Chapter 290

There’s no need for grand explanations about ecology or anthropology; people originally live by the riverbanks.

Why?

Surprisingly, people cannot survive without water!

So, cities in the Central Plain are mostly built alongside rivers.

If it’s a big river, it’s nestled beside, and if it’s a small river, it’s practically sandwiched between.

However, small villages tend to be somewhat exception; they are often located on ambiguous ridges at the foot of a mountain. This is a characteristic of the fully fortified clan villages in the Central Plain, prepared for raids from neighboring villages.

Other than such closed-off neighborhoods, most are generally by the riverside.

On the other hand, above Gamsan flows the legendary Huang He, one of the three great rivers of the Central Plain.

And below Gamsan runs the tributary, Nakha River.

By the way, Huang He means “Yellow River,” and the characters themselves carry that meaning.

The Huang He is the birthplace of civilization itself, and during the early days when that terrible and crude script was created, the only river they knew was the Huang He.

So when you say Huang He, it translates to “yellow” (Huang) “yellow river” (He), making it sound quite ridiculous in translation.

Yellow yellow river river.

And the “Nak” in Nakha River uses the character for “falling” in Huang He Nak Luo. This means “yellow yellow river” (Nak) and “yellow river” (He) again.

So it’s “yellow yellow river yellow.”

You could say it’s a river with a rather peculiar name.

Thus, when Qing descended the mountain—

It had flooded, turning the land into a muddy mess, so halfway on the cart and halfway off, we pulled the wheels and pushed our way just to arrive in Naknyeong City.

However, the name Naknyeong means wishing for the Nakha River to be peaceful.

As you might guess from this name, if the Nakha River overflows, it means the city will be properly flattened.

And indeed, the Nakha River overflowed.

“Ah…”

Greeting Qing, who was caked in mud up to his knees, was a horrific scene of a city already in ruins.

The city walls closest to the river had collapsed, and conscious citizens of the Central Plain were diligently clearing the rubble of the walls.

Of course, this debris from the wall would be thoughtfully collected and repurposed for their damaged homes from the flood, demonstrating perfect recycling with no trash produced.

The floodwaters had so severely damaged the city gate that it could no longer function.

Moreover, there were no warriors even guarding the city gate, so as we rode in, the left side, along the main road by the river, was almost devoid of any obstacles in sight.

The right side wasn’t much better, with the few intact structures busy shoveling muddy water and sweat streaming down their faces.

Yet it was a blessing they were busy; most simply sat with blank expressions, having given up, filling the scene wherever you looked.

Seeing that sight weighed heavily on Qing’s heart.

In fact, Qing had heard before that floods in the Central Plain were a periodic event.

Old cities generally see artifacts come up, their basements flood, and then they build right back over it, again and again.

However, understanding something and directly witnessing its state were vastly different things.

Then he recalled the cart full of gold.

Right. What to do with all that gold?

And where could there be a better feeling than splurging with someone else’s money?

But even if he thought about it, he felt lost.

There was gold, but what should he do?

Of course, Qing was someone who asked when confused.

It was one of his few advantages.

So he intended to do just that.

“Seol Soja. Perhaps… Hah… No.”

He had to ask someone who could actually help.

Plus, what does a kid who only lived in a place with ice know about floods?

Qing decided it was time to think for himself.

Hmm. First, there must be big merchants or grain dealers in the city, right? If he exchanged gold for food initially, and then paid a major merchant in advance for the restoration, that could work.

Ah. Right.

There should be a Zhengpai military commander around here, so a local would definitely know better.

Thus, after inquiring, Qing reached out to Naknyeong’s Zhengpai, Naknyeong Military Commander—a name that felt utterly local.

Qing led the cart toward Naknyeong Military Commander.

More precisely, the horse knew to slow down at intersections, and Qing would only then pull the reins to steer.

As he was moving along slowly (not that he could speed up), he noticed a large crowd gathered in an open area.

From the driver’s seat, he could see, peering over crowded heads, a boy hanging from a tree with his neck caught.

It seemed he was standing on something to barely hold on for dear life.

With a quick boost, Qing stood up to get a better view, discovering the boy was actually standing on a man’s shoulder, just managing to remain upright.

The man and boy looked strikingly alike, clearly father and son.

It was a pitiful scene, with the child hanging from his father’s shoulder, struggling to breathe.

Meanwhile, a crowd threw dirt and stones at the father, who desperately tried to stabilize himself while supporting his son.

Qing viewed people a bit differently.

He didn’t see them in three dimensions; instead, he visualized their karma as numbers, gauging their past with a rough estimate without being swayed by first impressions.

The man and boy.

Twenty evil points, one good point.

They were just an ordinary pair in the eyes of most.

But then again, one could never know.

Deciding to jump down from the cart, Qing felt Seoliri attempting to follow him and wobble near him, bending over awkwardly—

“Ah. Seol Soja, just stay here. You’re not well; what are you thinking following me? Sit tight and rest.”

“Yes.”

To Qing, Seoliri’s skin was covered in dark bruises, raising doubts about her muscles being intact.

She was clearly putting in a lot of effort to hide her pain.

But that was where his concern ended.

He raised his hand toward a bystander.

“Hey. What’s going on right now? Why is that person hanging there?”

“Why are you even standing on someone’s shoulders, whoa.”

The grumpy man shrugged off Qing’s hand and turned his head quickly, only to find Qing’s sharply beautiful face up close.

Qing’s beauty was almost hazardous.

It could make hearts race and blood pressure skyrocket, leading to various side effects.

Not only harmful to the body, but also very harmful mentally, as seeing her could lead to an overwhelming urge to return home and find a dried fish taking over the living room.

“What’s going on?”

“Cough. That guy over there is the one who designed the embankment for the Nakha River.”

The man lowered his voice dramatically.

For reasons unknown, he thought lowering his voice sounded cool.

“And?”

“He was boasting it would withstand a thousand years, yet look what happened. It couldn’t handle a single downpour, and the embankments collapsed! If it hadn’t been built at all, some water would have spilled over, but thanks to this guy…”

Apparently, starting last fall, the construction for flood control had been underway for the Nakha River, building gates and embankments anew.

But that became the problem.

If they hadn’t built it, they would have endured a heavy rainfall as usual; the river would have overflowed and caused the usual flooding.

Instead, they had built the gates to stop the flow, which resulted in a surge that breached the levees and caused disaster.

Thus, a massive calamity enveloped the city, and just the ruined city walls spoke volumes about its severity.

“Hmm. So the one who designed it is the father?”

“That’s right.”

Just one good point.

But even that minor point was proof the child wasn’t at fault; it wasn’t right to just let him suffer endlessly.

“Hmm. Would you mind moving aside?”

“Wha—?”

Although he asked them to move, Qing’s arm was already moving, parting the crowd like a bull.

As Qing entered the center of the crowd, the objects being hurled at him came to an abrupt stop.

Taking a leap, he cut the rope and caught the boy with a solid landing.

“Everyone, I understand you’re angry, but this child is innocent, don’t you think? If someone is guilty, they should obviously be punished, but this child simply has a misguided father.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! If the father messed up, the son should also pay the price!”

Someone shouted angrily.

The crowd murmured their agreement, echoing “right,” and “true” in a rising wave.

Qing thudded his foot down.

The vibrations resonated through the ground, silencing the murmurs that had begun to swell again.

With a stomp that shook the earth, they stared in awe at the goddess-like maiden who had somehow become even more ethereal.

Of course, that didn’t mean Qing was going to protect the father without a care.

The flood control project was a matter of life and death, and any mistakes made had to be accounted for regardless of intent.

The flood victims had every right to throw stones at the man, so whether they aimed for him or set him on fire was of no concern. Yet, the child appeared blameless.

If he were as vile as that bandit young master with three hundred evil points, Qing would have merrily joined the stone-throwing.

But with just one good point, it still counted as a good deed, right?

People’s hearts are crafty; reactions can differ greatly based on the speaker’s beauty.

Certainly, people didn’t recoil from the words of a goddess-like beauty so suddenly appearing.

Hmm. However.

Qing gazed at the flood control designer.

The father, who had been desperately holding up his son, cast a look of pure gratitude towards Qing.

Twenty evil points.

Qing had a basic understanding of these good and evil points.

Good and evil do not concern intent.

They simply tally the results of one’s actions, so whether the designer was deliberately negligent, had made a mistake in calculations, or just hadn’t expected such rain, he would certainly bear the evil points corresponding to the suffering and sorrow brought by his calamity.

Yet, even with twenty evil points, it meant he must’ve been a fairly benevolent person, right?

At that moment.

“P-Please, lady! Save my daddy! My daddy’s innocent!”

The boy, barely catching his breath, shouted.

Seeing Qing, the boy gathered strength to shout out more.

“This amount of water was something our design could easily handle! If it was done properly, it wouldn’t have broken! It’s all because the construction wasn’t right!”

Hmm. Now that’s a new angle.

Qing looked again at the man—

“You little brat, what do you know to be spouting nonsense! Protecting your father like this, isn’t that typical of wanting to defend the one guilty?”

“Miss.”

As Qing drew her sword high, shimmering with transcendent sword aura, everyone fell silent.

A beautiful celestial light radiated from the sword.

Even those unfamiliar with martial arts would find the aura sharp enough to make their hearts leap and blood pressure rise.

Silencing the crowd with a display of her sword aura, Qing scrutinized the man once more.

Twenty evil points.

Had the design been proper and did he not participate in the construction, would he still bear the evil points from this calamity?

The flood control designer seemed to interpret Qing’s gaze differently.

“…That’s right.”

“What did you say? The construction was faulty?”

“Leaving my name on such a project has always been my dream. Even if it rained for thirty days straight like yesterday, my design would have held.”

“Then why did it break?”

“I should have opened the gates gradually before the water levels got too high, but my handling skills were inadequate, or perhaps the construction itself was subpar.”

“Hmm. If you felt wronged, why say it now?”

“I did mention it, but when I brought my son…”

“Liar! That’s a lie! He’s trying to shift the blame to his innocent workers—”

Hey, look here. More dazzling light.

Qing felt the power of the sword aura tremble through her.

Wow. With one swing, they’d all be off to the land of the dead.

But still, Qing pointed her sword toward the direction of the voice.

“Just now? Who said that? Someone’s been interrupting with their nonsensical remarks. If you have something to say, come out and face me. Why hide away?”

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