Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1608. Transmigrated to the Central Plains’ Murim (13)

The inn erupted into chaos, and murmurs immediately broke out all around. This wasn’t some roadside tavern in a marketplace. An incident had occurred in an inn frequented by people of respectable social standing, so it instantly drew everyone's attention.

How often could one witness the sight of a man who usually strutted about with their hands behind his back getting slapped across the face? And who could have imagined that a member of the Yang Family—practically the landlords of this village—would be at the receiving end of those slaps?

The other parents and children dining together looked utterly shocked. The servers, the innkeeper, and even the cook working in the kitchen came outside to watch.

Naturally, some people were swallowing hard as though they were watching a spectacle unfold before their eyes. They seemed eager to see how this unprecedented situation would develop and what kind of drama would follow.

'Damn right. Fine. I'll give them exactly what they're hoping for.'

Of course, I had no intention of stopping here.

"C-Cough! Madam Yeon... I understand you're angry, but please calm down first..."

Smack!

"I-If you can just calm... cough—"

Smack!

"Y-You—"

Smack!

The Yang Family Head initially tried to appear composed to calm me down, but he finally revealed his true nature as one slap after another landed across his face. "You lunatic! You finally lost your mind!"

"I asked what right you had to lecture my son!" I shouted.

"Y-You insane woman! I pitied you for working so hard and left you alone, but you've finally crossed the line! Do you even know where you are? How dare you behave like this here?!" he shouted.

"You’re the ridiculous one! Your influence may work in this village, but that doesn’t give you the right to lay a hand on my son! I don’t know what you think you can do, but go ahead and try! Do you think I'll blink so much as blink?" I provoked him.

"H-Hey! Wait!" he exclaimed.

"I won’t back down today until your face looks exactly like my son's!" I yelled out.

"Th-This is outrageous!"

Throwing my dignity and appearances aside, I lunged at him, and he immediately struggled to get away from me. He was undeniably a piece of trash with no excuse for his actions, but he was apparently not thick-skinned enough to genuinely fight a child's mother in front of a crowd.

Perhaps in response, Madam Yang grabbed me by the hair and shouted, "Have you completely lost your mind, woman?! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Let go! I have no business with you!" I told her.

Smack!

‘Did you just hit me?’

Even Madam Yang looked startled by her own actions. Then again, when would a well-bred and properly educated lady ever have reason to strike another person? Her hand probably moved before she even realized it. It was less about protecting her one and only husband and more because...

'You just couldn't stand the sight of me, could you?'

It was likely hatred toward the mysterious woman who had suddenly appeared in this village. Her husband was the one constantly stirring up trouble and thinking of nothing but taking concubines whenever he had the chance, yet somehow she was venting her anger on me.

I couldn’t really understand it, but perhaps it was simply a limitation of the times, especially for someone trapped in an isolated place like this. Since I held no particular grudge against Madam Yang, I responded with only three slaps.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"Aaaah!"

Naturally, Madam Yang stumbled backward in shock and fell to the ground.

'I'll set you free soon enough. If there's one thing I do know, it's that I'll make sure that bastard from the Yang family will die. All that wealth will be ours by then.'

Of course, it wasn't as though I never considered other ways. I generally preferred resolving matters quietly whenever possible, but...

'Right now, I don't think my anger will fade unless I hit him myself.'

Before I knew it, my feet already carried me here. Not that I had come without other reasons, of course. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that I wanted to teach the kid, who was watching this scene from a distance, a proper lesson.

I wanted him to know that he ought to avoid enduring things like an idiot. He had to learn that, if someone hit him once, he ought to hit twice as hard. He had to know that those choosing to silently endure were the losers, and that anyone daring enough to hit us would pay the price one way or another.

Naturally, I also wanted to show him that I cared about him, at least a little.

"..."

"..."

It seemed I wasn’t the only one trying to show concern. The Yang Family Head hurried over to his fallen wife and wrapped his arms around her.

"D-Darling! A-Are you all right? Y-You wretched woman! You've gone too far!"

He was putting on quite a show of caring for his wife, but if he truly cared about her, he would never be so obsessed with taking concubines. More likely, this was simply his excuse to join the fight.

I was no martial artist, and he could hardly start throwing punches at a woman without justification, so he was making a point of portraying me as someone who had harmed his wife.

As if he had been waiting for the opportunity, his palm came flying toward my face.

Thud!

"M-Mother!" Jin-Cheon called out.

"My lady!"

The three Shim sisters, who arrived a little late, looked ready to spring into action immediately, but they froze when they heard me shout, "If you interfere in this, I’ll never see any of you again for the rest of my life!"

They could not bring themselves to step forward upon hearing that. It would be awkward for them to get involved anyway. Strictly speaking, the Shim sisters were martial artists.

Since the Yang Family Head also had martial artists as retainers, the Shim sisters stepping was tantamount to declaring an all-out bloodbath. If they didn’t want a fight between ordinary people to escalate into something far more serious, the correct choice was to simply watch the situation unfold.

Besides, they had been concealing their identities all this time.

Of course, the Shim sisters couldn’t simply stand by and watch. My earlier warning only made them hesitate briefly. They quickly rushed forward and moved to restrain the Yang Family Head. Well, in truth, only So-So was restraining him. So-Hee was busy stopping So-Wol, who had already drawn her sword and looked ready to chop his head off.

"Please stop! How can you do this to a defenseless woman? If you lay another hand on her, we will not remain idle!" So-Wol threatened.

"Y-You’re all lunatics! That woman laid her hands on my wife first. If you've got a mouth, then explain that!" the man demanded.

"You laid your hands on my son first," I said.

Unable to let blood be spilled in broad daylight inside an inn, the Shim sisters immediately pulled me away from him, but I charged forward again without hesitation and threw myself at him.

We became entangled at once. We rolled across the ground, biting, scratching, and slapping each other repeatedly, leaving him completely unable to regain his bearings.

"Let go of me! You... you madwoman!" He insulted me.

"Didn't I tell you already? I won't let go until your face looks exactly like my son's!" I repeated.

Since matters had already reached this point, even the Shim sisters were at a loss, anxiously stomping their feet. We were practically glued together, rolling across the ground nonstop, making it difficult for them to find an opening to separate us.

Jin-Cheon was just as stunned.

“Let go of my mother! You bad man! Hngh... sob... sob...” Jin-Cheon sobbed.

‘I'm the one holding on to him, kid.’

Jin-Cheon rushed in with those tiny fists of his, pelting the bastard with harmless punches. Since we were rolling around, there were even times when his punches landed on me instead.

Meanwhile, the Shim sisters were screaming nonstop as my clothes were gradually torn apart in the scuffle.

“Oh heavens! My lady!”

Naturally, his wife joined in as well.

“Y-you! Let go of him this instant!”

Their son jumped in, too.

“Get away from my father, you filthy woman!”

‘Filthy woman? What kind of kid talks like that at his age? What the hell are they teaching him at home?’

Part of me wanted to smack the brat, too, but dealing with the man in front of me came first. If we were to fight on equal footing, I would obviously end up with injuries, but a brawl like this was all about momentum.

I was lighter than him, weaker than him, and had far less stamina, yet I was throwing myself at him with everything I had. The sight of that alone was enough to make him hesitate. No, saying I was weaker than him was putting it mildly.

If anything, I was probably frailer than Madam Yang. My breath burned in my lungs, and it felt like my body would stop moving at any moment, but I kept gritting my teeth, screaming, and swinging my arms. He simply couldn’t figure out how to deal with me.

A man so obsessed with maintaining his dignity was probably finding it even harder to cope with the fact that he was rolling around on the ground in front of everyone.

In the end, it was hardly surprising that he finally managed to shake me off and stumbled out of the inn in a panic.

“I’ll never forget this humiliation, Madam Yeon!” he shouted before leaving.

‘Neither will I, you bastard. You really picked the wrong person to mess with.’

Of course...

“Mother... sob... Mother...” Jin-Cheon cried.

“My lady... why would you do something like this?!” one of the Shim sisters asked.

“Mother... hic... hic... sob...”

It was a victory that left me worse for wear. I was fairly certain that I landed far more blows than he had, so why was it that I looked like the one who had been beaten senseless? Parts of my clothes were torn to shreds, and my face felt swollen.

I was only still for a moment during the scuffle, yet one of my eyes had already swollen so badly that I could barely see out of it. My breathing was ragged, and both Jin-Cheon and the Shim sisters were crying their eyes out.

Judging by their reactions, I definitely looked like an absolute disaster. Even I was starting to feel alarmed. When I tried to stand up, my legs wobbled beneath me. One of the Shim sisters immediately caught me and carried me into her arms.

“I-I'll fetch a physician, my lady... sob... sob...” they offered.

“My lady...”

“There is no need to panic. I'm fine,” I reassured them.

“B-But... sob...”

“There’s no need to call a physician,” I added.

Naturally, my gaze drifted toward Jin-Cheon. Tears streamed endlessly down his bruised face, and the sight of that was enough to dull even that handsome face of his.

“Sob... Please never do something like that again, Mother... sob... sob...” Jin-Cheon begged.

“...”

I glanced around the inn once more.

Some people were staring at us in stunned silence, but most of them had already left. The server and the innkeeper seemed completely at a loss as to how they were supposed to deal with the situation.

“Bring us some food,” I ordered. Since the server and the innkeeper were simply standing there and staring at us, I had no choice but to speak after settling back into my seat. My voice was calm now, completely different from the fury I had shown just moments ago.

“Pardon? Madam Yeon—”

“I will not repeat myself. Bring out the most popular dishes in this inn, and the most expensive ones as well. Enough to fill this entire table,” I said, interrupting them.

“Y-Yes, ma'am. Right away.”

“...”

“Sit down,” I said, instructing Jin-Cheon.

“...”

“So-So, So-Hee, So-Wol, you three as well,” I added.

“...”

“Take your seats.”

They looked bewildered by the sudden invitation to dine out, but...

“Is it good, Jin-Cheon?” I asked.

“Sob... hng... hngh...” Jin-Cheon replied, crying.

“...”

“...”

“Eat slowly,” I told him.

“Hngh... sob...”

“...”

“It's... delicious, Mother—sob... hngh... sob... hic... sob...” he answered.

Watching him smile through tears, I had a feeling that this moment would stay with him for a long time. Yes, this moment would stay with him even when he was already an adult.

“...”

“Didn't I tell you to eat slowly?” I reminded him.

“Yes... yes, Mother. Sob... hngh!”