Chapter 827: A Moment to Savor (2)

Qing gave Dongjuk a sharp once-over and smiled with her eyes right to his face.

If you took rage and turned it into a human expression, wouldn’t it look exactly like that?

If killing people with nothing but an angry glare were possible, it felt like you’d have to die for him, somehow.

Of course, the enemy’s fury is the highest praise.

Now then—if you rush me—

But.

“Uuugh.”

“Young Master. I’m sorry. Please bear with it a little longer.”

Even as his hands trembled with humiliation, he carefully set Jeong Ryujang down from his arms and then—hands even more careful than that—started untying his clothes.

Qing’s face soured on the spot.

Sure, I got into character and called it eye candy and all that, but do I seriously have to watch some bastard strip—no, worse, watch one bastard strip another bastard?

Ugh. I can’t watch this......

Yes, we will now have a brief camera adjustment.

Qing set her focus past the two men, far, far away—on the black column of smoke still rising into the distant sky from the coal mine.

The fire needs to go out fast. It won’t turn into one of those mines that “burn forever,” right? It won’t keep smoldering underground?

If it spreads into something huge... then what the hell is Jegal supposed to do, taking the full, ten-out-of-ten blame for the fire as the arsonist who lit it?

Jegal. All I can do is pray the flames get under control soon, but... well. With the power of the Jegal Family, one of the Five Great Families, I believe you can overcome it.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“Ugh, what the hell. I didn’t think you’d actually strip just because I told you to.”

“What did you say?”

Red flooded Dongjuk’s face in an instant.

Qing didn’t care. She waved her hand.

“Enough. Let’s go. Thought I might finally get to do some cutting for once, but you’ve got no pride at all.”

Whether it was Qing’s hometown or the Central Plains, there had only ever been one way to scrape at a man.

Dongjuk dropped his voice low.

“......Supreme Thief Overlord, Elder Bandit Lotus. One day, you will bitterly regret this moment.”

“Pfft. This Elder Bandit Lotus has not a single regret in life—no, wait, I do have one. I should’ve made you a man from the start, but I got greedy wanting to see that ass and that chest, and now this is what I get, goddamn it. Anyway. Be grateful.”

“What?”

“Back in the old days, a famed general of Han said this: frustration is what raises a man. Remember today’s shame, and carve my name into that pathetic pride of yours. Sleep on brushwood and taste gall, and improve by leaps and bounds. It’ll become the driving force behind your growth.”

Dongjuk, unable to hide his fury, knit his brows like something didn’t add up.

“......? Zhao Zilong said that? I’ve never heard that in my life.”

“Huh? Not him? Then was it the other way around? A man raises frustration? That’s weird.”

“It would be wise for you not to loiter around Yunnan any longer.”

This bastard, again. Again. Refusing to let a single word go to the end.

Instead of answering, Qing shrugged and stepped slightly off the road.

“Young Master, excuse me.”

“AAAGH!”

“It’s me, Dongjuk. Young Master, easy.”

Qing watched them with eyes colder than the brutal north wind on the coldest night of midwinter.

Look at them. Really, sitting there putting on a whole show.

The scene from beneath the mine flashed through Qing’s mind—the slaughterhouse where corpse poison was made.

It wasn’t like the disgusting visions that the Heavenly-Killing Star sometimes showed.

This was real. Right in front of her eyes. A fragment of the world that truly existed.

A sea of blood and a mountain of corpses—those words had been literal. That sight, that corpse stench so sharp it felt like it would tear her nose off, the damp air, the clammy humidity soaked with human blood, countless bones, liquefied flesh, piled up any which way and rotting......

And the ones who created such horror—hundreds of innocent deaths—were now naked and hugging each other and—ugh.

There was no more “heartbreaking” picture in the world.

If only those Blood Cult degenerates hadn’t even had loyalty or affection for each other.

If they’d panicked to save themselves, shoving each other away and abandoning each other while begging to be spared, Qing wouldn’t have felt this filthy.

If they’d been that kind of crumbly, trashy mess, she could’ve sneered and moved on. Yeah. In the end, you’re exactly like that.

But—

Dongjuk hugged Jeong Ryujang tight and pointed his saber at Qing with his right arm, taking one careful step, then another.

He was trying to use his own body to shield Jeong Ryujang, so the closer he got, the more his body tilted sideways—crooked, taut.

And then, at last, he was side-stepping like a crab.

“Hold it!”

Qing shouted, leveling Moonlit Night.

“What? Now you want to break your promise—”

“No, hold it. What is that? You—this—this brat state. I didn’t see wrong, did I? You.”

“What?”

In that instant, Qing flared murderous sword-energy.

The easygoing look in her eyes vanished, replaced by sharp, streaming killing intent.

“How—how could you! You bastard! You cruel monster! How can you do something like that wearing a human skin! You plucked his eyes out, there’s blood from his ears, what about his voice—You—you made it so he can’t even hear! How—how can you do that to a person! Are you even human!”

Qing shrieked the words.

If Jeong Ryujang’s ear canals had been intact, he might have died on the spot from how absurd and outrageous that statement was.

You did this to him, and you’re saying what?

But whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Jeong Ryujang’s ears were cleanly, perfectly... opened.

So instead, Dongjuk exploded in injustice.

“Wait, this isn’t something I did—”

“No questions! No answers! I may be nothing but a bandit, but I will not look away after seeing such a vile villain! No matter how your grudge is tied up to the heavens, there are laws—laws that say you cannot make a person so miserable!”

As she said it, Qing stood tall.

You shouldn’t do that to a person.

But if it’s not a person—if it’s a beast?

Then the more wicked it is, the more you should leave it in a state so miserable it can neither live nor die, so that the people of the world will see it and learn caution.

And if the afterlife exists, then the innocent who already died shedding tears of blood will look down and feel even a little more at peace.

Moonlit Night stretched straight out.

Dongjuk recoiled and struck it aside—

CLANG!

Steel met steel, and the two colors of sword-energy burst like sparks.

Dongjuk’s face hardened visibly.

They had only exchanged a single clash, but the monstrous force packed into it made his wrist throb with numb pain.

So that was it. He’d wondered how some woman could wield a great sword—she must have been born with savage strength, a true warrior.

“Wait! You’ve got it wrong!”

“Wrong my ass! Die, you vile villain!”

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—Dongjuk staggered backward, barely managing to bat the blade away again and again.

Each collision made his wrist scream, and soon the pain shifted from numbness to a deep, ominous ache that stabbed through him.

In contrast, Qing swung the huge sword with both hands as if it weren’t a lump of iron at all—like she was whipping around a light branch.

When the blade was knocked off line, it halted dead in midair—then moved in the opposite direction at the same time.

As if time itself had begun to flow backward.

Normally, when warriors of the same realm fought, women were at a disadvantage.

Even with fast swordplay or flowing swordplay, every single weapon collision punished the side with less raw strength and a weaker frame—and that was usually the woman, taking the loss one-sidedly.

But here it was the complete opposite.

Among women, there existed a rare type born with extraordinary strength—women whose constitutions left them with almost no flaws at all.

The softness and flexibility unique to a woman’s body, the longer stride from longer legs, the unpredictable shifts of height and angle created by a higher hip position......

Even fighting Qing at full strength would be hard to guarantee.

And Dongjuk wasn’t even fighting freely—he was fighting while protecting Jeong Ryujang, held tight against his body.

Of course he had no winning chances.

“Wait—wrong—wrong! It wasn’t me!”

“You vile bastard! Now you’re lying too! Can’t you admit it like a man!”

“No! It’s really not me!”

“A strong denial is the law of a strong confession! Come on—so now you finally admit it!”

“AAAAAGH! I said it wasn’t me!!”

Right then—

Qing, drawing her blade back to thrust again, suddenly bent her knees and dropped down.

So low it looked like her tailbone would kiss the ground—those especially long legs folding nearly in half.

From Dongjuk’s perspective, she vanished from his field of vision—

A moment that made his heart nearly stop.

“Die!”

WHAM!

Qing’s leg swept a razor-thin semicircle just above the ground.

Her toe speared toward Dongjuk’s ankle like a flash of lightning.

And then—

Dongjuk threw his leg out desperately, dragging it hard against the ground—

SKRRAAAPE!

Dust exploded upward as he shoved himself forward instead.

WHAM!

Instead of catching Qing’s toe, his lower body got caught at her ankle—then went BOOM, lifting high to the side.

Dongjuk’s body went horizontal, level with the earth, his shocked face tilted—yet even then, his eyes never left Qing’s.

But in the process, tragically, he lost his hold on Jeong Ryujang.

The two half-naked men who had been one clump separated into two—each tumbling and rolling across the ground in a mess.

Qing felt a flicker of admiration.

Oh. He knows how to fight.

If her toe—the hometown term would’ve called it a “toe kick”—had driven into his ankle, it would’ve shattered to pieces and he’d be crippled on the spot.

If he’d retreated or jumped, she could’ve simply twisted the trajectory to follow.

But because he stepped forward, it turned into a heavy, sideways smash instead.

That kind of combat intelligence.

Left alone, he was the sort of talent who could climb all the way into the pinnacle realm.

But... did she need to play with him any longer?

Dongjuk tried to scramble up in a hurry—

And froze.

A sharp, cold edge had stopped right at his chin.

“This vile villain. Before you die, beg forgiveness from that poor young man.”

“Wrong—wrong. Please. Hero, listen to me—”

“Hah. Now you call a mere bandit ‘hero’? Only when death is right in front of you do you turn craven—truly the mark of the wicked.”

“That’s not it. I can explain every—”

“Hahah! What a hilarious last word! Submit quietly to righteous judgment!”

Qing shouted, lifting Moonlit Night high overhead.

In that instant, Dongjuk’s eyes flashed.

“DIE! SCREAM, MOONLIT NIGHT—POUR DOWN!”

Moonlit Night cleaved down, drawing a vertical line through the world—

And then—

CLANG!!

A deafening crash of metal.

And with it, the heavy sound of something spinning—

WHOOOOM, WHOOOOM—

Moonlit Night flew away.

Far off—THUNK.

The sharp blade stabbed into the ground and stood there alone, striking and upright.

“...Huh?”

Qing stared at her suddenly empty hands, letting out a baffled little sound—

As Dongjuk sprang up, lifting his saber with a twisted, shadowed smile.

“You bitch. I’ll kill you.”

“Hey, wait! Wait! I don’t have a weapon!”

“You dared run your mouth. I told you you’d regret it.”

Dongjuk began to swing.

He had no Young Master burden in his arms anymore.

And that insolent woman had no weapon.

Then—countless red arcs of sword-energy carved the air.

“WAAAH! Hey! Wait! Wait! We can—talk! Talk! Talk! Let’s talk, I said—WAAH!”

“Damn it! You dodge well! Die! Just die!”

“Hey, hold on! Hold on! WAAH—hey! You grazed me! You grazed me! That’s a foul! A foul!”

Dongjuk’s swordsmanship, when properly unleashed, was a murderous killing blade overflowing with killing intent.

But between the countless slashes tearing through every direction, Qing rolled and leapt and crawled and slipped and retreated and ducked and folded—dodging in a continuous chain as if it were a perfectly choreographed art.

She was so fast that multiple Qings seemed to appear and vanish at once, like the air itself was shaking with her movement.

Then—

BOOM!

Qing stamped and kicked off, opening distance.

“Hold it!”

“Now you want to talk? It’s too late. I will kill you no matter what—”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah. If you back off here, I won’t chase you anymore, and I won’t hold any grudge. I’ll send you off nice and clean. Ah, though you’re already dressed pretty ‘clean,’ aren’t you. No take-backs, you know? The clothes are already mine because you already gave them to me.”

“Still nothing but a mouth. I’ll kill you and keep that mouth separately. Let’s see if it keeps talking after you die.”

“Wait! If you keep fighting, then I—the Supreme Thief Overlord—will fight for real! I won’t go easy anymore!”

“Hah. For real? Go easy?”

“Yes! And then, no matter how much you bawl and sob with snot and tears, no matter how hard you rub your palms until they burn, I will never forgive you. This Supreme Thief Overlord never lets anyone live who has witnessed my true power! Now, take that—uh—your ‘work’ that you made, and get the hell out. I’m giving you, specially! A very special last chance!”

But Dongjuk only smiled, pale and bright.

Her footwork was impressive, but “hiding her power”? Even a ten-year-old wouldn’t fall for that kind of bullshit.

“Is that so? Then I’d like to see that ‘great power’ of yours.”

“Really? It’s the last chance, you know? You’re not leaving while I’m still being nice? I’m telling you, I’m about to use my hidden power. And I really won’t go easy anymore. I’ll kill you no matter what.”

“Heh! What a funny last word!”

“...Gasp.”

Dongjuk burst into loud laughter and swung again, his blade loaded with blood-red, surging sword-energy—

And—

TAP.

Qing’s white, long fingers—so translucent they were almost beautiful—lightly caught the blade.

“What?”

“Oh. So that’s what it is. Now I understand why you were ‘hiding your power.’ How do you even endure this? Fine. I’ll accept being pathetic!”

“W-what...?”

Dongjuk yanked in shock, trying to pull his saber free—

But Qing’s hand clenched into a tight fist, gripping the blade itself and refusing to let go.

Dongjuk’s arm trembled—pouring energy into his saber as he pulled with all his might.

But the blade stayed pinned in place.

Then—

KRRRIIIIK.

KRRCH.

At last, Qing’s fist fully closed.

Dongjuk, dragged by the sudden release, threw his arms up reflexively—

And the snapped blade hit the ground with a bright—

CLINK.

Qing opened her hand.

A crushed chunk of iron dropped with a dull thud onto the dirt road.

This was the gap between pinnacle and Transformation Realm.

This was what the world looked like from pinnacle—and from Transformation Realm.