Ch.23: Shortened Distance; Adrift in Sandstorms 4
"WAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"Xie Lian took his hand back and was speechless.It came to him that every time he saw or touched anything thrilling in the dark, it wasalways the other party that'd scream first while he remained silent. But shouldn't it behim the one who should be the most scared?The plants in this garden were tall and thick; it was someone who was already hidingand crawling in the weeds whose leg Xie Lian felt. The moment they touched the legrecoiled and the weeds in front of him bustled, and someone called out, "Don't hit me!Don't hit me! Gege, it's me!"Xie Lian scrutinized the wild grass and saw that the one emerged crying "Don't hit me!"was the thick browed large eyed Tian Sheng. The boy in turn saw that Xie Lianrecognized himself and sighed a breath in relief. Xie Lian on the other hand wasn'trelieved, but became even more alert, and raised his good arm in a defensive stance. Incircumstances like these, it was usually more likely that this was an illusion created bysomething evil."Weren't you with the others back at the desert? How are you here? Are you really TianSheng?"Tian Sheng explained hurriedly, "It's me! I'm the real thing! I'm not the only one; threeother uncles also came. They're just inside. Look if you don't believe me!" He pointedtowards inside the palace, and sure enough, three men came running out and they wereindeed the men from the caravan. When they saw Xie Lian they froze in their steps andlooked awkward.Xie Lian puffed a breath before finally rising to his feet and dusted his white sleeves,"What's going on?"The merchants looked at each other and no one made any noise. It was Tian Shengwho spoke up after an awkward silence, "...Gege, after you guys left, Uncle Zheng'spain flared and was really miserable. We didn't know how much longer to expect you toreturn and were afraid that you guys might've gotten lost. A-Zhao-ge said to go straightto get to the Kingdom of BanYue, so we thought the more hands to help the better so..."So what he really meant is the merchants regretted letting them go after all. They wereafraid that Xie Lian would rob them of their guide after finding the ShanYue ferm forthemselves, so they sent people to come follow after them. Xie Lian imagined the FuYao couldn't hold them back, and was probably too lazy to hold them back. It wasimpossible to stop stubborn people who refused to listen to reason.Xie Lian felt rather exasperated, "You're all too reckless. Who knows what there mightbe, and what might happen in a fortress like this and you still came?"Tian Sheng himself knew that what they'd done made it obvious they didn't trust XieLian and felt bad, so he didn't make a sound while hiding in the weeds earlier, asawkward as it was. "Sorry, this concerned a man's life and we couldn't sit still, so..."No matter. This was a life and death situation and to be wary was entirely natural. To goso far in danger for an antidote also proved them to be worthy companions. Xie Liancouldn't berate them for this and sighed. "If you didn't bump into anything weird whenentering the territory then it's your good fortune. But how did you know to come to thepalace to search for the ShanYue fern?"Tian Sheng scratched his head and replied, "We didn't know where to start, but in thestory the red clothed gege told it was the queen who picked the leaves, right? Thequeen couldn't possibly leave the palace grounds, so I thought we'd come and try ourluck."Well this kid's mind could certain spin, and it spun right on target, Xie Lian thought. Justthen, San Lang spoke up from the side, "I found it."Xie Lian turned to see San Lang strode with his lithe long legs towards him. In his handswas a few turquoise leaves still with roots attached at the stems.The leaves were about the size of a baby's palm, in the shape of peaches, slightlypointy at the ends, and its roots thin and tiny. Without A-Zhao to confirm, Xie Lian knewwithout a doubt that it must be the ShanYue fern. Without waiting for Xie Lian to say aword, San Lang grabbed onto his wounded hand and lifted it.The hand that had been pricked was originally frighteningly swollen, but after San Langhad sucked out poison from the wound, the swelling had gone down significantlydespite it not fully cleaned out of venom. With Xie Lian's wrist in one hand and theShanYue fern in the other, San Lang closed his palm on the plant, and in a secondwhen he reopened his palm, the fern had been crushed into powder without himappearing to have exerted any force.San Lang gently and firmly rubbed the powder onto Xie Lian's hand, and he could feelstrings of coolness and relief on his skin. "Thanks, San Lang." Xie Lian said.San Lang didn't respond however, and after applying the powder he let go of Xie Lian'shand. Xie Lian couldn't help but think his attitude and this weird atmosphere betweenthe two of them was really peculiar, but didn't know how to ask about it without soundingweird. This wasn't something anyone else would notice either and couldn't possiblyunderstand."Gege,are you feeling better? Is the herb working?" Tian Sheng asked anxiously.Xie Lian snapped out of it and replied, "Much better. It should be the right herb."Hearing this, everyone became excited, "Hurry! Let's find more!" Soon, A-Zhao alsoraised a handful of leaves crying, "There's more here!"The ShanYue leaves in A-Zhao's hands were much bigger and fuller than the small,pitiful one San Lang had used earlier, but the shape and marks were all correct, soeveryone crowded over and happily exclaimed:"There's an entire field here!""So many!""Pick lots! Let's pick a bunch! Do you think we can sell this?"The merchants were busy picking the herbs noisily, and Xie Lian turned his head over,examined his hand for a moment, then tried to start a conversation with San Lang, "Yousearched the same area they're at now before, right? Didn't you find any at the time?"It was obvious Xie Lian was trying to force a conversation, and after having asked thequestion, he himself felt rather pathetic. But San Lang shook his head, "You shouldn'tuse the ferns over there.""Why? Xie Lian was curious.Before San Lang could answer, they heard someone scream "GO AWAY!"Everyone stopped, their movements halting."Who said that? Who's screaming?""It wasn't me?""It wasn't me either..."Then they heard that sharp voice again, "Go away! You're stepping on me..."Only then did the group notice – the voice came from next to their feet!In a flash, the crowd dispersed from that small field of fern. Seeing this, Xie Lian walkedover. He was used to being the one in the lead when it comes to those things. Heapproached the bush where the shrieking came from and stripped away the thickweeds. Everyone's breathing hitched.Under the weeds, in the mud, was a man's face.In a field such as this, a live human being was buried in the mud with only a faceshowing on the surface!It was a nightmarish picture, and a couple of merchants held onto each and screamed.Xie Lian comforted them in a skilled and practiced manner, "Don't panic. Everyone calmdown. It's only a face, nothing extraordinary. We all have faces, no?"That face chuckled, "Oh, did I scare you? Sigh. I frequently scare myself too."After reassuring the others, Xie Lian half crouched down and examined this face in themud.It's a man's face without a doubt; quite flat when he wasn't not smiling, but full ofwrinkles when he did. Xie Lian couldn't tell whether if he was old or young, and couldn'tsay whether if he was handsome or not. He couldn't make much out of this face, so hesimply asked directly, "Who are you?"The face in the mud asked back, "Who are you?""We're merchants passing through." Xie Lian replied.The mud face breathed a long sigh, "Merchant passersby. I used to be part of a caravantoo, but that was fifty-sixty years ago."The situation just became freakier.Was a man buried in the grounds of an old fortress ruin for over fifty to sixty years stillhuman?One of the merchants shakily asked in trepidation, "Then... then.. How did a senior likeyourself... come... here?"The mud face cleared his throat and screwed up his face. "I... I was captured by theBanYue soldiers. I accidentally entered the city. They caught me and buried me here,and made me the fertilizer for their ShanYue ferns..."No wonder the herbs in their hands were big and full! They were fed with live humans!The merchants immediately dropped all the plants in their hands, feeling as though theywere touching corpses. Xie Lian couldn't help but glance at his hand too, but heard SanLang say, "That one was fine."It dawned on Xie Lian. That was why even though San Lang had looked through thisfield earlier, he left it to pick a small, almost withered fern from elsewhere. He probablyalready saw what was in the soil but ignored the face completely. The herb he appliedon Xie Lian's hand was one he found in an area much more remote but clean ofcorruption."San Lang was considerate and careful, thank you, truly." Xie Lian said.San Lang shook his head but his face was still gloomy.Ever since Xie Lian had gotten stung by the scorpion snake, San Lang had behaved likethis. A couple days ago it was all gege this, gege that, but now he barely called himgege anymore. When they first met, San Lang had avoided his touch and seemed waryof contact with Xie Lian, but that seemed to have gone away after spending so muchtime together. Now, besides sucking poison and applying herbs, San Lang was onceagain avoiding touching him, and that made Xie Lian feel unsettled.Just then, the mud face began to speak again, "I haven't seen real people in so manyyears. Can... can you come closer and let me see you all properly?"The merchants all looked at each other, everyone thinking they best not do what heasked. After a while, seeing no one stepped forward, the mud face muttered, "What?What. You don't want to? Sigh... what a shame...""Why is it a shame?" Xie Lian turned over and asked."There's something that's been bothering me ever since you all arrived," The mud facesaid, "So I wanted to confirm with my own two eyes. I want to see each and everyone ofyou clearly to make sure.""To make sure of what?" Xie Lian pressed.The mud face replied, "There's someone amongst you I've seen before... fifty to sixtyyears ago."A shiver went down everyone's back and made their hairs stand.No mortal in present company should be aged over fifty. That means whoever thisperson was that was here then was not human.Xie Lian gave a sweeping look across everyone there, from A-Zhao to Tian Sheng.Some in shock, some in fear, some shaking in anxiety, some speechless and confused.Everyone's reaction was normal and within reason. If one must pinpoint the odd oneout, it'd be San Lang. But for him, no reaction was probably the normal reaction.Xie Lian turned back to the mud face, "Who is this person you speak of?"The face muscles of that mud face twitched and it gave an exceedingly freaky smile, asif it was using its all to make itself look more reliable, but it couldn't fully conceal thesinister smirk hiding beneath. He beckoned mysteriously, "You... come closer, and I'lltell you."Xie Lian believed him eighty percent the first time the mud face asked. The second timeXie Lian was less than inclined to. Who knows if this monster was only luring themcloser before committing some evil deed? There was no way Xie Lian would payattention to the likes of him.Xie Lian pushed himself off the ground about to walk away before the mud face raisedhis voice, "Do you really not want to know who it is? He will kill all of you."