Chapter 8: Shortened Distance, Adrift in Sandstorms (Continuation)

“Sinner’s Pit?” Nan Feng frowned.

Humming gravely, Xie Lian explained, “You can think of it as a jail. It was made specifically for imprisoning criminals.”

“How does it imprison anyone if there isn’t even a door? Throw them in from the top?” Nan Feng wondered.

Xie Lian was hesitating to answer when San Lang suddenly spoke up.

“They do get thrown in. And the pit is full of venomous snakes and starving beasts.”

Xie Lian was relieved to finally hear him speak, 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’s torture! How cruel! The people of Banyue were either sick in the head or savage psychos!”

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead. “Not all of them were like that. Some were quite endearing…” He paused suddenly, his brows furrowing. “Wait.”

The other three stopped, and Xie Lian pointed upward.

“Look at that pole up above the pit. Is that a person hanging from it?”

In the dimming light of the setting sun and at such a distance, it was difficult to see what exactly was hanging from the pole. But going closer and scrutinizing the shape, it became obvious that it was a scrawny little person in black, their clothes unkempt, dangling in the wind like a ragdoll.

“It’s a person,” San Lang confirmed.

When A-Zhao saw the hanging person, his face paled. This was such a bizarre, anguishing display that even a calm individual like him couldn’t bear the sight of it.

Just then, San Lang tilted his head and said in a low voice, “Someone’s here.”

He wasn’t the only one who noticed. Xie Lian also heard featherlight footsteps approaching. The four immediately moved to hide in the many decaying houses on the roadside. Xie Lian and San Lang entered one house, and Nan Feng and A-Zhao hid in the one across the street. Soon after, at the end of the broken street, the female cultivator in white appeared.

The woman was dressed in a pale white robe with a whisk tucked in her arm, the garb of a Daoist priestess. She roamed along the street, peering here and there. Her eyes were bright and observant, as if she were in her own backyard garden and not the Banyue ruins. Strolling right behind her was another woman clad in black, her hands clasped behind her back.

The black-clad woman was beautiful yet cold. Her eyes were piercing, her raven hair long and free, and it was like she radiated chill from her very person. Although she was walking behind the female cultivator, no one would mistake her for a subordinate.

These were the same two they’d seen outside the abandoned inn at noon.

At that time, they had passed by too fast and Xie Lian couldn’t make out the details of the lady in black, but he now saw clearly that she was indeed a woman. If the one in white was the state preceptor of Banyue, who was the one in black?

The state preceptor swished her whisk leisurely and spoke, “Now where did they go? We were careless for one moment and they all disappeared. Do I have to dig them out and kill them one by one?”

Just as Xie Lian thought, they were being watched from the moment they stepped foot into the city.

The lady in black approached and stoically said, “You can call your friends to help you kill them.”

By “friends,” she must have meant the soldiers of Banyue.

The state preceptor of Banyue laughed. “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 coolly, “There’s nothing agreeable about being called out by the likes of you for something like this. Just go.”

The state preceptor of Banyue arched her brows but still sped away. Listening to them, it sounded as if they were close. They were no ordinary folks, so the lady in black must be someone of renown. Someone who would be close to the state preceptor of Banyue? A mysterious 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 he held his breath. Now wasn’t the time to be discovered. It looked like the state preceptor had an unpredictable personality; if she should find them and excitedly summon her legendary, nine foot tall, mace-wielding Banyue soldiers, 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 to happen would always happen. The lady in black was passing the house Xie Lian hid in, but stopped mid-step, and her piercing gaze swept over the decayed shelter.

The state preceptor of Banyue was already farther ahead, but she noticed that her companion had stopped and came back around.

“Hey, are you coming?”

The lady in black didn’t look at her. “You. Step back.”

“All right,” the state preceptor responded obediently and actually retreated. The lady in black was about to raise her hand when suddenly, a loud rumble blasted from across the street!

On the other side, the house Nan Feng and A-Zhao had hidden in had collapsed! The crumbling of one house led the entire row to cave in. Dust and sand rolled into the air and clouded the whole street. Within that cloud, a black shadow leapt out and shot a streaming flame toward the state preceptor, but the lady in black rushed forward and shielded her from harm. With her left hand still behind her, she flipped her right palm and easily absorbed the flames before reflecting them right back. The black shadow parried her while escaping and soon disappeared. The state preceptor immediately chased after that shadow, but the lady in black gave the house behind another sweeping look before following.

Bless you, Nan Feng, Xie Lian thanked mentally.

Everything happened so quickly but Nan Feng had no doubt known somehow that they were about to be in trouble and created a diversion to lead their enemies astray. He was the only one who leapt out, so A-Zhao must still be inside the collapsed house. After making sure the state preceptor and the lady in black were indeed gone, Xie Lian dragged San Lang out of their hiding spot and called out.

“A-Zhao, are you still alive? Are you hurt anywhere?”

A moment later, a muffled voice came from under the ruins. “…I’m fine.”

Xie Lian was relieved. “Thank goodness.”

Although Xie Lian trusted Nan Feng’s ability to control the crash and that he would no doubt leave enough space for A-Zhao to stay safe, it was still more reassuring to see it with his own eyes. He raised one of the rotten beams with one hand, and after a moment, A-Zhao emerged from underneath, covered in dust from head to toe. He brushed himself off a bit and returned to his stoic expression.

“Now there are only three of us left,” Xie Lian said. “Nan Feng is creating a diversion, so we must 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 city is, 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. It is small, its roots thin, but its leaves are big, like a heart-shaped peach. Why not search near a large building?”

“A large building?” Xie Lian contemplated.

If they were talking big, there was no building larger than the palace. In the legend, it was after the festivities that the queen picked a shanyue leaf, which could mean the fern grew on the palace grounds.

The three moved their gaze afar, and in the center of the city there was indeed a palace built of brick and wood.

From a distance, the palace had a grandiose aura, but upon a closer look, it was not in much better shape than the dilapidated houses on the streets. Through the palace gates there was a massive garden; perhaps in the past it wasn’t a garden but a palace square. With years of neglect, weeds had flourished and spread.

Indeed, it wasn’t sand beneath their feet now but mud. This was most likely the last sign of the oasis that once was. And the shanyue fern could very well be growing among all the other plants.

“Let’s not waste time,” Xie Lian said. “We only have twenty-four hours. But keep an eye out for scorpion-snakes.”

A-Zhao and San Lang both hummed in acknowledgment and lowered their heads to start searching through the plants. As they rummaged, it suddenly occurred to Xie Lian that, if the state preceptor of Banyue could control scorpion-snakes, there should be an abundance of them slithering about in her territory. Ever since they entered the city, they had not seen a single snake.

He straightened up and was about to speak when one of his hands fell on a long object.

Looking down again, he found that it was a human leg.

“Waaaaaaaah!!”

Xie Lian withdrew his hand and was struck speechless.

It occurred to him that every time he was faced with some horrifying incident, or saw or touched anything frightening in the dark, it was always the other party who would scream before he could say anything. But shouldn’t it be the other way around?

The plants in this garden were tall and thick, and whoever’s leg Xie Lian had touched was someone who had already been hiding and crawling in the weeds. The moment they touched, the leg recoiled, and the weeds in front of him rustled.

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 who emerged crying “don’t hit me!” was thick-browed, large-eyed Tian Sheng. The boy in turn saw that Xie Lian recognized him and sighed a breath of relief. Xie Lian, on the other hand, wasn’t relieved; rather, he became even more alarmed and raised his good arm in a defensive stance. In circumstances like these, it was more likely that this was an illusion created by something evil.

“Weren’t you with the others back in the desert? How are you here? Are you really Tian Sheng?”

Tian Sheng explained hurriedly, “It’s me! I’m the real thing! I’m not the only one; three other uncles also came. They’re just inside. Look if you don’t believe me!”

He pointed toward the inside of the palace, and sure enough, three men came running out; they were indeed the men from the caravan. When they saw Xie Lian, they froze in their dash and looked awkward.

Xie Lian puffed out a breath before finally rising to his feet and dusting off his white sleeves. “What’s going on?”

The merchants looked at each other and no one made any noise. It was Tian Sheng who spoke up after an awkward silence.

“…Gege, after you guys left, Uncle Zheng’s pain flared up, and he was really miserable. We didn’t know how much longer we should wait for you to return, and we were afraid that you guys might’ve gotten lost. A-Zhao-ge said to go straight to get to the Kingdom of Banyue, so we thought the more hands to help the better, so…”

So what he really meant was that the merchants regretted letting them go after all. They were afraid that Xie Lian and company would rob them of their guide after finding the shanyue fern for themselves, so they sent people to come follow them. Xie Lian imagined that Fu Yao couldn’t persuade them otherwise and was probably also too lazy to hold them back. It was impossible to stop stubborn people who refused to listen to reason.

Xie Lian felt rather exasperated. “You’re all too reckless. Who knows what there might be, and what might happen, in a place like this? And you still came?”

Tian Sheng himself knew that what they’d done made it obvious they didn’t trust Xie Lian, and he felt bad. This was why he didn’t make a sound while hiding in the weeds earlier, as awkward as it was.

“Sorry, this concerns a man’s life, so we couldn’t sit still…”

No matter. This was a life-or-death situation, and to be wary was entirely natural. To go so far into danger for an antidote also proved that they were worthy companions. Xie Lian couldn’t continue to scold them for this and sighed.

“If you didn’t bump into anything weird when entering the territory, then it’s your good fortune. But how did you know to come to the palace to search for the shanyue fern?”

Tian Sheng scratched his head and replied, “We didn’t know where to start, but in the story the red-clothed gege told, it was the queen who picked the leaves, right? The queen couldn’t possibly leave the palace grounds, so I thought we’d come here and try our luck.”

Well, this child’s mind could certainly spin, and it spun right on target, Xie Lian thought.

Just then, San Lang spoke up from the side. “I found it.”

Xie Lian turned to see San Lang striding with his long, lithe legs toward him. In his hands were a few turquoise-colored leaves with roots still attached at the stems.

The leaves were about the size of a baby’s palm and in the shape of peaches, slightly pointy at the ends, with thin, tiny roots. Even without A-Zhao to confirm, Xie Lian knew without a doubt that this must be the shanyue fern. Without waiting for Xie Lian to say a word, San Lang grabbed his wounded hand and lifted it.

The hand that was stung was originally frighteningly swollen, but after San Lang sucked the poison from the wound, the swelling had gone down significantly despite it not being fully cleared of the venom. With Xie Lian’s wrist in one hand and the shanyue fern in the other, San Lang closed his palm on the plant. After only a second, he reopened his palm and the fern was crushed into powder without him appearing to exert any force.

San Lang gently but firmly rubbed the powder onto Xie Lian’s hand, and he could feel coolness and relief stinging 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’s hand. Xie Lian couldn’t help but think that the air between the two of them now was really strange, but he didn’t know how to ask about it without sounding odd. This wasn’t something anyone else would notice either, or something they could possibly understand.

“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 also raised a handful of leaves, crying out, “There’s more here!”

The shanyue leaves in A-Zhao’s hands were much bigger and fuller than the small, pitiful one San Lang used earlier, but the shape and markings were all correct, so everyone 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?”

Noisily, the merchants busied themselves picking the herbs. Xie Lian turned his head to examine his hand for a moment, then tried to start a conversation with San Lang.

“You also searched the same area they’re in now, right? Didn’t you find any there?”

It was obvious Xie Lian was trying to force a conversation, and after asking the question, he felt that he was rather pathetic. But San Lang shook his head.

“You shouldn’t use the ferns over there.”

“Why?” Xie Lian wondered curiously.

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 near their feet!

In a flash, the crowd retreated from that field of ferns. Seeing this, Xie Lian walked over. He was used to being the one in the lead when it came to these things. He approached the bush where the shrieking had come from and stripped away the thick weeds. Everyone’s breathing hitched.

Under the weeds, in the mud, there was a man’s face.

In this field, there was unbelievably a live human being buried in the mud, with only his face showing above the surface!

It was a nightmarish sight, truly incomparably creepy. A couple of merchants screamed in fright, holding onto each other.

Xie Lian once again comforted them in a skilled and practiced manner: “Don’t panic. Everyone calm down. It’s only a face, nothing extraordinary. We all have faces, no?”

That face chuckled. “Oh, did I scare you? Hahhh, I frequently scare myself too.”

After reassuring the others, Xie Lian half-crouched and examined this face in the mud.

It was a man’s face, quite flat when he wasn’t smiling but extremely wrinkled when he was. Xie Lian couldn’t tell whether he was old or young and couldn’t say whether he was handsome or not. He couldn’t make much out of this face at all, so he simply 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 caravan too, but that was fifty, maybe sixty years ago.”

The situation just got freakier.

Was a man buried in the grounds of an old city ruin for fifty or sixty years still human?

One of the merchants shakily asked in trepidation, “Then…then…how did a senior like yourself…get…here?”

The mud face cleared his throat and screwed up his face. “I…I was captured by the Banyue 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 they were touching corpses.

Xie Lian couldn’t help but glance at his hand too but heard San Lang say, “That one was fine.”

No wonder that, even though San Lang had looked through that field earlier, he left it to pick a small, almost withered fern from elsewhere. He probably saw what was in the soil and guessed that the herbs were grown with human fertilizer. So he ignored the lot completely, and turned around and walked away until he found normally-grown herbs in a remote area that was clean of corruption. Only after finding those herbs did he apply them to Xie Lian’s hand.

“San Lang was considerate and careful. Thank you, truly,” Xie Lian said.

San Lang nodded his head, but his face was still gloomy.

Ever since Xie Lian was stung by the scorpion-snake, San Lang had behaved like this. A couple of days ago it was all “gege this, gege that,” but now he hardly called him gege anymore. Other than sucking poison and applying herbs, San Lang seemed to be avoiding bodily contact with him as much as possible, and this thoroughly puzzled Xie Lian. Xie Lian couldn’t grasp what he was thinking, and it was making him feel unsettled.

Just then, the mud face began to speak again. “I haven’t seen real people in so many years. 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 he asked. After a while, seeing no one stepped forward, the mud face muttered, “What? What. You don’t want to? Hahhh… What a shame…”

“Why is it a shame?” Xie Lian turned and asked.

“There’s something that’s been bothering me ever since you all arrived,” the mud face said. “So I wanted to confirm with my own two eyes, which is why I asked you to stand closer for me to see. I want to see each and every one of you clearly to make sure.”

“To make sure of what?” Xie Lian pressed.

The mud face cackled, “Don’t be scared if I tell you…there’s someone among you I’ve met before, fifty years ago.”

Hair raised on everyone’s necks at that statement.

If someone met this mud face fifty years ago, they’d be at least sixty or seventy by now. But among the people present, the oldest definitely didn’t look older than forty, so how was that possible?

Unless…that person wasn’t really a person!

Xie Lian gave a sweeping look across everyone’s faces, from A-Zhao to Tian Sheng. Some were in shock, some stricken with fear, some shaking with anxiety, some speechless and confused. Everyone’s reaction was normal and within reason. If one had to pick the odd one out, 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 facial muscles of that mud face twitched and it gave an exceedingly freaky smile, as if it was giving its all to make itself look more reliable, but it couldn’t fully conceal the sinister smirk hiding beneath. He beckoned mysteriously.

“You…come closer, and I’ll tell you.”

Xie Lian believed him eighty percent the first time the mud face asked, but after this, only fifty percent.

Who knew if this monster was only luring them closer to commit some evil deed?

Of course Xie Lian wouldn’t listen to him. He got to his feet and was about to walk away when the mud face raised his voice.

“Do you really not want to know who it is? He will kill all of you, the same way he killed us!

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