“Wow, I won’t eat the flatbread anymore, I won’t eat the flatbread anymore, Mother, please don’t sell my little sister.”

Her loud, tearful cries were carried far away by the cool summer breeze, making Emily Bennett’s bitter heart feel a little better.

Chapter 3

Emily Bennett walked along a small path in the wilderness as the sky gradually darkened. The lights of the village behind her had completely disappeared, and ahead lay a murky gloom.

Ethan Young didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping to rest. In the silent forest, the sound of their footsteps crunching on dry grass and twigs was clear.

Night deepened, fireflies flickered, and the shadows of the trees loomed indistinctly, as if countless terrifying beings were hiding there, quietly watching the two travelers in the wild.

Emily Bennett felt a bit afraid. Because she truly knew that there really were beings in this world different from humans, she was more afraid than anyone else to be in such a desolate place.

She stayed tense the whole way, worried that at any moment some terrifying demon would suddenly leap out from a dark corner.

At seven years old, she didn’t even have a single familiar person by her side—only a makeshift master she’d just met a few hours ago.

No, to be precise, she didn’t even know if this so-called master was human.

Emily Bennett quietly glanced up at the man holding her hand. His features were gentle and refined, his skin like jade, and under the faint moonlight and starlight, he seemed almost unreal.

Could he be a monster too?

This thought made Emily Bennett break out in goosebumps.

Ethan Young stopped and looked at his obedient little disciple who had been following him. She was only six or seven years old, probably tired, maybe a little scared—after all, she was just a little girl not even that tall.

“Are you scared, Xiang’er?” Ethan Young squatted down in front of Emily Bennett. “It’s alright, with me here, they usually don’t dare come out.”

Emily Bennett looked at him, too embarrassed to admit that most of her fear actually came from him.

Ethan Young took out a talisman from his robe. These yellow paper talismans with red writing were common in this world, widely used by people for all sorts of occasions—weddings, funerals, healing, warding off evil. People would earnestly seek out these yellow talismans, sticking them up, wearing them, or even dissolving them in water to drink.

But Emily Bennett had never believed they actually worked.

Sometimes she even saw little spirits playing with these so-called evil-repelling talismans as if they were leaf cards.

The one in Ethan Young’s hand looked ordinary—yellow paper, red writing—but as soon as he took it out, Emily Bennett sensed it was different. In her eyes, the cinnabar runes seemed to glow with a strange, living light, flowing along the brushstrokes, and the yellow paper faintly radiated a power that awed the heart.

Ethan Young’s long fingers moved deftly, folding the talisman into a perfect triangle. He gently tucked it into Emily Bennett’s belt. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she felt a gentle warmth at her waist, and her heart relaxed, her fear dissipating.

She realized she might finally have seen a real protective talisman.

“You…” Ethan Young squatted in front of her, feeling a bit awkward about what he was about to say. He’d never taken a disciple before and wasn’t sure how to interact with one so young. “Would you like to call me Master?”

“Master.”

Emily Bennett answered without hesitation, though not with much sincerity.

She didn’t have the deeply ingrained belief of this era that “once a teacher, always a father.” Right now, the only thing she needed to consider was how to keep her young body safe in this world.

But Ethan Young seemed very satisfied. He reached out and patted Emily Bennett’s head. “My home isn’t too far from here. So your Mistress doesn’t have to wait too long, can you bear with me and travel through the night?”

“Of course, I’ll listen to Master.” Emily Bennett replied sweetly and obediently.

As long as you don’t suddenly turn into a big monster and swallow me whole, I’ll listen to anything you say.

Ethan Young felt very moved. He often heard fellow cultivators complain about how hard and troublesome it was to take on disciples. But why was his little disciple so well-behaved and adorable?

“Come, let me carry you.”

He turned around, offering his back to his obedient little disciple.

……

Emily Bennett lay on Ethan Young’s back as they traveled a long way. Night had deepened, and the sky was filled with countless stars.

Ethan Young walked with a steady, rhythmic gait that made Emily Bennett feel drowsy. Now she felt her master probably wasn’t a monster—those big monsters always flew around, and she’d never seen one walk so far in human form.

With that thought, her young body could no longer resist sleepiness, and she drifted off in the gentle, rhythmic motion.

This person’s back was broad, and strangely, he seemed to carry a faint scent of the sea. Having grown up in a seaside city, Emily Bennett found it very familiar and comforting.