(Xun Guan POV)
Master was angry.
It doesn't look like he was but I could feel the anger radiating off of him ever since he knew Brendan was taken.
Some of his actions also seemed to become a little irrational like the torturing of that man for information. I'm pretty sure Master could have used other ways of extracting it but he had let that fox youkai do untold horrors to him, even joining in the torture a few times.
Master wasn't too worried about Brendan since none of his protective inscriptions on him had activated which meant Brendan's life was not in danger. He had said that if even one of them gets activated, he would instantly go to Brendan's side.
But even so…
I directed my attention to the trail of corpses that Master had left behind while strolling towards the castle. Everyone who tried to stop him was mercilessly slaughtered either by Master or one of his companions.
Although Master dealt with them swiftly, the other three seem to be quite interested in making them go through as much pain as possible before ending their lives.
The usual Master would have stopped them but he did not seem to mind it now. Another indication of how furious he was.
Soon enough, we were standing in front of the castle.
No surprise, a detachment of soldiers were waiting there and they even had the street barricaded. The drawbridge towards the castle had also been raised, preventing us from crossing easily.
"Practitioners! Fire!"
Several Practitioners who had been hiding behind the barricade rose up and flung several Techniques at Master.
Master had mused about how interesting it was that this country didn't have 'Sects' since Practitioners were also drafted into the military, creating their own division to train and cultivate themselves.
He said that while the idea allowed them to have better cohesion within the army, the quality of the Practitioners dropped since they were dependent on the military's resources to improve their cultivation instead of their own.
That's why those Techniques that were thrown at us were not much of a threat, or so my Master claimed.
Honestly? Those Practitioners were at least Elites if compared to the normal Sect ranking system. But I suppose for Master who has faced bigger threats than this, it's not a big deal for him to literally sweep them aside with a wave of his arm.
Which… Was what happened right here.
The Techniques thrown at Master bounced off his barrier harmlessly. Those Practitioners might as well just be throwing crumpled up balls of paper at him for all the good it's doing.
Master then simply waved his arm and a gust of wind blew past us, strong enough to send both the barricades and the people behind it tumbling down into the moat behind them.
I thought Master would then fly towards the castle but I remembered there's still the barrier that restricted flying within the city.
Instead, Master had simply reached out with his hand and pulled.
The wood of the drawbridge groaned before the chains holding it broke, causing the entire bridge to crash down in front of us.
Pretty sure that bridge was protected by various defensive inscriptions too but Master just ripped through them like it was nothing.
I'm also confident that Master could have destroyed the anti-flying barrier if he wanted to without much effort, so I'm a little curious why he has not done so. Maybe he wants to make a statement by strolling into their castle?
"Now let's go pay that king a visit and find out which bastard is the one responsible for kidnapping my disciple."
Ah… Master, your face is quite scary now, you know? The smile is not reaching your eyes…
*
(MC POV)
More idiots came to try and stop us, trying to block the passageway with a spearwall.
No big deal, so I just incinerated them with a simple Hellfire Technique before moving on.
There were several more skirmishes on the way to the throne room but my dear companions dealt with them this time.
Kicking down the doors to the throne room, I was greeted with the sight of even more guards and Practitioners standing in the way.
All the way at the back was who I presume to be the king and queen of this country.
"Who are you to dare storm this castle? Speak!" The king demanded.
I crossed my arms in front of me, "The same guy who you have been constantly harassing to get the Miracle Cure you big doodoo head. I'd thought I was clear enough when I kept sending your damn lackeys back but apparently that wasn't a clear enough message eh? Targeting my disciples now huh? You guys really never died before eh?"
Probably surprised by my unexpected outburst, the king looked like he was at a loss for words.
"Wha… What?"
"Yeah, what? Pretty eloquent tongue you got there for the big bastard that kept sending those assholes to pester me for those few weeks. What? Got nothing else to say, huh? Want me to cut that tongue off for you?"
One of the guards stepped forward with his sword raised, "How dare you speak like that to the king! I'll–"
I punched his wrist and the sword flew out of his grasp, his other hand moving to grab at his now broken wrist.
I reached forward with both my hands and grabbed him by both sides of his face, bracing myself for a moment before pulling my arms to the side.
The sound of flesh and bone tearing apart echoed through the hall as that man's body was ripped into half, both sides of his body dropping down into crumpled heaps at my feet.
Summoning a ball of water, I cleaned my hand of blood nonchalantly before turning back to the king.
"Now where was I? Oh yeah. Got some pretty big balls to try and take my disciple huh? I'm sure you're all prepared for the consequences, right?"
The king still seemed like he was at a loss of words.
Just then, the queen stepped forward, "You are Master Lin… I presume?"
"You presume right."
"I apologise on behalf of my husband, but I beseech you to understand that our son is deathly ill. A parent would go to any length to see that their own child is safe, wouldn't you agree?"
How cunning.
She's not apologizing on behalf of her country nor as a queen but only as a mother. She's also not acknowledging the fact that they had tried to take my life either.
"Then I wonder why did your country resort to threats and coercion to obtain this Miracle Cure instead of negotiation? Is this a country that has nothing but savages?"
Her face remained passive, "I do not know what Master Lin is talking about. We have sent no such people to find Master Lin. If you did come across any, they were most definitely acting of their own accord and not under our orders. We have, in fact, been preparing to send an envoy to you in the coming days, but we never expected Master Lin to show up here and so… Violently."
Oho, this queen might give Guiying a run for her money.
I crossed my arms, "So the control of this country is so bad that such people could easily act on their own to harass someone else in another country? Calling this place savage would be an understatement then."
She faltered, just for a fraction of a second, but I noticed.
"It is regrettable, but after your country's war with the former country of Dong, our borders have been quite unstable."
I was about to come up with another clap back but Shiori pulled at the hem of my pants.
"Divine One… Our scouts followed the trail but… It seems your disciple Brendan had gone missing… The group that took him had fallen prey to monsters. His scent ended there…"
Something snapped.
