Contempt

"Can I take a look at that?"

All eyes in the room turned toward the voice coming from the direction of the shattered window.

"Hup."

Yuan Zhaoxian and the gatekeeper climbed over the windowsill to enter.

While everyone's attention was focused on them, Yuan Zhaoxian casually dusted off the wood splinters that had gotten on his clothes.

"Young Master, let me help you."

"Ah, thank you."

Jingya, who had approached without notice, helped him with careful hands.

After Jingya's hands had completely tidied his appearance, Yuan Zhaoxian tilted his head.

"What are you doing? Give that here."

The looks of bewilderment on the faces of the Black Bone Faction members turned to anger.

"Who are you?!"

One of the martial artists standing behind Golden Lady shouted.

The shout filled with Inner Power resonated throughout the room.

"...Oh my, my ears."

Yuan Zhaoxian playfully picked at his ear and continued.

"Can't you tell by looking at this uniform?"

When Yuan Zhaoxian pointed to the gatekeeper's attire, everyone's attention turned to the gatekeeper.

Though such attention might have been burdensome, the gatekeeper stood calmly meeting their gazes.

"...A Sword Clan guard?"

"Hmm..."

Everyone's expressions were subtle.

While the name of the Sword Clan was one that anyone in Luoyang would fear, a mere guard?

Among ordinary citizens that might mean something, but they were Luoyang's notorious outlaws.

Yuan Zhaoxian shook his head.

"Be careful. Though he's dressed like this, he's an incredibly skilled master."

Everyone's dubious gazes turned toward the guard.

Far from being a master, someone burst out laughing at the sight of the middle-aged man who didn't even appear to be an ordinary martial artist.

"Pfft."

Then without exception, all the Black Bone Faction members erupted in raucous laughter.

"A master, he says, a master."

"If he's a master, then I'm the greatest under heaven!"

Golden Lady didn't join in the laughter, but she too was looking at Yuan Zhaoxian with suspicious eyes.

"..."

Though he did seem unremarkable, the opponent's extremely confident manner left her unable to act one way or the other for now.

"...Tsk."

Yuan Zhaoxian clicked his tongue and commanded the gatekeeper.

"This won't do. Go get it."

"...As you command."

As the gatekeeper stepped forward once, everyone's laughter ceased.

Killing intent gathered in their eyes.

And when he took two steps forward, the three martial artists around Golden Lady all prepared to strike.

When he took the next three steps, the Sword Clan's Bronze Badge that had been in Golden Lady's hand was now in the gatekeeper's.

".....?"

The most surprised was Golden Lady herself who had been holding it.

She had only felt her hair flutter slightly in the breeze, yet somehow the Bronze Badge she had been holding was now in the opponent's hand.

In that moment, the same thought crossed everyone's mind.

'A master...!'

A heavy, cold silence descended upon the room.

"Hmm."

Regardless of everyone else's surprise, Yuan Zhaoxian examined the Bronze Badge in his hand from various angles.

Jingya carefully asked.

"Young Master, is it genuine?"

Yuan Zhaoxian nodded.

"Yes, it's real."

A gloomy look clouded his eyes as he gazed at the Bronze Badge.

"In the past, the Sword Clan's Bronze Badge was originally a token of oath to repay benefactors who had bestowed grace upon the Sword Clan, anywhere and anytime."

His voice was subdued.

"When a benefactor holding the Bronze Badge faced crisis, the people of the Sword Clan would rush to their aid no matter where."

The Bronze Badge in his hand glinted in the sunlight.

"And they would take up swords alongside the benefactor, not fearing even death."

"It was a symbol of infinite trust then."

It was Xiya's voice, who had risen from her seat by now.

Having already recognized Yuan Zhaoxian's identity from Jingya's actions, she could not dare remain seated before him.

Yuan Zhaoxian briefly glanced at such a Xiya and nodded.

"...That's right."

A bitter smile played at his lips.

"Now it's become nothing more than a token of trust handed to business partners."

He lightly tossed the Bronze Badge back to Golden Lady.

Golden Lady caught the Bronze Badge in mid-air with a snap and spoke to Yuan Zhaoxian with narrowed eyes.

"As you say, it may be just a token, but isn't it also proof of safety from the Sword Clan's blind blade? Isn't that so?"

Her words were clearly conscious of the 'Sword Clan master' standing behind Yuan Zhaoxian.

"That's true."

Yuan Zhaoxian readily nodded.

"If we ignore the Bronze Badge and act as we please, it would destroy the trust the Sword Clan has built up until now."

A smile played at Golden Lady's lips.

"If one had power within the Sword Clan, they might be able to somehow smooth things over, but that would be difficult, wouldn't it?"

Yuan Zhaoxian shrugged his shoulders as if in agreement.

Golden Lady spoke with conviction.

"You must be the famous Swordless One."

A thick sneer hung at Golden Lady's lips as she spoke the derogatory title 'Swordless One.'

"That's right, I'm Yuan Zhaoxian."

As soon as Yuan Zhaoxian finished speaking, Golden Lady burst into laughter.

It was laughter that seemed she might choke.

After laughing like that for a while, she wiped away the tears that had formed at her eyes from laughing too much and opened her mouth.

"Ah, I got so scared. Ruined my composure and everything."

Her gaze turned to Yuan Zhaoxian.

That downward gaze contained clear contempt.

"What brings someone who lives rotting away playing immortal games here?"

At her incredibly arrogant words, Jingya's fine brows twitched.

"Nothing special. My maid had business with the Pavilion Master here."

Yuan Zhaoxian remained composed.

"Tired of ruining the Sword Clan from the inside, are you? Now thinking of going around outside dirtying the Sword Clan's name?"

Xiya struck her pipe against the table with a snap.

"Golden Lady, you'd better watch your words. Whatever anyone says, this person is the Sword Clan's..."

"Sword Clan?"

Golden Lady snorted.

"Does this young master who knows nothing of the world look like the Luoyang Sword Clan to you?"

At those words, Jingya ground her teeth.

"..."

But in the end she couldn't step forward.

Because it was obvious that if she, who had no power, stepped forward, she would only make her master more of a laughingstock rather than restore his honor.

"Really, I can't believe this..."

Golden Lady let out a hollow laugh and brushed up her hair.

"Crescent Moon Pavilion Master, still don't understand? What I'm relying on to act like this?"

She waved the Bronze Badge in her hand.

"The line I've caught is a golden rope that's not even worth comparing to the Sword Clan's First Young Master in name only."

Her voice rang out clearly.

"I'm not some powerless person who can't even reach the fringes of such power! Today too, I met with one of the closest aides of the Second Young Master, a proper heir of the Sword Clan..."

Golden Lady's gaze lingered on Jingya as she spoke.

"Today too, I met and..."

Trailing off, she stroked her chin while looking back and forth between Jingya and Yuan Zhaoxian.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she pointed at Jingya.

"You! You must be that troublesome woman he mentioned!"

"..."

Jingya squeezed her eyes shut.

It felt as if that fingertip was piercing through to the most vulnerable part of her soul.

"Ah, what an interesting coincidence. I heard the story just this morning, and now to meet the person herself like this."

Golden Lady strode toward Jingya.

"...That's far enough."

The gatekeeper blocked Golden Lady from getting any closer to Jingya.

But before the Bronze Badge, that was all he could do.

"Hey, tell me something. Why did you kick away that golden opportunity to possibly become the Second Young Master's concubine, and of all places, why did you go to that Swordless One? Hmm?"

Golden Lady mocked Jingya with eyes like she was looking at a strange animal.

"No, even if not a concubine, wouldn't it be better to be even just a plaything? What do you think you can do trusting this good-for-nothing?"

Jingya blocked Golden Lady who was pointing at Yuan Zhaoxian.

"Do not insult my master. Someone like you shouldn't dare speak carelessly about such a noble person."

Despite her protest, Golden Lady just laughed it off.

"Noble person? Yes, an incomparably noble person indeed. Throwing away all the rights he was born with, abandoning his responsibilities, even when pointed at by people of his own family..."

Blue flames sparked in her eyes.

"Still far nobler than a lowborn street rat like me without any proper roots."

Jingya met Golden Lady's terrifying pressure without avoiding her gaze.

But,

"..."

But there was no rebuttal she could make.

Swordless One.

It was a name mocked not just in the Luoyang Sword Clan, but in the great city of Luoyang, even throughout all of Henan Province.

People knew the name of the Luoyang Sword Clan called the greatest clan under heaven all too well, and at the same time, they knew all too well the name of the clan's recluse, the Swordless One.

An unfilial son with no presence while his father, the Supreme Clan Leader, supported the family with all his might even while confined to his sickbed.

A coward.

A craven.

If the Luoyang Sword Clan hadn't expanded its power and developed further during his seclusion, Yuan Zhaoxian's name wouldn't have ended with just being mocked now.

"Nothing to say? If you have anything at all to say, I'll listen, so speak up?"

She was furious.

So furious.

First Young Master Yuan Zhaoxian, the master she had seen, the master she had chosen to serve - she wanted to cry out that he wasn't like that.

She wanted to loudly proclaim about the Yuan Zhaoxian she knew.

But any words she could say would only be futile.

Never before had she felt so powerless, having no strength at all.

Even when she had fled the reception hall pursued by the Second and Third Young Masters, she hadn't felt this powerless.

But to be unable to stop her master from being insulted, to feel such piercing powerlessness.

"Why don't we stop there?"

It was Yuan Zhaoxian who wrapped an arm around Jingya's shoulders and turned her back.

"She is my one and only dedicated maid after all."

He smiled innocently.

"...If you go further, I might have no choice but to get angry?"

"It was already no fun anyway."

Golden Lady snorted, but forcefully suppressed the chill she felt in a corner of her heart.

Heat had risen to her head and she had mocked Yuan Zhaoxian.

But the position of the Luoyang Sword Clan's First Young Master was naturally an incredibly burdensome status even for her.

She turned her gaze to address Xiya.

"Pavilion Master. No matter how much you keep glancing outside, those safety measures you're waiting for aren't coming."

The hour Xiya had spoken of had long since passed.

"You applied pressure...!"

Golden Lady once again waved the Bronze Badge in her hand toward Xiya who glared at her.

"This thing is totally a master key."

With a gleeful laugh, Golden Lady turned and walked toward the door.

"I was planning to carve a firm warning into that body today..."

She glanced briefly at Yuan Zhaoxian.

"But unfortunately an interferer appeared, so that's become a bit difficult."

As she headed out the door surrounded by her subordinates' escort, she waved behind her.

"Next time I come, that worthless First Young Master won't be able to save you."

After Golden Lady disappeared beyond the door, her subordinates also flowed out of the building like an ebbing tide following her.

"Golden Lady..."

Xiya ground her teeth.

And then Jingya, who had been holding on through willpower until then, collapsed.

"Young Master, I'm sorry..."

Yuan Zhaoxian caught her body, but she had already lost consciousness.

"Jingya!"

Xiya's urgent voice rang out anxiously.