Chapter 241: Wanderers Have Their Own Code of Honor

Qing opened her mouth.

“In the first place—”

“Aargh! Aaaaaargh!”

“Hmm?”

Qing, who had been about to say more, tilted her head sharply at the desperate shriek that erupted.

Her gaze fell upon the one-armed warrior. As their eyes met, the one-armed warrior froze stiff.

“Hey, I was talking here. Jeez. Now I’ve forgotten what I was going to say. Just because your shoulder got torn off, you're screaming like that? Tsk. So impolite. Really.”

Qing turned her body to face the one-armed warrior directly.

“Hic!”

“Are you going to be quiet?”

The one-armed warrior looked ready to shove his remaining fist into his own mouth, clamping it shut tightly.

Qing smiled with satisfaction and continued.

“Since you were wrong, you only get ten hits. And since you were noisy, if you make a sound, we start over from the beginning.”

The one-armed warrior’s detached arm swung with ferocious momentum. For the one-armed warrior, it was an experience unprecedented in human history. Who else could claim to have been slapped across the face with their own shoulder?

Slap! Slap! Slap! The unpleasant, well-connecting sounds echoed through the underground space. Fluid seeped from the end of the makeshift blunt weapon, splattering everywhere, while the one-armed warrior desperately kept his mouth shut.

And finally, ten hits.

Qing tossed aside the detached arm, now broken in half with only the elbow remaining. For a blunt weapon, it had too much padding, rendering it nearly powerless, and wasn’t sturdy either. It likely wouldn’t be usable again.

“Hmm. There was something I wanted to say. What was it? That Eunuch Grandpa? Do you happen to know what I was about to say?”

“W-what is this, you…”

Gyeongdamgan’s desire to break the peerless beauty—noble, virtuous, pure, and even courageous—no longer remained.

Standing before him was nothing less than a veritable killing fiend under heaven.

“Ah. Right. Where on earth did your boss go, Eunuch Grandpa? I heard the Unit Leader of the Two-Line Blood Gu Unit was here, but only his lackey is holding the fort.”

“Who are you calling a lackey!?”

“Oh my, why are you angry? Isn’t the Vice Leader the Unit Leader’s lackey? I heard that after the Unit Leader finishes his business, the Vice Leader has to meticulously clean up with his tongue. Isn’t that a lackey?”

“Who told you such a thing!! That’s absurd!! How dare you make such a vile accusation!!”

“Well, Eunuch Grandpa, you’re the one getting angry now. People always get mad when you hit a nerve. What if that deceased Blood Gu Unit member testified that he saw it with his own eyes? People don’t lie in the face of death, you know. He saw the Unit Leader and Vice Leader licking each other, engaging in those filthy acts… Ugh, disgusting. Everyone, your leaders, they were mixing tongues, ugh.”

Of course, the Blood Gu Unit member hadn’t said anything like that.

Qing, who generally avoided outright lies, hadn’t claimed the member had said it.

It was merely wordplay, but it couldn’t stop the Blood Gu Unit members from staring at their Vice Leader like he was horrifying trash.

“It’s all nonsense! Lies, I tell you!”

“I haven’t told any lies. I can even swear on the honor of my sect and Master.”

“Eek! Lies! That wench is slandering her own sect and Master to spew falsehoods!”

“Hmm. Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? What do you all think?”

The members of the Two-Line Blood Gu Unit were in profound shock. Their expressions suggested the food they’d eaten was trying to escape the way it came in.

Suddenly finding themselves subordinates to disgusting deviants was bound to cause mental trauma.

“Hmm. So, where did your lover, I mean, the Unit Leader, go? Why hasn’t he shown his face?”

“If you keep spouting such nonsense…”

“See? You’re desperately trying to hide and protect him because he’s your lover, aren’t you? If he wasn’t, there’d be no need to protect some Unit Leader. Since when did the Blood Cult practice loyalty to superiors? Isn’t it more like, ‘If I get rid of him, I become the superior’?”

At that, the gazes of the Blood Cult warriors turned towards Gyeongdamgan. Hearing it put that way, it made sense.

It was extremely clever agitation.

Normally, one wouldn't carelessly reveal the whereabouts of a superior, but these were Blood Cult members, people they were planning to eliminate anyway. So why protect him?

“A-are you actually believing this foolishness?”

“You weren't the most trustworthy superior normally, yet you're demanding trust only now?”

“Kraaaargh!”

Gyeongdamgan’s eyes snapped wide.

Simultaneously, with strangled cries of “Gurgle!”, the Blood Gu warriors collapsed, twitching and convulsing uncontrollably.

It was the Queen Gu’s suicide command.

Qing also felt the Gu Poison within her stomach writhe in response, going berserk.

The suicide command was a mysterious insect signal that spread out in all directions over a wide, imprecise range.

It was a declaration of intent to take down all the subordinates gathered there just to kill Qing alone.

Hmm. Goodbye, my little parasite. If I knew we’d part like this, maybe I should have given you a name. Alright, it’s late, but… farewell, Liquor Bottle.

Qing accepted her parting with the Gu Poison, which only received a name right before its death.

But isn’t the Poison Core much more potent?

Are you giving me one big final gift?

Hehe, I’m looking forward to it.

As if hearing her encouragement, the struggling Gu Poison’s movements gradually subsided.

If the Gu Poison could have conveyed its thoughts, it might have said something like this:

It’s okay, I endured it, you bitch.

Huh. Liquor Bottle didn’t die? Why?

For some reason, Qing couldn’t understand.

It was a bizarre case, a small miracle that even the foremost authorities in the field of Gu Poison wouldn’t comprehend. How could Qing, a mere quasi-expert—an undergraduate in Gu Poison studies, if you will—possibly know?

It might have been the wondrous effect of the Blood-Toxin Body’s bile, or perhaps the accumulated, unexpelled poisons had fostered the Gu Poison’s independence.

Or maybe it had endured just because it was disgusted by Qing’s warm encouragement.

Ultimately, amidst the Blood Gu warriors dying in horrific agony from the Poison Core explosion, Qing shot forward in surprise.

Good grief, they have no regard for their precious lives!

What a waste of Good Karma! Besides, with this many, I could have had fun with them in rotation for a week!

Qing darted around frantically, stomping hard on the heads of the Blood Cult warriors and kicking them forcefully, doing her utmost to ensure their precious lives weren’t wasted.

Fortunately, as they writhed on the ground in pain, their heads were in perfect positions to be stomped or kicked.

Thanks to that, she managed to kill them all before they stopped breathing. After kicking the last Blood Cult warrior’s head, leaving only half of it, Qing lost her balance and tumbled to the ground, rolling over and over.

Qing’s muscles screamed, and her joints creaked. As soon as the final kick landed, she couldn’t help but roll on the floor.

“You, you bitch!”

Gyeongdamgan hadn’t had time to react to the carnage that unfolded in an instant. Qing had moved with a speed born from drawing out her internal energy and strength with true intent for the first time in a while.

Thanks to that, wherever she flashed past, a Blood Gu warrior’s head would disappear, be left half-intact, or fly off, abandoning the body entirely.

“Sheesh. I rushed too much, didn’t feel a thing. But still. Eunuch Grandpa, wow. Is it like, ‘Subordinates can just be replaced’?”

“You bitch? How…”

“I don’t know. I thought I was dying, but I lived? Ah, but wait, two, four, six… Who killed these subordinates just now? Was it Gyeongdamgan, who initiated the Gu Poison explosion? Or the Two-Line Blood Gu itself for releasing the Poison Core? Surely, you wouldn’t condemn me, who tried to alleviate their suffering, as the murderer, right?”

“That’s. Hmm? Tried to alleviate their suffering…?”

Gyeongdamgan paused.

It seemed nonsensical, yet also somewhat plausible, but mostly like bullshit.

In that moment, Qing stood up, dusted off her martial uniform, and pulled a sword from the waist of a corpse.

Sorry, San. Sorry, Choryeo.

I guess I really am a swordsman at heart.

Just holding a sword makes me feel stable.

Qing swung the sword twice with a whish.

Namgung Shinjae had said Qing’s skill was at the level of Sword Intuition—the ability to grasp a sword, understand its weight, length, and balance, and wield it like a beloved blade.

It’s a cheap thing with a slightly off balance, but I guess it was fine for some nameless grunt to swing around.

Qing spoke, holding Moonlight Sword (No. 10).

For reference, wooden swords and blunted steel swords used for sparring did not qualify as Moonlight Swords. To Qing, a sword was a tool for cutting people.

“Are we still going to talk?”

“Ha! How dare you! Let’s see that paltry skill of yours!”

Gyeongdamgan shouted and charged first.

Qing easily twisted and deflected his incoming trajectory, her mouth never stopping.

“Usually, doesn't a senior in the martial arts world yield about three moves? Did you age backwards? You should have some shame.”

“Hmph. Do I look like some goody-two-shoes from the Righteous Faction to you!?”

“How could I? I just saw you as a pathetically old eunuch bastard.”

“That damn! With every word! Eunuch! Eunuch! Eunuch! I! Am not! An eunuch!”

A roar erupted with each clash of swords.

Compared to his fury, Qing’s tone was relaxed, an unimaginable calmness for someone fighting a Late Stage Transcendent Realm expert wielding Sword Force.

“So, can you even get it up? The deceased left a final testament, saying it was pitiful but fucking disgusting how you desperately waggled your limp dick when you were disposing of them.”

“Eek! Die! Dieee!”

“You think that’ll kill me? Put some effort into it.”

Gyeongdamgan was a Transcendent Realm expert even without the Gu Poison, but for some reason, he was consistently pushed back by Qing’s skill.

Well, Qing’s sword was a vicious killing sword.

However, for the past month, she had sealed away her best technique, the killing sword, and trained fiercely.

It was only natural that Qing’s skills had improved dramatically.

Furthermore, when using the killing sword, the Sword Energy imbued with the Heavenly Slaughtering Star became harder and sharper, proportional to the slaughter she had accumulated so far.

Combine that with her brute force output, and clashing against the less compressed, rough Sword Force of a Transcendent Realm expert wasn't difficult.

“Why! Why! Why! Die!”

“Hmm. Honestly, well. I expected this, but. You’re even more disappointing than I thought. This isn’t fun anymore.”

Suddenly, Qing’s eyes flashed.

Simultaneously, her sword traced the most absolute trajectory.

The laziest sword under heaven, yet this might be the virtue of an emperor; the master of the world does not move carelessly, but when they do, they shake the heavens and earth.

Slice. Gyeongdamgan’s sword, along with his wrist, fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

Gyeongdamgan quickly staunched the bleeding from his forearm, then retrieved his severed hand and wrapped it in a cloth.

As Qing simply looked down at him, Gyeongdamgan muttered blankly.

“Why, how can a mere Peak Realm…”

“Hmm. Curious? It’ll cost you five hundred wen if you are. But wasn’t it obvious I’d win from the start?”

“Nonsense! The difference in realms—”

“Hey. When you lost your reason earlier, you didn’t draw your sword, you summoned the Gu Poison. You should have drawn your sword then. Isn’t that the obvious thing for a shamed warrior to do?”

“What are you talking about!?”

“Your sword rusts because you rely on a parasite. When was the last time you truly swung your sword with intent?”

“Ah. Ahh…”

Gyeongdamgan was also a Transcendent Realm warrior.

He understood Qing’s words.

When Gyeongdamgan lost his reason and his eyes turned bloodshot, the explosion that came out was the Queen Gu’s suicide command.

A swordsman should have naturally drawn his sword. He must have long forgotten his own blade, intoxicated by the omnipotence of the Gu Poison.

No matter how powerful a Transcendent Realm expert he was, if he wasn’t even a swordsman holding a sword, what would the outcome be?

Qing had already relaxed from that moment on.

Transcendent Realm or whatever, he’s already rusted stiff. He won’t be my opponent.

Qing pointed her sword tip directly at him and asked.

“So, where is the Unit Leader?”

This was the reason Qing had bothered to return underground.

She had heard there was definitely a leader, but she hadn’t even seen his face.

It wasn’t just a ploy to provoke the old man, though there was certainly some selfish desire to enjoy pulling the legs off bugs.

Primarily, if she killed just the Reviled Mad Demon, the rest below would be wiped out by the automatic chain suicide command triggered by the Queen Gu’s death.

But there was another Queen Gu of equal rank somewhere nearby, yet out of sight. It couldn’t help but bother her.

"How the hell should I know!? Haven't seen him since this morning. Whether he drank himself stupid and collapsed somewhere, or found some fresh 'material' to amuse himself with... how am I supposed to know!?"