Sure enough, the red shadow on the ground suddenly moved much closer to him, and soon it was within his reach.

Sanlang was also caught in the storm!

Xie Lian shouted at him, “Don’t panic!” He swallowed another large mouthful of sand as soon as he opened his mouth. But by now, he had gotten used to it. Although he shouted at Sanlang not to panic, in fact, he also felt that Sanlang would not panic at all. Sure enough, after the young man was swept into the air, Ruo Xie quickly retracted and closed the distance between them. Xie Lian could see clearly that there was no panic on his face. It was as if he could be safely swept into the dust in an instant if he was given a book. Xie Lian even suspected that he had been swept up on purpose. Ruo Xie wrapped his hands around their waists several times and tied them together. Xie Lian said again, “Go again! Don’t catch anyone this time!”

Ruo Xie flew out again. This time, he caught... Nan Feng and Fu Yao!

Xie Lian, exhausted both physically and mentally, said to Ruo Xie, "I told you not to arrest anyone, but this 'person' doesn't mean a person in the narrow sense... Okay." He shouted to the crowd below, "Nanfeng Fuyao! Hold on! Please hold on!"

Nanfeng and Fuyao on the ground naturally wanted to hold on. They each stood in their own place, but the wind and sand were too strong and fierce. After a while, not surprisingly, two more black shadows were also swept into the tornado.

Now, all four of them were spinning rapidly in the air. Amidst the dark yellow sky and earth, the tornado resembled a crooked pillar of sand, propping up the sky. A white silk thread connected four figures, spinning endlessly within this sand pillar, spinning faster and faster, rising higher and higher. Xie Lian ate sand as he asked, "Why are you guys up here too?"

All they saw was sand, and all they heard was wind. They had no choice but to yell at each other at the top of their lungs. Fuyao ate the sand and spat, "Then I'll ask you, silly Bai Ling!"

Xie Lian grabbed hold of that "silly white silk" with both hands and said helplessly, "Ruo Xie, Ruo Xie, now the four of us are relying on you. This time, you must not catch the wrong person again. Go!"

With a tragic heart, he let go again. Nan Feng roared, "Don't count on this thing! Think of another way!" At this moment, Xie Lian felt his hand tighten again. With a perk, he said, "Wait, give it one more chance! It's caught it again!"

Fuyao also shouted, "Don't trap another passerby! Let him go!"

Xie Lian was also incredibly worried about this. He tugged at Ruo Xie, but the other end didn't budge. He felt relieved and said, "No! That end is very heavy and stable!" He added, "Put it away!"

Braving the raging tornado, Ruo Xie quickly shortened his reach. Four figures quickly retreated from the wind column. Gradually, amidst the swirling yellow sand, Xie Lian could discern a semicircular black outline below. It was enormous, roughly the size of a small temple. Ruo Xie had trapped this object at the other end. As they neared the ground, he finally saw it clearly: a massive rock.

In this level of wind and sand, this sandstone seems like a solid and silent fortress, undoubtedly an excellent shelter from the wind.

They hadn't seen a rock like this on their way here, and they wondered how far that strange tornado had carried them. As soon as the four of them landed, they immediately circled around to the leeward side of the rock. Once there, Xie Lian's heart brightened, and he exclaimed, "This is truly a blessing from Heaven."

It turned out that on the leeward side of the rock lay a hole. It was wide enough for two doors, slightly shorter than one, but still wide enough for an adult to enter by bending down. The entrance was irregular and crooked, but it didn't look naturally formed either; it was probably haphazardly carved. Upon entering, Xie Lian discovered that the rock had been practically hollowed out. The space inside seemed quite large, but rather dark. He didn't explore much, but sat down where the light could reach him, brushed off the yellow sand from Ruo Xie, and rewound his wrist.

Nanfeng and Fuyao were both spitting out sand, so much so that it had gotten into their mouths, noses, eyes, and ears, not to mention the wrinkles of their clothes. When they took them off and shook them out, they were filled with fine, gravelly sand. Of the four, Sanlang seemed the most unscathed. He bent down and came in, then politely brushed off a bit of dust from his red clothes, and it was gone. Aside from his black hair being slightly disheveled and awry, his relaxed demeanor remained unaffected. However, his hair had already been tied askew by Xie Lian, so a slight skewing wouldn't have mattered much.

Nanfeng wiped his face twice and burst into a curse. Xie Lian poured the sand out of his hat and said, "Hey, I never thought you would be blown up into the sky. Why didn't you use the thousand-pound weight?"

Nan Feng then stopped cursing and said, "I used it! It's useless."

Fuyao shook her outer robe fiercely and said viciously, "Where do you think this place is? This is a desolate desert in the far northwest, not my general's home ground."

Nan Feng said, "To the north is the territory of the two generals of the Pei family, and to the west is the territory of Quan Yizhen. Within a radius of hundreds of miles, there is not a single Nanyang Temple to be found."

There's a saying in the mortal world: A powerful dragon cannot defeat a local snake. Therefore, as the two of them, the deputy priests of the Southeastern and Southwestern Martial Gods, casting spells on territory that didn't belong to them, their magical powers were inevitably limited. Xie Lian observed their expressions, which were both deeply frustrated and annoyed. It seemed this was the first time they'd been blown up into the sky by a strong wind, spinning around in circles, unable to land. He said, "You've suffered so much."

Sanlang sat down on the ground beside him, his chin resting on his hand, and said, "Shall we just wait here for the sandstorm to pass?"

Xie Lian turned to him and said, “It seems this is the only way now. No matter how strong the tornado is, it can’t possibly carry such a large rock into the sky.”

Sanlang said, "Just as you said before, this sandstorm is indeed very strange."

Xie Lian suddenly thought of something and said, "Sanlang, I have a question."

Sanlang said, "Just ask."

Xie Lian asked, “Is the Ban Yue Imperial Preceptor a man or a woman?”

Sanlang said, "Didn't I tell you? Woman."

Xie Lian thought to himself, "That's exactly what happened," he said, "We stopped at that abandoned building earlier. Didn't we see two people walking past it? The one in white was a nun dressed in white."

Fuyao asked suspiciously, "Looking at the person's clothes, it's hard to tell whether it's a man or a woman. He's also taller than an average woman. Did you really see it clearly?"

Xie Lian said, “I saw it clearly, there’s no mistake. So I was wondering if that was Imperial Preceptor Ban Yue.”

At the time, he'd said these two weren't ordinary people because their footwork was so light and unusual, it was beyond the reach of ordinary people. He hadn't thought of them as demonic, but now he couldn't help but consider it. After a moment's thought, Nanfeng said, "It's possible. But she's accompanied by a man in black, who could that be?"

Xie Lian said, "It's hard to say, but that person is faster than her and his skills are definitely not inferior to hers. He can't be her prey. It must be one of her superiors, friends, or subordinates."

Fuyao asked, "Could it be the other of the two demon masters, the Imperial Master Fangxin?"

Xie Lian said, "Well, I think the reason the two demon masters were called together is simply because the things they were rumored to have done were similar in nature, both very evil, so they put them together to make an even number easier to remember, just like the Four Realms of Ascension and the Four Pests of the Ghost Realm. Even if there weren't enough, they had to make it four."

Hearing this, San Lang laughed out loud again. Xie Lian looked at him and he said, "It's okay. I just think what you said makes a lot of sense. Please continue."

Xie Lian continued, "Actually, they probably don't have any connection. I've heard a bit about this Imperial Preceptor Fangxin. He was the Imperial Preceptor of Yong'an State, and it seems he was born several hundred years apart from Imperial Preceptor Banyue."

Fuyao seemed to find this unreasonable and said, "You don't know the Four Pests of the Ghost Realm, but you know the Imperial Preceptor of the Yong'an Kingdom in the human world?"

Xie Lian said, “Sometimes, if a rag collector passes by, I’ll get a little understanding. But I don’t go to the ghost world to collect rags, so of course I don’t know much about them.”

At this moment, the wind outside the cave died down a bit. Nanfeng stood a little outside, patted the rock, examined its material, and after a moment of concentration, he lowered his head and asked, "Why was there such a hole dug out of this rock?"

He probably thought the presence of such a rock here was suspicious. Xie Lian wasn't surprised, saying, "There are many rocks with holes dug like this. In the past, the Ban Yue people would occasionally dig holes like this in rocks to avoid the wind and sand when they couldn't get home in time for grazing, or to temporarily shelter overnight. Some holes weren't dug, but blasted."

Nan Feng asked in confusion, "How do you graze in the desert?"

Xie Lian smiled and said, “Two hundred years ago, this place wasn’t entirely desert. There was an oasis.”

At this time, Sanlang said: "Brother."

Xie Lian turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

Sanlang pointed and said, "There seems to be something written on the stone you're sitting on."

"What?" Xie Lian lowered his head, then stood up. He realized he was sitting on a stone slab. Wiping off the dust, he saw words on the slab, though they were carved shallowly, making the writing not very visible. Half the slab was still buried in the sand, and the writing stretched upwards, fading into the darkness.

Since there were words on it, I definitely had to read them. Xie Lian said, "I'm running low on mana. Could someone hold up a palm flame to help illuminate it for me? Thank you very much."

Nanfeng snapped his fingers, and instantly, a ball of flame emerged from his palm. Xie Lian glanced at Sanlang unintentionally, but he wasn't surprised. After all, he had seen the game of shrinking the earth by a thousand miles. Xie Lian felt that no matter what the two sides showed each other in the future, they wouldn't be surprised. Nanfeng moved his palm to where Xie Lian pointed, and the flame illuminated the words engraved on the stone slab. The words were very strange, like a child's random scribbles, slightly tilted. Nanfeng asked, "What is written on this?"

Sanlang said, "Of course it's the writing of Banyue Country."

Xie Lian said, “Nanfeng is probably asking what it means. Let me take a look.”

He cleared the sand and gravel from the slab and came to the top row. The characters were particularly large, seemingly the title. These symbols appeared repeatedly on the slab. Fuyao also raised a palm flame and asked, "Can you read Banyuewen?"

Xie Lian said, “To be honest, I once collected scrap in the Ban Yue Kingdom.”

“…”

Xie Lian sensed a moment of silence, looked up, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Fuyao hummed, "I'm just curious, how many other places have you collected junk from?"

Xie Lian smiled, lowered his head, and continued to read. After a moment, he suddenly said two words:

"General."

Nanfeng and Fuyao asked at the same time: "What?"

Xie Lian looked up and said, "I'm saying, the words written at the top of this slate are 'General.'" He paused, then added, "However, there's another character after 'General.' However, I'm not entirely sure what that last character means."

Nan Feng seemed relieved and said, "Then you can take another look."

Xie Lian nodded. Nan Feng, holding the flame in his palm, moved his hand slightly forward. With this movement, Xie Lian suddenly felt something was amiss. Something seemed to be appearing at the edge of his vision.

He placed his hands on the stone slab engraved with words and slowly raised his head.

Above the stone slab, the dim flames illuminated a stiff human face in the darkness. Its eyes looked down, staring back at him.

“Aa ...

·

It was not them who screamed, but the human face with stiff muscles.

Nanfeng also held up the palm flame with his other hand, and the flames in his hands suddenly jumped high, finally illuminating the entire interior of the cave.

The flames just now illuminated a person who had been hiding in the darkness. At this moment, he rolled and crawled to the side and retreated to the edge of the deep cave. At that edge, there were already seven or eight people huddled together, shivering.

Nan Feng shouted, "Who are you?!"

The roar filled the entire cavern with a humming sound. Xie Lian's ears, already aching from the previous scream, had no choice but to cover them. The wind and sand were so strong, the noise drowned out their ears. They could barely hear each other even if they whispered. After entering the cave, they first discussed Imperial Master Ban Yue, then concentrated on deciphering the stone tablet, completely unaware that others were hiding silently in the cave. The seven or eight people trembled for a long moment, and then an old man around fifty years old spoke, "We are a passing caravan, ordinary merchants. My name is Zheng. The wind and sand are so strong that we can't move on, so we're taking shelter here."

He was the calmest of the group and seemed to be the leader. Nan Feng asked again, "If you're just an ordinary merchant passing through, why are you hiding here so furtively?"

The old man surnamed Zheng was about to speak when a teenager of about seventeen or eighteen beside him shouted, "We weren't sneaking around to begin with. You suddenly barged in, so who knew if you were good or bad? Then we vaguely heard you talking about the Ban Yue Imperial Master, the ghost world, and even setting fire to things. We thought you were Ban Yue soldiers, out on patrol to capture someone and eat them. How could we dare to say anything?"

The old man seemed to be afraid that his words would offend the other party and anger him, so he said, "Tian Sheng, don't talk nonsense."

The young man, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes, had a sturdy build. He immediately shut up after being told off by his elders. Xie Lian's ear finally stopped hurting. He lowered his hand and said kindly, "It was just a misunderstanding. Just a misunderstanding. No need to be so nervous, everyone. Relax a little."

After a pause, he continued, "Of course, we're not Ban Yue soldiers. I'm the abbot of a Taoist temple, and these people are all from my temple... We've all learned the art of Qi Men Dun Jia. You're just ordinary businessmen, and we're just ordinary Taoists. We have no ill intentions. We're just both seeking shelter from the storm and happened to end up in the same cave."

His gentle voice, spoken slowly and with such a calming effect, was quite soothing. After repeated explanations and assurances, the expressions of the merchants finally calmed down.

Unexpectedly, Sanlang suddenly laughed and said, "No, I think these businessmen are not ordinary, they are modest."

Everyone looked at him, puzzled. Sanlang said, "Isn't it said that 'every time someone passes through the Banyue Pass, more than half of the people disappear'? Knowing this rumor, you still dared to pass through here, which is quite courageous. How can you say it's ordinary?"

Hearing this, Old Man Zheng said, "Young man, that's not necessarily true. In fact, there have been some caravans that passed through here, and they left peacefully."

Sanlang said, "Oh?"

Old Man Zheng said, "As long as we find the right person to lead the way and don't stray into the former territory of the Half Moon Kingdom, we'll be fine. So, this time we crossed the border, we specially found a local to lead the way."

The young man said naturally, "Yes! It still depends on the guide. We are all very grateful to Brother Zhao for this journey. He helped us avoid a lot of quicksand. When he saw the wind start to blow, he quickly took us to find a place to hide. Otherwise, we might be buried alive by now."

Xie Lian glanced at Ah Zhao, the man leading the way. He was quite young, about twenty years old, with a handsome, reserved face. He showed no reaction to the compliments, only mumbling, "It's nothing. It's all my duty. I hope this storm has passed and everyone's camels and goods are alright."

"It will be fine!"

This group of businessmen were very optimistic, but Xie Lian always felt that things were not as simple as they thought.

If they hadn't strayed into the remains of the Half Moon Kingdom, there wouldn't have been any problems. So, were all those caravans that "missed more than half" simply unwilling to believe in evil and go to their deaths? It might be one or two caravans that went to their deaths, but given the tragic examples of the past, why would anyone else take the risk so frequently?

He thought for a moment and whispered to Nanfeng Fuyao, "This happened suddenly. After this sandstorm passes, we should first ensure the safety of these people and then go to the former site of Banyue Nation to investigate."

Nanfeng and Fuyao naturally wouldn't object. So, Xie Lian continued to look down at the words on the stone tablet. He had just recognized the two characters for "General," but that was because the word was still quite common, and it had been two hundred years since he arrived in Banyue Country. Even if he had learned it thoroughly then, after two hundred years, he would have forgotten everything. To suddenly pick it up now would require some time and patience. At this time, Sanlang said, "General's Tomb."

As soon as he said that, Xie Lian remembered. Didn’t the last character mean “tomb, tomb, xue”?

He turned around and asked, "Sanlang, do you also know Banyuewen?"

San Lang smiled and said, "Not many. I just got to know a few out of interest."

Xie Lian was already used to him saying that. "Tomb" wasn't a common word, so if he really just "knew a few," how could he have just known this one? Since he'd said "not many," that meant "ask whatever you want." He smiled and said, "Excellent! Perhaps the ones you know are the ones I don't. Come over, and we'll take a look together."

He waved gently, and Sanlang passed over. Nanfeng and Fuyao stood by, holding palm flames to illuminate the two of them. Xie Lian's fingers slowly brushed over the words on the stele, and he and Sanlang discussed them in low voices, reading them softly. As they read, his eyes grew more and more curious, and finally calmed down. The young man in the caravan was young after all, and young people are curious. Plus, after a few casual exchanges, he thought they were familiar with each other and asked, "Brothers, what exactly is written on this stone tablet?"

Xie Lian came back to his senses and replied, "This stone tablet is a stele. Inscribed on it is the life story of a general."

Tiansheng said, "A general from the Banyue Kingdom?"

Sanlang said: "No, he is a general from the Central Plains."

Nan Feng asked suspiciously, "A general from the Central Plains? Then why would the people of Banyue Kingdom build a tomb for him? Aren't there constant wars between the two countries?"

Sanlang said, "This general is quite peculiar. Although the slabs of stone refer to him as a general throughout, he is actually only a lieutenant. Moreover, at first, he commanded a hundred men, then seventy, and then fifty."

“…”

"In short, I was demoted all the way."

This experience of repeated demotion, until there was nothing left to degrade, was incredibly familiar. Xie Lian felt two gazes fixed on him, but he pretended not to notice and continued to decipher the words on the slate. At this point, Ting Tiansheng asked, puzzled, "How can officials continue to decline like this? As long as they haven't made any major mistakes, they won't be promoted, but they won't be demoted either. How many failures does it take to achieve this?"

“…”

Xie Lian clenched his right fist, brought it to his mouth, coughed lightly, and said seriously, "My dear friend, it's not uncommon for officials to become lower-ranked as they advance in rank."

"ah?"

San Lang laughed and said, "Indeed, it happens often."

After a pause, he continued, "The reason this captain's rank keeps falling isn't because he's weak or unfit for the job, but rather because the relationship between the two countries isn't good. On the battlefield, he's not only ineffective, but often becomes a hindrance."

Nan Feng said, "What do you mean by being in the way?"

Sanlang said, "Not only do we stop the enemy from killing our own people, we also stop our own people from killing the enemy's people. Every time we stop them, we will be demoted one level."

As he spoke leisurely, the seven or eight merchants gradually gathered around, listening to his story with considerable concentration, offering their opinions as they went along. Tiansheng said, "I don't think the captain is wrong. Soldiers fighting is fine, but not killing civilians is fine, right?"

"Although it's a bit of blind kindness and inappropriate for a soldier of a country to do this, generally speaking, there's nothing wrong with it."

"Yes, after all, it's about saving people, not harming them."

Xie Lian smiled slightly after hearing this.

The merchants before him were neither commoners from the borderlands nor the ancients of two hundred years ago. Now that the Half Moon Kingdom had been reduced to ashes, people could naturally downplay their actions, even offer praise. Even if they disagreed, they could probably understand. But back then, the evaluation of such behavior was definitely not something that could be summed up with a simple "blind kindness."

Among the group, only Ah Zhao, perhaps because he was a local and had a better understanding, said, "Today is today, and two hundred years ago was two hundred years ago. The hatred between the two countries at that time was so deep that it is completely unimaginable to people today. This captain was only demoted, which is already very lucky."

Fuyao sneered and said, "How ridiculous."

Xie Lian could almost guess what he was about to say and rubbed his brow. Sure enough, the firelight illuminated Fuyao's gloomy face. He said, "One should fulfill one's duties. As a soldier, one should always remember to defend one's country and bravely fight on the front lines. When two countries go to war, casualties are inevitable. Such soft-heartedness will only make one's own comrades hate him and the enemy soldiers think he is ridiculous. No one will thank him."

His words made perfect sense, and so the cave fell silent. Fuyao added calmly, "In the end, people like this will only have one fate—death. Either on the battlefield, or at the hands of their own people."

After a moment of silence, Xie Lian broke it, saying, "You guessed right. In the end, he did die on the battlefield."

Tiansheng was shocked and asked, "Ah! How did he die?"

After a moment's deliberation, Xie Lian finally spoke, "It says that during a battle, someone's boot laces weren't tied tightly, so they stepped on them and fell..."

Everyone in the cave had originally thought that the general must have died a tragic death, so they were all stunned when they heard this, wondering what kind of death he had. Then they burst into laughter: "Hahahahahahaha..."

"...he was hacked to death by the murderous soldiers on both sides."

“Hahahahahahahaha…”

Sanlang raised an eyebrow and said, "Is it funny?"

Xie Lian also said, "Ahem. Yeah, it's pretty tragic. Everyone, please show some sympathy and stop laughing. Since he's in someone else's tomb, give him some respect."

Tiansheng said hurriedly: "I don't mean any harm! But, this is too... a little... haha..."

Xie Lian couldn't help it, as he felt a bit like laughing when he read this, so he kept silent and continued reading, translating it. He said, "In short, although this captain had a bad reputation in the army, some of the people of the Half Moon Kingdom on the border and the people of the Central Plains, who had received his care, called him 'General' and built a simple stone mound for him here and erected a stone slab to commemorate him."

Sanlang continued, "Come here to herd sheep in your free time, and cut some fresh grass for him."

Xie Lian was puzzled and said, "Huh? Why should I cut grass for him? He's not a sheep."

Sanlang chuckled and said, "I made up the last sentence."

Xie Lian looked over and saw that it was indeed the case. There was no trace of anything behind the stone slab. He was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He asked, “Why are you so naughty?”

Sanlang stuck out his tongue. The two were laughing when suddenly someone exclaimed, "What is this!!!"

This cry was extremely sharp and buzzing throughout the cave, making people's hair stand on end. Xie Lian looked towards the source of the scream and asked, "What's going on?"

The person who was sitting there scrambled away, shouting in horror, "Snake!"

Nanfeng and Fuyao turned their arms, and two palm flames illuminated the ground from afar. Coiled above the sand was a brilliantly colored snake!

Everyone panicked: "Why is there a snake?!"

"This... this snake doesn't make any sound at all. I have no idea when it crawled in here!"

The snake, caught in the firelight, reared up, seeming extremely alert, ready to attack at any moment. Nan Feng was about to strike with a flaming palm when a man slowly approached, casually grasped the snake by the waist, and lifted it with his left hand, observing it closely as he said, "Snakes in the desert—isn't that common?"

Such audacity and impunity naturally belonged to San Lang. As the saying goes, "strike the snake at its most vulnerable part." If a snake is crushed to death at that part, no matter how vicious its fangs are, it won't be any more effective. The snake's tail entwined itself limply around his left arm several times. Now that they were closer, Xie Lian took a closer look. The snake's skin seemed translucent, revealing a vibrant purple-red hue streaked with black, evoking the color of its internal organs and causing considerable discomfort. The snake's tail, however, was flesh-colored, segmented and covered in layers of hard shell. It looked more like a scorpion's tail than a snake's.

After seeing this, Xie Lian's expression suddenly changed. He said, "Watch out for its tail!"

Before he finished speaking, the snake's entangled tail suddenly let go of Sanlang's arm, and the tip of the tail seemed to turn into another snake head, which bounced back and stabbed fiercely!

The tail's thrusts were incredibly powerful, but Sanlang's right hand darted out, easily catching the tail. He held it like something fun, showing it to Xie Lian and saying with a smile, "That tail is quite interesting."

At the tip of the snake's tail, a flesh-red thorn appeared. Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's good it didn't get pierced. It's indeed a scorpion-tailed snake."

Nanfeng and Fuyao also came to look at the snake and asked, "Scorpion tail snake?"

Xie Lian said, “Indeed. It’s a poisonous creature unique to the Half Moon Nation, and its numbers are quite rare. I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard of it. Its body is like a snake, its tail like a scorpion, but its venom is even more potent than both combined. Whether it’s bitten by its fangs or stung by its tail, it’s…”

At this point, he saw Sanlang coiling the snake in his hand, tossing it over and over, sometimes stretching it, sometimes shortening it, sometimes twisting it like a towel, just short of tying it into a bow. After a moment of silence, he gently advised, "Sanlang, don't play with it. It's very dangerous."

San Lang smiled and said, "It's okay. Don't worry, brother. This scorpion-tailed snake is the totem of Ban Yue Imperial Master. This is a rare opportunity, so of course we have to take a closer look."

Xie Lian was startled and asked, “The totem of Imperial Master Ban Yue?”

Sanlang said, "That's right. It's said that it was precisely because Ban Yue Imperial Preceptor could control this scorpion-tailed snake that the Ban Yue people believed she had boundless magical powers and appointed her as Imperial Preceptor."

As soon as he heard the word "manipulation," Xie Lian sensed something was amiss. He thought, "Whenever we talk about manipulation, it's always about a large group or a large group." He immediately said, "Everyone, get out now! There might be more than one scorpion-tailed snake..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard a scream: "Ah!!!"

Several people exclaimed, "Snakes!" "Lots of snakes!" "There are snakes here too!"

Out of the darkness, seven or eight purple-red scorpion-tailed snakes silently crawled out. They arrived so suddenly that it was impossible to tell from which cave they had emerged. They didn't attack, but instead stared silently at the group, as if examining something. These snakes moved and attacked silently, without even the hissing sound of a typical venomous snake. They were incredibly dangerous. Nanfeng and Fuyao launched their palms of flame, sending a massive ball of blazing fire blazing through the cave. Xie Lian shouted, "Get out!"

No one dared to linger in the cave, so they hurried out. Luckily, it was already dusk, the tornado had long since departed, and the sandstorm outside had died down considerably. They retreated to an open area. As Xie Lian ran, wondering what was going on, he realized that Old Man Zheng, whom Tiansheng had been supporting, suddenly collapsed. Xie Lian rushed forward and asked, "What's wrong?"

Old Man Zheng's face was filled with pain, and he raised his hand tremblingly. Xie Lian grabbed his hand and looked at it, his heart sinking. He saw a purple-red area under his thumb, swollen and swollen. A tiny hole could barely be seen through the swelling. It was so small that it would be impossible to detect it for a while if the person had been stabbed. He immediately said, "Everyone, check yourselves for any wounds. If you have any, tie them up with a rope!" He turned his wrist to check his meridians and saw a visible purple-red line running up his veins. Xie Lian thought the snake venom was really strong. He was about to remove Ruo Xie when Ah Zhao tore off a strip of cloth and stabbed it into the middle of the old man's forearm. The knot was so tight that it prevented the poisonous blood from flowing back to his heart. His movements were incredibly swift, and Xie Lian secretly praised him. He looked up, and before he could say anything, Nan Feng had already pulled out a medicine bottle and poured out a pill. Xie Lian gave it to the old man. Tiansheng panicked and yelled, "Uncle, are you okay?! Brother Zhao, uncle's not going to die, is he?!"

Ah Zhao shook his head and said, "If bitten by a scorpion-tailed snake, one will surely die within two hours."

Tiansheng was startled and said, "Then...what should we do?"

Mr. Zheng was the leader of the caravan, and the merchants also asked anxiously, "Didn't this young man give him medicine?"

Nan Feng said, "What I gave him wasn't an antidote, it wasn't a temporary life-extender. At most it helped delay his two hours to twelve."

The merchants were all in a panic. "Only twelve hours?" "So, doesn't that mean we can only wait to die?" "Is there no cure for this poison?"

At this time, Sanlang slowly came up and said, "There is hope."

Everyone looked at him. Tiansheng was delighted and turned around and said, "Brother Zhao, why didn't you tell me earlier that you could save me? You scared me to death!"

Ah Zhao remained silent, shaking his head silently. San Lang said, "Of course it's hard for him to say. If the poisoned person can be saved, but others may not, how can he say it?"

Xie Lian asked, “Sanlang, what do you mean?”

Sanlang asked, "Brother, do you know the origin of this scorpion-tailed snake?"

It turns out that according to legend, hundreds of years ago, there was a king of the Half Moon Kingdom who went into the mountains to hunt and accidentally caught two goblins transformed from poisonous creatures, a venomous snake spirit and a scorpion spirit.

These two poisonous creatures cultivated in the mountains, oblivious to worldly affairs and never harming anyone. However, the ruler of Half Moon Country, claiming they were poisonous and would eventually harm others, demanded their death. The two bewitching creatures pleaded with the ruler to spare their lives, but the ruler, cruel and licentious by nature, forced them to mate in front of him and his ministers, so they could enjoy a feast and drink. After the feast, the ruler still executed the two bewitching creatures.

Only the queen could not bear it, but she did not dare to disobey the king, so she picked a vanilla leaf and threw it over the bodies of the two poisonous creatures.

The venomous snakes and scorpions transformed into evil creatures, filled with resentment. They cursed their offspring, born from mating, to remain in this land forever and kill the people of Half Moon. Therefore, scorpion-tailed snakes are confined to Half Moon. A bite or sting from one of these snakes inflicts a swift and horrific venom. However, thanks to the queen's kindness, the fragrant herb leaves she had thrown to shield the snakes from the venom could actually be used to neutralize the poison.

After saying this, Sanlang said, "That kind of herb is called Good Moon Grass, and it only grows within the borders of the former country of Banyue."

When the merchants heard this, they all said, "This...this kind of myth and legend, can we really believe it?"

"My dear brother, human life is at stake. Don't joke with us!"

Sanlang just smiled and said nothing. After telling Xie Lian his story, he didn't say anything more. Tiansheng then asked Ah Zhao for confirmation, "Brother Zhao, is what the brother in red said true?"

After pondering for a moment, Ah Zhao said, "Myths and legends are not known to be true or false. However, within the borders of the Half Moon Kingdom, there is indeed Good Moon Grass growing. And Good Moon Grass can indeed detoxify the scorpion-tailed snake's venom."

Xie Lian said slowly, “In other words, those bitten by the scorpion-tailed snake have only a slim chance of survival. And this glimmer of hope can only be found in the ancient land of the Half Moon Nation?”

No wonder many passing caravans and travelers, knowing that "more than half of them disappear every time they cross the border", still break into the former territory of the Half Moon Kingdom.

It wasn't because they were determined to die, but because they had reasons to go in. If there were many scorpion-tailed snakes in the area, passing caravans would inevitably be bitten. Once bitten, they would have to go to the ancient land of the Half Moon Kingdom to obtain the antidote.

The scorpion-tailed snake was the Half Moon Demon Dao's totem and could be controlled by her, so its appearance was definitely no coincidence. They alone wouldn't be able to protect so many people. There was no telling if more scorpion-tailed snakes would appear. To prevent any harm to these people, Xie Lian placed two fingers on his solar plexus, activating the spirit communication array, hoping to shamelessly borrow a few more junior priests. However, the activation failed, and there was no further news.

He put his hand down, feeling surprised. He thought to himself, "My mana isn't running out so quickly, is it? I counted it this morning, and there's clearly still a little left." He then turned to Nanfeng and Fuyao and said, "One of you will try to enter the spiritual communication array? I can't get in from here."

After a moment, the two of them looked