Chapter 352

Qing gritted her teeth.

She wanted nothing more than to chase down and slaughter those bastards right away, but she couldn’t leave behind the groaning, wounded bodies of the villagers and workers.

At least Qing knew how to fake some decent medical skills.

She was the only one who could provide the minimum treatment needed for those shot by arrows.

“Just hang in there a little longer. It’s going to sting, alright?”

As she spoke, she cut through the arrow that was piercing one man’s shoulder.

“Ugh!”

“Good, you held out well. But could you let go of that arm? There are others who need help too.”

Out of over twenty people, half were already dead, and another half of those were about to follow.

The wandering physician was someone who sought out devastated areas hit by disasters or plagues.

Thus, the first lesson Qing learned was about the priority of treatment.

Identify those who could be saved and those who could be left alone, those who could be treated yet might still die, and those who were surely doomed.

To save the maximum number of lives, sometimes it was necessary to leave dying people behind.

In the end, only eight remained.

At least it was a relief that the most skilled among them, the leader, had only minor injuries.

Or perhaps it was only expected that someone skilled would manage to escape with just minor wounds.

Four were hanging on between life and death.

They tore apart grain sacks to make makeshift beds on carts for the injured, and the two who couldn’t move were laid on the carts as well.

Luck was with them; one person had five arrows stuck in them yet miraculously bore no fatal wounds.

“First, you should head back. The rescue operation is important, but isn’t saving lives the priority? But what the hell happened? Those guys weren’t even from the Green Forest. Were they after the goods?”

“This was a scheduled transport. It wasn’t a rescue mission, was it?”

It was a scheduled transport, not an urgent rescue.

Transporting grain yielded little profit, and at the same time, was heavy and burdensome.

So, this was merely a routine transport to cycle personnel in and out, coincidentally carrying grain.

Otherwise, the only deliveries they typically made were letters carried by messengers.

“I won’t let those bastards get away with it. Don’t worry about revenge; just go back. I’ll hunt down every last one of them.”

At that, Hak Seosan shook his head.

“Please don’t do that. Those guys are…”

He lowered his voice, glancing around as if worried about being overheard.

“I know because I had some relations in the military. They are officials’ soldiers.”

“What?!”

“The weapons they use are called Iron Steel. They can pierce steel from thirty paces away; if they’re just looking to injure, their arrows can easily kill from a hundred paces. It’s like arrows without any qi.”

The weapon known as “Iron Steel” was well-known by Qing’s hometown as crossbows.

“Why would they do this?”

“There must be something going on in the mountains.”

“If that were the case, they could just send people away. Why would those bastards go so far as to impersonate bandits and hurt others?”

“Shh. It’s something that cannot be done openly; they must do it this way to chase people away. If word gets out that the Yangsan Park Corps is killing passersby, no one would dare venture into the mountains. They probably planned to spare a couple to send a warning.”

“Seriously, who do they think they are?”

Qing burst out angrily, and unexpectedly, Hak Seosan prostrated himself before her.

“Wait, why are you doing that?”

“I, Hak, have received a great grace from you. Not only have you saved my life, but you’ve also saved my men’s lives. Please call upon me whenever you need something. I owe my life to the Great Hero, and I want to repay that debt with my own life.”

“Eh, that’s alright, and what’s this Great Hero business? I’m not that old yet, you know? Plus, I’m not in great shape myself. You should get up quickly; there are people here who urgently need assistance.”

When I say to hurry up, it’s really code for me not going with you.

Hak Seosan’s expression grew serious.

“What are you planning to do? If you’re thinking of confronting them, I can help—”

“Nope. Focus on your men. I’ll take a look, and if it looks dire, I’ll just leave. If I cross the mountain path, those guys won’t have a clue what’s going on.”

“Then, take care.”

—-

The most formidable weapon of the government is the rain.

With hails of cannonballs, they punish the emperor’s enemies.

When there’s a ceremony, they tear that expensive top-tier paper into pieces and rain it down like confetti.

Or they redistribute food like falling rain to repay favors.

In the case of suppressing rebels and slaughtering their kin, the ground is drenched from the blood that rains down.

With the exception of actual droplets of water, anything else could be made to fall like rain.

Real rainfall comes from the will of the heavens, a fate humans do not dare to replicate.

(If there’s a drought, it simply means to die.)

And the rain of arrows is also a deadly weapon of the government.

In truth, cannonballs are too heavy to be called rain.

Paper petals are more akin to scattered blossoms than rain.

But arrows can genuinely cascade down like an elegant rain.

When thousands of arrows are shot into the sky all at once, records say the tightly packed arrows blocked out the skies, plunging the whole area into darkness like a rainy day.

Qing didn’t know this part.

However, she had experienced the overwhelming power of those iron arrows which shot over a hundred at once.

Crossbows took forever to load, so it seemed they shot one and then ran away.

There couldn’t have been a hundred of them hiding there; weren’t there just a few too many arrows?

While Qing tended to underestimate the primitive technologies of ancient Central Plains, in reality, it was during the medieval period when the finest technologies of humanity flourished in the Central Plains.

Repeatable crossbows were developed long before, over a thousand years ago.

In any case, the teachings of Green Forest!

Assess the enemy’s capabilities, predict what they can do with those capabilities, and prepare to respond!

Qing had seen the power of those iron arrows and learned that they could be shot in volleys of a hundred.

So what should she do?

Avoid open plains, be cautious of ridges where she can hide, and always be aware of the line of fire.

Moreover, arrows, no matter how powerful, still are just arrows.

If there are plenty of obstacles, they lose their power.

And that was why Qing chose to avoid the mountain roads for the hills.

Plus, she could always run away if things turned south.

This time, Qing’s escape plan was different from before.

Because this time, she hadn’t shouted, “I am Seomun Qing of the Divine Maiden Sect.”

If she managed to kill as many bastards as possible and ran away, no one would know it was her.

The stakes were different this time compared to when she worried the Divine Maiden Sect might be implicated or how Seoliri or others might get dragged into trouble.

So, Qing stealthily made her way through the terrain.

Her sharp toes silently dug into the dry leaves, and just as silently pulled out again.

As she waded through the thick layer of leaves, not making a sound, this ability to be stealthy could well be described as the true strength of Shintu, the greatest thief in the world, now evolved into the greatest thiefess in the world.

Qing made no noise, but the enemies did.

They rustled the leaves noisily.

Before long, two wild-looking figures dressed in bandit attire appeared, clad in beast furs for some reason.

Real bandits wouldn’t be wearing such high-quality furs.

“Ugh, damn, it’s freezing. Hey, do you have any marijuana?”

“Go buy yourself some.”

“How much could that possibly cost you? Just give me a joint. I’ll get you a whole pile later.”

“Who’s gonna roll all that? You just want to drag it out as usual.”

Qing’s eyes narrowed.

Look at these guys smoking dope?

With the national law being as strict as it is, they’re risking execution just by smoking that; that’s a death sentence right there!

While Qing’s view of national law was her own business, for once, she hit the nail on the head.

Usually, cows will stomp mice, and according to Qing’s hometown, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Under the national law, military personnel found smoking marijuana might as well be put to death; that’s how serious it is.

These bastards didn’t just smoke it once or twice; they even carried around the expensive stuff.

“Ah, that feels good. It’s hitting just right. I don’t care how many I smoke; whoever made this is the best. Do you have some secret recipe?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t smoke it anyway.”

“You bastard. If you were so good, you’d have come earlier. Heh, heh heh, right?”

“Hehe, that’s true!”

Laughing for no reason is a trait of someone high on drugs.

What’s so funny that they are giggling inconsolably, just getting sluggish, so Qing didn’t feel the need to put much effort into it.

Thud. One guy’s head tipped over to touch the shoulder of the other.

But the other guy jumped in surprise.

“Whoa, did this bastard just die from the cold? He’s turning way too far, isn’t he? Heh, heh, should I help him out? Heh, get up.”

“Huh? Is that the dope? It’s completely turning him into an idiot, isn’t it?”

“Definitely. But this guy’s got an amazing stash. He claims it’s some hometown secret; even when the others smoke over ten, he can’t match this one hit.”

“Oh? A hometown secret, huh? Looks lethal. Did he soak it in opium or something?”

“Oh, that could make sense. But who the hell are you? Since it’s cold, how about we share some warm cuddling to heat things up?”

Even as Qing quietly infiltrated, the stoned guy seemed none the wiser.

What does he even think? Oh look, a girl! Let’s get it on now that I’m high!

This is why drugs are so harmful.

“A bandit who can write characters? Get that out of here. What are you doing pretending to be a bandit?”

“Oh come on, missy, don’t you recognize your elder? This is a secret, but I’m actually Baekho from the Northern Camp. You know how much that means, huh?”

“Whoa. Baekho! You’re one of the elite soldiers? What kind of nonsense is this? Dressed like a bandit, fully short on wit, you want to hang yourself under the national law?”

“No, no, I’m serious! Okay, I think I’m sounding ridiculous myself. A government official pretending to be a bandit, what a sight, right? Still, if someone above says frisk him, then so be it.”

“Huh? What are you doing here?”

Qing decided to play along to extract some information.

“I don’t really know. They’ve been saying a rebel showed up; if you spot any suspicious guy, just signal immediately or something. Huh? What’s up with you? You look suspicious?”

“You mean I’m suspicious? I don’t look like a bandit, do I?”

Qing casually replied.

Anyway, if things turn hairy, she could cut loose and disappear.

Better to just toss out any kind of bait and see what bites.

“Ah, I see. Well then. With an elder like you, what are you thinking about with a hot night—uh, night isn’t what I meant, but just showing each other our faces? Not to mention, my wife’s been after concubines, and I could use another for this. I have a house with three rooms in Beijing; sound good?”

“Oh wow, self-owned place in Beijing?”

For reference, Qing’s place would be a tiny shack, barely a quarter, really just a speck.

“So you’re saying you don’t know who the rebel is?”

“A rebel is a rebel. There’s no real identity. Once you become a rebel, that’s it. The moment you become a rebel, your previous identity is gone, and only the rebel who must die remains.”

Though it sounded strange, it was true.

The moment you become a rebel, you’re just a rebel; your former identity disappears and is replaced by the rebel who must be dealt with.

As their laughter faded, logic gradually entered into their conversation.

Qing tossed over a piece of the marijuana the corpse was still clutching.

“Here, Baekho, looks like your high is coming down. Smoke this, finish it off.”

“Ah, right. Oh, there was more? Heh, feels great. But you there, show me your face already. You’re being way too rude in front of the elder. Heh heh, I mean, come on, all those masked beauties are running around thinking they’re the world’s most beautiful? Hee hee hee.”

Hmm. It seems the fashion of face masks is pretty trendy even in Beijing.

Another useless piece of information gathered.

Qing casually brushed her veil aside.

“Here.”

“Ugh.”

As soon as the white tiger took a breath, he suddenly dropped to his knees and bowed respectfully.

“Oh my goddess! Is that you?”

Hmm. So many twists and turns today.

Qing simply went along with it for the moment.

“Yes. I’ve ventured down to see the soldiers who uphold the heavens’ decree and are kind enough to visit.”

“Oh! So you mean to be our great lord?”

“However, I must know if you are truly loyal soldiers of the emperor. You must tell me everything about your mission. If I’m satisfied, I’ll help you escape this cold.”

“Heh heh, are you really speaking? I—an elder—am in a bit of a bind. You see, I’m Tang Dongliang of the Northern Camp, and right now…”

With enthusiasm building, Tang rambled on.

Though he was high, his responses weren’t all unreliable.

After all, it’d be easy to cross-check with other guys.

Qing seriously listened as she promised Tang, and freed him from the clutches of cold forever.

Now, he wouldn’t feel cold again.

But then Qing tilted her head.

Wait, should that be the case?

Don’t ghosts always complain about being cold?

Isn’t the afterlife supposed to be colder?

It seems the afterlife may not be so accommodating; should she be concerned about breaking her promise now?

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