Chapter 207

“Wait, so you want to gobble up martial arts but refuse to call me your master? What kind of thief mentality is this? A thief, a total thief!”

Cheon Yu-hak couldn’t believe it and blurted out, realizing that a thief mindset was actually quite a remarkable quality. Of course, the next Shintu had to be a thief.

“I was just expressing my gratitude for the teaching, but you call me a thief? If you’re not interested, then why the insults?”

“It’s not an insult. When I say it, it’s a compliment. Anyway, don’t you have any greed? We’re talking about Divine Skill here! It’s a martial art like no other!”

“I know a lot about Divine Skill too, you know? And how am I supposed to recognize it if you just call it Divine Skill? You need to tell me the name first so I can realize, oh, that’s something good.”

“Don’t you have to ask to learn?”

“I need to know what I’m learning to ask for it!”

“I’m talking about Divine Skill!”

“Seriously, do you buy something just because someone says it’s good without knowing what it is?”

“Goodness, this is so frustrating! Divine! Skill!”

“So could you please just give me the name…?”

Cheon Yu-hak thumped his chest in exasperation. Qing’s argument was indeed reasonable. However, a martial world individual would immediately offer gold upon hearing Divine Skill for sale. That’s how profound it was. Of course, Qing wasn’t planning on trading it later, so that didn’t apply.

“Umm, if you have nothing more to say, can I leave now? My body is starting to cool down.”

“What, no greed for Divine Skill?”

“I already know a lot about Divine Skill, okay? And what can I do if I do have cravings? I already have my master. I’m not going to gather multiple parents just to inherit properties!”

“Why not! There are plenty of people with multiple fathers out there! If someone offers to teach Divine Skill, people would readily call them father!”

“Then just go find those people, okay? I have no intention of serving anyone other than my master. So, ah, thanks for the training methods you shared.”

Qing politely bowed and trudged out wearily. Indeed, after getting heated, now that her body cooled down, everything felt sore, and her clothes were heavy and muddy.

Cheon Yu-hak watched her back from a distance. “Yes, she’s a woman of loyalty. Isn’t that better? Alright, we’ll see how this plays out.”

But the nature of a thief is that if it’s something precious, they are even more inclined to steal it.

—-

Wasn’t she told to use a dagger instead of her hands?

Qing immediately decided to try out that suspicious master’s training method from dinner.

Pang Dae-san’s evaluation of this was pretty harsh.

“You got a grudge against your food or something? What on earth are you doing?”

“Well, a master I passed by told me that I should try using a knife instead of my hands. But um, the knife is a bit too sharp…”

She never thought it would be so hard to use a dagger for dinner. Even accounting for the handle, it was just about four chi long, roughly forty centimeters in Qing’s home measurement.

The handle was short, about five chi, so wouldn’t she be able to poke around at food with such a small blade?

But the knife was just too sharp. When she punctured a large chunk of duck meat, it felt like sticking a knife into soft tofu. And as she lifted her hand, the meat calmly slipped away from the dagger as if it were on its own.

Qing changed her method, stabbing horizontally to spear the meat. However, with the weight being off balance, the smooth blade just cut right through and slipped out the side.

As Qing persistently targeted the duck meat, the once large piece became completely dismantled.

“Lady, this is hard.”

“If you didn’t plan to sit all day at the table, then stop this nonsense and eat already.”

“Hmph. I’ll actually get it right first and then confront that master later. Why should I give up just because it’s hard right now? After all, it was the advice of a master from the realm of transformation.”

Qing carefully speared the meat again, this time lifting it but keeping the dagger vertical, letting it slide off the blade.

As the meat slipped off the dagger, the sharp edge grazed the side and plopped onto the table.

“Lady, what kind of knife is this that cuts so easily?”

“Qing, can I take the dagger for a moment? Hmm.”

Je-gal Lee-hyun took the dagger, eyeing the blade, shaking it slightly to gauge its sway, and reflecting the light to check its shine, giving off a vibe of a sword expert.

Then he concluded.

“It’s the Qing Ah Sword from the Twin Blades of Qinghong.”

Oops. Could it be this atmosphere?

Qing counted in her head. One, two, now!

“Qing Ah Sword!” “Twin Blades of Qinghong!” “Qing Ah Sword!”

Unfortunately, the telepathy didn’t work out. Qing thought she might need to punish Tang Nan-ah, who was wrong, and also Pang Choryeo, who didn’t say a word, by asking for some seasoning from the kitchen.

“Umm, is it good?”

“To explain this, I can’t skip the story of the Great Demon Lord and the Insect Taijiquan. Ah, to talk about the Insect Taijiquan, I should first tell you about the Bloodline of the Yang Moon School.”

“Je-gal just wants to chatter on after so long, doesn’t he? To introduce a dagger, and now he’s weaving these long stories.”

“You need to know the tales behind renowned weapons to truly appreciate them, sister.”

“Well. Sounds interesting enough.”

Qing listened vaguely as she wrestled with the meat. The Twin Blades of Qinghong consisted of a dagger and a short blade, renowned for being the deadly weapons of the Insect Taijiquan.

Insect Taijiquan represented a formidable peak but was overshadowed by the Great Master Mucheondae being the Number One in the World.

In the end, he lost his head and the weapons were confiscated.

“I heard that Great Master Mucheondae kept them safe until their owner appeared, and it seems you’ve crossed paths with them afterward.”

Qing thought, “Who cares about the owner?” The one who told her about the world’s greatest thief was none other than Je-gal Lee-hyun himself.

And after spending nearly forty-five minutes listening to his rambling, Qing had only managed to chew a few pieces of meat, which were poorly cut and chewy, making her blood boil.

“How about we eat in peace? Maybe have some soup?”

“If I use the knife instead, I’d have to pick up the soup bowl too, right? Ah. I see. Just lift it instead of dipping.”

Qing slid the blade under the meat, carefully gauging the balance as she slowly raised her hand. Her physique exceeded regular human limits in every way, including sensitivity and balance.

Successfully balancing the meat on the blade, Qing raised it over her head to drop it into her mouth, causing her to tilt her head back and open wide while sticking out her tongue.

Pang Choryeo let out a deep sigh.

“Qing Ah, no matter what, that’s no way for a lady to eat. Doesn’t it embarrass you to look like that?”

“But this is the only way I can eat. And we’re all just us here, so what’s it matter?”

“Ugh. Forget it. Whatever.”

Pang Choryeo realized it was pointless to nag about this and surrendered with another sigh. Correcting Qing’s behavior was a task only someone like Seomun Sulin could manage.

After finally passing some meat around, everyone couldn’t help but stare a little, as it was somewhat embarrassing despite Qing’s status, especially since they had finished their meals and had nothing to do but watch her strange antics.

Then Qing licked her lips and said, “Ask them to wrap this up. I’ll finish it later. I need to settle who wins!”

Pang Choryeo held back the urge to remind her that no one in the world fights food to find out who wins.

—-

Once Qing successfully finished bringing food back, wheezing a little, it was already late into the night.

But now that she had cleaned her plate, she felt a sense of achievement reflecting on the task she’d accomplished.

After all, Qing had been attempting to eat from dinner well into the night, and during that time, Tang Nan-ah, who had been whining for someone to play with, had ended up sulking off.

As she was loosening her clothes to sleep alone tonight, Qing suddenly paused.

Since she was told to use a dagger instead of her hands, wouldn’t it be the same for putting on and taking off her clothes?

Originally, it was only mentioned for when she slept.

Qing looked down at the ties of her clothes. Hmm. Even if she were to use her left hand, would she manage to loosen these with the blade?

After a moment of contemplation, Qing just decided to throw off her clothes and flop onto the bed.

Today had been tough enough with dinner.

Since it was late, she thought she’d just sleep tonight and start fresh with the whole dagger-dressing thing in the morning.

Thus, Qing reveled in the exquisite touch of the highest-grade silk bedding of Muchen Pavilion, enjoying how soft and comforting it was, but sleep was still eluding her.

As she rolled around, sinking into the cozy embrace, she thought, this is exactly why people argue for having great bedding—it’s just that comfortable yet sleep wouldn’t come.

Qing lay still, closing her eyes.

Normally, when a person can’t see, their other senses sharpen, and Qing’s hearing, beyond human limits, tried to catch the sounds of the night. However, Muchen Pavilion was top-notch when it came to soundproofing, barely picking up the faint rustle of grasshoppers from outside, and there wasn’t even a whiff of human presence.

Something felt off. Were there not guests staying at the end of this floor?

Is the soundproofing really this good?

Not even a single breath could be heard.

Really, no matter how far Qing’s hearing exceeded human ability, there was no way she could hear someone breathing through several walls. It’s impractical, even if one was transcending human limits.

So, while trying to scout for signs of life, Qing suddenly sprang up.

“What’s the point of sleeping? It’s not like I’m tired since I won’t be sleeping for a few days anyway. Does sleep come at my current skill level? I should swing my dagger one more time!”

Speaking this excuse aloud was a just a way to justify her actions, as there was no one there to hear her.

Qing reached out for the dagger resting on the bedside table.

—-

With a loud creak, the door swung open.

To intrude upon a lady’s sleeping quarters is exceedingly rude, but since Tang Nan-ah was innately a very rude and wicked woman, it wasn’t particularly unusual.

“Wow! You again! Huh? What’s up, Qing Ah? Why are you already awake?”

“Who are you calling, you?”

“Well, you leave your spot for just a night, and you pull in another woman! From what I see, that lady is so suspicious!”

She had sulked off home yesterday but seemed to have gotten over it in a single night.

Qing chuckled as she shot back, “There’s no one suspicious around me except for you! And who said I left my spot? Oh, right.”

She smiled awkwardly and continued, “Hey, Nan-ah, could you go to the fabric shop and get me some cheap training clothes? Ideally, something really strong and thick. Hemp? Yeah, the ones made from hemp.”

“What? Hemp? Isn’t that a bit too coarse? And why the sudden request?”

“Well, uh… It’s because?”

Qing lifted the shoulder of her training clothes, revealing the numerous cuts that exposed her skin. It looked as if they were clumsily stitched from the tools native to her homeland.

As the cut gaps exposed more skin, Tang Nan-ah’s expression twisted, and an angry voice burst out.

“What, what’s this!? Who messed with your clothes!? Who made them like that!? Oh my, who pulls cheap tricks like this? Was it Geomhwa, that sly witch? Did she come during the night?”