(Chuyan POV)
I don't know why master was in such a hurry to leave the sect, and not only that, the woman he brought back from the dark sect base was still in a coma, so I did not expect him to go on an adventure right after coming back from seeing the sect master.
Looking back at that time when the master was eradicating those heretics, he looked displeased; it was like killing them was tainting him, and he did not like it. Even that demon he captured, anytime the master looked at it, it was like he could not handle looking at such a creature. Master's body is just too pure.
I am so weak that I can't even help master cleanse those heretics. I need to grow stronger so that master can rely on me for such a job and never do it himself.
He got a carriage and a disciple of the sect, and we headed off, first going down the mountain the sect was located on. I even heard master sigh when we passed the gates of the sect, almost as if he was running away from the sect, or maybe he was just too tired because master had not really had that much time to rest.
After coming back from Jin city, he was given a mission to kill those insects, and later, when he saved that sorceress, he had been running around looking for a way to cure her because, according to him, that demon was tethered to her soul and could not be a certain distance away from her. Not only did the master have to spend two days sealing that demon away, but he did not banish him but rather kept him as the guard dog that the demon was to protect the sorceress in case she might get attacked.
Which is unlikely since all the Elders of the sect are here with the master's mother too.
Oh, and I like master's mother. She is very kind; she gave me candy. She did look at me with a strange smile, though, and called me daughter. I think she meant daughter-in-law, but that is in the near future.
I could not help stroking the ring on my right ring finger, the proposal ring he gave me. Ah~~
"Master, where are we going?" I asked as I snuggled up to him, to which he patted my head.
We have been on the road for about a week now. After passing Humin village, where we rested,.
"Tang city, I need some herbs and materials to craft a pill for that woman in the courtyard and also to increase your affinity," He responded looking outside the carriage window.
Master could even increase my affinity? Wow, his divinity knows no bounds, since, according to some practitioners, affinity can never be increased, but those blessings that master rained from the sky a year ago proved otherwise.
I am still ashamed that after blessing me, I could only gain a wood-tier affinity; this disciple is really unworthy.
"Uh, master Zen, there are some people blocking the road." The driver said, opening the partition slightly.
"Another bandit group?" Master hummed as he stopped patting my head and got ready to get up and go outside, which, of course, I stopped him from doing.
"Master does not need to go out; I will handle it myself," I assured him, to which he patted my head and praised me as his cute disciple. I could feel my cheeks heat up, but I quickly covered them and headed outside.
Those insects are going to pay for disturbing my alone time with master.
"Please turn back," The one in front of the group said as soon as I got down from the carriage.
"Why?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
"The road has been infested with trees, and the villagers of Guming village are trapped in; some practitioners have already headed inside to save them, and they said we should prevent anyone from entering," He answered. that was when I noticed that the road behind him had suddenly disappeared and was replaced with tall, towering trees.
Now that I think about it, when we got to Humin village, I did notice that the trees around and inside the village were a bit strange, as they looked like they were suddenly boosted by some kind of growth magic.
Is this what is going to happen to Humin village too? Would they be trapped by trees?
"Which sect are these practitioners from?" I asked, relaxing my vigilance.
"The coiling wood sect," He answered calmly as he took out a token. From the distance he was standing, I could not really make out the design of the token since it looked a bit strange.
Why do I feel like I have heard of this sect before?
"Can you call the leader of the group of practitioners from this coiling sect? my master is Master Zen of the Ink cloud sect. we are heading to Tang city, so we need to pass this road."
Even though the road was covered with trees, it's not like we can't cut them down and pass through.
I saw his face change for a split second before he opened his mouth again.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that."
Did he not hear what I had said?
"I said that the person in this carriage is master Zen--"
"I heard the first time, miss, but I can't allow you to pass."
Did he just cut me off? Did he just reject my request even after saying master was inside the carriage? How dare he!?
Taking a deep breath, I walked closer to them.
"Miss, please don't make this complicated." He said, taking out a sword from inside his robes.
Don't make it complicated, he said, but he rejected master passage through this road. how blasphemous, denying my god passage. He needs to die to atone for his sins!
Creating an earth spike with the stones around, I hurled it at him and his men; halfway through its flight path, I screamed.
"Barrage!" The earth spike turned into countless toothpick-sized spikes as it rained down on those sinners.
I was not as proficient as master when it came to casting techniques; since he does not have to speak out loud, he did say only sorcerers use that method.
That woman is a sorcerer too. Does that mean master might take her as a disciple when she wakes up? He did say they were rare and powerful.
"Argh!"
The screams of the heretics brought me out of my thoughts as they looked like they had jumped into a forest of cacti, with the spikes sticking out of them.
Hopefully their screams did not disturb master.
I turned around and looked at the driver, who looked back at me with his mouth wide open.
"Let's go." I ordered in a foul mood.
I sat with him again as we made our way, and I used my earth techniques to clear a path for us.
After what seemed like hours, we made it to the Guming village, but what I saw left me in shock.
Everyone in Guming village looked like walking trees; some were basking in the sunlight standing upright, while others were just shuffling around like mindless sheep, but what put me in even more shock was seeing a group of white-robed people feeding some humans to said walking trees.
They looked like the villagers, and the white-robed men would toss them into a group of those walking trees, and they would be instantly devoured, leaving only their bones.
"Look, over there!" One of them yelled, pointing in our direction. "More nourishment for my babies!"
These insects deserve to be purged.