Chapter 4

“…A foreigner with unusual eyes?”

Despite his rude first words, the man flinched when he saw me.

He looked me up and down before speaking more carefully.

“I don’t know which family you belong to, Miss, but this is the Yu Family Manor’s private matter. This lowly servant dared to steal our young master’s property. Surely we have the right to correct such wrongdoing.”

“N-No! It’s mine! Master Neunggwang Sword gave it to me!”

Perhaps because he had seen me knock his sword away so easily, the man spoke politely instead of treating me as roughly as he had treated the boy.

Judging by how he emphasized “Yu Family Manor,” it seemed to be an influential family in this region.

Unfortunately, the only famous families I knew in the Central Plains were the Namgung Clan, the Tang Clan of Sichuan, the Peng Clan of Hebei, the Zhuge Clan, and the Murong Clan.

If they weren’t one of the top families, I had no idea who they were.

I looked toward the second floor, wondering if Commander Baek-ung recognized them.

“…”

He simply smiled meaningfully with sparkling eyes.

So he didn’t know either.

“If a child doesn’t know right from wrong, you teach him. Is beating him like this really your idea of punishment? Then perhaps I should cut off your arm for ruining my meal.”

“W-Well…”

The man who seemed to be the leader sensed something was wrong and carefully watched my expression.

“Our Yu Family Manor’s affairs are not something you can interfere with, no matter who you are!”

But the man I had knocked down earlier jumped back to his feet and charged at me.

Hmm.

This was my first real fight against someone who truly wanted to kill me.

He seemed much weaker than the palace guards I usually sparred with.

Still, in martial arts novels, young masters from great families often lost because they underestimated their opponents.

I calmly observed his footwork.

Whoosh!

Then I raised one finger.

“Gah!”

Cold Yin Finger.

A finger technique that forced cold yin energy into an opponent’s acupoints, disrupting the flow of their qi and blood.

Father had taught it to me because even using ordinary ice techniques caused my internal energy to grow.

It was a technique that subdued opponents while using only the tiniest amount of qi.

“W-What kind of evil technique is this?!”

The man screamed and coughed up blood.

I had injected cold yin energy into the acupoint between his eyebrows, where yang energy normally flowed.

Seeing him collapse from such a simple technique, he clearly wasn’t very impressive.

“I… I couldn’t even see…”

I pointed toward the space beneath a table, signaling the boy clutching his bundle to hide there.

“Y-You defeated Yuk Young with a single finger?”

The leader immediately widened the distance between us and drew his sword.

At his signal, the remaining five men formed a proper battle formation.

“W-What trick did you use?”

One of them shouted angrily.

But the leader glared at him before carefully addressing me.

“…I didn’t realize I had offended such an expert.”

“Oh?”

“However, even a great hero like yourself would find it troublesome to make an enemy of the entire Yu Family Manor. We apologize for disturbing your meal. We’ll quietly take the boy and leave, so we’d appreciate it if you would step aside.”

Commander Baek-ung had said that thugs usually ran away the moment they realized someone was stronger than they were.

This was exactly what he meant.

The commander himself leaned casually against the railing, watching everything with great interest.

Even when our eyes met, he only smiled.

Clearly, he had no intention of helping.

Looks like making enemies of the Yu Family Manor isn’t much of a burden after all.

I looked around.

When the men had drawn their swords, everyone in the inn, including the owner, had fled to the walls and stayed completely silent.

There was plenty of space.

“Pointing swords at people while making threats is not the proper way to have a conversation.”

They had talked endlessly about justice and proper conduct.

Yet they didn’t even know basic manners.

Before teaching them, I first needed them to calm down enough to talk.

The leader lowered into a proper sword stance.

He had decided I wasn’t backing down and attacked first.

The first man had fallen easily.

This leader’s stance, at least, looked fairly decent.

Whoosh.

He rushed toward me and slashed downward.

If there had been a straw mat where I stood, it would have been split cleanly in half.

Slow.

Despite his neat form, his attack was unbelievably slow.

I casually stepped to the side.

His sword cut through nothing but empty air.

There’s absolutely no need to use the Frozen White Divine Art.

Father had told me it was now safe to use my ice techniques when necessary.

But since I still hadn’t found an extreme yang spiritual medicine, I wanted to avoid using them whenever possible.

Of course, staying alive was more important than losing a little lifespan by increasing my yin energy.

If my life were truly in danger, I would use the Frozen White Divine Art without hesitation.

But against third-rate fighters like these…

There wasn’t even any reason to draw my sword.

I quietly raised one finger again.

“AAAAAH!”

…The leader suddenly grabbed his head and screamed before I even used the technique.

Tap.

I stepped behind him and struck the acupoint at the back of his neck, where yang energy gathered, with another Cold Yin Finger.

“Gah!”

He couldn’t dodge or block.

He collapsed instantly.

“A-An incredible master!”

With their leader down, the remaining men immediately fell apart.

Their formation collapsed before they could even fight together.

“Cough!”

“Gah!”

“Aaagh!”

I defeated the remaining four with just a few flicks of my fingers.

That was easier than I expected.

All six men lay rolling on the floor.

I quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Since Commander Baek-ung hadn’t stepped in, I had believed I could win.

Still, this had been my first real battle.

I had been a little nervous.

Was I actually considered fairly strong, even in the Central Plains?

“A-Amazing! How did you do that?”

“You defeated the Six Tiger Swords of the Yu Family with just one finger!”

Once the fight ended, the people hiding against the walls slowly approached.

Some still looked nervously at the fallen men.

One person praised me especially loudly.

“Were they really that famous?”

“Of course!”

“You’re not from around here, are you? Miss… no, Hero. If there were someone as beautiful as you nearby, everyone would already know. Where are you from?”

“Bleeegh!”

Just as I was about to answer…

The leader suddenly vomited another mouthful of blood onto the inn floor.

“W-What will happen to them?”

The boy had crawled out from beneath the table.

Although they had beaten him mercilessly only moments ago, he still seemed worried because he had known them before.

“Don’t worry. I only planted a little cold yin energy into their acupoints. It’s similar to pressure point techniques. Once I remove it later, they’ll be perfectly fine.”

I spoke gently to reassure him.

“Our Manor Lord will never let this go!”

One of the men who still hadn’t learned any manners suddenly shouted.

“…Of course, if I don’t remove it, they’ll have a serious problem. If their Governor Vessel stays blocked by yin energy, they’ll die within half an hour. The two who kept trying to force their internal energy through probably have even less time left.”

Some people only took you seriously after hearing the harsh version.

“So yes…”

I smiled sweetly.

“You’ve all become terminal patients.”

Of course, Cold Yin Finger was only a minor technique.

Anyone stronger than me or with excellent control over their internal energy could simply force the cold qi out, just like breaking a pressure point seal.

But these men barely had enough internal energy to fill their dantians.

They had no chance.

After hearing my declaration…

The six men fell completely silent.

“Please spare us, Hero!”

Their attitudes immediately became extremely respectful.

As expected.

Cold Yin Finger’s greatest use was instantly making conversations much more peaceful.

“Now you’re finally ready to talk. Come, have a seat. As long as you don’t try to circulate your internal energy, it won’t hurt.”

I politely proposed peace negotiations.

“Y-Yes.”

“Of course.”

The men obediently accepted.

About fifteen minutes later…

“We’re sorry. The token really did belong to So-un. Master Neunggwang Sword personally gave it to him. But our Manor Lord said the son of a servant had no business attending the academy, so he wanted to send the First Young Master instead.”

“The Manor Lord ordered us to recover the token. We had no choice.”

“We never wanted to beat a child…”

The truth became perfectly clear.

The boy had insisted he was innocent all along.

Someone had given him the token.

The Manor Lord had taken it by force.

The boy stole it back and was caught while escaping.

“Please spare us.”

“We failed to recognize a true master.”

“From now on, we’ll uphold justice, protect the weak, and live according to righteousness and honor!”

All six men repeatedly bowed, begging me to remove the cold yin energy.

I hadn’t actually planned to kill them anyway.

“Hmm. So-un. If anyone asks, you were never found here.”

“Y-Yes! Of course.”

“We didn’t see anything.”

The first man I had defeated, the one who had repeatedly coughed up blood trying to force his internal energy through the blockage, trembled on the floor.

“Please spare me. Please… please…”

Was he shivering from the cold?

Or from the fear of death?

Well…

He really had less than fifteen minutes left now.

“Hmm…”

I deliberately crossed my legs and made them wait.

“Alright. Pay for the broken table, the cost of cleaning all that blood off the floor, and compensation for ruining everyone’s meal.”

Then I added one more condition.

“Of course, you’re free to refuse and simply leave.”

The man who felt death breathing down his neck didn’t hesitate.

He hurriedly pulled out his money pouch and offered it to me.