Chapter 9

There’s no way I can let some ridiculous rumors ruin my friend’s chance at marriage.

A-Qing launched a proactive attack to prevent future troubles.

“Oh, is that a personal experience? You seem to have a lot of stories about romantic matters!”

“Umm… it’s something I heard from my uncle.”

“Well, if it turns out that way, I can laugh it off, but what if my friend has someone special in mind?”

“Uh?”

“Words once spoken can’t be taken back; if rumors spread, my friend might miss out on the love of his life!”

“That’s…”

“In that case, my friend might end up growing old alone, reminiscing about the past, thinking, ‘If only my brother hadn’t blabbed, I wouldn’t be so lonely, eating alone!’ How do you plan to take responsibility for that?”

“Oh no! I will apologize!”

Huang Bo Woon-cheok crumbled under A-Qing’s onslaught.

“Oh dear! I’m sorry to you too! I almost made you grow old and lonely!”

Pang Dae-san tilted his head in confusion.

“Why do I feel uncomfortable receiving an apology? And it seems like I’ve been here before.”

“Pang-hyung, that’s called déjà vu. It happens when the dantian takes a breath and glimpses a possible outcome. This relates to the Heavenly Insight in the scriptures, understanding the future and the Destiny Insight of past lives, leading to a profound grasp of three insights…”

“This is driving me crazy. Really.”

Je-gal Lee-hyun chimed in, his lips moving at lightning speed.

Yeah, that guy was like this.

Just then, A-Qing shot up from her seat.

“Where are you going?”

“Gonna take a dump!”

Pang Dae-san rubbed his forehead.

What a crazy girl, seriously?

“Wow, what a bold lady!”

“…Is that what you call bold?”

“I don’t know!”

A-Qing swiftly disappeared.

Huang Bo Woon-cheok moved on to another topic.

“Anyway, this is good news! Pang-aou, you’re heading to Hwasan too? We can all travel together from here on!”

“Are you going to Hwasan too?”

“Of course! Why else would I be here?”

Even though the Huang Bo Clan was not one of the five prominent families, they still belonged to the ten great families of the Central Plain.

This meant that they were involving the ten great families in opening the Jeolgeumbyeok.

What could they possibly need from them?

Perhaps something unusual was happening in the world of martial arts.

And indeed, something unusual was happening behind the tea house.

—-

One of the things A-Qing could never tolerate in the martial world of the Central Plains was a toilet.

But she felt powerless.

What could she do if she couldn’t endure it?

She couldn’t just go to war with a toilet.

But she wouldn’t put up with it forever!

Someday, when she became a great master and had the entire martial world at her feet.

With the legacy of the late Sim Jae-deok, founder of the Korean Toilet Association and the World Toilet Association, she would lead the modernization of toilets in the Central Plains.

Her ambition was grand, but it didn’t resolve the immediate crisis at hand.

A matter of human dignity was at stake.

“It has to be clean. Please, please…”

A dirty toilet could kill a person’s spirit.

A-Qing steeled herself and grabbed the door handle.

Then suddenly—

“You.”

At the cold voice, A-Qing turned around.

A woman with a bad-girl look was pointing a finger at her.

Flanking her were two scoundrel-looking men.

No doubt about it, she looked like a thug.

But one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Maybe she was kind-hearted but suffering due to a fierce appearance.

A-Qing checked her karmic score instead of her physiognomy.

<-498. The two on either side were –621, -455.

Ah. Definitely a bad girl.

Indeed, physiognomy is science!

The quintessence of statistics spanning over 2,000 years!

In modern terms, this was 2,000 years' worth of big data.

A-Qing wouldn’t hold back against villains.

Even if they were charming beauties.

But A-Qing was currently facing a significant crisis.

A matter of dignity that hinged on the state of the toilet.

Before opening the toilet door, would it be clean or filthy?

It was a state of possibility, either clean or dirty.

This duality was called "mixed states" and depended on the observer’s perspective, determining which state fixed into reality.

Humanity has long desired to overcome this chaos.

Believing that good deeds would bring blessings was the desperate result of that effort.

In modern times, that methodology has evolved into interpreting coin graphs and securing the overlap of rising and falling futures, or revolving gacha while listening to spiritual music.

Qing followed such methodologies as well.

If behaving generously could lead to a slightly cleaner toilet, A-Qing felt she could be kind even to a villain.

“If it’s just a little one, you can go first.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Not if it’s a big one. But if you’re really in a hurry, and you’re confident you can finish in one go…”

The crazy words provoked an explosion from the beauty.

“Do you know who I am to talk to me like that?”

People express themselves through their expressions.

A-Qing’s face said, how would I know that?

The woman didn’t answer; it was the man on her right who spoke up.

“This lady is the daughter of the Black Shadow Society. You, lowly thing, shouldn’t even dare to look her in the eye!”

A-Qing plugged one ear and let it flow out the other.

If looking in the eye was forbidden, she was like Medusa or Gorgon.

Or maybe like that Michael Jackson dude.

A-Qing was pretty sure she’d faint like a fan if she ever made eye contact with Michael Jackson.

“Oh, so revealing your identity must be a little embarrassing?”

“What the…!”

“Lady, please calm down. You don’t need to bother interacting with such people. If a commotion arises, even Confucius would know about it.”

“Hmph, right. No-gal.”

The villainess of the Black Shadow Society gestured with her chin.

No-gal, the villain from earlier, tossed a money bag. The sound of clinking coins filled the air.

Amazingly, it fell perfectly at A-Qing’s feet, as if it had been thrown more than once.

“Take that and make sure it’s clean afterwards.”

A-Qing quickly scooped it up and peeked inside. Among the silver coins was one little yellow one.

A smile spread across A-Qing’s face.

Would you look at that, they just threw a whole money bag at me to let me use the toilet. Is this what being wealthy feels like?

Of course, it couldn’t just be a simple favor.

I suspect it might be a hush money kind of deal.

It would definitely be a bit awkward for a highborn lady going in and out of a toilet.

Or maybe she had some serious constipation going on.

“Oh dear, I didn’t recognize a noble person like you. I didn’t see anything. Please, take care, milady.”

A-Qing bowed deeply and retreated.

—-

This is what returning in glory looks like.

A-Qing puffed out her magnificent chest and returned with a bright smile, striding confidently.

The three men all avoided her gaze.

A-Qing knew exactly where she had just come from.

She took their avoidance in stride.

They were all men, so they must have been discussing something naughty.

A-Qing liked naughty stories too.

But how dare they talk about such important matters without me!

But I also knew that it’s a bit awkward to share naughty stories with someone who doesn’t have that kind of experience.

Even if it was disappointing, I could only endure.

Instead, A-Qing proudly pulled out her money bag.

Check this out, she opened it wide at the entrance.

Pang Dae-san looked inside; it wasn’t a significant amount.

Just a tiny pocket money for the heir of one of the five great families.

It was a bit cute for someone to feel triumphant over such a paltry sum.

Suddenly, a chill ran down Pang Dae-san’s spine.

What was that just now?

As he confronted cosmic horror, Qing proudly announced,

“Look, I made some money!”

“No, wait, sister.”

“Sister?”

“If Pang-hyung is your friend, then wouldn’t you become my sister?”

The term “sister” felt particularly unfamiliar.

Yet, it seemed better than “little lady.”

“Oh, so that means I can speak informally?”

“Of course! How could I not?”

“How did you manage to bring in this much money from a toilet?”

“Someone offered me a sum because they were in a hurry and asked me to let them go first. Now they’re giving me money, so what can I do? I’ll be going back again later.”

“Oh dear, how urgent was it…”

Je-gal Lee-hyun trailed off.

From the perspective of the precious Je-gal family, that was indeed a trifling amount.

But even for a single visit to the toilet, that was too much.

He understood the difference between income and economic notions.

Then, the little kid Huang Bo Woon-cheok interjected.

“Milady, taking advantage of someone’s unfortunate circumstances is not the right thing to do.”

“But, I was the one in a desperate situation! I was the one who had no money, and I ended up relying on a friend’s kindness!”

“Regardless of wealth, it’s true that you took an unfair advantage.”

“Come on, how can wealth be separated from it? What if a little hero was just about to shit their pants—what then?”

“Well…”

“If that little hero did end up shitting their pants, how would the world see them? Of course, they wouldn’t dare say it to their face, but behind their back, they’d be called great hero shits or something equally demeaning, wouldn’t they?”

“Uh, well…”

“Face is a matter of social status, and shitting one’s pants would seriously damage that—an irreversible mark for life, don’t you think?”

“That does seem to be the case.”

“I consider that a social death sentence. Have you heard the saying: A person dies not when their life ends, but when their name is forgotten? If someone is left known only as ‘the shitter,’ that’s a humiliation worse than death, isn’t it?”

“Well, that’s certainly true.”

“So, in that sense, I’ve preserved the life value, which is dearer than life itself, for that person, and what I got in return, a single gold coin? Wouldn’t that make me the one slighted?”

“I suppose one gold coin does seem a little…”

“But if life hangs by a thread, one may rush and make mistakes, right? After this little toileting incident, the person probably offered up their whole fortune. So I shouldn’t complain and place blame just because the amount seems rather meager.”

A-Qing shot back vigorously.

Huang Bo Woon-cheok answered with a serious expression.

“Indeed! Your generosity rivals that of the sea! I’ve made a grand mistake!”

Je-gal Lee-hyun, standing nearby, was genuinely impressed.

“Incredible! Milady! You’ve naturally led this incoherent jabbering into the realm of common sense logic! Yet in such a natural manner, you’ve somehow elevated yourself with such bizarre development—it’s truly unpredictable, ever-changing! That was a magnificent debate, reaching the level of the Flower Branch Technique!”

A-Qing’s penchant for gauging others had been well-known since her military service before her debut.

She was a master at observing and gently probing to gauge how far she could push someone.

Even as a private, she found herself joking with the intimidating sergeant Kim, known for his fierceness, to the point that he could easily be likened to a dog.

And that giant now stood tall in her place.

“Sister? Why this sudden shift?”

“What do you mean why? I’m headed off to settle unfinished business!”

“Oh.”

Je-gal Lee-hyun’s face turned red.

A-Qing swiftly exited through the back door of the tea house.

As luck would have it, she ran into that thankful person she had met earlier.

She trembled and pointed a finger at A-Qing.

“You, you little wench! How dare you mock me?”

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