Forbidden Read!
Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Shortening Distance; Sand Storm Caught

Xie Lian spoke, "Even if there are many such rumors and hearsay, the BanYue Kingdom does in fact exist."

"Oh yeah?" San Lang muttered, but Xie Lian could not say that he only knew because he had visited various places to collect trash two hundred years ago before the Chief Priest came.

Back then, Nan Feng had completed the array on the ground and called out to the others, "It's done. When are we going?"

Xie Lian hurriedly packed a few items and put them in a small bag before returning to the front door. "Let's go now."

Nan Feng placed his hand on the door and uttered: "With the blessings of the Heavenly Officials, there is no place that is bound!" before pushing the door slowly.

As the door opened, what appeared outside was no longer the rustic tucked away on the hillside. The view turned into a vast city street.

As wide as the road that lay there, there was almost no one passing by on that road, there might only be one or two occasional pedestrians. Not because it was late at night, but because the population of people living in the Northwest end was not yet high, besides the region it was this close to the Gobi desert. Even during the day there will not be many pedestrians passing by. Xie Lian closed the door behind her, and it was no longer her Pu Qi temple on the inside, but rather a small inn. This one step they had gone through was certainly over thousands of miles, the magic of the Distance Shortening array.

A pair of pedestrians passed by them, staring at them and whispering to themselves, looking quite alert. San Lang spoke from behind Xie Lian, "According to the historical record, when the moon sinks in the sky, follow the direction of the north star and you will arrive at BanYue kingdom. Gege, look." San Lang pointed to the sky, "That's Polaris."

Xie Lian looked up and smiled, "A very bright star."

San Lang stepped closer to stand beside Xie Lian, glanced at her and looked up, "Yes. It seemed like the night sky in the Northwest was somehow wider than in the Central Plains."

Xie Lian agreed, and the two of them were immersed in the discussion about the stars and the night sky. Meanwhile, the two junior Heavenly Officials behind them watched the sight of the two people in front of them with looks of disbelief, Nan Feng asked, "Why is he here too?"

"The door you made looks so magical, I came to check it out." San Lang replied innocently.

"Tortured him?! DO YOU THINK THIS IS AN OUTING?" Nan Feng shouted furiously.

Xie Lian rubbed her forehead and said, "Leave it alone. Because he's here, he's here. He won't eat your rations, mine should be enough. San Lang, stay near me, don't get lost."

"Good!" San Lang responded, looking good and obedient.

"THIS ISN'T A QUESTION ABOUT RATIONS????"

Xie Lian sighed, "Nan Feng, lower your voice. It's midnight, everybody's asleep. Let's focus on the task at hand and stop taking care of the little things. Come on, come on."

"..."

The four followed the direction of the north star and walked north. After walking non-stop through the night, the cities and greenery along the roads became increasingly sparse, and the land they passed by to walk up to now slowly turned into sand. Eventually, they reach the Gobi desert. Although the Distance Shortening Array could traverse thousands of miles in a single step, he needed immense spiritual power to activate it, and the further the distance it had to travel, the more, then the more power it takes, and the time it takes to recover the spiritual power that had previously been used also becomes longer. This one step was a favor from Nan Feng for them and would require at least eight hours to recover his strength. In order to save strength in the event of an unexpected battle, Xie Lian decided not to have Fu Yao create the same array. For a trip like this, the power possessed by one must at least be in full force.

'

In a desert climate, the change between night and day is extreme; the temperature at night is so cold it is bone-chilling, but it is not so bad, but when the day starts to turn into noon then this will be another story. The clear, cloudless sky gave way for the scorching sun to show itself. It was as if they were walking in a steaming oven, cooking them alive on the ground.

Xie Lian led the way, using the direction of the wind and the small plants growing under the boulders to find their way. After a while he looked back, worried that someone might not follow him. Nan Fen and Fu Yao were clearly fine, obviously because they were both a person of god. Seeing San Lang made him laugh.

Under the scorching sun, the teenager took off his outer red robe and used it lazily to block out the sun, looking tired and irritated. Her pearly-white skin, her jet-black hair, with a red robe covering her face, her face looked even more prominent. Xie Lian took off her straw hat and placed it on San Lang's head, "Here, I'll lend it to you."

Surprised, San Lang laughed and said, "It's okay," and returned his hat. Xie Lian did not argue, if she did not need it, there was no need to push any harder, "Tell me if you need it." Xie Lian straightened the hat on her head and continued walking.

After a while, the group saw a small gray building in the middle of the sand plains in front of them. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that it was an abandoned inn. Xie Lian looked up at the sky, seeing that it was past noon now and this was the time when the scorching heat of the sun was about to get worse. They had been walking all night; it was time to rest. Xie Lian led the group into the building, and there they found a square table to sit down and settle down. From his bag, Xie Lian took out a water bottle and handed it to San Lang. "Do you want a drink?"

San Lang nodded, grabbed the water bottle from Xie Lan's hand and then drank it before Xie Lian took it back for her to drink by herself. He gulped down the cold water, his adam apple moving up and down, feeling very fresh and energized. Next to him, San Lang held his chin, stealing glances as Xie Lian was drinking. A moment later, he asked, "Is there any more?"

Xie Lian licked her moist lips, nodded and gave another bottle of water. San Lang was about to grab it when another hand blocked him.

"Wait," Fu Yao said.

He took his own water bottle from his bag and put it on the table, pushing it towards San Lang. "I have one too."

Xie Lian immediately knew what she was up to.

Knowing Fu Yao's personality couldn't be that she was willing to share her water bottle with someone else. He and Nan Feng talked about San Lang's testing the night before, so the liquid in the bottle must have been 'The Unmasking Water' (Mock Opening Water).

The Vise Opener Water was a kind of potion that would force its drinkers to reveal their true form if they were not human. Fu Yao was going to use this potion to test whether or not this teenager was of the Highest Rank, the effect was bound to be great.

San Lang smiled, "I can share the bottle with gege, it's okay."

Fu Yao and Nan Feng looked at Xie Lian, and she stared back at them, thinking inwardly, "Mindling me won't affect anything."

Fu Yao said coldly, "His water bottle is almost empty. Please drink from my water bottle."

"really? You two drink first, don't worry about me." said San Lang, refusing.

"..."

The two men were silent. A while later Fu Yao tried again. "You're a guest, please don't hesitate, you first."

Fu Yao sounded friendly and polite, but Xie Lian thought she must have forced those words out from between her teeth. San Lang also gave a sign to invite him, "You two are the followers of the host, please drink first, otherwise it would seem inappropriate for me."

Xie Lian watched the three of them play a silly game of false pleasantries and pity the pitiful water bottles that were roughly pushed around the table. He shook his head; feeling the poor table shake at the strength of their game and worried that the table would not last much longer. Finally, Fu Yao snapped and sneered, "You don't receive this water means you have a guilty feeling in your heart!"

San Lang replied with a smile, "You are not friendly and refuse to drink it first. Who knew you poisoned the water in that bottle? Maybe you're the one with the guilt?"

Fu Yao pointed at Xie Lian, "You can ask her if I really poisoned this water or not!"

"Is this water poisonous, gege?" San Lang turned his head towards Xie Lian.

That was quite a devious question, since technically the Vise Opener Water was a potion that showed one's true form and did not harm a genuine human. Xie Lian replied slowly, "It's not poisonous, but..."

Fu Yao and Nan Feng focused their gaze on San Lang and he surprisingly released his grip on the bottle. "All right."

San Lang picked up the bottle and shook it playfully, "If gege says it's okay, it means no problem." he gulped down the contents of the water bottle at once in one drink.

Xie Lian had not expected him to be so forthright and looked surprised. Nan Feng and Fu Yao were also stunned, and immediately felt tense.

But San Lang just shook the bottle again and threw it over his shoulder where it fell and broke into pieces. "It doesn't feel good."

San Lang grabbed the water bottle next to Xie Lian's elbow again and replied, "Of course it's different. This one tastes better."

Xie Lian laughed. San Lang really did not care about any challenges that occurred, or about his true identity, so the fight was meaningless and only provided him with entertainment. Xie Lian thought that this would be the end of it, but Nan Feng stood up and dropped the sword onto the table with a loud clanking sound.

With a powerful battle aura around him, Xie Lian at first thought Nan Feng intended to silence San Lang for good, she was speechless for a moment, "What are you doing?"

"The road ahead is dangerous," Nan Feng declared in a low voice, "This is a gift for this little friend as self-defense."

The design of the sword sheath looked ancient and bore wear from time to time. It was no ordinary sword. Xie Lian's eyes widened as she found out, placed her hands on her forehead and turned around, muttering to herself, "That's HongJing!" (Crimson Mirror or Red Mirror)

The name of the sword was 'HongJing'. A holy sword that cannot resist evil, but no evil can escape from its mirror. If any non-human entity were to pull it from its scabbard, the blade would turn red as if covered in blood, and the HongJing blade would reflect the true form of what it had washed away. Whether it's 'Threat' or 'Highest Rank', no one will be able to escape!

There was no youngster who was not interested in swords or horses, so San Lang looked rather excited, "Oh, let me see!"

Gloves on one hand, sword grip on the other, San Lang then pulled the sword. Nan Feng and Fu Yao stared intently. But just three inches away he pulled the sword, San Lang laughed, "Gege, are these servants playing games with me?"

Xie Lian cleared her throat and turned around, "San Lang, I already told you that they are not servants." then she turned around again.

"We're not kidding." Said Nan Feng coldly.

"How can one defend oneself with a broken sword?" San Lang sheathed the sword back and threw it on the table, still laughing.

Nan Feng's face froze for a while, before he immediately took out the sword to examine it. He pulled her out of her scabbard and heard a clanging sound. HongJin's sword broke from three inches down! Nan Feng's face changed color and flipped the sword sheath only to find small pieces of the broken sword cluttering on the table.

HongJing Sword was a powerful weapon that could expose his enemies, it was not a lie. But Nan Feng had never heard of any technique that could break it inside its sheath!

Nan Feng and Fu Yao pointed towards San Lang and shouted, "AU―!!!"

San Lang chuckled and threw himself back into the chair, pushed him back and put his foot on the table, he twisted one of the broken pieces between his fingers. "I'm sure you guys didn't do this on purpose, and weren't careful enough to do it on the road. Don't worry about me, I don't need a broken sword as self-defense. Keep it to yourself."

While Xie Lian, she couldn't help but stare at HongJing's sword. That holy sword used to be part of the collection that belonged to Jun Wu, the Heavenly Martial God Emperor. During his first ascension, Xie Lian had once visited Jun Wu Palace and thought despite not having any fighting strength, HongJing was an attractive sword, so Jun Wu gifted it to him. After the first banishment, there were times when things got really difficult, and Xie Lian gave the sword to Nan Feng to pawn.

Right. Pawned!

The money made from pawning HongJing was enough to feed his stomach with some food. Xie Lian had pawned too many treasures during that time, and forced herself to forget each of those treasures so that her heart would not bleed in regret. Perhaps Feng Xin recalled the sword after Xie Lian's ascension and couldn't bear to have the holy sword lost among humans, and found it again. Nevertheless, the thought of the sword bringing back painful memories so that he could only turn his face away. He could feel the other three people starting to quarrel again behind him and shaking his head, he chose to observe the changes in the weather outside. The wind started to tighten, Xie Lian thought. There will be sandstorms later. Should they continue their journey? Can they find shelter?

Just then, on top of the golden sand, two figures suddenly flashed.

Xie Lian immediately stood up straight.

The two figures, one black and the other white, walked in haste, but quickly as if they were sliding with clouds. The black-clothed figure looked slender and elegant; whereas the white-clothed figure on the other hand was a female cultivator with a sword on his back and a whiskey in his hand. As they passed by the abandoned inn, the black figure never looked back even once, while the white figure glanced and smiled in an instant at him. Looks terrible.

Xie Lian had been watching outside and caught all those scenes, but the other three people had only seen their figures moving away. Nan Feng instantly stopped his quarrel and got up, "Who is that?"

"No idea, but they're not ordinary people." Xie Lian replied and stood up as well. "Wind starts tight. Stop messing around and let's go as far as we can."

Although the three people who were fond of making the quarrels continued to argue, they still steeled their hearts to do what they should do, and immediately cleared the pieces of HongJing before exiting through the door.

The four of them continued on their way, now against the gust of wind. They walked for another four hours, the sound of the wind swerving in their ears, but the mileage they went through today was incomparable to the same distance they could have traveled the previous day. The gusts of wind whips grew stronger, throwing sand at their faces and bodies, beating their unsealed skin. The more they advanced the harder they walked. A deafening gust of wind and swirling sand wrapped the air around them, blinding their path. Xie Lian, holding her rapids hat down, exclaimed, "This sandstorm doesn't feel right!"

No one answered him and Xie Lian looked back, afraid that someone would get lost. But the three of them were still behind and following him, only that no one heard him. The strong wind was so strong that his voice was swallowed and lost in the air. He was not too worried about Nan Feng and Fu Yao; even with the crazy wind whipping the two, they were still walking steadily, full of killing intent. San Lang on the other hand, followed behind Xie Lian, never more than five steps away.

With so much sand blowing and thrashing, San Lang remained relaxed and calm, his arms swaying leisurely as he walked. His red robe and black hair danced wildly in the wind, as if he did not care what was happening in this world. Xie Lian could feel how hard the sand hit her face, and was worried by how little San Lang cared for himself. He opened his mouth to tell the teenager to be careful with the sand that went into his eyes and sleeves, but thought he would not hear anything he said, so Xie Lian grabbed him straight away to help fold San Lang's sleeves, patting him to assure herself no sand could enter. San Lang was shocked by that sudden move.

The other two people behind them approached and with everyone closer in their hearing range would be better off, Xie Lian tried to speak again. "Be careful, everyone. This wind is coming out of nowhere, this is not true. There may be a crime that blasts this storm."

"It's just a little sandstorm, how can evil interfere with this?" said Fu Yao.

Xie Lian shook her head. "This wind is fine. There could only be more than sand in the vents."

Just then, a powerful gust whipped, blowing on Xie Lian's bamboo hat. If the hat flew, it would be lost in the desert forever! But San Lang immediately reacted, and grabbed the hat in time with an abnormal hand. He returned the bamboo hat to Xie Lian once more, and Xie Lian thanked him. He tied the hat back to his head before saying, "We might have to find shelter for now."

Fu Yao disagreed, "If there is a crime in this storm that is trying to stop us from advancing, then we should continue onward!"

Before Xie Lian could say anything, San Lang burst into laughter.

Fu Yao raised her head, and asked coldly, "What are you laughing at?"

San Lang chuckled, "Does being a rebel make you feel special?"

Xie Lian had always felt that, it was hard to tell when San Lang's laughter sounded sincere, but this time the laughter was clearly meaningless either. Fu Yao's eyes darkened and Xie Lian raised her hand to stop the impending quarrel.

"Stop right there, you two. If you want to say something, say it later. It's not funny if there's another gust of wind that's firmer."

"What's? Do you think it'll take you flying?" Fu Yao sneered.

"That might ha―"

Xie Lian had yet to finish her sentence before the three people who were in front of her suddenly disappeared.

Actually, it wasn't them who disappeared, but she― another gust of strong wind had actually brought her flying!

That is wind******pick!

Xie Lian was spinning madly in the sky. He stretched out his arm and shouted, "Ruoye! Hold onto something reliable!"

Ruoye flew out from within Xie Lian's arm and furthermore she could feel Ruoye gaining weight, as if tied to something, so she pulled it. Stabilizing himself in the wind, Xie Lian realized that he had been blown over ten feet above the ground! If not for Ruoye she might have flown higher into the sky. Xie Lian was now like a kite, tied to the ground with just a rope.

With sand whipping his face, Xie Lian held on tightly and tried to see what Ruoye was actually tied to. Squinting and blinking, Xie Lian finally recognized that red silhouette. Ruoye's other end was wrapped around a teenager's wrist wrapped in red.

Xie Lian told Ruoye to hold onto something reliable, and she snatched San Lang!

Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry, and would order Ruoye to tie something else when the weight in her hand suddenly became lighter. Xie Lian's heart sank. This was not a feeling that Ruoye's twists had been released, but something much worse.

Seriate...