Chapter 334

“Humans are so foolish they keep making the same mistakes.”

This means they learn nothing from the blunders of those before them, despite witnessing the idiocy of earlier fools.

In this regard, it wouldn’t be right to blame the bandits of the Green Forest for their stupidity.

After all, repeating mistakes that have not been passed down is pretty much void.

To think that it would be a common occurrence to be hunted right in front of one’s own yard, making the trip to the underworld a place to complain to the grim reaper, “Is this really happening?” How unfair could it be?

Just for reference, the dark sect tried to have some fun with this approach only to end up overwhelmed by their own abduction, leaving them lamenting beneath the heavens.

Anyway, Qing was claiming her rightful place as the victor.

Of course, the Green Forest didn’t treat the second-rate warriors or losers among the bandits particularly well.

Future heroes dreaming of becoming bandits always knock on the door of the mountain stronghold, seeing them merely as expendable items they can use and discard at will.

However, they didn’t waste lives recklessly. Even in a primeval forest where the terrain was already mapped out, they didn’t let foolish ones in empty-handed.

At least, they made sure to provide three meals worth of food to last until the next day.

“Hmm. The quality of their food here is really subpar.”

Qing mumbled while taking a bite of a rice ball made from an unrecognizable flat leaf.

At twenty, with a youthful body, yet perhaps due to her mental roots, she sometimes couldn’t help but let out her musings in song-like whispers.

Every time she noticed, she would get startled at her own cheerfulness and try to hold back.

But when it came to meals, was it really wrong to enjoy them cheerfully?

The jungle seemed lush but was barren. Hmm, where had I seen that? It felt like it was from a screen somewhere.

In any case, it appeared that mainstream media isn’t reliable.

This rich land barren? Nonsense.

For every bandit taken down, three rice balls could be made.

They’d caught about three groups, yet each one had different wrapping, tastes, and contents, so what’s the fun in choosing? Absolutely none!

Encountering these lousy bandit cooks, if they dare turn rice balls into this… What an insult to rice balls!

“Ugh, this is gross. It’s the worst out of the three.”

Yet the girl, who just said it was tasteless, stuffed her face with one hefty rice ball after another. Food isn’t at fault, after all.

Although she was born with the original sin of being made by a terrible cook, Qing doesn’t believe in original sin, so she is innocent. Ding ding!

She tossed one rice ball each to the panting hunting dogs that drooled with their tongues out.

In the Central Plains, pets usually take on the role of cleaning up the scraps.

Perhaps that’s why, even a lousy rice ball was devoured noisily by them, crunching away happily.

Qing glanced at the scene for a while before turning her head back to the remaining bandit loot.

—-

Before venturing into the Martial World, Qing’s hometown adhered to a strict social hierarchy.

Qing came from the lower class of small-scale production workers.

At some point, theaters became a cultural affair only enjoyed by the upper middle class and above, so the films Qing remembers are quite old.

Along with occasional infomercials for burial costs, funeral expense deposits, and the like.

Among those is the film about the flat-nosed Son Representative Ho, where he claimed to be the child of the emperor and on the birthday of a long-dead saint, the movie always replays.

A cheeky little brat who held down the fort at home while using courage and wit to defeat bandits who intruded on his home!

However, it’s hard to understand why, after winning solo, he suddenly started pleading for the value of family.

Wasn’t it supposed to be an ode to independence and adventure, praising the destructive power of suitable tools?

Why this sudden memory?

Regardless, Qing’s proactive nature is second to none,

Even in the world, Qing had the qualifications to be paid as a carpenter’s worth.

For this reason, the absurd traps of bandits lead to their downfall!

Bandit Gap was chasing the sound of barking dogs, leading the way through the jungle to find the designated symbol of glory, Seomun Qing.

Suddenly, tripping over something snagging his ankle, he fell with a thud.

Automatically reaching out, feeling the scratch on his palm, and then the stabbing pain in his chest and stomach, he felt something striking sharply.

“Ugh.”

Why does my stomach hurt after I fell? Oh no, my belly! It was then he tried to touch his own belly.

With a chilling sound, the gust of wind ripped through the air above him.

Bandit Eul was trailing behind his comrade, a fellow trainer of hunting dogs, Gap.

Then suddenly, Gap fiercely hugged the ground.

In the mountains, you never know what lies beneath the fallen leaves, so he had been nagged to be careful, but now it’s not just nagging—it’s a bashed head that puts him in a foul mood, thought Eul as he followed Gap.

But wouldn’t you know it, sharp wooden stakes began protruding from Gap’s back!

In an instant, the comedic farce turned into a terrifying tale.

As Eul rushed to check on Gap, “Are you alright?” he was suddenly met with a thundering crash, followed by a gruesome pain shooting through him, lifting him skyward—

Sadly, Eul’s consciousness ended there, punctured by the stake lodged in a sideways position, leaving him shockingly alive for a brief moment.

Gap, seeming to have found enlightenment, flew through the air and struck Eul’s heel, causing him to topple.

“Dammit, that crazy son of a…”

“Aaaak!”

Gap couldn’t get another word out, except for the horrific screams of Gap that split the air.

It was because Eul, pierced by the stake, returned with a grotesque back filled with unpleasant liquid that flowed out.

Then in a flash, the horrifying image disappeared from sight, resurfacing again as that grotesque sight repeatedly returned.

Eul was the one who flew out, splattering foul liquid everywhere, while Gap was left rolling on the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief.

From a few steps back, Bandit Jung couldn’t believe whether this was a dream or reality and was stuck stone-faced in shock.

Until one lucky person landed gracefully on the log that had pierced Eul, just before Jung’s gaze shifted to the soaring log.

And as they peaked up into the air, the person leapt down and landed on Gap’s head with a thud.

The lively, agile move completely crushed his head as he landed.

Then, seemingly contemplating the far away, they clenched their fists tight, exhaling a long sigh.

“Haa… Hmm, but this isn’t what I expected? Hey, Bandit Jung.”

“Y-you’re talking to me?”

“Who else would I be talking to?”

“Not me, behind me, umph.”

Jung, startled, turned around.

Clearly, his fourteenth older brother and twenty-seventh younger brother were right behind him, but now they were nowhere to be found.

“As soon as the screams erupted, they fled. Quick thinking and decisive action are the quickest way to save your life. And you missed Wu and Gi, didn’t you? So, Jung.”

“I’m not Jung…”

“Hmph, why would I need to know your surname?”

A booming sound as the log chasing Eul soared back into the sky over Qing’s head.

Jung hurriedly shouted.

“Yes! I *am* Jung!”

“Good. So, are you going to run?”

“C-can I run?”

“Hmm. Wu went that way, and Gi went that way. What’s it going to be? If you run over there with Jung…”

Qing pointed in a direction.

“I’ll chase one of the three. That gives you two-thirds chance to live. Unless, of course, you want to follow the bandit crew. In that case, I’d prefer to chase the two at once.”

“I’m going that way! Yes, I’ll go that way!”

“Great. But first, hand over everything. Just so you know, I might reconsider if you go in Jung’s direction?”

“Here it is!”

Jung hurriedly emptied his bag, gingerly placing it on the ground.

It contained food and water to last until the next day in this dense wilderness, but it was evidently better than dying right here.

“Then may I leave?”

“Yep. Run.”

Jung raced off, heading in the direction Qing pointed, constantly glancing back, wearing a fearful expression, as if worried Qing might chase him.

Hmm. Should probably look ahead while running. Oops.

As Jung turned around to look, he suddenly fell into a deep hole.

When Qing approached, he found him stuck in a pit about half a jang deep.

Unfortunately, sharp stakes were poking up from the bottom, making Jung’s predicament look quite tragic.

“Gurk, ugh…”

It seemed the stake had punctured his lung; he was trying to say something but only produced choked sounds.

Qing clicked her tongue, tapping her own eyebrow thoughtfully.

“This is why you don’t educate the untrained. Don’t you know a blatant setup seems suspicious?”

Such a petty gesture that drew a lot of ire.

Yet Jung, with both lungs pierced, had already lost the ability to speak.

He soon lost not just his ability to communicate, but his ability to survive.

“Hmm. This isn’t what I had in mind.”

Now it seems this kid wasn’t the typical frail innocent in training but someone ready to take on the world, how confusing.

Having dedicated himself to his homeland only to turn into a person facing cold disdain and mockery, much like a soldier whose eyes have turned dark.

But thinking about it again, perhaps they weren’t so different.

After all, isn’t one just a tale for all ages, while the other is rated for mature audiences?

Both tales essentially share the same underlying theme of a psychopath trying to commit murder.

Of course, in the case of the kid, it isn’t outright murder.

But the way he enjoyed hurting by using various means to inflict pain while laughing with joy is utterly more malicious, isn’t it?

Enjoying torturing robbers shows this kid truly has the qualities of a great hero.

But traps? Well, they aren’t quite my taste.

First of all, there’s no sense of craftsmanship.

As for minor issues, a trap can’t move by itself—it depends on an enemy to walk into it.

And these traps take quite a bit of effort to make.

Especially digging those holes. Ugh, that was tough.

I tried having my four hunting dogs help dig, thinking they’d be playful, but how much assistance would a dog really provide?

Four great dogs are roughly like one thousandth the help of Seomun Qing or maybe a bit of help from this Seoliri level.

Better to stick with a log trap.

A bit of effort to hook and hang it, and that’s that.

It’s still a hassle, though.

Nonetheless, tying a rope around the ankle in a trip position and embedding sharp stakes is manageable. It doesn’t take much effort since ropes are strewn everywhere as vines, and stakes can be fashioned from thick branches, cutting them in half produces two traps.

Calmly evaluating her own handiwork, Qing collected trophies from the corpses.

Then she pulled out a rice ball from her bag, munching, and walked away, disappearing into the jungle…

—-

Of the six scouting teams sent for initial reconnaissance, very few returned unscathed, and far fewer even made it back to the temporary camp in Geumyeon Valley.

In fact, they had originally taken a group of lowly characters and only the few foolish ones who couldn’t care less about their place in hierarchy, so losing them wasn’t very significant.

The intent was to send them to avoid complete annihilation; reporting on whatever they could glean would have been a pleasant surprise.

So, it could be said they provided quite a utility.

Hence, when the report the bandit strategist Ajan Deok received, he was completely taken aback.

In the Central Plains, Ajan Deok is notoriously known as a vile cunning snake, a scam artist hated far and wide.

People thought he had disappeared from the region, presumably killed in a knife fight somewhere, but he was now the leading strategist for the Green Forest.

One could declare it quite a success for a renowned fraudster.

“Traps? You mean they set traps in the meantime?”

To this, Dou Sam shook his head.

“Didn’t I tell you? She’s cruel and crafty, and her intellect is far beyond the norm. She set them up last night and lured us in.”

“Cough! How can a twenty-year-old girl…”

Dou Sam stretched out his palm.

Ajan Deok scowled and pulled out a gold coin, placing it on the palm’s surface.

This was the result of a wager made that morning.

Dou Sam proclaimed that Seomun Qing had gone in with purpose and a mindset to conquer.

But Ajan Deok raised his doubts. She’s just twenty, after all, not even a disciple of a famous family.

The renowned families wouldn’t recount everything, especially not about bandits from the Green Forest.

She probably didn’t even know where the stronghold of Chunja Mountain was located.

It’s likely she just passed by Chunja Mountain and was struck by its scenic beauty in the human realm—and maybe got cornered.

If Qing had overheard this, she’d have probably retorted to just open a fortune-telling shop, such an accurate diagnosis indeed.

For a fraudster like him to make a name for himself in the Central Plains should intrinsically require at least this level of intellect.

Dou Sam insisted, “No way, this girl is among the cream of the crop; she’s among the most frighteningly smart outfits I’ve ever seen.”

“Let’s wager again, shall we?”

Fine. How about gold? No, let’s make it a title instead. How about that? If you’re not sure, just withdraw.”

“Why would I back out?”

And with Ajan Deok willingly handing over the gold, it meant he tacitly agreed Dou Sam was right.

Seomun Qing was indeed vile, smart, and a meticulous individual.

As a tactical strategist, he declared he would properly deal with her.

Thus, Dou Sam, quite unexpectedly, succeeded in pulling a fast one over a world-renowned scam artist.

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