The Road to Kaifeng
On the road to Kaifeng, look at this cheeky little thing. But they say age is the real gangster, and the cunning of a seven-year-old girl was simply adorable. After all, if it wasn’t your own child, the human instinct was to find them cute and pretty and leave it at that. That was why other people’s dogs and cats were adorable. Or why grandparents doted on their granddaughters without a single word of scolding. The scolding, the education, the correction of behavior—that was the parents’ job. All you had to do was find them endearing.
Jegalse Hyang grabbed Cheong’s finger and began dragging her along. The tiny fist could barely wrap around two of her fingers. The child’s unique warmth seeped into Cheong’s hands, which had grown cold from the side effects of her demonic art. Cheong let herself be pulled along with feigned reluctance and spoke.
“Hey. What if it’s not a lie? I may not look it, but I’m a grand elder on the level of a sect leader from one of the Nine Great Sects. The crime of deceiving an elder is quite heavy, you know.”
“Ah. Really?”
“Really.”
“Th-then, if Big Sister is telling the truth, you’ll specially allow me to marry my brother to……”
“Huh? Since when do martial artists wager other people’s positions in bets? Your brother can find his own bride.”
“Oh. Then?”
Cheong wore a wicked smile.
“Your name was Hyang, right? If I’m right, then Hyang has to marry me instead. Maybe as my second concubine.”
It was the kind of mischievous joke only an uncle would make. Gulp. The child swallowed loudly.
“But we’re both women……”
“Why, can’t do it? Then go back.”
“Eek, you’re just bluffing to make me give up, aren’t you? It’s the Thirty-Six Stratagems—Beauty Trap! Hmph, who do you think you’re dealing with? Some kid who doesn’t know military tactics?”
Jegalse Hyang huffed and puffed as she led Cheong onward. Despite the winding, repetitive scenery, she somehow never got lost and guided them straight to a spacious garden beside a well-kept lake. There, iron balls of various sizes were stacked in neat piles, each fitted with a handle for easy gripping.
“Here. This is the hundred-geun iron ball. Go on, lift it with one hand like you said…… You’re actually lifting it……”
“Ah. This is only a hundred geun? It’s pretty hefty.”
A hundred geun already exceeded the official world record from Cheong’s homeland (53 kg) by more than double.
“By the way, is this measured by fruit or by meat?”
Cheong’s homeland still used the primitive and idiotic unit system where the weight of a geun varied by item. The contemporary Chinese people had standardized it to match the era (600 → 500, unified across all items), which was precisely the proactive and forward-thinking attitude the Korean people ought to emulate. Of course, this was still the primitive ancient Central Plains, before any such standardization.
“……?”
“At this rate, I could probably manage two hundred geun too. Where’s the two-hundred-geun one?”
Jegalse Hyang glanced around nervously before answering.
“Th-there isn’t a two-hundred one. Only two hundred fifty……”
Anyone could see she was lying. Cheong chuckled. After lifting a hundred, two hundred fifty didn’t seem impossible either.
“What’s the two-hundred-fifty-geun one like?”
“Th-that one over there……”
Cheong grasped the two-hundred-fifty-geun iron ball with one hand. Simply holding it was manageable, but raising it above her head made her arms tremble violently. Even a body that had transcended human limits protested with creaks and groans. Still, she somehow managed to bend her elbows fully and push it skyward with her shoulder strength. It was a miracle performed without any momentum at all. The very image of a hero who once dominated an era!
Jegalse Hyang’s mouth fell open in a daze while her eyes sparkled brilliantly. At that moment, a sound resonated from deep within Cheong’s body—tok-tok. Startled, Cheong immediately dropped the iron ball behind her, away from Jegalse Hyang. Thud! When the two-hundred-fifty-geun ball struck the ground, the impact was so great that ripples spread across the pond.
“Whew, I can’t do that twice. I overdid it.”
She had felt the sound of muscle and ligament tearing. Her right arm would be useless for a while. All because she’d shown off for no reason—what a pointless mess. Cheong reflected deeply on her actions.
“So? If I can lift two hundred fifty geun with one hand, that means five hundred with both, right?”
Jegalse Hyang, suddenly realizing her predicament, turned deathly pale and answered in a trembling voice.
“Uuu, th-this humble one greets the lord……”
“Hey, what’s with you? If you cry, what does that make me? And am I really that bad?”
“B-but I’d be a concubine, sniff, and the second one at that.”
“Answer me straight. Is it because it’s a concubine position, or because you’d be marrying me?”
“B-both are awful……”
“You hate me that much? How disappointing. My little concubine’s about to get abandoned right after getting married.”
“Th-then at least make it the main wife…… sniff.”
A large teardrop formed in the child’s characteristically round eyes and fell. Cheong tried to scratch the back of her head, only to let out a short yelp and use her left hand instead. Her right arm was more damaged than she’d thought.
“Alright, the night wind’s cold. Let’s head back, little miss. Time to consummate the marriage.”
Cheong scooped Jegalse Hyang up with her uninjured left hand and held her in her arms. The little girl immediately wrapped her arms around Cheong’s neck and burst into loud, sorrowful wails. Cheong had a rather mischievous streak—she’d made the child cry after all—but judging by her usual behavior, she was outright a wicked woman. Still, Jegalse Hyang was surprisingly well-read for her age, reciting characters she shouldn’t know, yet she’d believed such an absurd joke and started bawling. That, at least, was very seven-year-old of her.
“Hm? I don’t know the way back. If we get lost, we might end up as missing children and die. Won’t someone guide us?”
Jegalse Hyang’s ears perked up.
“Ah, what a dilemma. If someone showed me the way, I might just grant one wish.”
Jegalse Hyang took the bait immediately.
“Oh, then, hic, I’ll guide you, so let’s pretend none of this ever happened…… hic.”
“Haa. Can’t be helped. I thought I’d finally gotten a pretty concubine and could live happily ever after, but it turns out this tiny little strategist led me astray on purpose. As expected of the Zhuge clan’s schemes. I’ve been had.”
“Hmph. So you finally noticed…… hic.”
Jegalse Hyang said this with a bright red face.
“Aigoo, you’re too cute. Ow.”
Cheong tried to pinch the child’s plump cheeks but aborted the attempt with a short cry when sharp pain shot through her right arm. She gave up and started walking. Wait—her right arm wasn’t moving? Was this okay? She still had to participate in the Hidden Dragon Tournament or whatever it was called. The pain creeping in with each passing moment didn’t feel normal at all. Cheong tried to ignore the chill running down her spine. Well, there was a physician around, so it should be fine. Besides, one left hand would be enough. There was a foolish adult who’d teased a little kid and ended up losing the use of an entire arm.
“Alright. Let’s go. Which way?”
“That way.”
Meanwhile, Jegalse Hyang, her tears now dried, finally began fishing for information.
“Big Sister, how old are you?”
“Me? Twenty. I decided to be twenty.”
It was an unreasonable demand born of Seomun Su-rin’s greed. If a mere twenty-year-old disciple swept through the fierce young talents of the Hidden Dragon Tournament and claimed victory, how magnificent that would be—and what a giant leap it would represent for female martial artists as well. If the world learned that the greatest genius of all time had emerged as a woman, no martial artist would ever look down on women again. It was part of Seomun Su-rin’s campaign for women’s rights. The repeated cosmetic procedures that made Cheong look progressively younger had also played a role in that judgment. If she claimed to be twenty, her appearance supported the lie.
From Cheong’s perspective, the younger the better anyway. Being young and pitiful? That was something only those with low status complained about.
“……? Then aren’t you a year younger than my brother? Why are you his big sister?”
“Ah, so Jegalse is only twenty-one? You’re big but still a total baby. When I first met your brother, he was about twenty-two? Something like that?”
“……? Big Sister ages backwards?”
A cute disaster born of pure innocence.
“That almost turned into a dangerous statement just now, didn’t it?”
“Ah. Sorry!”
“Well, you’re cute, so I’ll let it slide.”
“But then, if Big Sister uses her inner energy too, doesn’t that make you an incredibly strong expert?”
“I already told you. This body is that of an expert. One on the verge of reaching the Transcendent realm, a veteran who has defeated countless Transcendent masters through the combination of inner and outer arts. Ah, not a veteran? A young veteran, then. Hmm, young veteran sounds off. Then a general? Wait, now I want some chicken……”
Cheong activated her specialty: “Everything that comes out of my mouth is truth.” Jegalse Hyang let out a bright, clear laugh.
“Oh, then can’t Hyang be the main wife instead of a concubine?”
“Aigoo. Haven’t you heard that fortune doesn’t have a back to its head? Once it passes, even reaching out won’t catch it.”
“Hng……”
“When you grow up and become incredibly beautiful—maybe one of the Five Great Beauties, like the Brain Flower or the Scheming Flower or the Vicious Flower—then I’ll accept you.”
“……Aren’t they usually called the Wise Flower or the Virtuous Flower or the Graceful Flower?”
“What, you can attach good words too? The nasty-looking kid who used to hang around me was called the Poison Flower.”
“Ah, right! Then what about you, Big Sister? I’ve never heard of a Strength Flower or a Xiang Yu Flower……”
As the two chatted and disappeared, a massive shadow fell over the empty lot. The shadow stretched across an iron ball that sat in an ambiguous state—neither fully embedded in the ground nor completely free of it. Some thoughtless person had left without putting it away after use. Because of that, a pair of enormous hands carefully grasped the handles.
“Hup.”
With a strained breath, the shallow depression in the earth revealed itself. Since spring had only just arrived, the ground hadn’t fully thawed, so even a two-hundred-fifty-geun iron ball only left this much of a mark. The ball rose with difficulty and settled back into its original place.
----
Upon returning to the guest house and presenting her arm, Dang Nan-a scolded her for showing off. The ligaments were properly damaged—what on earth had she been doing in the middle of the night? According to Dang Nan-a’s explanation, the ligaments had been stretched so far that the affected area was already loose and had lost its elasticity. Some had even torn. She told Cheong to avoid using her shoulder entirely for the time being and not even think about raising her arm.
Only then did Cheong regret her behavior toward Jegalse Hyang the previous night. It had been a truly pointless stunt.
“But why is only the upper part like this? The lower part’s fine?”
“Is that strange?”
“Of course it is. The upper arm has more muscle to hold everything together, so it should be sturdier. The muscles in the forearm only help with bending and rotating the wrist, so they’re flimsy as can be.”
It was, of course, thanks to the Sosu Magong. The art protected everything below the elbow like an indestructible diamond, faithfully shielding its foolish owner even during that pathetic nighttime display of strength.
“Let’s start with some acupuncture. Ice would be good, but since this is the Jegalse clan, they should at least have some, right?”
“It’s fine. I can use ice arts.”
“Huh? Ice arts? How?”
“Just? Well?”
“Perfect. Can you freeze this for me? Not too hard, though.”
Dang Nan-a soaked a towel in water until it was properly damp and held it out to Cheong. When Cheong drew up her true energy as if cooling premium tea, frost soon formed and it began to freeze.
“Ah. Stop. That’s enough.”
After rubbing and wringing out the towel, Dang Nan-a wrapped it in another cloth and tied it around Cheong’s shoulder.
“Tell me if the towel feels soggy. I’ll have to redo it.”
“Can’t I just freeze it like this?”
“Put ice directly on bare skin? You’ll get frostbite.”
“Ooh, very physician-like. You’re cool when you say things like that. But didn’t you say you’d do acupuncture? Can you still do it with this wrapped around?”
“Ah. Right.”
Dang Nan-a hurriedly unwrapped the towel. Cheong’s eyes narrowed. She was taking back the “cool” comment.