Chapter 110 -

Chapter 110: Chapter

Yimei stepped out of her quiet second-floor office, holding her small book firmly in one hand.

The newly integrated martial arts skill was settling deep into her muscles. Every step she took felt lighter, firmer, and far more deliberate than before.

Qinqin was standing near the heavy front doors, wrapping a thick wool scarf around her neck and shivering slightly from the cold. When she heard Yimei’s footsteps approaching, she turned around, her face instantly lighting up with relief.

"Young Madame!" Qinqin called out softly, hurrying over to her side. "Everything downstairs is locked up tight. Lin Fang and Master Chen already left for the night. The snow is falling really hard out there now. We should head back home before the roads become completely blocked!"

Yimei looked at Qinqin’s cold, red cheeks and nodded gently. "Yes. Let’s go home."

They walked toward the heavy front doors. Qinqin reached out, lifted the heavy iron bar, and pulled the tall double doors open.

The moment the wooden doors swung wide, a freezing gust of wind whipped into the grand hall, carrying sharp snowflakes right onto the clean floorboards. Yimei stepped out onto the snowy stone porch first, with Qinqin trailing closely behind her. The market street was dark, empty, and dead silent. Most of the shops across the road had long closed their shutters, their lanterns extinguished for the night.

Before Qinqin could step down to call for their carriage, a sudden, heavy shadow moved in the darkness across the street.

Then another. And another.

Out of the narrow, snow-covered alleys surrounding Boss Qian’s wine shop, dozens of dark figures stepped out into the open street. They moved silently like hungry wolves, surrounding the front of the three-story pavilion in a broad, suffocating circle.

Qinqin gasped in utter horror, her face turning as white as the snow beneath her feet. She instantly grabbed Yimei’s silk sleeve, her whole body shaking with terror.

"Y-Young Madame!" Qinqin squeaked, her voice trembling violently. "Who... who are those people?!"

Yimei didn’t flinch. She stood tall on the raised stone porch, her dark eyes narrowing as she swept her gaze across the approaching crowd. ℯℯ𝑙.

There were at least twenty men. They were all dressed in rough leather coats, their faces half-hidden behind dirty cloth wraps. In their hands, they carried heavy wooden clubs, iron bars, buckets of thick black ink, and burning oil lanterns.

Leading the group at the front was Boss Qian’s head guard the tall, rugged man with the deep, ugly scar running down his left cheek. He held a heavy iron rod on his shoulder, a vicious, cruel smirk twisting his mouth as he looked up at Yimei.

"Well, well, well," the scarred guard sneered, his voice loud and coarse in the quiet night. "Look who’s still here! The little First Young Madame of the Bai family!"

The thugs behind him let out a round of ugly, mocking laughter, stepping onto the wooden porch steps and blocking every single exit.

"What do you want?!" Qinqin yelled, trying her best to stand in front of Yimei despite her knees knocking together in fear. "This is property of the Bai family! If you touch a single thing here, our manor will have you all arrested!"

The scarred guard spat onto the snow, laughing loudly. "The Bai family?! Little girl, don’t try to scare us with that useless name! We know all about your mistress! She’s nothing but a shameless woman using dirty, stolen money from rich men to open a shop behind her crippled husband’s back! Today, we are going to tear this place apart, break every floorboard, and teach you both how to behave in the East Market!"

He waved his heavy hand forward, shouting to his men.

"Smash the doors! Spill the ink over every new wall! Break everything inside!"

"YES, BOSS!" the thugs roared, surging forward like a wave of wild beasts.

Two large thugs holding thick wooden clubs charged straight up the porch steps, their eyes full of cruelty as they reached out to grab Yimei and drag her down into the snow.

"Young Madame, run!" Qinqin screamed, closing her eyes in sheer terror.

Yimei didn’t run though after all what would her skills be of use.

As the first thug reached out his big, dirty hand to grab her collar, Yimei’s body moved with lightning speed. The new combat instincts embedded in her mind took over instantly.

She leaned her upper body back just half an inch, dodging his dirty fingers effortlessly. Before the thug could even realize he had missed, Yimei stepped forward, driving her right elbow with terrifying force directly into his solar plexus!

BANG!

A sharp, sickening thud echoed through the air. The giant thug gasped, all the air instantly exploding out of his lungs. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed sideways onto the hard stone steps like a sack of rocks, groaning in pure agony.

The second thug froze in mid-stride, his jaw dropping in absolute shock. He couldn’t believe a delicate, wealthy young noblewoman had just knocked down a full-grown man with a single strike!

"You dirty bitch!" the second thug roared in anger, raising his wooden club high over his head to smash her down.

Yimei’s dark eyes flashed cold as ice. She didn’t wait for his club to fall. She stepped inside his guard, her small, delicate hand snapping forward like a striking viper. Her two extended fingers poked with precision right into the critical pressure point on the side of his neck!

The thug’s whole arm went completely numb. The heavy wooden club slipped from his useless fingers and clattered onto the floor. Before he could recover, Yimei swept her leg in a smooth, powerful arch, kicking his knee joint from behind!

CRACK!

"AAAGH!" the man shrieked, falling heavily onto his knees in the snow. Yimei smoothly delivered a clean, sharp palm strike straight to his chin, knocking him completely unconscious before he even hit the ground.

Within less than five seconds, two heavy thugs were lying broken at her feet.

Qinqin opened her eyes, her mouth wide open in utter disbelief. She stared at the two unconscious men, then looked up at Yimei, who was standing there completely unbothered, calmly brushing a small speck of snow off her dark blue sleeve.

Down in the street, the rest of the thugs stopped dead in their tracks. The loud, arrogant laughter vanished instantly, replaced by a heavy, suffocating silence.

Boss Qian’s scarred head guard blinked in total shock, his face turning red with anger and embarrassment. "What are you idiots standing around for?!" he screamed at his men, his voice cracking with rage. "She’s just one woman! She got lucky! Grab her! Break her legs!"

Over ten thugs roared in anger, raising their iron bars and wooden clubs as they rushed up the porch steps all at once, intending to overwhelm her with pure numbers.

Yimei settled into a firm combat stance, her mind completely sharp and focused. She knew she could handle four or five of them with her pressure point strikes, but facing ten heavy men with iron weapons all at once in a narrow space would be dangerous.

Just as the lead thug raised his heavy club inches away from Yimei’s head—

WHOOSH!

A sharp, whistling sound sliced right through the freezing night air!

Out of nowhere, a dark metal throwing star flashed through the falling snow, striking the thug’s wrist with deadly precision!

SPLURT!

"GAAAH!" the thug screamed, dropping his club as blood sprayed over the white snow.

Before anyone could understand what had just happened, over a dozen tall figures descended from the dark roofs above like black shadows falling from the sky!

They wore long, jet-black robes, their faces hidden behind dark leather masks. Every single one of them carried a long, gleaming steel sword that caught the faint moonlight. They landed silently on the snowy street, instantly surrounding Boss Qian’s thugs from behind!

The leader of the black-robed men stepped forward. He moved with terrifying speed and grace, his long sword sweeping out in a dark, clean arc.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Without saying a single word, the black-robed men struck with cold, military perfection. They didn’t even use the sharp edges of their blades, they used the heavy hilt of their swords and hard combat kicks, striking the thugs’ necks, stomachs, and knees with brutal force.

Sounds of bones snapping, heavy bodies crashing into the snow, and desperate screams echoed all across the street.

"Ahhh! Who are these people?!"

"My arm! My arm is broken!"

"Run! Run for your lives!"

Boss Qian’s thugs were completely terrified. These men in black weren’t common street fighters or market guards they were professional, elite assassins who killed without blinking an eye! In less than one minute, all twenty of Boss Qian’s thugs were beaten to the ground, crying, bleeding, and groaning in pure agony.

The scarred head guard tried to turn around and run, but the leader of the black-robed men flashed behind him, driving a heavy combat boot straight into his back.

BAM!

The scarred guard slammed face-first into a pile of dirty snow, his iron rod flying out of his hand as he lay there trembling violently in fear.

The entire street fell dead silent once again. The falling snow slowly covered the pools of blood on the stone road.

The leader of the black-robed men sheathed his long steel sword with a soft CLINK. He turned around, stepped up the wooden porch steps, and stopped three paces away from Yimei.

He didn’t look at Qinqin, nor did he look at the broken thugs on the ground. He bent his knee, dropping onto one knee before Yimei, and bowed his head respectfully.

"First Young Madame," the masked leader spoke in a low, deep, respectful voice. "We have cleared the trash for you. Please do not be frightened."

Yimei stood surprised.. "Are you all from young master Xiao Jun?"

But she was wrong.