The world’s first original Red Great Hero, the elder brother of the Mangtak clan, Wang Mang!
Even though the rulers of the Central Plain claim to despise Wang Mang, in truth, they respected and revered him the most.
Wang Mang emphasized the integrity of officials.
He insisted that no public servant should ever accept silver or gold in exchange for their duties, declaring that they must serve purely with the heart for the people, thus eliminating all salaries for officials.
This is the reason why the rulers and officials respect and revere Wang Mang.
From then on, rulers denounced officials who sought more wealth as corrupt, greedy, and wicked, considerably slashing their salaries.
However, they still did not permit side jobs, so officials had to embezzle public funds to survive.
You could say it’s a survival-type corruption.
Thus, an incredibly absurd structure was born among officials.
A portion of the amount embezzled by subordinates would end up in the hands of superiors.
So, the ones who could pass on more were deemed more capable, climbing the ranks continually.
How much you could embezzle and how mercilessly you could exploit the people became the measure of competence.
And this ‘competence’ of the Central Plain people continues to this day, representing the spirit of the Han and the essence of Chinese civilization itself.
And soldiers are also officials.
The army of the Central Plain is notoriously known for lacking three things, historically and in the present: no military discipline, no supplies, and no mercy. The combination of the first two means that plunder is simply a means of survival, and they’re wholeheartedly dedicated to looting.
In fact, they even distinguish little between enemies and civilians—barbarians and the people are seldom differentiated.
They don’t catch criminals, they don’t fend off invaders, and every campaign they embark on ends in defeat, unable to prevent foreign invasions while they’re fervently focused on plundering their own citizens.
Why do they exist? Just to guard the dynasty held by the Emperor, a sword meant only for the rulers of the Central Plain.
So, who’s going to blame them!
If they don’t do this, they’d starve!
What about the wives and children they have to support?
Heaven would probably understand.
Of course, since it doesn’t, Qing sees the red glows hovering above the soldiers’ heads.
Even though they can’t see the exact numbers due to blurred vision, they can tell by their length whether it’s a three-digit or two-digit figure.
Oblivious, Qing thinks it’s intriguing.
Wait, is the army in this savage, backward Central Plain just made up of criminals?
Do they only recruit the most wicked and vile characters based on their evil deeds?
The answer is that once you enter the military, you naturally become a scoundrel, but Qing is oblivious to that.
She doesn’t particularly want to know, and even if she did, she wouldn’t understand.
If they’ve done something terrible, shouldn’t they just die?
Thus, Qing follows the crimson number figures, trotting along.
The trees of the Nanling Mountains stand tall and straight.
Unlike the dense primitive forests of Zhangjiajie, where the view is stifled, here, the trees spread out wide enough to give clear sight.
So, even though these two bastards Qing is tailing could easily spot her if they turned around, she was cautious at first.
But a persistent question nagged at her.
What’s with the confident stride? Are they just looking ahead?
A man doesn’t look back?
Since Qing wasn’t making any noise or showing herself, they continued on their path without awareness of her presence.
“But seriously, what kind of ‘traitor’ can you spot right away? Is there a ‘traitor’ written on their face or something?”
“I dunno. Probably just an awkward scholar who can’t handle the mountain trails.”
In fact, Qing might not have known, but if the soldiers saw a scholar wearing violet robes with a dragon embroidered on them, even descendants of the Tang army would shout, “Damn, it’s a traitor!”
“Ah, I want to loot!”
“Shut your mouth, you idiot.”
“Why, the Gasanbyeok Army raided a village two days ago and they wanted a silver coin just to use the women? What the hell, they’re not even brothels!”
“One silver coin? Isn’t that crossing the line? Should we let Lord Kang know?”
“Kang is the type who thinks that unless you’re a man of wit, it’ll end in fighting. Or should we just charge in and take it by force?”
“Don’t! If we get caught by the posh assholes, we’re doomed.”
Listening quietly, Qing thought about execution.
But then, the Gasanbyeok Army? That’s where it starts.
Qing silently approached and tapped the shoulder of the guy behind.
It was the familiar gesture of playfully poking with a finger—like a kid poking someone’s cheek.
But the finger had an urgent glow of Qi, akin to a blade, whirling and seeking flesh.
Such a tiny difference, yet the small variations make all the difference.
“Excuse me?”
“Yikes, what the—”
Qing’s finger pierced through the soldier’s cheek and delved into his mouth.
The sensation of grinding teeth against each other and the fusion of the first two segments piercing the back of his mouth—now that’s a strange kind of harmony or contrast.
Oh… that was incredible…
“Huh, what?”
As the guy in front turned around, Qing’s finger burrowed into the center of his collarbone.
His insides felt like exploding! As fresh air rushed in through the new hole, a scream that never reached his vocal cords escaped as a guttural wind sound.
“Ahhh….”
Qing’s finger continued downward, passing through the jawline and reaching the nape of the neck, puncturing through to the airway as well.
Qing staggered back slightly.
Wow! Wheel of Law!
How’s this incredible skill been kept exclusive to Yeon Pa all this time?
Qing’s eyes sparkled with three flickers.
In both East and West, the number three has always been considered perfect, representing the triad of heaven, earth, and humanity in the Central Plain, meaning the world, i.e., space and time.
Truly a gaze encapsulating space-time!
“Alright. From now on, kill each other. Only one will survive. As my revered one said, he who wishes to die shall live, and he who wishes to live shall die.”
But the two were still struggling, attempting to scream without any sound coming out.
Qing stomped on the ground to disrupt their concentration and unleashed the Sword Aura once more.
“Can’t you hear me? We only need one of you.”
Upon that, their responses separated life from death.
One who had a hole in his jaw immediately rummaged for his identification, while the other, whose jaw remained intact, raised an axe instead.
Crack. And thus, the one with the jaw split horizontally ended up with his head split vertically as well.
The reason why loyal soldiers who know their duties disappear more and more is precisely this.
Proper individuals cannot survive.
“……!”
The one with a hole in his neck was flapping his mouth hopelessly, realizing he couldn’t make any sound and raising both hands to show he wished to live.
His expression was probably quite pitiable?
“……!”
The man flopped around hopelessly, then realized again that he couldn’t speak and nodded vigorously.
“Glad you’re cooperative. If you had blown a flute or rebelled, I would’ve had to find someone else.”
Then, Qing followed the soldier as he led the way, as if he had endless energy, cutting through the mountain path without tiring out.
He must have really wanted to live.
Eventually, a hidden temporary shelter over the ridge revealed itself.
“……!”
The soldier patted his chest and pointed far into the distance.
Can I go now?
Qing shook her head.
“Huh. I said it already. He who wishes to die shall live, and he who wishes to live shall die. But since you made your death wish by bringing me here, I don’t have to keep my promise to you. As for the one who wishes to live, I said I’d kill him, so I’ll just do it halfway and leave.”
There are plenty to kill anyway, so why not extend some generosity?
Qing’s blade sliced through the soldier’s belly.
His insides spilled out, but well, if he’s lucky, he might survive, or maybe not.
Qing left the soldier behind and headed towards the temporary shelter.
Even if it was hastily built, it was nothing more substantial than just a few wooden posts tied together with ropes.
It posed no obstacle for Qing or any warrior.
Qing slipped into the makeshift camp.
—-
After Qing sneaked back through the rocky crevice, Jayu greeted her.
Qing thought, perhaps he was getting bored with nothing to do all day.
“You’re here now? Well, did you come up with any escape plan?”
“The tone. Honestly, I think we could just rest a few days and walk down. They’re a complete rabble. I cleared out four shelters, and in a day or two, they’ll be short on troops, leaving gaping holes.”
“Hmm, you say that, but your expression seems a bit gloomy. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, no, what kind of soldiers act like such scoundrels? They’ve looted every single village around here. Not even bandits, they’re worse than bandits.”
Bandits at least wouldn’t slaughter when raiding a village.
They’d need to be able to pillage again.
But the soldiers were different. Since they wouldn’t raid a village again and feared getting into trouble, they’d utterly wipe them out.
Destruction of Evidence.
So Qing spent all day traversing around, only managing to clear out four shelters, and it took a long time as she had to punish each one thoroughly.
That shadow weighed down on Jayu’s expression too.
“Cough. It’s an old issue; there’s not much we can do about it. If we could pay the soldiers decent salaries, it could be avoided…”
With so many soldiers in the Central Plain, if salaries were increased even slightly, a torrent of the national treasury would be lost.
Conversely, it meant there was no need to raise salaries for those pitifully small numbers, akin to grains of sand.
“Really, during times like this, I have no clue how the world in the Central Plain is running.”
To be precise, it’s not running at all.
As discontent builds up and warlords rise, the country falls into chaos, causing dynasty after dynasty to change.
“Tsk, tsk. It’s precisely due to the current Emperor’s lack of virtue. If a virtuous man sat on the throne, the world wouldn’t be like this. Don’t you think?”
“Cough.”
“Well, that’s true, right? If from the top they had decided to reform properly, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Cough.”
“What, are you coming down with something? Keep coughing? Hmm, maybe Jayu felt a bit cold?”
With that, Qing placed her hand on Jayu’s forehead.
Her other hand slipped into his neck to check his pulse.
Jayu jumped back in shock.
But Qing only moved closer, as the grip of a Supreme Martial Artist isn’t something ordinary people can easily shake off.
“What in the world, why are you behaving so atrociously?”
“Your pulse is a bit weak, but we can’t light a fire. Just try putting on another coat and tough it out.”
The cold touch of Qing’s hand on his forehead and neck was distinctly chilling, yet it felt exceptionally clear.
Turning his red face away, Jayu spoke.
“…I can’t lift my arms anymore.”
Jayu was already wearing four coats. He couldn’t even stick his arms to his sides, and moreover, these weren’t billowy summer clothes; they were tightly fitting.
Yeon Pa scolded with vigor.
“What do you mean your pulse is weak? What the hell does that mean? Guess you’re just cold.”
“It’s just a bit chilly; I’m perfectly fine.”
And with that, a touch of laughter seeped through.
“Hey, you, having learned some medicine, isn’t that gonna help? If you’ve felt the pulse, shouldn’t you take care of the patient? Originally, when there’s no fire, people should cuddle together and share warmth.”
“Ugh.”
Qing was horrified.
“Yeon Pa, don’t say that.”
Jayu was equally shocked.
But Yeon Pa was relentless.
“This old hag longs to do that, but I’m worried I’ll cause a scandal with your injured body. Although men and women are separate, shouldn’t you put in a little effort to protect your precious body?”
“Just light a fire, ugh.”
Then suddenly, Qing had a thought.
“Yeon Pa is a Master of Transformation. Can’t you boil at least one water pouch? Just a cup of hot tea would warm you up quickly.”
Once you reach the realm of transformation, you can even ignite objects or boil water using your Qi.
Qing would only exhaust her internal energy and manage to make something lukewarm.
But it’s said that Yeon Pa can burn paper quite easily.
So she could definitely boil water.
“No, even if you’re layered up, if you stay out all day, your body’s bound to get colder, right? Did you boil water while I was away?”
Yeon Pa had a personality that treasured her darling Qing too much to have not boiled water once.
Qing narrowed her eyes, and Yeon Pa scrunched her face tightly.
“Tsk. This girl is sharp but isn’t sure how to use it for anything.”
“Hey, do you want me to make sure? You say I must be perceptive, but then what’s with trying to use me?”
“Well, just in case, I meant to preserve my Qi. Even a Master of Transformation wouldn’t usually try to set a fire, would they? My energy is already thin.”
“Hmmm.”
Qing continued squinting her eyes.
It felt like a petty excuse.
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