The Girl Who Was the Mad Demon (3)
"…Tell me what you want."
"I need the extreme Yang heart method that the Mad Demon possesses. The Nine Yang Divine Art."
The moment she heard the Lust Demon, Wi Ilcheong, speak those words, Dokgo Jin's brow furrowed hard.
Why the hell is that bastard after the Nine Yang Divine Art?
By sheer volume of internal energy alone, the Lust Demon was a martial artist the gossipmongers of the jianghu always ranked among the top ten.
"You've lost your mind. You think a martial artist just hands over their art?"
"That isn't it. I don't need it for myself — another child does. I came to ask whether you might at least take them as a disciple."
"Bullshi—?"
Dokgo Jin's ears twitched.
…What the hell is that sound?
Her expression twisted so suddenly that Wi Ilcheong tilted his head.
"Miss?"
Dokgo Jin flung up a hand and cut him off.
"Shut up. Don't even breathe. Stay still."
"…"
She closed her eyes and poured every scrap of focus into her hearing. A wider range of sounds flooded in.
The thud of feet driving off the earth.
A lot of footsteps… no. Hoofbeats.
The metallic scrape of armor rubbing against flesh, iron clashing on iron.
Weapons. Armor…
And last of all—
"They can't have gotten far! That appearance is hard to miss — the trail won't go cold!! Comb the mountain paths thoroughly. The Young Palace Lord and I will check the nearby inns."
"As you command!!"
Footsteps scattering in every direction.
Dokgo Jin opened her eyes again and muttered under her breath.
"Fuck."
"…Miss Dokgo?"
The Ice Palace pursuit party had arrived.
About two hundred zhang out. Six hundred meters. They'll be here any second.
Dokgo Jin looked at the Lust Demon.
"Hey. Lust Demon."
"…Miss, if you could choose your words a little more—"
"If you're not the Lust Demon, then what are you? You thought I was gonna call you Great Hero Wi?"
"Haa…. What is it? Speak."
"People hunting the Mad Demon just showed up."
"The Ice Palace? What are you talking abou—"
That was when Wi Ilcheong's own senses caught it — a host of martial artists closing on the inn.
…A woman with severed meridians who can't even circulate internal energy has better sensory range than I do?
Wi Ilcheong reeled in shock. Dokgo Jin, for her part, was equally rattled by how much he already seemed to know.
"…This has become inconvenient. So the Ice Palace has come looking?"
"How the hell did you know it was the Ice Palace?"
"I heard that the Mad Demon brought the Ice Palace down. We've been searching the inns he might have stopped at."
"…"
The rumors had spread faster than she'd expected.
…What is this? How does information travel this fast?
She wanted to scrub away the unease, but Dokgo Jin had no time. With this garbage body of hers, the only way to shake the Ice Palace pursuit was to run — and run now.
"Severed meridians. Can you really fix them?"
"…Yes. You may not care for the method, Miss, but I can do it."
"Meaning I'd have to fuck you."
"…A rather blunt way of putting it, but yes."
"Fuck."
To use the pure Yin energy settled in her dantian, she'd have to spread her legs for some man.
This is fucking bullshit.
Rage surged up her throat, but Dokgo Jin forced it down. And then a brilliant idea struck her.
…Wait. Wouldn't just turning back into a man work just as well?
She had undergone Bone and Body Reconstitution into a woman's form while absorbing excess Yin energy. So if she took in a matching amount of Yang energy from outside, couldn't she reconstitute back into a man's body?
The moment the thought formed, one faction rose in the Mad Demon's mind.
Neumsa of Tianzhu.
The divine relic of thunder said to have been wielded by their god.
The Vajra Lightning Pestle.
Thunder qi itself was forged from extreme Yang martial power — if that relic was genuine, it would hold Yang energy no less potent than the Ice Palace's Ten Thousand Years Ice Jade.
…Or the Sun Palace of the Great Desert would work too.
By pure distance, the Great Desert was far closer. But the palace was buried somewhere in that wasteland, and the number of people who had died searching for it was beyond counting. That stuck in her craw.
"Hey. Lust Demon."
"…Yes, Miss."
"Fine. Deal."
"Truly?"
"Yeah. Whatever. I'll spread my legs once."
"…"
Dokgo Jin's sudden, breezy acceptance of the bargain sent a slow coil of unease climbing through Wi Ilcheong's chest.
"The Nine Yang Divine Art — you truly know it?"
"I know every formula. But I've got conditions."
"Name them."
"One. Draw those Ice Palace bastards' eyes off me."
"…How, exactly?"
"Figure that out yourself. If I clash with the Ice Palace right now, I die. Got it?"
"Then we simply go find the Mad Demon."
"His daughter's dead and you think that man sits still? He already can't stand the sight of anyone from the jianghu."
Talking about herself in the third person brought a faint flush to Dokgo Jin's face. But she decided at once that the embarrassment was worth it.
Wi Ilcheong answered with a slightly stiffened expression.
"…If it's the Mad Demon, he would do exactly that, and more."
"Don't forget. You're part of the jianghu too. You think a father would just sit there and listen to you?"
"…I don't believe he would. Then what will you do, Miss?"
"Run, obviously. Ah — hide that sword too."
"Pardon?"
Where Dokgo Jin pointed sat the massive demon-slaying blade she had been using.
"Father said the sword was worn out and stepped out to buy a new one. You think there's another martial artist in the world who swings a thing like that?"
"…I don't think I can hide that."
"Then keep them from getting this far. That's your problem. Anyway, I'm running."
"If you're going to flee anyway, wouldn't it be better if I simply carried you and used lightness skill?"
"The Ice Palace Lord is here."
"…"
Wi Ilcheong's eyes went wide.
"You confident you can shake the Ice Palace Lord?"
"…If I ran lightness skill for three days and nights without stopping—"
"And I just hang in your arms for three days with nothing to eat or drink?"
"…I'd forgotten. That you're frailer than an ordinary person."
"So do it my way. Half a day's travel south of here there's another shabby inn. You know it?"
"Yes, I know it."
"We meet there again. We'll talk about the rest of the deal then."
"…Miss, can you even make it that far?"
"My sensory range is better than yours, isn't it?"
"True enough…. With senses like that, even in a woman's body you should manage."
"Anyway. We meet there and finish talking."
The footsteps of the Ice Palace warriors drew steadily closer. Dokgo Jin was about to vault out the window for a faster exit when the realization hit her.
Ah, damn it.
From this height, in this fragile body, jumping would snap her legs.
"Miss Dokgo."
"What."
"…Were you going to go out the window?"
"What, take the stairs? Those bastards are almost here."
"…Sending a woman off alone does leave me a little concerned."
With a sharp chring, Wi Ilcheong flicked his arm as if shaking something free. The bracer bound around his wrist unfurled into a supple, flexible blade. The Lust Demon stepped close, looped the sword around Dokgo Jin's wrist, and it settled back into the shape of a bracer.
Dokgo Jin examined her arm with open admiration.
"…Incredibly light."
"It ranks among the divine weapons, in its way. Light enough for a woman, sturdy enough for a man. Think of it as a token of my good faith — a memento of our deal being struck."
"…"
Dokgo Jin lifted her wrist and studied the soft sword he had given her.
…Annoying as hell, but I got a decent piece of gear out of it.
"Thanks."
"Think nothing of it."
Dokgo Jin raised a fist in a martial salute. Wi Ilcheong smiled and returned it.
Annoying bastard. That smiling face of his just begs for a punch.
Gratitude was gratitude. Annoyance was still annoyance.
Then her ears twitched again.
"We should search that inn first. Seorin, go confirm."
"Yes, Father!"
Damn it. Any longer and I'm dead.
She stuck her head out the window and looked down. Directly below sat a pile of fodder gathered for the horses.
Confirming it, Dokgo Jin swung one leg over the windowsill and called back to the Lust Demon.
"Anyway — see you there, Lust Demon. Hold the Ice Palace off for me!"
"…Fortune favor you."
"Fortune my ass."
Dokgo Jin snorted a laugh and leapt out the window.
Puhsh!
"Aagh, the stink. What kind of garbage fodder is this…."
Brushing the straw off her body, Dokgo Jin started jogging south at a steady clip.
Watching that red-haired figure dwindle into the distance, Wi Ilcheong let out a dry chuckle.
"Heh… well. She really is the Mad Demon's daughter. Where does a young lady that fierce even come from."
He sat back down to finish the leftover food — and his gaze drifted to the Mad Demon's massive demon-slaying blade.
"…How am I supposed to deal with that enormous thing…."
Wi Ilcheong pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
"Haa…. I never should have gotten mixed up with the Mad Demon."
Lamenting his lot, he set about figuring out what to do with that colossal sword.
"Haa…! Haa…!"
Following the path she remembered, Dokgo Jin regretted two things.
The first was this garbage woman's body. A short run left her winded, and the blisters forming on her feet burned with every step. In the days when she had been the Mad Demon Dokgo Jin, a sword cut barely registered. Now she was reduced to swallowing tears over a few blisters on her soles — a pitiful state.
The second regret was her own stupidity.
Dumb bastard.
"Half a day's travel" had always been measured by the stride of the male Mad Demon Dokgo Jin. He had been a giant a head and a half taller than most men, with a matching stride. This garbage body was a full head shorter than an average adult man — two and a half heads shorter than the Mad Demon had been.
On top of that, that useless page boy had insisted on dressing her in pretty clothes, which meant a scrap of a skirt that strangled her stride. She'd torn it open ages ago, and now every stray branch and rock snagged on the fabric.
"Haa…! Fuck…!"
In this trash body, she couldn't even picture how many days it would take to reach the meeting place. She wasn't sure she'd make it at all.
"Haa…! Haa…! Cough…!"
The sun was already sinking. Her throat had gone raw with thirst.
Damn it…. There should be a river around here….
She cursed her own idiocy for not at least bringing water.
The sooner I get out of this garbage body, the better.
The pure Yin energy in her dantian? To hell with it. The rage boiling up was going to kill her of frustration first.
"Hhk…! Cough…!"
Then — leaning against a tree, hacking dry coughs — Dokgo Jin heard the sound of water.
Water…!
Enduring the fire in her blistered soles, she pushed toward the sound and found a river flowing exactly as she remembered.
Dokgo Jin bolted forward and plunged her face into the current.
Gulp…. Gulp….
Her throat worked without pause as she drank and drank.
"Kehk…! Ghk…! Cough…. Blech! Ahh, fuck!"
She'd swallowed too fast and choked.
Fuck. Even drinking water is hard in this useless piece-of-shit body.
She swore again that she would reach Neumsa of Tianzhu no matter what — steal the divine relic if she had to — and reclaim a man's body. Then she cupped the river water carefully in her hands and drank.
That was when the moonlight, freed from the clouds, spilled across the riverbank.
Dokgo Jin, hands lowered to scoop more water, went still — staring at the new face reflected in the current.
"…Uselessly beautiful."
She had fallen more times than she could count; dust streaked her face. The beauty still hadn't taken a scratch.
…What a waste.
A beautiful face meant nothing to a martial artist. It might even be poison.
She was about to drink again, half-mocking herself, when—
Sssss.
"…Huh?"
"Ugh! Fuck. Wh— what the hell?!"
A man in rags that barely counted as clothes was standing right beside her, pissing into the river.
"You… you fucking bastard! You crazy son of a bitch! Ugh…!"
The thought that the water she had just been drinking now held this man's piss sent Dokgo Jin into dry heaves.
"You…. Who the hell are you! How long have you been there?!"
"Ugh…! You fucking bastard! I come here to drink and you take a piss in it?!"
"A… a ghost?"
"Ghost my ass. I'll cut your throat right now and check whether you've got a ghost in you!"
Dokgo Jin advanced on the pissing man, murderous aura rolling off her — and then:
"Hey, Wang Bong! How long does it take you to take a pi—?"
"…"
A whole pack of men spilled out of the forest.
The moment their eyes met hers, a chill ran down Dokgo Jin's spine.
"G… Green Forest bandits?"
"A… a monster? No — a fairy?"
"…Fuck."
Dokgo Jin muttered low and spun to run — and in that instant:
Crack!
A heavy blow slammed into her gut. Her vision went black.
Fu…ck….