episode_0062

Well done, well done!

As Cheongun continued to stand, Ryeon glared at him with a fiery gaze.

Unable to withstand her fierce stare, Cheongun quietly took his seat.

Of course, the applause didn’t stop.

It merely transitioned from a standing ovation to a seated one.

“……What did you say?”

Ryeon lowered her voice.

Yerin’s remark about her being ‘just a big-chested woman’ seemed to have truly stung her.

Of course, for Cheongun, it was hard to understand.

Why was she stung, anyway?

Isn’t that just high praise?

“Ho ho, why are you like this? You get angry even when someone praises you.”

Yerin covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed.

The reason Ryeon was upset was simple.

In ancient China’s view of beauty, there were precise standards.

The Book of Beauties.

A record in a certain Chinese history book states the following:

There were ten criteria for beauty, among which, for appearance, there were cicada-like hair, apricot-colored lips, strong teeth, white breasts, distant-mountain-like eyebrows, willow-like waist, and an appropriate height.

The description is complicated, but the core of it is the image of ‘fragile and delicate, as if it would break’.

Healthy beauty? There was no such thing.

Rather than a healthy appearance, a woman who seemed so slender she might blow away with a puff was considered the most beautiful in ancient China’s view of beauty.

It wasn’t just about the face.

Identity, hobbies, and even where a woman usually resided were included in the criteria for beauty. That’s why Yerin was so stung and made such a fuss when she was called a woman who looked like she belonged in a courtesan house, pouring drinks.

And what about the ‘just a big-chested woman’ that Yerin ambitiously hurled back to counter that?

In the Central Plains worldview, which favored slender beauty, having two lumps on one’s chest was no different from being called a vulgar and lustful woman!

Of course, from the perspective of modern person Cheongun, it’s common sense for both men and women, regardless of age, that a woman’s chest is better the larger it is. But even in modern times, there are extreme slender-preferring factions, so how much more so in the Central Plains worldview?

Thus, Ryeon, already furious from Yerin’s words, twitched her eyebrows and retorted.

“Did you just call that praise?”

“Of course. In this day and age, how many women possess such a voluptuous chest?”

Yerin chuckled and linked arms with Cheongun, who was clapping beside her.

“Anyway, balance is important when it comes to body shape. Isn’t it a deformity to have only one area developed, like you? Look at me.”

Yerin subtly pushed out her chest, which boasted moderate volume.

It certainly seemed to have less presence than Ryeon’s, but it wasn’t small either.

Ryeon saw that and burst into laughter.

“Balance, my foot. Isn’t that just giving up entirely, not balance?”

“……What did you say?”

“Whether big or small, it would be nice if at least one was definite. An indecisive woman like you is truly hopeless, you know?”

“You, what did you just……”

“With a face like someone who’d idly laugh and pour drinks at a tavern, you talk about balance or whatever. That’s an inflated sense of self. If you’re a courtesan, just quietly pour drinks like one. How dare you wag your tail next to the Sect Leader… no, next to the Chief Inspector, without knowing your place?”

“Wh-what! You dog-like, how dare you speak with that open mouth! How dare you!”

Yerin stammered in extreme rage.

It seemed she was even more enraged than when she was hit by the moktak.

Ryeon chuckled, driving the nail in.

“No, even if our Sect Leader sometimes goes crazy, as far as I know, he has good judgment. Do you really think he’d bat an eye just because a rootless woman like you clings to him?”

“You dog-like…”

“Your age is ambiguous, your chest is ambiguous. And your profession is Haomun? You’re not even a Sect Leader anymore. Don’t you have too big of dreams when you have nothing to boast about?”

“How dare this damnable woman, in front of whom…!”

Yerin’s eyebrows trembled.

Ryeon’s offensive was far stronger than expected.

This was because it was true that Haomun had no roots.

In the Central Plains, when judging criteria for beauty, a woman’s identity was also meticulously considered, so Ryeon’s remarks were nothing but words that deeply stung Yerin’s pride.

However, Yerin wasn’t entirely without a rebuttal either.

Yerin, who had been quietly taking the blows, stepped forward.

“You are mistaken.”

“Mistaken?”

“Yes. Who said I have nothing to boast about?”

With those words, she raised her internal energy.

A low rumble!

The space vibrated intensely from Yerin’s internal energy.

The floor shook, and objects on the desk vibrated and fell.

Her internal energy seemed to materialize, as if possessing a will of its own, pressuring Ryeon.

Of course, for Cheongun, who had surpassed that level, it was merely ticklish. But for Ryeon, who was only at the peak mid-stage, it was inevitably a bit overwhelming.

“……!”

Ryeon broke out in a cold sweat.

Under the internal energy that crushed the entire space, she momentarily lost her balance and swayed.

“In the Jianghu, isn’t skill inherently one’s foundation? My realm is beyond transcendence. How dare a low-level practitioner like a peak mid-stage raise their head proudly in front of me and question my foundation?”

“……”

“A martial artist, by definition, is judged by the achievements of their training. In that regard, my foundation is more than abundant. Look at you, however. I heard you even swallowed the Heavenly Spirit Pill, the prize for winning the Tang Family Branch Meeting. And yet, your realm is still like that?”

Oh, are they going to measure martial arts levels now?

As their fight became increasingly childish, Cheongun’s eyes also darted busily.

Still, as a Sect Leader in name, Yerin’s martial arts level was naturally quite considerable.

But Ryeon wasn’t entirely without a retort either.

“Is being old something to boast about?”

“Wh-what!”

Ryeon also raised her internal energy.

Although it was still far inferior to Yerin’s internal energy, the Controlled Demonic Soul Art she had inherited from Cheongun was a martial art that converted demonic energy into internal energy.

By combining the internal energy and demonic energy she had accumulated, she could explosively raise her true qi for a brief moment.

“Ohh.”

Cheongun exclaimed in admiration.

As expected of Ryeon. How dare a mere peak-stage challenge a transcendently powerful one!

He couldn’t help but admire her spirit.

Of course, Yerin screamed as if spitting venom.

“Ha! You call that internal energy!”

“Shut up, you rootless woman.”

“Th-this dog-like woman! Fine! I’ll tear that mouth of yours right now!”

“Go ahead and try! You should age gracefully, even if you get old! How dare you try to oppress a junior disciple with your power so ugly like this?”

“Be quiet! I’ll just achieve rejuvenation!”

“What good is becoming young on the outside? When your inside is rotten!”

“Th-that, that fucking, fucking bitch!”

As their emotions grew more intense, the vibrations intensified.

It wasn’t killing intent.

They merely released the internal energy they had raised.

A torrent of qi, scattered randomly, impulsively, and according to their emotions.

With just that, the floor and objects shook violently as if an earthquake had struck.

Cheongun, who had been quietly watching from the side, pulled something out from within his clothes.

At the same time, his right hand shot up into the sky.

A moktak, made of round hardwood, floated upwards then descended.

And then.

Thwack! Crack!

“Eek!”

“Ugh!”

Clear striking sounds resounded from the crowns of Ryeon and Yerin’s heads.

With the strong impact, the two women snapped their heads around and stared at Cheongun, tears welling in their eyes.

“What was that?!”

“Fucking Sect Leader!”

Then Cheongun said wistfully.

“I’m wasted on both of you.”

“……”

“……”

****

A mountain path located near Chengdu.

It was one of the few roads connecting Sichuan to Chengdu.

Two men, riding in a roughly shaking carriage, were lightly conversing.

“The road is clean.”

“It’s the territory of the Tang Family, after all. It has no choice but to be clean.”

At the words of the wrinkled middle-aged man, the scrawny man let out a faint laugh.

He was Jeoksan, who could be called an executive of the Justice Alliance.

And the person he was deferentially flattering was…

“Tsk tsk. What’s so important about persuading a mere young punk…”

Gohak.

He was one of the Five Elders of the highly renowned Mount Hua Sect.

“Still, he is the new Chief Inspector, isn’t he?”

“That’s what’s strange. Tsk, that old man Geum Myeongju. Has he grown so old that his judgment has become clouded? To abruptly entrust such an important responsibility to a child who hasn’t properly proven himself, what is he thinking?”

“Haha, surely the Alliance Leader has his reasons for everything, doesn’t he?”

“I hope so.”

Gohak clicked his tongue and looked outside.

“We just have to deliver the message, don’t we?”

It was as Jeoksan said.

In any case, they only needed to deliver the Alliance’s dispatch.

“Jinju Eonga, was it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Tsk tsk. I suspected it ever since they dabbed in dark arts like zombie sorcery. Was it true that evidence of them contacting the Demonic Cult was found?”

“Yes. Since the new Chief Inspector has just taken office, he can’t simply overlook such matters, can he?”

The Jinju Eonga is one of the martial arts families that lies on an ambiguous boundary, neither part of the white path nor the black path.

Although they claim the purpose of their zombie sorcery is to easily transport corpses and return unidentified bodies to their bereaved families, on the surface, it still looks like nothing more than messing around with dead bodies.

Naturally, they were usually treated as unorthodox and heretical.

Recently, however, circumstances indicating that they were in contact with the Demonic Cult in various ways had been detected.

“We have arrived.”

The coachman opened the carriage door.

The two men exited the carriage, then walked down the path with their hands behind their backs.

Their destination was the Chengdu Branch of the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency.

As soon as they arrived, they asked the guard stationed at the gate.

“Where is the Chief Inspector?”

“Pardon? Who is that?”

“A young man named Cheongun.”

“Ah, if you mean Great Hero Cheong, he has stepped out for a moment.”

However, there was a problem.

“Ah, he is now the Haomun Sect Leader.”

“……What?!”

What did he just say?

Haomun Sect Leader? Who?

Who did you say was the master of that unsettling black path faction?

“Tell me in detail.”

“Pardon? Ah, if you’re an outsider, you probably haven’t heard the news yet. It’s nothing much, but the Deputy Chief recently swallowed up Haomun.”

The news that Cheongun had swallowed up Haomun was still confidential.

Of course, the escort agency’s personnel had heard the news and knew, but the speed of news dissemination in the Central Plains, which lacked proper civilization, was bound to be slow.

Therefore,

Those who had no way of knowing that Cheongun had raided Haomun immediately after receiving the Chief Inspector position were…

“I heard that it was the will of the Justice Alliance, and if there were any complaints, they should take it up with the Alliance itself.”

“……?”

They fell into immense confusion.

And greatly so.