The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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88
Woo Geom-san Disports in the Arena
True to his boast, Zhang Wangchu was an excellent Captain.
The Express Vessel he steered sailed down the Yangtze River at a very high speed without a single accident.
Where the current was fierce, he used the force of the water to increase speed, and where the flow was gentle, he spread the sails wide to prevent the speed from dropping.
Thanks to that, the Express Vessel was able to arrive at the wharf of Yibin, their stopover, much earlier than originally scheduled.
Upon arriving in Yibin, Im So-ryeong spoke to Woo Geom-san.
“We’ll stay here for about half a day to refit the boat and load supplies.”
“So half a day of freedom, then?”
“That’s right. Just be back before departure time, so enjoy your freedom to the fullest. You can wander around the market, or go into a courtesan house and enjoy yourself. Do whatever you want.”
“First of all, I’d like to have a proper meal.”
After being on the boat for two days, he hadn’t had a single proper meal. Having eked out meals with dried meat and dried rations prepared in advance, he was desperate for a proper meal.
“Then, try going to the Qinghua Restaurant in front of the wharf. The chef’s skills there are breathtaking. I often go there whenever I come to Yibin.”
“Understood. I shall go right away.”
“You absolutely won’t regret it. Ah, I want to go too.”
“Then why don’t we go together?”
“No, thank you. I have work to do.”
“Work?”
“Did you forget? I’m the Investigation Hall Chief. I have to go to the branch office to check if everything is running properly.”
“Ah!”
“It’s a pity, but let’s have a meal and a passionate night next time…”
Im So-ryeong winked one eye and walked toward the opposite side.
Since it wasn’t something a woman would easily say, Woo Geom-san watched Im So-ryeong’s retreating figure with an absurd expression.
Ning Yunxiao, who was by Woo Geom-san’s side, was equally surprised.
“She’s an amazing big sister.”
“Big sister?”
“Yes! I decided to call her big sister.”
“On your own?”
“She told me to do so.”
“I see.”
Woo Geom-san nodded his head.
It was because he thought that given Im So-ryeong’s personality, which he had observed for two days, she was fully capable of doing that.
Unlike a woman, she was broad-minded and fiery.
She spoke ribald jokes as well as any man, and curse words lived in her mouth.
Even so, no one on board disliked her or showed any reluctance toward her.
Zhang Wangchu treated her like his own niece, and even Zhang Oh, who lived being pushed around every day, sighed at her words but listened to the end.
It was the same for the other sailors.
One could easily see how much trust Im So-ryeong received within Punglim Fort.
Woo Geom-san also knew well how difficult that was.
The Jianghu was basically a world of men.
Although there were many female experts who ruled an era with Wuwei no less than men, the main axis of the Jianghu was men.
There were sects where women were the main axis, such as the Emei Sect or the Geangeak, but compared to the entire Jianghu, their number was extremely minuscule.
To make matters worse, the Emei Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, had sealed its gates, and the Geangeak had fallen. The place for female martial artists to stand had shrunk even further.
As circumstances were such, it felt refreshing for a female martial artist like Im So-ryeong to roam around freely like that.
It was not easy to imagine how much blood-sweating effort she must have made to solidify her position like that in a sect with many rough men like Punglim Fort.
Watching about ten martial artists, including Zhang Oh, follow behind Im So-ryeong’s back, Woo Geom-san turned his body.
Meanwhile, a deep smile was hanging on the corner of Im So-ryeong’s mouth.
“Ah, it’s hot.”
“Pardon? What kind of dog nonsense is that again?”
At her out-of-the-blue words, Zhang Oh furrowed his brow heavily.
“Even when I speak… Dog nonsense?”
“That’s right. Out of nowhere, it’s hot?”
“How tactless! I say it’s hot because I feel a hot gaze.”
“Whose gaze?”
“That person!”
“That person?”
“Woo Geom-san! Even now, he’s looking at me hotly. My back feels like it’s burning up from how hot it is.”
Im So-ryeong grinned and made a gesture of scratching her back.
At that, Zhang Oh replied with a pathetic expression.
“He’s not there.”
“What?”
“He left the wharf a long time ago, so what do you mean by a hot gaze? If it’s a delusion to that extent, it’s a serious illness.”
“Really?”
Im So-ryeong whipped around. But nowhere in her field of vision did Woo Geom-san’s figure enter.
“He left an ultra-peak beauty like me behind?”
“Right now, that face is… Mmm!”
“Aw, damn it! Let’s just go to the branch office.”
Im So-ryeong moved her steps irritably.
Watching Im So-ryeong walk while grumbling continuously, Zhang Oh smiled faintly.
He smiled quietly because it was obvious he would get hit a blow if he laughed out loud for no reason.
When they arrived at the Yibin Branch Office, the middle-aged Yibin Branch Manager came out to greet her.
“Welcome.”
“You’ve prepared everything, right?”
“That is…”
As the Yibin Branch Manager hesitated to speak, Im So-ryeong’s expression turned even colder.
“I clearly notified you a few days ago. To prepare all transaction records for the past two years.”
“Th-there was a lack of time…”
“Are you making that as an excuse?”
“We have our own circumstances too, so…”
The Yibin Branch Manager tried desperately to make an excuse. But Im So-ryeong had no intention of listening to his words.
“Zhang Oh!”
“Yes!”
At Im So-ryeong’s cold voice, Zhang Oh answered, completely removing his playfulness.
“Find all the account books this bastard omitted. Beat up all the bastards who resist.”
“Understood.”
Zhang Oh nodded to the Investigation Hall martial artists who followed. Then, the Investigation Hall martial artists began to rummage through the Yibin Branch Office with a brutal momentum.
“Argh!”
“Ack!”
Several Yibin Branch Office martial artists tried to stop them, but all were miserably defeated by the Investigation Hall martial artists.
Listening to the wailing of the Yibin Branch Office martial artists, Im So-ryeong entered the Yibin Branch Manager’s office.
Looking around the luxuriously decorated office, Im So-ryeong wore an absurd expression.
“He embezzled quite a lot. How much is all this? To decorate it even more luxuriously than the Fort Leader’s office.”
It was by no means a coincidence that she came to Yibin leading the Investigation Hall martial artists.
It was because the facts of the Yibin Branch Manager’s corruption had caught in the intelligence network.
She could not just leave an existence like a bug gnawing away at the livelihood of Punglim Fort alone.
From outside, the screams of martial artists were continuously heard.
The Investigation Hall martial artists were faithfully executing the command.
If she waited just a little, Zhang Oh and his subordinates would enter this place with the account books hidden by the Yibin Branch Manager.
Suddenly, Im So-ryeong looked at the mirror hanging in the office.
In the mirror, an ordinary woman with vulgar makeup was looking at her.
As Im So-ryeong caressed her face, the woman in the mirror touched her face in exactly the same way.
“It’s stuffy, should I take it off for a moment?”
Im So-ryeong caressed below her neck and lifted the part caught at her fingertips.
Rip!
In an instant, her face skin was peeled off entirely, revealing a new face.
It was a face with gorgeous beauty, as if thousands of roses had bloomed all at once.
What was held in her hand was a elaborately crafted Human Skin Mask.
Im So-ryeong wore a bright smile as she saw her original appearance in the mirror after a long time.
“Even seeing it after a long time, it’s still beautiful. Ah! I’m drunk on my own beauty.”
***
Woo Geom-san entered the Qinghua Restaurant recommended by Im So-ryeong.
Whether it was because it was a delicious restaurant guaranteed by Im So-ryeong, the Qinghua Restaurant was bustling with many customers since broad daylight.
Still, there were quite a few empty seats, so there was no problem in sitting.
Woo Geom-san and Ning Yunxiao took a seat at a table next to the window.
Woo Geom-san ordered food for two and a bottle of liquor from the waiter.
Ning Yunxiao asked with a surprised expression.
“Does mister drink alcohol too?”
“Not often, just a little when I think of it…”
Woo Geom-san replied with a smile.
Although his grandfather, Baek Ho-yang, had not drunk a single drop of alcohol after secluding himself in Yunjung Village, Woo Geom-san drank alcohol occasionally.
Sometimes drunk on the scenic beauty, sometimes because of the quiet atmosphere, and sometimes because he thought of his hometown, the reasons for drinking were also diverse.
While waiting for the food to come out, Woo Geom-san asked.
“Have you ever been to the Qingyu Clan?”
“No! This is also my first time leaving the Red Cloud Sect.”
“Even if it’s your maternal family, they will all be people you see for the first time.”
“Yes! That’s why I’m afraid. What if they turn away from me?”
“How could that be?”
“But to them, I’m a complete stranger. Since my mom passed away and is gone, they have no reason to look after me, right?”
“That could be so.”
Ning Yunxiao’s worry was understood.
Most influential clans that have continued their lifeblood for a long time in the Jianghu value pure blood importantly.
The distinction between the direct lineage and collateral line was strict, and there were even clans that did not let the collateral line inside because of their unique exclusivity.
Moreover, Ning Yunxiao inherited the blood of the Red Cloud Sect Leader, Ning Hanming.
There was plenty of reason for the Qingyu Clan to reject him.
Woo Geom-san looked at Ning Yunxiao.
He was a child who was not even ten years old yet.
He lost his mother to Chilian Xinjun, whom his father sent, and suddenly became a destitute orphan. On top of that, his father was trying to extort his internal energy by plundering it with the Energy Absorption Art.
It was to the extent that he wondered if there could be another destiny more unfortunate than this Under Heaven.
Woo Geom-san stroked Ning Yunxiao’s head without realizing it and said.
“If the Qingyu Clan does not accept you, let’s stay together with me.”
“Really… is that okay?”
“Of course!”
“But if you’re with me, mister will become endangered too, right?”
“Because of your father?”
“Yes! My dad is a scary person. He truly has a vicious nature. That’s why mom and I always trembled in fear.”
As if his breath was choked just by mentioning Ning Hanming, Ning Yunxiao spontaneously wore a fearful expression.
Woo Geom-san looked at such Ning Yunxiao with a pitiful expression.
In any family, a father was an existence that should be a reliable support.
The person who always protects the family and fights against the hardships of life was precisely the existence called a father.
Yet a father who gives terror instead of a sense of security.
He wondered if there could be a more terrible thing than this Under Heaven.
Woo Geom-san tapped Ning Yunxiao’s hand and said.
“Do not worry about me. I can sufficiently protect at least your body and mine.”
“Still…”
“I am more worried about you than me.”
“Me?”
“Yes! You know it too, right? That the internal strength accumulated inside your body is absolutely not normal.”
“Yes!”
Ning Yunxiao nodded his head.
Ning Hanming, who noticed his special constitution, made him drink spiritual elixirs like water from around the time he began to toddle. Thanks to that, an immense internal energy was accumulated in Ning Yunxiao’s body.
This was the same as a leather sack being full of water. Since it was only contained without being discharged, it became unstable to the extent that it would burst even if a slight impact was applied from the outside.
If Ning Hanming were a proper father, he would have made him learn a mental law to make the internal energy completely Ning Yunxiao’s. However, because he intended to extort Ning Yunxiao’s internal energy, he absolutely did not let him learn a mental law.
Because of that, Ning Yunxiao’s body was in a very unstable state, like a glass vessel just before breaking.
To rectify this, even now, he had to learn a proper mental law to make the vast internal strength his own.
The faster, the better.
‘I hope there is a mental law that Yunxiao can learn in the Qingyu Clan.’
To digest such vast internal energy, an ordinary mental law is far from enough. However, since the Qingyu Clan is also a clan with a deep history, there would certainly be a secret heritage.
The problem was whether the Qingyu Clan would willingly bring out a secret heritage mental law for Ning Yunxiao.
‘It is truly mountain beyond mountain.’
A child who suddenly dropped into his embrace one day.
He thought that this might have been how Baek Ho-yang felt when he met him in the old days.
As he recalled Baek Ho-yang, a glass of liquor became even more craved.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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