Heaven Official's Blessing

Chapter 21 - 21

Ch.21:‌ ‌Shortened‌ ‌Distance

Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. He was just about to get Ruoye to try again and grab onto something else, when he suddenly felt the white silk go slack around his wrist. Immediately, Xie Lian was overcome with a sense of dread.

This abrupt feeling wasn't because Ruoye had loosened its grip on the other end, but because something worse had occurred.

Sure enough, that shade of red from the ground suddenly got a lot closer. It didn't take long before it was within arm's reach.

San Lang also got drawn into the sandstorm!

Xie Lian yelled at him, "Don't panic!"

The moment he opened his mouth, he ate another mouthful of sand. With the way things were at this time, he had long become used to eating a mouthful of sand here and there.

Although he had shouted at San Lang to not panic, in reality, even he had felt that San Lang wouldn't have panicked at all. Sure enough, after the young man had been caught in the air, Ruoye quickly retracted and pulled the two of them closer together.

Xie Lian got a good look at San Lang's face. The expression on the boy's face didn't have even half an ounce of panic. Almost as if he would be able to read a book serenely even amidst the sandstorm, as long as he was given one. In fact, Xie Lian began to suspect whether or not San Lang had deliberately intended for himself to get rolled up into the air.

Ruoye went wounding around their waists a couple of times, tying them together. Xie Lian hugged onto San Lang before saying, "Go again! This time, don't grab onto another human being!"

Thus, Ruoye flew out again. This time, what Ruoye had grabbed onto was...Nan Feng and Fu Yao!

Xie Lian felt both mentally and physically exhausted as he told Ruoye, "When I said not to grab onto a human, I didn't mean for it to be so literal1…..well, alright then..."

He shouted downward, in their direction, "Nan Feng, Fu Yao! Hang on tight! No matter what, you must support us!"

Nan Feng and Fu Yao, who were still on the ground below, naturally wanted to support them. The both of them stood their ground, but it was to no avail. The sandstorm was just too wild and fierce. Not long after and to no one's surprise, yet another two shadows got rolled up into the tornado.

Now, the four of them were all spinning wildly in the air. Between the darkened yellow sky and the dark yellow earth, the tornado was much like an askew sand pillar supporting the heavens. Furthermore, a strip of white silk now connected four figures within this sand pillar, all of whom ceaselessly whirled about without rest. The more they spun, the faster they went, and the higher up they flew. To one side, Xie Lian ate sand like mad, yet on the other, he yelled: "How come you're all up here too?"

What they saw aside from sand was still sand, and what they heard in addition to wind was still wind. With no other choice, they had to yell at each other at the top of their lungs. As he ate sand, Fu Yao spat in contempt, "You'll have to ask this strip of stupid white silk! What's wrong with it?!"

Xie Lian grasped the stupid white silk with both hands and helplessly said, " Ruoye ah Ruoye, all four of us are counting on you now. This time, you mustn't grab onto the wrong thing again. Go!"

Carrying feelings of forlorn hope with him, Xie Lian once again let one end of Ruoye go. Nan Feng yelled, "Don't count on this thing anymore! Think of a another plan!"

But at this very moment, Xie Lian felt the end he was currently holding on suddenly tighten. His spirits immediately lifted as he said, "Wait, give it another chance! It grabbed onto something!"

Fu Yao also shouted, "It better not have looped around a passerby again! Better let them go if it did!"

It came without saying that Xie Lian was also worried about this as well. He tugged on Ruoye a couple of times, but discovered that the other end didn't budge even the slightest bit. Only then did Xie Lian's heart relax as he said, "No! Not this time! The other end feels very heavy and stable!" He then said, "Retract!"

Going against the frenzied tornado, Ruoye retracted with great speed. The four figures rapidly sped away from the wind pillar. Gradually, amidst the yellow sand in the sky, Xie Lian was able to perceive the black outline of a semi circle below them.

This outline was massive, and was approximately the size of a small temple. In fact, the other end of Ruoye was precisely coiled around such a thing. And only after they got closer to the ground did he finally see it more clearly; that thing was a giant stone.

Within a sandstorm of this degree, this piece of stone was like a firm and silent fortress. It was undoubtedly an excellent shelter against the strong winds.

During their entire journey there, they definitely had not seen a giant rock like this. Thus, they really could not tell exactly how far that strange tornado had taken them. The moment the four of them reached the ground, they immediately made their way to the other side of the rock that was blocking the wind. Feeling delighted as they took shelter, Xie Lian said, "This is truly a blessing from the heavens."

It turned out that the side of the rock that was protected from the wind had a hole. The hole was about two doors wide, while the height was slightly shorter than one. But it was sufficiently large enough for an adult to enter, as long as they bent down and bowed their heads. The entrance wasn't neatly made, and was rather crooked. However, it didn't appear like it was formed naturally, so it was more probable that someone had casually carved out this artificial entrance.

Once Xie Lian entered, he discovered that the rock was carved out to be almost completely hollow. The space within the cave didn't seem to be small, but it was relatively dark. Xie Lian didn't immediately explore the entire place, and instead sat down on an area that was illuminated by the light streaming in from the outside. He brushed off the yellow sand on Ruoye before wrapping it back around his wrist.

Nan Feng and Fu Yao were both spitting out sand. Sand had gotten into their mouth, eyes and ears, so it was needless to mention the folds within their clothes. Shedding their clothes and giving it a good shake had resulted in a heavy stream of sand and stone.

Amongst the four of them, the one that looked the least affected was still San Lang. After he had bent over and entered the cave, he dusted off a few specs of dust on his red attire, but nothing more. This was done more for show and out of courtesy. With the exception of his hair being slightly dishevelled and his ponytail being combed lopsided, his happy attitude didn't seem to have been affected at all. In addition, that lopsided hairstyle of his was originally combed crooked by Xie Lian. Hence, even if it became more crooked, it didn't really matter in the slightest.

Nan Feng wiped his face twice before breaking out in curses. Xie Lian dumped out the sand within his bamboo hat before sighing, "Ah~ I truly hadn't expected you guys to get blown into the air too. Why didn't you guys use the Thousand Pound Spell?

While spitting sand, Nan Feng replied, "We did! But it was ineffective."

On one hand, Fu Yao viciously shook his outer robe, while on the other he spat: "Where do you think this is? This is a barren desert in the extreme northwest. It's not like it's my General's domain. To the North is the territory belonging to the second General of the Pei house. To the West is Quan YiZhen's territory. Within these few hundred miles, there's no way you'd find even a single Xuan Zhen Temple."

It should be noted that there was a common saying within the mortal realm—a powerful dragon cannot crush a snake in its old haunts2. Therefore, since one of them was an official under the deputy general of the Southeast martial god, while the other was an official under the deputy general of the Southwest martial god, using spiritual arts on a territory that didn't belong to them would inevitably mean that the enchantment in play would be subjected to restrictions. With their current appearances, Xie Lian believed that the two of them were both rather peeved and annoyed. It could be assumed that it was their first time being blown up into the sky by a gust of strong wind, only to whirl around in circles and be incapable of settling back onto the ground. Xie Lian said, "Both of you truly worked hard."

San Lang sat down on the ground next to him. With a hand propped up against his cheek, he said, "Let's just stay here and wait for the sandstorm to subside."

Xie Lian turned towards him and said, "Looks like that's our only option for now. As powerful as this tornado may be, it's unlikely that it would also sweep up a rock this big into the sky."

San Lang said, "But it is just as you said before, this sandstorm is indeed very strange."

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

San Lang replied, "Ask away."

Xie Lian said, "That Ban Yue Grand Tutor, are they male or female?"

San Lang replied, "Have I not mentioned this yet? Female."

Xie Lian thought, 'as expected', and said, "When we were resting in that abandoned small inn, didn't we see two figures walk by the front? Their steps were graceful yet odd. They definitely couldn't have been mortals. In addition, the one in white had been a female official."

Fu Yao was skeptical and said, "It is hard to distinguish whether or not they were male or female just by looking at their robes. Their figure was also taller than an average woman's. Did you truly see it clearly?"

Xie Lian said, "I saw it clearly, there's no mistake. So I've been thinking, could she have been the Ban Yue Grand Tutor?"

Nan Feng then said, "It's possible, but there was a person wearing black by her side. Who could that have been?"

Xie Lian said, "That's difficult to say. However, that person was walking faster than her, so his abilities definitely wouldn't be beneath her's."

Fu Yao said, "Is there a possibility that they were the Two Demonic Cultivators' other member, the Grand Tutor Fang Xin?"

Xie Lian said, "As for this, I think the reason why they're called the Two Demonic Cultivators is probably because even numbers are easier to remember. Much like how in the Ghost Realm, there are the Four Calamities. Even though there aren't four in reality, people went out of their way to gather four anyways."

Hearing this, San Lang laughed out loud again. When Xie Lian looked at him, San Lang said, "It's nothing, I just thought that what you said is very reasonable. After all, one of the Four Calamities is indeed just there to make them an even number."

Thus, Xie Lian continued talking, "As a matter of fact, they probably have nothing to do with one another. I've heard a bit about this Grand Tutor Fang Xin. They were Yong An Kingdom's Royal Tutor. There's at least a hundred years interval between their appearance and the Ban Yue Grand Tutor's arrival."

Fu Yao found this to be unreasonable and said: "You didn't know the Four Calamities of the Ghost Realm, yet you know of Grand Tutor Fang Xin from the Yong An Kingdom in the Mortal Realm?"

Xie Lian said, "Sometimes, when I'm passing by places as I collect scraps, I'd learn a few things. And it's not like I collect scraps in the ghost realm, so of course I wouldn't have known about them."

At this moment, the sound of the wind from outside the cave had became a bit weaker. Standing slightly outside, Nan Feng hit the rock a few times to examine the material. After concentrating for a while, he bowed his head and said, "Why would this rock get a hole of this size dug out of it?"

He probably thought it was suspicious to see a rock like this here. However, this didn't seem too strange to Xie Lian, so he said, "A hole dug out of a rock like this isn't uncommon. The past people of the Ban Yue Kingdom, as in those who needed a shelter from the sandstorm, like the ones who had been out herding livestock and thus couldn't make it home in time, or those who needed a temporary place to stay the night, would occasionally dig a hole in a rock like this. Some of these holes were not carved, but were blown out with explosives."

Unconvinced, Nan Feng said, "How would you even herd livestock in the desert?"

Xie Lian said, "Two hundred years ago, this wasn't a desert. Instead, this place also had an oasis."

At this moment, San Lang said, "Gege."

Xie Lian turned his head to ask, "What's wrong?"

That Uncle Zheng's face was filled with pain as he shakily raised his hand. Xie Lian caught his hand and looked at it. His heart sank when he saw that the area between his thumb and forefinger was purplish- red and swollen. He could barely make out an extremely small hole in the swollen area. With such a small wound, he feared that even if he had been stabbed, he wouldn't be able to feel it for a while. Xie Lian immediately said, "Everyone, quickly check if you have any wounds on your body. If you do, quickly tie it up with a rope!" He then turned over his wrist to look at his meridians. There was a purplish-red color visible to the naked eye that was currently climbing up his meridians. Xie Lian thought that this snake venom was very powerful. Just as he was about to untie Ruoxie, he saw Ah Zhao tear off a strip of cloth and tie it tightly around the center of the old man's forearm, preventing the poisonous blood from flowing back to his heart. His actions were incomparably fast, causing Xie Lian to inwardly praise him. When he raised his head, Nan Feng had already taken out a medicine bottle and poured out a pill. Xie Lian gave it to the old man. Tian Sheng panicked and shouted, "Uncle, are you alright?! Brother Ah Zhao, Uncle won't die, right?!"

Ah Zhao shook his head and said, "After being bitten by a Scorpion Tail Snake, death is certain within four hours."

Tian Sheng was startled and said, "Then...... then what should we do?"

Uncle Zheng was the leader of the caravan. The other merchants also anxiously said, "Didn't you give this little brother medicine?"

Nan Feng said, "I didn't give him an antidote. It's just a temporary lifespan extension. At most, I can help him delay the four hours to twenty-four hours."

The crowd of merchants became flustered. "There's only twenty-four hours?" "If that's the case, doesn't that mean we can only wait for death like this?" "Is this poison incurable?"

At this time, San Lang slowly walked over and said, "There's hope."

Everyone looked towards him. Tian Sheng was overjoyed. Turning his head, he said, "Brother Zhao, why didn't you say so earlier that there was hope? You scared me to death!"

Ah Zhao didn't say anything and just silently shook his head. San Lang said, "Of course it's hard for him to say. If the poisoned person can be saved, but the others can't, what do you say?"

Xie Lian said, "San Lang, what do you say?"

San Lang said, "Brother, do you know the origin of the legend of this Scorpion Tail Snake?" Originally, according to the legend, several hundred years ago, a king of the Half Moon Country went hunting deep in the mountains and accidentally caught two poisonous creatures that had transformed into demons. One was a poisonous snake spirit, and the other was a scorpion spirit.

These two poisonous creatures cultivated deep in the mountains and didn't care about worldly affairs. They had never harmed anyone, but the king of the Half Moon Country used the excuse that they were poisonous creatures and would sooner or later harm people. Thus, he wanted to kill them. The two demons bitterly begged the king to let them live. However, the king's natural disposition was cruel. He forced the two demons to copulate in front of him and a group of ministers, allowing them to drink and amuse themselves at the banquet. After the banquet ended, the king still killed the two poisonous creatures. Only the Queen couldn't bear to do this, but she also didn't dare to disobey the king. Thus, she plucked a fragrant leaf and threw it over to cover the bodies of the two poisonous creatures.

The poisonous snake and scorpion had transformed into evil creatures and were extremely resentful. They cursed the offsprings born from copulation to stay here forever and kill the people of the Half Moon Country. Because of this, the Scorpion Tail Snake only appeared in the Half Moon Country. Once bitten or stabbed by them, the poison would spread rapidly and the person would die a miserable death. However, because of the Queen's kindness, the fragrant leaf that the Queen had thrown over to cover them that day was able to cure this poison.

After saying this, San Lang said, "That kind of fragrant grass is called Good Moon Grass. It also only grows within the borders of the Half Moon Country!"

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

"This little brother, human lives are at stake. Don't joke with us!"

San Lang only smiled but didn't say anything. After he finished explaining, he didn't say anything more. Tian Sheng then asked Ah Zhao for confirmation, "Brother Zhao, is what this brother in red said true?" After muttering to himself for a moment, Ah Zhao said, "I don't know if the myth and legend are true or false. However, within the borders of the Half Moon Country, Good Moon Grass does indeed grow. And Good Moon Grass can indeed cure the Scorpion Tail Snake's poison."

Xie Lian said, "In other words, the person bitten by the Scorpion Tail Snake only has a slim chance of survival. And this slim chance of survival can only be obtained by going to the Half Moon Country?

It was no wonder that many caravans and travelers who passed by would still enter the Half Moon Country despite knowing that 'every time they crossed the border, more than half of them would disappear'. It wasn't because they wanted to die, but because they might die if they didn't go in!

The Scorpion Tail Snake was the totem of the Half Moon Demonic Dao, and it could be controlled by her, so the appearance of the Scorpion Tail Snake was definitely not a coincidence. With just a few Heavenly Officials, there was no way they could guarantee that these people would come out unscathed. They also didn't know whether or not more Scorpion-Tailed Snakes would appear. Xie Lian put two fingers together and pressed them against his temples, operating the spirit communication array. He wanted to see if he could thicken his face and borrow a few more little Heavenly Officials. Who knew that it wouldn't work and there would be no news. He put down his hand, feeling strange, and thought to himself, My magic power can't be used up so quickly, right? I counted this morning, and there's clearly a little left. "Then, he turned to Nan Feng and Fu Yao." Which one of you will try to enter the spirit communication array? I can't go in here."

After a while, the two of them wore grave expressions. Nan Feng said, "I can't go in either."

In some places where evil energy soared to the heavens, the magic power of some of the Divine Officials would be affected and temporarily weakened or blocked. It was likely that they were currently encountering such a situation.

Xie Lian paced back and forth in the same place for a while, then he raised his head and said, "Maybe it's because this place is too close to the Half Moon Ancient Kingdom, so the spirit communication technique is blocked ... At this time, he suddenly saw an abnormally dazzling red color from the corner of his eye.

While Nan Feng and Fu Yao were trying to enter the spirit communication array, the other merchants were busily checking their bodies for small wounds. Only that youth, who was naturally born with a purple red scorpion's tail, was preoccupied with anxiously holding onto Old Uncle Zheng. He was completely unaware that a purplish-red scorpion's tail was silently climbing up his back.

It was coiled on Tian Sheng's shoulder, but its fangs weren't aimed at the youth's neck, but at San Lang's arm, who was indifferently standing to the side.

The snake raised its back and protruded!

Just as the fangs were about to pierce San Lang, Xie Lian stretched out his hand and accurately pinched the snake's weak spot.