THE VILLAIN's APPRENTICE ✔

11 🗡 Fame

That particular morning was extremely cold due to continuous snowfalls, and the villagers painstakingly swept the streets to push aside the layer of snow. Travelers from various places started to flock to Plum Mist village to seek temporary shelter during the harsh winter. Hence, all the inns were full of activity as the owners and attendants bustled about to accommodate the guests.

It was time for Da Xia to get up and start with the household chores, but she remained curled beside Yong Jie. Although the guy already stopped releasing his qi to warm his body, she still didn't move. Lying down and lazing around was just too tempting because of the weather.

"Da Xia," the warrior called out softly.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him drowsily. "I'll get up in a while, I promise."

"I'll do my morning practice in the forest and gather some firewood." Yong Jie wrapped the blanket around her and got up. "You'll start your training this afternoon," he reminded her before stepping out.

Recently, sword fighting had been added to their training sessions. He also began teaching her how to pass the sword to him during battle and how to catch it when passed to her.

At first, she thought it was impossible. What if the blade accidentally cut her? But the warrior's expertise quelled her doubts, and he was also very patient in teaching each and every step to her.

A few moments later, Da Xia finally got up and began her daily tasks. After cleaning the house, she donned her winter cloak and red scarf and headed to the marketplace. A lot of the people in the village had already been familiar to her. Her smile never left her face as she moved around, chatting with the vendors and the other villagers.

In an inn overlooking the busy market where the petite girl was, the group of Flaming Rock sect disciples were standing on the second floor while watching the steady flow of activity in the street. Tao Yi, the appointed leader of the small group of disciples, rested his hand on the wooden railing as his stoic eyes swept through the crowd below.

"Senior Yi, shouldn't we be heading to Yellow Dirt City just like the other groups?" one of the junior disciples asked.

Ever since the night when their headmaster sensed the sudden surge of dark qi emanating from Yellow Dirt City, multiple groups of Flaming Rock sect disciples were dispatched to South River country to capture whoever was behind it. Eliminating all evil was the fundamental teaching in their sect, and it had been deeply ingrained to each disciple. They were all prepared to battle it out with the forbidden arts practitioners even at the cost of their lives to protect their beloved Chun Empire.

Flaming Rock sect was unyielding in their belief that all those who practiced the dark arts were evil and would cause the downfall of humanity. Hence, they would often employ harsh measures and were even willing to harm innocent people just to capture the witches and sorcerers. For them, the survival of many justified the wrongdoings they committed.

Years ago, their headmaster found a hidden compartment in the sect's main library. Inside it was an old scroll that was written by their ancestors. It described the events that happened when the Poison Blood tribe summoned a mysterious being from another world in exchange of one of their own.

As indicated in the scroll, it seemed summoning the demon required a sacrifice because the tribe leader of Poison Blood suddenly vanished from Chun Empire. The tribe and the demon joined hands and they created weapons and devised strategies that were simply inconceivable, defeating the barbarians of West Plains that were continuously attacking the tribe. Then, the tribesmen accompanied the demon to North Mountain country and surprisingly, no stories were heard about the demon after that. And the missing tribe leader reappeared in North Mountain country.