Chapter 362

Qing hugs the sky tightly while soaring up high.

Today, it seems like I’m going to die from boredom.

The sudden sense of heart-stopping weightlessness, the experiences of free fall as I conform to gravity, allow me some space for my mind to wander.

Fortunately, I can see the surface down there reflecting back at me.

What if the cart breaks down mid-flight, or the trajectory doesn’t reach far enough, or I end up tumbling into the river? I might be in big trouble, but thankfully, that isn’t the case.

Honestly, I still have confidence in surviving.

Even if caught by the Golden Guard, I believe I’ll make it out alive.

The real danger lies with Freedom and Yeon Pa.

If Freedom gets captured by the Golden Guard, it’s all over.

But if the cart climbs straight up the mountain, a path opens up for survival.

As Qing reaches near the water surface, she flips her body, releasing tension into the air.

Then, all three of them do a belly flop into the water!

Splash! Heads bob up to the surface.

Qing, in a position akin to backstroke, hugs the two people and starts splashing around.

“Ugh, are you okay?”

“Cough, what are you doing, you reckless fool, treating the precious Wang Ya this way?”

“Hold on, let’s just check if he’s still breathing; don’t wake him up. I’m wounded too, you know? If Freedom struggles, then I’ll have no choice but to abandon ship. If people are to survive, they have to live.”

This snapped Yeon Pa back to her senses.

She was not afraid of being abandoned, but upon hearing such ridiculous remarks, her mind cleared in disbelief.

If she had even the slightest inclination to abandon, she wouldn’t have dragged the cart all the way here.

Should I call her a foolish blockhead or commend her loyalty?

“Spouting nonsense. Tsk tsk. Looks like you just exhausted yourself and went into a daze for a moment.”

“Daze? What do you mean? It’s genuinely daze-worthy, but I’m just knocked out.”

“Those of noble status don’t just pass out. That’s why you need to stay noble.”

“What good does it do to just say you’re dazed? You’re in a position to sink.”

Now, all they needed to do was grab a sizable piece of debris and float away…

But there were no trees anywhere to be found.

Where have all the trees gone? Did they burn up or something? But seriously, where are they?

Despite searching everywhere, there’s not a single tree in sight.

Thanks to that, Qing’s expression stays grim.

Holding onto both of them with one hand, she flails her arms and legs.

Every time she thrashes, a sharp pain protests from her side, causing Qing’s face to twist in agony.

The purple heartwood sinks in the water.

It’d actually be stranger for a material tougher than mid-level steel to float.

Unaware of that fact, Qing only feels bitterness.

Why can’t I just float along easily!

“Are you hurt?”

Yeon Pa’s voice is thick with concern.

“I mentioned I was hurt from the beginning, didn’t I? I thought my side was starting to heal, but looking at this, it’s probably all torn up again. Cracks in the bones haven’t healed; they only spread.”

“Hmph. You’re acting all tough. Seeing that you’re still talking, I guess you’re alive. Have you ever cracked a bone? You really can’t move. Just trying to budge brings screams.”

“I need to tough it out. It’s all about resilience, you know?”

Qing begins to swim faster.

No, it isn’t that she’s gaining strength; she’s enraged because it feels like lava’s flowing in her side.

The current is getting stronger.

Floating midway between the upper and middle reaches of the river, the flow becomes intense due to the steep gradient, and the current around the cliff at Geokmok Mountain bends westward, speeding downstream.

“Yeon Pa, it feels more like drifting than swimming now, doesn’t it? Do you see any villages or anything?”

When in a pinch, the best way to find commonfolk is to float downstream.

Primitive techniques in the ancient, backward Central Plain are actually surprisingly advanced.

However, those techniques are primarily used by larger cities to make it convenient; they don’t build settlements based on the capital.

The technology of this era belongs to the distinguished, not the commonfolk.

Commoners are meant to be uncomfortable.

They shouldn’t dare get comfortable with technology.

So if a river flows with such ample quantity, it ought to have a village nearby.

After Qing and her companions drift down for a while, the river meets a cliff and turns north.

Then, as they continue drifting, suddenly the mountain range drops, revealing fields near the northern riverbank.

“There, a village, there’s a village!”

That was the sweetest sound she could hear.

Thus, they drift towards the riverbank.

All three were wearing heavy fur coats, now soaked through and weighing them down.

Moreover, suddenly getting out of the water onto solid ground was making their bodies feel even heavier as they couldn’t adjust.

Lightning bolts kept striking through Qing’s mind.

Her side, she really felt like ripping it out.

It’d probably hurt less if it were gone.

She thought of the young lad’s weak state and woke him up.

He was all good, lying there alone, and she slapped him with some frustration, smack! Smack!

“Freedom, Freedom?”

“Hey! How dare you slap Wang Ya’s face—”

“Gasp, oh, oh. Friend, is that you? What about Yeon Pa, Yeon Pa?”

“Wang Ya! The commonfolk are here! Are you conscious? How’s your body?”

“Hmm, there’s no place on me that doesn’t hurt. But hmmm.”

Freedom gently rubbed her cheeks.

“I thought I bumped my head up on the carriage; it was my cheek? It certainly hurts a lot.”

With that, Yeon Pa shot Qing a look with dagger-like eyes.

Qing pretended to be observing the smoke from the blazing mountain in the distance.

So the less wounded girl and the weak lad helped the heavily wounded old girl towards the village.

A village should be a village, but if it’s a kinship settlement, it could really be a struggle.

Remote villages on the Central Plain are practically fortified small warlords.

It’s natural they wouldn’t welcome outsiders.

However, there’s the wall—it’s very clearly built by joining house to house.

It was the fortified style of the villages on the Central Plain.

But then again, the fact that a gate-like entrance stands wide open is encouraging.

It doesn’t seem like they’re completely closed off.

Maybe they could ditch the fur coats completely and take a short break.

But Qing’s assumption was wrong.

The open gate didn’t mean they were welcoming outsiders; it meant the village was empty.

A wildfire had driven them all away.

Well, that’s for the best.

These fortified village folks would be impossible to trust; whether they let them in or not, they’re barriers; and if they let them in, they could easily turn into bandits.

There were several chimneys with smoke rising, yet hadn’t they rushed out and not extinguished the flames?

If they were lucky, they’d escape unscathed, but the village would probably burn down completely.

Then, what can you do?

If they’re brushing off any fires, it’s fine if they stop to rest.

With that, Qing kicked the door to the building still puffing smoke.

As soon as she burst in, there was a gasp of surprise.

“W-Who goes there!”

“Ah. I see there is someone here. I’m so sorry….”

It was an old fellow with a thoroughly hunched back.

Surprised by the sudden intrusion, he looked shocked, but the water pouring off their coats and the pale lips, especially the poor sight of Freedom shaking like it was an earthquake, caught his attention.

He quickly offered a warm place by the fire, threw blankets over them, and filled a cup with steaming hot tea.

Hot water is the best for raising body temperature.

As the hot tea entered her cold and aching body, it caused an overwhelming sense of melting warmth to wash over her.

“Phew, thank you.”

“Thank you for your kindness.”

“Are you a hunter? Since you have a knife, you must be a Martial World Individual, right? Well, with that Fire Demon around, what does it even mean? Did you jump into the water looking at the fire?”

“Uh, something like that.”

To any outsider, the attire of bandits would immediately spark such thoughts.

Bandits dress like beggars living on mountains.

They wouldn’t wander around dressed in quality fur coats, with fur hats and fur shoes.

“Looks like the villagers fled. But old man, why are you still here?”

“I’ve lived here all this time, so where should I go? Just that my old granny seems to have been bitten; I cannot leave her alone. I think it’s time to meet her now.”

“Ah…”

“Because the Fire Demon has broken out. What should I do?”

Freedom and Yeon Pa exchanged worried glances with Qing.

One of the hallmarks of these isolated stronghold villages is their heavy and incomprehensible dialect.

Having survived together for so long, their language has transformed into something entirely relatable, almost like a foreign tongue, as it bears no relation to regional accents; you wouldn’t understand it without the keywords.

However, Qing completely understood.

Only, she was too surprised to consider it odd that the old man comprehended her words.

People generally believe that if someone understands them, then they must also understand others.

“The Imperial Guards set the mountains on fire.”

“Huh? What was that?”

Suddenly, the old fellow busies himself packing his belongings.

Qing is left dumbfounded.

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t leave without your lady?”

“The imperial bastards set the fire. It means the fire demon is not the only concern. Those son-of-a-bitch Imperial bastards! Those bastards should drown in shit! They need to be fed their mother’s filth before they die! I can’t rely on those Imperial bastards to save me.”

He may face the fire demon but refuses to die in flames set by the Imperial Guards.

Slang is pretty similar across the board.

The old man’s thoughts about the government are plain to see.

Yeon Pa shivered at the dreadful blasphemy.

“Th-this old man…”

“Stop,” shouted Freedom, their expression darkening.

The old man just packed up and left, leaving only the guests behind in the deserted house.

“Good things come to those who wait. Freedom, just rest a bit. Drink some more hot water, and once you feel warm, shed those wet clothes and wrap up in a blanket. I’ll go find dry clothes and food. Yeon Pa, can you help me?”

“Ah, no, I can’t go.”

“Oh, so you’re calling me faking it while you’re perfectly fine? Look at you, being a little advanced in the world.”

“What? You’re acting like I’m just an old lady trying to make a fool out of a young girl. I’m the one with all the ripped flesh and blood flowing out, and you’re trying to take advantage of me.”

“Ah. Well then, say that. Yeon Pa, while waiting for me, take off those wet clothes and dry yourself up. I’d love to tend to your wounds right away, but I need clean cloth for that. Ugh.”

As Qing got up from her seat, groaning, her body felt heavy, every limb pulled. The pain coursing through her side felt like molten iron pouring in, yet what could she do?

Freedom would freeze to death outside, or fall ill from the cold, making things worse, and Yeon Pa was concerned about her wounds, too.

—-

In truth, Yeon Pa thought Qing was just being dramatic.

She claims her muscles tore and bones cracked, but if she really endured those kinds of injuries, just breathing would make her scream, causing her to toss and turn, moaning in agony.

Yet she powerfully pulled that cart and swam nearly half a league while holding onto two people.

So Qing stayed busy.

She gathered food and clothing to change into, stitched up Yeon Pa’s torn wounds, applied ointment, and wrapped everything up while preparing a big stew with all the remaining ingredients, hardly managing to sit down.

Only after finishing the meal could Qing finally inspect her own side.

As she unwrapped the bandages from her wounds, she let out a continuous groan.

Yeon Pa gasped.

“You, you’ve got to stop looking like that!”

The right side of her waist was caved in like a gourd, while the left bulged out like an expectant mother.

The once bruised lump had burst again, new bruises rose in a purple hue, covering the already swollen black mess.

“Dear heavens, how could it be so cruel!”

Only then did Yeon Pa realize Qing wasn’t exaggerating; she truly had cracks in her bones and torn muscles, quite literally.

“How could you walk around looking like this!? What are you going to do!?”

Yeon Pa nearly cried out in distress, her hands wavering as she reached out but then withdrew, unable to touch her wounds.

“If it hurts this much, you should act like it hurts. I couldn’t tell, and to think, an old lady has such harebrained thoughts.”

And she couldn’t suppress her guilt, pacing restlessly.

Qing chuckled at her dismay but quickly winced at the pain, changing her expression.

“Continuously hurting makes it bearable. Plus, when fighting, you don’t notice when you get wounded, right?”

---