Chapter 283: Journey to Zhongnan (6)

Seol Iri’s expressions are faint.

It’s not because of her martial arts training, as Seol Ganom was quite expressive.

Especially his reproachful look after getting soaked with water was exquisite, with such vivid anger and pathos that made you wonder what you did wrong, along with a sense that it’s all your fault.

Or maybe she was just born with that nature.

So she just sits quietly staring blankly at Qing, not saying anything but constantly staring intently when still, what is this.

Of course, having faint expressions doesn’t mean shallow emotions, so her likes and dislikes are very strong, and look now too.

Seol Iri sitting at the table looking at Qing has no expression, but if you lower your gaze a bit, her fingers are constantly moving silently as if playing an instrument.

Originally there are various emotions when people fidget with their hands, usually expressed as anxiety.

However, Qing didn’t need great observational skills to interpret that gesture:

“Miss Seol. You’re drooling.”

“No I’m not.”

Seol Iri quickly wiped her mouth and rubbed her hand on the table, pretending nothing happened.

But her voice answering was rather lively.

After being fed delicious food at every meal, she was excited with anticipation exploding in front of the table.

Isn’t drooling in front of food something dogs do? Completely like a dog. She’s a bitch.

Acting all aloof, but in front of food she’s like a lewd bitch drooling streams.

But Qing was originally generous with food to the point of being a living Buddha.

She was someone who would feed even an enemy she had to kill soon, so though Seol Iri was unlikable, she was still a travel companion – no, not even a companion but more like a pet or bamboo wife, but anyway they weren’t strangers, so of course she should feed her delicious food.

Plus, food tastes better when eaten together.

And it’s rewarding for the person buying the food when it’s eaten deliciously.

In that sense, Seol Iri was quite good as an eating companion.

First, she eats well and a lot.

It’s anthropologically proven that people from cold regions are big eaters, and in Qing’s view, eating heartily and robustly is much better to see than picking at food like Central Plains-style beauties, so this is a factor worth giving extra points for.

But.

“Haut, ah, hauu…”

Though she eats obscenely making lewd sounds without knowing to be ashamed.

Seol Iri absolutely couldn’t resist boiling hot food.

When thick soup is boiling, the inside is much hotter. Qing thought it was comparable to temperatures that would melt spoons into molten metal, so how much more.

She would scoop up a full spoonful of that thick soup from the very bottom and shove it in her mouth without even blowing on it.

Then she cools it in her mouth!

The haut, hut, huut, hup sounds were all from cooling lava in her mouth.

What kind of baseless table manners are these?

Ice Palace, is this really okay?

It’s an amazing sight as if her mouth is heat-treated, but the sounds are truly embarrassing.

On top of that, after swallowing the first bite she immediately starts pouring sweat, so by the time she finishes eating, her silver hair is soaked and sweat drops are falling from her chin.

“Miss Seol sweats a lot.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t usually sweat, right?”

“I use ice arts.”

“Even when sleeping?”

“Yes. So don’t hug me.”

“Why?”

“It’s hot.”

“Hmm.”

Qing pretended to think deeply then answered:

“I don’t want to.”

At this, a vein popped on Seol Iri’s forehead.

Regardless, Qing just snorted.

“You always say ‘I don’t want to’, are you upset when you’re on the receiving end? Tsk tsk. No good.”

“……”

At this, Seol Iri firmly closed her mouth.

Because she had nothing to say.

“It’s raining so it’s annoying to go out. We don’t really have travel fatigue but it’s a bit much to rest a whole day. We should just leave right away.”

Qing likes rain.

More precisely, she likes when she won’t get wet, and watching from a warm or cool room with the window open and the shaa sound.

She absolutely hates getting rained on, or the resulting dampness, stickiness and stuffiness.

You might ask what kind of rain-lover is that?

But if you think of snow instead of rain, everyone likes snow falling when there’s no need to go out and no need to shovel it, so you’ll understand in one go.

Stables are one of the businesses in the Central Plains, originally handled by the government but transferred to private hands as peace continued.

However, it’s a completely different concept from privatization in Qing’s homeland.

If we have to say, it wasn’t privatization but forced dumping.

You have horses and carriages.

But if the Son of Heaven says to use them, you have to hand them all over intact.

Until then, we graciously allow you lowly commoners to temporarily ‘keep’ the horses and carriages.

What? You won’t do it?

Treason! Off with your head!

So stable owners are people who have to forcibly continue a business that will go completely bankrupt whenever the government requisitions.

But that doesn’t mean they’re pitiful.

Stable owners make tidy backdoor money by introducing victims to suitable robbers.

Even if horses and carriages are requisitioned, they can preserve their own assets, so they think they’ll earn by any means while they can.

So here’s another group of victims.

Two women appear at the stable, and first of all they were peerless beauties of heavenly beauty.

They’re carrying swords so he’s cautious at first.

But the taller woman’s attitude was looking around nervously with hunched shoulders, not knowing what to say and waiting for someone to ask first.

And the shorter woman had a blank expression of dissatisfaction, but holding a flattened lollipop stick in her hand and chewing on it gave a very dull and stupid impression.

The stable owner inwardly rejoiced.

Naive girls from the martial arts world!

“Are you looking for a carriage?”

“Ah, yes. Um. Carriage. We want to go to Chang’an…”

The stable owner’s smile deepened.

Completely naive with no travel experience!

What nonsense is this, looking for a carriage from Luoyang to Chang’an?

Originally you return carriages at the next city and change.

Because it’s hard for stables to return carriages if they go too far.

“Oh my. Miss. When you rent a carriage, you have to return it at the stable in the next city and change. Hmm. For Chang’an, you can change at Luoning.”

Look at this bastard.

Qing thought while pretending not to know.

To go to Chang’an, you just follow the main road along the Yellow River.

The reason for sending them to Luoning is obvious.

Because the road is longer and more roundabout.

“Y-yes. But, the money, how much.”

“Ah. Well, carriages are a bit expensive.”

“H-how much…?”

“It depends on the carriage. How much did you look into?”

“About twenty silver taels…”

“Oh my. How can you do that including the driver?”

This bastard is playing tricks again.

Introducing robbers and ripping them off?

I can’t stand to see that.

Contrary to her inner thoughts, Qing timidly protested:

“But, I heard this was enough…”

“Hmm. That’s not enough for a good carriage.”

“Ugh. I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll go check other stables and come back.”

Qing said this and held out her hand to Seol Iri.

Seol Iri obediently took her hand.

Seol Iri unexpectedly followed along without saying anything when taking her hand, and when asked she said Qing’s hand was cool so it was okay.

Anyway, Seol Iri couldn’t adapt to the Central Plains heat.

Since she was constantly keeping cool with ice arts, it’s not that she couldn’t adapt but that she wasn’t adapting, or rather had no intention of adapting at all.

Anyway, she seemed to like Qing’s chilly hand from the White Hand Demonic Arts,

whenever Qing held out her hand she would obediently grasp it.

“Oh my. Why take unnecessary steps in the rain? The going rate is the same whether you go here or there. Hmm. It can’t be helped. Since you ladies are so pretty, I’ll give you a big discount.”

So Qing received recommendations for the stable’s highest grade carriage and a skilled driver.

Though his carriage driving skills were unknown, looking at his evil karma, he seemed to have worked hard at his side job.

Qing is like an anglerfish living in the deep sea.

That anglerfish has a glowing lure on its forehead, and it’s a vicious creature that swallows up minnows lured by it in one gulp.

Qing had gotten a taste for successful driver fishing, so she was gently waving her glowing lure telling him to try and fleece her.

Twenty silver taels for a top-grade carriage and driver.

It felt a bit overpriced for a journey that would take three days to Luoning, or four or five days because of rain.

But since she got over 200 taels from slaughtering and looting the robbers last time, this much investment was nothing.

After boarding the carriage, Seol Iri finally dropped one word:

“The driver is ugly.”

“Oh my. You shouldn’t say such bad things. It’s sad enough being ugly without hearing that too.”

At this, Seol Iri shook her head.

From Qing’s experience, this substituted for saying “That’s not it.”

What, did thorns grow in her mouth?

Why is she so desperate to shorten her words?

“His impression is bad.”

“Come on. Are you judging people by their looks?”

Seol Iri shook her head again.

“(That’s not it) The day before yesterday.”

“What. Do you think that living Buddha-looking person had a good impression when he did that?”

At this, Seol Iri firmly closed her mouth.

Seol Iri closes her mouth when she has nothing to say.

Then she put the lollipop back in her mouth and concentrated on dissolving it.

Qing marveled anew at that appearance.

Wow. She really looks like someone lacking something when she does that, she thought.

The lesson Qing learned from the previous driver’s impure attempt and its result is comparable to the enlightenment gained from her second year Luoyang trip.

If you join the robbers you get food and pocket money!

If you meet a robber driver you can kill him and money rolls in!

Come to think of it, the previous enlightenment was also gained on the journey to Luoyang, so what is it about Luoyang that gives such great teachings?

White Horse Temple? Is it White Horse Temple?

I should have stopped by to offer devotions, oops.

Thinking of devotions reminded her of the sutra recitation she had forgotten, so Qing brought out the bright words of the Heart Sutra in a clear voice again.

Go, go, to that hill of ascension. Completely.

Anyway, Seol Iri was useless as a companion, and it was gloomy from the rain so there wasn’t much to see outside, so Qing just diligently mumbled her mind training… Snore! She quickly leaned her head and started snoring.

However.

Unexpectedly nothing happened?

Whether Qing’s thoughtless words were right, that you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, the driver was kind and friendly and drove the carriage well.

So on the way to Luoning they stopped to eat when they felt like it and slept at night. Though sometimes the timing was off because of rain, he very diligently fulfilled his duty as a driver.

Oh. This isn’t right.

Qing was greatly disappointed.

However, there was one unusual point.

“Miss Seol? Are you sick?”

Seol Iri was pouring sweat.

Not just sweating, but to the point that sweat drops were falling from her chin.

“No.”

“Why are you sweating so much? You don’t look well either. You should say if you’re sick.”

Seol Iri shook her head. That’s not it.

“It’s hot.”

“Huh? What about your ice arts?”

“To prepare for danger.”

Seol Iri was helpless against the previous driver’s attack.

This was because she didn’t notice the poison entering while constantly using ice arts.

On top of that, when she noticed her inner force was almost depleted so she couldn’t respond.

The reason she caught a cold last time was the same.

So she stopped using ice arts to prepare for any danger from the suspicious-looking driver.

And when she stops ice arts?

It’s hot.

It’s now early July. Even though it’s raining it’s still hot, rather humid and hot so it’s a dirty heat that sticks and feels stuffy.

But Qing had already developed very strong resistance to cold to the point of invulnerability, and as a side effect, decent resistance to heat.

It’s not that she doesn’t feel hot, she feels just as hot but sweats less and feels less sticky, so if she just stays still it’s bearable?

“If you stay still it’s not hot.”

Only after saying it did Qing realize the essence of what elders always said, that it’s not hot if you stay still.

At this, another vein popped on Seol Iri’s forehead.

All Seol Iri had done in the carriage was stay still.

Qing snorted and teased Seol Iri:

“If you’re really hot, want to hold my hand? My hands are usually quite cold.”