Chapter 333

A lady. I stayed up all night…

At some point, I feel like the scenery of the jungle is faintly coming into view.

It’s not just a feeling.

Dawn is breaking.

Of course, the thick canopy of the primeval forest doesn’t reflect the faintly bright sky before the sun rises.

But Qing isn’t the scientific type who would understand the complicated mechanisms of light scattering and wavelengths as some crazy scientific stuff.

All she knows is that her superhuman eyes have finally caught a glimpse of the faint light, barely above the level of darkness, and sent signals to her brain.

Even if it’s hardly a clear outline, it feels completely different from the previous night, where she was struggling to sense the surrounding obstacles in total darkness.

It’s damp, chilly, and exhausting…

I really wish I could soak in a hot bath and then just throw myself on the bed.

Won Gagye is half-jungle.

The characteristics of the jungle are dampness and nutrient-lacking reddish clay, and Won Gagye is no exception.

As I brush through the short bushes, the wet leaves willingly share their moisture with my dry clothes.

So, my clothes, which have been spinning around Won Gagye throughout the night, are all damp and heavy.

And my feet feel heavier, too.

It’s a valley that’s foggy all year round, so the yellow clay stuck to my shoes looks like I’ve got thick dough applied up to my ankles.

A master’s mental capacity could keep one awake for another three days, but staying up all night is sure to make one feel cranky from the very morning.

It’s a genuinely lousy morning state.

If I’d known it would be like this, I should have just found a tree or a suitable crack in a rock and caught some sleep.

Qing woke up feeling regret, fatigue, and the gross discomfort of being damp and sticky.

But regrets make no sense at this point.

Qing isn’t the type to get hung up on regrets. She just shakes it off and moves on.

Well, the sun’s up, so I can just get out, right?

I should hurry to bathe and get some rest.

That’s the best quality for preserving life’s happiness.

However, it’s also a critical flaw that I learn absolutely nothing from my mistakes, as I never regret them too deeply.

Thus, with Qing’s shallow thoughts, impulsive behavior, and that carefree attitude, she’s quite the character.

Always acting carelessly and repeating what could have been a one-time incident multiple times, she ends up wasting more time and resources; then she swiftly forgets it without any heart to ponder.

She’ll likely live like this until she dies.

Yet even with this pathetic behavior, Qing had been known to be quite competent from before she even set off.

She has a good head for things, and due to her knack for planning, her ideas usually end up hitting the mark, leading to a successful outcome nine out of ten times.

Just the fact that she was recognized as a junior carpenter in Naknyeong shows that it’s not just about brute strength; she also has dexterity and assembly skills that are important.

But this time, it was a total flop, the one in ten massive failure.

Qing climbed a tree, wondering why the heck this tree is so stubborn.

The sun rises in the east, and south is over there.

So she carefully climbed down and kept moving south through Won Gagye.

Now, as the sun was hanging over the mountains, the washed-out colors of morning finally bloomed, and she reached the southern part of Won Gagye, arriving at Golden River Valley—

“Hey! Seomun Qing!”

“Wow, she really showed up!”

Beep!

Won Gagye is a basin surrounded by mountains.

The only access in the lower southern area is blocked by Golden River, a sizable river more than twenty spans wide, and even crossing it leads to Huangshi Peak, blocking the way forward.

Getting inside Won Gagye was like a mouse scurrying into a trap.

Suddenly, the urgent sound of a squeaky flute echoed from across the river, jolting Qing awake.

Oh, this feels like a big deal.

For now, retreat.

Qing quickly ducked back into the jungle.

A sound like a signal flare shot sharply into the sky behind her.

As Qing burrowed deeper into the heart of Won Gagye, she was wracking her brain.

What to do?

If I just hide and endure in the jungle, they can’t do much, right?

If I stay quiet for a month or two, they might just give up looking for me.

I’m used to living in the mountains anyway. I can just eat whatever and tough it out, waiting for them to lift the siege so I can escape then.

Then it happened.

A bark echoed from somewhere.

Having been in the martial world for five years, Qing has seen all kinds of wild animals; surely she must have seen a wolf before.

Wolves don’t bark like that; that’s the sound made by a dog trying to get attention from people.

It’s a bizarre phenomenon when there’s no biological difference between dogs and wolves.

These dogs have been set loose!

Qing quickened her pace.

Luckily, it was dark, but with her internal vision, this level of brightness feels no different from daylight.

And thus, behind her, there’s barking, now to the left, so she dodges right, and to the right again, and back left.

Suddenly, a large gray dog bursts out from the bushes and blocks her path.

Then, sitting on a stump, it bared its teeth at Qing.

Grrr…

“Easy there, be good. Can you be quiet for a moment?”

Qing tried to calm the dog down.

Epic fail! The dog barked loudly!

Woof! Woof!

It wasn’t even a command it learned, and if it understood the words of a stranger, it’d hardly be a dog.

Like a story, it’s simply something that must be dealt with immediately.

Qing, who was about to turn tail, suddenly paused.

Wait, why am I trying to run away?

Right! If dogs bark, it means pursuers are nearby.

Now that I think about it, why do I need to flee from this supreme martial artist?

From my experience yesterday, the bandits were really nothing more than third-rate thugs.

If you’ve properly mastered martial arts, why would you bother being a bandit?

—-

Jaryong Sam is a bandit belonging to the Gangwon Society.

About ten years ago, he stole grain during a famine, and after his older brother Jaryong Yi was killed, he had no way to survive, so he threw himself into the Green Forest with his second brother Jaryong Yi.

(One, two, three is the most basic way common people in the Central Plain name their children.)

And then he discovered an unexpected talent.

He found out that he was more suited to taking than to being taken from.

And so he rose to the seventh rank in the Gangwon Society, which shows just how much more talented he was than his older brother who was still stuck at the seventeenth rank below him.

Because he was setting out on a search, Jaryong Sam felt more hope than anxiety.

They say she’s just a twenty-year-old girl; she’s not being hunted down, but is to be captured alive.

As long as he could be of help, he thought he might get to learn martial arts from the elders in the main branch.

Thus, his treasured hunting dog, Jo Jaryong (female, aged eight), along with several other dogs, barked excitedly, urging the brothers to be more spirited.

Finally, as he pushed through the bushes, the eminent hunting dog Jo Jaryong and two other mountain dogs appeared, barking fiercely while gazing up at the sky beneath a tree that could reach three spans around.

“Got it! She’s hiding up there!”

It seemed that although the other hunting dogs had arrived, their search party from the mountain hadn’t yet shown up.

That would mean they were the furthest found, and this should earn him a decent reward, right?

What should he learn about martial arts?

Heavenly Blood Method? Rising Dragon Ascension? Heavenly King Qi Mastery?

That was the last thought Jaryong Sam had in his life.

With a swoosh, Qing’s Moonlight Sword fell from the tree and went right through Jaryong Sam’s crown, exiting through his groin in sheer style.

“Sam!”

The second Jaryong Yi, seeing his brother’s death, screamed.

And that became his last word.

As the world spun and the ground blocked half of his view, the dead body didn’t even comprehend its death, its eyes grown vacant.

Blood gushed from the headless corpse.

Droplets of blood raining down.

Below, vibrant energy radiated from Qing’s eyes.

The discomfort she had felt all night was now a vivid surge of liveliness that seemed to lift her heavy body away from the ground.

“Here, here is Seomun Qing!”

“Seomun Qing? Are you my friend?”

Bang! Wet leaves exploded and scattered, hiding Qing’s figure.

When she revealed herself again, she was slamming a bandit’s head with her blackened palm.

Crunch, the bandit’s head shattered like a broken watermelon.

Then the remaining bandits, who stared at her, trembled, raising their hands in surrender.

“Is that… fire?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Hey, it seems like you were about to fire, but I really hate noisy things.”

“It’s not gonna go off!”

“It’s not? Hmmm.”

At that moment, Qing was pondering how to twist their words.

Suddenly, with swift footsteps, shadows rushed at Qing.

Caught off guard, she stumbled.

It was an attack from the dogs.

The dogs were gnawing on her limbs, looking at their beloved master with wide eyes.

Master! Now!

And in response, the bandits answered back.

We will never forget your sacrifice!

And with that, the bandits all turned their backs.

The seventh brother split apart before her eyes; one had its neck severed, and another’s head was smashed.

All previous intentions had long disappeared.

Qing frowned, trying to chase down a bandit.

One on her right arm, one on her left shoulder, one around her right ankle, and one on her left thigh.

Now, count how many hunting dogs there are biting Qing.

“Lady, that’s heavy.”

Wolves, by nature, only have the attack of biting and shaking to tear apart; they’re creatures inherently lacking talent for hunting.

So, constantly hungry, they went after a seemingly always-full human, leading to the birth of dogs, humans’ best friends.

Anyway, due to their low hunting success rate, canines aiming for the back of the head are genuinely sharp.

With that, four hunting dogs pounced at Qing, successfully restraining her limbs, which could be considered a well-executed technique.

But the owners who should finish the job fled in panic.

Surprisingly, even though they bit a person, it felt like they were gnawing on nothing but a stone—her jaw ached, and regardless of how much she shook her head, it didn’t budge at all.

“These damn dogs. Is it tasty? Huh?”

Qing felt a little peeved since she had missed out on a rare opportunity.

As her voice lingered ominously, the dogs slowly relaxed their jaws and sat on the ground.

Then they looked off into the distance with the telltale doggy expression of waiting for something.

“Killing a dog is a bit unsettling. But, they’ve been gnawing at humans for a while now, haven’t they?”

A dog that bites a person must be put down.

The dog might feel wronged.

But Qing also puts down anyone who bites a person.

You could say it’s a matter of respect between species.

Just as Qing raised her sword—

The sharp-witted dogs all lay down, exposing their bellies.

Their thick tails tucked between their legs to shield their private parts.

Then they let out those pitiful whines.

It was an unmistakable sign of total submission!

“Lady, don’t go soft on me.”

Qing loves all kinds of animals, big, small, pretty, or ugly.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Alright, guys, bark!”

The dogs perked up, looking at Qing, tilting their heads.

This unique form of communication among dogs, even though they’re the same species.

“Do it! Woof, woof, woof!”

Qing barked.

In return, the hunting dogs looked confused.

Why is this scary new master barking with her human mouth?

“Bark! You know you can do it! Woof, woof! Woof woof! Bark! Are you perhaps dogs from the western regions? Should you be doing it in a western style?”

If it’s a western style, it would be a “Bow Wow.”

As far as Qing saw it, what kind of dog barks like that?

If a dog understands human speech, it’s not a real dog.

Rather, to the hunting dogs, they might not understand the words, but at the very least, they recognized that this was a show of submission.

So the dogs wagged their tails joyously and rushed towards Qing, sniffing and licking her. Ah, really, you damn dogs, you just won’t listen to a word.

Qing thought as she petted them enthusiastically.

“Bark, woof! Bark, bark! Woof, woof! Ar-oo!!”

Qing shouted all kinds of dog sounds.

They’d only bark if the bandits came running in!

Eventually, when she imitated a wolf’s howl, the dogs finally howled back, letting out barks that sounded more like excitement than aggression.

-This way, this way!

Between those barks, a bandit voice could be heard from afar, rustling through the bushes.

Qing grinned as she climbed the tree.

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