Chapter 337

Dogs are pretty perceptive creatures.

The hunting dogs that used to roam with Qing remember her scent.

However, they can also sense the animosity of the masters searching for Qing, so they recall the gentle hands that used to pet them and decide to just wander around aimlessly.

Thus, the hunting dog that finds Qing is seeing her for the first time.

It’s not Qing.

Woof!

– This way! Seomun Qing is over here!

“No way, Black Dog! You’re betraying me like this? Is it Black Dog, Black, or Black Sam?”

But the hunting dog, seeing Qing for the first time, just bares its teeth and threatens menacingly.

To that, Qing just tilts her head in confusion.

Hmm, is this a dog I know?

“Aren’t these the brothers of Black Dog?”

Of course, Black Dog, Black, and Black Sam aren’t actual brothers.

Arf arf, woof! Woof!

“Hey! Shh! Can you keep it down?”

Qing, hiding up in a tree and tearing into a pheasant, scowled at the dog.

“They say dogs don’t bother you when you’re eating, but what a load of nonsense. Am I overcooking it?”

Qing chewed on the pheasant breast.

Pheasants tend to be a bit tough.

In fact, Qing was lacking in tension.

Ajan Deok’s terrifying schemes hadn’t hit the mark even once, but at least there was one outcome.

The elite search squad sent to find her were the absolute dregs of the dregs.

So it was only natural that Qing considered the martial arts level of the Green Forest to be utterly laughable.

That’s how she’d managed to escape so far.

Even if a bunch of those guys came charging at her, she didn’t find them intimidating at all, which is why she was just enjoying her meal.

And so, an encounter with the Green Forest tracking team!

A bandit pointed at the tree, shouting.

“Seomun Qing! It’s Seomun Qing! Right here!”

Thwack! The bandit, about to say something, clutched his forehead and collapsed.

Qing smacked her lips.

She flicked a mysterious wooden fruit, but it was too small and light to be of any threat.

If only she could crack some skulls with it, how nice that would be!

With that thought, Qing tore into the pheasant’s neck.

It was late autumn, and with winter approaching, the meat was succulent.

The pheasant neck, being cold, would ooze fat with every bite. Ah, delicious. Truly tasty.

“Seomun Qing! There you are!”

“Requesting backup!”

Screech!

Woof! Woof! Growl, woof!

Meanwhile, chaos reigned below.

As you’d expect from a half-wild valley like Won Gagye, the trees were unusually tall.

So even after locating the casually lounging Qing on a branch, they could only stamp their feet, helplessly.

“You coward! Get down here, now!”

“Seomun Qing! Come down peacefully!”

“Really? Should I come down? Are you feeling confident?”

Qing replied nonchalantly.

The leader of the squad, who had intended to call her down, suddenly thought, Hmm? Will we win if she comes down?

She hadn’t even pretended to listen until now, so he was just frustrated and screaming.

Rumor had it there was a horrifying creature in the woods that devoured people.

And then there was a soft voice in her ear.

“Yeah. If you’ve eaten, you should exercise. How about we play rough for a bit?”

The leader panicked.

If they delayed just long enough for the masters to arrive, the situation would be settled.

There was no need to take unnecessary risks.

“No! Don’t come down!”

“You just told me to come down!”

“I’m warning you! Don’t come down! If you do… um… if you come down…”

“If I come down, what? What are you gonna do?”

“Uh, if you come down… that’s a bit… tricky.”

“Oh, you’re in a bit of a bind, huh?”

Qing couldn’t finish her thought.

What the? Is he a bit slow upstairs?

Well, why would a smart guy go around being a bandit?

Qing accepted this notion and suddenly went off on a tangent.

“I’m full.”

“……?”

“But my Moonlight Sword is hungry!”

With that proclamation, Qing leapt down with gusto, her sword casting a vertical line as bright as a yellow sunset in descent.

“Yikes!”

The Sword Aura fell right towards the bandit.

Frozen in place, he was too stunned to think about dodging, only managing to cover his face and scream.

And then… thump!

“Ahhh! Ahhh! Huh?”

As the bandit screamed, he cautiously pulled his arms away.

This was odd; wasn’t there a shining sword falling just now? Did he just hallucinate?

Qing was slightly taken aback too.

Looking down from the tree, she hadn’t realized how close things were.

She had jumped down exuding Sword Aura only to land behind the bandit, cutting through empty air.

Feeling awkward, Qing inexplicably yelled.

“Gaping opportunity!”

A blade sliced into his side and came out the other side.

As the bandit’s upper body slumped down, another one with a flute stuck in his mouth came into Qing’s view.

“I told you not to make noise because I’m eating, but you keep squeaking?”

“Yikes!”

The bandit who witnessed his leader getting sliced in half promptly panicked and fled.

Qing chased after him, stomping the ground with her feet, taking one step, two steps, and caught up, spraying the sword diagonally.

Missed!

The bandit’s back suddenly sank into the ground, causing Qing’s sword to slice through empty air once again.

Thanks to a vine set up by some nasty brat snagging his ankle, he fell over in luck.

“Argh! Ahhh!”

The ground, lined with spikes, was a whole mess.

The bandit screamed as he got impaled everywhere.

If only he had been cleaved in half with one strike, he could’ve avoided such pain, so you might say misfortune followed.

As Qing looked down at the scene, she thought,

Since I set the trap, it’s not that this third-rate bandit managed to dodge the attack of this supreme, transcendent, super high-level master, right?

Qing swallowed her ugly excuse.

“Please, spare me…”

When someone’s about to die, they usually say this.

Especially those who realize their life is valuable tend to plead like this, since they might have something to bargain with before they kick the bucket.

“Spare you, huh?”

“Please. Cough.”

“Then tell me everything you know. I’ll listen and think it over.”

—-

In the end, the bandit was only aware of basic inner strength, barely grasping the fundamentals, so he didn’t have much to share.

Qing couldn’t help but be astonished.

Goodness! Claiming to be a beginner in the second stage, doesn’t he feel embarrassed saying that?

It’s like boasting, “I’m just starting to learn the Thousand Character Classic,” with pride.

Anyway, this bandit who claimed to be a novice in the Supreme Martial Arts didn’t know much at all.

By the way, if you get too absorbed in their martial art names, you’re already losing.

They might sound fancy and powerful, but in reality, they were just hastily modified, amateur-level techniques.

Qing quickly concluded this guy couldn’t possibly have learned any divine skills.

However, he didn’t even get the chance to plead for his life, as he slipped away on his own.

But it was enough for Qing to realize her situation.

Plus, there were over five hundred bandits all gathered from eleven different mountain hideouts?

Only then did Qing realize just how complacent she had been.

The entire northeastern slope was a massive mountain called Cheonja Mountain, and there were eight hideouts surrounding Won Gagye.

Having stepped onto their doorstep while already at odds with the Green Forest, it was like poking a beehive.

And above all—

Green Forest’s Great Chief In Nok-rim. Realm of Transformation.

Yangsan Park Corps’ Great Lord Suragwangbu Dou Sam. Realm of Transformation.

Two practitioners of the Realm of Transformation among a bunch of bandits?

The smile vanished from Qing’s face.

This is bad.

What should I do, hmm, it’d be better to escape for now.

But how?

Qing was the sort who figured anything out easily, and such people are usually smart.

She just didn’t use her wits, merely seeing it as a hassle.

Especially after gaining a body far beyond human limits, she had forgotten that being strong didn’t mean she had to think.

Her long-unused brain started whirling.

First off, Qing ripped off the Divine Maiden Sect robe that had the Follow Fragrance sticking to it, folded it up neatly, and buried it.

Um. Master. I’m sorry. I’ll try to find it later when I can.

Then, she tightened the straps on her torso, stripped the tops off a couple of bandits—drenched in blood—and wore them instead.

In any case, the state of the pants didn’t matter to her; they were equally filthy.

But still, it felt utterly gross!

The blood-stained parts didn’t bother her, but ugh, the smell of a stinking old man—when was the last time this got washed?

Already itching, she felt off.

As she pulled out some cloth from her bag, hastily wiped her hands, and scrubbed her face to clear the grime, she covered her head with one.

Adjusting the straps so her Moonlight Sword wouldn’t be visible in front, she held a hand axe in one hand, transforming into an unmistakable bandit.

A bandit with particularly deep and beautiful eyes was born.

Just as Qing began to turn her body, she paused, seemingly remembering something.

She tore a piece from a bandit’s pant leg, soaked it in blood, and wrapped it around her feet.

Yangsan Park Corps, ranked 17th.

The Yangsan Park Corps revered the heroes of Yangsan Park, daring to liken them to 108 formidable stars.

If the heroes of Yangsan Park heard about this, they would have been furious that uncouth bandits dared to bear their name.

The 19th chase unit’s leader, Cheon-am, came across a lagging bandit from another unit.

“You! Which group are you from?”

“Ahem, I’m from Unit 37, Yeoamgae Dae-cheol.”

A hoarse voice rolled out.

Suspiciously raspy.

“Why’s your voice like that? Why do you have your face covered?”

“I’ve got a bit of a cold. Cough. Ahem, if it bothers you…”

Then, the bandit brought a hand to his face, but Cheon-am waved it away.

“It’s fine. Don’t want to catch anything. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Traps, traps.”

“Damn, those filthy traps! That scoundrel laid them out so carelessly. What about the others?”

“I’m not sure, just… I fell into a pit…”

At times like this, claiming ignorance could be the best way to avoid suspicion.

Making up some half-baked story would just arouse more doubt.

Meanwhile, the hunting dog bared its teeth at Qing, weakly sniffing the Follow Fragrance.

It picked up a faint whiff, but since the masters weren’t yelling “Hey!” it just stayed on guard.

“Let’s regroup for now.”

“Thanks. But, um, brother, my foot…”

“Do I have to adjust to your little problems? Just keep up. I’m not looking for stragglers.”

“Y-Yes, got it, cough, understood. *cough*”

Cheon-am clicked his tongue at Qing, who looked like she might vomit blood from coughing.

With so much blood on her foot, it was clear she must have really hurt it, and she was limping terribly.

If Qing saw such a lagging member, she would never have willingly allowed him to join.

After all, limping is characteristic of traitors and serial murderers.

But in this primitive, ancient, uncivilized Central Plain, even this common-sense deduction based on scientific fact didn’t occur.

And so, the search resumed.

The dog handler kept urging the hunting dog to find Seomun Qing, all while Qing was just lingering behind him.

The dog wasn’t sure what the heck to do, but since it was told to sniff out the scent, it would just go based on that.

The search squad that followed was ahead, weapons drawn to prevent tripping, their steps kicking up leaves noisily, causing them not to move swiftly through the forest.

Trailing behind, Qing limped along.

Suddenly, she moved gracefully like a cat but made no noise as her foot glided soundlessly through the leaves.

Then she seized the head of the guy in the very back with both hands and—crunch.

Amazingly, when someone receives a blow to the back of the head, they can’t scream at all.

Not only can they not scream, they even can’t breathe, blink, or think.

All from just the back of their head barely touching their back.

Yet, it was a truly remarkable transformation that occurs in the human body.

Qing gently laid the fallen bandit down, cradling him softly.

Then she, as if nothing had happened, moved forward, looking at the back of the guy’s head in front of her.

Qing found herself having thoughts akin to a ghost story she’d heard somewhere before.

Now, are you going to be last?

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