CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 36: COULD IT BE HIM?

The scene shifts back to the present.

The temporary camp, inside Aunt Sofia’s tent.

Andrew revealed his current level and power as an "Advanced Magic Apprentice."

Aunt Sofia stared at him as if she was meeting Andrew for the first time.

Her mind echoed with what Andrew said earlier: "The thing I need to do is kill Hubert, tonight!"

She took a deep breath and shook her head, whispering, "You should go, Andrew."

In the end, she couldn’t stand on Andrew’s side. Even though Andrew had become an advanced Magic Apprentice.

Aunt Sofia still thought that "killing Hubert" was a crazy thing to do.

"Please, just leave, okay?" Aunt Sofia looked at Andrew, "I won’t tell anyone you were here, but please don’t talk such nonsense about ’killing Grand Mage Hubert’ anymore."

Andrew nodded: "I see."

Suddenly, he looked toward the tent’s door curtain with a look of shock.

Aunt Sofia, noticing Andrew’s expression, was startled and thought some of Hubert’s trainees had tracked them down. She quickly turned to look, only to find the tent entrance was empty and devoid of any signs of strangeness.

"Why—" Suddenly her vision went black, and she fainted.

With a swift and gentle chop to Aunt Sofia’s shoulder and neck, Andrew knocked her unconscious. After becoming an advanced Magic Apprentice, his control over his Water Soul Constitution further improved, allowing him to knock out Aunt Sofia without harming her.

"Sorry." Andrew gently lifted her and laid her on the bed, "I have no other choice now."

Time was limited; he really couldn’t explain to Aunt Sofia what was happening in Wildfire Town.

Couldn’t clearly explain: even if he left with Barbara immediately, the raiders rampaging through Wildfire Town would eventually scour the temporary camp area. By then, whether or not they find Barbara, the raiders wouldn’t spare the camp residents.

So... there truly was only one path left.

Suppress the fire.

Suppress the fire.

Keep suppressing the fire.

"Brother Andrew..." Little Sophie became instinctively anxious seeing her mother knocked out.

But the little girl held it back.

She felt no malice coming from Andrew.

"Shh."

Andrew placed Aunt Sofia beside Barbara.

At the same time, he gestured for little Sophie to remain silent.

The tent became so quiet that only the sounds of breathing could be heard.

Only the sound of riots from the direction of the town was gradually fading away.

Just a moment ago, it was still loud and chaotic.

Now it was quiet.

Terrifyingly quiet.

...

...

Wildfire Town.

Living People Cemetery.

"Ugh..."

Aiken coughed up blood and finally collapsed to the ground.

Before his eyes, he saw the bloodstained faces of his companions.

Aiken was in excruciating pain, his consciousness muddled.

Mostly it was his shattered state of mind.

He couldn’t comprehend it: "Is this really the Living People Cemetery? Did I come to a fake one?!"

Earlier, he and his companions entered with full confidence.

They thought the cemetery’s residents were just invalids, posing no threat. They planned just to grab An Ya and do as they pleased!

But it turned out to be nothing like that!

Aiken now felt his companion was right: these cemetery residents were indeed tough nuts! Among them were even former Apprentice Hunters, corresponding to the Magic Apprentice level. Further advancement, and they could become full-fledged Hunters like Ivan.

But still, the question remained: weren’t these people supposed to have lung injuries?!

"Spare, spare me..." Aiken begged weakly, trying to plead for his life.

A heavy shovel came down from above, delivering the final blow to him.

Holding the shovel was a strong old man named Alpha, the cemetery’s strongest resident.

Alpha, after finishing off Aiken, looked at An Ya: "Are you alright?"

"I’m... I’m fine." An Ya’s voice trembled slightly, but not out of fear from Aiken and those who stormed the cemetery.

She gazed at Alpha: "So you... you too—"

"Yes, I’m fine too."

Alpha, a man of few words, usually showed no emotion, but his expression now was indescribably strange. There was surprise, joy, and also bewilderment and confusion.

The other cemetery residents wore similar expressions.

What Aiken didn’t know was that shortly before he and his companions stormed the Living People Cemetery, at one particular moment, nearly all the cemetery residents felt something. Except for An Ya, who had no illness herself, all residents showed changes in their expressions!

Their feelings were unanimous: the burning sensation in their lungs began to heal remarkably.

The change came suddenly, yet it was as gentle as rain nourishing the earth silently.

In just a few breaths, everyone’s ailments were silently cured.

So much so that many even felt as if they were dreaming. Unsure whether they suddenly had a good dream or if the days of illness were actually a nightmare?

No one uttered a sound; instead, they became quiet. This was why Aiken found the cemetery so strangely silent before entering.

The residents looked at one another.

Of course, they had no idea that inside their bodies, the Seed of the Water Spirit had long been planted. The sudden change now was due to Andrew, who made the decision on the other end, using Water Spirit Sensing to preemptively activate each Seed of the Water Spirit within them.

Thus, without knowing how much time had passed, someone finally said, "Everyone—"

With a bang.

Just then, Aiken happened to burst in.

The crowd momentarily abandoned everything to engage in combat.

The result of the battle was Aiken and his men all falling with bewilderment, dying with lingering doubts and confusion: "Did we go to the wrong place? This couldn’t possibly be the Living People Cemetery!"

Little did they know, the residents were the truly shocked ones.

Seeing Aiken and his men fall, Alpha, along with the residents, finally confirmed: it’s all good now, truly good! The problem with the lung injuries has genuinely been resolved!

"A miracle?"

Alpha murmured.

Nobody considered Andrew.

After all, the notion of "humans capable of healing lung injuries" was too inconceivable.

The only exception was An Ya.

Once An Ya confirmed that everyone was fine, she immediately thought of Andrew instead!

"Could it be him? It must be him!"

Having personally witnessed Andrew awaken her father, An Ya was nearly certain, "It must be because of Andrew! During the day, it was my father; now it’s everyone!"

What she couldn’t comprehend was, "Why did my father wake up immediately, yet everyone else only improved now? But... that’s not important. What matters is, no matter what, everyone is better now, everyone is healed!" At that moment, An Ya felt a rush of emotion, almost to the point of tears.

Just then, Alpha said, "Let’s not worry about that for now, and prepare to deal with the riot. Though we’re not sure what’s causing it, all we can do seems to continue resisting."

The little boy Andrew met during the day chimed in: "Those bad guys have already left."

"What?" An Ya, Alpha, and the others were taken aback.

Moments later, An Ya and the others stood at the entrance of the Living People Cemetery.

What they saw was the street, previously filled with marauding raiders, now deserted, leaving only a scene of chaos behind.