Xie Lian said, "I really don't remember!"
Even though he was tough and hard to kill, he couldn't handle being attacked like this.
He thought, "This can't go on!" So, he quickly decided to play dead by lying still on the ground.
But even pretending to be dead didn't help; he got trampled until he passed out.
When he woke up, it was because he was choking on water. After the battle, the bodies were thrown into the river, and Xie Lian was washed back to Eternal Peace Kingdom like a piece of trash.
After three or four years of recovery, he picked up a compass that wasn't broken and set off again, finally reaching his original destination in the south.
After that, he didn't pay much attention to what was happening in the Half Moon Kingdom.
Half Moon softly said, "I'm sorry."
Fu Yao frowned and asked, "Why does she keep saying sorry to you?"
San Lang suddenly said, "Ke Mo mentioned that the national teacher of Half Moon went to the Central Plains after a riot. Was that riot related to you?"
With this reminder, Xie Lian recalled some of the stone tablet's content and vaguely remembered, "Ah, it seems like..."
Half Moon said, "It was to save me."
Everyone looked at her, and she quietly said, "General Hua was trampled to save me."
"......"
Xie Lian suddenly remembered the feeling of being trampled by hundreds of people and couldn't help but hug his arms. Seeing the other two looking at him with complicated expressions, he quickly added, "I wasn't flattened, really!"
Fu Yao, with a sarcastic tone, said, "Oh, truly selfless."
Xie Lian waved his hand and said, "I wouldn't dare to claim that. I just wanted to grab the kid and run, but I couldn't escape in time and got caught in the fight..."
Fu Yao asked, "Then how can you not remember such a thing?"
Xie Lian replied, "Look at me, I'm hundreds of years old.
A lot can happen in a year, a person can change in ten years, let alone so many years. It's impossible to remember everything clearly. Besides, some things are better forgotten. Instead of remembering being cut and trampled hundreds of times, I'd rather remember eating a delicious meat bun yesterday."
Half Moon said, "I'm sorry."
Xie Lian sighed and said, "Half Moon, saving you was my choice, you did nothing wrong. If you need to apologize, maybe you should say it to someone else."
Half Moon was taken aback and fell silent.
Xie Lian continued, "But... maybe my impression of you is still stuck two hundred years ago. I always felt you weren't the type to plot revenge or betray others... Will you tell me what really happened? Why did you open the city gate?"
Half Moon thought for a moment, shook her head, and remained silent.
Xie Lian asked, "Then why did you release the snakes to bite people?"
This time, Half Moon said, "I didn't release the snakes."
Xie Lian was surprised, "What?"
Half Moon said, "I didn't release the snakes; they ran out on their own. I don't know why, but they stopped listening to me."
Hearing this, Fu Yao looked impatient. Half Moon said, "General Hua, I'm not lying."
Before Xie Lian could speak, Fu Yao rudely said, "Everyone says that after they're caught. Even if you say it wasn't on purpose, it doesn't matter. I've heard it all before. Those who passed the pass were indeed bitten by your snakes. Stretch out your hands, you're being taken away."
Half Moon closed her mouth and obediently extended her hands. Fu Yao immediately threw out an Immortal Binding Rope from his sleeve, tying her and Ke Mo together, saying, "Alright, mission accomplished, we can wrap this up!"
At this moment, San Lang said, "She has no reason to lie."
Xie Lian also felt it necessary to ask again and said to Half Moon, "Can you not control the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes at all now?"
Half Moon replied, "I can control them most of the time, but sometimes they don't listen. I don't know why."
Xie Lian said, "Summon the snakes and show us."
Half Moon, who had been kneeling before him, finally stood up and nodded.
Soon, a purple-red Scorpion-Tailed Snake slithered out from under a corpse, raised its head, and coiled on top of the pile of bodies, silently flicking its tongue at them.
Xie Lian was about to take a closer look at the snake when he saw Half Moon's eyes widen slightly, her expression changing. Sensing something was wrong, Xie Lian thought, "This isn't right."
Sure enough, the snake suddenly opened its mouth wide and lunged at him!
Although the attack was sudden, Xie Lian was prepared and saw it clearly.
Just as he was about to grab it, there was a "bang" sound, like something had exploded. When he looked again, the snake had fallen limply to the ground, bursting open, but with no venom splattering out.
Xie Lian immediately remembered that a Scorpion-Tailed Snake had died like this before they entered the Half Moon Kingdom. I
t was obvious who did it. Before he could look at San Lang, a sleeve attached to a red robe stretched out, blocking between him and Half Moon.
On the other side, Fu Yao coldly said, "See? She was lying to you. Did you think the snake could bite him in this situation? Foolish."
Half Moon looked pale at the sight of the dead snake and raised her head sharply, saying, "I didn't. I said some snakes don't listen to me, and that one was one of them."
Fu Yao didn't believe her at all, "How do we know if it really didn't listen to you or if it did?"
Half Moon said in a low voice, "I didn't summon it."
Xie Lian was about to speak when two more deep purple-red Scorpion-Tailed Snakes slithered out from under the corpses, flicking their tongues defiantly. Then a third, fourth, fifth... From all corners of the pile of bodies, countless Scorpion-Tailed Snakes emerged!
Everyone looked at Half Moon kneeling on the pile of bodies.
Fu Yao conjured a ball of white light in his hand and said to Half Moon, "Make them retreat. They can't all be ignoring you."
Half Moon frowned, trying to think of a way to drive them off.
However, more and more Scorpion-Tailed Snakes kept appearing, twisting and turning as they approached. Even if one or two snakes couldn't kill them, hundreds or thousands might, and even if they didn't, it would be quite unpleasant. Xie Lian raised his hand to summon Ruoye, but the snakes stopped a few feet away, hesitating and forming a strange circle around them.
Xie Lian realized something and looked at San Lang beside him. San Lang was looking down at the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes with disdain. The snakes seemed to understand his gaze, not daring to get closer, and retreated a little, lowering their heads to the ground in submission.
However, some force seemed to be driving them, not allowing them to give up the attack entirely, so many snakes turned towards Fu Yao.
Fu Yao waved his hand, and flames shot out from his sleeve, burning some and driving others back.
But this couldn't last long. Xie Lian said, "Let's go up first and leave here."
Hearing this, Ruoye shot upwards. But soon it came back. Xie Lian was puzzled and said to the white ribbon coiled around his wrist, "Why did you come back? The barrier is open, nothing's stopping you, go on."
Ruoye trembled on his wrist as if it had encountered something terrifying above. Xie Lian was about to coax it when something fell with a "thud," landing on Fu Yao's shoulder. Fu Yao grabbed it reflexively, his expression changing drastically when he saw it was another Scorpion-Tailed Snake!
Caught off guard, Fu Yao was bitten and threw the snake at Half Moon's face. Half Moon, with her hands tied, instinctively raised them to catch it.
The purple-red snake coiled around her pale wrist but didn't attack. Then another "thud" sounded as a second Scorpion-Tailed Snake fell to the ground!
Xie Lian guessed why Ruoye refused to go up. He looked up, using the moonlight to barely make out hundreds of purple-red dots falling rapidly from above.
A rain of snakes!
Seeing the purple-red dots getting closer, Xie Lian said, "Fu Yao! Fire! Send a fire screen up and deal with them in mid-air!"
Fu Yao bit his palm, and with a wave, a drop of blood flew up, transforming into a blazing wall of fire. It rose rapidly, burning any Scorpion-Tailed Snake it touched to ash, intercepting the falling rain of snakes.
Seeing they were temporarily safe, Xie Lian sighed in relief, "Good! Fu Yao, we really owe you."
Such a spell must consume a lot of spiritual power.
After casting it, Fu Yao's face turned pale. He turned and set a circle of fire on the ground, burning back the snakes below, and said to Half Moon, "You still say they don't listen to you? If you weren't controlling them, why wouldn't these Scorpion-Tailed Snakes attack you?"
San Lang laughed and said, "Maybe it's just bad luck? They didn't attack us either."
Fu Yao turned, his gaze sharp as he looked at the two of them. Xie Lian had a bad feeling but didn't have time to sort it out, not wanting them to start fighting. He said, "Let's figure out what's going on with these snakes and get out of here."
Fu Yao sneered, "Figure it out? Either this Half Moon national teacher is lying, or the one beside you is up to something!"
Xie Lian looked at Half Moon, then at San Lang, and said, "I don't think it's them."
His tone was gentle but firm.
This was his conclusion after thinking it over, but Fu Yao must have thought he was covering for them.
The firelight made Fu Yao's expression particularly unpleasant, and it was hard to tell if he was angry or amused.
He said, "Crown Prince, don't pretend to be ignorant. Do you remember your identity? You should have realized what that thing beside you is by now. I don't believe you haven't noticed at all!"