The Art of a Drop of Water

Steward Luo sneered and waved a large hand.

The servants behind him lunged forward with howls, like starving wolves granted a pardon.

The atmosphere in the inn instantly dropped to freezing point.

Shopkeeper Liu closed his eyes in despair.

The girl, Liu Yan, bit down hard on her lip. For the first time, a mist of tears appeared in her stubborn eyes.

It was over.

There was no escaping today.

In the corner.

Han Yuchen raised his teacup to his lips and took a light sip.

Mm, the tea had gone a little cold.

It affected the taste.

His gaze never even left the plate of braised pork on the table.

It was as if all the commotion outside had nothing to do with him.

One servant had already rushed to the front. With a lecherous grin, his fan-sized hand reached straight for Liu Yan's slender wrist.

Closer.

Closer still.

Liu Yan could even smell the sweat stench on him, and her stomach churned violently.

At that critical moment.

Han Yuchen's hand holding the teacup seemed to catch on something and gave a slight shake.

Drip.

A crystal-clear drop of tea silently flew from the rim of the cup.

Under the dim light, it traced an almost invisible arc.

Tch, my hand slipped.

This lousy body is still too weak.

The droplet looked weightless, without the slightest force behind it.

Yet it landed precisely on the servant's outstretched wrist.

Pfft.

A nearly inaudible muffled sound rang out.

"Ah!"

The servant suddenly let out a strange cry, as if he had been stung by a scorpion.

The hand he had stretched out instantly lost all strength and dangled limply at his side.

Half his body had gone numb.

He was completely dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at his disobedient hand, shocked and bewildered.

"W-Weird..."

He shook his hand, but the numbness clung to him like a parasite lodged in bone, impossible to shake off.

This sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.

The other servants stopped in their tracks and exchanged looks.

Shopkeeper Liu and Liu Yan also widened their eyes, utterly unable to understand what had happened.

"Useless trash! What are you standing around for?!"

Seeing his subordinate make a fool of himself, Steward Luo flew into a rage out of humiliation.

He shoved aside the still-stunned servant and stepped forward himself.

"Damn it, this lousy inn thinks it can play tricks on me?!"

Cursing under his breath, he formed his other hand into an eagle claw. A faint ripple of Soul Power gathered around it as he reached straight for Liu Yan's shoulder.

This time, he put force into it.

He clearly intended to teach this ungrateful little brat a lesson.

If that claw landed, Liu Yan's shoulder blade would shatter.

"Ah!"

Liu Yan cried out in alarm.

That scream seemed to give the Sickly Child in the corner quite a fright.

Han Yuchen's body suddenly jolted.

Clack.

He failed to hold onto the chopsticks in his right hand, and one fell to the floor, splashing up a bit of grease.

Oh dear, that scared me so badly I dropped my chopsticks.

How pathetic.

With a look of "panic" on his face, Han Yuchen bent down to pick up the chopstick.

The inn floor was somewhat damp, with several inconspicuous puddles gathered on it.

The instant he bent down, no one noticed.

His toe gave an extremely slight tap to a puddle on the floor.

The motion was so natural that it seemed as though he had simply stepped on it by accident.

Blade of Flowing Water.

Soul Power as the guide, water as the blade.

Killing without a trace.

Whoosh—

A water thread finer than a strand of hair shot silently along the ground like a lethal venomous snake.

Its speed was extreme.

Its target was Steward Luo's left ankle—the ankle of his supporting leg.

Steward Luo's attention was entirely on Liu Yan, and a vicious grin still hung on his face.

He was about to succeed.

He could practically picture this little wildcat crying and begging beneath him.

Then suddenly.

A needle-like pain pierced his left ankle.

It was as if a sharp little knife had viciously sliced him.

"Hiss!"

He sucked in a breath.

A searing pain shot through his supporting leg, and all strength drained from it.

His balance failed, and he pitched forward.

Thud!

With a tremendous crash, Steward Luo hit the ground face-first in a perfect sprawl.

One of his front teeth even broke off.

His mouth was full of blood and dirt.

The entire inn fell deathly silent.

Even the air seemed frozen.

The Luo Family servants looked as though their eyes were about to pop out.

Their mouths hung open as they stared at their steward sprawled on the ground like a dead dog.

Their minds had completely shut down.

What was going on?

How had the steward... fallen on level ground?

And fallen so badly?

Shopkeeper Liu and Liu Yan were equally incredulous.

They stared at the scene before them, feeling as though they were dreaming.

Steward Luo, who had been so fierce and arrogant moments ago, had just... fallen all by himself?

Amid the dead silence.

Han Yuchen slowly straightened up, the chopstick he had just picked up pinched in his fingers.

Looking at Steward Luo sprawled on the ground, he showed just the right amount of "fear" and "innocence."

He stammered, his voice trembling.

"B-Big brother, are... are you all right?"

"T-The floor is slippery. Y-You should be careful."

Those words were like a fistful of salt viciously rubbed into Steward Luo's wounds.

Steward Luo struggled to climb to his feet, half his face swollen.

He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, mixed with a broken tooth.

He was furious and afraid.

He felt as though he had run into a ghost!

The first time he moved, his wrist had inexplicably gone numb.

The second time, something had sliced his ankle, sending him straight into a face-first fall.

Twice!

Both times, he had been interrupted at the most critical moment!

And both methods had been bizarre to the extreme!

His gaze instinctively swept toward the sickly little brat in the corner.

That boy was looking at him with a "frightened" expression, his body still trembling slightly like a startled quail.

Yet for some reason.

At the sight of that pale, harmless face, an icy chill rose from the depths of Steward Luo's heart.

There was something wrong with this kid!

There was definitely something wrong with him!

But did he have proof?

No!

He had not even seen how the other party had made a move!

Or rather, the other party had not moved at all!

The boy had merely taken a sip of tea and dropped a chopstick!

The frustration nearly drove him mad.

He wanted to lash out, but the burning pain in his ankle and the inexplicable fear in his heart forced him to calm down.

Today was far too strange.

If he stayed any longer, who knew what other trouble might arise.

Steward Luo shot the Liu father and daughter a vicious glare, then gave Han Yuchen a long, chilling look.

He squeezed out a sentence through clenched teeth.

"Old Liu, you... you just wait!"

"Tomorrow, our young master will come himself!"

With that, he limped away with the servants who were still in shock, fleeing in disgrace.

They looked as miserable as dogs without a home.

The crisis had been temporarily resolved.

Shopkeeper Liu let out a long breath. His whole body went limp, and he leaned against the counter, panting heavily.

The way he looked at Han Yuchen was full of gratitude, along with a trace of bewilderment he could not make sense of.

Han Yuchen ignored their gazes.

He picked up the chopstick he had just retrieved, rinsed it with tea, then slowly picked up the last piece of braised pork and put it into his mouth.

It was as though that farce had been nothing more than a boring interruption.

That calm, unruffled manner fell into Liu Yan's eyes.

Unlike her father, she did not relax.

Instead, her brows furrowed even tighter.

She stared fixedly at Han Yuchen.

At the way he picked up food, at the expression on his face as he drank tea.

Again and again, she replayed those two bizarre scenes in her mind.

A coincidence?

Once could be a coincidence.

But twice... could that still be a coincidence?

How could there be such coincidences in this world!

There was definitely something wrong with this frail-looking youth!

Liu Yan took a deep breath.

She made a bold decision.

She strode straight to Han Yuchen's table.

Pulling out a chair, she sat down.

Han Yuchen's chopsticks paused. At last, he lifted his eyes and truly looked at her for the first time.

The girl's gaze was as sharp as a blade.

She was nothing like an ordinary inn girl.

She offered no thanks and gave no preamble.

Getting straight to the point, she demanded,

"You did what happened just now, didn't you?"

"Who exactly are you?"