Baek Yoonjun calmly watched the fight between the man in black and the martial artists.

'It's nothing special.'

To Baek Yoonjun, the level of the martial artists was third-rate or lower, just looking low-level.

If Baek Yoonjun were to intervene in the fight, it was a fight that would be sorted out in an instant.

'Good. Shall I sort it out?'

Having made up his mind, Baek Yoonjun, who had moved to a secluded building near where Tang Yuhwa was, paused at a thought that suddenly came to him.

'But why does Yuhwa use that strange way of speaking to me?'

A useless thought crept into his mind.

The useless thoughts of a homebody introvert are generally on the negative side.

'Is she upset with me about something?'

Of course, the mind of Baek Yoonjun, the extreme homebody introvert, leaned towards extremely negative thoughts.

'Come to think of it, since she thought I wouldn't follow, she even gave me wine and snacks, telling me to wait outside, right?'

Baek Yoonjun began to repeat the act of so-called 'digging a hole' in his mind like crazy.

'At a glance, it seemed like she was being considerate, but what if she actually hated me following her? What if her strange way of speaking was to keep a distance from me?'

Baek Yoonjun crouched down as if he would stick to the roof.

'I want to go home.'

The thought of just wanting to be cooped up in a corner of his room dominated his mind.

And so, as Baek Yoonjun was digging a hole, the current situation came into his sight from time to time.

Perhaps because they were all mediocre martial artists, the man in black, who was all alone, was being pushed back.

Although there were no fatal wounds visible yet, with blood flowing from various parts of his body, he might suffer a fatal wound soon.

In the midst of that, Tang Yuhwa's expression was the same as usual, but she was fidgeting and fiddling with her hands.

'Is she hesitant to use martial arts because she wants to help?'

At the sight of his disciple's fidgeting, a worry arose in Baek Yoonjun, and a very small amount of courage was born.

'If I reveal myself for no reason and Yuhwa shows any sign of dislike...'

But as befitting a homebody introvert, a worry crept up again.

'Let's just support from a distance.'

Although it was a very timid response, it was the best Baek Yoonjun could do.

'I can't get caught, so let's eliminate them one by one with something that won't be noticed, without being obvious.'

Baek Yoonjun cut the roof of the place where he was and made it easy to throw.

After that, he assessed the situation once more.

The people who had rushed at the man in black were only a part.

The rest were watching the fight between the man in black and the martial artists from behind as if they were just spectators.

Tang Yuhwa was a little distance away on the opposite side, and thanks to the man in black fighting, she didn't seem to be in immediate danger.

'How can I support without being obvious?'

Baek Yoonjun pondered and held a stone in his hand.

"Die!"

"Keuk!"

The man in black was pushed back, and the martial artists rushed at him like a pack of wolves.

Although it was a desperate moment for the man in black.

'I see it!'

For Baek Yoonjun, it was the perfect timing.

Baek Yoonjun threw a stone fragment the size of a thumb using only his wrist.

The stone fragment flew and hit the back of the knee of the martial artist who was about to swing his sword at the man in black.

"Keoheok!!"

The posture of the man who was hit in the back of the knee by the stone fragment collapsed, and the stone fragment bounced off and grazed the ankle of the martial artist next to him.

Although only a scratch like a thin line was made on the man's ankle, his posture completely collapsed because of it.

The stone fragment did not stop and bounced, hitting the men surrounding the man in black.

"Keok!"

"Keoheok!"

"What kind of sorcery is this?!"

Since it was such a fast and small stone fragment, no one had noticed, and the stone fragment hit each of the martial artists and then landed in Baek Yoonjun's grasp.

A movement as if drawn with a brush.

Baek Yoonjun, who held the stone fragment in his hand, was only a little surprised inwardly even after showing such a wondrous martial prowess.

'This works?'

He had read and predicted the path of the stone fragment.

But the movement of the stone was cleaner than he had predicted.

'I should use this often.'

Thinking so, Baek Yoonjun focused on the situation again.

"You heretic bastard! What kind of sorcery did you use?!"

"Sorcery? What sorcery! It's your fault for being distracted during a bloody battle!"

The man in black did not miss the opportunity Baek Yoonjun had created and quickly sorted out the surrounding martial artists.

Since Baek Yoonjun had thrown the stone so secretly, it looked as if the man in black had overwhelmingly crushed the martial artists.

Thanks to that, the surrounding martial artists could not move carelessly.

"You bastard!"

They just shouted loudly and gritted their teeth.

The man in black took his hands off such martial artists and moved his gaze to Tang Yuhwa.

"Let's get out of here first, young lady."

Hearing the man in black's words, Tang Yuhwa, for some reason, looked at the roof where Baek Yoonjun was hiding.

'Did she find out?!'

Baek Yoonjun stuck to the roof as if he were almost attached to it.

Thanks to that, he couldn't watch the next situation with his eyes, but as a result of observing with his senses, he could tell that the man in black and Tang Yuhwa were getting away from the martial artists.

'Phew. It seems they got away safely for now.'

Baek Yoonjun stealthily lifted only his head and looked at Tang Yuhwa, who was getting away from the martial artists.

Even now, she was stealthily looking back and looking at the roof where Baek Yoonjun was.

'What? Did she really notice? With Yuhwa's martial prowess, she shouldn't be able to notice, right?'

Although Baek Yoonjun had done nothing wrong, he flinched for no reason.

Baek Yoonjun's gaze moved from Tang Yuhwa to the martial artists.

'Come to think of it, this whole thing is because of those bastards, isn't it?'

A fire rose in Baek Yoonjun's heart.

'The fact that they ganged up to harass a small girl, and the fact that they beat her up in a many-to-one situation, looking at their actions, they are confirmed to be evil people!'

In the hand of Baek Yoonjun, who had decided on the nature of the martial artists, was a long needle.

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean, what? It will take time to get out of Sichuan anyway! Gather more martial artists and attack!"

"We can't miss the opportunity we barely caught because of a heretic nobody!"

The martial artists had no way of knowing Baek Yoonjun's movements.

Baek Yoonjun lightly moved the wrist holding the needle.

"Then let's move right...!!"

The martial artists, who couldn't even read Baek Yoonjun's presence, couldn't finish their words and met their end with their eyes wide open, their foreheads pierced by a needle.

Considering the chaos of the bloody battle with the man in black just now, it was a truly futile and empty end.

Baek Yoonjun quickly retrieved the needle and chased after Tang Yuhwa on the roof.

'I'm not a thief or an assassin.'

While being engulfed in a useless sense of self-pity, he maintained a distance where he could hear Tang Yuhwa's conversation from afar.

And so, a short while later.

"There they are! Chase them!!"

Tang Yuhwa and the man in black were chased by another group of martial artists, different from the one before, that had popped out again.

"Young lady! Did you make an enemy of the orthodox faction of Sichuan or something?!"

The man in black asked Tang Yuhwa with a fed-up face while performing his lightness skill diligently.

Hearing those words, Tang Yuhwa couldn't help but tilt her head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Then why are they sticking to us so persistently?!"

Tang Yuhwa was very wronged.

Although she had a relationship with a distant relative who she didn't get along with in the group of martial artists from before, the group of martial artists that had popped out now were complete strangers.

"Did you hide a treasure in your house or something?!"

"My family was just an ordinary doctor's family."

There was not a single lie in Tang Yuhwa's words.

The Tang family was a doctor's family with a little reputation in the Sichuan region.

'Except for that person from before, I can't think of anything that bothers me.'

There were no other special circumstances.

"Young lady! There's no answer at this rate!"

Tang Yuhwa put aside her thoughts at the man in black's urgent shout and looked around.

A little further was the front of the city gate.

"That way."

Tang Yuhwa pointed to the city gate without a moment's hesitation.

"That way? Wouldn't it be more dangerous outside of Sichuan?"

Although the man in white tried to stop her, Tang Yuhwa moved towards the city gate without hesitation.

"There is someone there who is more trustworthy than anyone else."

At Tang Yuhwa's confident words, the man in black couldn't say anything and followed her.

And.

'Brat.'

Baek Yoonjun, who was eliminating the martial artists who had fallen from the group one by one from a roof a little distance away, was moved by Tang Yuhwa's words.

'Of course. There's no reason for Yuhwa to hate me for no reason, is there?'

Although the distance between Tang Yuhwa and Baek Yoonjun was quite far, to Baek Yoonjun, who had spread his senses, Tang Yuhwa's words were clearly audible.

"A trustworthy person? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Baek Yoonjun calmed his tingling chest and thought about the future.

'There are too many to kill them all. It's not like I can't do it, but I'm not a mass murderer.'

Eliminating the martial artists one by one with a stone fragment (hidden weapon), Baek Yoonjun moved towards the city gate.

Having overtaken Tang Yuhwa and jumped over the city gate, Baek Yoonjun, who had reached the vicinity, quickly hid his body.

A short while later, when Tang Yuhwa and the man in black had just set foot outside of Sichuan, pushing aside the restraint of the city gate soldiers.

'Yuhwa dislikes it, but it's an emergency, so I have no choice.'

Baek Yoonjun performed his lightness skill to its fullest, took Tang Yuhwa in his arms with one hand, and grabbed the scruff of the man in black's neck.

"What all of a sudden?!"

Although the man in black was startled, Baek Yoonjun's movement was faster.

At the feeling of the world turning upside down in an instant, the man in black shut his mouth, and Tang Yuhwa, who had already grasped the situation, hugged Baek Yoonjun's neck tightly.

And so, Baek Yoonjun, who had quickly gotten away from Sichuan, stopped at a suitable place.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Then he carefully set down the man in black, who was making a dazed sound with his eyes wide open.

The man in black, who had fallen to the ground, looked around blankly, as if he hadn't grasped the situation.

Baek Yoonjun, who was waiting for the man in black to come to his senses, opened his mouth at the flat and hard feeling he felt on his arm.

"I'll put you down, so don't push me with your back."

"Not my back."

Baek Yoonjun carefully looked at Tang Yuhwa, who was in his arms.

Her front, not her back, was touching his arm.

Feeling very embarrassed, Baek Yoonjun avoided Tang Yuhwa's eyes and gently set her down on the floor.

And so, as Baek Yoonjun was looking at the sky with an embarrassed heart, he felt something hard and flat pushing him on his waist.

Reflecting on what had just happened, Baek Yoonjun carefully opened his mouth.

"Your front is touching me."

"It's my back."

Baek Yoonjun carefully looked down.

Tang Yuhwa was pushing him with her back and stealthily giving him a look.

Baek Yoonjun couldn't bring himself to meet Tang Yuhwa's eyes and looked up at the sky.

'How difficult.'

Although Baek Yoonjun himself couldn't be sure what was difficult, it was just difficult.

"Master, we're moving for a moment."

"Uh, uh, let's do that."

And so, at Tang Yuhwa's urging, he moved to a place a little away from the man in black.

"Master, don't you have something to say to me?"

As soon as they moved, at Tang Yuhwa's question, Baek Yoonjun felt a prickling in his chest.

'Right. Yuhwa is also a woman who has passed the age of maturity, so I was wrong.'

Feeling very embarrassed, Baek Yoonjun couldn't meet Tang Yuhwa's gaze and voiced his apology.

"I'm sorry. I don't know if my senses have dulled, but I couldn't tell the front from the back."

"That's not it."

Although he hadn't expected a good answer, at the answer that was far from his expectation, Baek Yoonjun broke out in a cold sweat.

'What does she mean, that's not it? Is this the so-called 'woman's language' I've only heard about?'

No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't come up with an answer.

And so, as a silence flowed, Tang Yuhwa spoke first. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Master."

Baek Yoonjun muttered to himself, 'Here it comes,' and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Thanks."

"What?"

At the words he hadn't even expected, Baek Yoonjun turned his head and looked at Tang Yuhwa.

"Huh?!"

He couldn't help but make a dazed expression at a sight more surprising than the words he had just heard.

The corners of the mouth of Tang Yuhwa, who always had a sullen face, were slightly, but raised.

'Yuhwa is smiling?'

Although it was slight, it was a look that could be called a smile.

At the sight he had never seen in three years, Baek Yoonjun couldn't react at all.

"H-how?"

"I practiced."

"I-I see."

Baek Yoonjun repeated to himself, 'So a smile is something that comes out with practice.'

"It must have been hard to come in, but thank you for coming in and protecting me."

"Uh... right."

Baek Yoonjun was convinced that his hiding from before had been discovered by Tang Yuhwa.

'It was a perfect hiding, so where on earth did it go wrong?'

Baek Yoonjun, who couldn't even answer Tang Yuhwa properly and was dazed.

'No, am I being too dazed right now? I'm still her master, aren't I?'

As he was continuously being pushed back, a very small sense of stubbornness arose in Baek Yoonjun.

"Yuhwa. You spoke well earlier. But why to me..."

Baek Yoonjun pondered what to call Tang Yuhwa's usual way of speaking.

'The 'gloomy style' is a word that doesn't exist in this world, and it's a bit much to say 'strange way of speaking' directly.'

And so, as Baek Yoonjun was pondering, Tang Yuhwa approached Baek Yoonjun and met his eyes.

"Wh-what?"

Baek Yoonjun quickly avoided his gaze, but Tang Yuhwa did not give up and approached.

Although he could avoid it if he wanted to, at Tang Yuhwa's persistent gaze, Baek Yoonjun gave up and met Tang Yuhwa's gaze, sweating profusely.

Whether she was satisfied with that, Tang Yuhwa approached Baek Yoonjun and whispered in his ear.

"Isn't this more friendly?"

At that whisper, Baek Yoonjun's mind went completely blank.

(End of Chapter)