Chapter 226
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 226
Chapter Title: Bandits Live on the Mountain (1)
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From ancient times to the present, regardless of East or West, all teachers and students share one wish.
Vacation! A more radical and all-out break than anything we could imagine today!
This held true for the Hundred Flowers Academy as well.
Of course, there was the mildly annoying matter of graduation exams.
Spending half a year holed up in Xi'an for academy life was torture enough for hot-blooded young men.
And the instructors who had to coax and cajole those blood-boiling, hot-headed students into learning martial arts? They had it even worse.
"Kyaha! Vacation time!"
Even Dan Yuwol, who had tossed aside her Alliance Leader seat to trade age for looks and indulge in otherworldly Profound Realm antics, was swept up in the sweet allure of vacation.
"Agh, I hate this..."
Only one person.
Just a single soul who didn't welcome vacation at all.
"Branch Chief... no, President. Let's hurry."
"Ha, fuck, I really hate this..."
As she tidied up the Seo Family Manor,
Seo Dohee grumbled nonstop.
Unless it was for a business trip or something major, she was the type to stay put at the manor, faithfully living out her role as the forest warden.
And right now, she didn't even need to go on a trip.
There was no reason to leave the manor, and the toll road business was running smoothly.
Once a year.
No matter how much she hated it, there was one place she had to drag her bouncy butt to, waddling along.
Her hometown.
No matter how much the Seo Family Manor served as a makeshift home for her, it could never truly replace her real one.
It wasn't even in her name, and her family didn't live there.
[Dad: Swing by sometime soon.]
[Dad: And please bring a son-in-law prospect this time.]
[Dad: I won't even ask for grandkids anymore.]
[Me: -_-]
Once a year, if she didn't visit, that old man would wail like the world's greatest unfilial daughter was abroad, disrupting the Green Forest's discipline.
The Mighty Twin Armored one, Seo Taepyeong.
Her father had, as usual this year, brought up sons-in-law and issued his summons.
If he had just built a grand house nearby and lived peacefully, she could visit with peace of mind.
But how long would it take to go back and forth from Xi'an to Mount Daepyeol?
"Haa..."
Seo Dohee let out a deep sigh at the wave of annoyance already crashing over her, without even realizing it.
Having aged into irrelevance, pretending to be a hermit tucked away in some mountain valley, humming weird nonsense like "contentment in poverty" at the old toll road branch—formerly the Daepyeol Fortress—made visiting even more of a hassle.
But she couldn't exactly skip it.
What kind of crap would she hear later?
"Let's go."
"Yes, President."
With her secretary in tow, Seo Dohee set off.
"Do you know the best way to meet a hermit?"
"Are you spouting nonsense again?"
"Treating the golden words of your sky-like senior as nonsense? The ways of the jianghu have fallen to the ground!"
"..."
After a few days traveling leisurely together,
Baek Liyeon had gotten a rough sense of how Geum Sihyeon was put together.
"Yep! Just yell 'Hey, old man───!' and out he comes! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Ha."
No matter how she looked at it, he was just a crazy bastard.
Every time he opened his mouth, it was cryptic bullshit or puns.
If he got a little bored, he'd slice a tree with a flick of his finger, then levitate it with void grasp, carving it while walking.
"Alright, let's spar!"
"...Again?"
"Tsk tsk. Even when the Transcendent Harmony Realm Chairman himself offers personal guidance sparring, you're so picky."
He'd carve a wooden sword so perfect you could feel it in your hand, then suddenly demand a roadside duel.
Splash──!
"Mmm, refreshing. Why don't you cool off too, junior?"
"..."
So enamored with untouched nature that every time they passed a waterfall on the mountain path, he'd dive in naked like he was cultivating some dao.
...And what the hell was with that giant python? How did it even...
Splash!
"...What are you doing?"
"Enjoying the scenery."
He even splashed water on the clothes she was wearing, slyly urging her to join.
At the academy, he maintained some dignity and a serious demeanor, so how could a person become this feather-light outside?
The most surprising part...
"Go away. Don't flirt."
"So heartless."
Was that she didn't hate it.
He lightened the awkward atmosphere with jokes, and despite being from enemy forces, he even guided her in spars at her level.
The more they crossed swords, the more awe she felt—how could someone just a year older achieve this?
"- Heh heh, come at me."
"- Too slow. Even swinging the sword..."
Of course, he never stopped running his mouth during it all, but every clash with Geum Sihyeon made Baek Liyeon's swordsmanship leap forward.
She just couldn't understand the naked waterfall dives.
"Were you a fish in a past life?"
"Ah, past lives..."
Baek Liyeon had a bad feeling when Geum Sihyeon suddenly looked up at the sky with a serious face.
"Ancient tale. In past lives, I was Arthur, a knight, a teacher, composer for the Honcheon Shrine, a trainer, a cult leader, a pioneer, a savior. Even a cute devil lord once... I miss all those worlds I protected..."
More gold-tongued nonsense poured out.
Feeling heart demons rising, Baek Liyeon plugged her ears and turned away.
But Geum Sihyeon wouldn't even allow her that.
The moment his firm, warm hand touched her head, the turbulent, bloodthirsty aura of the Heaven-Slaying energy vanished without a trace.
In that warmth,
Baek Liyeon felt inexplicably sad.
Mount Daepyeol, day three.
No matter how I thought about it, this mountain was weird.
It felt like all my common sense was crumbling.
"Why are there no bandits...?"
In the martial world, bandits were like goblins in fantasy—basic enemies.
No matter how many had switched to the toll road business, some couldn't keep up with the times and still lived by plundering.
Even among toll road affiliates, some were destined to evolve into such trash.
Of course.
"- Ma! I ate with yer boss lady! Drank with her! Even arm-in-arm!"
Long ago, flashing the Green Forest token bestowed by Chicken Lord made them submit instantly.
Of course, the ones who didn't submit all died by my hand.
But how come around here...
"Bandits?"
"Nah, we're just common folk from that village over there."
Men who looked every bit the bandit—burly and rough—were chopping wood and digging herbs, living honest lives. It was like a field trip to wholesome living.
"Tch."
"Sigh, stop the Heaven-Slayer impulses!"
"I wasn't doing anything."
I saw her eyes sparkle the moment she spotted the bandit (suspected).
I lightly smacked my impudent junior's head—sans lip balm for her lies—and ran a Heaven-Slayer wash cycle.
But they still looked suspicious as hell.
No way a First-Rate guy would call himself a commoner.
Well.
Could be.
"Any hermits on this mountain? Say, the Supreme Evil Faction guy?"
No crime vibes yet to grill the bandit (suspected)/commoner (self-proclaimed), so let's hit my goal first.
Could be underlings of the Supreme Evil Faction guy.
But, as expected...
"Could it be, you're after the Branch Chief?!"
The commoner's eyes flipped.
And he chirped like a bird.
And then.
"Heh heh, finally..."
With Baek Liyeon's sinister chuckle,
China's mountain specialty emerged.
Guys who looked like bandits but dressed like ordinary laborers came swarming out.
Professional herding hunt—clearly not their first rodeo.
Moving, really.
The jianghu's ways were still alive.
Yes, mountains should have bandits...!
"Seems our Daepyeol Fortress name has faded with time."
"Wooden swords? Heh heh."
"Hey, young punk. Act like a gentleman. How rude."
"State your purpose. Why seek the Branch Chief?"
No more hiding now.
The bandit friends casually tightened the encirclement.
Flash the gold plaque, and it'd be 'Oh, you know President Seo Dohee?'—belly up, panting, 100% chance.
Even fighting, I could solo them in under a quarter-hour.
However.
Lazy.
Why fight when I have a junior? Isn't that why we party up?
If I could attach a learning device, I'd farm them for her.
Unfortunately, Baek Liyeon wasn't Pokémon, and primitive ancient Central Plains lacked high-tech learning devices.
And it's time for this girl to level up.
Where else to farm XP without killing?
So.
I swiftly swapped the real sword in the sinisterly Heaven-Slaying aura-spewing Baek Liyeon's hand for a wooden one.
: : Junior. Subdue, don't kill. : :
She'd diligently attended Geum Sihyeon's Swordsmanship Academy so far.
Now for the REWARD... er, homework, right?
"Tch."
Lip smack.
This crazy Heaven-Slaying boy.