Chapter 276: Heading to Shaolin

At that, Seol Iri turned around again.

“Hey, where are you going now?” Qing asked.

“Fruit…”

Even she seemed to know it sounded ridiculous; her voice lacked conviction, trailing off at the end.

“Can you even tell what’s edible and what’s not?” Qing retorted. “Isn’t the Ice Palace region just ice everywhere?”

“I can at least recognize an apple.”

“Seriously? Give me a break. Do you think apples just grow wild on any nearby mountain? Besides, it’s almost the seventh month, what kind of apples are you looking for now?”

Qing was an expert at finding things to eat in the mountains.

To be clear, she was an expert at picking up things to eat, not a survival expert.

Because of her constitution, she was an expert at just shoving anything into her mouth, but she was utterly ignorant about things like toxicity or safe preparation methods.

Still, she roughly knew the difference between tasty and not tasty, and for most people, ‘not tasty’ usually meant the same thing as ‘eating this will kill you.’

“Then, what fruit is in season?” Seol Iri asked.

“Around this time… hmm. Peaches? Maybe they’re still a bit unripe.”

“Peaches.”

Seol Iri gulped, and a faint smile touched her usually expressionless face.

Looks like she likes peaches.

Then she tried to turn around again.

Exasperated, Qing grabbed her once more.

“Hey, do you think peaches just grow on any nearby mountain? Delicious fruits don’t just lie around wild everywhere.”

“No. I saw some on the way.”

“Those are wild peaches, mountain peaches. They’re sour, astringent, and they’ll give you a stomach ache.”

Seol Iri carefully studied Qing’s expression, seeming uncertain whether Qing was trying to trick her or telling the truth.

Aigo, letting her go would be a disaster. Forget it, just have dinner with me. Seriously, how can you just set off on the road with no money? How can a person be so careless and reckless? Especially a woman. How were you planning to eat? Were you going to just sprawl out and sleep on the roadside?

Qing (Flower Beggar) clicked her tongue.

At that, Seol Iri’s eyes narrowed sharply. Zap.

“What. Got something to say?” Qing asked.

“Yes.”

“Really? Go ahead, say it.”

“No.”

What the hell is she playing at?

At the very least, I know for sure this girl has no friends.

Even that hedgehog Murong Young Lady, a thousand, ten thousand times more insecure and prickly, had followers in her ‘Participation Society’ or ‘No Women Society’ or whatever it was called.

“So, you won’t eat with me either?” Qing asked.

“No.”

“That means you will eat?”

“Yes.”

A mischievous smile touched Qing’s lips.

She was about to say, Then just say ‘I’m hungry, please buy me food’ once, but she stopped herself, thinking it was too cheap to hold food hostage like that.

Whatever else she might do, she shouldn’t be petty about food. That would be going too far.

“Let’s go. Let’s eat until our stomachs burst today.”

Which restaurant served the best Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?

It was actually a very difficult question.

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall wasn’t some health food you ate whenever you felt like it; it was among the most luxurious dishes in the Central Plains, something you might eat once a year on a very special occasion, if at all.

So, if you asked people, they’d only know about the places they’d eaten at. If you asked a server, they’d unconditionally claim their own restaurant was the best, making them unreliable.

But Qing’s fierce gluttony sparked her brilliant brain, and she found a solution.

“Hey, server,” Qing called out. “What’s the starting price for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall here?”

“Ah, Young Lady! Ours starts at fifteen nyang. If we seat you at the Beggar’s Seat, it starts at five nyang…”

“Hmm. I’ll look around and come back.”

Being seated at the ‘Beggar’s Seat’ wasn’t really about a beggar’s spot; it meant putting them in the most visible location.

Two beauties would surely make business explode.

Qing immediately dismissed it.

“Ours starts at twenty nyang…” another server offered.

“If we could seat you at the Beggar’s Seat, we should be the ones treating you…” said yet another.

“Ours starts at twenty-five nyang as the base price,” announced a server at the next establishment.

Finally, Qing found the answer.

“Well, our main branch’s prices are a bit steep,” the server admitted.

“Good. Is there a cool table available?” Qing asked.

“Aigo, is there any question!”

And so, Qing and Seol Iri settled into a prime spot in a wide-open corner on the top floor of the restaurant.

“Now then, which Buddha Jumps Over the Wall would you like?” the server asked. “We have Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Premium Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Super Premium Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Unique Peerless Ultra Premium Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and the Supreme Ultra Premium Special Deluxe Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.”

Somehow, I feel like I should be pulling a gacha.

Qing suppressed the long-forgotten feeling and ordered the Supreme Ultra Premium Special Deluxe Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, along with some fried eggplant and a few vegetable dishes for fiber intake.

Having landed a big catch after a long time, the server practically shouted, “SUPREME!!! ULTRA PREMIUM!!! SPECIAL!!! DELUXE!!!” repeating the order with a voice rivaling a Lion’s Roar before scurrying away.

And so, as they waited excitedly for the food…

“……”

“Young Lady Seol? It’s quite hot these days, isn’t it?” Qing ventured.

“Yes.”

“……”

“……”

She wouldn’t initiate conversation, and when Qing tried, she cut it off with curt, one-word answers. She was truly a difficult type to be around.

Finally, the awkward time between the awkward you and me came to an end. The server brought a visibly luxurious pot, lifted the lid, and the uniquely sweet aroma of Shaoxing wine instantly spread, accompanied by all sorts of delicious smells!

“Whoa. It looks delicious already. Um. Young Lady Seol? You’re drooling.”

“I am not.”

Seol Iri wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.

What do you mean, you’re not? Yet her gaze was fixed intently on the contents of the pot.

If asked what Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was, one could simply say it was a stew of everything delicious simmered in wine.

Among the essential ingredients were shark fin, sea cucumber, and abalone. For meats, there was Huotui, considered the best dried meat in the Central Plains.

Of course, being inland, the shark fin was missing, and the dried sea cucumber looked a bit wrinkly, but still, looking at all the various ingredients, one couldn’t help but smile.

Qing first served Seol Iri a heaping portion, then took a generous amount for herself, finally beginning her late dinner.

Qing, naturally, devoured her food.

Because ‘devour’ was the word that best suited this woman in the entire world. It was almost too crude to even call it ‘eating’ nicely.

But Seol Iri ate well too.

She initially inspected the dish suspiciously, as if seeing it for the first time, picking apart the ingredients, poking and prodding, turning them over. But as soon as she put a piece of century egg in her mouth—

Wow. What’s with that smile?

Qing stared blankly as Seol Iri’s smile bloomed wide.

Her face was already Qing’s type, but the enchanting smile spreading across it, tinged with a blush, was enough to make even Qing forget how to use her chopsticks.

Of course, her body remembered, so her left hand (her right was completely torn up) automatically moved, shoveling food into her mouth, startling her tongue and jaw into action as she chewed and swallowed diligently.

“Haah, haht, huaah❤.”

People from the Northern Sea traditionally ate everything piping hot. Meaning, they handled hot food very well.

Seol Iri cast aside all decorum and began inhaling her food, but there was a different feeling to it than Qing’s devouring… wait, what the—why are you eating like that? It’s… it’s really erotic.

The customers dining on the same floor were startled by the sudden, almost intimate sounds coming from a woman—not quite moans, but close—and turned their gazes.

What followed was either a disaster for the customers or the luck of witnessing a spectacle never to be seen again in this world.

Two peerless beauties were dining. One woman stuffed food into her mouth until her cheeks bulged, chewing as if settling a score with her parents’ murderer.

Anyone watching would click their tongue at such uncouth table manners, thinking even a pig wouldn’t eat like that, yet because of her beauty, it somehow felt like a pleasant sight—a strange and wondrous experience.

The other woman ate heartily and well, but every breath escaping her mouth and nose was mixed with an endearing moan.

Unrelatedly, it was quite strange how all the customers suddenly crossed their legs or sat with them primly together.

Regardless, Seol Iri had already lost half her senses.

The Northern Sea Ice Palace was not well-off.

People from barren lands rarely have full storehouses. Storehouses are built only after people’s bellies are full.

Thus, although Seol Iri had been ordered south to pursue a criminal, she hadn’t received much for expenses from the start.

It was partly due to their circumstances, but also because they expected her to catch the person quickly.

Ice Palace people stand out anyway, so just go to the Central Plains, ask around, and you’ll catch them soon enough, right?

The people of the Ice Palace were ignorant country bumpkins who didn’t realize the Central Plains were not just vast and wide, but practically infinite.

They considered their own ice plains to be the widest land, reaching the ends of the earth, so what more could be said?

That’s why Seol Iri had been living off the Murim Alliance’s food while staying there.

Occasionally, when she craved something tasty, she would attend the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly and eat the banquet food.

For reference, Peng Daesan had described banquet food as being designed assuming it would be served cold, looking good but hard to praise for its taste.

But Seol Iri found even that delicious, thinking, Central Plains people are so cheap, keeping things like this to themselves. But wasn’t there any food that was hot, really hooooot, something to warm the insides?

That was why Seol Iri, despite having no friends, occasionally showed her face at the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly.

Moreover, she completely blocked anyone else’s approach, so she had never been treated to a meal by anyone.

Therefore, this was the first time since Seol Iri had entered the martial world that she was experiencing a proper, high-class dish—and one perfectly suited to the Northern Sea palate, which demanded food be boiling like lava!

Thus, the two women’s combative meal continued, and on the top floor, where the restaurant’s most expensive seats were, the other customers held their breath, watching, completely halting table turnover.

“Phew. I’m full.”

Leaning back, Qing rubbed her protruding belly, which looked like she was five or six months pregnant. It’s practically true, she thought, since I am raising something inside—surprisingly, a cute little Gu Poison.

Seol Iri stared at Qing’s pregnant-looking belly with utter fascination before bowing her head deeply.

“Thank you for the meal. I appreciate it.”

It was a surprisingly polite expression of gratitude.

Is it the bond formed over a meal? Did her favorability increase a bit because we ate together? Qing grinned and attempted some post-meal conversation.

“How was it? Did you like it?”

“Yes.”

Guess not.

“Now that we’ve finished eating, Young Lady Seol should stop following me and return to the Alliance.”

“No.”

She didn’t deny following, not that she seemed inclined to hide it anyway.

“You said you don’t have money,” Qing pointed out. “Where are you planning to sleep tonight? On the street?”

At that, Seol Iri looked at Qing with a sullen expression, remaining silent for a long moment before uttering a single sentence.

“I’ll go back, sleep, and come back. Wait for me.”

“Ah. You’re going back now to sleep and then come back?” Qing clarified. “Well, if you leave now, you’ll arrive sometime tonight, have breakfast tomorrow morning, and you could be back before lunch.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s say that’s the plan. What about tomorrow? I’m going to Mount Zhongnan. Are you going to go back and sleep every night?”

Seol Iri bit her lip.

“I’ll sleep outside.”

“Have you ever slept outdoors before?”

“Yes. Many times.”

Seol Iri only lacked knowledge of the Central Plains’ ways.

She belonged to the resilient Northern Sea people who had forcefully taken root and survived in lands unfit for human habitation.

“Instead of doing that, since it’s getting late and dark, why don’t you get a room with me for the night and then head back?” Qing suggested.

“No.”

“I’m planning a big detour through Sichuan. Are you going to follow me the whole way, sleeping outdoors every night?”

“Yes.”

She was incredibly stubborn.

Qing gave up trying to persuade her.

Well, maybe she’ll get tired following me and give up eventually.

“Alright. If Young Lady Seol insists.”

Just as Qing said that and was about to stand up, thinking she should find an inn…

“Where is Young Lady Ximen staying?” Seol Iri asked.

“I’m going to look for a place now.”

“Then, when are you leaving tomorrow?”

Why ask? Qing wondered, then realized it was confirmation work to keep following her.

Do people normally ask this so blatantly?

A hint of mischief rising, Qing replied.

“Whenever I feel like it. I can’t really sleep when I’m alone, you know? If I really can’t sleep, I might just take off in the middle of the night. So keep a close watch. Don’t lose me.”

It wasn’t purely malicious; since she insisted on sleeping outside, Qing wanted her to stay alert and not let her guard down.

Young Lady Seol is quite skilled too… Hmm, is calling a Peak Realm pipsqueak ‘skilled’ an insult to actual experts? Mid-level, right. Since Young Lady Seol is at least mid-level, she probably won’t fall victim to anything nasty if she just stays alert.

Being financially very well-off, Qing rented a high-class room in a high-class inn, washed up refreshingly, and threw herself onto the hiiigh-class bed.

It was definitely worth the money; her body sank into the mattress, exceedingly comfortable.

Like this, I should be able to fall asleep quickly. Hmm. Sleep. Sleep.

But sleep wouldn’t come.

To be precise, her body was tired, her mind exhausted, and waves of drowsiness washed over her, yet closing her eyes and lying down felt uncomfortable everywhere, making sleep impossible.

She thought she might have dozed off intermittently, but she jolted awake with a terribly dreadful feeling, left only with the awareness that the same forgotten nightmare was repeating itself each time she drifted off.

She still couldn’t fall asleep alone.

Finally, Qing sat up, ruffling her hair wildly.

The bedroom was silent when alone.

Still, the refreshing sound of rain falling outside the oil-paper window—ssshwaaaa—permeated the room, so perhaps it was fortunate it wasn’t completely silent.

Even before leaving her hometown, Qing had always liked rain she wasn't caught in. Especially the sound of rain heard from a comfortable, secure place—how soothing it was for mind and body.

Qing slid the window open completely.

Sssshwaaaa!

The crisp sound of rain, like frying tempura, filled the room.

Wow, the sound of rain. I really love it. Makes me want Pajeon(scallion pancakes).

Maybe that was why.

Listening to the utterly refreshing sound of the rain, her mind seemed to gradually calm down.

I think I can sleep now. A premonition, or perhaps a conviction, arose.

Not wanting to lose the drowsiness that had finally come after so long, Qing quickly lay back down on the bed.

And so, ssshwaaaa, the truly cool sound of rain, felt like it was washing away all her worries, making her feel really good, and sleep was coming, sleep…

Just as Qing was about to drift off…

Suddenly, a thought struck her. Her eyes flew open, and she bolted upright.

Ah, right! Young Lady Seol!

<What happens next? Read at Celestial Pavilion>