I Am This Murim’s Crazy Bitch - Chapter 212: Let Us Have A Martial Arts Match (10)
Qing rubbed her head, thinking, hmm, maybe I deserved to be hit this time.
Sticking out my tongue in front of Master might have been a bit too much, or maybe not, anyway, strangely, whenever I’m in front of Master, my mouth gets light and I end up saying everything I should and shouldn’t say.
“At this rate, your disciple’s head will become flat… Will I become flat-headed?”
“Your disciple’s skull is at a level that puts Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron to shame, so there’s no need to worry. Hmm. By the way, did you say the Divine Thief is aiming for your master’s position?”
“Oh. He wasn’t that bad of a person. He even taught me a training method. I firmly refused him.”
Qing defended Cheon Yuhak.
In fact, wasn’t she in a position of just taking without giving anything in return?
“Hmm. Trying to lure a disciple who clearly has a master to serve two masters. That guy’s face is really thick. Well. I should see his face once.”
“If I explain well…”
“Who said what? I just said I want to see his face.”“Ah, aah.”
Qing floundered, not knowing what to do.
Of course, although Cheon Yuhak made a rude attempt, it was ultimately frustrated and would be in the future too, so she felt like she had spoken unnecessarily.
That’s when it happened.
“Qing’er! What’s taking so long… Ah, hello. Has the Matriarch arrived?”
“It’s Nanah. I haven’t arrived yet, so could you pretend you didn’t see me?”
“I’ll tell them Qing’er will eat separately due to an important guest. This girl will take her leave.”
Tang Nanah suddenly appeared and quickly disappeared.
Among Qing’s peers, she was the only one who treated Ximen Surin comfortably.
Qing also judged it wouldn’t be much help after confirming Tang Nanah’s face when the door opened.
“Now. Lead the way.”
“Yes…”
At this point, all she could do was hope that the book-selling ahjussi presumed to be the Divine Thief had fled with good sense.
But how could even a flying and crawling Divine Thief know that a martial artist of Ximen Surin’s level had come secretly with determination?
The Divine Thief, lying on his mat, was lost in thought for a moment at the approaching footsteps, but the heavy, thumping footsteps using the whole foot were clearly Qing’s, characteristic of a man.
Next to that was mixed the light, heavenly woman’s footsteps that even Cheon Yuhak almost missed.
What did this girl leave behind?
Although they hadn’t explicitly agreed, he thought there was an unspoken promise that this was the “meeting place”.
Is she thoughtlessly bringing her friend along?
Cheon Yuhak pondered for a moment, then decided he should greet them confidently since he had nothing to be ashamed of and hadn’t done anything wrong, so he got up and tidied his clothes.
When Qing arrived, instead of the book-selling ahjussi lying on his mat scratching his belly like before, Cheon Yuhak was in a state of trying to look serious with a somewhat solemn expression.
“Yes, you’re finally here, ahem.”
Cheon Yuhak started to speak solemnly but cleared his throat after confirming Ximen Surin.
“I am Cheon Yuhak, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy. I have a brief connection with this child and have become friends. Excuse me, but could the noble lady perhaps tell this humble one her precious name?”
It was an incredibly greasy voice.
Ugh. The corners of Qing’s mouth turned down.
At this, Ximen Surin smiled faintly.
Cheon Yuhak’s brightening expression was ominous. The profound look in his eyes as he gazed at Ximen Surin was even more ominous.
Ximen Surin maintained her smile and said:
“A lecturer at the Hanlin Academy. Do you perhaps know a Daoist called Osanja? He’s a very funny character who looks like a proper Daoist with Xian bones but is missing one tooth each on the top and bottom.”
At this, Cheon Yuhak’s expression hardened.
“That, the deceased…”
“Didn’t your master tell you? How he lost his front teeth?”
“Do you mean the upper one, or the lower one?”
“Did he talk about them separately? Well, what did he say?”
“For the upper one, he said that when Master was exchanging martial arts with Shaolin’s Wuhan Great Master, it was such an intense match that he couldn’t show mercy in his movements.”
Ximen Surin’s smile deepened.
“And the lower one?”
“I heard that he was so immersed in qinggong while crossing a wall that he collided with a flying heron in a trance…”
“That’s a strange story. I clearly remember smashing it myself.”
Ximen Surin said this while tapping the protruding bone on the middle knuckle of her fist.
“He’s still a bad guy. It’s not shameful to have your front tooth broken by Wuhak, but it’s shameful to be hit by a woman, so he lied to his disciple, tsk tsk.”
At this, Cheon Yuhak’s expression became serious.
“Moreover, reaching a trance in qinggong and colliding with a flying bird? That’s something even a heron would laugh at.”
“That, the noble lady’s name is…”
“I am called Ximen Surin. I hear you seem to covet my disciple quite a bit.”
At this, Cheon Yuhak threw a dumbfounded look at Qing.
It was a gaze full of betrayal.
It was the kind of look that a certain emperor of a well-connected country far in the past might have given when betrayed by his most trusted confidant.
Qing awkwardly avoided his gaze.
Ximen Surin opened her mouth with a smiling face.
“Now. Will you make excuses?”
“That, oh my, I have committed a mortal sin!”
Cheon Yuhak suddenly prostrated himself on the ground.
Of course, it was an apology that was far less graceful than Tang Nanah’s, but considering the difference in face between a young girl and a grown man, it was quite a move.
“However, if this lowly one had not seen the great one’s disciple, it would be one thing, but having already seen and recognized her as a talent unparalleled under heaven, how could anyone wanting to be a master just let it go?”
“Did you like her that much?”
“At such a young age, she has already mastered qinggong, her senses are excellent, and her learning speed is as quick as a flash. How could there be two such talents in the world? Originally, this lowly one’s nature is hasty and stubborn, so even though it was not right, I simply could not bear to let it go.”
“Hmm.”
“However, the deceased’s disciple has already expressed her refusal, rejecting all divine arts out of loyalty to her master, so this lowly one has already given up. Finding her intention admirable and praiseworthy, I only wanted to give a little help. I’ve long since given up on coveting her as a disciple, so please don’t be too angry…”
“Good.”
Ximen Surin cut off Cheon Yuhak’s words.
At this, Cheon Yuhak slightly raised his head and looked at Ximen Surin’s expression.
“…When you say ‘good’, do you mean you forgive me, or um, your disciple…”
“Were there women among the Divine Thieves? Then it might be good to have one come out once. Although you’re quite despicable, since you say you’re a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, you seem to be somewhat enlightened.”
It was an unexpectedly generous acceptance.
Cheon Yuhak, who hadn’t expected this at all, just blinked his eyes at the unexpected praise.
“Thank you! I will be a great master who is not shameful to the deceased’s disciple.”
“Yes. That’s right. Disciple, what are you doing? Not paying respects to your small master.”
“Uh, Master.”
“Why, don’t you like it? I roughly know the Divine Thief’s martial arts, and there’s not one among them that isn’t a divine art, they’re all extremely high level. When divine arts are rolling in to you on their own, what’s the big deal about serving one more master that I should stop it?”
“I’m fine. I only need you as my master. And I’m not really that interested in things like divine arts…”
At this, Cheon Yuhak looked disappointed, while Ximen Surin gently stroked Qing’s head.
“It’s truly grateful that you say such things. In a world where there are countless people who commit heinous crimes out of greed for martial arts, having such a lovely disciple is a great blessing in my later years.”
“Hehe…”
“However, I was originally planning to allow it after seeing his character, and if he’s a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, his scholarship alone makes him worth having as a master.”
At this, Cheon Yuhak’s expression became smug again.
Qing finally performed a deep bow in her seat.
Originally, the bow for taking a master is done three times.
Once to the sect and ancestors, once to the master’s masters, and once to the master.
But the Divine Thief doesn’t particularly have a sect, and the previous Divine Thief retires to do their original work after finishing the transmission, so they’re not particularly respected.
So it was just one deep bow to the master.
Cheon Yuhak was all smiles.
Then suddenly, he cautiously looked around and asked:
“By the way, elder, about how my master, Osanja, lost his front teeth…”
“Why? Do you want to know?”
“Yes. Shouldn’t a disciple know about their master’s affairs?”
At this, Ximen Surin burst out laughing.
It was clearly with the intention of teasing him when they met.
“It’s nothing much. There was a man who dared to intrude into the Divine Maiden Sect, a forbidden area for men, and disgracefully stole underwear, so I taught him a lesson. After being beaten for a while, he ran away.”
The reason Ximen Surin punched him was simple, due to her usual belief that all perverts should be beaten to death.
The Divine Thief, feeling he would die if beaten any more, fled with all his might.
The Divine Thief’s qinggong was the best under heaven, and he had all sorts of evasion techniques like shape-changing and bone contraction, so even Ximen Surin had difficulty chasing him.
However, there was no way Ximen Surin could forgive a shameless pervert who dared to break into the Divine Maiden Sect and steal her disciple’s underwear.
So after a persistent chase and escape, the previous Divine Thief finally hid in the Shaolin Temple.
But he underestimated the close bond between the Buddhist and Daoist sects, so in the end, the Divine Thief who had another front tooth broken by being beaten by Wuhak was placed before Ximen Surin, tied up.
“Are you saying Master stole a woman’s underwear?”
Cheon Yuhak’s eyes flashed.
It was an extremely disrespectful expression of having caught his master’s weakness.
Ximen Surin smiled and finished the story.
“It turned out that the stolen disciple’s underwear was a treasure map that would cause a bloodbath in the martial arts world. Since it wasn’t a good thing even if the connection was made, I forgave him in consideration of that.”
—-
Today I should catch up with my disciple, so the small master should start teaching in earnest from tomorrow.
Ximen Surin said this and had a cozy dinner time with Qing.
Qing looked around cautiously and said:
“Master, it was fine without serving one more master.”
Then Ximen Surin smiled gently.
“It’s alright. People in the world won’t know anyway, so what’s the big deal?”
Ximen Surin isn’t an easy-going person either.
She just judged it would be fine after considering it from various angles.
First of all, the identity of the Divine Thief is a secret.
That is, the current Divine Thief, the previous Divine Thief, and the future Divine Thief are all secrets that should not be revealed to the world.
So even if they’re master and disciple, there were only a few people in each era. At most, it would be limited to four people: great-grandmaster, grandmaster, master, and disciple.
So Qing won’t have any occasion to reveal that she’s serving two masters, and Cheon Yuhak can’t go around saying Ximen Surin’s disciple is his disciple.
Of course, even if their identities are revealed, wouldn’t it be fine as it is?
The fact that the Divine Thief is a woman could be a great source of pride for women in the Central Plains, and who would say anything about Qing’s distribution?
However, inheriting the name of the Divine Thief does come with certain obligations.
Protecting the martial arts world from the shadows to prevent dangerous items from reaching dangerous people, or something like that.
In Ximen Surin’s opinion, this was a sufficiently righteous task, and also one that didn’t need to be done often.
And above all, there’s no reason for her disciple, who will become the world’s greatest in the future, to steal in an unseemly manner. Couldn’t she just go, beat them up, and take it?
Moreover, having experienced the Divine Thief’s techniques firsthand, they would be really good for her disciple to learn.
Thinking about it from various angles, it’s all gain.
So Ximen Surin had no reason to object.
***
https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken
