Chapter 304: The Fire in Chang’an (6)

Seol Ganom, now holding the list, naturally shifted the conversation.

“Ah, right. That girl, Gunyungi... Hmm. Seol Iri—doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, does it.”

“You two know each other? And what’s this Gunyungi crap? I mean, she’s not all there, sure, but still, calling a girl hole? Seriously?”

Seol Ganom gave a bitter smile.

“Well... you know how these noble families are. Or rather—how bloodline clans work. The Bukhae surnames, like other great lineages, are divided into main branches and collateral ones.

The main family lives like royalty. The branches? They live like regular folk.”

“So?”

“Beneath that, there are the miscellaneous ones—those treated like slaves or livestock. Bastards, basically. In Central Plains terms: illegitimate children.

Anyone can order them around. Beat them for fun, too. Just... don’t kill them. That would cost you.”

Qing frowned sharply.

“What the hell? Isn’t slavery banned under national law?”

“And yet, is the Central Plains really free of slaves? Any wealthy household still keeps a few around.”

“Well, that’s because the law’s a joke. Still—what scumbags. Born lucky and now they act like main and side branches mean anything.”

Rebellious words.

And ironic, coming from someone who, unbeknownst to most, was a legitimate princess of the imperial bloodline.

But Seol Ganom, unaware of this, just shrugged.

“I thought about how this could’ve come to be.

I figure it’s a kind of resource management.”

Bukhae was barren.

There weren’t any special resources to speak of.

Sure, the furs were high quality—but even those barely met local demand.

Sometimes, they’d have good years.

But no martial sect would be stupid enough to export its strategic resources just because food was tight.

Even in remote Central Plains villages, bloodline clans that controlled iron mines dominated their neighbors and never sold their iron outside.

Same logic.

Plus, barely any merchants even made it to Bukhae.

In the summer, the ice was too thin; in the winter, it was too cold.

Only in spring and autumn did brief trade windows open.

So grain shipments were barely a trickle.

Bukhae land couldn’t support a large population.

That’s why childbirth was strictly controlled by bloodline.

But with nothing to do in such cold lands... well.

You get people huddling together, and before long, accidents happen.

Unwanted children are born.

“And those bastards—you can work them however you like.”

Even the useless ones had to eat and wear clothes.

They were draining Bukhae’s already limited resources.

So they were treated like livestock—fed and clothed, yes, but made to work in return.

Qing listened to Seol Ganom’s theory.

Of course. The village’s greatest intellectual.

Back in Bukhae, he must’ve been the region’s brightest mind, no doubt.

“To keep track of who's a bastard, they’d give them bastard names.”

They didn’t even put effort into naming them.

They reused a handful of male and female names.

Among Bukhae’s three surnames—Seol, Han, and Bing—men were named Ganom, Jongnom, Gaenom, or Jotnom.

Women were named Ganyeon, Jongnyeon, Gaenyeon... or Gunyung.

“Ah.”

“You asked if we knew each other?

There was a sect far in the north of Bukhae, called the Jade Maiden Palace.

Mostly women. Not exclusively female, but the nature of its techniques meant men rarely joined.

Anyway, there was such a sect.”

Seol Ganom gave a sly grin.

It was the kind of smile a chef might wear upon overhearing praise about their food—overflowing with smug satisfaction.

“It doesn’t exist anymore.”

He’d killed everyone, top to bottom, burned down the sect, and fled with their secret manuals.

He once said it may have been excessive—but he didn’t regret it. Even if he went back in time, he’d do it again.

“Gunyungi was lucky. She was born with a blood affinity close to ice energy.

She ended up at Binggung—the Ice Palace—and was admitted into the main line, which means she must’ve received a new name.”

“So... you did know each other?”

“In Central Plains terms, it’d be like an uncle and niece.

But bastards don’t have genealogy. Say that out loud and you’ll get beaten bloody.”

Apparently, Seol Iri had called him uncle—and kept getting hit for it.

But the girl was so stubborn she never stopped, no matter how many times they beat her.

She just grew tougher.

Yeah. I can see that, Qing thought, nodding.

Then suddenly—

“Wait, wait. Are you saying she was sent all the way out here alone to hunt down her uncle and retrieve a secret manual?”

“That’s the official excuse. But really, she was just thrown out. Gunyungi knows that too.”

“Wait, she does? What, you two talked about it? She recognized you?”

“Well—look at me.”

The reason Jade Maiden Palace remained a female sect despite allowing men was due to the side effects of the Great Yin Jade Maiden Divine Art—it feminized male practitioners.

Seol Ganom overcame that with the Ice Demon Asura Technique—but lost his physical sensations in the process.

Eventually, he realized life without sensation was far worse.

He used the Girl’s Delight Technique to purify the Ice Demon Asura Technique and returned to his current form.

Which meant—back when he lived as a servant in the Jade Maiden Palace, he looked exactly as he does now.

“I heard she was only taught the Ice-White Divine Palm, but never inherited the true Ice-White Divine Art.”

And still, she shattered the sect’s secret manual in some misguided attempt to train it.

What remained was a pathetic internal technique that couldn’t even generate ice—a technique so useless it was literally called the Pathetic Heart Technique.

As inner force techniques go, she wasn’t even at first-rate level.

“Ice-White Divine Palm is an incredible art, sure. But if your foundation’s trash, you’ll never wield it properly.

If you send a kid like that to capture the demonic brute who destroyed her sect, she’s bound to realize she was just exiled.”

Though why exactly she was cast out—well, she never said.

Maybe her talent was too outstanding, and the main family got nervous.

Or maybe her talent was just enough to learn the palm technique—but not worth investing full resources in.

Seol Ganom offered both as possibilities, but Qing had already made up her mind the moment she heard it.

She was useless. That’s why they kicked her out.

“Didn’t you say earlier the main line lives like royalty? And now you’re telling me she was admitted as a main line member because of her blood?”

“Think about it.

A dirty little bastard girl from God knows where suddenly gets called a prodigy and gets declared royalty overnight.

Who’s going to accept that? Who’s going to follow her?”

“Fair enough. Yeah, I see that.”

Qing didn’t consider herself a princess.

After all, the real princess was already long dead—leaving behind only a body.

She felt sorry for Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.

Stealing her daughter’s body was one thing—but pretending to be her daughter too?

No one could go that far.

“But then, why’s she going around looking for you?”

“She said—if she found me and saw I was living well, maybe we could live together.

So take care of her, would you? She really seemed to like you.”

“I am taking care of her. Honestly, I don’t think it’s physically possible to take better care of her than I already am.”

“I figured. She follows you around like a puppy.

Still—keep a close eye on her.

If anything seems off, take her straight to a doctor.

Bukhae folk don’t show it when they’re hurt.”

“Why?”

“You’d understand if you saw Bukhae.

In that land of blizzards and starvation, it’s hard enough just to stay alive yourself.”

If you tried taking care of a sick person in that place, you were basically agreeing to die alongside them.

So they were left behind.

No one expected help just because they were hurt.

You clenched your teeth and kept moving.

So they all learned—never show weakness.

Especially for a bastard child.

If you were sick, you were useless.

And if you were useless, you were already as good as dead.

They’d strip you of supplies and leave you in the snow.

“So even when they’re dying, they’ll try not to show they’re in pain.”

“Huh? But she did show me.”

For some reason, Seol Ganom smiled at that. A soft, strangely proud smile, like he was genuinely impressed.

“Well, it’s possible, isn’t it? Anyway, it’s getting late. You should head back. Or... want to sleep here? Fair warning—I’ve got a habit of sleeping completely naked.”

“You wore clothes, though. You came out soaking wet, even your top was drenched. You were definitely wearing something.”

Qing snorted.

“Hmm. Then maybe I’ll sleep naked tonight. Since you’re here. Wanna join?”

“Seriously, if the flirting doesn’t work, just drop it. Why keep going and make it pathetic?”

“Some things are worth trying twice. One attempt feels so... impersonal.”

“Yeah, no. Screw your ‘personal touch.’”

****

After carving up bandits and working herself half to death in flood relief, Qing had racked up over four thousand Virtue Points.

She had originally planned to trade them in for the Tai Chi Sword Technique.

But now that she’d already hit Transcendent Apex and evolved into Transcendent Clarity, there was really no point.

So instead, she pulled up her martial technique menu and searched for Bingbaek Divine Art.

There it was—highlighted in purple, a high-tier internal technique.

If Iri’s only “half-formed” because she lacks this... then if I learn it and teach it to her, would that make her whole?

Iri had originally trained in both the Pathetic Heart Technique and the Great Yin Jade Maiden Divine Art, but she’d destroyed the latter, and now—according to Seol Ganom—she was barely holding on with that “pathetic technique” alone.

And once a technique is shattered, it can’t be rebuilt.

If the inner channels reject a method, it naturally disperses.

That said, there was another option—Ice Demon Asura Technique.

Sure, the side effects were nasty. But still.

She couldn’t pair it with the Girl’s Delight Technique, though. That technique purifies chaotic or demonic energy and converts it into Daoist flow.

Qing was a rare case in having mastered both—normally they were mutually exclusive.

Now that she’d reached the Transcendent realm, Qing realized something:

rather than juggling countless sword arts, it was more valuable to master one internal method that truly nourished her inner force and body.

And if the Bingbaek Divine Art had a purple tier?

Even if it weren’t for Iri, it was worth it.

Or maybe... I could offer her a trade? I learn Bingbaek Divine Art, she gives me Ice-White Divine Palm. That was purple too, right?

She’d have to bring it up casually later.

Maybe after checking with her Master first.

While Seol Ganom was handling the investigation, Qing didn’t have much else to do.

But just leaving it all to someone else and slacking off didn’t feel right.

So she decided: reconnaissance.

Sounded cool—enemy territory infiltration.

In practice, that meant dropping by restaurants and teahouses owned by Jangheung Trading House and sampling the goods.

Still, enemy territory was enemy territory.

And if someone there suddenly showed a spike of dark karma—then boom, there’s the suspect.

So went Day One. Then Two. Then Three.

By then, word had spread all over Seoan:

Two unmatched beauties were wandering the streets together.

The whole city was abuzz. Not just Seoan—Chang’an too. The buzz of Chang’an in both metaphor and fact.

Men took to the streets despite the blistering heat, just to get a glimpse.

“Hm. I’ve seen that guy a few times now...”

When women chased after the “most beautiful man under heaven,” they were shameless and dramatic about it.

Men, on the other hand, played it coy—circling the same streets multiple times for a passing glance, or staking out the same teahouse, pretending to enjoy their tea while stealing looks.

Back in Naknyeong, the rumors hadn’t spread as far.

But after a month and a half—including the time it took to get to Seoan—that was more than enough for the stories to reach.

The Celestial Flame Sword is in town!

They say she’s the most beautiful woman under heaven—let’s go see for ourselves!

And apparently she has three heads and a wasp waist—gotta verify that too!

In that regard, Qing didn’t disappoint.

Still, even with all the gawking, few dared to flirt openly.

After all, a Transcendent-level beauty was... intimidating.

No matter how hot your wife is—no one wants to get beat up for it.

That said, minor flirtations did come her way.

“This is from the gentleman over there.”

“Wow. A whole bottle?”

Qing raised it with a smile, returning the gesture with a twinkle in her eye.

The man half-rose, awkward and hesitant.

Qing gave a little wave—thanks, but no thanks.

So for three whole days of scouting, Qing didn’t spend a single coin—except for snacks at street stalls.

It might have made her look like a wicked siren, fleecing men with her looks for sweets and wine...

But in truth, she was offering a rare spectacle—a divine beauty devouring food without restraint.

More entertaining than any street performer, honestly.

They were paying for the show.

On the fourth day, Seol Ganom finally said:

“I’ve found one. Want to go yourself? Or should I send someone to bring him in?”