First Blood in the Gorge

I didn't bother waiting for the talisman's effect to wear off. Still in my rejuvenated form, I lay there with my cock buried inside Lee Jin's pussy.

Her stamina had returned, but the mental exhaustion must have caught up with her — she fell asleep almost immediately.

I was drifting off myself, heavy with that pleasant languor, when Jini's voice cut through the haze.

Revenge. Right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— I'd felt something unfinished when I crossed the Taihang Mountains. Those bastards.

Lee Mun. The father who had treated me so well.

I pulled free. She stirred briefly in her deep sleep but didn't wake.

Killing intent surged up through me. From my Subspace I drew a telescope, a spear, a saber, a bow, and a hundred arrows. I laid them all out on the table, purchased underwear and clothes, pulled on a tracksuit, and left the room.

The main hall of the Wang Family Manor was silent. Jia Xu had probably dismissed everyone. I opened the door and looked out into the inner courtyard garden — my clone was sparring with Jang Hwa.

Quick footwork. The clone's physical stats were clearly superior, but it was losing on spear technique. Jang Hwa's rapid thrust-and-slash ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠combination caught the clone off guard and forced it into a wide retreat.

That spear of hers wasn't just shaped like a snake for show.

Shiiik — hwik — shiiik.

The sound of the blade cutting air was almost serpentine. Then those lightning-fast lateral cuts — spear arts modeled on a snake's movement.

The clone kept giving ground, then finally roared and knocked Jang Hwa's spear aside.

Jia Xu was sitting under the eaves, fanning herself gently with a chair she'd brought out to watch. I walked over.

"My lord. You've come out."

Jia Xu folded her fan, set it on the table, and pulled me into her lap.

"Where are the others?"

"They fell asleep looking after the babies. Jang Mi is in the room, so don't worry."

Barely three o'clock.

"Hmm. How's the clone performing?"

"Serviceable. Overwhelming strength, but it falls short on technique. Its eyes are excellent, though — Jang Hwa's techniques don't land."

Which meant its combat power was numerically at least eighty. The Divine Archer trait hadn't transferred, but the main body's eyesight had gone from 5.0 to 6.0, and that vision had carried over intact. Even without true dynamic visual acuity, focused concentration produced a similar effect — that was how it was holding its own.

"And the other clone?"

"Over there."

I could see a clone sprawled out unconscious. I grunted and turned back to the sparring match.

"They're dull-witted. Or rather — they have no capacity for thought at all. Useful only as training dummies, I'm afraid."

"Hmm. That so?"

"Yes. Since absorbing them transfers both memory and training experience, I'll instruct Jang Hwa and Jang Mi accordingly."

"Right. Enough. Jia Xu — I'm stepping out for a bit. A mission dropped from the heavens."

"Hm? Yes. Please be careful."

Jia Xu's face was full of worry. She stroked my cheek.

"I'm going as a clone. Even if it dies, my consciousness returns to this body. Oh — one more thing."

I opened my Soul Eyes and looked at the clones. As expected, no souls were visible.

"Both of you, stop. Jia Xu — when the clone enters this body, put it to bed in the room."

"Yes, my lord."

Thought Transfer.

Jang Hwa appeared before my eyes. Sharp gaze, sweat-soaked. I smirked and turned away.

"Master?"

"Yeah. Head inside. Rest."

"Yes."

I glanced once at Jia Xu. She rose and followed me into the inner quarters. I purchased a C-rank Awakener's anti-blade combat suit, pulled it on over the tracksuit, slung a quiver over my shoulder, and buckled on the saber. Spear and bow in hand, I pocketed the Teleport Scroll I'd set aside.

"Please be careful. It seems to be a combat mission."

"Yeah."

"And this — an identity tablet. In case you need to pass through a city gate..."

"Hm? Jo Jun's?"

A collateral youth of the Jo family who'd died last year accompanying Father on a trading expedition. I pocketed his tablet and stepped close to Jia Xu.

She laid my main body on the bed and turned back. I kissed her, then tore the talisman.

A hill.

I stood atop a rocky rise. A cliff dropped away below; a matching cliff faced me across the way. Canyon terrain.

Perfect sniper cover.

To the right, a small village ringed by wooden palisades. Children ran and played in what looked like a peaceful settlement. At the palisade's main gate, a beautiful woman who looked to be in her early twenties stood guard with spear and shield.

Huh? A beauty like that?

She was genuinely striking — beauty on par with Wang Yeon or Lee Jin. That resolute expression, that focused vigilance — a woman too good to pass up.

Hmm. Number nine... maybe her?

With about fifteen minutes remaining, I set my arrows beside me and began warming up. By the time I'd finished, the woman was gone.

Shift change?

A man was looking in my direction — my position had been spotted. But I wasn't here to threaten the village, so I ignored him and turned the other way.

Through the telescope, the opposite hill. Rising dust. The bandits were definitely coming. This was a narrow gorge — they'd have to pass through. A mission that couldn't fail.

Clop-clop-clop.

Hoofbeats. But coming from the opposite direction. A horse closed the distance in moments, climbing the hill toward me.

The woman with the spear vaulted from the saddle and leveled her weapon at me where I sat beneath a tree.

Unfortunately, she seemed to have no unique trait.

"Who are you?!"

"I'm from the Wang Family Manor in Ji County. Bandits are coming from that direction right now — go warn the village and prepare."

"What?"

She didn't believe me. I handed her the telescope. She looked at it like she'd never seen anything of the kind. When I told her to hold it to her eye, she did — and gasped. She followed the direction I indicated and made a low sound of recognition.

"...It's real? Did you count them?"

"Twenty. I'm Ian. And you?"

"Gao Shun of Taicun Village, Ji County. Benefactor — thank you for the warning. I'll return to the village and evacuate the elderly and children first."

Gao Shun. An unfamiliar name. Or one I'd heard without it leaving any impression.

She clasped her fists in a formal salute, remounted, and raced back toward the village.

Five minutes remaining. I raised the telescope again. Bandit heads were bobbing into view over the rise — not at a gallop, but at a leisurely pace. Distance: about a kilometer.

I nocked an arrow, then lowered the bow.

No. I have to kill that girl. If she runs, it's all for nothing. I need to draw them into the gorge first.

They emerged gradually — animal hides, greasy hair, vicious scars. Nine men, eleven women, every one of them plain-faced. A young girl brought up the rear, but her small, slanted eyes gave her a sly, mean look.

Hmm. Kill them clean. Rape isn't my hobby...

I'd considered harvesting traits, but they had no unique abilities and they were ugly. Decision made: kill on sight. Especially with a beauty like Gao Shun watching — I couldn't afford to be seen raping bandits if I wanted her.

Priority one: Zhe Yan.

I hid behind a tree, arrow in hand, bow gripped, and took a deep breath.

Clop-clop. Whicker.

They picked up speed slightly. My heart rate climbed fast.

First real combat. First kill, right at the threshold.

I sighted on the gap between those slit eyes. Zhe Yan was driving her horse with a savage little smile, as if sharing some amusing story. My father rose in my mind. Killing intent boiled over.

Rage made the bow-stave tremble for an instant.

Steady.

I drew a long breath and calmed myself.

"Hahaha! Taicun's got fewer than ten defenders — let's hit it fast and get out!"

"Yes, Sub-chief Zhang Wujiao! Can we rape the pretty boys before we kill them?"

"I eat first. Then you can have what's left."

Their voices echoed off the canyon walls as they entered the gorge, every word caught by my heightened hearing. The fat woman was the leader. Their disgusting chatter about "eating" men rolled on between coarse laughter.

Distance: two hundred meters.

Zhe Yan had entered the gorge.

The cliff height was about ten meters. The wind, mercifully, was at my back — blowing toward them.

I raised the bow and sighted on Zhe Yan at the very rear. That girl with the smiling slit eyes. She looked completely at ease, as if the moments before a raid were utterly familiar — not a trace of tension in her body. She just tipped back some liquid from a waterskin on her saddle and grinned.

Hoo.

A flicker of revulsion at the act of killing rose up — but the hunger for revenge was stronger, and the reluctance burned away.

A calm mind.

I drew the string and focused. The taut resistance fought me, then I pulled the string to its limit.

Zhe Yan's head seemed to swell to the size of a watermelon in an instant. I raised the bow slightly to match the range and ran a brief mental rehearsal.

One shot. Make it count.

The moment I locked on, I held my breath.

Vision 6.0 is ridiculous. What kind of world do Mongolians even see?

A stray thought, then I snapped back and released.

The bow's recoil and vibration traveled up through my left hand.

Thwuuung.

The kickback's stronger than I expected. Jia Xu couldn't even shoot this thing.

The heavy vibration kept shaking my arm — and then the reality of what I'd just done settled over me.

Murder.

Perhaps because of that weight, time seemed to crawl. The arrow left the string in an S-curve, writhing like a snake — climbing to its apex, then falling, spinning as it dropped.

Whooosh.

I watched the arrow split the wind on its descent and was already drawing the next shaft, nocking it, drawing a bead on the fat woman at the front who looked like the chief.

Thud.

Hiiiiiin!!!

Got her.

The sound of Zhe Yan collapsing echoed through the canyon. Something surged up from deep inside me — then a brief, crushing depression, as if my heart had been dropped into the ocean floor.

My drawing hand went slack. I hurriedly pointed the arrow down and stopped the shot.

Fear of that sensation made my body want to tremble — and then my head cleared, cool and sharp, my mental state stabilizing.

Huh? Mental Protection? It activates on a clone?

The question lasted only a moment. Enemies were still in front of me. I raised the bow again.

Hiiiiiin!!

"Ambush! Everyone halt — take cover!"

They milled in confusion, searching for the arrow's origin, but none of them seemed to consider a position this far out. Fair enough — two hundred meters was a long way to suspect.

If they stop their horses, all the better for me.

Jini's voice confirmed Zhe Yan was dead. I'd seen her drop with an arrow through the forehead — death was nearly certain — but the twitching corpse had left a residual worry. The completion notice put my mind at ease.

I held my breath and released.

Another snaking flight. The arrow danced an S through empty air, crested, spun, and fell.

"Who the hell—! Ghk!"

Thud.

I confirmed the fat woman with the ridiculous twin braids going down, then nocked and fired again.

Whoosh.

Dead center. Every shot.

"Chief!!! Everyone — ride for the village! Ghk—"

Thud.

The second-in-command's throat was pierced. The remaining seventeen spurred their horses toward the village on her dying order. Watching them break formation and bolt for the settlement, I cursed under my breath.

Damn. I dragged this out too long.

I loosed arrows without pause. Archery Level 5. Archery 5 alone couldn't produce this kind of perfect accuracy.

It was the vision. Eyesight like a mounted scope. And the precision of a Hunter-grade bow on top of that.

Thud-thud-thud.

As the range opened, I stood and kept shooting. The weight of that first kill was gone. Adrenaline flooded me — raw excitement, heart hammering.

Ten more arrows later, only six of them reached the palisade.

In that instant the gate swung open. Gao Shun charged out on horseback and, in a single motion, took the lead bandit's head clean off.

A greasy-haired man's skull sailed into the air. Blood fountained from the stump of his neck as he toppled.

Gao Shun followed through without breaking rhythm, driving her blade into the throat of the woman on the opposite side. Then her saber accelerated — leaving only trails of light, painting beautiful arcs through the air.

Beautiful.

The trajectories were almost simple. But the paths her blade described were breathtaking. Wherever the reflected sword-light flashed, a head fell. Four local militia in mismatched gear rushed out with spears and simultaneously skewered the last survivor.

The fight was over that fast. Calling it a battle felt generous — it had been closer to a hunt.

Hoo.

I understood now why soldiers who survived war developed PTSD. Why psychopaths became serial killers.

Killing intent was still boiling in me. That sensation after killing Zhe Yan — of sinking into deep water — had been cleared by Mental Protection, so all that remained was a slight tremor in my hands.

Is the first kill always the heaviest?

I lowered the bow, returned the arrows to the quiver, and took up my spear. Then I walked slowly toward the village.

The four militia mounted the bandits' horses and rode into the gorge — probably to round up the remaining mounts. Gao Shun remounted and rode toward me as I walked.

"Benefactor!!!"

She dismounted, dropped the reins, and approached with a formal clasped-fist salute.

"It's nothing. I just killed a few bandits. Calling me a benefactor is excessive."

"No, Benefactor."

My hands were still trembling as I returned the salute. The excitement and killing intent hadn't fully settled. Gao Shun clearly saw it — and looked, if anything, relieved.

"Captain Gao Shun! It's Zhang Wujiao! Zhang Wujiao of Tongtian Mountain!!!"

"What?"

One of the soldiers down in the gorge held up the fat woman's severed head and shouted. Gao Shun's eyes went wide as she stared at me.

"Benefactor. You truly saved our village. Zhang Wujiao was a bandit of notorious repute — and her unit was known as an elite force. How can I ever repay this debt?"

She was genuinely stunned. She bowed at the waist again.

"Please don't. I only did what any person should."

"No. I, Gao Shun, am a woman who knows the proper way of people. When one receives a kindness, one repays it. Ask anything of me, Benefactor."

"Hmm. Even if I asked you to leave the village and follow me?"

"...Of course. If you have need of this Gao Shun, I will serve you with all my heart and strength, Benefactor!!!"

A formal, solemn salute. Her character seemed upright. Eyes full of clear light. A ringing voice. All of it to my liking.

And through talking with her, my trembling hands began to still. The killing intent started to subside.

So a beauty really is the cure?

"This may be a sensitive question, but — are you a virgin?"

"...Yes. Benefactor. I've passed nineteen without finding a man who caught my eye. An old maid, I'm afraid."

Her face flushed crimson as she bowed her head low.

"Ah..."

"I was planning to go to Taiyuan Commandery soon, enlist as a soldier, and look for a husband there. Benefactor... if... if you desire me, even as a concubine, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I will serve you."

"Hmm... acquiring a woman this way feels a bit off."

"Not at all. The debt of gratitude is great, of course — but your martial prowess, your commanding presence, your appearance... are you... by chance a man of the Central Plains?"

Anxious eyes. In this context, asking if I was from the Central Plains was a roundabout way of asking whether I preferred fat women.

"Benefactor. If needed, I will put on weight. Please accept me."

"Ah — no. I'm mixed blood of the Eastern peoples and the Han, so my aesthetic sense is closer to the people of Bing Province."

Relief washed over Gao Shun's face. The way she blushed — she seemed genuinely taken with me. In the modern world, women often found features this sharp and defined too much, even greasy — but here, my face worked.

And past nineteen, she was an old maid even by local standards. Desperation showed through. Her reaction wiped away every last scrap of the battle's negative residue.

"Then can you repeat after me? I, Gao Shun, am Ian's Slave."

"Yes. I, Gao Shun, am Ian's Slave."

She echoed the words without a moment's hesitation. I'd said "Slave" in English instead of the local word for slave — and it still registered.

Time stopped.

I considered briefly. Looks at Wife-tier. Ability clearly above Jang Hwa. No reason to hesitate.

"Wife rank."

Part of the reason I chose Wife was that her name felt more familiar the more I thought about it. Gao Shun — it sat on the tongue with a natural ease.

I opened my Soul Eyes and examined her. No ghosts attached. A nine-tailed fox's tail unfurled.

Nude. A tall, clean 170 centimeters. C-cup. Thirty-six-inch hips. A solid figure. Pink areolae and a pale white pussy that pleased me. And across her abdomen, beyond a simple eleven-mark, the character for "king" was carved. I slipped a hand between her legs.

Not a Myeong-gi. Well — it changes in an instant anyway...

I set everything from Myeong-gi status on down, then inscribed Kim Ian's name once more.

Ah... so that's why it always stopped at the tattoos. Thank you, Constellation.

A flare of light. Gao Shun's body blazed, and I felt time resume its flow. Wind stirred. I confirmed the tail was gone and closed my Soul Eyes.

Mercenary Arts 10?

Was that the Mercenary Arts? Gao Shun looked different to me now. Setting aside the familiar name — Mercenary Arts at Level 10 meant troop training, battlefield command, the full package. Nothing lacking.

"Gao Shun. Can you follow me?"

"Yes, my lord. Thank you for accepting me. I have no family in the village. Once I speak to the militia under me, I can leave immediately, my lord."

"Hmm. Good. Take two horses and we'll go. Tell the village to keep the rest."

"Thank you — for thinking of the village as well."

Gao Shun's face was radiant with gratitude. Large, clear eyes shining bright.

I should look into Gao Shun once I'm out. It's strange she has no unique trait.

What I'd seen earlier wasn't true sword-qi, but that beautiful blade-light flashing in the sun. Simple trajectories, yes — but the skill to cut down five bandits in moments.

She went down, spoke with the soldiers at length, then came back leading two horses. The militia loaded the corpses onto mounts, headed into the village, and waved to Gao Shun.

"Captain!!! Live well out there!! Make your name known! We'll be waiting to hear about Gao Shun of Taicun!!!"

"I will!!! You bastards!!!"

April's game-night slot for Jia Xu. May's for Gao Shun.

Embracing Gao Shun would make nine. Jang Mi would say yes if I asked her to bed, but she'd said — like Jia Xu — that she wanted to wait until Xiangyang. I shook my head.

Luoyang. There'll be plenty of beauties in Luoyang. And if Zhe Shu hasn't left yet, I could take her too.

I took the reins Gao Shun offered and mounted. My horsemanship had been learned on ponies, but I'd learned it — I urged the horse forward at a steady pace, following her lead.

"My lord. We head for the Wang Family Manor in Ji County, correct?"

"That's right. Gao Shun. When we arrive, we'll consummate the first night — so prepare yourself well."

"Yes... my lord."