Chapter 337: The Showdown Between Man and Ximen Qing (5)

Dogs are perceptive creatures.

The hunting dogs that had spent time with Qing remembered her scent.

But they also sensed the hostility of the masters now looking for her.

So, after recalling the gentle hands that once stroked them, they simply decided to wander about aimlessly.

Which is why the dog that finally located Qing was one that had never seen her before.

It wasn’t her dog.

Woof woof!

—This way! Ximen Qing is over here!

“Hey! Heukgu! You’re betraying me like this?! Really?! Wait—are you Heukgu, Heuk, or Heuksam?”

But the hunting dog that had never seen Qing before simply bared its teeth and growled threateningly.

Qing tilted her head at that.

Hmm, guess this isn’t a dog I know?

“Aren’t you one of Heukgu’s brothers?”

Of course, Heukgu, Heuk, and Heuksam weren’t actually brothers.

Grrr, woof! Woof!

“Hey. Shh. Can’t you shut up?”

Qing, who had been hiding in a tree while gnawing on pheasant, frowned and snapped at the dog.

“They say even dogs don’t bother you while you’re eating. Bullshit. This one’s bothering me just fine. Hmm... did I overcook this?”

Qing chewed through a piece of pheasant breast.

Pheasant is a bit tough, after all.

Truthfully, Qing was severely lacking in tension.

Azandeok’s fearsome strategy hadn’t produced a single meaningful result—

But in a way, it had still achieved one thing.

The advance search squads sent in to find Qing had been made up of utterly worthless bottom-feeders.

Which led Qing to believe the martial level of the Green Forest was complete trash.

And that’s why she had been able to escape until now.

Even if hundreds of those guys swarmed her, she didn’t feel afraid.

So Qing had just spent her time peacefully, exactly like now—still eating in the middle of everything.

And thus, the fateful encounter with the Green Forest pursuit squad!

One bandit pointed up at the tree and shouted:

“Ximen Qing! It’s Ximen Qing! Right up—AAGH!”

Thwack!

The bandit who’d just started to speak grabbed his forehead and collapsed.

Qing smacked her lips.

She’d flicked some kind of unknown tree berry at him, but—just as she’d suspected—it was far too small and light to be an effective projectile.

If only she could break skulls with this stuff... what a shame.

She kept munching on the pheasant’s neck.

Since it was late autumn, the bird had packed on fat for winter—its neck was glistening with oil.

And maybe because it had cooled down, it oozed rich fat every time she chewed.

Mmm. Delicious. Damn good.

“Ximen Qing! So this is where you were!”

“Requesting backup—requesting immediate backup!”

PEEEEEEP!

Woof woof! Woof woof! Grrr, woof woof!

Meanwhile, everything below had descended into chaos.

True to its jungle-like nature, the Yang household’s wilderness had trees of outrageous height.

So even though they’d spotted Qing lounging lazily on a thick branch ten jang (about 30 feet) above the ground, all they could do was stamp their feet in frustration.

“Cowardly bitch! Get down here this instant!”

“Ximen Qing! Come down peacefully!”

“Oh? Really? Should I? You confident enough for that?”

Qing responded with casual indifference.

The squad leader, who’d meant to demand her surrender, suddenly paused.

Wait. If she comes down... can we even win?

He’d only been shouting out of frustration because she kept ignoring them.

They said she was the monstrous woman who devoured people in the jungle.

Then came that soft, elegant voice by his ear:

“Yeah. I ate—so now it’s time for some exercise. Wanna play hard?”

The squad leader recoiled in terror.

If he just stalled long enough for the real masters to arrive, he’d get all the credit.

Why take unnecessary risks?

“No! Don’t come down!”

“You were just yelling at me to come down.”

“This is a warning! Don’t come down! If you do... uh, hmm... if you do...”

“If I come down, what? What are you gonna do?”

“Uhh? If you come down... that’s kinda... a problem.”

“Oh. I see. A problem, huh?”

Qing didn’t bother finishing the thought.

What the hell? Is he just an idiot?

Then again, if he was smart, he wouldn’t be a bandit, would he?

Having come to terms with that, Qing suddenly changed the subject.

“I’m full.”

“...?”

“But my Moonlight Sword is starving!”

With that declaration, Qing leapt down with bold force—

A thick vertical slash of golden dusk slicing down through the air, as long as her sword itself.

“HIIEEK!”

The sword aura came crashing down on the bandit.

He froze on the spot.

Too terrified to even try dodging, he simply raised his arms to cover his face and screamed.

And then—thud!

“Aaaagh! Aagh! ...Huh?”

The bandit cautiously lowered his arms mid-scream.

Weird. There had definitely been a blinding sword coming down...

Was it just his imagination?

Qing was also a bit flustered.

From up in the tree, she hadn’t realized the distance was closer than it looked.

She’d jumped down with a dramatic sword aura, only to land behind the bandit and slice through nothing but air.

Embarrassed, Qing yelled:

“Opening!”

The blade entered through his side and exited cleanly through the other.

As the bandit’s upper body flopped to the ground, another guy holding a whistle in his mouth came into Qing’s view—frozen stiff.

“I told you not to blow that whistle. Kept squeaking it while I was eating, huh?”

“HIIEEK!”

The guy who had just watched his captain get cut in half turned and bolted in terror.

Qing stomped after him—one step, two, three—and caught up in no time, slashing her sword diagonally.

Miss!

The bandit’s body had suddenly dropped straight down—

Because he’d tripped on a vine someone had cruelly strung up.

His luck had saved him.

“AAAAAAGH! AAAAAAAAGH!”

But the ground was full of spikes.

The bandit screamed as his body got skewered by stakes in all directions.

Honestly, if he’d just been sliced clean in two, it might’ve been less painful.

So in that sense, he was even more unfortunate.

Qing looked down at the scene.

He got caught in one of the traps I set.

It’s not like this third-rate bandit actually dodged the mighty, transcendent, ultra-super, hyper-perceptive Qing’s attack, right?

She swallowed her pathetic excuse.

“S-Save me... please...”

That’s what dying people always said.

Especially the ones who valued their own lives the most—they begged.

Because only when you value life do you think to plead with others before dying.

“Save you?”

“Please... kugh...”

“Then tell me everything you know. I’ll think about it after I listen.”

****

But at ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) best, the bandit was only at the level of sensing internal energy—a second-rate novice. He didn’t know much.

And that alone was enough to make Qing reel in horror.

Heavens! Second-rate novice, really?! And he’s not even ashamed to say that out loud?

It’s like asking someone if they’re literate and getting the smug reply: I just started Thousand Character Classic!

How is this any different?

Anyway, the bastard who claimed to have begun training in the Great Tyrant Radiant Devil Divine Art didn’t know a damn thing.

By the way, if you take bandits’ martial technique names seriously, you’ve already lost.

They’re just flashy clusters of cool and powerful-sounding words—

But in reality, they’re nothing more than third-rate street techniques modified and polished into something slightly better than trash.

Barely second-rate, at best.

Qing quickly concluded that there was no way a guy like this had learned anything deserving of the name “divine art.”

Either way, she didn’t even get the chance to decide whether to spare him or not.

He died on his own, just like that—so there wasn’t much to hear from him in the end.

Still, it was enough to snap Qing out of her complacency.

What—there are over five hundred bandits gathered here from eleven mountain strongholds?

Only then did Qing realize just how careless she had been.

Apparently, the entire northeastern mountain ridge was part of the great Tianzha Mountain, and there were eight strongholds encircling the original Yang estate.

And given her current enmity with the Green Forest, she had practically planted her feet right on their front lawn.

Of course they swarmed out like hornets from a smashed nest.

But more than anything—

The Green Forest’s Grand Stronghold Lord, Wang Cheolgun. Transformation Realm.

Liangshan’s Great Division Commander, the Asura Mineworker Do Usam. Also Transformation Realm.

Two Transformation Realm experts among mountain bandits?!

The smile vanished from Qing’s face.

This... this is bad.

What should I do? Hmm. For now, escaping is the better option.

But how?

Qing was the kind of person who picked up on things easily.

And people like that were usually smart.

It’s just that Qing never used her brain.

She couldn’t be bothered.

Especially after surpassing the human body—she’d realized that when your body is strong enough, there’s no need to use your head.

Now, her long-unused brain was spinning.

First, she stripped off the Sect of Divine Maidens robe, soaked in Chujonghyang, folded it neatly, and buried it.

Mm. Master, I’m sorry. I’ll try to come back and get it later if I can.

Then she tightened the strap of her chest wrap, and pulled on the upper clothes of one of the skewered or half-skewered bandits.

As for pants, hers were just as filthy as the bandits’ anyway.

But god, it was so disgusting!

She didn’t even care about the bloodstained parts, but—ugh—this reek of old bachelor... When was this last washed?

She was already feeling itchy and gross.

She dug out some cloths from her travel pouch, wiped off her hands and face as best she could, then used them to smear dirt on her face and wrap her head.

She adjusted the straps so the Moonlight Sword couldn’t be seen from the front, grabbed a hand axe, and—just like that—transformed into a bandit.

A bandit with unusually deep and beautiful eyes, but a bandit nonetheless.

Just as she was about to turn around, she suddenly paused.

Then she tore a strip from the bandit’s pants, soaked it thoroughly in blood, and wrapped it around her foot.

****

Seventeenth in the hierarchy of the Liangshan Great Division.

The Liangshan Great Division, out of admiration for the heroes of Liangshan, had dared to assign themselves the names of the 108 Stars of Destiny.

If the real Liangshan heroes had known, they would’ve flown into a rage.

Bandit scum with neither loyalty nor righteousness, daring to use their names.

Cheonam, Seventeenth in the ranks of the Liangshan Great Division, leading Pursuit Squad Nineteen, ran into a straggler from another squad.

“You there—what squad are you from?”

“Khem, I’m Daechul of Squad Thirty-Seven, under Yeonam.”

A thoroughly raspy voice.

So hoarse it was suspicious.

“What’s wrong with your voice? Why is your face covered?”

“I’ve come down with something. Cough. Kehh-hkk, cough! If it bothers you—”

As Qing raised a hand toward her face, Cheonam waved her off.

“Forget it. Don’t give it to me. That blood—are you injured?”

“A trap. It was a trap.”

“Shit. Fucking trap. That bitch laid those things like a goddamn demon. What about the others in your squad?”

“Um, well, I’m not sure. I fell into a pit and...”

When in doubt, say you don’t know.

Better than making something up and raising suspicion.

At that moment, Grrr...

A hunting dog bared its teeth at Qing.

There was a faint trace of Chujonghyang on her, but since its masters hadn’t given a clear Bite! order, the dog just stayed alert.

“Join up, for now.”

“Thank you. Um—but sir, my foot...”

“Do I look like I have time to babysit you? Keep up or get lost. I won’t come back for you.”

“Yes, sir. Cough—got it. Kehk!”

Cheonam clicked his tongue at the sight of Qing coughing like she’d cough up blood.

Her footwraps were soaked in blood. Clearly pierced.

She limped like a full-on cripple.

If Qing had been the one to see such a straggler, she never would’ve allowed them to join up.

Cripples were always either traitors or serial killers.

But in primitive, prehistoric, uncivilized Zhongyuan, even deductions based on such obvious empirical logic had yet to emerge.

And so, the search resumed.

Even though Qing was right behind them, the dog handler kept badgering the hunting dogs to go find Ximen Qing.

The dog, not knowing what the hell to do, just followed the strongest scent.

The squad behind it pushed forward with weapons held low to ward off ankle traps, brushing their feet noisily through the fallen leaves.

Their progress was clumsy and slow.

Qing followed from the very rear, limping.

And then suddenly—

She began closing the distance rapidly, with a strange, silent footwork.

Her toes lightly bounced over the leaves, yet not a single sound could be heard, not even from the deepest layer.

She crept up behind the last man and seized his head with both hands—Crack.

Surprisingly, when a person’s occiput touches their spine, they can’t scream.

Not only can they not scream—

They can’t breathe, can’t blink, can’t even think.

The occiput had merely touched the back skin.

And yet, the changes in the human body were astounding.

Qing gently cradled the collapsing man and laid him down silently on the ground.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she walked forward again—

And looked ahead at the back of another man’s head.

A thought passed through her mind.

Something she’d heard in a ghost story, maybe.

Now you’re the last one, aren’t you?