Resolving the Mine Matter

Ye An put away his technique, lowering his head to glance at his right hand.

The fingertips were not flushed, nor was there anything unusual about the knuckle joints, and the aura inside his body had already stabilized.

Star-Shattering Finger (Initial Glance): 99/100

Just the very last bit remained.

He knew the signs of a breakthrough; before crossing the threshold of any finger technique, there would be just such a fleeting moment.

He had practiced for this long, and his body had already memorized that oblique path. What was missing was making that path narrower, faster, and smoother, filling in that final bit of margin as well.

At that moment, a knock sounded from outside the door.

"Senior Brother, there is a letter for you." An Outer Sect Disciple stood at the doorway, handing over a sealed letter with a small flower pressed onto the envelope.

Ye An took the letter, and the Outer Sect Disciple turned and left.

He closed his room door, unsealed the flap, and pulled out the letter paper. The handwriting was neat and pretty, belonging to Liu Ruyan.

The letter stated that trouble had recently arisen in the mining area.

The transport route had been cut off, the ore could not be shipped out on time, and the buyer had already returned the goods.

The mining area steward said that someone had been active on the periphery of the mining area during the night—neither approaching closely nor moving far away.

Cuiwei had gone to investigate once and confirmed that the other party had come with a purpose. A fight had broken out, and Cuiwei had sustained minor injuries.

Most of those people were at Third Body Tempering, and only the leader was at Meridian Opening. They rarely made a move, but every time they appeared, they forced the caravan to turn back.

Clamped inside the envelope was an iron token, with the Liu Lineage's clan crest engraved upon it. Liu Ruyan said in the letter that with this token one could move through the mining area without hindrance, and she wished to invite Ye An over to garrison the place for a period of time. He wouldn't need to fight; as long as his person was there, the other side should restrain themselves somewhat.

After finishing the letter, Ye An folded the paper and put it back into the envelope. He held the iron token in his hand, turned it over, and then placed it on the table.

He sat before the table for a moment and wrote a reply, writing only five characters: "Leave everything to me." When he finished writing, he sealed it and handed it to the delivering disciple.

That same afternoon, two people arrived from the direction of the Medicine Field.

When Ye An heard the commotion and pushed the door open to step outside, he saw two familiar figures standing at the entrance of the C-Rank Courtyard.

Lu Xingzhou wore the attire of an Inner Sect Disciple, and the smile on his face was just like the one back on the carriage, carrying a sort of easygoing momentum.

Shen Qing stood beside him, still wearing that reticent look, but the aura on Shen Qing's body had changed—Meridian Opening. Although it was only the initial stage, the aura was very steady.

When Ye An saw them, he showed no surprise, whereas Lu Xingzhou spoke up first: "Senior Brother Ye! From now on we are colleagues, all in the C-Rank Courtyard. Let's interact more."

Shen Qing did not pick up the conversation, only glancing at Ye An and nodding, then turning to go check on his own room.

Lu Xingzhou chatted idly with Ye An for a few more words, speaking about the rules of the Inner Sect and the condition of the Medicine Field, and then also went to tidy up his living quarters.

Ye An did not linger, returning to his room, closing the door, and sitting back down on the bed. He slowly extended his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together and aiming them at that stack of paper on the table. Without exerting force, he simply gathered his Internal Energy at his fingertips and sent it out. The sheets of paper were gently pressed down without turning or making a sound, as if supporting a stone beneath the surface of the water.

That very night, Ye An sat on the bed, running his Internal Energy along the spiral path of the Meridian Opening Formula once, then stopping. He drew his Internal Energy back into his fingertips. The fingertips were not flushed, but between the knuckle joints there was a subtle sound, as if something had found its proper place there.

Ye An opened his eyes and pulled back his Internal Energy. The vibration in his fingertips ceased, and he stood up from the bed.

Star-Shattering Finger (Micro): 1/200

The sensation of Micro was completely different from Initial Glance. There was no longer any need to deliberately adjust the angle; the body had already memorized that path by itself. The Internal Energy advanced along the oblique path with almost no hesitation. With a single movement of his thought, his fingertips were already in place.

Ye An tested a finger-strike, pressing it against the wooden pillar at the head of the bed. There was no sound, and an extremely fine indentation appeared on the surface of the wooden pillar with smooth edges and not a single trace of splitting, as if something had pressed inward from the interior.

He withdrew his hand and put on the Iron Sand Gloves. Following that, he packed his travel bag, strapped the Shuanghong sword—wrapped in old cloth—across his back, and tucked the letter and that Liu Lineage token into his bosom.

Over at the Inner Sect Management Office, he requested a few days of leave. The supervisor glanced at him without asking many questions, approved the leave slip, and let him go.

Ye An descended the mountain via the path on the west side of the Inner Sect, passed through that patch of miscellaneous woods, and walked onto the main road. The sun had not yet fully risen, and distant mountain silhouettes loomed indistinctly in the morning mist.

Cangwu Prefectural City, the Liu Lineage estate.

Cuiwei held the letter, walking briskly through the covered walkway and entering the backyard pavilion where Liu Ruyan and Zhao Wan were sitting and drinking tea.

Cuiwei did not speak superfluously, handing the letter over. Liu Ruyan took it, unsealed the flap, pulled out the letter paper to glance at it, and then folded the paper and placed it on the table.

Zhao Wan glanced at her: "How is it? Has that Master Ye agreed?"

Liu Ruyan did not answer immediately, instead pondering something.

Zhao Wan waited for a few breaths, then spoke again: "It's fine, Ruyan. If these retainer guests aren't cultivated from childhood, those patronized halfway through naturally won't come when encountering danger. Don't take it too to heart either."

Liu Ruyan shook her head, and only after a moment did she say: "He has already agreed."

Zhao Wan was slightly startled: "Agreed? Just like that?" She paused, then asked, "Did he raise any conditions?"

"No."

Zhao Wan was silent for a while, not taking up the conversation. After a moment, she finally spoke: "Being young and vigorous is just like this... I'm just afraid he won't be able to suppress the situation when the time comes, and some unexpected disaster will occur."

Liu Ruyan did not take up this remark. She glanced at Cuiwei: "You go to the mining area as well. That way, whatever situation arises, there will be mutual support."

Cuiwei immediately nodded: "Understood."

Having spoken, she withdrew to make preparations. Liu Ruyan picked up her teacup anew, glanced at Zhao Wan, and said nothing more. She placed the letter in her hand back onto the tabletop, the bottom of the cup tapping against the wood with a crisp sound, as if drawing a period to the topic.

The location written in Liu Ruyan's letter was remembered by Ye An the moment he read it over.

The mining area was to the north of Cangwu Prefectural City, situated right between the Four Symbols Sect and Cangwu Prefectural City, and was not considered far.

He did not directly enter the mining area, instead finding a high vantage point near the transport route on the outer periphery of the mining area. The field of vision was broad, allowing him to clearly see the intersection and the low woods on both sides. He kept his back against a large stone, making it difficult to detect.

He had been crouching here for a long time.

The Meridian Opening Formula circulated through his body for a few cycles, and his internal energy remained steady.

The sky gradually darkened, and the outline of the crossroads blurred little by little in the dusk.

Inside the mine, Cuiwei had been waiting for the better part of the day.

She had arrived early. After coordinating information with the mine steward, she walked a circle around the outer perimeter of the mining area to confirm there were no new traces of surveillance.

She returned to the mine entrance and waited for a long time, waiting until the sky darkened without seeing Ye An's figure appear.

She raised her eyes to glance toward the entrance of the mining area, then glanced back down the road she had come, seeing nothing. She pressed her lips together in silence, simply turning to head back inside the house.

She only thought it over once in her heart. The other party made a promise, yet failed to show his face. She felt it was not worth it for the young miss; if retainers were of this sort, they might as well not hire any. She planned to wait a bit longer after dawn, and if still no one came, she would report the actual situation back.

At night, people began to appear along the transport intersection.

Two figures crawled out from the low grove, wearing dark short attire. Their footsteps were light, as though they had already come here many times.

They walked to the intersection and stood still. One of them fished out a water bag to take a gulp, then crouched down, leaning against a crooked-necked tree by the roadside.

"The job the boss took on is really tricky. The brothers have been worked half to death these days, and who knows what we're even after."

The other person glared at him. "Shut your trap already! If the boss hears you, he'll skin you alive!" He paused, then added, "I heard that the boss handling this matter was directed by the Song Family. Do you know why?"

The crouching man grew interested. "Why?"

"Do you know why the Liu Lineage doesn't send people to manage this mine, letting only a female of weak-willed standing like Liu Ruyan handle it? It's because the Song Family's legitimate son, Song Yan, harbors romantic intentions toward Liu Ruyan and is begging his old man to go to the Liu Lineage to propose marriage."

"I'd want an old man like that too, then I wouldn't have to work hard." That man let out a laugh, then asked, "Did the Liu Lineage agree?"

The speaker lowered his voice. "They didn't agree, but it's not far off. Liu Ruyan's old man is about to kick the bucket, and the Liu Lineage currently has zero desire to help Liu Ruyan. The more she fails to hold on, the more she'll have to obediently marry over. The Song Family is one of the Two Great Families of Cangwu Prefecture after all; what does the Liu Lineage have to compare with the Song Family?"

The two men said no more, the night wind blowing their conversation apart amidst the wilderness. They did not notice that behind a large boulder dozens of steps away, someone was taking in every single word without missing a beat.

A voice suddenly came from behind Ye An, "Who's there? Sneaking around!"

Ye An spun around, and a flash of saber light had already descended toward him.

He did not step back, his right hand gripping the sword hilt behind his back. Shuanghong slid out from the old cloth wrapping; a flash of sword light, the saber broke, the man collapsed, and the corpse smashed onto the ground, emitting a dull thud.

More footsteps surged from the depths of the low grove, and seven or eight men rushed out of the forest wielding sabers. Their movements were disorderly, looking less like regular martial artists and more like a bunch of temporary thugs lumped together.

Ye An did not stop his pace. The sword light of Shuanghong swept through the moonlight—one sword per man, no dragging things out, no finishing blows, and not a single drop of excess blood where they fell.

The last man charged halfway and halted, his face turning pale as though he only just realized the men in front of him had all fallen.

"Get the hell out of my way, all of you!"

The voice drifted out from the depths of the low grove, carrying a heavy, deeply rooted force.

A solidly built middle-aged man walked out of the forest holding a saber, every step landing heavily as shallow indentations were pressed into the soil beneath his feet. A brown cloth belt was tied around his waist, and the saber in his hand was a full section wider than the ones carried by the men before him, boasting a thick back that cast a dull gleam under the moonlight.

Ye An did not rush to step forward, the tip of Shuanghong hanging an inch above the ground while his toes slightly adjusted their angle.

The man likewise spoke no more, bringing his broad saber down in a top-down chop. The saber momentum was exceptionally heavy, carrying a momentum that could crush everything in its path.

Ye An sidestepped, the body of Shuanghong sliding past the back of the saber with a harsh, grating screech. The two crossed paths, each pulling apart a distance of two paces. The sword in Ye An's hand remained steady, and the saber edge had not so much as touched his lapel.

He did not rush to launch a counterattack, simply turning his wrist slightly to angle the sword tip obliquely toward the ground. That man pressed in again with his saber, this time at a lower angle—not a chop, but a sweeping horizontal slash, the saber edge cutting across from the waist. Ye An retreated half a step, tapping the sword tip downward to land on the middle of the saber back, forcing its trajectory half an inch off course. The man suffered a jolt to his wrist from this move, his saber momentum stuttering for an instant.

Ye An seized the opening of his forward-leaning center of gravity, his left hand falsely releasing the sword hilt as if his wrist had lost its strength.

The body of Shuanghong lost its support, and the sword tip sank downward.

The man's eyes brightened, and his saber momentum lifted once more.

So long as this single saber strike pressed down and the opponent's weapon left his hand, it would mean certain death.

"Die!"

The broad saber swept out once more.

Ye An's feet moved—Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada. Internal energy propped up the soles of his feet, and his entire person swept past the man's flank, shifting as swiftly as a shadow's blur. In the instant of his missed saber momentum, his right index and middle fingers came together, stabbing a single finger against the side of the man's neck.

Star-Shattering Finger!

Micro-level force required no accumulation; the internal energy traveled along an oblique path, and the moment his fingertips touched the skin of the man's neck, the destructive force had already been delivered inside.

The light in the man's eyes suddenly scattered, and the saber slipped from his hand, bouncing once upon striking the ground before rolling half a foot away.

His body wavered, his knees went soft, and his entire person knelt forward before collapsing flat onto the mud, face down and motionless.

His internal energy fell into chaos, his aura withered, and his Mid-Meridian Opening cultivation realm was shattered at that single point.

Ye An steadied himself, withdrew his finger, picked Shuanghong up from the ground, wiped the dust clean from the sword body, and slid it back into the scabbard.

The remaining men stood in place as though they had yet to register what had just transpired. Not until someone glanced at the motionless corpse on the ground did they snap out of it as if struck by a fist, taking two steps back. "The boss... is dead?"

Ye An put his sword away, glanced at them, and did not walk over.

The remaining men began to tremble. Finally, someone reacted first, retreating while fishing a handful of shattered silver from his bosom to toss onto the ground. "Spare my life, Young Hero... We're just trying to make a living..." His voice trembled, and his footsteps trembled as well, as though he were ready to turn and run at any second.

The rest stared at him, then began following suit by pulling out everything valuable they carried to place on the ground: silver taels, broken silver pieces, two ordinary-grade mineral stones, and a short saber of mediocre quality.

Not a single person dared step forward to collect them; they simply dropped the items and fled. Several figures successively vanished into the night.

Ye An did not speak, waiting until those footsteps faded away completely before bending down to squat.

He looked over the items scattered on the ground, tucked the valuable things into his tunic, stood up, and turned to walk back toward the mine.

The night outside the mine had sunk completely, and the low woods on both sides of the transport path left only hazy outlines in the moonlight.

He also picked up that broad-backed saber of a Mid-Meridian Opening practitioner along the way, the blood on its blade already dry and casting a dull luster in the moonlight.

He did not look back at those corpses again, turning to walk toward the mine.

The lantern at the mine entrance was still lit, dimmer than before.

Cuiwei sat on the stone steps at the entrance, her legs already numb from sitting. She did not stand up, merely resting her chin on her knees and watching the direction of that incoming path.

She no longer harbored any expectations. If she waited another hour after dawn and still no one came, she would return to the commandery city.

She did not need to make any judgment of Ye An, only needing to tell the young mistress the truth, and the young mistress would have her own judgment.

Then she saw a figure walk out from the darkness.

The footsteps were unhurried, carrying a saber in hand and a cloth-wrapped sword slung across his shoulder.

The build was very familiar, it was Ye An whom she had met once before in Anping County.

Cuiwei stood up. Her first reaction was he finally came, and her second reaction was since you made me wait for a whole day in vain, I must give you a proper piece of my mind.

She took two steps forward, preparing to speak: "You..."

Ye An tossed the saber in his hand toward her.

Cuiwei caught it instinctively, the weight sinking into her grip. The hilt still retained body temperature, and the bloodstains clinging to the blade had mostly dried, congealing into dark red patterns across the surface.

She lowered her gaze to look at it, her pupils constricting.

She recognized this saber. Not long ago when she exchanged blows with that opponent in that patch of low woods, that saber had grazed past her shoulder, missing her bone by a mere inch, and when she retreated she had glanced at the mark carved onto the hilt.

It was the saber of that Mid-Meridian Opening brute.

"This is Cheng Hu's saber?" Cuiwei's voice was a shade lower than before.

"Should be. Met him on the road and took care of it on the way." Ye An's tone was light, as if speaking of a matter that required no extra explanation, just as if he had casually dealt with some blind fool along the path.

Cuiwei did not reply immediately.

She did not loosen her grip on the saber, her gaze shifting back and forth between Ye An and the weapon, as if reevaluating this person in her heart.

Not long ago the other was only at Second Body Tempering, and now he was already at Early-Meridian Opening. Having broken through not long ago, he had killed Cheng Hu of the Mid-Meridian Opening, and could still walk back carrying a saber without any obvious injuries on his body.

What was going on? Did the other not have any bottlenecks?

"Lady Cuiwei, the matter entrusted by Miss Liu has been settled by yours truly, so I came to inform you. The Sect still has matters to attend to, so I won't stay long." Having spoken, Ye An readjusted the position of the cloth-wrapped sword behind his back, looking as though he were ready to leave.

Cuiwei snapped out of it and stepped forward. "Master Ye, please stay your steps. I still need to report this matter to the young mistress. Why doesn't Master Ye rest here for the night while I inform the young mistress, and she will have a response. If you leave just like this, it won't be easy for me to account for it."

Ye An thought for a moment and nodded. "Very well. I'll rest here for the night and return to the Sect tomorrow morning."

Hearing these words, it was as if something had finally landed in Cuiwei's heart. She said no more, turned sideways to clear the entrance, and lifted the lantern to illuminate the inside. "Master Ye, please come inside. I'll arrange a room for you."

When Ye An walked in, Cuiwei led the way with the lantern. Before entering the door she glanced back at that saber, then leaned it against the wooden frame by the entrance, her mind occupied by another matter.

The person the young mistress recruited this time was not just someone "willing to come"; he not only came, but also finished the job before anyone else even realized it.

Perhaps this time, the young mistress could truly gain a firm foothold in the Liu Lineage.

After dawn, when Cuiwei pushed the door open carrying breakfast, the room was already empty.

The quilt was folded neatly, nothing was left at the head of the bed, and that sword and bundle were both gone.

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