Chapter 76: Disguising as a Woman (2)
A wave lantern boat breaks the thin ice and cuts through the current.
The river wind is cold.
The crew members walking around the deck touch their noses and ears once to check if they have not fallen off.
In the cabin inside the boat, the courtesans who chose the trip to the Yangtze River are huddled together.
Between those who strip their clothes and burn lice over the oil lamp, or throw urine and feces contained in the chamber pot out of the window, Chui and Hae Baek-jeong are squeezed in.
“Huu…….”
Hae Baek-jeong let out a deep sigh beneath the face veil covering her face.
“To think this is a place where I once stayed, but now I am in a situation where I have to sneak in……”
Until she accumulated deep internal force and martial skills at a young age, she had to train by roaming the waterways and mountain paths of the Yangtze River countless times.
Suddenly, the face of the master who trained her to this realm comes to mind.
Hae Baek-jeong wiped her tears with the edge of her veil.
“There is no way master is dead. He must surely be alive. Someone who was so strong and righteous……”
“If you say master. Do you mean Gong Je-hwan, the Union Master of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union?”
At Chui’s question, Hae Baek-jeong slowly nodded her head.
Giant Butcher Gong Je-hwan. He is a hero called the great pillar of the Heterodox Alliance.
Although he was a bandit, he was a righteous bandit who did not plunder the goods of the poor, but plundered only those of people who accumulated wealth unjustly, to relieve the hungry and the weak.
However, since he never compromised with those who had different intentions, and treated those who resisted very brutally, the public evaluation was divided into extremes.
Of course, since he was also a figure who had already died and disappeared before Chui active in the martial world, there was not much Chui knew about him.
‘Probably the same would have been true for this woman named Hae Baek-jeong.’
If it had not been for Chui, Hae Baek-jeong would have been captured and killed by the water bandits of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union who pursued her.
That meant, in Chui’s original fate before his regression, she was also a person who had died long ago.
Chui thought so.
At least until Hae Baek-jeong spoke her real name.
“Ah. Come to think of it, we have not even exchanged names until now. Since we don’t know when or where either of us will die, let the living at least remember the dead.”
“…….”
“My name is Jeok-hyang. Yours?”
“……!”
At the unexpected name, Chui opened his closed eyes.
It was a name he knew.
“Why are you looking like that? I asked what your name is?”
“…….”
Chui quietly gazed into her face as she looked at him with wide, rounded eyes.
Memories slowly surfaced.
The face he originally knew and the face he was seeing with his eyes now were slowly merging into one.
Jeok-hyang.
Her alias inside the mountain fortress was Pig Thousand-Head.
To those who hated water bandits, she was Pig Butcher.
But Chui knew that she would be called by another alias in the future.
Blood Zetian.
The real name of the worst heroine and eccentric heroine in the history of the martial world was indeed Jeok-hyang.
‘……I had even met her. Twice.’
Chui had met her before his regression.
The first was during the First Orthodox-Heterodox War, and the second was during the Third Yuan-Demon War.
There was a time when the righteous and heterodox sects fought fiercely entangled with each other.
A war of ideology and ideology, sword and sword, to re-establish the order of the Central Plains martial world.
The Chui of that time had held a spear at the forefront of the heterodox sects.
A blood front where the martial artists of the Martial Alliance and the martial artists of the Heterodox Alliance killed and killed each other, and countless young people fell like bugs every day.
At that time, Chui had witnessed from afar a terrifying female expert who slaughtered countless martial artists of the Heterodox Alliance.
Despite not belonging to the righteous path, the alias given to her after that day because she mercilessly slaughtered the martial artists of the heterodox path was ‘Blood Zetian’.
It meant ‘Wu Zetian covered in blood’, and considering that the posthumous title of the first and only female empress in history was attached to her alias, one could roughly guess what her majesty would have been like.
Red hair fluttering in all directions.
The axe that split the martial artists of the Heterodox Alliance like firewood.
The hatred burning fiercely through the gaps in her hair.
For what reason Blood Zetian participated in the war at that time to slaughter the experts of the Heterodox Alliance was one of the mysteries of the martial world’s history that no one knew.
After that, she disappeared for more than a decade, only to appear again later in the war between the Central Plains and the Demonic Cult.
The Blood Zetian of that time was estimated to have set her territory near Bachu, and she overturned the martial world once again by mercilessly massacring righteous and demonic experts alike who entered her territory.
It was to the extent that, because of her alone, the entire Central Plains invasion force of the Demonic Cult bypassed the Bachu region to avoid her.
Chui, who implicitly sided with the Demonic Cult at that time, had accidentally run into Blood Zetian in an area called Ba-Shu Island.
It was at a much closer distance than during the Orthodox-Heterodox War.
The she of that time was breathing heavily with her whole body covered in blood.
Countless blade scars were carved on her face, and countless arrows were lodged in her body, making it impossible to even guess her body shape.
On the ground, righteous martial artists, heterodox martial artists, and demonic martial artists lay dead equally, making it clear that she belonged to none of the three.
‘…….’
‘…….’
Since Chui did not want to face that monster-like woman, he turned his steps, and Blood Zetian also silently glared at such Chui before going her way.
Since it was extremely rare for Chui to avoid a fight first, his memory was even more vivid.
The news heard after that was that immediately after the Yuan-Demon War ended, Blood Zetian was captured alive by the Heterodox Alliance and escorted, only to be personally executed by slicing to pieces by the Lord of the Heterodox Alliance.
‘I wondered who the expert who raised that Blood Zetian was. It was Gong Je-hwan, the Union Master of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union.’
Chui silently looked at the Blood Zetian, no, Jeok-hyang, in front of his eyes.
Unlike the appearance of Blood Zetian in his memories, the Jeok-hyang in front of him had a clear and clean face.
Although she was currently struggling to avenge her parents and master, that was merely a sleeping fit in a cradle compared to the harsh fate she was originally supposed to meet.
What kind of things would such a young and fresh girl go through?
Why would she turn into that miserable and terrifying state in his memories of his past life?
Chui recalled her past, which he had listened to with one ear so far.
The daughter of a blacksmith couple.
Parents who died unjustly by an unidentified influential figure.
A brother who went missing.
And now. She was walking into a dead land for the revenge of her master whose life or death she didn’t even know.
To repay the favor of raising her, and to hear about her parents’ enemy.
“……”
Chui suddenly thought of Ho Ye-yang.
Comparing the difference between her who shared life and death with him in his past life and her whom he met after regression…… the path the current Jeok-hyang would walk in the future was roughly drawn.
Eventually, Chui opened his mouth.
“My name is Chui.”
“Chui? That is a strange name. Where are you from?”
“Miao Tribe.”
“I see. I am Han Chinese, but what does that matter?”
Pig Butcher Jeok-hyang. She waved her hand toward Chui.
Eventually, she brought up the main point with a serious expression.
“Anyway. The place we are going now is the Dog Fortress of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union.”
“Is the Tiger Butcher there?”
“No. But the military rations or goods accumulated by the Tiger Butcher are stored there.”
In other words, it meant a strategic point for all mountain fortresses.
Jeok-hyang’s eyes shone.
“If we can only burn that place down, Tiger Butcher, that bastard’s eyes will completely roll back, won’t they? Even if we fail to kill him, we will be able to deal a big blow. This alone is quite a revenge.”
“That is good. Then we can burn everything down there and go find the Tiger Butcher immediately. It will be a good present.”
“But it will not be as easy as it sounds. Because……”
Hearing Chui’s reply, Jeok-hyang trailed off for a moment.
“The guy called Dog Butcher who is guarding that place is almost as strong as the Tiger Butcher.”
“Isn’t the rank decided according to the level of martial arts?”
“No. The rank is just in the order master accepted us as disciples. Of course, the skills of Senior Brother Zi and Senior Brother Chou are at a level no one can approach……”
“That means Rat Butcher and Ox Butcher are stronger than Tiger Butcher.”
“Yeah. Much stronger. That is why it is even more incomprehensible. Not to mention master, there are Senior Brother Zi and Senior Brother Chou, so how could Tiger Butcher, that bastard, commit mutiny? That is why I keep saying master must be alive from earlier……”
Jeok-hyang kept scratching her nose bridge, perhaps because the scar hidden by makeup was itchy.
Looking now, on the back of her hand scratching her nose bridge, there was a scar that looked as if it had been pierced and then healed.
“Anyway. There are especially many subordinates in Senior Brother Sul…… no, Dog Butcher’s fortress, so be careful. You know that there are twelve Hundred-Heads under a Thousand-Head, twelve Ten-Heads under a Hundred-Head, and ten water bandits under a Ten-Head, right?”
“Yes, I know.”
“I heard that the Ten-Heads who were in my fortress moved to Dog Butcher’s fortress in large numbers. So the number of subordinates will easily be double. Besides, they say all the criminals fleeing after committing crimes are submitting themselves these days…… I can’t even estimate how many troops there are by now.”
Jeok-hyang spoke worriedly.
But Chui did not seem to care at all.
“It does not matter.”
“?”
“The more enemies there are, the better.”
“??”
“Only then will I become stronger.”
“???”
Chui did not speak further.
How could he explain the principle of Spear Ghost Calling, which grows stronger the more spear ghost it absorbs?
Therefore, Jeok-hyang had no choice but to place her finger on her temple and spin it around.
Right at that moment.
“Watch out!”
The scream of the crew members was heard from above.
The courtesans who had been lying down suddenly jumped up in surprise.
Then they hurriedly put blankets or bundles over their heads and huddled closely.
Eventually.
…Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
Noisy sounds began to beat on the wooden ceiling.
“The initiation ceremony has begun.”
Jeok-hyang grimaced.
When there is a boat entering their territory, the water bandits unconditionally pour a barrage of arrows first.
Then noisy sounds rain down like this.
It is not for the purpose of actually killing, but just to suppress them, but sometimes people die.
…Bang!
As the bundle of blankets blocking the window fell out, an arrowhead pierced through into the inner room.
“Kyaah!?”
A courtesan screamed.
Since the blanket blocking the window fell out, arrows would soon fly in here.
…Thud! …Thud! …Thud!
As soon as everyone lay flat on the cabin floor, a few more arrows came in and lodged in the wall.
After about a quarter of an hour passed in that manner.
“Stop! Halt!”
The sound of arrows stopped.
Subsequently, rough curses along with heavy footsteps were heard from the deck.
“Get down quickly, you whores!”
Finally, the wave lantern boat arrived at its destination.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost