Even Women Know Righteousness
“H-how?”
Dang Hwa-rin stared at me with eyes full of disbelief.
Acupoint strikes—especially on a wildly thrashing target—were no easy feat.
It required pinpoint knowledge of the meridian points, backed by precise inner power control to apply just the right force.
So naturally, Dang Hwa-rin couldn’t fathom how I’d managed it while poisoned with her San-gong toxin.
“Even a tiger gives its all when catching a rabbit. Seems you thought too lightly of my qi, Miss Dang. That’s the secret to my win.”
I grinned and shifted my grip to a spot she could see clearly.
Inner power or no, striking a few acupoints was child’s play for someone with my Heavenly Sense Sacred Body.
“Win? I haven’t hit the ground yet.”
“Want me to lay you down nice and easy?”
“……”
She could stand all she wanted, but her body was locked stiff. The outcome was obvious.
Instead of throwing a tantrum, Dang Hwa-rin just bit her lip hard.
“Fine, I admit it. I got careless. Still, it’s impressive.”
“Anyone would let their guard down. Nothing to be shocked about.”
“No, I mean you, Warrior Jang. You could pass for a brigade leader, not just some squad captain. How is someone like you just wandering around without a rank?”
The Murim Alliance had several divisions, but its combat forces boiled down to three major brigades—Baekryongdae, Cheongryongdae, and Hyeolyongdae—each with five squads under them, making fifteen elite units in total.
Even as a coalition of sects and clans, the Alliance boasted formidable self-sufficient might.
I chuckled and met her lovely gaze head-on.
One might expect anger, but her pupils still sparkled with curiosity and intrigue.
“The Alliance is crawling with talent. Guys like me? A dime a dozen.”
“You’re too modest.”
“Just stating facts.”
The night deepened.
A full moon gazed down from the sky, and an owl hooted in the distance.
What more words were needed?
I took a step toward Dang Hwa-rin.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“W-wait a second!”
Her eyes flew wide as she shouted urgently.
“What is it?”
“I’m a pure maiden! I’ve never let any man touch me!”
“Things like this happen in the jianghu. Don’t sweat it.”
“I made a promise with my late mother! I have to marry the man who touches me!”
“……”
My hand froze just shy of rummaging through her robes.
I gave her an incredulous look.
“That’s some extreme thinking. Not like you, Miss Dang.”
“Extreme? I’m a woman, you know!”
“I’ll try to keep contact minimal. Gotta focus here.”
She was probably stalling for time with chit-chat.
The acupoint lock wouldn’t wear off easily, but I couldn’t dawdle till dawn either. I reached for her ah-hyeol point.
“Do you know how much blood and tears of the common folk are soaked into this jewel?!”
Fire blazed in her eyes.
Pity hadn’t worked, so she was switching tactics.
I was curious what this bold girl would say next.
“This gem was bought from the Western Regions at enormous cost by Grand Tutor Jo Chi-baek’s wife’s family!”
“What’s your point?”
“Don’t you get it? Where do you think that money came from? It was squeezed from the lifeblood of innocent, powerless peasants! We have to stop this!”
“So that’s why you became the Thousand Face Fox Thief?”
“Yes! The mad emperor doesn’t give a damn about the people’s suffering! If we don’t step up, who will? We can’t just turn a blind eye to corrupt officials running rampant!”
“Hmm…”
Admirable, really.
While heirs from other great families chased pleasure, young Dang Hwa-rin was out here courting hardship for a cause.
Her own brand of righteousness, no doubt.
But the world wasn’t that simple.
“Stealing this gem won’t make those officials think twice.”
“It’ll make them careful, at least. They won’t dare bully the weak like before!”
“Doubt it. To recoup losses, they’ll squeeze even harder, no?”
“Then we stop them again! Heroism isn’t a one-and-done deal! We keep at it without giving up—that’s how we punish evil and uphold justice!”
Heroism, evil, justice.
A kid spouting this after I’d wasted my years on booze, gambling, and blade work. Not bad, the more I looked.
I smirked and tapped her ah-hyeol.
“Wa—!”
Her words cut off as her mouth sealed shut.
Ignoring her bulging eyes, I started searching her robes.
Somehow, rifling through a young female vigilante felt awkward, so I moved carefully and spoke up.
“Noble cause. I’ll cheer your heroism on, wherever you go.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was supposed to be thumb-sized.
But damn if I could find it.
“Just don’t overdo it. Guys like that? Kill one, another pops up. Hate to see you get in trouble over it. Ah, here it is.”
I pulled a thumb-sized object from her bosom.
Wrapped in cloth. Unraveling it revealed a glowing red blood jade.
“Oh!”
The tiny blood jade in the ring had felt odd enough, but this one stirred something weirder.
A boiling killing intent in my chest, maybe?
I glanced at Dang Hwa-rin.
Her righteous fire dimmed to a dull haze the moment she’d seen the jade.
Strange thing.
I rewrapped the blood jade and pocketed it.
Her eyes cleared up.
They screamed volumes, but I left her muted.
“Miss Dang. Short time, but glad we met. I’ll take the blood jade as my win.”
“……”
“In exchange, here.”
I slipped the ring onto her ring finger.
Her pupils jittered side to side.
Gazing into her starry eyes, I gave my farewell.
“May the heroism you believe in come true.”
Thud-thud.
I released some points.
She’d need time to recover fully.
Plenty for me to slip away.
Whoosh!
I kicked off the ground, widening the gap.
—Jang U-gil!!!
Her ah-hyeol must’ve loosened; her yell echoed from afar.
I waved at the moonlit woman.
And so.
I completed another commission.
Ten days later, at Cheonun Pavilion.
“You can’t find him? If even the Hao Sect can’t, who can?!”
“Uh… well, maybe the Beggars’ Sect?”
“Branch leader! You think I’m joking right now?”
Over the past ten days, Dang Hwa-rin had stormed the pavilion daily.
No Cho-san floundered, repeating the same line each time.
Jang U-gil had vanished. No trace. No clue where he’d gone.
Nothing satisfied her.
“Aigoo, calling a lowly worm like me out for jokes? Heaven forbids it!”
“Find him, no matter what. He’s probably headed to the capital or the Alliance. Just tell me where.”
“Y-yes, ma’am. I’ll inform you the moment I hear.”
“Here. Advance payment.”
Thud!
She slammed a heavy pouch on the shelf.
No Cho-san’s eyes bulged at it.
“Double that when you confirm his location.”
“Aigoo! Consider it done!”
“I believe you.”
“Yes, yes! Safe travels, miss!”
After staring him down in silence, Dang Hwa-rin spun and vanished outside.
Only then did No Cho-san straighten his bent back.
“Aigoo, scary. Terrifying. Can’t stop a woman in love.”
He shook his head, grumbling.
I stepped out from the back room.
“What’s that nonsense?”
“Don’t you get why Miss Dang’s hunting Silver Bow so hard?”
“She lost to me. Obvious.”
“Pfft. You know women’s bodies but not their hearts?”
“Huh?”
No Cho-san crossed his arms, smirking smugly for once.
“I’m the expert on women’s hearts. It was plain in her eyes: ‘Jang U-gil’s my man. I’ll catch him and make him mine.’”
“Makes no sense. What’s a Dang family lady see in a guy like me?”
“Aigoo? Love’s blind—details don’t matter.”
“Love my ass. We barely met.”
I turned away from the absurdity.
No Cho-san kept teasing, thrilled at the fresh gossip.
“She might storm the Alliance next. What then? You can dodge other questions, but Silver Bow not being Alliance? That’ll blow up.”
“Don’t worry. I am a real Alliance member.”
“Huh? What fresh bullshit is this? Silver Bow in the Alliance? Wasn’t that a scam?”
“Scam? What do you take me for?”
This was a murim world—no CCTVs, no computers.
Faking an ID with a few forged docs? Piece of cake.
Couldn’t conjure from thin air, though.
But Baekryongdae Leader Jin Ho-seong’s gambling habit handed me a golden opportunity.
Wonder if that bastard quit gambling.
It was last year.
Requests bombing, muggy rain—mood in the gutter.
Then I hooked the Baekryongdae Leader lurking at the tables.
I cleaned him out good.
He got pissy, wagering extras as collateral.
Crossed a line he shouldn’t have.
Got me an Alliance identity out of it.
Having lost everything, he cleared his debt by registering my name in the Alliance roster.
I got the badge through Hao Sect channels—didn’t want to push my luck.
Point was, I was legit on the books.
“Why the silence? Silver Bow! Alliance member? Spill it—how?”
“Do enough heroism, Alliance comes knocking. Try some yourself, branch leader.”
“Heroism? Kekeke! For scum like us? Hilarious!”
No Cho-san and I killed time with idle banter.
That was why I stuck around Seongdo post-blood jade gig.
“Oh! Hubei branch got the jade fine. Pay’s pending, though. Needs more time.”
“Got it. When’s the Dang family heading out?”
“Almost packed. Probably in a few days.”
“Right.”
Finding Tushin’s Secret Cave was dragging.
Blame Cheongseong’s aggressive kidnapping play on Dang Hwa-rin.
But we’d shaken them now.
“Branch leader. What I asked for?”
“Ah, slipping you into the scout team? Don’t sweat. He looks sloppy but gets shit done. Should be here any—
A proper gentleman couldn’t be late, huh.
No sooner had No Cho-san spoken than the door swung open.
“I’m here, hu— Y-you!”
The man strode in cockily, then recoiled at the sight of me.