Chapter 19

“Madam, it’s regrettable to meet like this, but time is already running short.”

Yang Sowol looked pale.

A-Qing couldn’t help but think she had never seen anyone so pale in her life.

The hand that covered her mouth trembled like it was having a spasm.

The quivering knees seemed like they were straining with all their might just to keep her standing.

“I won’t ask about the unpleasant matters, so please hand over the child now.”

Yang Chaemu was polite and respectful.

Thus, he was also resolute.

A-Qing, flaring up, pointed her finger and stepped forward.

“No way, this is hilarious. How can you demand a child so confidently? Is it yours? Are you going to feed it a meal and send it back nicely? Whatever you hear,”

“Young Lady,” Yang Chaemu sighed.

Fatigue clung to him like he hadn’t slept for a week.

“It seems there’s some misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? Misunderstanding my foot, you perverted scumbags!”

Just as A-Qing was about to unleash her special talent of indiscriminate insults, Yang Chaemu’s words stopped her in her tracks.

“We have already paid sufficient compensation.”

“…What?!”

A-Qing turned to look at Yang Sowol.

This was something she hadn’t heard about.

“It was one thousand gold coins. This amount was gathered by selling the family’s land.”

“Uh…….”

“And just recently, I received a notification from the battlefield where the trade was made. All the funds have been transferred to the Mangun battlefield.”

Such a large sum required managing with a promissory note.

If it was one thousand gold coins, it would take ten carts to haul them.

So, they sent the gold ahead to the battlefield and issued a promissory note in that name.

In fact, transactions with promissory notes favored the issuer.

If the other party didn’t keep their promise, they could simply contact the battlefield to halt payment.

But now, all the gold had been transferred to Mangun battlefield.

The Yang family had completely surrendered all ownership rights to the gold.

“But you seem to have vanished. Therefore, we had no choice but to place a bounty. The bounty is five hundred gold coins. This amount was also secured using the family’s business and manor as collateral. We have now staked our family’s entire future on this.”

The gold coins totaled one thousand five hundred.

The Shin Chang Yang family had poured all their resources into this amount, dominating a whole city.

“Anyway, this gold was prepared to bring the child back. If you find one thousand coins lacking, I’ll give you five hundred more. Doesn’t this amount qualify as the value of one life for another…?”

His last words were directed at A-Qing.

A-Qing finally looked at Yang Chaemu.

She saw the high moral ground he stood on.

He wasn’t the kind of scoundrel who would take a child for an evil deed.

He was a son trying to save his dying father.

“Purchasing a life with money can’t be honorable, but the Yang family has shown all the sincerity they could.”

She recalled the phrase she saw during her mission.

[Transfer of Elixir to the rightful owner]

Yang Sowol had sold her daughter.

A-Qing felt a wave of dizziness.

She had stepped in and just witnessed something filthy.

“Then.”

When Yang Chaemu took a bold step forward, A-Qing unconsciously grabbed Jin Jangmyung’s hand and pulled her back.

“Wait! Wait a minute! Stop! Stop it!”

If it were about a heart transplant—one person dies and another lives—A-Qing could have left with a heavy heart.

But she already knew the fact that Yang Chaemu was desperately avoiding mentioning.

Yang Sowol had shared that horrifying story with her.

Jin Jangmyung wouldn’t just die.

She would be violated until all her essence was drained away.

Even after the harrowing and unspeakable ordeal, recovery and violation would repeat, forcing her to endure a miserable, tortured existence, slowly dying.

A-Qing understood why Yang Sowol had told her that story.

She wanted A-Qing to protect the child.

That intention was so severe that even when knowing it, there was no choice but to yield.

A-Qing looked at Yang Sowol.

“I… if we can manage to return the gold somehow…”

“…The child, the child was in pain.”

“Ah.”

Only then did A-Qing fully comprehend the situation.

From the start, Yang Sowol had no intention of handing over her daughter.

It was a scam.

To save her father, a son desperate enough.

To raise the amount required to save her daughter.

No parent would casually name their child.

Choosing the best words and meanings, it was the first gift a parent gave their child.

Jangmyung.

For a long life.

What on earth must a parent feel to only wish for their child to live long?

“I won’t deny your kindness, however, even if it sounds like a cowardly excuse, if we hadn’t accepted the transaction, what would happen then? We had no other choice.”

“That’s….”

Initially, it would be a transaction, and if rejected, the next step would be a knife flying in.

Not because the martial world is ruthless, but because the desire to save a precious person is ruthless.

A-Qing was at a loss.

Then Yang Chaemu’s words turned to another person.

“Master Seung-soo, your father dedicated his entire life for the peace and safety of the martial world.”

“…That friend has always done that.”

“Please help us. I know it’s a bold request.”

“You….”

“If this goes against the heavenly principles!”

Yang Chaemu shouted angrily.

“I will speak of the greater good! The Cannibal Demon possesses the Fiery Demonic Arts! That vile Blood Demon Sect has already taken half of Donghae! One child’s life can save thousands suffering people! Is what I say wrong?”

“…Heavenly Deity.”

Master Seung-soo closed his eyes tightly.

“…Young Lady, hand over the child.”

“Master?”

“Didn’t you notice? The life of one person consumed by the junks, equals a hundred servings of vital essence. Where did these lives come from? But now I know. The invaders run rampant, and the authorities haven’t even been able to lift a finger to the demons’ schemes.”

Master Seung-soo tried to persuade A-Qing.

“Young Lady, recently the martial world has been chaotic, and there’s not a single place free of disaster. Every news from the Martial Alliance is urgent, everyone is trying to save themselves and is unable to help another.”

“You can’t just talk to me like that.”

“The Yang family stands as an essential pillar of martial unity in Donghae. When the great families are in no position to help someone, someone has to stop the Blood Demon Sect’s evil deeds, and I know there’s no one more willing to shed blood for that cause than you.”

Then Yang Sowol fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground, hands rubbing together like a fly begging in the most humiliating posture.

“Great Hero Yang, please. I will do whatever it takes to save Jing, even if it means enduring the greatest humiliation for the rest of my life. Please, have pity on the child. Please…”

Master Seung-soo and the Wudang Taoists, along with the warriors of the Yang and Shin Chang Yang families, looked at A-Qing.

What is this atmosphere? Why are they looking at me?

Can’t you all just make a decision and let me know?

Am I the one who has to decide?

Am I supposed to say, “Alright, let’s go with that”?

A-Qing tightly clasped Jin Jangmyung’s hand.

At that moment, she felt a twitching sensation in her grip.

“…I’ll go.”

In an instant, every breath in the room halted.

“It’s all my fault. Dad is gone because of me. Mom, I honestly knew everything. Don’t bother with someone like me anymore, live happily. If we’d done this earlier, Dad would still be alive. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Jin Jangmyung was choking up.

“Where are you going? Just go back, don’t be so foolish. Live happily while watching your healthy children, not this foolish daughter!

“Myeong-ah!”

Yang Sowol crawled towards her daughter.

With a trembling hand reaching towards her, the child harshly pushed it away.

“No! I don’t want to! I’m sick of living like a burden! I didn’t want to be born like this! Ugh, ugh……”

In the end, Jin Jangmyung burst into tears.

In this world, all crying is ugly.

The notion of a single tear falling with a pretty expression is just a fairytale.

With harsh noises scratching at her throat, the child cried.

Yang Sowol was transfixed, and the Taoists and warriors lowered their heads, unable to look up.

And then A-Qing made up her mind.

Once she made up her mind, there was no hesitation in her actions.

“Damn it, this is ridiculous!”

All eyes turned to her.

“What a dramatic scene we have here! A heart-wrenching tale that would make the martial world gasp and the emperor show respect, ‘Oh my, the classic C-drama tear-jerker has arrived!’ This is why these freaking Chinks can’t handle it! My biggest pet peeve is racism and my second biggest is those damn Chink bastards!”

A-Qing cradled the child under her arm.

“I don’t care! This one’s mine now! I’m taking her, and I’m going to become a Supreme Martial Artist, so if you have any complaints, just keep them to yourself!”

A-Qing surveyed the crowd.

Every face looked stunned.

And it was so funny that A-Qing burst into crazy laughter.

Then suddenly, she straightened her face.

A-Qing slammed the ground.

With a dazzling leap of the Moon Lady’s Step!

And gradually, only her voice could be heard, receding into the distance.

“This child is now mine! I can do whatever I want with her! I’m leaving! Goodbye, everyone! I’m off to seek happiness while breaking free from this bondage! You all stay happy too!”

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