Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Internal Organs
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“Your Highness, if I have to wait, would it be all right if I paid a quick visit to someplace nearby like the Peng Clan of Hebei?”
Beijing sat in Hebei, and the Peng Clan had built their reputation as a martial family with Hebei Castle as their base.
Based on their characteristically tough constitutions and innate divine strength passed down through their bloodline, they had made their name with the arts of spear and dominance. In the martial world, they were one of the Five Great Families, and to the empire, they were a sturdy martial house that had produced many generals.
Above all, Tianjin, where the Peng Clan of Hebei was located, was relatively close to Beijing, the capital of the empire.
Even so, this was the Central Plains— a distance that ordinary folk or even most martial artists couldn't just casually call "next door”...
But with So-hyang's pace, it wouldn't take long, so she figured she might as well drop by the Peng Clan of Hebei while waiting.
However.
“...Do you think that would fly? What do you take ‘wait quietly’ to mean?”
It wasn't exactly something she should say, given that until yesterday, So-hyang had turned Beijing upside down, knocking out countless soldiers and smashing various facilities.
The freak who had struck Beijing like lightning and was now a wanted figure— in truth, So-hyang was practically under house arrest or confinement, save for the actual restraints.
Even if they tried to restrain her, she wouldn't stay put easily, and since the Imperial Princess had vouched for her identity, they had tentatively trusted and released her, but they wanted to keep an eye on her for the time being.
And now she wanted to bolt out of Beijing?
Zhu Yeonhwa's head throbbed.
“Sigh... my one and only companion, I trust you're not serious.”
“Ahem, it was just a joke. Don't get so mad...?”
In truth, it had been sincere.
So-hyang was confident she could shake off the Imperial Army's surveillance and security easily enough and slip away unnoticed— if she didn't get caught, it was all good, right?
“It's not anger so much as a headache... You really are a handful...”
Seeing Zhu Yeonhwa's weary, complicated expression, as if she were utterly exhausted, So-hyang gave up on the idea.
“Actually, there's no rush. We've got plenty of time.”
Come to think of it, she'd been rushing from one duel to the next lately, so maybe she'd grown too craving for stimulation.
Patience. Leisurely composure.
To achieve true accomplishment, one needed to retrace past paths as well. Since things had turned out this way, why not take the time to organize all the insights gained so far?
-----
Commonly, the process of a martial artist accumulating achievements and insights is likened to building a tower.
Laying the foundation, stacking bricks, and eventually reaching the ceiling— the whole sequence.
The towers of the Orthodox Sects are built meticulously, materials placed without gaps and firmly connected, following the orthodox method: taking time, step by step.
Slow to start, but as the tower rises, the construction speeds up— the path of correctness and kingship.
The towers of the Evil Sects are slapped together haphazardly with whatever materials, focused on height and speed, with repairs done later to prevent collapse.
Efficient but shoddy, they collapse often, so despite early rapid progress, their number of masters lags slightly behind the orthodox factions.
In contrast, the towers of the Demonic Sects aren't built so much as the foundation is excavated and mined— a more apt metaphor.
They temper body and mind through training. Diving into the depths of the heart to touch the demon while preserving the self.
Then what of the Sword Dao Sects?
A branch of martial arts rooted in a tool that gathers spirit and will, another self.
Thus, So-hyang thought her own martial path was less like stacking a tower and more like growing a tree.
Planting a sapling crafted by hand in the soil of the body, studies that transform the land and the world.
Then insights and achievements are the new branches extending outward, and simultaneously the fruits borne on those branches.
Fruits ripen and fall from the branches as a matter of course.
The fallen fruits become fertilizer, enriching the earth.
And the seeds within take root, sprouting new shoots.
Thus, her world grows richer, reborn as a forest lush with greenery.
But that path conflicted with So-hyang's goal.
Her way was to shatter the heavens and soar into the outer realms— requiring not a natural ecosystem, but a single, solitary giant tree.
The shadows of the massive tree blanket new sprouts, and the space for roots is already claimed by sturdy roots.
Fruits, of course, and even the seeds— absorb them as nutrients to raise an even greater tree.
Roots burrow viciously into the ground, branches thrust toward the sky.
Ultimately piercing the earth and ascending to the heavens.
Only one snag: the potential in those seeds wasn't illusionary.
Was it right to trample them and nurture just one tree? Was there truly no way to form an ecosystem while growing the giant?
So-hyang was greedy.
She never discarded any learning, so in her past life, she mastered memory arts for that purpose— and even innovated new ones.
Restoring brain nerves to fend off dementia, devouring martial knowledge gluttonously until life's end.
“Not trampling, but devouring them— what if the tree itself is reborn as a new ecosystem...?”
For the first time in ages, So-hyang sat firmly in place, entering deep meditation.
Legs crossed, breathing even, delving deeper than her usual trance into samadhi.
Reflecting on the past, extending thoughts in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions, trillions, beyond measure— a frenzied contemplation branching wildly.
Thus, So-hyang had earnestly warned Yi-ho, Zhu Yeonhwa, and the servants not to enter the training hall while she meditated.
They naturally assumed she was practicing some secret martial art not to be revealed, but the reason was the opposite.
Not for her sake, but theirs.
Merely brushing against the naturally emanating intent would crush their minds.
If someone with the imperial clan's Dragon Eye, Elder Qinghe's, or similar insight spied on her now, they would spew blood from all orifices, their brains boil, and souls shatter.
If sword and I are not different then why should land and sapling differ and by Taiji's principle all unite into Taiji reborn Taiji is chaos origin three powers heaven earth man's barrier foundation person interwoven Wuji and also One Origin world's root is world itself so change thought's way and I am already world thus also outside world then world is tree tree is world encompassing myriad phenomena—
“—Hm?”
In the midst of it, soldiers from the Imperial Army, pooling several months' pay for liquor, knocked on the door.
So-hyang pulled her consciousness back from the depths, welcomed the guests, and opened the door.
“—Come in, all of you. Have a meal before you go. We'll crack open that liquor you brought as a side drink— perfect.”
Leading to the current situation.
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The mindset of the Imperial Army soldiers, led by Squad Leader Jo Byung-gu, could be summed up in one sentence.
Where am I? Who are we?
How on earth had they ended up being treated to a meal by the absolute pinnacle master who had literally rocked Beijing the day before?
It was burdensome enough to die from.
“Y-You seem to have worked up a sweat. We didn't interrupt your training, did we...?”
But saying nothing would be rude; they needed to change the mood somehow.
So they brought up the obvious, visible trait for some trivial chatter.
“Mm, it was training of a sort, but not physical movement— just a bit of meditation.”
A meditation so intensely focused she couldn't even control her sympathetic nerves as usual.
Thanks to it, So-hyang's body was soaked in sweat, clothes drenched.
“Oh, come to think of it, I must look a mess?”
So-hyang smiled lightly as if just noticing, raised her spirit energy to evaporate the moisture.
With a sizzle, steam rose; her glossy skin and the clothes faintly revealing it dried fluffy.
“Phew...”
The Imperial Army soldiers, unsure where to look, finally sighed in relief.
No matter her cosmic terror or unfathomable mastery, the visible form was a breathtakingly beautiful woman— unspoken awkwardness aplenty.
But only for a moment.
“—Hngh!?”
They gasped in shock at So-hyang's body scent dispersing as sweat evaporated, breaking into cold sweats.
Like the inner scent from a soundly sleeping child— warm, cozy, evoking fermented mare's milk from her skin.
Not unpleasant, but the problem was the exact opposite.
A seductive aroma that flushed faces and stirred impure desires— practically soul-bewitching incense, no exaggeration.
The Imperial Army's standard heart method included mind-stabilizing functions.
This temptation pierced even resistance to illusions and bewitchment— unless one had mastered seduction arts at divine level...!
“Kh, ahem! Ahem!”
They hurriedly bowed, circulating inner power to suppress blood flow concentrating somewhere.
“Ah, my apologies.”
From their reactions, So-hyang realized she'd foisted her sweat smell on them.
She smiled sheepishly, waved her hand to draw in outside air and vent the inside.
“—Hah! Hweeeh!”
The soldiers, holding their breath as a stopgap, finally gulped fresh air raggedly.
“Aigoo, sorry about that? It'd been ages since I meditated so deeply, so I sweated a lot.”
“...N-No, it's fine. If you gained insight, it's cause for congratulations.”
“Nah, nothing that grand. I had a fuzzy insight, but you all came right when I stopped meditating.”
“—Pardon?”
The faint lingering excitement and embarrassment on the soldiers vanished, faces paling rapidly.
In other words.
Her Highness's friend had been meditating.
Even on the verge of insight.
And we interrupted it?
“...S-So-Sor-Sorry, a ca-Capital offense, sp-Spare our li-Lives, hweeeh...!”
They'd come to apologize and committed an even greater sin!!!
Interrupting a martial artist's training invites blades— common sense in the jianghu, let alone a lesser disrupting a master's enlightenment...!
Squad Leader Jo Byung-gu abandoned hope.
These worthless subordinates were dragged here by him— punish only him, spare their families, he prepared to prostrate—
“Pfft, it's fine. If your arrival meant I couldn't attain it, then it wasn't true accomplishment anyway.”
True achievement can't be disrupted essentially; insights from momentary chance or leaps of thought are mere flukes.
Obsessing over such leads to failing heights— So-hyang's creed.
Odd for one so greedily pursuing martial arts gluttonously, but to hold more, one must know leisure.
This insight was mere harbinger, milestone— enough.
With a rough sense of direction, all that remained was advancing.
Failing to grasp a drifting leaf yet claiming loss would be missing the point.
“A-Are you, re-really, all right...!?”
“I said it's fine, didn't I?”
So-hyang waved dismissively as if annoyed, then set the table for a real meal.
-----
Amid clattering, So-hyang brought out various dishes; soldiers squirmed, sweating coldly.
My god, she wasn't ordering servants to fetch food. She was cooking and serving personally!
A pinnacle master...!
“I-Is there anything we can help with...!?”
“Tsk, what kind of guest helps? I work faster alone anyway.”
True enough— hands a blur, table set in moments.
“Uh, uh, ugh...!”
Soldiers floundered helplessly, finally squeezing eyes shut.
Burden enough to die from.
“Dig in.”
A lavish spread.
Table full of various kimchi and vegetable side dishes; steaming earthenware pot with milky broth and abundant chunks.
But the contents were odd— not meat, but things, prompting questions.
“Gr-Great hero, may I ask what meat this is...?”
“Ah, those are pork offal bits. Liver, lungs, intestines, and mesentery.”
So-hyang's dish was offal soup. No blood sausage, though.
“Ah... I see...”
Hearing offal, soldiers' faces soured rapidly.
In this world's Central Plains under imperial prosperity, food abounded, so offal-eating customs hadn't taken root outside specific regions, and perceptions weren't great.
In short, their thoughts:
Ah, the great hero gives us filthy scraps— punishing us with food.
Not quite “why live on...!”, but they'd force it down penitently.
“...Mm.”
So-hyang saw through them but let it be.
One taste would change minds.
“Then, we'll gratefully partake.”
Squad Leader Jo Byung-gu forced a smile past furrowed brows, scooped broth.
“...Huh?”
Eyes widened at the unexpected taste.
No off-flavors, gamey smells, stench— just rich, deep, oily pork umami filling mouth, warming belly...
Why's this good?, half-doubting yet naturally scooping offal chunks to chew— different again.
Tender nutty liver wrapping mouth, chewy mesentery, fluffy lungs...!
“Squad Leader, this isn't just tasty to me, right?”
“...Insane.”
Insane. Truly mad flavor.
No foul smells, deep rich broth filling gut heavily; textured bits dancing on tongue.
Empty stomachs since yesterday stuffed satisfyingly; soldiers forgot tension, engrossed in bizarre food.
Hot broth raised body temp, sweat beading; mixing with rice, slurping noisily, wolfing like drink.
Downing remaining broth at once, identical soul-engraved sounds erupted.
“Kraaaaaah...!”
“Mm, quite edible, right?”
Satisfied reactions drew So-hyang's pleased nod and bright smile.
Eventually, soldiers timidly asked for seconds; So-hyang cheerfully served ten more bowls.
“—Pardon?”
Thus, leaving So-hyang's quarters, soldiers waddled out, bellies swollen like mountains.
“—Urk, guuuuh, can't eat more...”