A faint glow of relief rose on Mookbi’s face.

“Young Master Yeon.”

“Hoo, I’m beat.”

THUD!

The sound of the Mad Dragon Axe striking the floor reverberated through the entire top level.

An entrance that was anything but ordinary. Slam a colossal axe into the floor on top of that, and the mood turned murderous in an instant.

Yeon Hojeong clicked his tongue.

“I haven’t had a proper meal since dawn yesterday. My belly feels stuck to my spine.”

“Did it go well?”

“Do I look like it went well? I said I’m dead tired.”

Yeon Hojeong flicked a glance at Mo Yong Yeonhwa and the dozen-odd young men and women.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s face went cold. The young men and women flinched for a moment, but still managed to look fairly composed.

As if nothing were amiss, Yeon Hojeong asked,

“So what’s this about? ‘Apologize,’ ‘lick a foot’—I heard all kinds of crap.”

Mookbi bit her lip.

She was about to rush to speak when—

“We meet again. It seems you’ll be staying here a few days.”

Yeon Hojeong turned his head.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa rose.

“Come to think of it, that young lady is in your party, isn’t she, Young Master Yeon?”

Yeon Hojeong let out a wordless snort of laughter.

It was close to a scoff. Faces flushed red among the ten-odd youths who saw that laugh.

But Mo Yong Yeonhwa remained composed—unmoved.

“That young lady made a small mistake toward our group. It’s just that she seems terribly ignorant of the ways of the world, so—”

“Are you Mookbi?”

“...?!”

“I didn’t ask you anything. I’m not in the mood to exchange words with you right now, so don’t talk to me.”

Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s expression shifted.

For all that they were not easy with each other, he had maintained a measure of courtesy until now. Not this time. He flattened her outright.

“Are you speaking to me?”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes chilled to ice.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa flinched before she knew it.

She was a woman of steel. Even under Yeon Hojeong’s frigid gaze, she didn’t cower.

But her mouth didn’t open easily. She judged there was no need to provoke him without cause.

Insulted or not, she would not act rashly. It was excellent restraint.

Yeon Hojeong asked Mookbi,

“What happened?”

Mookbi couldn’t bring herself to speak easily.

Yeon Hojeong smiled wryly.

“Looks like you’re really hurt.”

“...Yes.”

She answered honestly. Yeon Hojeong liked Mookbi’s candor.

“I get the gist. Did you make a mistake toward that side?”

Mookbi’s face flushed again. Anger.

“I... I did make a mistake, but I think they were the ones who were rude first.”

Ha Seok spoke up at once.

“That base wretch is still—”

KWAANG!

“Gah!”

Everyone on the top floor jumped.

At some point, the Mad Dragon Axe had buried itself in the wall right beside Ha Seok. Unable to bear its own weight, the embedded axe slowly worked loose and thudded down to the floor.

THUUM! THUDUDUDUK!

The floor shook.

It had been terrifying enough when he held it, but seeing it like this, one could feel just how monstrous the weight was. At that point it was almost strange the inner wall hadn’t shattered from the axe head biting in.

Of course, that was thanks to Yeon Hojeong’s control of inner force. If he’d meant to swing in earnest, a good two-fifths of the top-floor interior wall would already be in pieces.

“‘Base’?”

PLONK!

Three or four of the youths dropped where they stood, terrified.

Ha Seok swallowed hard. He had seen the phantom of the axe that had passed before his nose.

If it had tilted even a little, his whole body would have been sliced away.

Yeon Hojeong spoke in an even tone.

“Mookbi is of the Yeon Clan. Even my father treats her as an honored guest—who dares call her base? Or do you intend to sneer that the Yeon Clan of Green Mountain is base?”

Mo Yong Yeonhwa and the merchant-alliance scions went wide-eyed.

Yeon Hojeong gave a cold, mocking smile.

“A pig sees only pigs. With eyes like yours, you’ll be lucky not to drop dead in the street, never mind enjoy any splendor.”

The insult slammed straight into their ears. Yet no one dared open their mouth. None of them wanted that axe on the floor to be swung their way.

“Let’s keep going. You said they made the first mistake?”

Mookbi stammered,

“I didn’t want to share a table with them.”

“And yet they kept insisting you sit with them?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

Without meaning to, Mookbi looked at Dong Sobang. Yeon Hojeong’s gaze followed hers to the girl.

Dong Sobang’s face went white.

A girl in her late teens with not a shred of martial training could not possibly withstand the presence Yeon Hojeong was letting seep out.

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“One fool who can’t keep his mouth, one damned girl who made a nuisance of herself. We’ll start by catching those two and working them over.”

A shiver ran the room colder.

Work them over? It was the sort of phrase third-rate wastrels might use, but the brutal meaning packed into those bald words was something everyone could feel.

Dong Sobang collapsed back into her seat without realizing it. Ha Seok, forcing a blank face, had fingertips that trembled ever so slightly.

The Green Mountain Tiger General, Yeon Hojeong.

The First Young Master of the Yeon Clan of Green Mountain—an apex expert who had stood alone against the Ming Clan. He hadn’t toppled the Ming Clan himself, but the hot-blooded martialist who played a decisive role in its downfall was Yeon Hojeong.

“Hot-blooded,” yes—but cross him, and he wouldn’t bother with before and after. How else could he have raged about taking on the Ming Clan alone?

A clammy, drifting {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} chill rolled through the air and crushed the hall.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa stepped in.

“Young Master Yeon. Surely you’re not going to—”

“Shut your mouth.”

Yeon Hojeong openly knit his brows.

“I’m holding back for your father’s sake.”

“Wh—what did you say?”

“The only reason I’m not smashing you first is because of your father. But test my patience one more time, and I won’t spare the Mo Yong Clan or anyone.”

Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s eyes went glacial.

How dare he!

To say such a thing before everyone—before anger, disbelief came first.

“You—”

“So what about that damned girl?”

He erased Mo Yong Yeonhwa as if she weren’t there. He had no desire to trade another word; blood rose in her face at last.

Mookbi sighed.

“Let’s stop. Please.”

“Stop? Why?”

With a troubled face, Mookbi said,

“I don’t want to make a big scene. It feels pointless.”

“Pointless?”

“I’m angry... but they’re already all terrified. There’s no need to plant arrows in the chests of the frightened.”

It was a metaphor so very her.

But her words seemed to prick the pride of some among the merchant-alliance scions.

“How dare she look down on us!”

Not me—us. Even as they raged, they were, unconsciously, signaling that they were in this together.

“Is the Yeon Clan of Green Mountain everything! This is Zhejiang! Even if you’re one of the Six Great Clans of the martial world, do you think you’ll walk away unscathed!”

Astonishing confidence.

The Six Great Clans of the martial world were not merely known for being “a bit strong” in martial arts. Martial prowess was a given; reputation rivaled martial skill in importance.

They knew the Yeon Clan of Green Mountain was the weakest in power among the Six Great Clans.

But they’d overlooked one thing.

Weak in power or not, the Yeon Clan’s knightly name stood near the very top among the Six Great Clans. That had been true even before Yeon Hojeong faced the Ming Clan.

People who had only heard rumors and hadn’t truly met the world. They sneered that Mookbi knew nothing of the ways of the world, yet in truth, they were the ones who didn’t.

“You see that?”

“...”

“That’s what they are. Rats who don’t know how wide the world is. They don’t even have the wit to wonder why the Mo Yong scion is keeping her mouth shut.”

It went from bad to worse.

They were about to roar again when they suddenly looked to Mo Yong Yeonhwa. There was something in Yeon Hojeong’s words they could feel.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s face had flushed red.

“That’s how most who live the martial world are. They forget favors but never forget grudges. They’re the same. If you don’t teach them proper manners now, they’ll be a headache for you someday.”

“...”

“And even so, you want to end it here?”

Mookbi nodded. She looked tired for some reason.

“I don’t want to grapple any more with people who don’t even know martial arts.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“That’s fine too.”

“...Huh?”

“Because of that gentleness of yours, there will come a moment you regret. But I respect your choice. This world needs people as mild as you.”

Confusion crept over Mookbi’s face.

She had no idea what to make of any of this.

“In that case, I’ll...”

“But don’t worry too much. I’ll have your back. Even if you regret it, I’ll be the brace so that regret doesn’t break you. I didn’t bring you with me without that much resolve.”

Mookbi’s eyes trembled.

Yeon Hojeong patted her shoulder.

“They say people grow in relationships and conflict. You held back well.”

Smiling at Mookbi, Yeon Hojeong turned.

In the eyes he turned with, ghost-fire flickered.

“Then how about we have a talk among ourselves?”

Mookbi was alarmed.

“Wh—what are you doing?”

“Unlike you, my nature’s vicious.”

“What?”

“People who threatened and mocked one of mine—I can’t let them go without at least slapping a cheek.”

Ha Seok ground his teeth.

“Hey, you, Ye—”

THWACK!

Ha Seok couldn’t even scream before he was driven into the wall.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Gasp!”

Ha Seok’s eyes were glazed as he stuck there. His body quivered, then slid down in a heap. Three or four white teeth spilled from his blood-smeared mouth.

It was a realm where true energy suffused each strand of muscle across the body. Even without opening an inner-force method, one punch could break wood.

To slap with that strength—he was lucky not to be dead.

But Yeon Hojeong had no intention of stopping there.

“Who told you to pass out on your own.”

He walked over, grabbed Ha Seok by the collar, hauled him up, and swung again.

THWACK! THWACK!

“Graaagh!”

He snapped back to consciousness in an instant—worse luck for him.

Ha Seok’s face wrecked in moments. A few more teeth broke; both cheeks split, leaving ugly gashes. His right eye puffed up in a blink.

Yeon Hojeong’s killer-lit eyes pinned Ha Seok’s.

Utter terror spread over Ha Seok’s face.

“Spa—”

THWAAACK!

Slammed into the wall again, Ha Seok blacked out. Even if he woke, the very syllable “Yeon” would likely set him shaking.

Yeon Hojeong looked to Dong Sobang.

She hiccuped.

“I—I’m from the Great Sky Gold House...”

“Great Sky Gold House? A Zhejiang specialty dish?”

THWAAACK!

“Guh!”

Yeon Hojeong showed no mercy.

It had been ghastly enough watching a sturdy young man be beaten to a pulp; seeing a young woman’s face smashed to a ruin made the scene feel unreal.

THUD! THUD! CRACK!

Dong Sobang collapsed on the spot.

Neither Ha Seok nor Dong Sobang died. But he left scars so hideous they would never again show their faces in public.

A cruel hand.

Whatever status they had, he had beaten laypeople with no martial arts into a pulp. It was merciless violence ill-suited to the knightly name of the Green Mountain Tiger General.

Yeon Hojeong looked over the rest.

CHCHCHCH.

A black-shadow killing will rode in eyes glowing blue like a ghost’s.

“Uhk!”

They fell to their knees without meaning to. The strength drained from their legs on its own.

After glaring at them for a long while, Yeon Hojeong looked to Mo Yong Yeonhwa.

She was trembling. Her eyes blazed with fury.

“You’ve made a mistake.”

“Explain.”

“What?”

Yeon Hojeong pointed at the merchant-alliance scions kneeling.

“I said, explain why you used these half-baked brats to get at Mookbi.”