Chapter 41: Journey towards Mount Hua

Qing had always carried herself with confidence.

However, this time, she was aware that she had acted shamefully. It was her first mistake since entering Murim.

And after all her efforts to live as a diligent and virtuous person…

Well, technically, it wasn’t her fault this time either.

The Taepyung Sword Sect had chosen the worst possible moment to act like a bunch of thugs right in front of her.

And then, that clueless sparring-obsessed bastard had poked at her nerves right after.

Still, she had gone a bit overboard.

Yeah. She a tiny bit in the wrong too.

So I’m not completely blameless this time.

My flawless moral compass… has been cracked.

That was why Qingwas feeling down.

She knew that finding euphoria in cutting people down wasn’t exactly… normal.

But what could she do?

It just felt so damn good.

There were no words to properly explain it.

Which was why she had always been careful.

She only indulged in her violent pleasures with bad people.

Qing wasn’t that strange—just slightly unusual.

At her core, she was still just an ordinary person.

And the solution to this problem was a simple one.

Leave the city full of bad memories.

Qing was the most decisive person in the Central Plains.

Because she had nothing tying her down.

On her way out, she stopped by the Taepyung Sword Sect’s headquarters.

When the martial artist guarding the main gate asked her what her business was, she handed over the five loot swords.

“This is…?”

“Picked them up on the way.”

“…?”

Picked them up?

How the hell does someone just “pick up” five sect-issued swords?

By the time the confusd guard’s brain restarted and he reached out to take them, Qing was already striding away.

“Miss? Wait! Please, hold on—”

Unable to follow her because he was guarding the main gate, only his pitiful voice tried to hold Qing back.

But Qing was like the wind, and he couldn't catch her.

Now, there was only one question left.

Where to?

Qing thought about it.

I don’t think water and I get along.

Every time she got involved with rivers, something bad happened.

First, the final boss had appeared out of nowhere, and this place too.

She probably had some water-related misfortune in her fate.

The unlimited travel pass for the Yangtze River was nice and all, but she wasn’t about to tempt fate.

No need to ignore the wisdom of the ancestors.

Besides, Qing had never been the type to travel in luxury.

Since when had she needed to take ferries or ride in carriages?

Qing's journey on foot was cut short; a moment later, they spun around in frustration.

"What the. Why are you following me?"

“I wouldn’t say I’m following you. I just… don’t have anywhere else to go, so I was simply walking in whatever direction felt right, and it just so happened to lead me here.”

“Well, I’m not going to spar with you. Also, what do you mean you have nowhere to go? You have a perfectly good home waiting for you.”

“Well, you see… I was thinking of running away for a bit. If I go back now, I might not make it out alive.”

It had been three days.

Rumors had spread.

Of course, they had reached the Namgung Clan—the de facto ruling family of Anhui Province.

And their current patriarch, the Sword King Namgung Dae-ro, was a rigid, iron-willed man.

If he heard that his son had harassed a woman in broad daylight, he would explode.

Qing blinked in disbelief.

“Then why not just go somewhere else? Why are you following me?”

“Miss, must you be so cold? We are both fellow swordsmen. Those who pursue the path of the sword are all comrades within the four seas.”

Qing’s expression twisted.

What kind of communist-sounding bullshit is this?

How do I get rid of this leech?

But then, a thought struck her.

Why should I shake off a rich young master?

Enlightenment dawned upon her.

I’ve lost my way.

Qing had rarely traveled with others.

But when she had, she had always made sure to take full advantage of the benefits.

Speaking of which, was San[^Peng Daesan] doing well?

Eh. He was probably fine. Just gasping for air under a swarm of women.

Anyway, it was worth hanging out with a rich young master.

She had gotten too caught up in how annoying he was.

It’s just a few sparring matches.

I can handle that.

But first—

She needed to establish proper relationship dynamics.

If they were going to be traveling together, the terms needed to be clear.

Namgung Shinjae was, what, in his mid-twenties at most?

There was no way she was going to follow him around using honorifics.

So Qing casually tested the waters.

“If we are both sword-wielding comrades, then… we would be ‘sword comrade,’ wouldn’t we?”

“Sword comrades!”

Namgung Shinjae’s eyes widened in amazement.

“Never in my life have I heard such a moving phrase. ‘Sword comrades’…!”

“Then we’re sword comrades now, right?”

“Yes! That is exactly what I desire! Sword comrades! Excellent!”

“Then, since we’re training together, there’s no need for formalities or keeping distance, right?”

Namgung Shinjae paused for a moment.

Then nodded.

"That's true. If you want, let's do that."

Wait. What? That was too easy.

Qing was slightly disappointed.

But her disappointment came too soon.

Namgung Shinjae’s title was Little Sword King.

But there was another nickname people called him—Sword Lunatic.

Because he was obsessed with swords.

Qing had underestimated him.

"...So I can say that the sword is the most noble weapon in the world. The fact that the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden personally descended to give the sword to the Yue Kingdom, and that the leader of the Eight Immortals, Lu Dongbin, uses the sword, proves that the only true weapon in the world is the sword, wouldn't you agree?"

“Uh...yeah…”

"People often say 'hundred days for a spear, thousand days for a saber, ten thousand days for a sword'. Of course, if the speaker is close to a spearman or a saber user, the positions of the hundred days and the thousand days may be reversed, but they never dare to threaten the position of the ten thousand days sword, which is difficult to master even after ten thousand days of training. This once again proves the superiority of the sword, and unlike other pseudo-martial artists who wield other weapons, we swordsmen are true martial artists..."

Oh, shit, I shouldn't have gotten involved with this.

The endless stream of sword praise beside her showed no sign of stopping.

Sword comrades. The term had struck Namgung Shinjae right in the heart.

Believing he had finally found someone who truly understood him, he eagerly began sharing his deeply cherished philosophies about the sword.

Damn, he talks a lot.

And honestly, even Qing could tell there were serious problems with what he was saying.

It wasn't just 'I like swords, I like them so much I can't control myself'.

It was 'the sword is the only true weapon in the world, and the rest are not even worth considering as weapons'.

Therefore, only swordsmen who wield swords are true martial artists, and those who wield other pseudo-weapons that cannot be considered weapons should be called 'martial artist wannabes'.

Yeah. That’s the argument he was making.

“Ah, I may have talked too much. What about you, Miss Qing? Surely you must have some profound philosophy about the sword.”

“Uh… well, it’s… convenient?”

"That's right! That overwhelming convenience, you can't ignore it. As the saying goes, a spear only stabs, and a saber, a pseudo-sword, only cuts, so its principles are shallow and insignificant. On the other hand, a staff doesn't fit the purpose of a weapon, which is to subdue the enemy, and a whip..."

Qing quickly cut him off.

"Okay, okay. We all know that swords are good, you know it, I know it, heaven knows it, earth knows it, so let's talk about that later. Do you have any good places to visit?"

“Hmm.”

Namgung Shinjae stroked his chin in thought.

Then, he suddenly clapped his fist into his palm.

“What about Mount Hua?”

“Mount Hua?”

“I recently visited the Absolute Sword Wall there. It was truly a masterpiece—beyond words! And since you’re from the Divine Maiden Sect, I’m sure the Mount Hua Sect would share their insights with you.”

“Even if I’m only an external disciple?”

“With your reputation, it won’t matter. It certainly didn’t for me.”

“Oh?”

Mount Hua?

She wanted to see it!

When else would she get the chance to see Mount Hua with her own eyes?

It might be dangerous, but if this guy had visited and returned just fine, it probably wasn’t that bad.

Also, if it's the Mount Hua Sect, it must be a famous sect since Master mentioned it several times. What is it? One of the old sects?

If a sect was established enough to hold territory, there was a limit to how dangerous it could be.

…Besides, even lava isn’t stronger than fire.

Qing’s decisiveness was unmatched, and Namgung Shinjae had no time to hesitate either—he needed to get out of Anhui.

So, using his money, he arranged a carriage and hired a driver.

He also bought plenty of snacks.

And a ridiculous number of wooden training swords.

Qing frowned.

“Why the hell are you buying so many wooden swords? Are you gonna sell them? Is this some kind of local specialty? Is there a famous wooden sword craftsman here or something?”

“Ah, Lady Ximen, you must not know. Wooden swords break after just a few sparring sessions. It’s better to have too many than too few.”

…It still seemed like a bit much.

But since he was spending his money, Qing didn’t bother stopping him.

Sparring was definitely annoying.

But as she listened to his endless praise of swords while riding in the carriage, she couldn't help but think that it would be nice to beat him up a bit.

And when that moment came, well…

Might as well just beat him up, right?

In proper duels, skill gaps became even more obvious.

Cheap tricks were banned.

Strikes to lethal acupoints were banned.

And if you're going to use a dangerous move, you have to let the other person know first.

So even in a duel, the outcome was painfully obvious.

A brat still stuck at the early Peak stage, struggling just to maintain his basic sword qi?

Honestly, “sparring” wasn’t the right word.

It was closer to a lesson.

In that sense, dueling Namgung Shinjae was simultaneously completely useless and mildly useful at the same time.

For example—

During their first sparring session, Qing casually struck down two of his real attacks among the five sword forces flying toward her.

With the real attacks neutralized, the remaining fake strikes lost momentum and dissipated.

Qing feinted a forward step and lightly kicked Namgung Shinjae's ankle.

“Urk!”

Namgung Shinjae let out a yelp and lowered his head.

Ah! This is it!

Qing’s left hand curled into a fist, middle finger slightly raised.

Master, your disciple is about to achieve greatness.

Please watch over me from above.

THWACK!

At that moment, an overwhelming sense of satisfaction flooded Qing’s entire being.

So this is what my master always enjoyed alone.

The match was decided then and there.

The match was over, but Namgung Shinjae didn't concede.

“Miss Qing, that was dishonorable! A foul!”

He shouted in frustration, seemingly frustrated

“Huh? Me? What did I do?”

Qing genuinely had no idea what he was talking about.

“How could you attack me without using your sword?!”

A strange answer came back.

No kicks. No knuckle noogies.

“…? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

"Only swords should be used in swordsmanship sparring. Didn't you know that?"

Qing just blinked at him.

"What kind of grass-eating nonsense is that?" [^ A Korean Idiom that roughly translates to “What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

• Literally says: "What kind of words are like a horse eating grass?"
• This expression comes from the idea that something is so absurd, it’s like gibberish—akin to meaningless chewing noises.

]

"…? Talking? But horses do eat grass?"[^Namgung Shinjae, being the literal-minded sword fanatic he is, deliberately misinterprets it and takes it at face value.

]

“Ugh, never mind.”

Qing argued back seriously.

"You're not going to say that you can only use swords in real battles, are you?"

“In a real fight, I would have no choice. If my skill is lacking, I’d have to resort to other means.

But this is sparring—training purely to improve one’s swordsmanship. It should go without saying that only the sword should be used.”

“Hmm?”

Is that... convincing? It seems convincing?

But it also kind of sounded like bullshit.