Chapter 169

“Those are human bounty hunters. I heard something about a reward. Oh my, everything’s getting destroyed. What do we do?”

Jeomsoi was pacing anxiously.

There seemed to be some insight to be had in all this chaos.

Qing poked his head cautiously from behind the long, cramped table that was blocked off.

It was a major brawl.

However, considering their martial arts mastery, it was clear that the four fighters on one side had the upper hand—just showing how absolute mastery could be learned from such a fight.

Nobody beats numbers; the four were surrounded and sweating profusely.

Even a master wouldn’t flip the odds just because he was skilled.

If a strong fighter in the latter stages faced off against a group of lesser fighters, the sheer number of opponents would likely tip the scale.

“Oh, which side is that bleeding kid on? The four? The nine?”

“Originally, there were eleven.”

Even being in a risky situation, Jeomsoi was still watching intently, pointing out a pair of feet peeking from under an overturned table.

“Oh, it’s a Life and Death Match.”

It made sense that things could get hectic; two had already been killed out of those eleven, so it was no wonder everyone was on edge.

If the four had shown an overwhelming victory, it would’ve been a different story, but with them constantly on the defensive, even beasts won’t hold back when the odds are in their favor.

“Hmm.”

Pretty soon, four would die, but they’d probably manage to take a few with them. However, the victory would ultimately be claimed by the larger number.

But compared to the flashy misdeeds of the larger group, the four were still people of virtue.

The strongest amongst them looked to be at least thirteen points strong.

“Can I borrow some chopsticks?”

“Hmm? For what?”

Thinking about making a move after the fight ended.

Suddenly standing up, Qing crossed his arms in front of his chest, each finger equipped with a chopstick.

This was a meaningless preparation act.

He had seen Tang Nan-ah do this and wanted to try it himself.

She could throw multiple sticks at once with such ease.

Qing then dumped the chopsticks back on the table, grabbing one by one and lifted them high, throwing them.

In fact, the chopsticks flew faster than arrows, slamming into soft bellies or necks, even the backs of hands.

“Ow! Ah! Crack!” The diverse screams echoed as the four seized the moment and delivered the final blows.

Three were precisely on point, but one, much younger, floundered awkwardly, making it a rather unfortunate end.

A master of supreme mastery wouldn’t have such a hard time taking down his foes; how could there even be a fight?

“Wait! Stop! Save that one!”

One chopstick flew and struck the sword of a mid-level elite fighter.

And just like that, the situation was over.

With two notorious figures taken out, out of the eleven, Qing spared the two remaining ones, leading to complete annihilation for their side.

Among the four, the strongest man turned respectfully toward Qing.

“Thank you for your help, senior. I am Jogaksan, somewhat ashamedly referred to as Qingha’s Swift Wind Association in the martial world.”

“Hmm. Just a passing beggar. They call me a flower beggar at the restaurant in Seryang.”

Jogaksan’s expression grew complex.

Whether he was teasing or truly hesitant to reveal his identity was hard to tell given that his face was covered.

In any case, the woman was mysterious, and it was difficult to gauge her age by voice alone, but Jogaksan surely thought of her as a senior figure in the martial world.

Surely, there should be a few eccentric people roaming around.

“But what’s going on? Why are you fighting in someone else’s establishment? What do we do about all this damage? Can’t you see Jeomsoi is crying because of it?”

“Oh dear… What are we going to do… I still haven’t repaid my debt to the innkeeper…”

If he wasn’t picking up on this much, Jeomsoi had no right to be upset.

Sobbing loudly, Jeomsoi pretended to cry against the table.

“Surely, you gentlemen aren’t going to harm innocent common folks and just wipe your hands clean of it?”

“Of course not! Hey, um… While it’s not much, how about you take this…”

As Jogaksan brought out some silver coins, Qing added,

“That’s really not much.”

“Ahem, I was going to bring out more, but my hands are too small to carry a lot…”

It was a hand large enough for Qing to see clearly, yet the excuses along with the pile of silver coins added up.

Finally satisfied, Qing nodded and asked,

“So what’s the situation?”

“Ah, these are my brothers, wandering the martial world as heroes. So naturally, they feel embarrassed that the people call us the Qingha Heroes.”

“Hmm? Qingha Heroes? Why does that ring a bell?”

“Oh! You’ve heard of us, senior? Haha, I’m quite flattered…”

Jogaksan scratched his head with a proud look on his face.

It felt like it should be three heroes, right? Is it because I’m reminded of something mysterious and civilization-wrapped?

“So why do I keep asking what’s going on?”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry. The truth is, we’re chasing after a vicious criminal. While chasing, they decided to hide the criminal’s appearance from each other, which is nonsense. When we sternly advised against this, those villains drew their swords…”

Of course, the opinions from the side of the eleven needed to be heard.

Seeing the two that were still alive, their expressions were filled with grievance, yet they seemed to hold their tongues.

If you feel wronged, you should have lived better.

As Qing turned his gaze away, the two dejectedly dropped their heads.

“So about that criminal’s appearance, could I see it?”

“Yes! Senior, please wait a moment.”

As the Qingha Heroes busily searched through the corpses, they soon presented a series of folded papers.

Qing opened them up, revealing a portrait of a woman; it looked like something pedestrian in terms of a beautiful lady but painfully accurate to a fault within the Chinese style.

Unfortunate as it was, originally even in terms of an unusual face, drawing a beauty would have been difficult even from the modern productions of Qing’s hometown.

[Blackspot’s wanted poster for the criminal known as Unyeonjeong.]

This convict is wanted for the atrocious torture and murder of innocent merchants and subsequent escape.

A reward of five hundred coins for confirmed death.

Ten thousand coins for live capture.

Two thousand coins deducted for each dismembered body part verified.

Characteristics:

Estimated to be of supreme mastery.

Beautiful enough to be considered the best under heaven.

Not quite reaching six feet in height.

However, she is plump with a big figure and ample form.

“What’s this?”

Do I look like a pig?

Originally, a busty woman in thick cotton clothing might appear large and misshapen.

The reason for disdain towards large chests in Central Plains beauty standards is just this; when dressed, it looks unappealing and can ruin a figure.

Regardless, after confirming the appearance, Qing felt relieved.

What is this? How would anyone find me from this?

At that moment, the Qingha Heroes were also looking at the wanted poster.

The human bounty hunters hadn’t just made one of these wanted posters.

It was common practice for human bounty hunters to monopolize the criminal descriptions to hinder their competition.

Jogaksan looked at Qing with a peculiar expression.

Estimated to be of supreme mastery. Veiled face. Tall. A large, plump build.

Considering that Qing exceeds the average in not just her bust but also in hips, her figure looked fuller and wider when dressed in thick clothing.

“Um, Senior?”

“What?”

“Perhaps, um, never mind.”

Jogaksan hurriedly diverted the conversation.

Asking a veiled woman to show her face could easily result in knife play—so it wasn’t strange to be reserved in this scenario.

Qing immediately felt a twinge of realization as she caught a second wanted poster shown by Jogaksan.

Ah. Are they figuring me out based on this? Is it because of my height?

But do I really look that pig-like?

While pondering thus, a rising anger bubbled within her, refusing to cool down.

Wow, what a serious annoyance! Who the hell scribbled this ridiculous poster?

With her gloomy aura leaking out, Jogaksan gulped nervously, his voice trembling.

“Um… Senior?”

“Oh right. I get what you’re thinking, but I’m slim, you know? Here, look.”

Qing gripped the hem of her clothes and tightly twisted it.

The force seemed to vacuum seal the waist’s fabric, reducing her breadth to half.

“Oh! What an astounding… Ahem. I didn’t realize you were so slim beneath the thick attire!”

“So it’s obviously the clothing, right?”

“Yes, isn’t common in winter? I’m terribly sorry. I apologize.”

With their suspicions now thoroughly cleared away, Jogaksan revealed his head and bowed deeply.

Because of that, even Qing’s anger began to melt away smoothly.

How could one stay upset when someone is so genuinely apologetic?

—-

Black markets opened separately in each jurisdiction, particularly in Sichuan, where there were two openings from east to west or north to south; otherwise, there was one for each city.

Inside the city, the market shifted location every five days, making it fair to call it an irregular night market.

Anyhow, a sudden gather of the Black Robed Men occurred in the black market spread across Fujian Province and its neighbors, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang.

Not a single one was a mere underling; even some formidable beasts, impervious to swords, were running rampant.

“It’s a gathering for Jinju Alliance! We are simply punishing the audacious rascals who dared threaten our leader! Guests are to raise their weapons above their heads and leave!”

“We are merely punishing the black market! Innocent guests should leave!”

Unyeonjeong wasn’t foolish; she had no reason to bloodily carve through customers, so she was sure to target just the black market and merchants.

Merchants generally had many goods to carry and likely didn’t bring weapons, and the few lucky enough to have them were just receiving a pass.

Then came the fearful martial artists, colloquially known as cultivators, crying out.

“What about those who’ve mastered their martial arts?”

“You useless fools! Why are you waving your limbs instead of good weapons to use? Too stupid and dim-witted to even know what’s at stake! Those who have mastered their fists should raise both hands and just repeat the names of their techniques instead!”

Following this, names persisted in the air, mixed with beast-like names from the art of martial combat.

This time, the ordinary commoners who just happened to be there began to shout.

“Oh, no! I’m not a martial artist!”

“Tch. Shout your names and origins! That way, the blades of the alliance will steer clear of you!”

“I am Wang Jun-young from Shiheng, Guangdong! I am Wang Jun-young from Shiheng, Guangdong! I am Wang Jun-young from Shiheng, Guangdong!”

Thanks to that, amidst the discord of blades and screams, the foolish shouts of animal names echoed sky-high, garnering an unexpected introduction chaos.

Inside the flaming black market, a fragile yet composed woman moved with dignified steps.

As Unyeonjeong broke into the center of the black market, the head of the black spot department in Guangdong gasped in disbelief.

“Isn’t the Jinju Alliance dead?”

“Oh my, what a hurtful thing to say! I am indeed from the Jinju Alliance. Oh, is this my wanted poster? Let’s see how prettily you painted me!”

Unyeonjeong picked up the wanted poster.

Her usual fragile smile was replaced by an expression closely resembling the stunned face of Qing upon hearing difficult words, filled with question marks.

“Huh…? Who on earth is this?”

“That must be Unyeonjeong!”

“Is that me? But who is this? Under six feet…? Am I that tall?”

Then suddenly, a pure white hand pierced through the chest of the department head, clutching a heart that poured blood but didn’t stain.

With the heart snatched away, the head of the department crumbled to the ground, while Shinpa tossed the heart toward Unyeonjeong with a laugh.

“Ha! That smart-aleck had it coming. Clearly, she was an imposter. If your clan fell, anyone could impersonate you.”

“Oh, my materials!”

Unyeonjeong flailed after the heart drifting gently through the air and clumsily caught it, stowing it in the pouch at her waist with a not-so-subtle grin.

“How dare you impersonate me? You’ve got some guts, don’t you? Well, are you a beauty worth comparing in this chaotic world?”

“The Blackspotted fools wouldn’t have caused such turmoil had they recognized the beauty of the martial world.”

“Fair point… So who could it possibly be…”

Suddenly, an image flitted across her mind.

Unyeonjeong’s eyes filled with nostalgia, glinting beautifully.

“Qing isn’t that beautiful, after all.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Oh my, did you overhear my muttering? Your temper is quite something.”

At that, the leader of the Black Robed Men snorted in annoyance.

“To hear that from the most vile woman feels rather rotten. Hmph, what’s your next move?”

“Oh no need to worry about the Blackspot folks. Shall we retreat?”

“Sorry to the Blackspot, but it seems they were unwittingly drawn into this mess.”

“Pardon? Oh my, err, Shinpa, what do you mean by this? Haha, this is so amusing.”

Unyeonjeong couldn’t hold back her laughter, bent over, clutching her stomach, tears of joy escaping her eyes.

After laughing for a while, she finally wiped her eyes and managed to say,

“Shinpa, let’s create a shrine to honor those pesky bugs every time you swat a mosquito or a fly! That way, you’ll feel better too.”

Shinpa’s face soured.

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