Chapter 284: Journey to Zhongnan (7)

Since the driver was unexpectedly a real driver, aside from overcharging a bit and taking unnecessarily long detours while avoiding faster routes, it could be called a smooth journey.

And it was a very boring trip.

It’s really boring to death.

Being stuck in the carriage because of rain, and that Seol woman never talks so she’s no help at all in alleviating boredom.

Her face is pretty, and it’s somewhat entertaining to watch her get completely soaked.

She’s properly drenched in sweat from enduring the heat head-on after stopping her ice arts to prepare for any unseemly incidents.

After one day, two days, on the third day she seemed unable to endure anymore and suddenly took the seat right next to Qing.

Then she grabbed Qing’s hand and pressed it to her cheek.

“Oh?”

What’s this? Seducing like this?

But Seol Iri was in a state like she had entered a sauna alone.

With sweat beading on her chin and falling in drops, she pressed someone else’s hand to her cheek, so Qing’s hand became damp with moisture.

“If you’re going to stick someone else’s hand on you, shouldn’t you wipe off the sweat first?”

“Again.”

Qing decoded the three syllables.

Anyway, sweat will get on your hand whether you wipe it off first or not, so there’s not much difference.

Qing’s hand is chilly.

The “white” in White Hand Demonic Arts later becomes vajra invulnerability.

When she was in late Peak Realm it had weak protective power like quasi-vajra invulnerability, but now that she’s reached Transcendent Realm she’s equipped with quasi-vajra invulnerability level full front, back and side armor.

However, she lost warmth instead of defense.

But for someone suffering from the heat, it’s a very helpful coldness.

“If you’re really hot, you can use ice arts.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Martial artists should protect themselves.”

“Oh.”

That’s the most admirable thing Seol Iri has said.

Certainly, just staying cool with inner force and leaving everything to others is not the proper mindset of a true martial artist.

But Qing prefers Seol Iri to just exist uselessly as she always has until now.

There’s a limited number of bad guys in the world, so if there are more people slicing them up, doesn’t my share decrease?

“Here. Yap.”

Qing stuck her hand on Seol Iri’s nape and raised the ice arts of the Tai Yin Jade Maiden Divine Arts.

Seol Iri’s body gave a big shudder, then she hunched her shoulders and a sound escaped her mouth.

“Hauu…”

She seems to feel extremely good.

You like it? Then I’ll only do this much.

She might develop bad habits otherwise.

When Qing stopped the cold, Seol Iri stared at her blankly with very regretful eyes.

Qing just pretended not to notice.

So she sends regretful looks but doesn’t whine or make demands.

Seol Iri is useless but she does have some sense of shame.

When Qing buys her something she knows to bow in thanks. Maybe because she’s a beggar, she never asks for anything herself, so when she feels regretful she just stays regretful.

When Qing gets an inn room she shares it, if Qing kicked her out saying to go their separate ways now, she would obviously wait outside in the rain.

Ah.

Qing just now remembered.

Right. She wasn’t even a companion.

She’s just sticking to me like a leech because I’m the only clue to find Seol Ganom.

Hmm. Well. She’s cute so it’s fine.

And though she doesn’t talk much, when you make her talk she unexpectedly talks back properly.

“Miss Seol. I’m bored, tell me about the Northern Sea. What’s it like there? Is it very cold?”

“I don’t want to.”

Qing was dumbfounded.

How can you answer “I don’t want to” when asked if it’s very cold?

Qing then understood it was a firm rejection of the request to talk about the Northern Sea.

In the hot and humid weather, with her hand still damp with someone else’s sweat and still stuck to Seol Iri’s nape.

Qing’s discomfort index wasn’t low either.

“No, why on earth are you like this? When traveling together you chat and eat together, ah we do eat together. Anyway. Do you dislike talking to me? Do you dislike going around with me? Are you going around with me unwillingly? Right now?”

At this, Seol Iri’s eyes widened.

And then she answered with a somewhat pitiful look:

“That’s not it…”

“Then what is it? You don’t want to talk to me right now, do you?”

“No.”

“Then what? Do you want to talk to me?”

“No.”

Qing’s eyebrows drew a steep line.

Seol Iri hurriedly added:

“But I don’t dislike it.”

So she won’t particularly avoid conversation but she doesn’t particularly want it either.

But she doesn’t want to talk about the Northern Sea.

Qing glared at Seol Iri.

Seol Iri always maintained eye contact with Qing, but this time she seemed to be subtly avoiding it, probably looking at her nose tip or lips.

Seol Iri is such a lacking person that when you look at her quietly, you end up reflecting on yourself.

Is this mirror therapy or something?

At this, Qing calmed her irritation and thought deeply.

Why? Is she ashamed of her homeland?

Come to think of it, asking if the Northern Sea is cold could be rude.

In Qing’s homeland too, if you ask someone living in Potato Country if they really plant potatoes in their front yard, back yard, side yard, and every play area in the neighborhood, the reaction isn’t very good.

Later I heard they actually do plant them so they get angry because they have nothing to say.

Or asking someone from Tangerine Island if they have a lot of tangerines. What’s delicious besides tangerines?

Or going to visit a friend from a port town and saying wow, your town sells fried chicken and alcohol and bread too? I thought you only sold soup and noodles?

Things like that.

Hmm. The Northern Sea must have its own charms for people to live there.

Was it a bit rude to suddenly ask if it’s cold there?

“Hmm. Then other stories are okay, right? What kind of food does Miss Seol like? You must have preferences?”

“Hot things.”

“There are countless hot dishes.”

“Hmm. Porridge.”

“And?”

Then she firmly closed her mouth again.

Qing’s eyebrows rose again.

Seol Iri hurriedly answered again:

“I don’t know the names…”

“Ah.”

Seol Iri is a beggar without a single coin.

Moreover, unlike Qing who has intellect, though only intellect and no dignity, come to think of it Seol Ganom and Jegal and Nanah have intellect but no dignity to be found, among them Seol Ganom has the most dignity.

He does have dignity except for the sexual harassment.

Anyway, as a beggar with no friends, how would she know about Central Plains cuisine?

She’s not the type to grab chefs or servers or errand boys and ask what the name of this dish is.

She’s just a woman who gets rained on when it rains, so she probably just ate whatever food came out.

“Come on. If you don’t know then you can learn. From now on when you eat something and think wow this is really delicious, ask me right away. You should know the identity of foods you like.”

At this, Seol Iri blinked.

Then she bowed her head again.

Anyway, she does have shame.

I let it slide because she’s pretty. Really.

Just as Qing was about to let it slide once again.

Clunk! The carriage shook greatly, then rumbled and rattled side to side with large swings, completely destroying the ride comfort.

“Driver mister? What’s going on?”

“Oh my. Maybe because of the rain, the road suddenly became terrible. I’m doing my best but oh dear. The road isn’t maintained at all from here, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Ah. I see.”

If the road is terrible, what can Qing do?

Drivers aren’t in the profession of smoothing roads.

“Please endure for a bit. We should arrive at the next village in about half a shichen. It’s already past dinner time so you must be hungry, but it’s a very generous neighborhood so you’ll be satisfied. Kuhehe.”

So while shaking left and right and bouncing up and down, their bodies also tilted backwards as if climbing a steep slope.

It was finally an atmosphere where she could have some conversation with Seol Iri, but at this rate she might bite her tongue while talking, so just maintaining balance took quite a bit of strength.

Of course, Qing had superhuman balance and core muscles so it wasn’t particularly effortful for her.

Seol Iri was shaking back and forth, leaning hard against Qing then swinging the other way and banging her shoulder against the carriage wall, fluttering like a straw.

Seeing that sight, Qing thought:

No, what kind of Peak Realm martial artist can’t even maintain their center when the carriage shakes a bit?

Is her realm Peak but her actual skill completely useless?

But Seol Iri is a tracker from the Northern Sea.

Seol Ganom’s realm wasn’t low either, so she must have come to catch someone stronger than Seol Ganom.

Then it is strange:

Do they usually send such an ignorant, stupid, useless child to catch fugitives?

Seol Ganom’s realm wasn’t low either, so sending her alone she can’t even find him, let alone guarantee victory if she does find him?

No. Seol Ganom may have been just a trivial first-rate martial artist assistant when he escaped.

They may have thought a Peak Realm martial artist would be enough to bring back his head.

But if Qing worked at the Ice Palace, she wouldn’t have sent out such a useless child.

She can’t do anything so she’s useless, yet they’re trying to track down a criminal?

Ah!

Qing finally realized the truth.

She was just playing around doing nothing at the Ice Palace anyway, so they sent her out to gain some experience in the martial arts world and become a person!

There wouldn’t be much danger at the Murim Alliance anyway, so they meant for her to learn some Central Plains culture while she was at it.

Anyway, even as the carriage tilted greatly back and forth as if trying to evenly coat the passengers inside with powdered seasoning, the driver’s skill could be seen in how it somehow didn’t tip over.

Qing moved all the way to the other side and thoroughly enjoyed the sight of Seol Iri’s sloppy figure swaying helplessly left and right.

Unpleasant times feel long, and after what felt like a shichen passed, Qing’s superhuman hearing picked up sounds from outside.

-Stop! Ah! Is it Jangga? Is it Jangga?

-Hehe. It’s me.

-Why are you so late?

-Oh my. Don’t even mention it. With the rain pouring like this and the road in terrible shape. It’s amazing the carriage didn’t tip over.

-Well. I suppose so. Hey, open the door!

It seems they’ve finally arrived at the village.

A generous neighborhood.

Actually, it’s not great.

In fact, Qing didn’t care if the neighborhood was stingy, the quality of the food and lodging was more important than generous hospitality.

Anyway, even stingy places become generous if you throw money at them, but if the taste suffers just because it’s cheap and plentiful, from a gourmet’s perspective it just feels like a wasted meal.

So they entered the village and the carriage’s shaking mostly stopped.

And soon after it stopped.

Oh. Stopping already?

The inn must be right near the village entrance.

Excellent location.

Then the door flung open, and somehow a musty smell spread as soon as it opened.

Ah. This isn’t good. The smell is bad from the start.

As Qing was harboring great concerns about the inn’s quality, the driver urged them:

“We’ve arrived. Now you should enter the inn.”

“Isn’t there another inn? It smells bad already. Is this really a decent inn?”

Drivers receiving backdoor money to bring guests to specific inns is just an ordinary everyday occurrence.

So they bring guests not to good inns but to inns that slip them money.

“Oh my. It’s a small village so there’s only this one inn. Come now. You must be tired from climbing the mountain road, you should rest.”

“Ah. Well. Okay.”

What can she do if there’s only one?

Qing obediently got out of the carriage, and hmm. What’s this now.

Instead of a stable, it was a wide space with just pillars and a roof, no walls, what should we call it, this kind of space. A warehouse? Anyway, a space of unknown purpose.

A welcoming crowd swarmed around the carriage, with dark shirtless men crowded in every corner as far as the eye could see.

“Driver mister?”

At this, the driver quickly ran out and slipped in among the men.

“Keke, ladies, this is the village of the Green Forest elders called Gamsan Village. You must be hungry at dinner time, but the Green Forest elders will feed you until your stomachs burst, so after today you’ll be full for ten months. Huhu.”

At this, one giant lightly tapped the back of the driver’s head and burst into loud laughter.

“Look at how this bastard talks. He says they’ll be full for ten months. Kuhaha, this is why I like Jangga. Right, the goods are certainly confirmed. Wow, they’re truly peerless beauties.”

Only then did Qing realize the situation.

I thought this driver bastard had no tricks, but.

He headed straight for a bandit lair with the whole carriage.

Ah. I should have thought this was strange.

What village is at the top of a mountain, climbing up winding mountain roads?

Villages are usually facilities near water at the base of mountains!

Or fortified halfway up a mountain slope to avoid government taxes.

I wasn’t thinking because I was enjoying watching Seol Iri shake, but now that I think about it, it was a strange thing.

Driver, this guy. How could he be so… admirable!

If he had given me a hint I would have been looking forward to it,

What is this? Is today my birthday? Or Buddha’s birthday? Or Big Nose’s birthday?

Is today Christmas or something?

Why, in movies it’s July’s, no was it August’s?

Anyway, what a surprise gift.

This is, too thankful. she thought.