Chapter 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Misunderstanding
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“The Blood Chase Squad stole the Blood Curse and fled, tried to kill the young lady, so she killed them all.”
Nod.
“She endured the demonic corrosion of the Blood Curse they carried with her mental fortitude.”
Nod.
“Then we arrived, misunderstood, and attacked the young lady… Is that what you're saying?”
“Yes. That's right?”
“No, that doesn't make any—”
Actually saw it with their own eyes, so couldn't deny it.
What, flicking the forehead to drive out demonic qi with a sword cry. What sect's technique was that?
The evil-breaking energy was so intense it even cleared his head.
“Ha…”
So they had attacked the benefactor who caught the thief they were chasing, as if trying to kill her?
But no matter how you looked, she was a demonic cultivator—
The Wind Path Beggar stopped his thoughts and raised his hands toward So-hyang, forming a fist salute.
“I apologize. This beggar has been extremely rude.”
Wind Path Beggar. Put aside your petty grievance and face the facts.
You committed a sin. Admit it.
“Though taking your life would be justified, I shall claim appropriate compensation, so may I beg your forgiveness…?”
Of course, So-hyang held no grudge against them.
It was killing intent born from misunderstanding, not clear enmity like the black-clothed assailants before.
And she herself hadn't actively clarified from the start, despite realizing the misunderstanding.
“Why say such things? I never harbored any resentment toward you all from the beginning.”
Those who swung their swords for righteous reasons—she had treated them like toys for amusement, so if she felt sorry, she was sorry. What kind of person would complain about that?
Rather, it was refreshing.
From So-hyang's past life experiences, high-level martial artists were mostly active in the underworld.
Usually clashing with things that weren't even human, their propriety naturally earned her favor.
“…Then that's fortunate. I apologize once more.”
“First, wouldn't it be good to lay the two fainted ones on the bed?”
“Ah, thank you…”
So-hyang, along with the Wind Path Beggar who seemed somewhat dazed, carried the two inside the hut.
And soon after—
The Namgung youth's eyes snapped open, and he scanned his surroundings.
Clinking sounds of porcelain dishes clashing, and there was So-hyang, filling them with food.
“…!!”
The memory just before fainting flashed—unable to even draw his Heavenly Thunder Qi, his jaw turned by her fist.
Like lightning, he grabbed the sword beside him and shifted into combat readiness—
“You fucking bastard!!! Stop!!!”
With desperate momentum, the Wind Path Beggar rushed in to block the sword draw and slapped his cheek to restrain him.
“Eh, Senior Wind Path Beggar…?”
The Wind Path Beggar sat down the Tang girl who had woken next and swiftly explained the circumstances.
""I'm sorry!!""
“No, it's fine. How about eating first?”
“Thank you!”
“I'll eat well…”
“Though late, shall we introduce ourselves? I'm So-hyang. I live in these mountains.”
Everyone gathered around the table, and in the awkward atmosphere, So-hyang spoke first.
“Third Young Master of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Su. Though lacking, I'm called the Sword Dragon.”
With a dark bruise on his jaw and the Wind Path Beggar's handprint stamped on his cheek, he politely cupped his hands again.
“I'm Tang Hwaryeon of the Tang Clan. Still lacking in fame, but called Dark Flower.”
With a huge bump on her temple from the blow, covered by her hair, she placed her hand on her chest and bowed her head.
“As you know, I'm called Wind Path Beggar. My name is Hwang San-bok. Just call me Wind Path Beggar.”
No wounds, but his complexion was pale. Whether from excessive dharma power consumption or mental exhaustion, it was unknown. Perhaps both.
“Our first meeting was a bit unfortunate, but it stemmed from a misunderstanding. We can turn it into a good connection henceforth.”
Only So-hyang was spotless without a single scratch, her cheeks rosy from discussing martial arts with people after a long time.
“Yes! Of course!”
“Yes.”
“…Thank you.”
“Then, shall we eat?”
Clink, clink—the sounds of bowls and utensils filled the hut.
While eating, the Wind Path Beggar glanced at So-hyang.
Couldn't fathom her identity at all.
An appearance not even fifteen years old.
Baby fat not fully gone, yet among all women he'd seen, she was top-class in beauty.
Her slender limbs and the gentle impression exuding a soft disposition made one forget she was the powerhouse who subdued them without a mark.
“…!”
Their eyes met.
Her pure white pupils seemed to pierce right through him, and for a moment, his breath caught.
“I'll get up first. Eat slowly, okay?”
Her eating was neat and not particularly fast, yet somehow she had finished already.
“Blood Chase Squad Leader, was it? Anyway, he left a hole in the wall, so I'm going to patch it with some boards.”
“Ah, I'll help.”
“No. You're guests—how could I make you work?”
They were guests, but uninvited ones. Thinking it improper to receive such treatment, Namgung Su tried to add something—
“It's fine. It's not laborious work, easier to do alone.”
So-hyang refused with a soft smile, and Namgung Su awkwardly sat there eating his rice.
Barley rice, soup boiled with radish and bean sprouts, blanched watercress.
The barley rice was well-polished, chewy with no off-flavors.
The broth was refreshing with the radish flavor infused, and the bean sprouts perfectly cooked.
The watercress was neither over- nor underdone, retaining its green color and crisp texture.
But there was no meat at all, and it was bland with almost no seasoning.
“…Ga-ga, isn't this like the food we were served at Wudang?”
“Come to think of it, yeah.”
The Wind Path Beggar's mind raced.
A vegetarian meal thick with Taoist fragrance, infused with age and sincerity.
No. She had simply eaten all the preserved meat stockpiled by the black-clothed ones.
Speech conveying deep learning and elegance, hard to master at a young age.
No. The speech So-hyang used was the body remembering her sisters' way of talking, carrying the poise of a cultured geisha.
“No way…”
The clueless Wind Path Beggar gradually leaned toward a conclusion deviating from the truth.
“Gonna nail the wall, so could you step back a bit?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Senior?”
Suddenly replying with formal respect as if to an elder, Namgung Su and Tang Hwaryeon were bewildered by the Wind Path Beggar.
Regardless, So-hyang fitted a board to the broken wall, aimed the nail, and drove it in.
But that nail was closer to a small wooden peg whittled from wood, and So-hyang flicked it in with her finger, without a hammer, embedding it smoothly.
“Wh-what is that?”
“Se-senior.”
“This crazy…!”
Namgung Su and the Wind Path Beggar exchanged gazes with violently trembling eyes.
The relatively lower-realm Tang Hwaryeon didn't recognize it, but the peak master and seasoned beggar knew the exquisiteness of that technique.
Piercing a board with a wooden nail wasn't hard, but embedding it without cracks or splinters was another matter.
Like how you could smash a skull with a club but not slice it—the technique just now defied their common sense.
The nail, integrated seamlessly with the board without a trace, was shocking in itself.
“Not even an iron nail… no sword qi coating… how…?”
Namgung Su fell into confusion.
“As expected.”
The Wind Path Beggar, instead, grew convinced.
A movement containing profound technique beyond even a peak master's understanding.
No internal energy fluctuations felt at all, and the youthful appearance of a girl not even fifteen.
“Return to Truth, Rejuvenation…!”
A previous-generation female master who regained her youth.
A senior of the orthodox paths who reached a realm beyond their imagination.
Unknowingly arriving at the same conclusion as the Blood Chase Squad Leader, the Wind Path Beggar had.
“Hm…?”
Having fixed the wall and returned to the hut, So-hyang felt a familiar sense of déjà vu.
“Beggars' Clan Six Knot Beggar Hwang San-bok! I offended senior! Sorry!”
Hearing the Wind Path Beggar's shout, Namgung Su and Tang Hwaryeon were momentarily speechless in confusion—
""Ah—!""
Exclaiming as they understood the meaning, they looked at So-hyang with enlightened eyes.
Beware women, children, and elders.
This girl before them fit every bit of that old jianghu adage.
“Haha, seems like… you're misunderstanding something…?”
Her mental age was that of an elder, but not quite what they were thinking.
“I'm not Rejuvenation.”
“Yes?”
“Not the Return to Truth realm either.”
“Yes?”
“Never learned any martial arts?”
“Yes?”
A brief silence flowed, and the Wind Path Beggar understood So-hyang's intent.
“Ah, no, understood.”
Rejuvenation masters sometimes mingled among the young for amusement.
In summary— Ah, that kind of setup?
“I didn't realize senior's intent…”
The Wind Path Beggar realized his mistake. Hadn't he cluelessly ruined the senior's play?
But for hiding, hadn't she revealed evidence too openly…?
No, that could happen.
Well, it was her first Rejuvenation too, so she might be clumsy.
“We'll pretend we didn't know.”
“…Ah? Aah! Us too!”
“Ch-cheer up!”
So-hyang clutched her throbbing head.
“No, not that…?”
She realized they were greatly misunderstanding something.
But since it ambiguously overlapped with the truth, she couldn't actively clarify, feeling wronged.
She had tried to hide it. Did the old vibe show that much?
“Ha…”
For some reason, So-hyang felt a pang of sadness.