Chapter 744: The Great Instructor Ximen Qing (16)

“Ah. Civil-Engineering Divine Lady. Right, that’s it. That is unusual, ha ha ha...”

“Right? Haah, and even then, he was like that. He went all the way out to Gwangju looking for the South Vermilion Bird of the Four Gods Dance, and then said he had to help the Jin family manor because they were in danger. I mean, why is Lord Chae worrying about some great clan? People say the most useless thing in the world is worrying about the Nine Sects and Ten Great Houses. And the Jin manor is famous for the Sea-Tressed White Lily, isn’t it? Why is there always a woman in trouble everywhere he goes, and why won’t he worry about himself first...”

Mm, was this what you called “blessed with women,” or what.

It wasn’t like the Azure Dragon dancer himself was creating the trouble, but if things were like that everywhere he went, then either his fate chart had a Peach-Blossom Hex stuck in it, or—no, wait, Peach-Blossom Hex was what women got, wasn’t it.

“I just don’t know why he insists on helping other people so much. Before that, during the martial tournament too—oh, right. Instructor, you were so amazing when you won. You were so beautiful. Before that, in Sichuan, some woman was flirting with him, and he ran around helping with some kind of cooking contest and then got mistaken for a spy or something... that Mala Ultimate Soup, I really wanted to try it...”

Mm. Mala Ultimate Soup had been good...

But something felt off. Their routes were overlapping in a weird way.

“Have you, by any chance, not gone to the Western Marches, Shandong, or Hangzhou yet?”

“Pardon? Isn’t the Western Marches far too distant? Since Lord Chae is trying to gather the entire Four Gods Dance, he has no reason to search the East Azure Dragon, does he? Probably.”

Oh. So maybe it really was just coincidence.

In any case.

Qing organized her thoughts.

Strictly speaking, a counselor wasn’t supposed to hand down solutions to a client like a verdict, but it felt wrong to just leave things as they were.

“Cadet Yeo, confession isn’t a challenge, it’s the process of confirming something. But from what I’ve heard, I think Cadet Chae has some serious issues too. In this instructor’s opinion, it would be better to try and convey your true feelings.”

“But what if he turns me down? What if Lord Chae really doesn’t see me as a woman? Or what if he and that bitch from the Jeong household have already fallen for each other—”

“That’s exactly why I’m saying this. If he’s really that oblivious, the only way he’ll ever find out is if you tell him directly. And you already have a rival, don’t you? How long are you going to sit there with your heart in knots, just waiting for him to magically notice you?”

“That... that’s true, but...”

“What do you think, Cadet? Does it really feel like Cadet Chae has no feelings for you at all?”

“I... I don’t know anymore...”

“Then all the more reason to find out, isn’t it? It’s not like you’ll instantly break up and turn into strangers just because he doesn’t accept your feelings, so are you really going to keep waiting like this forever, just waiting for him to notice you? Those feelings, where are they going to turn, who will they point to, and when?”

Yeo Ju-il’s head drooped.

She stayed like that for a long moment; then, when she finally lifted her head again, her expression held a kind of grim resolve, a battle-ready air like someone standing before a decisive duel.

“You’re right, Instructor. This can’t go on. I can’t just keep waiting.”

Mm. Good expression.

Whatever happened, you still had to live your own life.

In the bloom of youth, what reason was there to spend your entire time just chasing someone you liked?

People’s hearts were things that even they themselves couldn’t control; just because you were loved didn’t mean you could necessarily return that love.

So you had to reach a conclusion, settle it for real.

From what Yeo Ju-il had said, they’d been traveling together since the martial tournament; how many years of companionship was that already?

If she was still agonizing like this after all that, then either he had grown so used to her that he was numb to his own feelings, or, as she’d said herself, he really wasn’t seeing her as a woman at all.

Qing clenched both fists and sent her encouragement.

Maybe that helped, because Yeo Ju-il gave a heavy, firm nod, then stomped out of the room with solid, determined steps.

And the next day.

All morning, Jeong Sil-im’s face had been clouded, her mind clearly gone somewhere else; she spent the entire sparring session getting her head smacked again and again.

Since she clearly wasn’t in any state, Qing asked for understanding and called her out for a special counseling session.

“Cadet Jeong. Is something wrong? You really haven’t been able to focus today.”

At that, as if she’d been waiting for the question, a single clear tear rolled straight down.

Qing jumped a little.

“Cadet Jeong?”

“How, how could she do this, sniff, leaving me behind, when I’m right here, Yeo Ju-il, that awful hussy, she’s so mean...”

Cadet Jeong Sil-im finally burst into full-on sobbing.

Qing felt—not just a bit, but deeply—awkward.

Ah. So Cadet Yeo’s confession strike had landed.

But where there was a victor, there had to be a loser.

The Azure Dragon dancer Chae Seong-ha’s followers were two: Cadet Yeo Ju-il and Cadet Jeong Sil-im. If one of them succeeded in confessing, then of course the other one was going to get knocked out of the ring.

As the person who had mainly caused that to happen, well... there was nothing for it. Even if she went back to yesterday, she would have given the same advice.

But Jeong Sil-im was crying so miserably that Qing at least spread her arms.

She couldn’t just sit there watching while a crying woman sat in front of her, could she?

Jeong Sil-im promptly flung herself into Qing’s arms.

It was pretty audacious behavior, burrowing into the arms of an instructor—maybe not a “teacher as high as the heavens,” but at least a “roughly in the professor range” figure.

Sniff, huuung, sniff, huweeeh...

Qing patted her head a bit, telling her to calm down.

And she clung tight in reply, squeezing with real strength, oof, this girl was trying to kill her. Still, after yanking shrapnel out of her body every day, Qing was at about the point where she could endure without even pretending it hurt anymore.

Above all else: yeah. Chalk it up as my karma.

She had no idea how much time passed like that.

“I-I’m sorry. For making such a disgraceful scene...”

“It’s fine. People are built to cry when they’re sad; that’s how you get to feel relieved again afterward. Being able to cry when you need to, that’s a skill too, you know?”

Jeong Sil-im answered with an embarrassed little smile.

Of course she was mortified; she was a grown woman and she’d just bawled like a child.

“That Yeo Ju-il, this isn’t right, it’s so low, isn’t it? Even if we never said it out loud, we still, you know, agreed to leave it up to Lord Chae’s choice, that kind of... that kind of promise-without-a-promise? What do you call it...”

“An implicit agreement, maybe?”

“Yes! That! An implicit agreement! How could she, how could she be so underhanded, climbing up on the stove like that, grrr, I can’t forgive her.”

Jeong Sil-im ground her teeth hard enough to squeak.

A moment ago she’d been crying, and now she was furious.

Qing hesitated, wondering what to do.

Ah, whatever. This was the Central Plains.

“So, Cadet Jeong—are you planning to give up like this? Without ever once telling Cadet Chae how you feel? Was your love for Cadet Chae only worth that much?”

Above Jeong Sil-im’s head, Qing could practically see a punctuation mark that didn’t even exist in the Central Plains yet—an exclamation point—popping into the air.

Back home, saying something like that would have been a huge problem, but this was the bizarre otherworld of the Central Plains, where one man and multiple women was just how things worked.

“You’re right, I can’t just sit here like this. Even if I was a step late, they’re not married yet. It’s not like anyone’s decided who the main wife is going to be, right?”

Cold, eerie battle spirit flickered in Jeong Sil-im’s eyes as she spoke.

Qing, for her part, felt... well, a bit put out.

Other people got to enjoy admiring a female character’s backside in a video game and then somehow became women without a dick; seriously, how was picking the female avatar in a game such a giant sin that it cost you your cock? You bastards. This shitty world.

Meanwhile Chae Seong-ha, this bastard, already had two women stuck to him; what a blessed little fucker. She hoped his dick would just drop off one day.

Qing was busy cursing innocent Chae Seong-ha to hell and back when—

“Um, Instructor? Would it... would it be all right if I called you ‘big sister’ when we’re off-duty?”

“Huh?”

Qing asked back automatically.

“I-I’m sorry, please pretend you didn’t hear that, it’s just... I wondered if it would feel like this, if I had an older sister...”

That wasn’t really the core of the issue, was it?

Cadet Jeong Sil-im was twenty-six this year.

Even so, Qing didn’t particularly feel burdened or flustered; these days, she had to stop and calculate her own age if someone asked.

Okay, officially I was twenty in the Hidden Dragon Martial Tournament, so from there how many years has it been...

The age she felt like she really was, inside, was much higher anyway. Maybe that was why everyone kept doing this. Was she just radiating “older woman” now, whether she wanted to or not?

Jegal Ihyeon had been the same, and Miss Moyong had almost called her “big sister” before downgrading it to “lady.” Oh, and in Guangxu, there was also Naram; she wondered if Miss Unaram was doing well, and probably still loud as ever.

“If it’s only off-duty... I’ll allow it.”

Qing herself didn’t realize it, but there had been a time when the mere word “big sister” made her jump out of her skin and rub at her forearms to chase away the goosebumps.

Humans were creatures of adaptation; being treated as a woman was now as natural as breathing, so at this point it all just felt like, Well, sure. Why not.

“Yes, big sister. The truth is, ever since the final match of the Hidden Dragon Martial Tournament, you were so cool that I decided I wanted to become a female martial artist like you someday. You’re my idol. And you’re so pretty, too, how is your skin like this, it’s like marble.”

For reference, “marble” referred to the finest grade of white jade, specifically the white jade quarried in a town called Dali in Yunnan. Only that white jade was called marble.

It was also the origin of the word “marble” back in Qing’s homeland.

“Ah ha ha, Cadet Jeong is pretty too.”

Qing had gotten used to being treated as a woman, but she still wasn’t used to the way women talked, this endless mutual-compliment bombardment.

Honestly, it was hard.

Technically, this was the point where she should zero in and compliment something specific that was pretty, but if she pointed something out, Qing herself was objectively much more beautiful, so it always made the picture feel a bit off.

“Cadet Jeong, I have another counseling appointment after this, so as much as it pains me, we’ll have to continue our conversation next time. And only off-duty, of course—I understand what you mean, Cadet Jeong.”

With that, Jeong Sil-im too marched out, her steps heavy and full of force.

And then the next morning.

In the Security Squad annex of the Righteous-Proper Martial Academy, Chae Seong-ha and two women were kneeling side by side.

Qing had been summoned by Security Squad first thing that morning and had shown up in a hurry; she was... honestly kind of speechless.

“Now look, cadets. Just... come on.”

All three cadets bowed their heads low.

Every one of their faces was flushed scarlet, their lowered heads and even the tips of their ears poking out, bright red.

“I-I’m not trying to meddle in affairs between men and women here. Sparks can fly, of course, and things can happen between men and women, but still, sneaking out in the middle of the night for, ahem.”

The Righteous-Proper Martial Academy was an educational institution; even if it stood smack in the middle of orthodox territory, its security was far from lax.

Back when it was the Three Idiots, Qing had arranged for special night activity and asked them to redirect patrols toward the Sword Hall in advance, so even when those Blood Cult idiots bellowed for their Demon Marquis, she could impersonate her with peace of mind.

If not for that, the Sword Hall would have had regular patrols by Martial Alliance warriors, no exceptions.

And last night, there had been an extremely awkward secret tryst where cadets snuck into a storeroom at night, and the man and women caught at the scene had been locked up in a side room for the time being.

The situation was tricky.

Sneaking out at night and hiding in a storeroom was a clear violation of regulations, but the Academy didn’t exactly have a rule that banned romance or banned contact between men and women.

They were all adults, and the Academy had no business sticking its nose into what consenting adults did.

So Security Squad had simply sent word that they should be handed over to their supervising instructor.

Well, fine. A fiery battle for the position of main wife—things like that happened.

Chae Seong-ha, you lucky bastard...

Qing let out a long sigh.

“Ahem. There’s nothing wrong with lovers wanting to enjoy themselves, I mean. Given that you don’t have private rooms, though... I’ll arrange for an empty room in the northern annex to be made available after training hours for, ah, such uses.”

“...Yes.” “...Yes.” “...Yes.”

Their answers crawled out of their throats, thin and embarrassed.

Qing sighed again.

“Also, make sure you only enjoy yourselves to the extent that it doesn’t interfere with your training, and make a particular effort with contraception. A child would be a huge disruption to your cultivation, wouldn’t it?”

“...Yes.” “...Heh.” “...A child, she says.”

Their reactions weren’t exactly inspiring a lot of confidence.

Well, at this point it was up to them.

Besides, last night... how had she slept so soundly? If she’d gone for a stroll around the Sword Hall because she couldn’t sleep, that might’ve been entertaining.

So there had been a small commotion in the morning.

And today was the day Miss Sword Jade Girl officially joined the instructor corps as an assistant instructor and started working through the instructor schedule.

In truth, she had already been unofficially standing with the instructor corps for some time, so nothing much changed.

And that evening, Sima Chunbong, who had gone to deliver the Academy’s report to the Martial Alliance, finally returned.