Chapter 165: Are You Acquainted With This Beggar?

It goes without saying, but martial arts consume a tremendous amount of physical energy.

Stamina is the foundation of martial arts.

That's why nearly every sect shared similar training methods for the fledgling children, the preliminary third-generation disciples who could be roughly categorized as fourth-generation disciples (though no such official title actually existed).

Horse stance and running up and down mountains for no apparent reason.

And fetching water for the sect.

This process even continued throughout their growth period.

It might look like bullying or child abuse.

But this was crucial training that built the foundation for martial arts by simultaneously developing stamina and strengthening the lower body.

Of course, there was also the very convenient advantage that the little kids brought the water.

Regardless, the physical toll of martial arts was extraordinary, demanding such a harsh childhood.

Try handing a sword to a commoner and telling them to swing it a hundred times.

They'd end up collapsing, gasping for breath.

And among martial arts, there was one particularly vicious type that didn't just consume stamina but positively drained it dry.

Lightness Skill.

Long ago, didn't some guy from the Western Regions run about a hundred li to deliver news of victory, only to drop dead, whether from a burst heart or lack of blood flow?

If you made commoners sprint at full speed right now, you'd see them expel moisture from every pore before even a ke (15 minutes) passed.

And that was for the commoners of the Central Plains; if you made modern people from Qing's homeland sprint, they wouldn't last a minute before collapsing.

Therefore, Lightness Skill was a difficult technique that required operating internal energy to add propulsion on top of all that.

It wasn't simply supplementing running with internal energy.

It was a simultaneous task, a double burden of having to run while circulating internal energy.

Moreover, the places where Lightness Skill was used weren't exactly wide-open, well-packed sports fields devoid of even a single pebble.

It was rough terrain with severe ups and downs, where the ground underfoot was littered with stones, hidden puddles concealed by fallen leaves, slippery rocks, and so on – places difficult enough to run on normally.

Thus, maintaining Lightness Skill for a long time was extremely difficult.

It demanded not only steel-like stamina but also the balance to perfectly control one's body, the concentration to operate internal energy, and the reflexes to cope with terrain where no two spots were alike.

There was a reason Ximen Surin had assessed that if her disciple ran away, few could catch her.

Qing's ability to circle Mount Wu and return brimming with energy, without a single drop of sweat or needing to catch her breath, was thanks to her superhuman stamina, balance, and control over her internal energy.

The exception Ximen Surin had mentioned referred to catching Qing quickly at short distances.

Over long distances, as far as Ximen Surin knew, no one could catch her.

Not even, she believed, the renowned expert The Divine Thief, famous for possessing the fastest Lightness Skill under heaven.

And Ximen Surin was correct.

The Divine Thief had stopped, panting like a dog.

"Haa, wh-what, haa, hooo, kind of girl, heo-eok, hooooo, doesn't, doesn't, doesn't even get tired. Heok."

Though no one had threatened him into talking to himself, The Divine Thief chattered away earnestly even amidst his ragged breaths.

If someone pointed it out, he might reply that it was because he was a lonely old man.

But in truth, solitary old men weren't necessarily prone to muttering; he was simply born that way.

The Divine Thief's plan had been simple.

One. Observe from a distance.
Two. Appear dramatically at a dangerous moment to rescue her!
Three. Solemnly, gravely, seriously suggest discipleship.
Four. Receive the Bow of Discipleship during the Nine Bows of Etiquette.

Success!

But he’d gotten stuck right at step one. Observe from a distance? Fat chance.

What kind of wench ran continuously for over two shichen without a single break? His own stamina dwindled, and the distance between them only grew.

Even if Thousand Li Flight was known as a Lightness Skill specialized for long distances, there were limits.

In the eyes of The Divine Thief, the ultimate authority on Lightness Skill, she was simply a wench born a natural runner.

He'd stopped because he felt his old heart wouldn't hold out if he chased her any further.

"Hooo, th-this, hooo. At this time, heok, passing through, hooo, here, must be the way, hooo, to the Murim, Murim conference, hooooo, the Murim conference, right?"

The Divine Thief changed his mind.

Was he really at an age to be playing tag in the middle of the night with some young slip of a girl?

One had to use one's head. He'd just wasted energy in the dead of night when he'd inevitably see her in Kaifeng anyway.

Unaware that the uninvited guest behind her had dropped off, Qing kept running.

She knew absolutely nothing about her pursuer.

Qing was serious when it came to eating and escaping.

Rumors in the Central Plains spread surprisingly slowly, relying solely on person-to-person encounters.

If she ran faster than the rumors and found a place to hide and settle down, what assassin or bounty hunter would know where to find her?

Sleep during the day for now, just get farther away first.

So she ran, and ran, and ran some more, until the sky began to pale with the dawn. She had run for a full four shichen. (T/N one shichen is 2 hours)

In modern terms, eight hours.

Around the three-shichen mark, even Qing had started to find it difficult. After four shichen, even she thought, Wow, I can't go any further, and promptly collapsed onto the ground, sprawled out like the character 大.

Her body desperately sucked in air, gulping down breaths and immediately expelling them.

Thanks to this, inhales and exhales felt like they were colliding and exploding mid-throat. She finally understood firsthand what it meant to be breathless, feeling the strain right up to her chin.

Eventually, Qing lay sprawled flat on her back.

Anyone who has run to their absolute limit knows (though surprisingly many don't), the aftermath involves a wringing pain, with not a single part of the body left untouched by aches.

The ground was cold, but her body was hot, making the chill feel almost welcome.

As she lay there for a bit, hmm.

It's cold!

It was early spring dawn, with a chill like midwinter, and she hadn't just sweated; her clothes were completely soaked.

If she wrung them out, sweat would probably cascade like a waterfall.

She was essentially thrown into the bitter cold wearing wet clothes.

The easiest way for a person to freeze to death is when their body is exhausted from sweat, their clothes are wet, and the weather is cold.

Back at the Divine Maiden Sect, even wearing thin clothes, at least the wind could pass through; they weren't damp.

If I sleep here, I'll freeze to death.

Qing laboriously pushed herself up. Dark soil clung all over her damp back.

But how would Qing know what her back looked like?

In that state, she trudged onward with heavy steps, and soon, a tall city gate blocked her path.

A large hanging plaque read ‘Zhangwan’, so the city's name must be Zhangwan.

Being Qing, who was clueless about Chinese geography, she had no idea where she was, but others would have been astonished by the news.

Who would believe she had run the roughly six hundred li (300 km) from Suyahu Reservoir to Zhangwan City overnight?

Zhangwan is a city located between Kaifeng and Puyang.

Puyang serves as a northern gateway connecting to Hebei, meaning Qing, in her mindless run, had actually bypassed Kaifeng entirely.

Just then, as morning arrived, the city gates creaked open.

Seeing the city instantly made her empty stomach churn.

She had literally run all night long.

She was starving, and her body felt sticky and disgusting.

"Ah. I'm dying..."

Qing groaned as she headed towards the gate.

With a veil covering her face, two swords slanted across her lower back, and a dark flute tucked into the belt at her waist, she looked utterly suspicious – what on earth was this woman up to?

But the Principle of Non-interference between Government and Martial World held.

Essentially, the individual government soldiers were too scared to confront superhumans who carried swords and flew around, so they were about to let her pass through the gate unchallenged.

Suddenly, the veiled woman with the swords turned directly towards the gate guard. The poor soldier gulped.

Then, the veiled woman asked.

"Excuse me, which restaurant is good here? What are they known for?"

The soldier was immensely relieved.

"The Dacheng Vegetable Shop on Chengguan Avenue is good. The chef supposedly learned in Shandong, so they do Shandong cuisine incredibly well, but whether it's real Shandong food... well? Some people say it isn't..."

"Chengguan Avenue. Dacheng Vegetable Shop. Thank you. Keep up the good work."

Qing gave the kind soldier a slight bow of her veiled head and passed through the gate.

It being morning, merchants were out with their breakfast yokes, selling noodle soup or simple broths.

Qing's eyes darted around wildly.

However, with the grim determination to eat something delicious on this rare occasion of intense hunger, Qing squeezed her eyes shut and looked away.

It's a waste to fill up on stuff like that for one meal.

Delicious food tastes twice as good when you're hungry.

Noodle soup and broth aren't anything special anyway.

Hmm. Still, maybe just a little taste?

They say if you're too hungry, you actually can't eat much.

How could the starving Qing possibly resist food?

Unable to hold back, Qing reached for her pouch.

Reached for her pouch...

After fumbling at empty air a few more times, Qing's face turned deathly pale.

It was the first time her complexion had been this pallid since leaving her sect.

Pouch, gone?

Of course, it was all Qing's own bad karma.

Despite being a powerhouse capable of lifting five hundred jin herself, she had entrusted all her luggage to her delicate Sworn Sister. She knew how to strap on swords but had no idea how to carry anything else on her own person.

It was truly atrocious behavior.

To be fair, Qing felt wronged too.

The ones responsible for instilling that behavior were Crutch No. 1 and Crutch No. 2, that old man and young punk.

Hadn't they practically begged and pleaded to carry her things, leading her to just get used to letting them?

The problem was, Qing didn't have a single coin, not even one wen, on her.

"Ah."

Remembering the three wen coins she received from the owner of the martial arts manual, Qing frantically patted herself down all over.

But Central Plains-style clothing had no pockets.

Of course, martial uniforms sometimes had inner linings sewn in where one could stuff various things, but she had immediately handed the coins to Gyeon Pohee. Now, only scraps of loose cotton fuzz came away under her fingernails.

One wen could buy a plain steamed bun.

Three wen could even get a broth with no solids...

Qing rediscovered her roots after a very long time.

Originally, Qing was, fundamentally, a destitute pauper.

Qing started walking first.

Standing still made her wet clothes grow cold, chilling her.

So, she had to move.

Her eyes darted left and right, scanning the ground, desperately hoping a coin might have fallen somewhere.

What do I do? I'm hungry. And I have no money...

Suddenly, tears welled up.

Qing shouldn't be hungry.

Whatever else happened, she shouldn't go hungry.

Besides, look at her current state.

Her clothes were damp and clammy, and she didn't have a change of clothes, so there was no alternative.

The weather was cold, her body was exhausted, and the aftereffects of the long-distance Lightness Skill run were making the soles of her feet burn, while faint tremors started in her thighs and calves – not a good sign.

Ah shit, this won't do.

I need to get some sleep first.

If I get any hungrier, I probably won't be able to sleep because of the hunger.

It was cold, but it wasn't like her body would freeze to death. It was better to sleep while she could than to wander around clutching her starving stomach, searching for dropped coins.

Qing trudged through the city, looking for a place suitable for sleeping rough.

Besides, she'd been accustomed to roughing it outdoors ever since she first stepped into the Murim.

Eventually, Qing found a good spot in a corner of the marketplace, beneath a wall where the sun shone.

It was an open area with many passersby, making it safe, yet it was a spot people saw but didn't walk through, so there was no fear of being kicked.

Moreover, the sun hitting it now would continue to do so until noon.

To find such a prime spot immediately despite sleeping outdoors after so long... this must be why people say you need to learn, that experiences gained through hardship don't die.

Qing curled up like a shrimp, lying on her side under the wall.