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Ch.22: Shortened Distance; Adrift in Sandstorms 3The 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.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.”Ch.24: Dallying HuaLian; Night-Fall in Sinner’s PitThe more the mud face tried to entice them, the more Xie Lian became alarmed.“Everyone stand back, don’t go near him, and don’t listen to a single word he says.”The crowd broke up and hurriedly moved away. The mud face continued to chuckle,“There’s no need to be so mean. I’m a human too, I won’t hurt you.”‘Oh you’re mistaken, you look nothing like a human!’ Xie Lian thought.Just then, one of the merchants suddenly snuck back to the field, perhaps thinking hemust still bring back some herbs for the wounded. He bent down to pick up the bushelof ferns he dropped in fright earlier but the mud face spun and spotted him, a glint in itsspinning eyes.Oh no! Xie Lian thought, rushing towards the man, “Don’t pick that up! Come back!” Butit was too late. The mud face opened its mouth and a long, blood red thing slithered out.What a long tongue!Xie Lian grabbed the merchant by his collar and backed up, but the tongue that flew outwas freakishly lengthy and barged right into the merchant’s ear!Xie Lian felt the body in his hold convulse violently, the merchant’s limbs writhednonstop, and the man let out a short agonizing scream before falling to the ground. Thatlong tongue dug out a large chunk of something bloody from his ear and and brought itback to the mud face’s mouth. The mud face happily chewed and cackled, his laugh sodisturbingly loud it filled the entire palace
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