When a child openly refutes an adult who has been caught off guard, that adult is bound to get angry. I could clearly see the faces of my senior disciples turning red.

I deliberately put on a tired expression.

“Don’t you think the scheme was too shallow?”

“You’ve been quite well-behaved until now, yet you can speak like this. But junior sister, if you say that…”

“What if I say it? Is that important right now?”

I could see the senior disciple Liu at the front clenching his fist tightly. His hand turned white and veins bulged. Just as he gritted his teeth and was about to say something more.

“That’s right, you fools. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Suddenly, a third party’s voice interrupted.

Everyone present turned with surprised faces towards the source of the voice.

Not far away stood an elder with a face unbefitting of a Taoist. However, he was undoubtedly wearing the attire of a Huashan elder, and above all, he was a familiar person.

One of the senior disciples muttered in a suppressed voice.

“…Elder Jin Neung.”

It was my grand-master.

But even for me, his appearance was unexpected. Since I had no intention of requesting help in the first place, I could only watch him approach with a surprised face, similar to the other senior disciples, albeit to a different degree.

Clicking his tongue and approaching with slow steps, my grand-master opened his mouth.

“Yu Un, that rascal, kept imploring me earnestly before he left, so I dragged my heavy body out here. But the disciple he said would be at the training ground isn’t here? I’ve been looking around wondering where he went, not knowing he’d be here dealing with his incompetent senior disciples.”

“E-Elder, that’s not…”

“It’s not? Then explain properly what it is. From what I saw, this child’s Six Harmonies Sword wasn’t bad at all, so why are you picking on the kid at every turn?”

If he had seen me perform the Six Harmonies Sword from the beginning, it means he had been observing the situation for quite a while.

…Then he must have heard everything I said to the senior disciples. I rolled my eyes slightly, recalling what I had just said.

‘I was a bit disrespectful though.’

Would it be allowed as self-defense?

Meanwhile, the reaction of the senior disciples was inevitably more intense than mine. They bit their lips as if caught off guard or started stuttering with pale faces.

“That is…”

“Well, there’s no need to explain really. That young one has already said it all. But even so, do you know how old this child is? I don’t understand why a 12-year-old speaks more correctly than you. Plotting such shallow schemes against someone who has lived 10 years less than you, can you still call yourselves disciples of the Tao?”

I couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim in admiration. Every word of my grand-master’s was striking the other party quite effectively.

Even though his voice didn’t rise, with each of his words, the faces of the senior disciples, which had turned pale, repeatedly flushed red and then turned blue.

“Elder…”

“Huh? You still have excuses left? Can you give a proper reason for why you plotted such a thing?”

“…No. We are sorry.”

“That’s right. Stop doing useless things and reflect more. Of course, I know there are no effects without causes in this world, so your actions must have their own reasons. But that doesn’t change the fact that you did wrong. You ganged up on and bullied a young junior sister who was minding her own business. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Good. And…”

Trailing off, my grand-master turned his head abruptly to face me directly. Until then, I had been blankly observing the situation, but as soon as his gaze fell on me, I tensed up.

“Yeoeun.”

“…Yes.”

“Shall we talk privately?”

Honestly, I couldn’t deny feeling scared the moment I heard those words…

* * *

Walking here and there within the vast mountain gate, my grand-master led me to his quarters.

As soon as we entered the quarters, a faint scent of medicinal herbs wafted through. It wasn’t strange. I had only recently learned that my grand-master was the head of Huashan’s medical wing.

Huashan has separate departments for medicine and pharmacy, collectively called the ‘Medical Wing’. As the head of this Medical Wing, my grand-master was currently the most versed in medicine at Huashan, and the best at making all medicines, including spirit pills.

He didn’t look like a Taoist, nor did he look like a doctor, and he was even skilled enough in swordsmanship to raise a disciple to become Huashan’s number one sword, but that was the truth.

‘Is that why…’

Even the tea that my grand-master personally served after we sat face to face had an unidentifiable herbal scent. It smelled a bit like ginseng.

‘It’s going to be bitter.’

As I was looking down at the dark-colored tea, my grand-master brought something on a plate and said,

“Drink it all. It’ll make you grow taller.”

Lie…

But I couldn’t really say that out loud.

“Yes…”

As I answered, my grand-master put down the plate he was holding on the tea table. On the plate were dried persimmons, which seemed to have been prepared deliberately.

By this point, I was certain that he hadn’t called me to scold me, making my earlier fear seem foolish. Who would serve tea and snacks before scolding someone?

‘Well, if anyone saw a 12-year-old surrounded by adults over 20, they’d probably get the child out first and ask questions later.’

Meanwhile, my grand-master sitting across from me stared at me intently. I pretended not to notice and lowered my eyes, taking a sip of the tea. It was slightly bitter, but not to the level of medicinal tea, so it was drinkable.

Still, I couldn’t help but furrow my brow slightly, and as if he had been waiting for this, my grand-master smiled and pushed the plate of dried persimmons towards me.

“Thank you.”

“Yes, eat a lot. It’s true that you’ll grow taller if you drink all that tea. It’s better to be somewhat tall to use a sword.”

What did he put in it to keep saying it’ll make me grow taller?

Anyway, for a while, we just drank tea without much conversation. It seemed like he had something to say since he called me, but rather than bringing it up immediately, he seemed intent on having me finish this first.

My grand-master spoke up when the teacup was about half empty.

“So, Yeoeun.”

“Yes.”

“The incident with your senior disciples earlier has been resolved for now with my intervention.”

I raised my head and met my grand-master’s gaze. He continued with an expressionless face.

“However, this issue isn’t completely settled. Most children your age wouldn’t understand what I’m saying, but I think you’ll know what I mean.”

He was right. I understood what he meant as soon as I heard it. I inwardly swallowed a sigh.

“Yes. But I think it’s unavoidable.”

“What part of it do you think is unavoidable?”

I took a moment to choose my words carefully. For a moment, I wondered if I was acting too mature for my age, but judging from his earlier words, my grand-master had already figured me out quite well.

‘He probably doesn’t know that what’s in my head is an adult who suddenly possessed someone else’s body after living in a different world.’

But anyone who has had a long conversation with me, not just my grand-master, would know that I speak and think a bit differently from typical children of this age.

I finished my thoughts and answered slowly.

“Although Huashan is said to be a Taoist sect, in the end, those gathered here are people before they are Taoists. It’s actually natural for people to envy others who seem luckier than themselves. The senior disciples who called me out entered through a fair test. However, I was just lucky enough to catch the master’s eye, and I didn’t even go through a separate test before receiving the Tao name, so I can’t argue if the senior disciples feel it’s unfair.”

After listening to my words to the end, my grand-master quietly clicked his tongue.

“You speak like an adult.”

Did I go too far? I deliberately added in a grumbling tone.

“I heard that’s what you liked about me.”

“Well, that’s true. If it wasn’t for that, I would have given you the Jade Plum Pill only after you became an adult.”

At those words, I momentarily hesitated.

‘Wasn’t it given because he liked that I didn’t seem childish?’

Saying he would have given it only after I became an adult means, in other words, that he would have given it at some point anyway.

Seeing me widen my eyes, my grand-master tilted his head slightly and added an explanation.

“Originally, we don’t usually give the Jade Plum Pill to young children like you.”

“…Is that so?”

“Its nature is cold, so it can be dangerous if you can’t maintain calmness right after eating it. But you seemed calm in your eyes, so I thought it would be okay to give it to you early. You’re even fine making eye contact with me, and you’re doing well in front of me now, aren’t you? There weren’t many like that. Besides, it’s more effective when taken at a young age.”

I was left speechless and fell silent. My mind was spinning complexly.

So, was it a misunderstanding?

‘Was it actually me who had all sorts of prejudices just because I remembered the original story?’

I had been thinking ‘This person would disapprove of me the most’ as if I knew everything, but according to what he said, I had been arbitrarily judging someone who had simply extended goodwill.

I tried hard to find words to answer, and eventually opened my mouth stammering.

“S-so that’s how it was. Come to think of it, I haven’t properly thanked you yet. Thank you.”

“It’s fine.”

Watching my grand-master wave his hand, I inwardly sighed at my newly discovered pettiness. I wonder if my expression looked normal. If no one had been around, I might have hit the floor a few times by myself.