Alright, so they carried me back to what I assume is their—village? Clan? I wanna say village since it looks… villagey.
Anyway, I'm extending my spiritual force outwards so I can see everything.
Spiritual force is not the same as spiritual energy by the way. I believe I explained this before, but it's something I can use to control and see other things with my mind.
It's far more efficient than my spiritual sense, which I could previously only use to see things.
Remember the clouds in my mind sea? Those were the manifestations of my remaining spiritual force.
Regardless, my spiritual force spread out, allowing me to see where I am and where they were taking me, and boy does this place look like crap.
Surrounding a destroyed temple of sorts were houses that were better referred to as shanties. This place also seemed to be built in the middle of the woods. It was quite remote if I'm being honest.
On another note, I found out my body was glowing for some reason. So I need to take a look inside to see why cuz I know I wasn't glowing because of my sparkling personality.
'Sweet lord.'
Okay, so this is due to the Destiny Scale refining the lightning that was responsible for the injuries plaguing me.
Once the energy was fully refined, I would be able to fully recover.
…
"There it is, we've made it back!"
One of the two boys, I believe his name was Tie Lang, said.
As soon as he said this, the residents in the village heard him and rushed towards us. I am really glad I decided to look like I was sleeping. I don't do well with crowds.
"Hey senior sister, did you bring back any gifts!?" A chubby child with grey rock-like skin and odd patterns came running up to the leader of the group.
When their ruminating senior sister heard the cry, she involuntarily smiled as she bent down to take up the chubby child.
This was another demon of the demon race, a Stone Golem. Demons were one of the most diverse races, as far as ethnicity was concerned.
They weren't only composed of humanoid beings with animalistic parts. They could even possess properties that were even found in nature.
"Senior sister Feng!"
"Oh, who's this?"
"Wow, is that a real human!?"
"It's my first time seeing one!"
Soon, different demons of all shapes and sizes came to greet the returning party. The other members of the party, including Tie Lang the resident racist, started laughing and talking with the rest of the villagers that came to greet them.
Feng Yu gave the baby golem to another one of the villagers and started to walk away, probably to take care of some business.
"Alright guys, I'm going to meet with the elders. Shen Ling, bring the human and follow me."
Their senior sister waved goodbye to the amassing crowd and went on her way with Shen Ling and me.
We walked through lanes, streets and all that stuff until we turned the corner and an unwelcome sight greeted them but caused me to scream in joy… well inside at least.
"Hihihi, is that Yu'er and Ling'er I see," an old man missing more than a few teeth with an unsteady gait came over.
His robes were dirty, stained with something that was neither new nor old. His hair, or what was left of it, was grey and dried down to the root. However, this did nothing to wipe the less-than-handsome grin from his face.
His skin was a dull grey colour, and it didn't add to him in the least.
His eyes were muddled and his cultivation was practically non-existent. When Feng Yu and Shen Ling saw who was coming, whatever smiles the earlier meeting caused, quickly vanished.
"Junior Feng Yu greets elder Tian Lu."
Feng Yu quickly executed a bow with a forced smile on her face, as did Shen Ling.
"No need to call me elder, just Uncle Tian Lu is fine, hihihi…" a lone tooth rattled as he laughed.
However, the two girl's expressions froze as he came closer. The alcohol on his breath was enough to make a sober man drunk, evident by the two girls shuffling away.
I, on the other hand, wanted to get even closer to this guy. I could probably spin you the backstory for this guy.
Ahem…
This old demon was an odd character in the village. Feng Yu and the others only knew him as an old drunk with nothing to his name.
At times, he would be all over the place, and other times, he would be absent for weeks at a time.
Oddly enough, the elders of the village never once commented too much on him aside from letting everyone in the village know to never disrespect him.
This was why Feng Yu went as far as to bow and call him elder, even though she felt the need to remind us of what she ate this morning.
Seriously, though, you need to look at this from the perspective of watching a movie and you can see the signs clear as day.
"All the young ones stay away from this old man. I guess you don't want a swig of the good stuff, hihihihi…" He laughed as he staggered away on unsteady steps, disappearing around a corner.
"Ugh!" Feng Yu shuddered as soon as he left. "I don't know why we need to treat that old drunk with respect."
"Neither do I," Shen Ling concurred.
'Because that was an old underestimated master. How do you not see it!? I can never understand why people never use common sense to think these things through. I mean, if he was weak, would he not be killed already by other people for being annoying? Alright, so find the old underestimated master, check! Now I need to get him to accept me as a disciple. Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, or jump off it in my case… just like my last life.'
Seeing as how he quickly left, the two girls sighed in relief and headed for the elders' building without delay.
As I was thinking about this, the two girls arrived at one of the more intact buildings, complete with cracks and vines growing between them.
Soon Feng Yu stepped inside with the still shy Shen Ling. We found ourselves in the middle of a large hall.
At the side and front, arranged in a semicircular fashion, was a group of old men that looked at them with stern expressions tinted with a bit of confusion.
These elders seemed to be the oldest and most esteemed existences in the village. I hope they're not the hateful kind. I am not ready for that right now.
When Feng Yu and Shen Ling saw them, they both wasted no time in bowing as they cupped their fists.
"Disciple Feng Yu and Shen Ling greet the elders."
When the elders all saw this, their expressions softened slightly while the one in front waved his hands. He appeared to be the leader at first glance.
"Rise young ones."
"Thank you, first elder," Feng Yu replied.
"Feng Yu, why are you back this early? Were you not supposed to return a few days later from experiential training?" An elder from another seat questioned, a bit confused by their quick return.
"You know how hard it is for us to get the resources necessary to take the promising young ones out on experiential training. What excuse do you have to forego that and come back so early!?" Another known as the third elder, aggressively questioned.
"… And who is that behind you?" Another one asked them.
"Esteemed elders, this is the reason why we were so quick to return," Feng Yu explained.
Shen Ling quickly brought me to the forefront before retreating beside her senior sister once more.
The first elder nodded when he saw this. "Well, go on. I'm sure there must be a good explanation for this."