Chapter 491

Amazing fact!

Qing is a malicious kind of malicious!

If you could just kill gently, there’s no need for all this mess unless it’s urgent.

If you’ve had an experience with Qing, you’d probably understand already.

But if you’re wondering why that’s surprising, well…

No one survives after encountering Qing.

Thus, Qing’s disgusting habits always tend to lean towards the surprising side.

Anyway, for that reason, the attitude of Blood Sect Leader Am Ha-ryong didn’t sit well with Qing.

Why, if I’ve gone through all this trouble to get here, wouldn’t it be more fun if you at least pretended to be distressed, howling in anger, crying out, “Why can’t I be happy!” while thrashing around in agony?

That wouldn’t be fair.

If I put in all this effort, there should be some kind of reward for me.

And yet, the pain and sorrow I create for you are the most exhilarating rewards, but still…

“Do you really think that would work? Even clueless bandits will offer to spare you if you give them everything. Tsk, tsk. To be robbed by such a dim-witted girl… How embarrassing. How will I even live with this shame?”

“Can’t you at least pretend to be wronged?”

“I’m eighty years old. I was already thinking that today was my last day, but here it is!”

Am Ha-ryong stepped out calmly.

Qing raised her sword high.

“Old man. You’re not understanding the situation. If you’ve lived, shouldn’t you at least pay your respects as you go? Mu Yang Young Lady, can you hand me some salt? Let’s make it extra salty!”

“Are you perhaps considering joining the Blood Sect? Amazing how we meet such precious talent in a place like this.”

“Lady, can’t you stop? Do I have to break a leg before realizing how valuable my legs are?”

“You were asking for the Heart Consumption Technique, right? Wait your turn.”

Am Ha-ryong said that and clung to the iron door handle in the center of the control room, struggling.

“These brats didn’t listen at all, even when I told them to put oil on the iron door since it had rainwater seeping in. Even a latch would be sturdier than this.”

Qing narrowed her eyes.

Is this old fool messing with me, or is he genuinely at his wits’ end? It’s hard to tell.

What if there’s some kind of self-destruct mechanism?

You know, secret bases always seem to have suspicious self-destruct features built in, right?

“You’re not messing with me, are you? Pull that lever and the whole stone chamber might collapse, burying us all together.”

“You dimwit. Why do you think we’re digging into a mountain with pains like this? My role is to gather the toughest of the tough and hand over the Heart Consumption Technique to the fiercest one. Now that I see it, every technique has its master. And look! Here’s the perfect vicious witch, so the future of the martial world looks quite interesting.”

Um, no. It’s going to burn, okay?

You picked the wrong person here!

After digging for twenty years, you’d be thrilled if the technique burned to ashes.

Qing held back her desire to reply.

The Mechanical System of the Central Plain was much more primitive than Qing thought and didn’t use the unique fuel of cosmic mysteries—the essence of the heavens and earth—but it was still an unknown territory for her.

So, let’s leave it for later.

Wouldn’t it be amusing to watch that old Blood Sect leader get burned?

After struggling for a while with the iron door handle, Am Ha-ryong finally collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath.

“Oh, I can’t take it anymore. Just kill me. I’ve lived long enough, I can’t expect any glory now.”

“Lady. Move aside.”

Qing took a step forward, but a small force tugged at her sleeve.

When Qing turned around, no one was there.

Why? Because it’s a kid.

Looking down, Jin Jangmyung had big eyes full of anxiety, pleading earnestly.

“It’s dangerous.”

“Is there any other choice? If I try to go back down to find the techniques, those Sapa guys are swarming down there.”

“But.”

“And if I open it slowly, I’ll get a sense of it, right? If something feels off, I can just let go, so don’t worry.”

Qing was originally overly cautious about her own safety.

Even when slicing a person in half with a blade, her sensitivity allows her to distinguish every single organ without missing a cue. There’s no way she wouldn’t feel the mechanical lock on this iron door.

Calmly, Qing grasped the handle on the floor and lifted it.

The rusty, heavy iron door creaked horrifically, screeching against the ears with a grating sound.

This thick iron door seemed to weigh at least one hundred pounds, especially since it was rusty; there was no way this old fool could open it.

Carefully opening it, hmm?

It seems like there’s no mechanism at all?

Finally, the iron door swung wide open.

A vertical passage revealed itself below, with a small square of light shining through.

It’s quite high. Is there no elevator or anything?

Unfortunately, the rope ladder hanging on the wall looks primitive as ever…

Qing restrained her disappointment.

“Here. The Heart Consumption Technique you were searching for is down there. The door is open, so do as you please—kill or spare.”

“Ha! What a ridiculous trick. I’ll go down first. I’ll leave the old man down there. What if the Sapa punks take it out on him?”

“Would you normally announce that? You wicked girl! To think the carefully prepared technique would fall into the hands of someone like you, well, twenty years of effort weren’t for nothing. Ugh.”

After continuously taunting, Am Ha-ryong finally received a kick.

Clutching his side, Am Ha-ryong gasped, rolling on the floor.

“Just because you’re an old bug of the Blood Sect, does that mean I’m supposed to take it easy on you? You’ve barely aged a day, huh? You wanna die? If you want to die, you better plead more humbly; you might even get a clean kill if you ask nicely.”

Hearing that, Cheon Yu-hak moaned.

It was truly a scene that would make anyone wary—the sight of a young lady mercilessly kicking an old man.

Knowing that the disciple is a renowned Daoist of the Zhengpai while the old man is a wicked breed of the Blood Sect brought such foolish thoughts to mind.

In Qing’s hometown, it’s a psychological phenomenon called “kick the fallen dog.”

People tend to feel pity for the weak, as it benefited survival in human evolution.

“Cough, cough, why are you so angry?”

“I wasn’t planning on shedding blood today, but seems like that’s not happening. Just you wait.”

“Never heard of anyone saying, ‘Watch out for those who threaten’?”

“Enough, will you go down quietly?”

“Yeah, I’m going. Got it. You young girl, your attitude is utterly outrageous.”

“Wait a sec. Miss An. You’re free now.”

Qing untied An’s rope from around her neck, then quickly threw it around Am Ha-ryong’s neck.

“If you do anything silly on the way down, you know what’ll happen?”

“To think such a girl becomes the Heart Consumption Witch, the fate of this world looks truly dark. Hehe.”

Am Ha-ryong chuckled ominously as he crawled awkwardly into the passage.

Though he seemed to be in pain, he gritted his teeth without a whimper.

As Qing looked down at that, she suddenly yanked the leash hard.

“Cough! Hack, cough!”

Poor Am Ha-ryong, hanging from the noose, desperately reached out for the rope ladder.

Just as Am Ha-ryong’s hand was about to touch the rope ladder, Qing shook the rope, sending it plummeting away.

With the principle of pendulum motion, Am Ha-ryong slammed hard against the wall, barely managing to grasp the rope ladder.

Looking down at him, Qing wore a sadistic smile.

Upon seeing her expression, Mo Yong Joo-hee’s expression became dazed, but luckily everyone else was too stunned by Qing’s expression to notice.

“Were you wanting to live all of a sudden? I expected you to give up in despair when I kept saying ‘survived’.”

“Damn girl, cough, cough!”

“I realized you wouldn’t get it just by saying it. You might experience something like this if you keep messing around, so keep your body in check. You get what I mean?”

“……”

This time, Am Ha-ryong seemed genuinely annoyed, pursing his lips tightly.

As Qing followed behind and descended about four rungs down the vertical passage—

Thud!

Suddenly, the rope ladder fell helplessly.

Now hanging there, Qing was also subject to gravity just like any other mass of the world.

However, gravity underestimated Qing.

In an instant, Qing spread her arms and legs wide.

When her feet and hands met the walls, she pushed against them, bringing her to a stop.

Thus, her great strength allowed her to resist gravity!

And thud!

“Ow!”

The weight on her back pulled at Qing’s tendons, sending pain rushing through her.

“Uh, sorry, friend. You okay?”

“Could you possibly hurry and let go?”

The perpetrator after Qing was Namgoong Shin-jae, who also happened to be riding the rope ladder.

Fortunately, since it broke before the whole group could get on, only Namgoong Shin-jae endured that burden; if it had been everyone, regardless of her strength as a young girl, she couldn’t guarantee they would still hold.

Of course, Qing might have just broken through sheer force.

Namgoong Shin-jae climbed the walls awkwardly with arms and legs outstretched to regain his position.

Well, that was quite the trap, huh?

It must have been designed to break if a certain weight was exceeded.

Suddenly, that old man’s crafty scheme wasn’t a joke after all.

Maybe he acted vulnerable for fear that they’d suspect him and not let him down easily.

Knowing full well he’d fall if it broke.

But hey, she held on, right?

Well then, old man, you won’t get a gentle death from me.

Qing looked down from above.

“I’m going down to retrieve the techniques!”

Qing shouted that and loosened her muscles just a bit.

With both arms and legs pressing against the wall, she began to slide down smoothly.

This isn’t the best idea for skinning alive.

But I can’t harm the lovely hands of the Supreme Demoness.

However, her shoes were feeling a bit too warm; ouch!

Qing bent her feet and only used her arms to support herself, sinking down deeper.

Even if her arms bore the weight more, the advantage of standing straight emerged.

Finally, Qing slipped down and landed lightly below.

“Ugh. What’s that smell?”

There are levels to a foul stench, and the worst of it—oh yeah—is definitely the smell from rotting corpses.

As if her nose would come off from the awful stench, Qing pinched her nose and scanned the area.

On one side was an incredibly stylish chest that looked valuable.

And on the other side, the source of the stench: dozens of corpses laid out in the stone chamber.

Most were dried up and twisted corpses.

Here and there, a few average corpses with holes punctured through their hearts.

Who decorated a room with corpses like this?

As Qing frowned and glanced around—

“Cough, cough, damn girl, your life is really tough.”

“Ah! Old man! You’re still alive!”

Qing exclaimed in joy as she spotted Am Ha-ryong sprawled out on the floor.

By chance, it looked like he fell right and had two legs free.

Judging by the blood staining the corners of his mouth, he might not last much longer.

Qing smiled brightly.

She had wanted to show him the technique burning, and if he fell dead here, she would have been quite disappointed.

“Thought I was trying to learn the Heart Consumption Technique, right? Wrong! I’m going to burn it. Such an evil technique must not see the light of day. You understand?”

Hehe, you think you can do that?

“Can you really burn the Heart Consumption Technique? It’s no simple feat; it’s capable of becoming the best martial arts in the world.”

“Ha! Just you wait and see. You’ll be watching from the sidelines! Alright, time to open up!”

Qing chirped cheerfully as she opened the chest.

But she wasn’t being careless.

Gingerly opening it, she checked with her fingertips to see if there was any trap hidden away.

Surprisingly, it opened smoothly; wait, what?

Inside was a secret manual!

With its crimson hue and unique texture, the words ‘Heart Consumption Technique’ were scrawled in what seemed like blood and an awful handwriting.

Next to it lay a splendidly adorned dagger gracefully placed on a red cloth; Qing absentmindedly picked it up and was taken aback.

Why is this dagger so heavy? It feels like it weighs about ten pounds!

How could a dagger be that heavy?

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a decorative piece, encrusted with various jewels, but as far as actual functionality? None!

It was clearly a treasure worth a fortune, so naturally, she tucked it away.

Finally, Qing placed her hand on the secret manual.

Shimmering brightly, an outrageous announcement indicated the pre-registration of a new martial art.

This was also proof it was a complete secret manual.

Opening the Martial Arts Inventory, the name of the newly registered technique gleamed.

[Heart Consumption Technique]

A deep crease formed between Qing’s eyebrows.

“Huh?”

---