Xie Lian unconsciously stepped forward to stand in front of San Lang, "I know betterthan anyone where my place is." Xie Lian replied."Then how dare you still stand next to him?!" Fu Yao shouted."Because... If I stand next to him the snakes won't come." Xie Lian answered earnestly."..."Hearing the response, San Lang 'pfft'-ed and laughed out loud. Fu Yao becamegrimmer, "YOU–"Grimmer and grimmer, his face suddenly turned completely black, and it wasn't just hisface, but Xie Lian's entire line of sight dimmed into darkness.The curtain of flames and the ring of fire created by Fu Yao were suddenly completelyextinguished!Xie Lian heard San Lang snicker and say "Useless trash!" before gripping his shouldersto pull him close. Soon after, Xie Lian heard a sudden downpour of endless batteringabove them, like a thunderstorm hitting an umbrella.Needless to say, it was the snake deluge that came pouring down crazedly now that thedefense barrier was gone. The open umbrella was blocking the downpour and Xie Liancould smell the thick foul odour of blood. He was about to fight but San Lang stoppedhim, "Don't move. No lowlives will dare approach."His tone was confident; the first sentence was soft and gentle, the latter had a layer ofarrogance. Xie Lian wasn't worried, but hearing Fu Yao's angry roars at the other end,sounding as if he was getting covered in snakes, he called out, "San Lang!"San Lang instantly replied, "No."Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "How did you know what I was going tosay?""Don't worry so much, he can't die." San Lang said.Just then, another roar came from a different part of the pit, "BAN YUE! If you want meto die then have them bite and kill me in one go! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??""It's not me!" Ban Yue cried. It seemed Ke Mo had woken from all the battering,discovered himself covered by countless snakes, and believed it to be Ban Yue's doing."Fu Yao, can you light another fire? Do it again!" Xie Lian shouted.Fu Yao gritted his teeth, "That thing next to you is restricting my powers, I can't lightanything!"Xie Lian felt dread, and San Lang said, "It's not me.""I know it's not you." Xie Lian said, "But that's precisely what's wrong. Both Ban Yue andKe Mo are bound by the God-Binding rope; they can't use their powers. My powers aredepleted, and you're not restricting anyone, meaning, there's a sixth person in this pit?!""Have you lost your mind?" Fu Yao demanded, "What sixth person? There wasn'tanyone who came down!""Who's there?" Ban Yue suddenly said."Ban Yue, what's happening? Is someone over there?" Xie Lian asked."Someone–" Ban Yue's voice disappeared halfway; whether her mouth was sealedshut, or she lost consciousness was not known. Xie Lian called out again, "Ban Yue?"Fu Yao was still fighting snakes, and was throwing spiritual energy everywhere, flashinghere and there in the dark. "Be careful! She might be tricking you!""Not necessarily." Xie Lian shouted, "I'm going to save her first!"Xie Lian was about to run into the snake deluge when he heard San Lang's voice nextto his ear, "Alright."Xie Lian felt the hand grasping his shoulders tighten, and in a flash they were blitzingforward. Xie Lian realized in awe that the boy was advancing and attacking but with anumbrella in one hand, and him in the other. In the darkness, silver shimmers flashedabout once more, clanking and clinking, when suddenly, a sharp sound of two swordsclashing rang in everyone's ears."Oh?" San Lang said, "There really is a sixth person. Interesting."Xie Lian had no idea how San Lang was controlling the weapon, or what kind of weaponit was, but whatever it was, it most certainly did come head to head with another!The other party remained silent, and Xie Lian could only hear the sound of metalscraping metal as the fight intensified. From time to time there would be sparks flashingin the dark, but each time it was so short-lived it was hard to see the other's face.Listening to the fight, Xie Lian could feel Ruoye grip tighter and tighter, and had tomurmur reassurance, "Don't be scared, relax. Relax a bit." Ruoye loosened, and XieLian called out again, "Ban Yue, are you conscious? Can you respond?"No one responded. Fu Yao exclaimed, "Maybe the one fighting now is her!""No. This one is definitely not Ban Yue!" Xie Lian said.When San Lang fought Ke Mo in the dark, he was light-footed and messing about,playing with him. This fight was also in the dark, but Xie Lian could tell San Lang wastaking it more seriously. The other party was extremely skilled in martial arts andweaponry; Ban Yue was small and weak, just looking at her arms it was obvious powerand arms were not her forte, so it was impossible for her to be fighting San Lang. Butwho was this sixth person? When did they appear?!Fu Yao griped, "Someone who would betray her own country is no different than XuanJi, why on earth would you still believe in her?""Fu Yao, can you not be so irritated?" Xie Lian said, "You... Wait. What did you justsay?"Fu Yao struck out another fist, and blew away a bunch of snakes, "I said, why on earthwould you believe in her the same way you believe in that thing next to you!""No, not that – you said Xuan Ji. You mentioned Xuan Ji's name, didn't you!" Xie Liansaid."Yea, so what?! She's completely irrelevant!"Xie Lian however, held his breath. A moment later, he called out, "Stop fighting, there'sno more need to hide. I know who you are!"The sound of blades clashing never halted, the other party unaffected, but Xie Lianwasn't worried, "Did you think I was tricking you when I said I already know who youare? General Pei Junior?"."Who are you talking to?" Fu Yao was dumbstruck, "General Pei Junior? Don't be crazy.Who do you think he is? If he descended everyone would know!""You're very right," Xie Lian said, "But what if it wasn't his true self that descended?"In the darkness, the fighting weapons faltered then continued anew.Xie Lian spoke, "It took me too long to figure this out. I should've known from thebeginning.""I knew that for close to two hundred years there was something causing havoc butnone of the heavenly officials cared, and no one dared to speak of it, so there must beone or a number of officials keeping a wrap on this scandal. But because I wasn'tfamiliar with many of the officials, I didn't dare to boldly pin this on anyone, and nevertried to boldly deduce just which heavenly official it could be."It was Fu Yao's mention of Xuan Ji that reminded him.When it came to Xuan Ji, it wasn't hard to relate her to the two General Pei's, and theNorth was their territory. Fu Yao once said in passing that prior to his ascension,General Pei Junior slaughtered a city.Which city?It could very well be the Kingdom of BanYue!The Upper Court wouldn't bat an eyelash at something like this; everyone needed tospill some blood if they wanted to do great things. But slaughtering a city wasn'tanything glorious after all, and if the story got spread too far it would affect the numbersof new believers, so of course there would be some cover ups after ascension. Thus,even if everyone knew something of the sort happened, they probably didn't know thedetails or care to know the details. Besides, if it wasn't for deep grudges, who'd had thetime to care to dig his past and offend the support behind his back?Xie Lian spoke slowly, "That mud face had said there was someone amongst us whoalready visited the fortress fifty to sixty years ago. At first I thought he was lying todeceive us into approaching, but, his words may very well contain truth.""Before, in that group of people, the one I was the most suspicious of was you. Thecaravan followed you, and you could take them anywhere. I have never seen a singlescorpion snake in the years I lived nearby BanYue, and from just seeking a randomshelter from the sandstorm, they happen to show up?""I asked you to come look for the ShanYue fern with us, but just before we left you gavethe directions of the ruins to the others so they could follow in our steps if they could nolonger sit still. Earlier on top of the walls, I had already said if anything were to happen, Iwould go forward first; you who is always calm suddenly jumped, dying a meaninglessdeath."Xie Lian continued after a pause, "Your actions were strange and illogical. That it tookme until now to realize who you are really was too late. Isn't that right, General PeiJunior? Or should I call your current name, A-Zhao!"The silence that ensued was abrupt.It was a moment before a cold voice came, "Have you never suspected that the mudface might be talking about the red clothed boy next to you?"A stream of flames suddenly lit up across the Sinner's Pit.Under the light, two bloody silhouettes were revealed. One was San Lang, dressed inred, proper and standing with his weapon already tucked away. The other was a plainlyclothed young man with a sword held tightly in hand, still at the ready.The plain clothed young man was covered in blood, looking as if he was also dressed inred. His expression was cold and reserved, carrying someone over his shoulders. It wasindeed A-Zhao.To be fair, whether it be General Pei Junior his true self or A-Zhao, that composed, calmand collectedness never changed; only, Xie Lian had never gone down that train ofthought so he didn't connect the two.The one he was carrying over his shoulders was Ban Yue. It seemed he had called forththe snakes in order to steal her away during the chaos. Now that his identity wasrevealed, he had no more need to create havoc, and the snake deluge ceasedbombarding. He sheathed his sword and gently laid Ban Yue down on the ground. Onthe side, Ke Mo was shocked, "Who are you? Didn't you fall to your death???"A-Zhao didn't spare a look at Ke Mo, staring instead at San Lang vigilantly. "Ke Mo, youreally haven't changed in these past hundreds of years." He said in BanYuenese.Perhaps the tone of this maddening calm was overly familiar, Ke Mo's face immediatelyscrunched up in rage, "... IT'S YOU!!! PEI SU!!!"If not for the God-Binding rope solidly tying him down, Ke Mo would've lunged at him tofight to the death."General Pei Junior," Xie Lian said, "Those scorpion snakes didn't just listen to onecommand. You controlled all the snakes Ban Yue said no longer listened to her andwent out to harm, correct?""En. I did it." He certainly admitted it easily."Did Ban Yue teach you how to control the scorpion snakes?" Xie Lian asked."She didn't," Pei Su said, "But how she does it, I could very well learn for myself.""General Pei Junior is exceedingly intelligent after all." Xie Lian commented.After a pause, he then asked, "When did you two meet? How did you two meet?"Pei Su however, gave him a look, "General Hua."Xie Lian was puzzled, "Why are you calling me by that title too?"Pei Su asked quietly, "Do you not recognize me, General Hua?""..."Now Xie Lian did.The beginning of it was kind of blurry. Ban Yue was bullied and ignored by otherBanYue children when she was younger, and only a young boy of YongAn wouldsometimes pay attention to her. That boy was like Ban Yue and didn't talk very much.Quite a number of children living on the border were from military families, and manyalso enlisted in the army when they grew older. Could it be..."It's you?!" Xie Lian was surprised, "I, I can't believe it took me this long to realize it wasyou."Pei Su nodded, "It's me. I've only just recognized General too."No wonder. So turns out, Ban Yue and the enemy general had known each other sincelong ago!"Did Ban Yue really heed your order and opened the fortress gates?" Xie Lian asked.On the other side, Ke Mo spat and yelled, "Despicable Pei Su. Untie the ropes, let mefight him to the death!"Pei Su said cooly, "First of all, we already had a battle to the death two hundred yearsago, and you lost; second of all, how am I despicable?"Ke Mo shouted, "IF YOU TWO DIDN'T COLLUDE, HOW WOULD WE LOSE?!""Ke Mo, don't deny it." Pei Su said, "Even though I only had a troop of two thousandwith me at the time, but breaking through the fortress gates was only a matter of time tome."Xie Lian couldn't help but interrupt, "Wait a sec, you only had two thousand under youand you were sent to invade a country? What's going on? Isn't that no different thansending you to your death? Were you perhaps even more elbowed out in the army thanI was??""..."Pei Su stopped talking. It seemed, Xie Lian had hit it on the mark. Xie Lian then asked,"If you knew it was a sure win, why did you have Ban Yue open the fortress gates?""Because I needed to slaughter the fortress city." Pei Su replied.""What do you mean?" Xie Lian asked, "Since you were already going to win, why mustyou slaughter the city?" It couldn't be that it was out of a hobby!"It was because victory was at hand, that we had to wipe out the city." Pei Su said, "Andit had to be as soon as possible. Immediately. Leaving none behind."That "Leaving none behind" was chilling. Xie Lian pushed, "And the reason is?"Pei Su answered, "On the night before the invasion, many of the leaders of Ban Yue'smajor families gathered for a meeting, and decided on a secret plot.""What plot?""The people of BanYue are violent in nature, and hated YongAn to the bone." Pei Susaid, "Even knowing they were about to be defeated they wouldn't admit it. So the entirepopulation of the kingdom, the young, the old, the women and the men, all bandedtogether to assemble this thing.""What thing?" Xie Lian could guess but he wasn't sure, and the word that came out ofPei Su's mouth confirmed his suspicions. "Explosives."Pei Su slowly enunciated each word, "They had decided that if the kingdom was to fall,then the citizens will each carry explosives on their bodies, escape to YongAn, mix intolarge crowded areas, and suicide bomb to cause riots. Meaning if they must die, thenthey will drag as many YongAn people down as they can with them. If the kingdomshould fall, then they shall terrorize the country that brought their downfall!"Which was why they had to be annihilated before those civilians had the time to flee.Xie Lian instantly turned to Ke Mo, roughly summarized for him in BanYuenese, andasked, "Is this true?"Ke Mo looked dauntless without any intention to conceal the facts, "It's true!"San Lang raised his brows and commented, "How vile."He said those words in BanYuenese, probably intentionally. Ke Mo replied angrily, "Vile?What right do you have to call us vile? If it wasn't for your assaults, we wouldn't beforced to make that move. You ruined us, so we sought revenge. How is that wrong?!"Pei Su responded cooly, "Really now. How about we lay everything out in the openthen?"He tilted his head and said, "How many times have BanYue started riots near theborder? How many caravans and travelers going to the West Plains from the YongAnwere ambushed by BanYue? You intentionally sheltered the bandits that terrorizedYongAn, and killed our soldiers that went to wipe them out under the pretense of illegalborder crossing. How is that not vile?"Pei Su spoke unhurriedly and his tone was calm, but each word was sharp as knives.Ke Mo argued, "What about you? Why not say you forcibly occupied our land first?""The border had always been ambiguous, so how can you say we forcibly occupiedyour land?" Pei Su countered."The lines were clearly drawn! It was you who didn't keep to yourselves!""The lines were drawn by BanYue, YongAn had never agreed to it. And your border hadthe oasis all to yourselves, leaving only desert land to us, what nonsense."Ke Mo was red in the face, "The oasis was ours! It had always been ours!"Both sides had their stories; just listening to them argue made Xie Lian befuddled. Thishostility was making him remember how badly he got beaten up stuck in the middle ofboth sides, and he could feel the pain on his face resurface. Pei Su seemed to have hadenough of quarreling with Ke Mo, and he turned to Xie Lian, "So you see. There aremany things in the world that simply can't be clearly defined or resolved. You can onlyfight."Xie Lian sighed, "I'll agree to the first part."San Lang on the other hand said, "Hm. I'll agree to the last part."Ke Mo's anger was somewhat curbed, and he suddenly said, "The majority of YongAnpeople were shameless, but you were the most shameless I've ever met. Pei Su, you'rea cold-hearted man. You didn't kill us for your country, and it wasn't for saving yourpeople."Hearing this, Pei Su fell silent.Ke Mo continued, "You exiled son of man, looked down by all. You only wanted tosecure your footing in the YongAn army in order to keep climbing up so you had to winthat battle. So sad that Ban Yue still thought you as good and was used by you, andbetrayed us for the likes of you.""But isn't General Pei Junior General Pei's descendant?" Xie Lian wondered. To havesuch a renown ancestor watch over him, he couldn't have fallen so astray?"He's not the direct descendant of General Pei." San Lang spoke up, "He's fromhowever many branches out."Pei Su said quietly, "Ban Yue had always been my subordinate, and only obeyed mycommand to infiltrate the Kingdom of BanYue. She is from both BanYue and YongAn,once she's chosen her side she had to be loyal to that side, so there was no such thingas betrayal. The BanYue people are evil, I have no regrets in killing them."Suddenly, a voice came from above, "Having no regrets in killing, well said! Will you saythe same in regards to all the travelers who were mislead by you to this Pass and losttheir lives in this pit?".That voice had come from above everyone's heads, and Xie Lian instantly looked up,"Which great lord is here among us?"There wasn't a response, but a sudden strange noise. WHOOSH WHOOSH, it was likethe bellowing of wild winds. When that sound finally came near, Xie Lian could finallysay with certainty – it certainly was the bellowing of wild winds!This abrupt gale entered the Sinner's Pit from above, swept all the way to the bottom,and rolled everyone into the air!Xie Lian immediately grabbed for San Lang who was the closest to him and cried,"Watch out!"San Lang caught him too, face unchanging. Xie Lian only felt a whirl of spinning, theirbodies swiftly rising, and after a pause, they started plunging down. Xie Lian threw outRuoye and coaxed him in the midst of this chaos, "Alright, alright, everything's over.Hurry, my good Ruoye, come out and give us a hand!"After a couple pets, Ruoye finally reacted. However, with nothing in the air to grab on toother than a giant Sinner's Pit below, Ruoye flew about once and shrunk back. Feelinghelpless, Xie Lian could only adjust his form for landing in the air. If it was like previoustimes, he would've cratered head first three feet into the ground, but this time, justbefore they hit the ground, San Lang reached out and gave him a pull, and he actuallylanded with his feet flat on the ground! When his boots firmly touched ground he waseven a little incredulous. But that feeling went away real quick when a black cladsilhouette came stumbling before him.Xie Lian saw who it was and delightfully called, "Nan Feng!"It was Nan Feng indeed, but a disheveled Nan Feng. It looked as if he was rolled ingrime ten times before getting thrown into a rambunctious den of beasts to spend thenight. His clothes were tattered and bedraggled to the max; hearing Xie Lian's call, heonly waved his hand and quietly wiped at his face, unable to speak.Xie Lian lifted him to his feet, "What happened? Did those two ladies beat you up?"Before his words fully left his lips, two figures appeared behind Nan Feng and strolledover. One of them was the woman cultivator in white with a whisk in her arms, and shegreeted Xie Lian cheerfully, "How do you do, Your Royal Highness."Although Xie Lian didn't know who this was, proper etiquette must still be kept; but hedidn't know how to address her, so he could only smile back and wave. "Greetings,fellow cultivator."The lady in black on the side glanced at Xie Lian coldly but didn't seem to care for him.When her eyes moved onto San Lang however, she paused, seeming to think he was adubious figure, and stopped for a moment.The gusts earlier had blown everyone out of the pit, and the two ladies walked past XieLian, heading straight for Pei Su. He saw them approach and didn't appear surprised;after all he had already seen them in town when he was still playing the part of A-Zhao.He knelt down where he was, bowed his head to the lady cultivator in white, and calledquietly, "Lord Wind Master."Xie Lian was stunned hearing those words.And here he thought she was some menacing ghost or monster, who knew it wasactually a heavenly official? And it was the Wind Master, the one that was throwing outten thousand merits in one go in the communication array!But now that he's thinking about it in detail, there wasn't anything out of place. At thetime she was saying something along the lines of "Where did they all go? Do I have todig them out and kill them one by one?" and made him think she was after them. Inreality, this "they" might not have meant them; it could mean the BanYue soldiers. Only,Xie Lian thought he was alone in this investigation and naturally thought the ladycultivators were strange and wicked.To a heavenly official that could easily hand out ten thousand merits, Xie Lian couldn'thelp but feel a nameless reverence. He elbowed Nan Feng, "Why didn't you tell me thiswas the Wind Master sooner? And here I thought she might be some sort of snake spiritor scorpion spirit. What a disgrace!"Nan Feng's expression darkened, "I didn't know it was the Wind Master. I've never seenthe Wind Master like this before. The Wind Master had always been... nevermind."Xie Lian understood. This was probably a fake appearance the Lord Wind Master wasdonning, so he didn't dig into it. He asked, "How did the Wind Master come to theBanYue Pass?""To help out," Nan Feng said. "When we saw them strolling in the streets earlier theywere actually looking for those BanYue soldiers."Xie Lian recalled now that the first time he asked about the BanYue Pass in thecommunication array, in the midst of silent awkwardness, it was the Wind Master'ssudden release of ten thousand merits that distracted everyone. The Wind Masterprobably already took notice of his query then.As Xie Lian mused, the Wind Master bent down in front of Pei Su, "Little Pei, I've heardeverything, you know."Pei Su hung his head. The Wind Master demanded, "Do you admit that in these pasttwo hundre years, you were the one who lured all those travelers into the AncientKingdom of BanYue?"Since he was already caught, Pei Su didn't argue, and only replied solemnly, "It wasme.""Why?" The Wind Master demanded.After a pause, Pei Su asked, "Lord Wind Master has long been suspicious, can you notguess why?""Is it only because these souls of the dead are the iron proof of the blood on your handswhilst you were a human, and would become obstacles for your climbing higher in thefuture?" Wind Master asked.Pei Su neither agreed nor disagreed, and Xie Lian who was listening on the side,couldn't help but ask, "If anything, why didn't you just kill them directly? Why must youuse such a method as feeding them the living in order to appease their resentment?How is that different than using another's flesh and blood to quench the thirst of one?"San Lang spoke up, "He couldn't."That's true too. In the Upper Court, every move by a heavenly official like Pei Su waswatched intently by countless eyes. There were many things he couldn't do directly; hecouldn't use his true form to come down and kill off all those resentful spirits of thesesoldiers straightforwardly, and he couldn't send troops to annihilate them either. Thiswas already a concealed affair, if there was too much of a stir, wouldn't it attracteveryone's gaze? At most he could only send a clone like A-Zhao down quietly.Using the scorpion snakes that Ban Yue was known to be an expert in manipulating togo out and harm, attracting passersby in to feed the resentful spirits to disperse theirresentment, no doubt it was a perfect framing scheme."Your General Pei wouldn't have done something like this at all." The Wind Master said,"This time, I'm afraid you've crossed the line."As a heavenly official, that he would release a clone to cause havoc at the BanYuePass for almost two hundred years, lure innumerous passersby down the wrong pathand into the ruins, and die in the mouths of BanYue soldiers, no matter how he couldspin it, it wasn't a small deal. Pei Su only lowered his head and said, "This young oneknows."The Wind Master swept the whisk, "As long as you understand. Reflect on yourself andthink on it. We'll talk in the heavens.""I understand." Pei Su said quietly.Having finished with the talk with Pei Su, the Wind Master stuffed the whisk into theback collar of her robe, stood up, and smiled at Xie Lian. "Your Royal Highness theCrown Prince. I've heard much about you."To Xie Lian, "Heard much about you" really wasn't a compliment, but nevertheless itwas meaningless pleasantries, so he smiled back, "I'm sure it's nothing. I've heardmuch about you as well, Lord Wind Master.""Sorry about before, by the way." The Wind Master said.Xie Lian paused, "Before? What happened before?""Didn't you all run into a windstorm in the desert?"Xie Lian could remember the mouthfuls of sand and replied, "Yes?""I started that." The Wind Master said."..."The Wind Master continued casually, "That windstorm was meant to stop you all fromgoing near the Kingdom of BanYue, but you didn't get blown away, and ended up inBanYue anyway."The more Xie Lian listened the more he felt something wasn't right. Starting awindstorm to stop them from going to the BanYue Pass, and now this whole thingsuddenly came into the open, just what did it mean?Xie Lian didn't respond, biding to see what the other would say. The Wind Master thencontinued, "But, in regards to this whole ordeal, I would suggest Your Highness mindyour own business and stop putting your hands where they don't belong."Xie Lian stole a look at Ban Yue who's curled up on the ground, and dreaded.He was already worried that if this scandal was to reach the Upper Court, the officialscould easily muck up the truth, add strokes to where there wasn't, and have Ban Yuetake all the blame while Little Pei ran off scot free. With Wind Master's suddenappearance, telling him not to mind this business, didn't this cement they will protectLittle Pei?Without changing his expression, Xie Lian stepped forward to stand in front of Ban Yue,hiding her behind him, and said warmly, "But I've already put my hands into thisbusiness, I can't possibly leave it now."The Wind Master noticed his gesture and smiled, "Don't be concerned. You can take theGuoshi of BanYue away with you."That was unexpected. Xie Lian slightly taken aback, and the Wind Master continued,"While you were all in the pit, we've heard everything from up here. Although the Guoshihas turned into a 'Savage', when I roamed the city I saw that she had drawn the array totrap the BanYue soldiers and released all the captured mortals. She didn't hurt anyone,and was even saving people. The only ones I'm taking are General Pei Junior and KeMo, you don't have to worry about me placing blames on anyone."Xie Lian relaxed, "Much ashamed! I've been suspicious.""It's normal to worry." The Wind Master said, "There's some unpleasant cultures up inthe heavens after all."The lady in black looked as if she couldn't stay for another moment, and spoke up, "Areyou done? If you're done then let's go."The Wind Master rebutted, "Tsk! What's the rush? The more you rush the more I wannatalk!" Still, she turned her head and smiled, taking out a folding fan from her waist andsaid, "Your Royal Highness, if there's nothing else, we'll see you in the Upper Court?"Xie Lian nodded, and the Wind Master opened her fan. On the fan was the word forwind 'Feng' in a slant, and three inclining lines like the wind on the back. This must bethe Wind Master's spiritual device. She fanned forward three times, and backwardsthree times. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from flat ground.The wind drew dust and sand, and Xie Lian raised his sleeve to block off the debris.When the wind died down, the two ladies, Pei Su, and Ke Mo had all disappeared,leaving only Xie Lian, San Lang, Nan Feng, and the deeply asleep Ban Yue behind.Xie Lian dropped his sleeve, still a little dazed, "What just happened?"San Lang casually strolled over, "A pretty good thing."Xie Lian watched him, "Is it?""Yea. The Wind Master was trying to help you by telling you not to get involved."Nan Feng walked over too, "That's right. You've dug in too deep in this businessalready. The only thing left to do is to file a complaint to the Heavenly Martial Emperor.Don't get yourself involved anymore."Xie Lian got it, "Is it because of General Pei?""Correct." Nan Feng said, "This time you have thoroughly offended him."Xie Lian laughed, "I knew I was going to offend someone one of these days, I guess itdoesn't matter who."Nan Feng furrowed his brows, "Don't think I'm joking. Other than the Great Martial Hall,the next most powerful martial palace is Ming Guang. General Pei thinks very highly ofLittle Pei, and has always tried to boot Quan Yi Zhen. He's gonna come knockinglooking for trouble.""Quan Yi Zhen is the Martial God that rules the West, right?" Xie Lian asked."That's the one." Nan Feng replied, "Quan Yi Zhen is also a new official. He ascendedaround the same time as Pei Su. He's young, and a little... But very powerful. GeneralPei wanted Pei Su to take all the devotees of the West, and he's done well for himself,especially these past few years. Now with you dragging this scandal out into the open,it's not looking good for Pei Su, maybe he'll even be banished. If he gets banished, yourluck is gonna turn for the worse too."Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, mentally taking note that from now on he would have tobe more mindful when eating, drinking, and walking. San Lang however, didn't think itwas a big deal. "Don't worry. Pei Ming is too proud. He won't do anything underhanded."Nan Feng gave him a look. "What about the Wind Master?" Xie Lian asked, "She toldme not to get involved, so she's the one who will file the complaint? Doesn't that meanshe'll be the one offending General Pei? I can't have that. Let's call her back. Nan Feng,do you know the password to her personal communication array?""You needn't worry about the Wind Master," Nan Feng said, "General Pei can hurt you,but he won't touch her. She may be younger than you but she's much more successfulin the heavens.""..."Xie Lian wasn't shocked into silence, but was instead thinking, 'Who in the heavens ismore of a failure than me? I don't think there's anyone.'San Lang laughed, "With that backing, of course she's successful.""Are you talking about the lady in black? She looks to be a strong character too." XieLian remarked."No," San Lang replied, "But she should also be one of the five elemental masters thatmake up 'Wind, Water, Rain, Earth, Thunder'. Probably shouldn't offend her either."The Wind Master could start a twister from nothing, obviously powerful. But the lady inblack was stronger. Xie Lian recalled the way she watched San Lang as if she'd foundout something, and felt rather concerned. "I agree."But still, there were words that Xie Lian thought didn't need to be said and he swallowedthem. He thought, 'Even with a strong backing you may not be successful. Back in theday, the Crown Prince of XianLe had the support of the Heavenly Martial Emperor whoruled all three realms for a thousand years. He was still a failure.'Xie Lian picked up his fallen bamboo hat, dusted it, seeing that it wasn't flattened, andbreathed in relief. He tied it back around his neck and really looked at Nan Feng. "Wereyou fighting with the two ladies all this way?""Yes. We fought the entire way." Nan Feng replied, face dark.Xie Lian patted his shoulders, "Thanks for your hard work." Suddenly, he rememberedthere was another one who worked hard, and turned around, "Where's Fu Yao?""Wasn't he watching the wounded?" Nan Feng responded.Xie Lian didn't recall seeing Fu Yao after getting blown out of the Sinner's Pit. Actually,ever since A-Zhao revealed himself there had been no more sounds from him, If hedidn't leave back then, he must've left when the wind blew.Xie Lian wasn't actually that worried. He figured Fu Yao didn't want to get mixed up inthis mess so he quickly ran off. But, having heard Nan Feng say "wounded" he came toin shock and both cried at the same time, "The ShanYue fern!""The sky only just lightened, no rush." San Lang said.There is no such thing as "no rush" when it came to saving lives. Even if it was far frombeing 24 hours, who knows if anything might've happened in all that time? Xie Lian hadno time to think about Fu Yao. He hurriedly carried Ban Yue on his back, and rantowards the palace grounds.Once at the palace, Xie Lian laid Ban Yue down, and immediately picked a few largebushels of the ShanYue fern. That mud face was still on the ground, its face a bloodymess amongst its white bones. In the past Xie Lian would've buried it, but first, he's in ahurry to save people, and second, that man was buried in the ground for fifty to sixtyyears, he must not want to go back. But the corpse of the dead merchant was missing,and Xie Lian stopped, puzzled. Just then San Lang emerged from the palace with asmall clay pot. When Xie Lian saw, he immediately called out, "Bless you, San Lang."Ban Yue was weak and wouldn't wake up, so Xie Lian shrank her and tucked her intothe pot. The group of them continued to collect the ferns, and rushed back. It had beenabout eight hours since they left.Returning to where Fu Yao had drawn the circle, Xie Lian saw that many were stillwithin it, scared to venture out. The old man who had taken Nan Feng's pill was doingalright, and after applying the herb on his wound, he was able to stand and walk afterresting for a while. Only, Xie Lian didn't think there was any need to tell them what theherb used to grow on.After some time, the merchants were all calmed, and began to worry, "Where's TianShengg? How come they haven't returned yet?"Xie Lian was too busy picking herbs earlier and didn't bother with Tian Shengg and theothers. He was just thinking about going back to the ruins to search for them when heheard the voice of a boy yelling gege and uncles coming closer. Xie Lian turned hishead, and sure enough it was Tian Sheng. The boy had a large bushel of the ShanYuefern in his arms, and behind him were two other merchants, all huffing and puffing.Turns out, while on top the walls of the Sinner's Pit, Ban Yue swept the soldiersdown,and captured Tian Sheng and the merchants. They were terrified, but Ban Yueonly led them down from the pit, and directed them where to go before sending them ontheir way. They escaped, picked the herbs, buried the dead merchant's body, and ranback, yet still somehow was slower than Xie Lian.In any case, Xie Lian escorted the caravan out of the Gobi desert, and ended thisjourney.Before they bid farewell, Tian Sheng snuck out to find him and whispered mysteriously,"Gege, I've a question for you.""Ask away," Xie Lian said."You're actually a god, aren't you?""..."Xie Lian was astonished. But also a little touched.In the past, there was a time when he'd holler and announce to the world, "I'm a god! Iam the Crown Prince, Your Royal Highness!" and no one would believe him. This time,he hadn't even said anything and the other party asked if he was a god, deeplysurprising him but also moved him.Tian Sheng added immediately, "I saw you use spells! Don't worry, I won't tell."'How would you even tell. No one would believe you...' Xie Lian thought.Tian Sheng continued, "If not for you, I would've gotten thrown into that pit by those uglyghost soldiers. When I get home I'll build you a temple and worship you."Xie Lian watched him pat his chest and make 'very big, very big' hand gestures, andcouldn't help but let out a laugh and smiled, "Then, thank you."San Lang was standing on the side, and he chuckled lightly for some unknown reason.Xie Lian didn't think it was because he thought a child's naive words were ridiculous.Although children have no idea just how much work went into constructing a temple,nevertheless, receiving such a promise, fulfilled or not, was still a happy occasion.After much hassling, he had to leave behind a random title "The Scrap Immortal", thenhe waved and walked off in the opposite direction.Nan Feng drew another DistanceShortening array and sent them all back to PuQi Shrine.Opening the door, Xie Lian took the straw mat out, laid it open on the ground, andcollapsed on it like a dead body. This was done all in one breath. San Lang sat himselfdown next to him, hand propping up his chin, and watched him. Xie Lian sighed, "Howlong were we gone?""Around three, four days." San Lang replied.Xie Lian sighed again, "Only three, four days, why am I so tired."Ever since he ascended, he was always worked to the bone like a dog, no lie. After hewas done sighing, Xie Lian looked up, "Eh? Nan Feng? Why haven't you reported backyet?""Report back where?" Nan Feng asked."Aren't you the junior official of Nan Yang Palace? Won't your general miss you afterthree, four days?""My general isn't in the palace right now, so he won't miss me." Nan Feng replied,Xie Lian rolled over and got up, "Alright. It'll be good too if you stay.""What are you doing?" Nan Feng asked.Xie Lian looked at him cheerfully, "I'm going to cook you a meal. As a reward for yourhard work."Nan Feng's face dropped drastically. He raised his hand, pressed two fingers togetherand touched his temple, as if receiving someone's private communication. He up andturned, "There's an emergency at the palace, I'll see you later."Xie Lian waved his hand, "What? Nan Feng, don't go! How can there suddenly be anemergency? I really want to thank you for everything–""THERE'S AN EMERGENCY!" Nan Feng roared, and ran out the door.Xie Lian sat back down on the mat and looked at San Lang, "I guess he's not hungry."There was a loud bang before San Lang could reply, and it was Nan Feng who cameback, having slammed open the door in a rush. "YOU TWO–!!"Xie Lian and San Lang were sitting together on the mat and both raised their heads tolook at him, "What about us two?"Nan Feng pointed his finger at San Lang, then at Xie Lian, his words stuck in his throat,unable to speak. Then finally, "I will be back!""You're very welcome to." Xie Lian said.Nan Feng gave San Lang one last stink eye before closing the door and leaving. XieLian crossed his arms, tilted his head like San Lang, and said, "Looks like there really isan emergency."He turned to look at the boy next to him and smiled cheerfully, "He's not hungry, howabout you?"San Lang smiled cheerfully back, "I'm starving."Xie Lian grinned and stood up again, turned around and casually cleaned the altartable, "Alright then. What do you want to eat, Hua Cheng?"Behind him, there was silence. Then chuckling."I still prefer the name 'San Lang'."