CHAPTER ~19
The hour was still midday, the sun blazing high above.
Half the people wandering through the street were clearly outsiders — merchants, travelers, or peddlers, judging by their tidy appearances. The rest looked like locals, shopkeepers, or laborers helping the caravans.
Since the Moyong clan dominated Liaoning and the Peng clan held Hebei, it wasn’t surprising to see plenty of people crossing this border region.
What was surprising, however, was the one thing all these people — regardless of origin or status — had in common.
The moment they spotted Woo-hee, they all instinctively took a few wary steps back.
Then, as if terrified of making eye contact, they turned their heads and scurried away.
Noticing this odd behavior, Woo-hee frowned deeply.
“Yeongho.”
Her voice was so low that only someone with Yeongho’s level of martial skill could’ve heard her.
“Do you think the rumor about me and the Moyong clan already spread this far?”
A truly spectacular leap in logic.
How could she be so confident that the problem wasn’t her appearance?
Yeongho sighed. “You didn’t leave anyone alive, remember? How could rumors spread? No one even knows who did it — some might not even know the Moyong clan was wiped out yet.”
“Then what’s their problem? Why does everyone flinch when they see me? They keep running into alleys instead of walking down the main road. Do I… smell bad or something?”
“…Junior Sister.”
Yeongho’s gaze swept her up and down, dead serious from head to toe.
“To the average person’s eyes, you look like a deranged lunatic — hair wild as a ghost’s, carrying a black bear corpse on your head.”
Woo-hee’s eyes widened in outrage.
“I tied my hair up! That’s not wild!”
“It’s white.”
“So what? My hair isn’t scary white — it’s beautifully white!”
“You’re not an old granny, so that alone makes you stand out. Add that unnatural energy of yours, and of course people think you’re some kind of spirit monster.”
Yeongho’s tone was firm, the expression on his face so serious it made arguing pointless.
“Ugh, seriously!” Woo-hee stomped the ground with a loud thud!
“Don’t these people know Confucius? He said a gentleman does not speak of monsters and ghosts!”
Guiryeongnansin — the saying that referred to all things supernatural, mysterious, and bizarre.
Yeongho’s expression turned subtly strange.
After all, Woo-hee herself was practically the embodiment of guiryeongnansin.
It wasn’t just her striking white hair. Without mentioning her monstrous strength — granted by the Hundred Steps Blood Arts — there was also her bizarre, beast-like temper.
Honestly, he sometimes wondered if she was even human at all.
Perhaps she was a beast wearing human skin.
Either way…
“Junior Sister, use your head. If everyone walking around here were true gentlemen, would the Central Plains look like this?”
Yeongho was trying his best to hammer some basic common sense into her — the kind needed to survive in the martial world.
He was, after all, the poor soul stuck taking care of this walking disaster.
“…Okay, that’s fair.”
Though she couldn’t stand being criticized, Woo-hee accepted others’ logic surprisingly well.
Even so, she still glared daggers at innocent passersby, clearly annoyed, but at least she seemed to acknowledge her appearance might be the issue.
“In my opinion, if you just wake that guy up and make him walk on his own two feet, half the problem will be solved.”
For once, Yeongho’s tone was unusually kind.
After all, whether he liked it or not, traveling with a white-haired ghost hauling a body made him look like part of a freak show. And he really missed proper meals and real beds.
“Yeah, but if I wake him up and he just faints again, what’s the point? My plan was to dump him at a clinic and go eat at the inn.”
Woo-hee pouted, trying to sound like she had a plan.
Yeongho nodded — then without warning, reached out.
Grab.
His hand clamped down on Baekho’s collar and — with alarming ease — flung the burly man aside.
Thud!
“AAAGH!”
Baekho jolted awake with a scream.
“W-what’s happening…!”
His thick arms flailed in the air before he collapsed, crawling on all fours like a confused animal. Clearly, his mind hadn’t caught up with his body yet.
Woo-hee folded her arms and silently looked at Yeongho, as if to say See? Told you so.
It wasn’t often Yeongho met someone so utterly useless that he was at a loss for words.
He stepped forward to help the man stand — and that was when Baekho suddenly lurched forward.
“Uuugh…!”
His body swayed, his vision spinning. Then, without warning—
“BLEEEERGH!”
He threw up violently.
All while clutching Yeongho’s ankle with a grip like a bear’s paw.
“Ugh. Disgusting.”
Woo-hee pinched her nose dramatically and took several steps back.
“I’ll be at the inn. You, go find a stream or something and wash up. You reek — they’ll kick you out before you even cross the threshold.”
Yeongho said nothing. His expression was dark, like the shadow of a storm.
“I’ll be eating at that inn over there,” she added cheerfully. “It’s close to the clinic anyway, and I’ll have to come back for Baekho later.”
As planned, Baekho had been dragged — half-conscious — to the nearest doctor and dumped there with a hefty pile of silver as advance payment.
Before that, he’d managed to grab Yeongho’s ankle and vomit all over him before promptly fainting again.
His internal injuries seemed mostly healed by now, but neglecting his external wounds had caught up to him — his fever was burning high.
Yeongho had very nearly put him out of his misery then and there. His sword had been drawn, killing intent sharp in the air.
Woo-hee, seeing this, felt immensely satisfied.
Yeongho’s misery was her happiness.
The instant Yeongho’s sword sliced through the air, Woo-hee had yanked Baekho backward by the collar — just in time.
The blade cut nothing but empty air.
Completely unaware, Baekho had once again owed his life to Woo-hee.
Of course, his appearance was a disaster — and now, reeking of vomit, it was worse than ever.
Unbothered, Woo-hee grabbed him by the back of his neck and dragged him along the ground. He was barely alive anyway — a little extra bruising wouldn’t change much.
After roughly threatening — no, politely persuading — a few bystanders for directions, she’d managed to find a doctor. The man had nearly refused to treat Baekho, but the sight of all that silver changed his mind quickly enough.
Now, back outside, Woo-hee turned to the foul-smelling, miserable Yeongho and waved her hand.
“If I walk with you, they’ll think I smell bad too. Go wash up!”
Her face was lit up with glee, eyes gleaming with almost manic delight.
Yeongho looked utterly defeated — so much so that even sighing seemed pointless now.
He trudged away like a hollow shell, eyes empty, spirit crushed. He didn’t even bother using his lightness skill.
Why bother asking “Why can’t I just wash up at the inn?”?
It didn’t matter. That damn brat only wanted to mock and torment him anyway. Logic had no place here.
Would he waste time arguing, or waste time hiking all the way to a stream? Either way, he’d lose.
Meanwhile, Woo-hee — in high spirits after successfully tormenting Yeongho — skipped down the road toward the inn near the clinic.
It would be her first night in a real bed since leaving home, and she fully intended to pick the nicest place in the village.
Luckily, Namyu Village was home to a surprisingly fine three-story inn — just what she wanted.
As she approached the entrance, a wide grin spread across her face.
Even from outside, she could smell the rich aroma of cooking drifting through the air.
Apparently, picking up Baekho really had been good luck.
After all, she’d gotten a fateful connection with the Moyong clan’s downfall, her villain career had opened wide, and now, by dumping him at a clinic, she’d found a restaurant that smelled divine.
And as the final bonus — Baekho had managed to cover Yeongho in vomit.
What a perfect underling, Woo-hee tho
ught proudly.
Maybe she really was the luckiest villain in the world.
Yes. She was sure of it.
