Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Justice Alliance
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Good job, good job!
As Cheongun kept standing there, Ryeon glared at him with fierce eyes.
Unable to withstand that savage gaze, Cheongun quietly sat down.
Of course, the applause didn't stop.
It had simply shifted from standing ovation to seated applause.
"...What did you say?"
Ryeon lowered her voice.
She seemed properly provoked by Ye-rin's remark about her having big tits and nothing else.
Of course, from Cheongun's perspective as a modern person, it was hard to understand.
Why had that gotten under her skin?
Wasn't that pure praise?
"Hoho, what's wrong? Even when I compliment you, you get angry."
So Ye-rin covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed.
The reason Ryeon was pissed off was simple.
Ancient Chinese standards of beauty had precise criteria.
The Registry of Beauties.
One Chinese historical text records the following.
There are ten criteria for a beauty, and for appearance: hair like a cicada's wing, lips the color of rouge, firm teeth, white breasts, eyebrows like distant mountains, a waist like a willow tree, and moderate height.
In fact, though the wording is complicated, the key here is the image of 'fragile as if it might shatter'.
Healthy beauty? No such thing.
Rather than a healthy look, a slender woman who seemed like she might float away on a light breeze was considered the pinnacle of beauty in ancient Chinese aesthetics.
And it wasn't just the face.
Identity, hobbies, and even the places a woman frequented were included in the criteria for beauty, which was why So Ye-rin was so scratched by the comment about looking like a girl from a brothel who'd pour drinks while smiling vacantly—she was throwing a fit over it.
In response, the ambitious retort So Ye-rin spat out—'big-titted bitch'?
In the Central Plains worldview that prized slender beauty, having two massive lumps hanging on one's chest was no different from saying she was a vulgar, lascivious slut!
Of course, from the modern perspective of Cheongun, bigger breasts on a woman were better regardless of age or gender—that was common sense—but even in the modern world, there were extreme slender-preferring factions, so imagine how it was in the Central Plains.
Thus, with her temper already flared to the max by So Ye-rin's words, Ryeon twitched her eyebrows and fired back.
"Did you just call that a compliment?"
"Of course. In this day and age, how many women have such voluptuous breasts?"
So Ye-rin chuckled and hooked her arm around Cheongun, who was clapping beside her.
"Anyway, a body's proportions are all about balance. Something developed only in one area like yours is a deformity, no? Look at me."
So Ye-rin slightly thrust out her chest, boasting its moderate volume.
It certainly looked less heavy than Ryeon's, but it wasn't small either.
Seeing that, Jeok Hwa-ryeon let out a sneer.
"Balance my ass. That's not balance; that's giving up entirely, isn't it?"
"...What?"
"If you're gonna be big or small, at least commit to one. Someone middling like you is just hopeless."
"You, what did you just...?"
"With that face that looks like it'd mindlessly smile and pour drinks at some back-alley tavern, what are you talking about balance? That's delusion. If you're a whore, act like one and quietly pour drinks—instead, you don't know your place and wag your tail next to the Gate Lord... no, Chief Inspector."
"W-what! You mangy bitch, how dare you! How dare you!"
So Ye-rin stammered in extreme rage.
She seemed even more heated than when she'd been whacked with the wooden fish mallet.
Ryeon giggled and drove the wedge in deeper.
"No, our Gate Lord might go crazy sometimes, but as far as I know, he has good taste. You think he'd bat an eye at some rootless bitch like you clinging to him?"
"You bitch—"
"Age ambiguous, tits ambiguous. And your sect? Filth Gate? Not even Gate Lord anymore. Nothing to brag about, yet your dreams are too big, no?"
"This damn bitch, in front of who do you...!"
So Ye-rin's eyebrows trembled violently.
Ryeon's offensive was stronger than expected.
It was true that the Filth Gate had no roots.
In the Central Plains, when judging a beauty's worth, a woman's background was scrutinized closely, so Ryeon's barbs were scraping away at Ye-rin's pride massively.
But So Ye-rin wasn't without a comeback.
After taking it quietly for a moment, she stepped forward.
"You're the one who's deluded."
"Deluded?"
"Yes. Who said I have nothing to my name?"
With those words, she drew up her inner energy.
Kuuuung—!
So Ye-rin's energy made the space vibrate fiercely.
The floor shook, and objects on the desk rattled and fell.
Her energy took tangible form, as if alive, pressing down on Jeok Hwa-ryeon.
Of course, it was mere tickling to Cheongun, who had surpassed walls, but to Ryeon, who was merely Peak-stage, it was bound to be a bit overwhelming.
"...!"
Ryeon broke out in cold sweat.
She momentarily lost balance under the energy crushing the entire space and staggered.
"In the jianghu, isn't skill itself the root? My realm is Transcendent. How dare a mere Peak mid-stage upstart hold her head high before me and question my roots?"
"..."
"A martial artist is judged by the achievements of their training. In that regard, my roots overflow. Now look at you. I heard you even scarfed down a Heavenly Spirit Pill, the prize from the Dang branch tournament, yet your realm is still that pitiful?"
Ooh, now they're going straight to martial arts levels?
Cheongun's eyes busily spun at their increasingly childish fight.
Still, as a former Gate Lord, So Ye-rin's martial prowess was naturally considerable.
But Ryeon had her own retort.
"Is being old something to brag about?"
"W-what!"
Jeok Hwa-ryeon also drew up her inner energy.
Though it was far inferior to So Ye-rin's, the Demonic Control Soul Art that Cheongun had passed to her was a technique that converted demonic qi into inner energy.
Combining her accumulated inner energy and demonic qi, she could explosively boost her true qi for a brief moment.
"Ooh."
Cheongun admired.
As expected of Ryeon. A mere Peak daring to defy a Transcendent!
He couldn't help but admire her spirit.
Of course, So Ye-rin shrieked like a demon.
"Ha! You call that inner energy?"
"Shut up, you rootless bitch."
"Y-you mangy bitch! Fine! I'll rip that snout off right now!"
"Try it! You should age gracefully! Not bully juniors like this ugly hag!"
"Shut up! Rejuvenation will fix it!"
"What good is a young face when your insides are rotten!"
"Y-you fucking, fucking bitch!"
The more emotions flared, the fiercer the vibrations.
It wasn't killing intent.
Just emitting their drawn-up inner energy.
A random, impulsive torrent of qi scattered by emotion.
Even that alone made the floor and objects shake like an earthquake.
Cheongun, who had been watching quietly from the side, pulled something from his bosom.
At the same time, his right hand shot toward the sky.
A wooden fish mallet made of round timber floated up, then came down.
And then.
Paak! Ppugak!
"Kyaaak!"
"Eugk!"
Clear striking sounds echoed on the crowns of Ryeon and Ye-rin's heads.
The two women whipped their heads around at the intense shock, eyes teary, glaring at Cheongun.
"What the hell!"
"Fuck, Gate Lord!"
Finally, Cheongun spoke wistfully.
"I feel bad for both of you."
"..."
"..."
A mountain path near the Sacred City.
It was one of the few roads connecting from Sichuan to the Sacred City.
Two men riding in a roughly shaking carriage were chatting lightly.
"The road's well-maintained."
"It's the Tang Clan's territory, after all. Bound to be clean."
The skinny man chuckled at the wrinkled middle-aged man's words.
He was Jeok San, one of the Justice Alliance's executives.
And the one he was buttering up while glancing around was.
"Tsk tsk. What's so important about persuading one brat..."
Go Hak.
One of the renowned Huashan Sect's Five Elders.
"He's still the new Chief Inspector."
"That's what's suspicious. Tsk, that old Gold Name Lord. Got senile with age? Entrusting such a heavy post to a kid with no real proof."
"Haha, the Alliance Lord must have his reasons."
"Hope so."
Go Hak clicked his tongue and looked outside.
"We just relay the message, right?"
As Jeok San said.
They just needed to deliver the Alliance's decree.
"Jin Family Manor, was it?"
"Yes, correct."
"Tsk tsk. Should've known when they dabbled in corpse puppetry sorcery. They say evidence of contact with the Divine Cult was found?"
"Yes. With a new Chief Inspector just arriving, we can't overlook such matters."
The Jin Family Manor was one of those ambiguous martial clans straddling white and black paths.
Though they claimed corpse puppetry was to easily transport bodies and return unidentified corpses to families, it still just looked like messing around with dead bodies to outsiders.
Naturally, they were treated as unorthodox outsiders.
And recently, signs of back-and-forth with the Divine Cult had been detected.
"We've arrived."
The coachman opened the carriage door.
The two men disembarked and strolled toward the pass with hands behind their backs.
Their destination: Myriad Dragon Escort Agency's Sacred City branch.
Upon arrival, they asked the guard at the gate.
"Where's the Chief Inspector?"
"Pardon? Who's that?"
"The boy named Cheongun."
"Ah, Great Hero Cheong is out at the moment."
But there was a problem.
"Ah, he's the Filth Gate Lord now."
"...What?"
What did he just say?
Filth Gate Lord? Who?
The master of that shady black path sect?
"Explain in detail."
"Pardon? Ah, out-of-towners wouldn't have heard yet. Nothing big, but the Bureau Deputy swallowed up the Filth Gate not long ago."
The news that Cheongun had absorbed the Filth Gate was still confidential to outsiders.
Of course, the escort agency's people knew, but with the Central Plains' slow information spread lacking proper civilization, it was inevitable.
Thus.
Those unaware that Cheongun had raided the Filth Gate right after getting his Chief Inspector post.
"We heard if you have complaints about the Justice Alliance's will, take it up with the Alliance."
"...?"
Fell into massive confusion.
A very massive one, at that.