Chapter 151

“Look at this little brat!”

But they say age breeds bullies, and a seven-year-old girl acting all cute was just plain adorable.

In fact, if it’s not my kid, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to think she’s cute and pretty; that’s just how people are.

It’s the same reason why other people’s dogs and cats seem so cute.

Or like how grandparents spoil their granddaughters without fail.

The scolding, education, and correction of behavior is the parent’s job, while all they need to do is enjoy the cuteness.

Jiegal Hyang grabbed Qing’s finger and tugged at it with all her might.

Her tiny little fists barely wrapped around two of Qing’s fingers.

And although Qing’s hands were cold from the side effects of Demonic Arts, the warmth of the child’s body heat was undeniable.

Feigning helplessness, Qing was pulled along and said,

“Hey. What if you’re not just lying? Even though I look like this, I’m technically an elder of the sect, you know? Messing with an adult is serious business.”

“Ah! Really?”

“For real.”

“Then, if what you say is true, can I specially marry our older brother…?”

“Huh? Does a Martial World Individual really go after someone else’s fiancé? Your brother’s future wife is up to your brother to find.”

“Oh. Really?”

Qing flashed a mischievous smile.

“Did you say Hyang? If I’m right, that means Hyang’s coming to my house as a bride? Should I consider making you the second wife?”

It was the kind of playful joke you’d expect from an uncle.

Gulp. The girl gulped hard.

“But, with two women…”

“What? Can’t do that? Then, I guess we’ll just have to turn back.”

“Y-you’re just trying to make me give up, aren’t you? Thirty-six strategies, the slyest of which is to feign surrender! Ha! Who do you think you’re dealing with?”

Jiegal Hyang huffed and continued pulling Qing along.

Despite the winding yet similar scenery, she navigated expertly without getting lost, finally arriving at a beautifully kept garden by a lake.

And there, a pile of iron balls of various types caught her eye.

They had handles for easy lifting.

“Here. This is a hundred-jin iron ball. Now, just like your sister said, try lifting it with one hand… Oh, you’re actually doing it…”

“Ah. So this is what a hundred jin feels like? Pretty heavy, huh?”

A hundred jin would already exceed the official world record based on Qing’s hometown (53kg).

“But is this based on fruit weight or meat weight?”

In Qing’s hometown, there were still absurdly different unit measurements for various categories.

While the contemporaneous Chinese adjusted the unit for their time (from 600 to 500, standardizing all items), it’s something the Korean nation should consider for its progressive future.

Of course, now was still the primitive, uncivilized Central Plain era before any adjustments.

“…?”

“With this much weight, I could lift a two-hundred-jin one too. What’s the two-hundred one like?”

Jiegal Hyang looked around and said,

“Well, we don’t have the two-hundred. Only two hundred fifty.”

She clearly looked like she was lying.

Qing chuckled.

Having lifted a hundred, it felt like two hundred fifty was doable.

“What’s the two hundred fifty like?”

“U-um, that one…”

Qing picked up the two hundred fifty-jin iron ball with one hand.

Holding it straight was manageable, but raising it above her head made her hands tremble uncontrollably.

No matter how superhuman one’s body was, it came with limitations.

But somehow, she managed to bend her elbows completely and, using the strength of her shoulders, hoisted it overhead.

It was a miraculous feat done without even a tiny bit of recoil.

She looked like a hero of the ages!

Jiegal Hyang’s mouth dropped open in disbelief, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Then, a sudden sound resonated from within Qing’s body, a soft *tok*.

Surprised, she instinctively flung the iron ball behind her.

Thud!

The two hundred fifty-jin iron ball hit the ground with a noise that sent undulations across the pond.

“Wow, no way could I ever lift that again. I totally overdid it.”

Feeling her muscles almost tearing, she realized her right arm would be unusable for a while.

What a ridiculous moment it was to show off and end up hurting herself.

Qing reflected deeply.

“So, little one. One hand at two hundred fifty-jin means combined with both hands, that’s five hundred, right?”

Suddenly realizing her predicament, Jiegal Hyang’s face turned pale and her voice trembled.

“Ugh, I-I see my lady and I… sob.”

“Hey, what’s that? If you cry, what will I be?”

“But I’m just a secondary wife, sniff, and it’s the second one at that.”

“Are you unhappy because I’m a secondary wife, or is it because you’re marrying me?”

“B-both!”

“Am I really that terrible? That’s so sad. Hyang’s about to get her first slap as soon as she becomes a secondary wife.”

“Then at least I want to be the primary wife… sniff.”

With her big eyes overflowing, tears glistened and dropped down.

As Qing scratched his head, he suddenly yelped with a short scream and quickly shifted to scratch with his left hand.

It seemed his right arm had suffered more than he thought.

“Alright, it’s chilly out. Let’s head back, little girl. We’ve got our wedding night ahead.”

With his left hand, Qing scooped up Jiegal Hyang into his arms.

Then the little girl wrapped her arms around Qing’s neck and began to wail loudly.

Despite Qing being somewhat mischievous himself, he had to admit that her antics were undeniably cute.

Yet, Jiegal Hyang was knowledgeable enough to recite unfamiliar characters, but here she was gullibly believing ridiculous jokes and weeping like a normal seven-year-old.

“Hmm? But which way is the right path? If I’m not careful, I might get lost and end up a lost child. Is there anyone to guide me?”

Immediately, Jiegal Hyang perked up her ears.

“Oh no, this is bad! If someone teaches me the way, I might grant a wish or two.”

Jiegal Hyang swiftly took the bait.

“Uh, then, wu… I’ll teach you, so let’s just forget this whole thing… wu…”

“Hah. I guess there’s no helping it. I thought I’d finally have a pretty secondary wife to live happily ever after with, but it seems this tiny schemer knew I’d fall for it and led me to an unfamiliar place. Truly, the strategies of the Jiegal clan!”

“Hehe, did you just figure that out now?” Wu…

Jiegal Hyang said with a blushing face.

“Aww, you’re so cute! Ah.”

Qing tried to pinch her chubby cheeks, but sharp pain in his right arm made him yelp again and give up.

But, wait, why couldn’t his right arm move?

Is it really alright?

Wasn’t there a tournament or something to compete in?

The pain swelling up was growing more intense with each moment.

Qing stubbornly tried to ignore the discomfort in his back.

Right, there’s a physician available, so what’s the worry?

And hey, with just one hand left, that should be more than enough.

There was a fool of an adult who ended up injuring an arm just to play around with a little girl.

“Alright. Let’s go. Which way?”

“That way.”

Meanwhile, once Jiegal Hyang stopped crying, she hesitantly asked,

“Sister, how old are you?”

“Me? Twenty. I’m sticking to twenty.”

It was an irrationality borne from Seomun Sulin’s ambition.

To think a mere twenty-year-old disciple could easily sweep aside the best of contenders and take the championship would be quite a sight, and also a significant step for a female warrior.

If the top records came from a woman, then none of the martial artists would dare to dismiss women again, this was Seomun Sulin’s advocacy for women’s rights.

Despite the aging process leading Qing to appear increasingly youthful, it was indeed her decision.

To put it bluntly, being younger sounded much better, right?

Could there be sorrow in youth?

Those are just the words from those who can’t keep up!

“…? So you’re younger than our older brother by a year? Why are you the sister?”

“Ah, so Jiegal is only twenty-one? Just tall but really a kid? Technically, when I met your brother, I was around twenty-two, give or take?”

“…? So, does your age go backward?”

It was a cute disaster born from her innocence.

“Whoa, that was almost a dangerously risky statement!”

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

“Fine. You’re cute, so I’ll forgive you.”

“But if so, doesn’t that make you an incredible master if you even use your inner strength?”

“Haven’t I already mentioned? I’m a master. Soon to become a Supreme Martial Artist, crushing countless supreme masters with my blend of inner and outer strengths, oh wait, am I not a veteran? A youthful champion, maybe? That sounds better… I’m hungry for a grand feast…”

Qing executed his specialty of saying whatever came to mind.

Jiegal Hyang burst into her clear laughter.

“Oh, then, does that mean Hyang can’t be just a secondary wife and be the primary instead?”

“Oh? Didn’t you know luck has no back? What’s passed is too late for a reach.”

“Hmph…”

“Later, when you grow up and become really, really beautiful, maybe amongst the top five beauties like ‘lure’ or ‘cheat’ or ‘cruel’, I just might accept you.”

“… Aren’t you forgetting ‘pure’ and ‘smart’?”

“Oh? Are positive adjectives now allowed? The last girl I was with looked like a real demon?”

“Ah, right! But then, what about you? I haven’t heard of ‘super strength’ or ‘heroic feats’…”

As they chattered and wandered off, a huge shadow darkened the open space.

It hovered over the iron ball, stuck in some ambiguous state, neither penetrating the ground nor bouncing off.

Some clueless person left it there without cleaning up after themselves.

Thus came a huge hand carefully gripping the handle with both hands.

*Huff*

A gasp came out as a modestly dug patch of earth revealed itself.

Since it was recently spring, the ground was still thawing; a two hundred fifty-jin iron ball wouldn’t leave much of an imprint.

The iron ball was lifted back into its original place, settling in neatly.

—-

Returning to the Guest Hall, Qing laid his arm out, and Tang Nan-ah fussed over him for having injured himself.

Apparently, the ligaments were really damaged and she wanted to know what he was doing out at night.

After listening to Tang Nan-ah’s explanation, it turned out that the excessive stretching had loosened the areas being gripped, totally lost their elasticity, and some were torn, so he had to avoid using his shoulder and shouldn’t think about lifting his arm for a while.

It struck Qing then that he regretted his actions with Jiegal Hyang the night before.

Truly a stupid endeavor.

“But why only the top? The bottom is fine?”

“Isn’t that odd?”

“Of course it makes sense! If you’ve got strong upper arms, they’ll hold up better! The bicep muscles can only help with bending and wrist turns, which are weaker.”

It had everything to do with the Supreme Hand-to-Hand Combat.

The Supreme Hand-to-Hand Combat safeguarded everything below the elbow like indestructible iron, so even in a ridiculous late-night display of strength, it diligently protected its foolish owner.

“For now, let’s apply some saliva. Ice would be great, but since it’s the Je-gal Family, they must have some ice stored, right?”

“No worries. I can use Ice Arts.”

“Oh? Ice Arts? How so?”

“Simply? Well?”

“Perfect! Could you freeze this? Not fully though.”

Tang Nan-ah wet a towel and handed it to Qing while it was still dripping.

Raising his True Energy like he was cooling off tea, the towel soon crystallized with frost.

“A. That’s enough. That’s the right texture.”

After Tang Nan-ah squeezed the towel and wrapped it in another before tying it to Qing’s shoulder,

“If it feels too flimsy, just let me know. I’d have to unwrap and freeze it again.”

“Can’t I just freeze it like this?”

“You want ice on bare skin? You’ll get frostbite!”

“Oh, now that’s a great physician’s advice. It’s impressive at times like this, you know? But didn’t you say you’d apply some saliva? Can you put some on even with it wrapped?”

“Ah. Right.”

Tang Nan-ah hurriedly unwrapped the towel.

Qing narrowed his eyes.

That compliment was definitely off the table.

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