Mo Yong Yeonhwa was inwardly startled, but she didn’t show it on her face.

“What nonsense is that? Do you think you’ll walk away after making this kind of mess?”

Yeon Hojeong, who had been staring at her in silence, flicked his thumb against his forefinger.

“Mookbi.”

“Yes?”

He tossed three chopsticks that had been rolling on the table.

Mookbi caught them and looked at him, puzzled.

“Three. You know, right?”

Three?

Wondering what he meant, Mookbi suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Someone is watching this place?

She looked out the windows—north, east, and south.

Yeon Hojeong spoke evenly.

“I don’t want our business getting out to others.”

In that instant, Mookbi understood what he meant.

THUNK!

She stamped the floor hard and sent the chopsticks in her hand flying.

FWEEEEE!

She threw three, but it sounded like one. The sound of them slicing the air came shrill and sharp.

THOK! THUUM!

Voices, aghast, rang from outside the windows.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Wh—what? Was that a person?!”

“Someone fell!”

Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s eyes wavered.

“You...?”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“I don’t care for flies buzzing around.”

Wild Wind Pavilion agents.

Lake Delicacies Grand Joy Pavilion was the greatest establishment in Zhejiang—only those of sufficient standing could enter. For that reason, Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s attendants were waiting in a luxurious house a little distance away.

But the Wild Wind Pavilion was different. They were watching this place at every moment.

However great their stealth, it wasn’t enough to fool Yeon Hojeong. And if Mookbi fully opened her senses, she could barely catch them as well.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa looked at Mookbi.

...!

Mookbi’s eyes had turned razor-sharp.

A master?!

Mo Yong Yeonhwa was shocked.

She knew Mookbi had trained in martial arts. But no matter how she’d looked, the inner force she felt or the way Mookbi walked hadn’t seemed like a master’s.

She’d been wrong.

Mookbi’s true martial attainment lay in a realm Mo Yong Yeonhwa couldn’t reach. Her gait—her body method and footwork—were so lofty they had, paradoxically, looked ordinary.

Impossible!

She’d misjudged the person.

She’d thought of her as just an ordinary woman Yeon Hojeong had with him. Pretty enough, but so guileless that she was convinced the woman was a second-rate martialist who didn’t know the world.

The merchant-alliance scions were just as stunned.

They’d thought her a low-born, simple martial drifter because she seemed gentle and dim, but they were wrong. The faint qi flow emanating from Mookbi was so great it made their hearts tremble.

“Now talk.”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes turned wintry.

“Why did you pick at Mookbi?”

Calmly, Mo Yong Yeonhwa answered,

“What are you saying? That side started the trouble, not me.”

“You didn’t start it with your own hands. But with that viper tongue, you steered them to do it.”

Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s gaze sank deeper.

“Stop insulting me. You think you’ll be fine after this?”

Her tone turned rough.

Yeon Hojeong gave a thin smile.

“Why? Is burying me supposed to be easy?”

“Of course. The Yeon Clan’s influence may have grown of late, but it’s nothing compared to the Mo Yong Clan. If the main house decides to, burying the Yeon Clan isn’t hard.”

“And it hasn’t happened yet because no one thought of it?”

“At the very least, it’s not because of you.”

“That’s why your father hasn’t installed you as Young Clan Lord.”

“...What?”

“You’re clever, but you’re still a kid who only sees what she wants to see. That’s why he hasn’t installed you. Don’t tell me you’re still comforting yourself that you can’t be Young Clan Lord because you’re a woman?”

A twitch pulled at Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s cheek.

He had touched her reverse scale. She felt fury rise hotter than ever.

“If you insult me with that kind of filthy talk one more time—!”

WHOOSH.

She jumped—startled.

Yeon Hojeong had been five steps away; now he was right in front of her, looking down.

“If I do?”

“...!”

“If I kill you here, there’ll be no one left to report it. Then what?”

Her gaze shook hard.

This bastard!

Now she understood why he had removed the Wild Wind Pavilion watchers.

Yeon Hojeong had turned this into a completely sealed space. There were plenty dining, but this was a fight among scions of the Six Great Clans. Their eyes and their opinions carried little weight.

Of course, he wouldn’t actually kill her. But suppressing her—grinding her underfoot—would be no problem.

If Yeon Hojeong’s side insisted it wasn’t true, what could anyone say?

“What a petty man.”

“To smash an opponent, I’ll do any dirty thing.”

Mo Yong Yeonhwa bit her lip.

Damn it.

For now, she had no way to oppose Yeon Hojeong.

Both he and Mookbi were masters several moves above her. On top of that, the Wild Wind Pavilion agents and her escort warriors were gone.

She was utterly alone. That fact made her deeply uneasy.

“I’ll ask one last time.”

Fire blazed in Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

“Why did you pick at Mookbi?”

Her lips twitched.

“...Is that so important?”

THWAAACK!

Her jaw dropped.

...What?

Her waist folded in half—Yeon Hojeong’s knee had slammed into her abdomen.

He looked down at her with cold eyes.

“You took ‘last’ lightly.”

“Ghk!”

“Goodbye.”

TUUUUNG!

Mo Yong Yeonhwa reeled, spitting blood. A palm strike had smashed into her chin.

A powerful shock through the palm rattled her skull. She couldn’t gather her senses.

It was lucky, perhaps, that her jaw hadn’t shattered.

Tch!

Even dazed, she thrust out a hand.

WUUUUUUNG!

The force surging from her fine hand was razor-sharp. It was the Mo Yong Clan’s North-Wind Divine Hand.

BOOOOM!

Yeon Hojeong’s fist shattered the palm-force wave as-is, then whipped across her thigh.

CRACK!

“Aaagh!”

Agony swept her entire lower body.

It wasn’t broken, but it was enough to drive her to her knees. Her whole lower half felt numb.

She jerked her head up.

At some point, Yeon Hojeong had a fist cocked.

WHIIIIIN!

A translucent white vortex churned around his fist.

Gasp!

I’ll die.

The power pooled for that instant was terrifying. One blow looked ready to smash her skull.

“You’ve taken me far too lightly.”

The killer in Yeon Hojeong’s voice made her heart hammer at twice its pace.

It’s a bluff.

It had to be. If he killed her now, he wouldn’t walk away either. No— not just Yeon Hojeong; the entire Yeon Clan would be set ablaze.

He absolutely couldn’t kill her. It was only a threat.

BUAAAAANG!

Yeon Hojeong smiled like a ghost and swung.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa’s pupils pinpricked.

He’ll stop! He’ll stop!

Even before the fist landed, the fist wind whipped her hair back.

Time seemed to slow. Like waves raising surf, the fist pushing the air felt slow as it poured down.

There’s no way he’ll kill—!

In that instant, she saw Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

Eyes blazing with genuine killing will. Within that signature blue aura, a blood-red murderous intent showed through.

The ferocity of a savage beast.

Mo Yong Yeonhwa squeezed her eyes shut.

“There is no reason!!”

KRRRZZZZZT!

A chilling sound shook the whole floor.

“Huhk! Huhk!”

She panted. When her eyes opened slowly, honest fear lay there.

She had nearly died.

Shuddering, she looked behind her.

Gasp!

Behind her, the floor and wall were wrecked like they’d been ground down by a heavy storm of blades.

This bastard...!

It wasn’t something to be glad about surviving.

Not only had he withdrawn his inner force mid-swing—that alone astounding—the scene wrought by fist-pressure was chillingly impressive.

If he hadn’t pulled back, her entire upper body would have been pulped. It hadn’t been an external-crush punch; it was an internal-force discharge punch with Silk-Twisting applied, launching from within.

Outside and inside—ground away, all of it.

A terrifying killer. Unless he’d meant to erase Mo Yong Yeonhwa as a being, there was no need to use such an attack.

“No reason, you say?”

She bit her lip.

“...Yes.”

“No reason means—you picked a fight simply because she was in my party, doesn’t it?”

“...”

“The answer?”

With venom in her voice, she said,

“Yes! That’s what I did!”

Amazingly, it was the truth.

She had set things up to pick a fight because she genuinely wanted to torment Mookbi. There was no lofty pretext or hatred behind it.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes deepened.

“You’re worse than a dark-path wastrel.”

A tremor ran through her body—not from fear, but from indignation.

She wanted to scream, but she held her tongue. She realized that venting her emotions here would only hurt her.

Damn it! Damn it!

She wasn’t someone who made childish mistakes like this.

Mo Yonggun prized her for her cold heart and high-level stratagems. Mo Yong Yeonhwa had never once disappointed him.

But there was a side of her Mo Yonggun didn’t know.

Insecurity.

Over the years, Mo Yonggun had knowingly or not scarred her pride many times—most of it over the Young Clan Lord issue.

And lately, someone had appeared who cut her pride much deeper.

Yeon Hojeong.

She couldn’t bear her father praising Yeon Hojeong as a talent superior to her.

If she admitted that, it would mean admitting that the reason she couldn’t be Young Clan Lord wasn’t her sex but her ability.

A heart wounded once can sway a life.

And the sight of the Wild Wind Pavilion agent returning mute made her blood surge to her scalp. She thought Yeon Hojeong was mocking her.

It had been a mistake to set watchers in the first place. But she neither admitted that nor even recognized it.

Thus her shaken pride and anger drove things to this pass.

She snapped her head up.

“How dare you use a killing strike on the eldest daughter of the great Mo Yong Clan! The main house will never forgive the Yeon Clan!”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“Nice spirit. But you’ll never be able to surpass the main house in your life.”

“You...!”

THOK!

She toppled. He had tapped a mixed point.

Yeon Hojeong addressed the merchant-alliance scions.

“See to her. And...”

He leaned to one young man’s ear and murmured a few words.

At the same time, the young man’s face went pale.

“Th—the Mo Yong Clan?!”

Yeon Hojeong patted his shoulder.

“You don’t want to go bankrupt, do you? You’ve only just taken your first step.”

“I—is that true?”

“Why would I tell a lie that’ll be exposed? It’s something you can confirm at once.”

“Gasp!”

“You only get forgiven if your trouble stays within bounds. You don’t want to get thrown out in rags, do you? Don’t drive such spikes into your parents’ hearts.”

“...”

“Act wisely. Understood?”

“...Y—yes!”

After patting the young man’s shoulder several more times, Yeon Hojeong picked up the axe and walked over to Mookbi.

“I’m starving and wasted my strength for nothing. Let’s go eat outside.”

“Will it be okay?”

“Hm?”

Worried, Mookbi glanced around at Mo Yong Yeonhwa and the merchant-alliance scions.

“What if they bear a grudge...”

“Don’t worry. By the time that witless girl wakes up, the world will be a little different.”

“Huh?”

“You think I’d thrash her like that without a plan?”

Even if Mo Yong Yeonhwa didn’t want to go, he would force her—send her to Mo Yong-woo.

As much as he wanted to put her out of commission for life, this wasn’t the time.

For Mo Yong-woo’s bait, someone like Mo Yong Yeonhwa wouldn’t be bad.

Watching Yeon Hojeong’s eyes sparkle with anticipation, Mookbi smiled.

“I don’t know the details, but didn’t your father have a lot of headaches because of you?”

“If I weren’t his son, I might’ve died.”

“Heeey.”

“Let’s go. Let’s even have a drink tonight.”

“You’re treating?”

“For someone with no money, that’s rich.”

“I have a lot of money.”

“Since when do you have money?”

“Father ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) gave me an allowance.”

“What? To you?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it. Then you treat.”

“No take-backs.”

“I get to. Tonight, you treat.”

“Fine, then.”

“Geh-geh-geh.”

“Do you have to laugh like that?”

“Picking on how I laugh now?”

They seemed to have clean forgotten the murderous atmosphere from moments ago.

The two left Lake Delicacies Grand Joy Pavilion with faces that looked rather cheerful.