Chapter 31: The front of the Yangtze's waves goes blah blah blah

Qing abandoned the ship just before the collision.

It wasn't her ship anyway.

She leaped onto the deck of a large ship and saw people lying face down on the floor.

And then-

BOOM......!

The deck tilted sharply with a heavy impact on the soles of her feet.

SCREEEECH......!

The sound of twisting wood and the ship's screams filled the air.

But a true master never wavers.

In fact, there were quite a few people standing upright, immediately examining the mysterious woman who appeared with the collision.

Their gazes were not kind.

Sensing the hostility, Qing quickly looked around.

She needed to know if she was on a rescue ship or had just escaped into another villain's lair.

Some people's karma had plummeted to hell, while others managed to maintain good deeds.

Except for a few extreme cases, the average was roughly the level of an inn.

Then, a man named Jang 'Wavebreaker' Han , standing at the bow of the ship, pointed a harpoon at Qing and growled.

"How dare you touch the Water Transport Office[^ Direct translation is "water thieves" or "water bandits."] on the Yangtze River, and even the Dragon King ship? You've got some nerve, woman."

Qing realized this was a misunderstanding.

However, she also believed that it wasn't her fault.

The ship just drifted by itself and crashed.

Qing didn't even shout, "Let's crash, you bastards!" and rammed into the ship like a man. Of course, she would have liked to try that, though.

Still, the recent crash was unintentional.

Qing was a reasonable person who believed that most misunderstandings could be resolved through sincere conversation or agitation and fabrication.

And she learned the art of sincere conversation from Ximen Surin.

Since Qing's experiences were limited to third-rate wanderers and back alley thugs, so enduring countless nuclear noogies was how she had managed to learn the proper etiquette of a true martial artist.

"This little girl...-"[^so-in (소인, a humble way to refer to oneself)]

Nah, "little girl" didn’t quite seem right. [^ It's a very old-fashioned, humble pronoun often used in historical dramas or martial arts settings, typically by men. So when Qing hesitates, it's because it feels awkward for a girl to say it.]

"-I am Ximen Qing. Thank you for saving me."

Qing promptly assumed a formal fist salute.

Jang Han's anger subsided a little.

Qing's heart felt a little lighter.

"Saving you? What are you talking about?"

"Well, you see. They said they would buy me food, no, treat me to a meal, so I got on the ship, but those bastards, I mean, that guy, no, that person? No, those people? Anyway, they were fucking dogs..."

The forced manners disappeared as soon as she relaxed, returning to her back alley days.

The experience of fighting with beggars over discarded food scraps was too intense.

More than anything, it was because Qing's attitude toward the world wasn't particularly serious.

Qing finished her story.

It was roughly about how those bastards were just bad guys, and she was just caught up in it and not guilty.

Jang Han, the high ranking officer who crossed the Yangtze first, fell into deep thought.

After hearing the story, it was hard to blame her.

The trick of luring someone with a boat trip and then doing bad things was a famous trick from the past.

It was also the reason why famous rivers and lakes had legends of water ghosts.

Qing's unrefined speech and beautiful looks also played a role.

A pretty girl was clumsily trying to speak politely while arguing her case.

She was clearly a runaway girl from a noble family who didn't know the ways of the world.

The unique, vibrant eyes of someone who had learned a Daoist cultivation technique further solidified that misunderstanding.

Moreover, Jang Han was also a father with a daughter.

He couldn't bring himself to be harsh on a naive girl who had just entered the world.

"Ahem, men are just like that, so you have to be careful. You wouldn't have ended up like this if you weren't so careless about following any guy."

All hostility had disappeared.

Qing asked more comfortably,

"So, can you drop me off at a nearby city? And where are we, anyway?"

"Dongting Lake."

"What? Dongting Lake? How..."

Qing swallowed her next words.

How can the name of the lake be Dongting Lake?

Jang Han, unaware of the joke she swallowed, assumed she was surprised to have drifted so far.

More importantly, there was an important part of the story he heard.

"By the way, you said that bastard was the son of an official. Didn't he say whose son he was?"

"The uh Local? Local Checker? Something like that."

Pabongmu's heart sank.

"Regional Inspector."

"Yes, that's right! I think that's it."

"Fuck, did you really ugh..."

Jang Han swore.

The Yangtze Waterway Transport[^ litterally means "water thieves" or "water bandits."] is a group of water bandits, river robbers.

That's what they were during the previous leader's era.

The current leader of Waterway Transport, Chief Bok Haeun, knew that this business could end at any moment.

It was because of the government.

The moment the government decided to subjugate them would be the end of Waterway Transport Company.

Cannons were the exclusive property of the government, and if only one side had cannons in a naval battle, the fight wouldn't even be possible.

From Bok Haeun's perspective, Waterway Transport Company seemed to be maintained only by the government's patience.

So Bok Haeun changed Waterway Transport Company.

They actively built relationships with the government, protecting government ships and operating communication lines as a proxy.

They even helped arrest criminals by conducting inspections.

Cracking down on smugglers was something they had been doing for a long time. Smuggling was a business only Waterway Transport Company could do.

They also drastically lowered tolls to appease the government.

As a result, the Yangtze's water volume soared, which in turn led to even greater income than before.

Thanks to these efforts, the Yangtze Waterway Transport Company became less like water bandits and more like a Yangtze River management company.

They became the true owners of the Yangtze, albeit unofficially recognized by the government.

But then Regional Inspector's son died.

The problem was who was responsible.

Qing claimed that the scumbag was still alive before the crash.

Although slightly distorted, it was a fact.

Even though his arms and legs were necrotic and his genitals and tongue were cut off, he was still alive.

According to Qing's plan, less than a hundred survivors with less than a hundred evil karma were supposed to drag the second son to Uichang and testify to his evil deeds.

Unfortunately, they all drowned in the accident.

Then who should take responsibility for the death of that high-ranking official's son?

Chief Bok Haeun pressed his forehead.

Another incident occurred at an already complicated time.

"I knew that perverted, murderous, rapist bastard would cause trouble someday. But I didn't know it would be like this."

Cha Nam-Jeong was active in the Uichang area of the Yangtze River.

And Waterway Transport Company knew what was happening on the Yangtze.

This was because, from the ship's managers to the stevedores, there were few workers involved in sailing who were not connected to Waterway Transport Company.

"So what happened to that child?"

"I've locked her in the brig for now."

Jang Han hesitated and asked,

"Are we going to hand that child over to the government?"

"What else would we do?"

"Don't you feel sorry for her? After seeing what happened to her."

"Of course I feel sorry for her. But..."

Bok Haeun shook his head.

"If you carry a sword, you're already a member of the Jianghu[^The martial arts world]. As you know, being naive is a sin in the Jianghu. There's nothing we can do."

"Ugh..."

Bok Haeun soothed Jang Hanin a sad voice,

"Who wouldn't feel like she's their own daughter? But do we really need to bring trouble upon ourselves? That's something the righteous sects would do."

Then he suddenly asked as if he had just remembered something,

"Oh, by the way, hasn't Heumcheok seen that bastard? I scolded him a few days ago, and the little bastard got sulky and hasn't even shown his face to his father."

As soon as Qing entered the cabin, the door slammed shut.

She suddenly felt a chill.

She tried the door, but it was locked tight and wouldn't open.

When she mentioned that Regional Inspector guy was the kid's father, Jang Han's face had become pale with fear.

After that, he said he would show her a room to stay in for a day until they arrived at Akyang, so she thought that was it.

"That man, I didn't expect him to betray me like this. Ahem, ahem. Should I just wipe them all out? I could even slaughter them all..."

Qing imitated the famous line of the great writer she always admired.

It was the same nonsense she always spouted.

However, she only spoke it out loud when there was no one to listen, or when she was in front of a villain who was going to die anyway.

Even though no one would understand her nonsense, she felt embarrassed to spout it sober.

"Is that true?"

"AHHH!"

That's why she was really surprised and jumped when she heard a strange voice.

"I'm sorry if I scared you."

It was a beautiful woman with a somewhat sickly impression.

Her calm voice was soothing to the ears.

A sweet, beautiful voice that seemed to caress a tired soul.

When Qing looked at her, the beautiful woman gave her a warm smile. It was a smile that pierced Qing's heart.

I see.

I like fragile beauties.

But why is she smiling at me?

Is this, perhaps...?

"I'm Eon Yeonyeong. I'm from Jinju. And you, miss?"

"I'm Ximen Qing..."

When Qing focused on someone's face, numbers would float above it.

Eon Yeonyeong was no exception.

How many children would be good? Should I give her the Ximen family name, or should I continue my family line in this primitive China? As Qing pondered, the numbers came into view.

-1711. She suddenly came to her senses.

Four digits? Seriously?

Oh, shit.

I loved you, woman....

Qing suddenly felt gloomy.