Chapter 40

Qing had a taste for certain activities.

Killing, smashing, torturing, executing—getting soaked in blood.

Doing it hands-on was great, but even just watching was fine.

These were all things that happened during a fight.

However, he didn’t actually like fighting.

A fight where you can’t enjoy your hobby is just labor.

It’s bothersome, exhausting, and hard.

That was why Qing had been in such a bad mood while facing the Cannibal Demon.

Let alone dueling? A duel?

Why bother with that when there’s a good Life and Death Match available?

There should be some thrill in cutting flesh and seeing bones if you’re going to tire your body out.

Moreover, before finally becoming Seomun Sulin’s disciple, Qing had never had experience in dueling.

After becoming a disciple, he had only rolled around under Seomun Sulin’s harsh penalties disguised as dueling.

He’d had enough of duels.

Besides, Qing’s mental state wasn’t great.

And he wasn’t some old man like Nugok.

There was no particular reason to respect him.

He wasn’t a villain, so while he couldn’t enjoy himself, there was no need to hide his bad mood, either.

“What the hell, you punk. Just get lost.”

The young man’s expression went blank.

Those were the kind of insults he usually heard from friends.

“W-what did you say to me?”

“Why? Is there someone else here?”

“How can you say something like that to someone you just met…?”

“Why? Is asking for a duel upon first meeting considered too courteous? Do I look that easy? Just because I’m a girl wandering alone?”

Saying that suddenly made a wave of frustration swell up.

Did someone want to end up like this?

Without realizing it, his mouth opened.

“Is it fine for a well-dressed young master to suddenly ask for a duel upon first meeting? Just because I’m a girl who doesn’t know where she is, can you act so recklessly?”

Qing shot back fiercely.

That was a solid burst of anger.

The young man was definitely rude.

But the timing was just terrible.

Qing’s irritation was already bubbling right up to the surface.

If you shake things up without a clue, it’ll naturally spill over.

“Miss, I think there’s a misunderstanding. I’d never intended such a thing.”

At that, Qing suddenly straightened his posture.

He corrected his slouched position, straightened his waist, clasped his hands modestly, and added a slight grimace to a soft and gentle expression.

When he spoke, an incredibly beautiful voice mixed with a charming tone flowed out.

“Confucius, I’m truly grateful for your suggestion to a foolish young lady. In truth, the beauty of nature is enjoyed by guests but remains in place; do you wish to bother yourself, hoping for blossoming despair?”

Qing wasn’t someone who couldn’t be feminine; he simply chose not to be.

If he wanted to, he could.

A punch to the face was a monumental step that advanced the martial arts scene in the Central Plain to the next level.

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“I certainly have experienced all sorts of ridiculousness. Just think, how can a simple wish of a girl wanting to drink and lie down peacefully be such a sin when I see all the clowns making a mess in front of me?”

In truth, the young man, due to his long-standing habit, would usually jump out at any peculiar swordsman he saw.

While briefly staying at the Taepyeong Sword Sect, he had come to watch an unidentified female master appear.

And then, leaning against a table, he had unknowingly blurted out another duel request.

It wasn’t that he looked down on Qing for being a woman.

But Qing’s words definitely held some truth.

Requests for duels from a young master of a prestigious family had never been an issue until now.

Who in the world would dare reject a duel request from the Namgung family, right?

“Miss? Let’s calm down for a moment.”

Calm down? Do I look like I’m calm?

Qing started to reach the boiling point.

“Agh! You really have to experience it yourself to understand! Want to feel what it’s like when your monthlies hit? You’ll have to experience what that’s like in your body before you start spouting nonsense about calming down!”

“Uh-oh.”

Namgoong Shin-jae was completely flustered, panicking.

“Do you think it feels good when you suddenly bleed? With weights on your body and a chest heavy enough to die from, do you think I can just sleep like this? And now you’re talking about dueling? When the hell do you think I have time for that!”

Qing, spewing fire, jumped up from his seat.

He grabbed his bag, strapped his sword to his waist, and confidently marched out, clutching five additional trophy longswords tightly.

The first foreign disciple at the Taepyeong Sword Sect, the bespectacled Jang Song-mun, was taken aback.

Why are you taking our swords with you?

But of course, it’s not like you could just hand over a sword bearing the sect’s insignia to a foreigner without a thought.

Jang Song-mun rushed to extend his hand.

“Miss? Wait, where are you going? We need to talk.”

“I’m off to take a piss! What do you want?”

He regretted sticking his hand out.

Jang Song-mun immediately wished he hadn’t.

—-

Qing, not knowing whether it was anger or sadness, had just continued to hole up in his room.

It seemed closer to sadness.

What was lost was mournful, and the state he was in was pitiful.

So he forced himself to sleep, albeit uncomfortably.

He repeatedly fell into a shallow sleep only to wake up shortly after.

His muddled mind couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality or whether he was really awake or not.

He’d stayed up too long, and his head was pounding.

But he was too lethargic to get up.

He was just lying there, breathing.

And even that was becoming a struggle.

Had the sun risen and set repeatedly?

At some point, he finally opened his eyes.

The sun was already high in the sky.

He felt refreshed.

Well, to put it accurately, his body felt refreshed.

The memories came rushing back to Qing.

He dubbed them karma.

“Lady…….”

Qing covered his face with his hands.

He was so embarrassed, ugh.

Around this time, he usually got painful and sensitive.

But never had he exposed himself to such disgrace.

Qing glanced at the corner of the guest room.

A total of six swords were neatly stacked against the wall.

Five trophy swords and the Moonlight Sword (8th).

Seriously, was he mad?

Why did he bring those back with him?

Among Seomun Sulin’s teachings was the idea of not taking weapons that had been matched by others in the sect.

If you take those weapons, they will always come back to reclaim them.

That was only natural.

There was the issue of the sect’s dignity.

From the perspective of modern Koreans, they might think, “who cares about dignity,” but in the Central Plain, dignity was no trivial matter.

Losing ‘face’…!

Not only that, there were practical issues at play.

If you just kill someone on the street to plant the weapon, it was very easy to pin the blame on someone else. Even if you were exonerated later, you were still partially accountable.

Various other complexities followed.

So, don’t take weapons marked by the sect.

When asked how he survived with such basic common sense until now, his master had freaked out and imparted this advice.

Of course, collecting junk to sell was a given…

Qing pushed his memories aside.

He sat quietly, trying to sort through yesterday’s events.

Honestly, it had become somewhat like a reckless rampage.

But still, he felt it should be understood.

If they had to go through what he did, they’d also understand; this annoyance was truly, genuinely annoying.

Qing finished mentally preparing himself and left the room.

First, he aimed to fill his empty stomach.

Heading down to the first floor, he encountered someone waiting for him.

“Oh. Miss, are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

After that, Qing stayed holed up for another three days.

During that time, rumors spread like wildfire about the bespectacled sword king Namgoong Shin-jae having humiliated a woman by asking for a duel while she was on her period.

Even if there were no sparring partners, how could one dare make such a request of a woman in that state?

Rumors tend to grow like weeds.

They began saying that Namgoong Shin-jae did it on purpose to humiliate her, leading to her running away in tears.

Fortunately, since it was a nearby capital’s gossip and involved an inn in Anhui province, the rumor’s spread stopped there.

Getting caught badmouthing the Namgung family in Anhui province could mean losing your head under the midday sun.

Regardless, Namgoong Shin-jae had to take responsibility for the rumor and apologize.

In truth, he felt a bit wronged.

Had he known, he wouldn’t have asked her for a duel.

But still, it was the kind of question you could never ask a woman outright.

Ultimately, a man should pick up on such things without asking; how could he know upon first meeting?

Nevertheless, he felt that directly asking for a duel without any introduction was wrong, so he asked the elder Jang Song-mun, who happened to be around.

With the power of Jang Song-mun’s information network, Nugok was able to find out which inn an unnamed girl was staying at.

Still an unnamed girl.

Nugok hadn’t even caught Qing’s name, only obtained vague personal information.

It was quite the mess.

“Miss, I sincerely apologize for what happened the other day. Had I known your condition, I would never have acted so rudely.”

“Well. Then let’s just forget about it…”

Qing nodded, albeit begrudgingly.

“Then allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Namgoong Shin-jae of the Heavenly Sword Clan.”

“Oh.”

Qing was impressed.

The Heavenly Sword Clan, huh? That’s something.

Noticing that Namgoong Shin-jae looked like he had misheard, Qing quickly added.

“My name is Seomun Qing.”

Qing kept it short since he felt awkward after causing yesterday’s ruckus.

Unexpectedly, however, Namgoong Shin-jae tried to act friendly.

“I’ve heard that you reached the peak level, as Elder Nugok informed me.”

Nugok kept secrets tightly, but Qing had never mentioned that he was hiding his realm.

Of course, Nugok hadn’t schemed; he figured that if Qing wanted to brag about his realm, he would, and if he didn’t, he wouldn’t hide it.

“Is that so?”

“I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m still at the initial stage. Therefore, may I ask for a duel, Miss? No, I, Namgoong, earnestly request it. Please.”

Qing’s eyes widened slightly as she looked at Namgoong Shin-jae.

No way. This guy, again?

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