Fuck, I actually almost died.
There were actually a few dizzying moments.
I only barely survived thanks to Yang Sowol's help, and the fact that attacks rarely came at my side where Jin Jang-myeong was tucked in.
But no attacks went towards Jin Jangmyeong.
That meant the target of all those bad guys who had gathered at the inn was this rude little brat.
And to think she was almost stolen away like some spoils of war that would be made as a concubine.
What is she? Some kind of princess?
Her appearance was hardly looked like a princess though...
Just then, Yang Sowol bowed deeply to A-Qing.
A-Qing flinched in alarm.
Even though she'd aged gracefully, she was old enough to be her mother, making it a hundred times more burdensome. It was a huge burden.
"Once again, I am in your debt, Great Expert."
"Huh, debt? No, no, no. It's nothing. It's rea-Ugh."
A-Qing swung her arm and stifled a scream. Blood was still oozing from her arm. Other people's blood is good, but mine is precious. Am I selfish?
"Great Expert, your arm…!"
"It's fine. I just need to spit on it, and it'll heal."
A-Qing didn't need to worry about infection.
It was a wound that would heal with just some ointment and rest.
Though it would take a while and be very uncomfortable.
"But Great Expert, your arm…!"
"Ah, geez, my patience is wearing thin again…"
"Great Expert?"
"It's fine. Just an arm. It's a relief the kid's safe, I guess."
I did it! A-Qing grinned foolishly.
"More importantly, we need to treat it quickly."
Fortunately, Yang Sowol knew some basic medical arts. She even had good wound-healing medicine.
There was also an unfortunate point.
She couldn't numb it.
In the end, she bit down on a handkerchief instead of anesthetic.
So, while the dagger was extracted and the wound was stitched, A-Qing experienced hell on earth.
Deep wounds turned inside out, bulging outwards.
She generously pushed them back in and stitched them with large stitches, repeating the process according to the depth.
Afterward, she used small stitches for the outer layer.
By the time the wound was bandaged with clean cloth, A-Qing's eyes had already turned bloodshot.
All her capillaries had burst.
Of course, bursting into tears also contributed.
A true man or what not, it just hurt too damn much. Seriously.
Calming down, an embarrassed A-Qing changed the subject.
"So, who were those guys?"
"That… um…"
Yang Sowol's voice trailed off, hesitating. Then, after a moment, her expression became resolute.
"It would be rude not to tell my benefactor."
"Uh, I wasn't that curious."
She'd asked without thinking, and now it felt burdensome. She was being sincere, but Yang Sowol didn't believe her.
"Thank you for your consideration. Actually, this child is…"
It was so grand that she must have a big secret! A-Qing swallowed hard.
"She's a child born with Pure Yin Blood."
It was a shocking conclusion! Pure Yin Blood! She had no idea what that meant!
Yang Sowol, with the perceptiveness of her years, noticed this.
"Great Expert, Pure Yin Blood means…"
....
Yang Sowol was originally a martial artist, but after marrying her husband, she retired and settled in distant Fujian.
Her husband was a kind man, and so on. Basically, she was happy with her husband. The pinnacle of that happiness was when she became pregnant with a child.
The child was frail. Her hands and feet were always cold, she easily got indigestion, and once she fell asleep, she couldn't easily wake up. Of course, that fact didn't hinder their happiness.
Then, as the child grew a bit and she began teaching her basic self-defense, she realized the child's constitution was unusual. It was a type of severed meridian. A child born with severed meridians struggled to live past thirty.
The alarmed couple inquired far and wide, bringing in renowned doctors specializing in severed meridians.
The result was the worst.
Innate True Qi. It refers to the basic qi a person possesses. The amount of Innate True Qi varied slightly from person to person. But it was all pretty much the same. There were slight differences, but no major ones.
The nature of qi also differed slightly from person to person. It was often referred to as Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. But that too was all pretty much the same. There were slight differences, but no major ones.
However, very rarely, truly very rarely, a child is born with this nature pushed to its extreme.
Yin and Yang each possessed two properties.
Yin energy was cold and dark.
Among these, only the cold energy was separated and called Pure Yin. Only the dark energy was called Dead Yin.
Yang energy was bright and hot. Similarly, brightness was True Yang, and heat was Pure Yang.
These were the six extreme children born very rarely.
Male children born with the energies of Pure Yang, Extreme Yang, True Yang. Female children born with the energies of Dead Yin, Extreme Yin, Pure Yin. Among them, a female child with Pure Yin Blood was the most precious.
The child was indeed that Pure Yin Blood.
Meanwhile, among the wicked techniques of the Jianghu, there was something called Harvesting Yin to Nourish Yang. The act of stealing yin energy through sexual intercourse with a woman.
It differed from the Daoist art of the bedchamber. The art of the bedchamber involved sharing and circulating energies, benefiting both male and female. So, while the art of the bedchamber might be scandalous, it wasn't wicked. It was, after all, a type of Daoist immortal cultivation.
And among the six Yin-Yang types, Pure Yin was simply too convenient.
When it met with Yang energy, it settled downwards, enhancing its heat and brightness. For a martial artist who practiced Yang-dominant martial arts, there was no better spiritual medicine.
And for a martial artist who practiced Yin-cold martial arts? It was an outstanding spiritual medicine that made their Yin energy even purer.
And the Jianghu practitioners' thoughts on spiritual medicines: Spiritual medicines were worth risking one's life for. If you didn't risk your life for spiritual medicine, what else would you save your life for?
Jianghu practitioners were the kind of people who would face death for spiritual medicine. If the fact that she was born with Pure Yin Blood became known, the child would not survive. She would suffer the most miserable death in cruel agony.
They needed a background that could protect the child from threats too tragic to even speak of.
At the very least, until the child reached the realm of a First-Rate, where her Innate True Qi could no longer be taken by any means.
Fortunately, such a sect existed in the Jianghu.
Musan Divine Maiden Sect.
However, the journey from a remote village in Fujian province to Mount Musan in Hubei province was too harsh for the child. A journey across half the continent, with an already frail child.
But after her husband died, Yang Sowol no longer had time to hesitate. And so, mother and daughter took each other's hands and left home.
.....
"Wait a minute. So these crazy sons of bitches were all…"
That meant all those bastards had gathered to try and "get" one middle-school girl. This is… Jianghu?
Separately, the true identity of the little brat was also somewhat shocking.
You… you were a middle-school girl…?
A-Qing looked down at the little girl who was sound asleep, resting on her thigh.
Unable to endure the torture disguised as treatment, with her sobs muffled by the handkerchief in her mouth, only tears streaming down her face, this pain-ridden victim had brazenly claimed A-Qing's thigh. She was truly a wicked little brat.
"I, I'm truly sorry to say this, but if you would take pity on my child, would you perhaps consider accompanying us to Musan?"
"Of course! Those horny bastards…"
The sudden appearance of the mission window cut A-Qing off.
[Omen, (Unknown)th Crisis]
[You stand before a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.]
Actions to complete the mission:
Good Karma: Take the child to the Divine Maiden Sect.Or, take the child to a suitable sect.Good Karma: Transfer the spiritual medicine to its rightful owner.Bad Karma: Sell the spiritual medicine.Bad Karma: Take the spiritual medicine for yourself.Heavenly Slaughter Star: Destroy the spiritual medicine and take its essence.
[This choice could influence everything below Heaven.]
It was a Mission Window format she had never seen before.
Usually, Mission windows just popped up with "Sudden Mission," then "Kill the bad guy" or "Join the bad guys for evil deeds." Sometimes even "Kill the bad guy's friends too." Or "Kill everyone, good or bad." It was always something like that.
If she'd known this, she would've read some mission guides.
Character creation and early-game farming routes.
These were the only two pieces of information A-Qing had looked at before starting the game.
She didn't even have time to look up other information.
The game's file size wasn't that big to begin with.
The installation finished quickly, and she immediately started the game.
What's this Omen, and what's this (Unknown)th Crisis
The second good karma objective was also confusing. "Transfer the spiritual medicine to its rightful owner?"
Moreover, the word choice was unpleasantly explicit. There was only one mission objective that treated Jin Jangmyeong as a person. Spiritual medicine? Calling a perfectly breathing child "spiritual medicine" or whatever.
Grrr. A-Qing ground her teeth.
What the hell is this?
What do you want me to do? What am I?
Am I in a game? Am I the protagonist? What is this world?
The child? The mother? Are they people or programming?
Why me, why only me, why, why?
What is this omen anyway?
Why did middle school girl-chan meet me?
If it's not a coincidence, if we were destined to meet,
If I, having made no choices, am being controlled to follow a predetermined path in some game, heading towards a fixed ending, then what will I be after the end—
Suddenly, something cold touched her wrist.
A-Qing, with empty, faded eyes, moved her neck like a rusted, disjointed machine.
A small hand clutched her wrist.
It was cold, and it snapped her back to reality.
"it's cold"
The child pulled her wrist with frail strength. A-Qing's hand followed, touching the child's unusually cold cheek.
"Haaah."
A-Qing let out a deep sigh. A truly fucked-up feeling.
Just looking at the Status Window was enough to provoke a seizure. Wasn't that technically a disease?
Is this a mental illness? Me, Am I mentally ill?
Well, that's certainly a surprising fact.
But you guys would know if you experienced it too.
A-Qing forcibly swallowed the rising nausea. The bitter stomach acid, which had briefly surged up her esophagus and reached the back of her tongue, was forced back down. Scratching her throat roughly as an outlet for her frustration.
"Great Expert?"
"Ah. Yes. What were we talking about? Ah, right. Of course, we must go together. I can tell you this. Sure. Of course."
A-Qing replied. Isn't there a settings option or something? To turn off these suddenly popping up mission windows. Fucking annoying.
A-Qing looked down at the child's face instead of swearing. A sleeping child naturally calms one's mind and body. Humans probably evolved that way. To protect the vulnerable child? Perhaps?
Mission or not, A-Qing only had one choice.
Middle school girl-chan is a baby. You gotta protect babies. It was the obvious common sense of a cultured modern Korean.