Chapter 37

“Qing knows nothing at all, but this fuss? Yeah, she’s even more clueless about that.”

“I don’t know the canal. I don’t know the Yangtze River. I don’t know Dongjing Lake.”

“The tribute… what’s it called? The bureaucratic ranks are a pain in the neck.”

“Cannibal Demon? I don’t even remember the weaklings.”

All I did was chase after a free dinner, and somehow I’ve ended up as everyone’s hero.

Well, it’s not like I could say that Cannibal Demon was weak just because I caught him to replace a nasty guy.

It was a win-win situation.

The canal’s business, run by Bokhaun, was a cash cow, which is why I was treated like royalty.

They even prepared a special event just for Qing.

Bokhaun, the canal owner, barely had time to dwell on the sorrow of losing his son.

He had to stop the official’s rampage, after all.

Luckily, that deputy was a complete fool.

That gave me the perfect reason to sever ties with him.

There needs to be a flaw at the top for the exchange of connections to happen.

I had to pin all the accusations on that weirdo called Unyeonjeong and find a new backer.

So, Bokhaun channeled his grief into hatred for the traditional scoundrels.

The very name “traditional” was laughable.

We’ve been bandits for ages, so they were basically saying let’s just live as bandits.

Words should at least sound reasonable, right?

But I had been a friend of someone, and I was a descendant of the former canal leaders, so I waited to see.

I believed they could change once they tasted a life of abundance and respect.

Bokhaun’s faith was betrayed.

The belief of the canal owner was now set in stone.

I had been too soft on innovation.

Innovation begins with parting ways with the old generation!

Coincidentally, it resembled a concept that marked a significant point in human history from either the distant future or an alternate past.

This is the power held by a group that has shared the same culture for a long time.

It’s called nationality!

Thus, with single-minded determination, I was ready to destroy tradition with a blood-red mission.

Traditional scoundrels were executed in droves, bound as they were.

The executioner stepped forth as the canal’s self-proclaimed hero.

With a loose, friendly smile, he effortlessly swung his sword, decapitating folks left and right.

That’s when things changed.

That’s when people began to show their aversion.

Qing picked up on the vibe and thought to herself.

These guys really are impossible to deal with.

They kept stabbing me in the back.

They said they’d help, but locked me in a room with a lunatic.

Once I exposed Unyeonjeong’s identity, they tried to sell me out.

Now it felt like they wanted to back off slowly.

They kept saying I was their eternal benefactor or some nonsense.

But hey, I did appreciate the Dragon King token they gave me as a gift.

The Dragon King token represented the canal’s promise to treat its owner with utmost respect.

The utmost show of respect for any ship bearing the token was clear: no tolls!

No tolls would be charged to ships owned by the token holder.

It seemed like no big benefit for me, but that wasn’t true.

Every ship passing through the Yangtze dreamed of obtaining the Dragon King token.

The token’s owner wasn’t paying a boarding fee; instead, they received hospitality.

It was like having a free pass on the Yangtze River.

Qing didn’t think deeply about things.

She couldn’t afford to think too deeply.

So, her practicality was top-notch.

Qing jumped onto a boat and headed out on the river.

Meanwhile, during this time, Qing was preoccupied with thoughts.

Yeah, back then.

When she used Buddha’s Physical Body’s Six Character Mantra and the Wheel of Dharma.

Something was different back then….

Something, just something….

Something felt off….

It was an elusive feeling, like wanting something intensely but not knowing what it was, a stronger ambiguity than during any meal.

She had utilized Buddha’s Physical Body properly during crucial moments.

But that time felt completely different.

My inner strength, moving like a machine, seemed to sing of the end of the human world, as if it held back something inexplicable.

Still, if she thought just a little longer, she felt a strong hunch that she might grasp the answer.

Qing felt like she was dying of frustration, but in fact, this phenomenon was a prelude to realization.

The way Qing utilized her spiritual techniques was almost like copy-paste.

It was an unconscious way to bring forth techniques firmly engraved in her body and mind.

However, Qing’s method wasn’t particularly strange.

The warriors from famous families learned this way too.

After countless repetitions, they engraved their techniques deep in their heads and bodies before refining them through duels and real combat situations.

Thus, one by one, they built their unique techniques and personal martial art styles.

In Qing’s case, it was just that she slammed a lengthy engraving process gained over more than ten years all at once.

And now, right in front of her, was that hazy understanding, the embodiment of her martial skills.

That was where it began.

—-

Qing’s tone was described by Seomun Sulin as “rougher than a raging colt.”

Qing had never seen a raging colt.

So that comparison never struck a chord.

Of course, the strict standards of the matriarch who led the women’s mountain paradise had something to do with it.

But eventually, Seomun Sulin accepted it too.

The old man who secretly longed for solitude ended up going soft around his lovely disciples.

But the biggest reason was the insight from a man who had lived long in the world.

Qing wasn’t incapable of feminine speech.

She simply chose not to.

Qing wasn’t quite aware of that fact.

But the world had changed—her body, gender, and name too.

Heck, even the world itself felt like a strange new place.

That way of speaking, which seemed bizarre to folks in the Central Plains, was a mental protective barrier in her unconscious mind, desperately trying to hold onto her memories.

For Qing, there were even tougher times.

That was during her monthly cycle.

Unable to bear the discomfort, she got off at a docked city immediately.

She rushed to a fabric shop, where the owner looked at her with a pitying gaze.

That was a gaze she’d rather not have received.

She loaded up on plenty of cotton fabric.

“Geez…”

Every single joint felt painfully cold.

It hurt to stay still, let alone move.

Even the fine delicacies she loved lost their appeal during this time.

For the disciples of the Divine Maiden Sect, some would groan in pain, but for Qing, it was more of an all-day low-grade ache.

Her abdomen hurt.

More than her belly, her chest hurt as if she were bruised.

Above all, it felt just off.

Ugh. Seriously. I want to go on a rampage! Is there no one to beat up?!

Because of these reasons, Qing became more and more on edge.

Anyone she ran into during this time was really unfortunate, as they’d end up getting wrecked even if they didn’t provoke her.

Being cooped up in a room was so suffocating, she couldn’t stand it.

So when she stepped outside, it just made her feel even more irritated.

It was practically a level of insanity.

What to do at a time like this?

Watching bad guys’ talent shows was the best, but that wasn’t something she could do in the city.

Instead, she thought she might as well drink and get a bit hazy.

She needed to reach the Supreme Martial Artist stage quickly!

According to Seomun Sulin, once a woman reaches that height, her time of the month passes like it’s nothing.

But what the heck, why should it matter? Why me? Why me!

Qing swallowed her screams down with liquor.

The cheap, bitter swill burned her insides while momentarily taking her mind away from her other sufferings.

So at the pub, a bomb without a fuse was slowly heating up.

Therefore, today, it wasn’t particularly the Taepyeong Sword Sect’s fault.

As usual, they had come to collect this month’s protection fees.

But it was after Joho Gang had attempted to expand their business by forcibly drawing in new clients.

“We already paid the protection fee to Joho Gang this month….”

“Really?”

The swordsman from Taepyeong Sword Sect paused to consider.

“But what does that have to do with us?”

Thanks to that, the shopkeeper was dumbfounded.

“What do you mean by that…?”

“What you contracted privately has nothing to do with us at Taepyeong Sword Sect. We have our own contract, don’t we?”

“So you’re asking for a protection fee then…?”

“Come on, Boss Kim. Hmmm. Something feels off. Doesn’t it seem like we’re extorting you? Taepyeong Sword Sect has been protecting you, so you should naturally pay up!”

Boss Kim looked like he was going to cry.

“Then what do we do about the protection fee we paid to Joho Gang?”

The swordsman looked puzzled.

“Why are you asking me?”

Flames of frustration surged inside Boss Kim.

If this was the case, what was all the protection money he had paid until now? He had been paying regularly to keep Joho Gang and people like them off his back!

But Boss Kim pleaded with a submissive expression.

It was his fault for being ruled by those with swords, while he himself was just a shopkeeper without one.

Moreover, such things weren’t even considered to be incidents.

It was normal in the Central Plain.

In the worst cases, some shops were paying protection fees to multiple martial sects.

It was Boss Kim’s fault for ambiguously finding a location between the two sects.

All of this was his mistake.

Qing truly felt sorry for that sight.

Not because she empathized with the woes of a struggling entrepreneur in both the modern world and the martial world.

But because of the misdeeds of the inadequately trained swordsmen.

The Taepyeong Sword Sect prided itself on being upholders of justice, and they weren’t that bad of people.

Even the worst of them were a score of -56, and the ‘best’ among them had a mere score of -3. They were pretty decent compared to other sword-wielders.

They were far more honorable than the blokes who’d been around during Seomun’s drifting period.

So Qing pondered.

Eliminating a minimum of a three-digit number of wrongdoings was a solid criterion for her.

If she compromised even once, she could easily fall into being a merciless murderous lunatic.

If that happened, it would be real trouble.

Just a light smack wouldn’t be that bad, right?

If they did something wrong, they should pay the price, right?

Given their wrongdoings, especially as upright people of justice, even more so.

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