Chapter 435

So, if you’re gonna have several masters, then obviously you’ve gotta play the disciple role for a few of ’em too.

That means it’s only right for disciples to go find their second master and pay their respects.

Now, Qing wasn’t really planning on taking on more masters; but hey, maybe it was just Seomun Sulin’s good idea that led him down this path, right? Still, after hearing that, he does kinda miss seeing that underhanded grin on his master’s face.

And so, we have one very, very excited person here.

“Hey, what should I pack?”

“Clothes. Underwear. Towel. Needle. Thread. Oh, and a sword.”

“Is that all? How much gold and silver should I take? I’ve got some pocket money, but should I just take it all?”

What are you, a kid going on your first overseas trip?

Jin Jangmyung couldn’t contain her excitement, and Qing chuckled as he responded.

“Whoa there, hold on. Why do you need gold and silver?”

“Don’t need it?”

“I told you to pack a sword. If you’ve got a sword, why do you need gold and silver?”

“……?”

“The sword.”

“Really?”

Qing chuckled and patted Jin Jangmyung on the head.

Her head was at just the right height for some good patting.

“Your sifu might look like this, but he’s actually super rich, you know? No need for pocket money for a kid munching on snacks.”

“I’m not a kid! I’m twenty this year.”

“Twenty? You’re still a total baby. Baby.”

“There’s just a year between us.”

“Seriously, you can’t see the difference of that one year? I’m a Supreme Martial Artist, while you’re just a… well, let’s not go there. One, two? We’re all just rookies here, why bother counting numbers to make distinctions? It’s honestly a mystery.”

“Geez.”

“Alright. Go pack your things and get some sleep.”

“Okay.”

She answered well, but judging by her state, I’m not really sure if she’ll actually sleep at night.

And just like I thought—next day, her eyelids were all puffy and her whites were bloodshot.

With a bundle strapped to her back that was bigger than her torso, she still moved light on her feet, claiming to be some warrior.

“What’s with all this? Clothes. Underwear. Towel. Needle. Thread. What? Are we running a general store here? A peddler?”

“Just packed what I thought I’d need.”

“Oh boy. So they’ll say a perfectly fine kid’s just been bossed around by a little servant. Let’s see… why the blanket?”

As she opened it up, a blanket popped out.

“They say you gotta be careful of the cold when sleeping outside.”

“Well, I’m not sleeping outside. And even if I did, I wouldn’t be using a blanket. Now, what’s this?”

“It’s Pipungui. Sifu says it’s absolutely necessary.”

Pipungui is a type of clothing, which in Qing’s hometown would be called a cloak.

Honestly, aside from its name, they’re practically the same.

How can such identical clothing appear in different cultures? Is it because in the end, everyone’s thoughts are pretty similar whether they’re Eastern or Western? That’s just a universal feel where a long garment tied in the back is cool, right?

Of course not.

It’s purely because making a long cloth or leather wrap is so easy a monkey could do it.

Cold places just want to avoid the chill, hot places just wanna shield from the heat.

“Well, it’d be nice to have, but you don’t need it this time. Jin Jangmyung, you’d be surprised to know that in Taiyuan, there’s something called a house. A remarkable invention that protects you from the cold, heat, rain, and wind. I wonder if just talking about it helps you grasp it?”

“Geez.”

“Extra cotton? By the time you get there, it’s gonna be hot. Winter clothes, the same. Why fabric? For repairs? Planning to do some weaving? Pots? Dishes? And why cutlery? Oh, at least you packed some medicinal powder. Wait, what’s this? Beef jerky? Why so much jerky?”

“Oh, that’s for the journey…”

“Well done. Yeah, this is the right stuff to pack!”

“……?”

Anyway, after some serious downsizing, Jin Jangmyung’s pack is now slimmed down to a proper, traveler’s bundle.

After shedding all the unnecessary clutter that looked like something for fleeing, she finally seemed like a proper martial world wanderer.

After that, she paid her respects to the rather unyielding Sect Leader and then bowed to her master, saying she’d be off.

And then, they set off for Taiyuan.

—-

People often refer to the band of villains as the Sema Sect.

When they say “Sema,” it usually means the Sapa guys, and when they say “Ma,” it’s the Ma Sect folks.

But let’s be honest, there are more villains in the world than just the Sapa and Ma sects.

So, everyone else that doesn’t fit gets lumped together under “exotic paths.”

Besides, Sapa folks claim to walk the path of justice, while Ma Sect claims to walk the evil path—whatever they want to claim.

So I guess the rest are just called the “wayward folks,” as per some not-so-official agreement.

And among these wayward folks, there’s the Blood Sect, which needs to be exterminated.

Then you’ve got shady figures lurking in the shadows of the Central Plain like kidnappers and butchers, and of course, the bandit gangs.

And here’s the surprising bit!

The Green Forest isn’t classified under Sapa!

Even if the Sapa folks’ main gig isn’t much different from robbing, they don’t go outright stealing without a reason.

At least the Sapa has some semblance of justification, like collecting protection fees or taxes without benefits, and they’re even sort of approved by the government via their ridiculous “Official Imposition of Non-Interference” excuse.

Which means they’ve got some sort of official recognition.

But how about the Green Forest?

Just because they use a fancy name, they’re still just bandits living in the mountains.

If you were to petition the government to eradicate the Green Forest, the excuses flying back would be like, “That falls out of my jurisdiction” or “Military’s too busy guarding the borders” or “Can’t we use patrol officers? Who’s defending the cities then?”

Translation: They don’t need any excuse to let those bandits run free.

So, when the word got out that the third son of the Great Chief of the Green Forest showed up, Sado Sect’s leader couldn’t help but wonder why? Why would the kid of a mountain bandit boss suddenly come calling?

“Ha. They really think they can brush them aside, huh? A mere kid who just reached the Supreme Martial Artist level?”

“I heard they’ve resorted to all sorts of underhanded tactics, like brutally killing people and then parading the corpses, burning down villages to stir panic, using poison, and then fleeing while screaming about how you killed their children…”

“Is that legit? The real culprits always howl the loudest about their grievances, right? They must know how ridiculous they sound, so they wouldn’t be barking nonsense like that if they have any shame. If a kid gets beaten down by one who just stepped into the initial stages of Supreme Martial Artist, then man, that’s just plain embarrassing.”

“So, what do you wanna do?”

“What good would swallowing the Green Forest do? Just because he reversed the situation? Does he think he’s got any value? If he came running to me saying to take down the Green Forest for him, is he imagining it’s that important? If it was worth it, I would’ve done it a long time ago by beating up their leader and taking his kids hostage.”

At this, Sun Woong just smirks.

It was a massive blunder on the side of the Sema Sect.

Sado doesn’t really need the Green Forest.

Just like how the Blood Sect messed up their business on Gwangju, having the Green Forest involved would only drag down the entire Sado Sect’s status.

Seeing that condescending look on Sun Woong, Buan Pyeong burst out.

“Hey, who said you were clever!? Just sitting next to me, whispering tricks—that’s clever? I set you up to think for me, so why are you flipping over to someone else’s ideas!? Get on with it! Work!”

“Why bother? You’re brilliant enough as is. Why would I need to step in? But still, we can’t afford to toss away the card we’ve been dealt, right? Let’s give a proper master to work with and see what we can do. A mountain path leading to the Central Plain is still a valuable resource—can’t overlook that.”

At this, Buan Pyeong clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction before continuing.

“And we can’t just leave that Cheonhwa-geom alone. We need to figure out a way to deal with her; give me some sort of reason, set the stage.”

“Must you voice every thought?”

“Sure! An idiot who can’t tell the heavens from the earth? Let her be; she’ll just end up falling dead eventually. She’ll realize that dying while avenging her resentment is part of being in the Martial World, sooner or later.”

Buan Pyeong’s smile vanishes.

“But looking closer, she isn’t just some fool. She knows how to hunt stronger opponents. Right now, she’s only a novice at the Supreme Martial Artist level, but next might be the youngest to reach the Realm of Transformation?”

A mere novice at the Supreme Martial Artist level taking out two seniors and burning down the Green Forest?

That’s something Buan Pyeong couldn’t even dare imagine when he was a novice at that level. It’s just unthinkable—almost like divine skills.

That’s what they call a Supreme Martial Artist? And later on, what’s that gonna lead to?

“That kind of newbie can’t be let loose. A peerless master who’s swinging a sword yelling about cutting down all the villains in the world? We need to nip this in the bud before she grows bigger.”

Buan Pyeong’s eyes sparkled with energy.

—-

Before Qing set off for Guangxi, he sent a letter asking if he could visit during summer, so when he returned he got a grumbling reply saying it would be tough to see his disciple.

So originally, the plan was to take a carriage straight along the well-paved road to Shanxi Province at breakneck speed.

But every single day, that little girl would be like, “So where are we going? Is there anything along the way? Where to, what’s there? What’s next?”—going on and on.

Seeing her so pumped up, I didn’t want to crush her excitement by telling her we’d be living in the carriage for twelve hours a day, eating and lounging until we hit Taiyuan.

So, I had to spice things up a bit, right?

Hence, a first-class luxurious carriage could wait for another time. We rented a leisurely carriage, stopping at each city to explore famous mountains and taste local specialties, heading northwards, and further north.

For an entire month, we enjoyed the scenery while accompanying the excited Jin Jangmyung on her first adventure into the martial world.

Having left the Three Doors Alliance on the road to Eunseong, they were now entering Shanxi Province.

As Qing mindlessly watched as the trees outside changed with the scenery, he turned his head at the sound of something being ground away.

“What are you doing?”

“This… grinding.”

“Huh? You didn’t throw that away?”

“Not throwing it! Just need to round off the edge.”

Qing had gifted her a small seashell earring.

If the sharp pieces were ground down, it wouldn’t look like a broken half of something, right?

Jin Jangmyung was carefully holding the broken part, rubbing it gently against the whetstone.

As she meticulously ground it down, she peered at it through the corner of her eye, but for some reason wasn’t satisfied and buried her head back down to keep grinding.

Then it happened.

Thud! The carriage hit a rock and bounced hard.

“Ah!”

Jin Jangmyung’s expression turned to one of despair as she looked down at her hand.

That half-shell earring? Now it was just a quarter of a shell.

When it was half, it at least had some semblance to its former self, but now just looking at one piece, it’s like, what even is this shiny thing?

“Ugh…”

“Hey, don’t be too upset. I can always get you another one.”

“Okay…”

She replied, but her shoulders were slumped, clearly feeling down.

Had to learn the hard way that doing delicate work in a carriage can lead to unexpected troubles.

Everyone learns through experiences, after all.

Once they touched down in Shanxi, they had a grand welcome ceremony, and then after another ten days—

A massive city surrounded by gigantic walls finally came into view.

The capital of Shanxi Province, Taiyuan.

---