Chương 1590: 1588. Ask the Stooges

Soon, the carriage was back on its way, leaving behind a burned village and the survivors who were somewhat forced to work through their loss at supernatural speed. The trio left the roughly 50 people a couple of rations and returned to the road.

"Mariposa, we just came through Taoyuan Village; it's completely leveled. Ask the stooges whether that was the place they were supposed to meet their young lady," the blacksmith called the golem, using the communication orb.

"What do you mean completely leveled?" came the voice of their leader from the orb. Apparently, the Golem was standing behind him on his flying sword.

"Completely burned down; it looked like there was a fight. I figured it had something to do with your guys, so I will leave that matter to you," the Tower master said carefree. He had interested in spending time researching a crime scene.

"What about our martial brothers? There should have been a group of disciples of our Emerald Peak Temple," it came again from the orb.

"Look, I called Mariposa to inform her, not to answer your questions. No, those guys were gone, or already burned when we arrived. There were no cultivators among the survivors," the blacksmith answered his question and cut the connection. Who did that knife juggler think he was, interrogating a Tower Master like that?

"Is it really okay to just leave?" Fin asked. At this point, she had become quite curious about what exactly happened and the background of those three guys and their enemy. She wouldn't have minded staying back and investigating a little.

"Leave it to Mariposa. I rather get to the next place earlier, in case something else tries to level it," the blacksmith said, having experienced the fragility of these small villages in the world of cultivation. Small landmarks like this could apparently vanish any moment. Seth wasn't used to that. Urth had no small villages. And the system world he visited was actually calmer, stable for the most part. Not that he was in the mood to properly enjoy the journey.

He had been quite desperate, growing stronger then, since even that stable world was dangerous. They were going for barely 30 minutes when the carriage became slower again.

"What is it this time, Abeja?" Fin asked, sticking her head out of the window. At the side of the road up ahead was a small tavern, with seats outside and a few customers. The carriage would have drawn attention if it just ran by at its supernatural speed, so Abeja had slowed the carriage"Oh, it's a tavern, let's stop by and take a bite!" the glutton exclaimed happily.

"What about..."

"We are ahead of schedule, since we didn't stay at Taoyuan Village. It won't hurt to sit down and relax a little with some local food," Mina interrupted the blacksmith, whispering in his ears.

"Well, I guess since we did work a lot in the village, we should treat ourselves to a break," the bard agreed, and the carriage came to a halt in front of the tavern, drawing a couple of looks from the present customers. The trio got off, while Abeja drove the carriage to a patch of grass on the side of the tavern, where a couple of carts were also standing. It was almost like a parking lot. The golem did not join them, as it would have blown her cover.

"I have never seen you here before, esteemed guests. What can I help you with?" a polite server approached them with a polite bow shortly after they sat down. Having learned how to act in this world to not stick out, they made small talk with the server and ended up ordering the daily special. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Please have a couple snacks on the house while you wait for your order," the server returned again, placing a basket of some kind of baked or dried snacks on their table. They tasted somewhat like potato chips, quite delicious. At the question of what exactly it was, the waiter explained that these were shavings from a local root vegetable. It sounded remarkably similar to potato chips. Seth considered asking the man for seeds or something.

Apart from the snack, the food was nothing to write home about, but it was hard to make bad meat skewers or soup. As they were eating, people left, and new people came. Among the newcomers was another well-crafted carriage parked beside theirs. The coachmen actually started making small talk with Abeja, while the passengers exited for a meal. They were a group of young-looking men and women wearing black and red robes, exuding an air of aloofness.

"I have never seen you here before, esteemed guests. What can I help you with?" greeted them the same way he had greeted everyone, giving them a well-meaning, almost naive, smile. The quintet of cultivators actually frowned at his friendly approach.

"Know your place, you filthy beast. You dare ogle my junior sister and not lower your gaze in the presence of a higher existence?" a buff guy among the young men exclaimed, scolding the kind server, breaking the commoner's composure. He hurriedly began bowing and apologizing. The trio were mean-mugging them, but didn't step in. They didn't want to start a fight that might end up wiping out the whole tavern. Even if they held back, those guys might do something stupid.

"You dirty maggot, you just touched me! And what is this shit? We ordered food!" the more slender man of the group cried out, incensed. Before his words ended, he had already swung his fist to strike the server down, maybe even end his life.

"What is this?" the man expressed through clenched teeth, as his fist was stopped just an inch away from the server's face. His confusion came from the fact that his hand was stopped by an invisible force that still held it in place.

"Qi Manipulation?!" some among his group exclaimed, surprised. Seth looked over to Mina, who was focused on the situation at the other table, deliberately ignoring his looks. It was clear she had intervened with <Telekinesis>. Although they didn't want to make a scene, Seth understood why she stopped it.

"Who dares interfere with a disciple of the Crimson Demon Palace?!" the slender guy exclaimed fearlessly, still struggling to move. It took him a moment, but Seth actually recognized the sect name. They were one of the few notable sects left in the southern region of the XiGuang Province, because they had not been part of the Southern Sect Alliance. The reason Seth knew the name was part of the reason why they were not with the Silk River Sect.

As one of the 10 Great Sects of the XiGuang Province, joining an alliance with a couple of struggling sects was simply beneath them. Being part of the 10 Greats, while the Silk River Sect wasn't, also meant that the public of the province judged them stronger than the Silk River suckers. However, if the blacksmith remembered correctly, then their sect was at the eastern edge of the province; what were their disciples doing this deep in the southeast?

Seth immediately thought of a couple of reasons, like trying to plunder the ruins Minas Mar left behind, or seizing the opportunity to spread their power in the power vacuum left by their cleansing. The guy's eyes darted back and forth, finally finding Mina, looking at him intensely.

"Let me go, you wretch!" he exclaimed, enraged, proving that being part of the 10 Great was no guarantee for your personality. Nothing to expect from a place called Crimson Demon Palace. Seth didn't move; Mina had this.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" the guy exclaimed in pain as he was stoned by a shower of small pebbles. So much for his big, tough cultivator act. The rest of his comrades jumped off their seats to shield their martial brother and defend him against Mina.

"Do you even know who we are? You are picking a fight with the Crimson Demon Palace!" The buff guy exclaimed angrily, brandishing his sword.

"Please stop, dear customer, I'm fine! Really!" even the servant begged her to stop. The storm of petty pebbles went on for a moment longer before it actually subsided. Mina chuckled with a satisfied look, seeing the man covered in bruises.

"I'm not afraid of the Crimson Demon Palace, but this should be enough for a lecture," the shadow assassin told them outright, turning away from them, back to their food.