Chapter 185

Gongson Yo-ye is a Martial World Prodigy.

In a family bound by the fate of the surname’s restoration, life is just about training day after day.

Start the day with training, have breakfast, then train some more.

Lunch is eaten right at the training ground, and training continues until dusk. After dinner with the family, it’s back to training again.

Finally, when the day ends, she sleeps in a cottage built next to the training ground.

So, one can only imagine how her heart raced with the upcoming Martial World Tournament.

As she seriously debated tactics with peers and clashed swords, building a camaraderie headed towards the heights of Great Master Muhak!

As a result, the evaluation of Gongson Yo-ye among the women of the Phoenix Association was as follows:

“She’s just a girl with some martial skills, running her mouth.”

“What’s with this girl claiming to be a warrior? If she’s not a girl, then what? Is she looking down on us?”

“Seems like her eyes go crazy every time a man appears, eager to clash blades under the pretext of duel.”

“That podunk thinks she can rub elbows with the famous Martial World factions?”

Of course, Gongson Yo-ye’s behavior was quite unbecoming.

While pride in being a warrior before being a woman is commendable, true pride should be felt solely by oneself.

In front of the entire Dragon and Phoenix Association, and with the men of the Blue Dragon Association listening, she shouldn’t have spoken such foolishness about decorations, clothing, and romantic ideals of marriage.

Even the men stood up, applauding and cheering, saying she was a true warrior. (It was a bit of a big deal when Swordmaster got up first and whipped them into a frenzy.)

Regardless of whether they had been serious about martial arts training or not, she had delivered a serious insult to all women who had dressed up nicely in front of those men.

If Qing had witnessed this, it would have been like calling out, “The ladies who made it to university are just after men instead of studying, spending money on makeup and dresses!”

Naturally, Gongson Yo-ye might feel wronged.

She was just doing what she had been taught, echoing the stern words of the family elders.

“Get up, don’t whine like a common girl. Know your shame.”

“What does it matter if it’s the moon? Do you think the enemies will take it easy on you for three nights? You’re pathetic.”

“Decorations are for women who can’t become warriors, trying to lure men for salvation. Don’t even think about touching such filthy things.”

People inherently believe that if they don’t interact with others, the whole world lives just like them.

As promising young saints of the orthodox Martial World, they expected them to be confident warriors regardless of gender.

Thus, the meeting of the Dragon and Phoenix Association became the most dreadful place for Gongson Yo-ye.

However, when she thought about skipping it to focus on training, she got a severe scolding for making family plans look trivial and could no longer avoid it.

So, even if she wanted to mix with the men and warriors, it was all in vain.

The Blue Dragon Association members mostly wanted to chat amongst themselves or dream of romance with the ladies.

Naturally, Gongson Yo-ye ended up becoming invisible.

Even when she showed up, nobody acknowledged her (except for Jo Hak-che types), everyone ignored her while seated, and nobody stopped her when she got up to leave.

Those were lonely days spent sitting quietly in her seat, pretending to be composed, without anyone talking to her, before returning to her lodgings.

Particularly dreadful were the days when the Blue Dragon and Phoenix Associations separated for meetings, and today was one of those days.

Amid all this—

“Gongson Young Lady? Can we have a word?”

Gongson Yo-ye flinched. It was a woman in a hooded robe she had seen a few days ago in the market.

This was her first bold move away from the constant neglect, venturing out alone to stroll around.

The woman had caught a pickpocket for her, but fearing her clan might hear about her, she bolted without saying a word.

“Uh, what do you want? I… don’t have anything to say.”

“Oh, come on. Let’s have a quick chat. Just stepping out for some fresh air, I’m borrowing Gongson Young Lady for a bit. Isn’t that alright?”

One of the women from the same table replied sullenly.

“That one isn’t with us. Do as you please.”

“Oh, I see. But why is it so chilly? Did you two have a spat? Come on, it’s better to get along. So, then, is it alright if I take her?”

With that, she reached out a beautifully pale hand towards Gongson’s wrist.

Having lived a life of training, Gongson wasn’t one to easily give in and let her wrist be grabbed by a mere woman—Bang!

Before she knew it, her wrist was snatched, leaving her dumbfounded.

Afterward, the woman pulled firmly, oh my.

Gongson Yo-ye was being dragged along helplessly.

“Wait, Young Lady! I don’t have anything to say—”

“I do. And you also said I could do as I please, right? So, it’s my will.”

“I never consented!”

“Oh, what do you think this is? Should I get permission to just chat? I never even bothered asking a prince for permission, alright?”

Once out of the building, the woman chirped, saying they should walk a bit while dragging her along the canal path.

“Wow, look at all these boats. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Now, can we talk? You can let go of my hand.”

“If I let go, you’ll run away. I can tell you’re already plotting your escape.”

“Who’s even trying to run?”

“Fine. But weren’t you wandering in the market alone as well? Looks like you enjoy sightseeing? Have you seen the steel tower? Let’s see, over there—ah, do you see that?”

Following the woman’s finger with her gaze, a grimy tower peeked out from between the buildings.

Despite being somewhat distant, it was impressive in height.

Gongson Yo-ye involuntarily exclaimed in awe.

“Wow…”

“Looks like you haven’t seen it up close. From close by, it’s like, wow! It’s really tall, big, and wide. You have to visit it sometime. It’ll be worth it.”

“More than that, what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh right. A few days ago, there was this rotten pickpocket trying to reach into a lovely lady’s bag, and before I knew it, I was dishing out justice!”

“That wasn’t me—”

“But the lovely lady who could’ve verified my heroics ran off, turning me into the grumpy swordsman who got stuck in jail for two whole days, lying on the cold cell floor, while my half-rations only amounted to two miserable meals. And to top it off, the punishment was whipping! You know what that is? They tie you up and just go to town with a bamboo stick!”

Gongson Yo-ye’s heart sank.

Was it that serious of an issue?

“Who asked you for help? If I had known it was this serious, I would’ve— I didn’t know!”

“Don’t worry about it. They said I could pay sixty coins to get off easy, and I did, so I didn’t get whipped.”

“Sixty coins…”

“Anyway, here. This ornament is yours, right? I was going to keep it as my compensation, but here,” she said, handing it back. “Just to be generous.”

“I already told you it’s not mine.”

“Then let’s just say it’s not yours. Wow, I found this really pretty hairpin on the street, and it seems perfect for our Gongson Young Lady. Here, a gift.”

Gongson Yo-ye took the hairpin, bewildered.

Then the woman continued.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry and brought you out to return this. I thought the hairpin looked nice and might be valuable, so I wanted to return it. I didn’t realize you’d feel so embarrassed. Don’t worry; I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.”

“Ah…”

“And you don’t have to worry since I just dealt with a pickpocket. You know how it is. I can’t help but pick up trash when I see it, so it was destined that I’d end up paying sixty coins anyway, even if it wasn’t you. No big deal.”

Gongson Yo-ye looked down at the hairpin.

Back during her rigorous training, she secretly cried softly (she’d be scolded more if she were caught) when her mother gave her this as a special secret gift just for the two of them.

“Alright, my business is done. You can go back to your errands, Gongson Young Lady. Hmm. Everyone else should be done having fun by now.”

After saying that, the woman turned without looking back and walked away briskly.

Gongson Yo-ye looked at the hairpin in her hand, glanced towards the Phoenix Association president, and then turned her head toward the tower peeking out in the distance.

Then, as she scanned for the retreating figure of the woman—

“Wait! Young Lady!”

She dashed out to catch up with the woman.

“Huh? What’s up? No returns allowed.”

“Um, I’m sorry, but if it’s not too much trouble… could you guide me to the steel tower? I want to see it up close…”

—-

The steel tower is just a tall brick structure.

The first time you see it, it’s impressive, but merely seeing it a second time won’t evoke the same excitement!

Can people in primitive ancient China really have such technology?

“Wow…”

“It was originally a tower twice the height but burned down when struck by lightning. They rebuilt it with non-flammable bricks, so it lost half its height.”

Qing, with a smug tone, recalled stories she had heard.

“Wow, it’s still so high now. It’s a shame I didn’t see it back then.”

“Right? But you know, folks around here are known for exaggerating, so who knows if it really was twice as tall? Honestly, I don’t buy it.”

“Is that… so?”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’d do it too. There’s a hundred-story tower at the Divine Maiden Sect where heavenly beings meet, but oh dear, the fairies got into trouble with fire and disappeared. What, don’t believe me? How can you be so sure about something that happened long ago without proof that it didn’t exist?”

Gongson Yo-ye’s eyes widened in surprise at Qing’s words.

“Was there really such a tower?”

“Who knows? If there was, it probably wouldn’t have the name Divine Maiden Sect but something like Fairy Tower Sect or Heavenly Tower Sect.”

Qing chuckled, amused.

She called herself a Martial World Prodigy, yet here she was, sounding so naive.

“Oh, right. I’m not sure if it’s okay to ask this, but can I?”

“What is it?”

“Is it okay if I call you Gongson Young Lady instead of just Young Lady? It seems more polite.”

“Oh, that. Well, our family originally had the surname Gongson. It’s a lineage that traces back to our primordial ancestor.”

“Oh, you mean Hunyuan?”

Qing was familiar with the lineage of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, thanks to her studying hard last winter.

He was the first emperor of China, with the surname Gongson and the given name Hunyuan. It’s common to refer to him as Hunyuan, but in this case, the term ‘Hunyuan’ means a designation for mythical entities rather than just a surname.

“So, you’re trying to restore that surname?”

Gongson Yo-ye opened up about her family situation.

“Why would someone slice someone else’s surname in half like that? That’s quite malicious.”

“Don’t speak so carelessly.”

“Why? People insult the ones who have it easy, right? Don’t your family curse the emperor? They probably do.”

“… A little.”

“See? Hmm. Are you hungry? I’m not starving, but I’m curious about eating. Do you like snacks? I mean, how could there be someone who doesn’t like snacks? What kind of snacks do you like?”

“Uh, I’m… not sure about snacks…”

“What? You don’t like snacks? Did I just hear you reject a snack in my face?”

“That’s not it. It’s just that I haven’t really eaten many, so I don’t know their names. You know, the fried ones, square shaped, sweet with red bean…”

At that, Qing laughed as if it were amusing.

“One of the four types of snacks in the Central Plain is a fried square with sweet red bean, you know? Nope, it’s decided. Today’s the day you’re getting dessert. Let’s go! I’ll make sure you feast on snacks till you burst.”

Qing had made a considerable sum with her “punishing strikes.”

Moreover, when there were men around her, Qing didn’t need to spend a dime.

For a woman to pull out money when there were men in the party could be seen as discourteous.

Surprisingly, the men didn’t mind much; the dissatisfied men were ousted from their ranks with remarks like, “Tsk tsk, a man who can’t even afford to spend money on a woman is worse than a beggar.”

Of course, women would have to acknowledge that earning money was generally a man’s duty.

After that, Qing let her mood shine.

She boldly ordered snacking options from the shop set in a great location.

“You can’t eat all that!”

“…? I’m the one eating!”

Then the ensuing snack massacre left Gongson Yo-ye in shock.

No matter how capable one claimed to be, wasn’t this a clear difference between a human and a beast?

Even a pig that hadn’t eaten for three days wouldn’t go at it this fiercely.

Regardless, Gongson Yo-ye sampled a bit of everything, thus learning for the first time in her twenty-seven years about her own snack preferences.

And while silence hung in the air, which made Qing uneasy, the usually few-worded Gongson Yo-ye returned the conversation awkwardly.

As they spent time like this, darkness began to envelop the surroundings, signaling that Qing needed to return soon.

After exchanging farewells, Gongson Yo-ye, hesitated before asking.

“Will Young Lady Seomun attend the Dragon and Phoenix Association tomorrow?”

“Not sure. Could go, could not go?”

“Why’s that?”

“Maybe because of a friend who hates being the center of attention? If I have nothing else to do, I might go. Oh, I must see Swordmaster and Chang-bin again, so I probably will attend.”

“Alright then.”

Gongson Yo-ye nodded and seemed ready to say something but ended up just bidding farewell.

Qing merely tilted her head in response.

“What was that about? So bland.”

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