properly. He squeezed it down hard until it became unconscious. Even havingbeen stung, Xie Lian's face never changed, and tossed it to the ground indifferently,"Everyone be careful, there may be more snakes around..."He felt a tightening on his wrist before he finished his words, and looked to see it wasSan Lang who caught hold of him."San Lang?" Xie Lian looked at the boy puzzled.The reason he sounded confused was because at this very moment, the expression onthis youth's face was quite off; it was indescribably frosty to the point of frightening. Hiseyes were focused intently on the wound on the back of Xie Lian's hand that had nowballooned thanks to the vicious venom. The small puncture wound became visiblyenlarged to the size of a knife cut because of the angry swelling.With a dark expression and, San Lang wordlessly snatched Ruoye from Xie Lian's armand immediately knotted it firmly on his wrist, preventing the venom from advancing.While Ruoye enjoyed snuggling up to Xie Lian, it wasn't that well-behaved either, yet inSan lang's hands it was so compliant it was like it was dead.Ever since they had known each other, Xie Lian had never seen San Lang looking likethis. He opened his mouth to speak but San Lang turnedto pull a dagger from the waistof one of the merchants. Nan Feng saw and knew instantly what San Lang was about todo, and ignited a palm torch. Without sparing any looks, San Lang burned the tip of thedagger to disinfect it before turning back to Xie Lian and drew a cross on the mouth ofthe puncture wound.Just as he was about to lower his head to the hand, Xie Lian hurriedly said, "It's ok. Thevenom is aggressive, sucking it won't do much. I don't want you to get poisoned..."San Lang ignored him, tightened the hold on Xie Lian's hand and placed his lips upon it.His hand trembled slightly and Xie Lian couldn't explain why.Next to him, Fu Yao said in disdain, "I can't believe you went and got yourself pricked.What are you doing catching the snake when the kid might not even get bitten? You'rejust making trouble needlessly."His words were probably true. Xie Lian recalled the airy way San Lang played with thesnake in the cave; he probably wouldn't have even cared for any attacks and wouldn'thave gotten bitten. But just in case. Just in case San Lang didn't notice the snake andget bitten, it'd be too late then.Xie Lian waved his good hand, "Don't mind it. It's not like it hurts, and I won't die fromit.""You're really not in pain?" Fu Yao asked."Really. I don't feel pain anymore." Xie Lian answered truthfully.Since Xie Lian possessed the worst of luck, every time he ventured deep into themountains, eight times out of ten he would step onto vipers or run into poisonousinsects, and get bitten, stung, jabbed, or poisoned in thousands of ways. Perhaps it wasbecause of his heavenly status, he couldn't die, so at most he'd run a fever. After threedays and three nights of fevers, he'd be right as rain when he woke and continue on asif nothing happened. Gradually he became less and less sensitive to pain, and just livedwith it.Right after the words had left his mouth San Lang finally looked up. The red swelling onthe back of Xie Lian's hand had gone down, a stain of blood red on San Lang's lips. Hiseyes were extremely cold, and he moved his glare to the unconscious snake on theground. BOOM! The snake abruptly exploded into a pool of blood and flesh.The sudden blast surprised everyone, but no one knew who did it. Even if the blooddidn't splatter onto anyone, there was still a blanket of unease. Tian Sheng who stillremembered that Xie Lian also got stung, asked worriedly, "Gege, you got pricked too!What will you do?"Xie Lian felt the bandage on his wrist and smiled, "Don't worry, little one. We'll still stickto the plan of going to the BanYue ruins and search for the ShanYue fern."Another merchant asked, "You guys are going? What about us? Should we also sendsomeone to go with you?""You can all stay here. BanYue territory is a dangerous place, the more people there themore mishaps that can happen. We will find the fern and bring it back to you withintwenty-four hours." Xie Lian said."For... for real? Thank you so much! –""How can we possibly ever..."A number of merchants started stuttering their thanks, but then their faces changedwhen Xie Lian continued to speak, "In order to reach BanYue as soon as possible, Iwant to borrow your guide temporarily, if that's alright."Naturally, Xie Lian meant A-Zhao. The merchants went from grateful and relief tohesitation. Xie Lian knew where they're coming from. They were afraid that Xie Lianmight run off with their guide once he finds the ShanYue fern; and even if A-Zhao didn'trun away, timing would still be delayed. Nevertheless, none of them wanted to ventureinto that wicked place where 'at least half goes missing'. Their worries were entirelyunderstandable, so Xie Lian added, "And just in case anything else comes to attackyou, Fu Yao will stay until we return."A man for a man, now there was insurance that Xie Lian would come back. Themerchants finally agreed and nodded, "Alright. As long as A-Zhao is willing."Xie Lian turned to A-Zhao, "Are you open to giving us a hand, my friend? If not that's oktoo."A-Zhao nodded and said, "Yes. But the BanYue ruins is actually not hard to get to; justkeep heading in this direction."After bidding the merchants farewell, A-Zhao took the lead with Xie Lian, San Lang, andNan Feng following right behind. A while later, Xie Lian inquired, "A-Zhao, do thescorpion snakes appear frequently in this area?""Not frequently. This was my first time seeing them too." A-Zhao replied.Xie Lian nodded and had no more questions. Truthfully, he did live in the BanYue areafor a number of years, and this was also his first time seeing a scorpion snake. A-Zhao'sanswer was not out of place. Nan Feng realized Xie Lian's intentions and asked in a lowvoice, "You're suspicious of this A-Zhao?"Xie Lian responded in a whisper, "Either way we've brought him out. Just keep an eyeon him."In the past it was usually San Lang who would talk to him first, but since the incidentearlier the boy hadn't looked approachable, walking stoically and silent. Xie Liancouldn't figure out what's going on and didn't know how to talk to him, so he kept onwalking too.The four continued to trek through the vast Gobi desert; the windstorm had long passed,and without any obstructions they advanced quickly, and soon they could see raggedweeds here and there growing in the cracks of rocks and sand. By the time the sun wassetting, Xie Lian finally spotted an ancient fortress in the horizon.The fortress was difficult to see because it was the colour of sand, camouflaged in theyellowness and becoming one with the desert. Some parts of the fortress walls werealso caved in and buried. As they approached, they found the fortress walls wereextremely high, towering at over hundreds of feet. It wasn't hard to imagine its pastmagnificence, how grand it must've been.Passing through the barbican, the four formally entered the Kingdom of BanYue.Past the gates was a wide and empty city street, dilapidated houses on each side;rotten beams, broken bricks strewn about. Out of habit, A-Zhao cautioned the others,"Please be careful and don't leave the group on your own." The other three didn't needthat reminder. The actual BanYue fortress was probably different than imagined, andNan Feng wondered, "This is the Kingdom of BanYue? It's smaller than a capital!""A desert country is only as big as the oasis it's built on." Xie Lian explained. "At itspeak, the population was only just about ten thousand. It's actually pretty lively in asmall fortress like this."Nan Feng continued to observe the surroundings, "It would probably only take a fewdays to siege a country of this size."Xie Lian shook his head, "Not necessarily. Don't underestimate the people of BanYue,Nan Feng. Even if their population wasn't more than ten thousand, they kept thenumber of soldiers at an average of four thousand. There were more males thanfemales; aside from the sick and old, and the farmers, most men joined the army.Besides, most of those soldiers were over nine feet tall, each more violent than the next.With a mace in hand, they would keep fighting even with swords through their chests.They're very hard to fight."A-Zhao was surprised and glanced at Xie Lian, "This young master seems to know alot."Xie Lian maintained his smile and was about to converse some more when Nan Fengposed a question, "What's that wall?"He was indicating a giant mud yellow building in the far distance.Building wasn't quite the right word to describe it, because it was a giant enclosureformed by four massive mud coloured walls without neither doors nor roofs. Each wallwas over a hundred feet, and on the very top there was a pole, with something tatteredattached, flying in the wind. It was a chilling image.Xie Lian turned his head and took a look, then said simply, "That's the Sinners Pit."By the sound of the name alone it was obvious it wasn't anything good. "Sinner's Pit?"Nan Feng frowned.Humming gravely, Xie Lian explained, "You can think of it as a jail. It's made specificallyfor imprisoning criminals.""How does it imprison if there isn't even a door? Throw them in from the top?" NanFeng wondered.Xie Lian was just hesitating in answering when San Lang suddenly spoke up, "They getthrown in. And the pit is full of poisonous snakes and starving beasts."Hearing him finally speak, Xie Lian felt relieved, but when he looked over to San Lang,the boy met his gaze and turned away. Nan Feng swore, "That's no fuckin' jail?! That'storture! How cruel! Those people of BanYue were either sick in the head or savagepsychos!"Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, "Not all of them. Some of them were quite endearing..."He paused suddenly, his brows stiffening, "Wait."The other three stopped, and Xie Lian pointed upwards, "Look at that pole up on the pit.Is that a person hanging from it?"In the dimming light of the setting sun and with such distance, it was difficult to see whatexactly was hung on the pole. But going closer and scrutinizing the shape, it becameobvious it was a scrawny little person in black, their clothes unkempt, dangling in thewind like a ragdoll."It's a person," San Lang confirmed.When A-Zhao saw the hanging person, his face paled. This was such a chilling andpeculiar display that even a calm individual like him couldn't bear the sight of it. Justthen, San Lang tilted hi head, and said in a low voice, "Someone's here."He wasn't the only one who noticed. Xie Lian also heard featherlight footstepsapproaching. The four immediately moved to hide in the many decaying houses on theroadside. Xie Lian and San Lang entered one house, and Nan Feng and A-Zhao hid inthe one across the street. Soon after, at the end of the broken street, revealed thewoman cultivator in white.The woman was dressed in a light white robe, a whisk in her arm, roaming along thestreet, peering here and there, eyes bright and observant, as if she was in her ownbackyard garden, and not the BanYue ruins. Strolling right after her was another womanclad in black, her hands behind her back.The black clad woman was beautiful yet cold, her eyes piercing, her raven hair long andfree, as if radiating chill from her very person. Although she was walking behind thewoman cultivator, no one would have mistaken her as a subordinate.It was the same two women they saw outside the abandoned inn at noon time.At the time they passed by too fast and Xie Lian couldn't make out the details of thelady in black, but he now saw clearly that she was indeed a woman. If the one in whitewas the Witch of BanYue, then who was the one in black?The witch swished her whisk leisurely and spoke, "Now where did those people go? Wewere careless for one moment and they all disappeared. Do I have to dig them out andkill them one by one?"As Xie Lian had thought, they were watched the moment they stepped foot into thefortress.The lady in black approached and stoically said, "You can call your friends to help youkill them."Those 'friends' must have meant the soldiers of BanYue. The Guoshi of BanYuelaughed, "Ha! I don't like calling other people. I like calling you. Aren't you glad?"The lady in black ignored her completely and said cooly, "There's nothing agreeableabout being called out by the likes of you for something like this. Just go."The Guoshi of BanYue arched her brows but still sped away. Listening to them itsounded as if they were close. They were no ordinary folks, so the lady in black musthave some renown. Someone who would be close to the Guoshi of BanYue? Amysterious fellow cultivator? Or was there a queen or general they didn't know about?Xie Lian was trying to connect the dots rapidly in his mind, but held his breath. Nowwasn't the time to be discovered. It looked like the guoshi had an unpredictablepersonality; if she should find them and excitedly summon her legendary, 9 feet tall,mace-wielding BanYue soldiers, then more time would be wasted fighting them.Twenty-four hours. One hour wasted was another hour they'd sink deeper into danger.But, there was no helping his bad luck; whatever he didn't want happening wouldalways happen. The lady in black was passing the house Xie Lian hid in, but stoppedmid step, and her piercing gaze came sweeping over the decayed shelter.The Guoshi of BanYue was already further ahead but noticed that she had stopped andcame back around. "Hey, are you not coming?"The lady in black didn't look at her. "You. Step back.""Alright." The guoshi responded obediently and actually retreated. The lady in black wasabout to raise her hand when suddenly, a loud rumble blasted from across the street!Across on the other side, it was the house Nan Feng and A-Zhao hid in that collapsed!The crumpling of one house led the entire strip to cave in. Dust and sand rolled into theair and clouded the whole street. Within, a black shadow leapt out, shot a streamingflame towards the gushi, but the lady in black rushed forward and blocked the guoshifrom harm. With her left hand still behind her, she flipped her right palm and easilyabsorbed the flames before rebounding it right back. The black shadow parried with herwhile escaping, and soon disappeared. The guoshi immediately chased after it, but thelady in black gave the house behind another sweeping look before following after theguosi.'Bless you, Nan Feng,' Xie Lian thankedmentally. All of this happened so quickly, butNan Feng had no doubt known somehow that they were about to get in trouble andcreated a diversion to lead enemies astray. He was the only one who leapt out, soA-Zhao must still be inside the collapsed house. After making sure the guoshi and thelady in black were indeed gone, Xie Lian dragged San Lang out of their hiding andcalled out, "A-Zhao are you still alive? Are you hurt anywhere?"A moment later, a sulky voice came from under the ruins, "...I'm fine."Xie Lian was relieved. "Thank goodness."Although Xie Lian trusted in Nan Feng's ability to control the crash and would no doubtleave enough space for A-Zhao to stay safe, it was still more reassuring to see it withhis own eyes. He raised one of the rotten beams with one hand, and after a momentA-Zhou emerged from under, covered in dust from head to toe. He patted himself downa bit and returned to his stoic expression."Now there's only three of us left," Xie Lian said. "Nan Feng is running a diversion so wemust move faster. Do you know where we can find the ShanYue fern, A-Zhao?"The young man shook his head and said, "Sorry. I only know where the fortress was,but I've never been here before, so I don't know where the fern can be found."San Lang spoke up, "They say the ShanYue fern prefers shade, is small, its roots thinbut leaves large, like a heart-shaped peach. Why don't you search near a largebuilding?""A large building?" Xie Lian contemplated.If they were talking big, there was no building larger than the palace. In the legend, itwas after the festivities that the queen picked a ShanYue leaf, which could mean thefern grew in the palace grounds.The three moved their gaze to afar, and to the centre of the fortress was indeed apalace built of brick and wood.From the distance, the palace had a grandiose aura, but from a closer look, it was not inmuch better shape than the dilapidated houses on the streets. Through the palacegates was a massive garden; perhaps in the past it wasn't a garden but a palacesquare, but with years of neglect, weeds had flourished and spread.Indeed, it wasn't sand beneath their feet but mud. This was most likely the last sign ofan oasis that once was; ShanYue could very well be growing amongst all the otherplants."Let's not waste time," Xie Lian said, "We only have twenty-four hours, but be careful ofthe scorpion snakes."A-Zhao and San Lang both hummed in acknowledgement and lowered their heads tostart searching through the plants. As they rummaged, it suddenly came to Xie Lian thatif the Witch of BanYue could control scorpion snakes, there should be an abundance ofthem slithering about in her territory. Ever since they entered the fortress they had notseen a single snake.He straightened up and was about to speak when one of his hands felt up a long object.Looking down again, he found that it was a human leg.