A Companionship by Chance
Uyang County, where the Taegyeong Gate stood, was far more stable than I’d expected.
Of course, someone like Jeoksen Ilgoe Gwak So-hwan could openly pass himself off as a ferryman, but there was probably nothing the Taegyeong Gate could do about that.
In fact, the very fact that a man like him had been able to settle here was proof enough that this place was stable.
He must have been certain that no Black Way sect members who recognized him, or anyone in the same line of work, would come looking this way.
In other words, the Taegyeong Gate’s influence here was no small thing.
Compared to the Murim world I’d once imagined—one defined only by places like the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans—this was a completely different world.
But that was my narrow perspective talking.
Even the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans didn’t amount to all that many people.
And the Central Plains were absurdly, inexorably vast.
So no matter how far their influence reached, it still couldn’t possibly cover the entire land.
Out in these remote places, medium-sized sects like the Taegyeong Gate held far greater sway.
Which, in turn, meant this still wasn’t a place for me.
I couldn’t stay somewhere peaceful. There wasn’t much I could do here.
So, after taking my meal at an inn with a calm mind, I set out south again.
Still, I had gained a great deal from Uyang County.
For one thing, the Taegyeong Gate had said they would pay out Gwak So-hwan’s bounty, so I could always go collect it later.
More than anything, though, the biggest gain was that rumors about me had spread widely.
People had been whispering about the North Sea Ice Palace.
By now, the story must have spread everywhere.
That a mysterious woman from the North Sea Ice Palace, hiding her identity as a ferryman, had taken down the vice-chief of a river bandit gang with a single Ice Soul Divine Palm?
Well, Ice Soul Divine Palm was involved. That much was true.
If you measured its contribution to the total damage, though, it would probably rank somewhere around the amount of truffle flavor in a cracker.
No, that was too harsh. Maybe the butter content in a cracker? Wait, hold on. Crackers don’t even have butter, do they? Should I say margarine instead?
Anyway, it had been pure physical damage.
A single blow powered by the brute strength I’d gained through the Iron Body Weight-Adding Force.
That was probably why Gwak So-hwan had been so thoroughly flattened. He must have thought it was an internal-energy attack.
External arts. They were nothing to look down on.
The only reason external arts were treated so poorly was simple: their ceiling was low.
Once a martial artist surpassed the first-class level and reached the peak realm, they could project their internal energy outward.
For swords it became sword qi, for sabers blade qi, for fists fist qi. That sort of thing.
And once you could strike by emitting qi like that, external arts became useless.
Internal-Style Heavy-Hand Technique.
A method that shook the organs inside even when only the outer body was struck.
On top of that, when qi was released through a blade like a sword or saber, it could ignore external defense entirely and cut or pierce straight through.
In other words, external arts were worthless against anyone above the peak realm. They might as well not exist.
But that also meant that against anyone below the peak realm, they were devastatingly effective.
And I had already fully mastered external arts.
In a Murim where nearly everyone had given up on external arts after being disappointed by their abilities, that made them a rather precious asset.
Which meant my opponent had no idea what kind of performance my external arts could deliver.
Of course, the problem was that even I didn’t know.
So I had to make the most of my unusual situation and survive this brutal Jianghu by any means necessary.
And I needed to get a bigger dantian and more internal energy as quickly as possible.
Before I had the misfortune of running into some vicious peak expert.
Along the endless road south, people’s eyes still followed me, since I wasn’t wearing a bamboo hat or a face veil.
But their reactions were different from before. In the past, it had all been wonder and curiosity.
Now, it felt like everyone knew exactly who I was.
People were no longer staring at me simply because I was unusual; they were whispering to one another instead.
Had rumors already started spreading? Well, I was walking at an unhurried pace.
And no matter what, word of mouth travels faster than anything else.
Honestly, that was for the best. If things went like this, no one would come looking for trouble.
Thanks to that, I was able to continue on without incident and reached a city by afternoon.
It looked like sunset was only about an hour away, so I decided to stay here for the night and looked for a decent inn or guesthouse.
Once I got to my room and leaned against the door, the tension that had been clamped tight across my body finally loosened a little.
Even if I acted like I didn’t care, I always had to stay alert outside. This was a world where you never knew what might happen.
I really hoped I’d gain enough ability soon. Then traveling around wouldn’t be this exhausting.
Then a few more days passed. And each day, the sun rose again.
Morning. An inn in a small city.
I’d gone downstairs to order something light and was waiting for my food when I noticed a man and a woman sitting across the room.
The man was quite large. The woman looked to be only about half his size.
One thing was certain: they were both martial artists.
The saber hanging at the man’s side was probably big enough for me to lie down on.
The woman wore a sword at her waist as well.
They both looked fairly strong, so I supposed it made sense that they could sit there so calmly.
A little envy crept into me.
But not enough to make their existence feel impossibly distant.
If I could just get a little more internal energy, I’d be doing far better than I was now.
I finished sorting out my thoughts and went back to eating.
Then the woman from those two, who had been looking in my direction, met my eyes.
She gave a slight bow of her head in greeting.
The sheer casualness of it startled me, and I reflexively returned the gesture.
Whoa. That gave me a shock. Why greet me out of nowhere? She nearly scared me.
I started to glance over at them again, pretending not to look, since I thought our eyes might meet once more.
Then I saw the woman speaking urgently to the man.
Was she talking about me? It seemed likely.
The man, pretending not to care, sneaked a glance back over his shoulder, only to get his shin kicked by the woman.
What was that? Were those two doing a gag routine? A comic sketch? No, seriously, why were they so easy to read?
The woman let out a long sigh, motioned for the man to stand, and then walked over toward me.
The man swallowed the rest of his food and stood as well.
Now that he was up, his size looked even more ridiculous. Wow. He had to be at least two meters tall.
And with a build like a muscle-bound bear, standing behind the woman as she approached me, he looked like a portable folding screen had been set up around her.
"Pleased to meet you. If you don’t mind, may we sit with you for a moment?"
The woman spoke with a bright smile, and I had no reason to refuse, so I nodded and answered, "Sure. That’s fine."
Then the woman and the man took the seats across from me.
Once the man sat down, it really felt like a watchtower had appeared right in front of me.
Good grief. That was some serious presence.
"I’m Moyong Jua of the Moyong Clan. This here is Paeng Jeon-ho of the Hebei Paeng Clan."
"Ah. I’m sorry, but I can’t reveal my sect or my name."
"Ah! Really? Then at least tell us your family name. If you can’t reveal your sect or name, surely your surname is fine, right? Calling you just ‘young lady’ would be confusing. If there are a lot of people around and someone shouts ‘Young lady!’ then a bunch of people might turn at once, don’t you think? Right, Jeon-ho?"
"Jua, you’re still as talkative as ever, even in front of someone you’ve just met."
"And what’s that supposed to mean? Could you maybe not say such pointless things?"
We’d only been talking for maybe twenty seconds, but I already felt like I had completely grasped the personalities of this Moyong Jua and Paeng Jeon-ho.
Really… they were such easy people to read.
"My surname is Baek."
I had already given my surname and name to Byeokunja, so this should be fine.
At that, Moyong Jua’s expression brightened. She grinned and went on.
"Really? Then it’s nice to meet you again, Miss Baek. Ah, right. The reason we’re being so rude and interrupting you like this is because we were curious about something. Since you said earlier that you couldn’t reveal your sect, we couldn’t ask. So, I was wondering if I could ask you something else instead. We’re heading to Yangyang, where the Jegal Clan Manor is. Where are you going?"
At Moyong Jua’s words, Paeng Jeon-ho let out a soft sigh.
And when she heard it, Moyong Jua jabbed him in the side with her elbow, then rubbed her own elbow as though she were the one in pain.
Watching them was kind of entertaining.
But what was I supposed to say?
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like Moyong Jua was hinting that she wanted me to travel with them.
If they were from the Moyong Clan and the Hebei Paeng Clan, then at the very least, they weren’t bad people.
Besides, they both looked quite strong.
At the very least, they weren’t the sort of people random drifters could just pick a fight with.
More importantly, they belonged to a prestigious clan.
With a famous clan backing them, they’d be safe enough in most situations.
"I don’t have anywhere set in mind."
Maybe that was why I answered so casually without thinking.
Maybe I’d grown tired of sleeping awkwardly while leaning against doors.
Or maybe I was just worn out from living in constant fear of being ambushed by villains like Gwak So-hwan.
"Oh! That’s perfect! Then would you like to come with us to the Jegal Clan Manor? I mean… um. Um. I feel like you must be looking for something, Miss Baek! And the people at the Jegal Clan Manor know everything, don’t they? So if you have anything you’re curious about, maybe they could help you!"
Moyong Jua seemed convinced that I was someone from the North Sea Ice Palace.
Well, that was probably why she’d approached me in the first place. And why she was talking to me like this now.
"I’m not sure it’d be proper to go there uninvited."
"Oh!? It’s fine! We’ve already made arrangements! And the people of the Jegal Clan Manor aren’t the kind to turn away guests! So come with us! I’m sure they’d be delighted too! Especially when they see someone from the North Sea… no, Miss Baek!"
Moyong Jua was chatting away cheerfully, while Paeng Jeon-ho, as if he couldn’t bear to watch any longer, rubbed his bare face with one hand and shook his head.
At the very least, I figured it wouldn’t be boring if I traveled with them.
"If I won’t be imposing, then I’d be glad to."
"Wow! Really? I’m so happy! Then let’s go together!"
And that was how, by complete chance, I ended up traveling with one chatty woman and one bear of a man.