A-Qing blinked.
"Ridicule you? Me?"
"How dare you! How dare you!"
Judging by her trembling eyelids, she was genuinely pissed. A-Qing tilted her head in confusion.
What the hell? Why's she mad? No way, was the outhouse that dirty?
"You just snatched the money, and how dare you shamelessly flirt with him again, as if to rub it in my face! With such a vulgar display! How dare you...!"
"Flirt? Me?"
"You, a lowlife like you approach Young Master Jade Qilin! How dare you!"
"Ah. I see."
A-Qing realized her misunderstanding. So that money wasn't for a fast pass to the toilet; it was like an envelope from a rich mother-in-law telling her to break up with her son. And for that, it was a meager amount!
So A-Qing was naturally pissed off too.
How could a proud South Korean man ever imagine a money envelope meant to break up a relationship with "her man"?
If someone was able to, it was an ability to conceive possibilities beyond the realm of imagination. A different fucking stratosphere, so to speak.
If A-Qing had that ability, she'd be baking superconductors as a genius scientist, not working a production line.
"First, let's confirm one thing. Are you personally acquainted with Jade Qilin?"
"Oh, so now you're revealing your true colors?"
"Ah. So it's unrequited love? You're not actually acquainted?"
"So, alright, let's say I did make a fool of you. So what are you going do about it? What can you do, Miss? Tremble and shout?"
The woman's vicious face grew even more vicious.
"Nogal, Magwi, make that bitch kneel before me right now."
The thugs flanking her stepped forward. A-Qing quickly cut in.
"Wait!"
"Are you going to beg for forgiveness now? You should have listened when I was being nice."
"That's all well and good. So, what's your plan, then? After those mean-looking uncles make me kneel?"
"I'll sever your limbs and throw you into a brothel. You'll sell your body for a single coin. If you take a hundred men a day, how long do you think you'll last?"
[Sudden Mission Occurrence – Between Purity and Greed]
[You have been severely insulted.] Actions to gain additional free training points:
Good Karma: Eliminate the woman and her two escorts.Good Karma: Question the Black Shadow Society's crimes.Good Karma: Annihilate the Black Shadow Society.Heavenly Slaughter Star: Annihilate the Black Shadow Society.
[Sudden Mission Occurrence – Rescue Woman]
[You have learned of the Black Shadow Society's wicked business.] Actions to gain additional free training points:
Good Karma: Find the Black Shadow Society's establishments and rescue the women.Good Karma: Eliminate the Black Shadow Society members in their establishments.Bad Karma: Trade with the Black Shadow Society to provide women.Heavenly Slaughter Star: Eliminate everyone in the Black Shadow Society's establishments.
The words floated before her eyes. A-Qing flashed a bright smile. The Lone Star of Calamity shone with the most unholy color.
Yeah, things had been too peaceful until now.
"From what I know, San might be a bit prickly, but he's not a bad kid. So maybe there was never a chance with a rotten bitch like you in the first place?"
"...What did you say?"
"Well, I mean… His family is well off. Even if he's not as good as me, he's pretty decent at martial arts. And his face, holy shit, what can I even say about his face? It's pretty self-explanatory. I guess his character is a bit off, so he's not really capable of being magnanimous. Well anyway, he's a pretty good catch. So why would a guy like him mingle with a bitch like you whose sandwiched between two thugs?"
"You, what did you just…"
"Even if the world turns upside down and Heaven and Earth switch their axes, there would still be no chance. Yet, you're seriously following him? Moreover, you're acting like a mother-in-law, telling him to break up or not meet with this girl and shit like that? Hey. That's stalking2. It's a filthy crime, you hear me? Ah, you don't know English, do you? D o y o u k n o w E n g l i sh3 ?"
The woman's face flushed.
Now she looked like a baboon's ass cheeks."
"Even if the world ended and only you and I were left, I wouldn't fuck you if I was San. I'd rather stick it in a tree hole.
"W-What! You piece of shit, fuck, f-fucking bitch. WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STILL STANDING THERE!"
The woman was speechless, choked by extreme rage. At her sharp cry, Nogal (right) and Magwi (left) pushed off the ground.
Yeah. This was it.
With a wicked grin that seemed to rip her mouth up to her ears, A-Qing boldly yelled, "Come on! My Moonlight Sword is hungry—ugh, shit!"
A-Qing's hand swept empty air at her waist. Moonlight Sword (No. 6) was resting quietly beside the tea table. Because of that, she missed her chance to counterattack.
Instead, A-Qing lightly leaped back, creating distance.
Yue Maiden steps
Records from the Spring and Autumn period said this:
The Moon Maiden moved with the innocence of a child, like someone playing in water.
Yet, she was not clumsy, but swift, like a dandelion seed in a gale, impossible to track with the eye.
Despite this, she never lost her graceful rhythm, her appearance as lovely as a young girl.
With one step backward, she covered 10 feet, crossed 20 feet with the second step, and with the third light step, she was instantly 30 feet away.
And then, abruptly, her fourth step shot forward, bringing the distance almost to nothing.
She had lost the initiative due to her blunder, but through her movement technique, she regained the advantage.
This was the reason why Jianghu emphasized the importance of Footwork ∊ Movement Techniques.
The corresponding symbol, '∊' denotes "element of,", was a mathematical symbol which means footwork is an element of movement technique, a part of it.
"What in the—!"
Nogal was the escort of the Black Shadow Society's esteemed daughter.
The patriarch loved his youngest daughter, who came after four sons, so much that her escort was a late-stage first-rate master.
And a late-stage first-rate master had the discerning eye to recognize how utterly absurd A-Qing's movement technique was.
Fast movement techniques were difficult to change direction with, and fluid, unpredictable ones sacrificed speed. Just being able to reverse direction in a single step was enough to earn praise for a movement technique. Conversely, merely maintaining speed while moving backward was enough to earn renown as a supreme movement technique in the world.
Yet, a Movement Technique that accelerated forwards after retreating was unheard of. At least, to Nogal, that is.
As such, this resulted in him attacking first, but finishing his move later.
Nogal urgently yelled,
"Young Lady, run—"
"Nope. Where do you think you're going? Shut your trap. And stay put."
A-Qing thrust her fist towards Nogal's gaping mouth. The fist extended in a gentle curve. It was the first move of Monkey Fist, "Fierce Monkey Seeks Fruit," a common martial art whose manual could be found lying around any market.
Nogal raised his upper arm to deflect the punch. Then, instantly, her left hand shot up!
Awkwardly open yet not clenched. It was the Praying Mantis Hand, characteristic of Praying Mantis Fist's unique grip. The unfolding of Praying Mantis Hand meant he already knew the next move without seeing it: Praying Mantis Fist's second move, "Nimble Eagle Strike." Followed by "Mandarin Duck Kick," "Noon Iron Leg," "Single Fist Points at Three Exits," "Family Fist Technique's Spinning Entry," "Wolf Fang Fist's Wolf Fang Strike"…
Each one was a common fist technique found in the marketplace.
Raising a white-bordered martial art to the first stage required a trivial amount of free training points. It was almost as good as free.
So A-Qing had learned every white martial art she could get her hands on in every bookstore she visited. She just hadn't used them, as she had no need for them when she had the Yue Maiden Sword Art, which was considered overpowered even among purple-grade martial arts.
First-star mastery meant memorizing the basic forms.
It meant being able to properly mimic the outward shape, even if you didn't understand the true essence, momentum, qi circulation, or applications of the technique.
But even a superficial imitation could become a powerful martial art when overwhelmed with immense internal energy, speed, and raw power. And what if you mixed dozens of martial arts together?
That was the very spectacle A-Qing was currently creating.
Nogal was cornered.
"You bitch!"
Magwi moved to A-Qing's flank. A-Qing's left hand moved. It was a casual swat, like shooing a fly.
Suddenly, the deep resonance of a temple bell echoed! BOOM—!
An unseen force traveled two cheok (about 60cm) and struck Magwi's chest. It was a technique for striking from a distance, called the Air Palm.
Magwi flew like a cannonball, crashing into the back wall of the teahouse.
In an instant, A-Qing frowned and withdrew her offensive.
Nogal, taking this as a kind of permission, rushed to his junior.
"Magwi! Snap out of it!"
"Cough."
His chest was completely caved in. His ribcage shattered. Bone fragments had torn all his internal organs. His blood-gurgling cough became Magwi's last words.
"Magwi!"
Nogal cried out in grief. Not all demonic sects were scheming and backstabbing; Instead, the more cruel they were to outsiders, the more tightly knit they could be among themselves.
A-Qing watched the scene and muttered,
"Ugh. The 'feel' of that hit just isn't there…"
Should've learned something else.
It was a harsh critique of the Buddha's Palm.
A-Qing used a sword. The sensation of slicing through muscle and bone, the feel of it in her palm, was almost ecstatic.
The hardships of living in a foreign land with different cultures and norms. The constantly flickering numbers above people's heads. The status window that shook her sanity every time she saw it.
All of it was trivial compared to the exhilaration of pouring even hotter blood onto a body already burning from battle.
Fist arts, however, lacked that feeling.
Hitting and breaking bones wasn't entirely without sensation
but it certainly wasn't like using a sword. Most of all, she was dissatisfied with the lack of blood.
In that sense, the Buddha's Palm was useless. Even a mere 1st-stage taste of its power was formidable. It was undoubtedly a powerful martial art, but…
But it lacked that pleasant sensation in her hand
Do you even know how important it is to feel the impact when hitting? It's the most important thing ever!
"Hey. I'm not interested in melodrama, so let's skip it. Let's keep going."
Nogal's mind snapped back to attention.
In his heart, she was an enemy he wanted to tear to shreds, but she was a peerless master who could effortlessly unleash Air Palm.
Of course, A-Qing wasn't that level of master. It was just a misunderstanding, born from his ignorance that she was simply benefiting from game system buffs.
Moreover, Nogal's mission was to protect the Young Lady.
"I apologize for my insolence, not recognizing such a venerated senior. Please grant me your mercy."
"A mere trash mob… is talking back?"
"Please, I beg you."
Nogal knelt. A-Qing scoffed.
"Why, didn't you expect a day like this would come? A life spent sucking other people's blood. Did you think you'd live a long, full life and pass away smiling, surrounded by a big loving family?"
"That…"
◇─◇────◆─◈─◆────◇─◇
"As Mencius said, 'Human nature is good.' Ah, was Mencius around? Probably. It's ancient China, after all. Anyway, he said human nature is good, right? Because of that, people misunderstand. Like, everyone has inner goodness, so even the most wicked can be reformed."
It was a baseless misunderstanding. Mencius's theory of human nature being inherently good didn't mean that. This too was a proposition where both sides could be reversed.
Human nature is good. Therefore, what is evil by nature is not human.
Even if your superior, your official, or even the ruler of the country does not treat you with goodness, they are nothing but beasts, not humans. You cannot be ruled by beasts, so take up your spears.
This was what Mencius truly said. He was a great philosopher who advocated for the first truly people-centric governance in human history. (Confucius's people-centric ideas were too lukewarm, emphasizing sincerity in governance and service.)
Thanks to him, A-Qing could enjoy her hobby without any reservations.
A-Qing enjoyed slaughtering trash. And when trash disappeared, the world became a better place, benefiting everyone.
It was the realization of a world where no one needed to get hurt.