It didn't take long before Sprout passed out from the speed I was moving at, which wasn't that weird considering that he was a normal human, well, in body at least.

Having went through some of Sprout's most sensitive experiences recently, I didn't really despise him that much, nor did I respect him, he was just another one of those who were extremely unfortunate in their life, somewhat similar to my experience, he did make a mistake accepting the offer of the demons, but…

'Most humans would accept it if they were in his situation…'

Of course, that didn't mean it was the right choice, it was just the most tempting one and the one to give the fastest results. Everyone has their own choices to make, as for what would have been my choice if I was in Sprout's place?

'Unnecessary.'

I only viewed the whole 'stream' of Sprout's memory as a learning opportunity, I wasn't planning on thinking too much about his life choices, I would have likely refused the demon's help though, I wasn't the type of person who would choose to let go of his past experience by simply erasing, but that was just my first hypothetical, I wouldn't bother to delve deeper into that question anyway.

`~~`~~`~~`

'Almost there…'

After running for almost twenty hours, which were only that long because I had to severely lower my speed to adjust it so that it wouldn't cause harm to Sprout, we were finally a few minutes' worth of distance away from 'Green Earth Village'.

As it wasn't even that far from battle city, it was only obvious that it wouldn't take me more than a day to reach the village, I could already see the village's humble yet beautiful gate by now.

"Ooooh! Isn't this the young hero that saved the village less than a month ago?"

"Eh? It's really him! I wonder what brought him back here?"

"I don't know, but it would sure be great if he is actually coming back to stay for a while!"

"Stop daydreaming, there is no way such a talented young man would waste his time here…"

"You are being a logical fun killer once again! Let me dream as I wish!"

"Well, It's not like I don't understand where you are coming from, life only became better for the village as days passed since he subdued the bandits back then…"

"Yeah, more harvest and less work, not to mention that we don't have to pay the extra 'taxes' that the bandit groups collected thanks to the protection of the reformed bandits."

"Indeed, but that's already enough help to receive from a group not to mention one person, so stop thinking about these dreamy ideas."

"Whatever, let's just wait and see, he seems to be heading towards the Chief's house…"

As I marched into the village, I could hear several ongoing discussions between the villagers, which seemed to be mostly centered around me, though none of them came to talk to me directly.

"Who is that guy he is holding though…?"

"Could it be that the young hero is into…"

"What kind of bullshit are you spouting! Watch your tongue, it's obvious that he is someone who is in danger, the young hero probably came here to ask for the chief's help to rescue that young man."

"Of course! That does make much more sense, I don't know what came over me to have such weird thoughts.."

'What the…'

I couldn't help but feel kind of baffled by the last young villager girls' thought process, though it was a bit weird for me to princess carry someone, not to mention a guy…

'Let's not do that again…' I thought as I arrived in front of the village head's house, before I knocked on the door…

Knock. Knock.

"Coming… Oh! It's young Lan!"

The door opened revealing the village head who seemed to be a bit…

'Was the unsealing that important? Or was it that the sealing was simply too damaging?'

I couldn't help but have second thoughts as I saw the village head's appearance, it has been less than a month, yet he seemed to have already aged backwards a few years, that elder was indeed too vicious…

The village head seemed like he wanted to rush and hug me as a form of close greeting, but Sprout who I still carried seemed to stand in the way.

"It's nice seeing you so soon!" scratching his head instead, he smiled awkwardly towards me as he asked, "What could it be that brought you here…? This young man is…"

"We can talk about it, but first, I need a place to let this guy on…" I hurriedly interrupted as I could already tell that the village head's innate ability was already doing its work, I wanted to get rid of having to walk around with Sprout in this way, it was starting to get annoying already…

"Of course, come in, you can put him there," the village head said as he pointed towards a mini couch that we could lay Sprout on.

"Alright, thanks."

I didn't hesitate before going through the door and finally getting rid of Sprout's nonsensical burden…

"Would you like to rest first or…" the village head said as he gestured towards the chairs…

"No need, we should go ahead and discuss my purpose for returning," I said with a serious expression, though I wasn't too tight on time, I didn't want to gamble with it, my sect joining ticket only became more precious for me to waste after I managed to obtain the info from Sprout…

"Sure then, take a seat," the village head already moved the chairs closer as he put them opposite to each other…

'As expected of a semi-mind reader…'

It wasn't hard to tell that other than being considerate, it seemed that the reason for the village head's fast reactions was that he already understood parts of the reasons behind my hurry, hence why he didn't waste any time.