The guard’s head exploded into a mist of blood. Haruhi stood there emotionlessly as she gazed upon the next guard. The guard panicked as he quickly shook his hands back and forth. “No! No! We can talk abou….” 

The second guard’s head also turned into a mist of blood. Haruhi’s expression still did not change even as she looked at the third guard. But instead of causing the guard’s head to burst into a mist of blood, she said: “Go tell that village chief of yours to get over here now. If he does not show up by the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, then I will slowly walk into the village. If my gaze just so happens to fall upon the villagers who are only safe thanks to my sect, they might….”

Haruhi did not finish her words as her gaze fell on the headless guards’ bodies on the ground. She only smiled coldly, sending shivers down the third guard’s back.  “Yes! Do not worry, I will tell him now!”

The guard did not dare to waste a single second. He rushed off as if his pants were on fire. He ran so quickly that even he was surprised. He quickly rushed into the village chief’s house, not caring to knock at all.

As for the village chief who had been sipping tea, the door to his house was suddenly kicked up startled him so much he almost choked to death!  “What is the meaning of this!? Don’t you know how to knock!?”

    “Village chief! The…. The sect master’s disciple just killed two guards and said that if you do not go to the gate to meet her this instant, she will take a stroll through the village. She… she… she has eyes that can turn a human head into a  mist of blood!” The guard was stuttering over his own words, but he couldn’t help it. He was scared and in a rush. The explanation he gave just now was as good as it was going to get.

The village chief’s expression was not good. He knew the sect master’s disciple was special, but it seemed she was truly horrifying! He gritted his teeth and finally stood up. Since he could not deal with it by ignoring them, he had to try to persuade the damn girl to take the people elsewhere! He did not want any outsiders in his village!

Not long later, Haruhi saw an old man with a cane walk out of the village. His expression said it all. He was very annoyed and did not want to be here. This made her snort in disdain. The old man wanted to have protection but did not want to uphold his end of the bargain. “It’s about time you showed yourself, old man. What is the meaning of you trying to ignore the pact!?” 

Haruhi was mad. Her master always took good care of those in a pact with the sect. He made sure that they not only got protection but also enough food to last through the harsh winters. 

The village chief frowned. He did not want to deal with this! “I think you are mistaken. I told my guard that we are unable to provide for more people. I do not have enough resources or housing for them. I guess the message got mixed up.”

“Oh, mixed up? But let me ask you this….. My sect gives you a lot of food every year. How do you not have enough resources? Do explain to me in detail how you go through so much food when your population has not risen in years? So please tell me where the food that is enough to feed double your population has gone?” Haruhi was the sect master’s disciple, after all, so she knew everything that the sect did since she was training to be the next sect master.

“This…” The old man’s expression turned sour. He did not expect to be outed in such a way. “The food went bad, so we threw most of it out.” This was the only excuse he could come up with on the spot. 

“Old man, you are lying.” Yuki suddenly appeared next to Haruhi. When Haruhi did not come back, and she caught the scent of blood, she rushed over in case something had happened. “I can smell a strong scent of rice grains coming from within the village. You can’t say that  you have no food when I can smell it.”

“Oh? Yuki, can you point in the direction in which the scent is coming from?” Haruhi knew these villages would have storage warehouses where they would store the food to last longer. They were normally dug deep into the ground where things would stay fresh longer.

“That way.” Yuki pointed to the northwest. 

Haruhi’s eyes suddenly changed once more. This time, her pupils turned into small dots. It was as if she had no pupils at all, but in fact, she was seeing through everything blocking her vision and focusing in on the spot Yuki pointed out. In no time at all, she found a large underground warehouse filled with rice grains and other foods. 

Haruhi neared as her eyes changed once more. She stared at the old man in front of her and said coldly. “It seems you have plenty of food. Why are you lying to me?”