I Am This Murim's Crazy Bitch-Chapter 239: Even a Ronin Has the Loyalty of a Ronin (12)

“That won’t do. Miss Ximen is a woman.

If even the smallest rumor spreads, she’ll never be able to hold her head high for the rest of her life.

Didn’t she already tell us she had her own plan and asked us to wait?

Right now, we have to trust her and wait.”

“Tch. You're worried about reputation?

What the hell does reputation matter if you’re dead?

Miss Ximen’s a wanderer like us—she probably values her life more than some useless pride—”

“And that very Miss Ximen you’re talking about deliberately let herself be captured.

Doesn’t that mean she’s confident in her plan?”

Their opinions clashed—

Wang Nopil wanted to immediately report to the Murim Alliance and launch a rescue mission,

while Do Raeman insisted they trust Qing and wait.

Just then, Ma Yeongjeon, the practitioner of Earth Palm Fist, cut in.

“Enough. Fighting among ourselves isn’t going to solve anything.

I heard that someone from the Divine Maiden Sect, someone important, is here to attend the tournament.

At the very least, we should inform her.”

The other wanderers agreed immediately.

Thus, they decided to send someone to Wucheon Pavilion to summon an elder from the Divine Maiden Sect.

And so, summoned by the wanderers, Ximen Surin arrived—

looking so dumbfounded, so utterly speechless, that she couldn’t even muster a laugh.

What the hell is this mess?

Who’s calling who?

No matter how urgent the message was supposed to be, there were limits to what was acceptable.

Ximen Surin was a grand elder of Murim—

by age, by martial rank, by social standing, it was an enormous insult to even think of comparing her to mere wanderers.

Of course, to be fair to the wanderers—

Ximen Surin hadn’t officially participated in the Murim Tournament, so she hadn’t been seated among the honored elders or the Elder’s Bench above the VIP section.

Thus, the wanderers had no way of knowing who the distinguished lady often seen near Qing even was.

Even the direct heirs of noble houses didn’t know.

Those who did know were told: Don’t ask. Don’t even go near her.

Still, ignorance was ignorance, and insolence was insolence.

In fact, Ximen Surin’s curiosity was piqued—

Fine. Let’s see what kind of nonsense they’ve dragged me here to hear.

Thus, for the first time in her life, Ximen Surin paid a personal visit to the Guest Pavilion,

a low-grade lodging she never imagined she'd step foot in.

“You called for me?”

“Yes, ma’am. You are an elder of the Divine Maiden Sect, are you not?

There’s something important you need to hear—”

“So you don’t even know who I am, and you dared to summon me? How amusing.

I am Ximen Surin.

Do you not even have the decency to introduce yourselves properly before an elder?”

It was the mischief of the old.

If these insolent little brats turned pale and flailed in panic, she was fully prepared to teach them some manners.

But—

the moment they heard her name, the wanderers’ faces lit up with color, eyes bright with hope as if salvation had arrived.

“Grandmother! Please help us! Actually, the truth is—!”

And just like that, the wanderers all threw themselves to the floor and, without hesitation, confessed everything.

From acquiring the Sleepfire Pill, to tracking the Blood Sect and the Gu parasites, and finally, to Qing’s heroic sacrifice.

“You—You little shits—!”

The fury of the greatest woman of Murim exploded like a volcano.

Ximen Surin’s long hair rose wildly, and the crushing pressure of her presence bore down on the wanderers like a mountain.

“How—HOW could you not have reported this last night?!

The Blood Sect?! Those damn monsters?! This cannot stand!

Where—WHERE is it?!”

“I’ll guide you there immediately—”

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“What are you waiting for?! Move, you idiots!”

Ximen Surin’s vision darkened.

No doubt about it—

her kind, sweet, softhearted disciple had charged in, clueless about Gu parasites, clueless about what kind of monsters the Blood Sect really were,

probably thinking she could just run away if things went south—that foolish, carefree attitude of hers.

No. No. Blood Sect—never.

What horrors might her disciple have suffered already, fallen into the filthy hands of beasts that didn’t even deserve to be called human?

Just the thought made her heart plummet, her mind go blank, her soul feel like it was slipping out of her body.

That goddamn Cheon Yuhak bastard—what the hell is he even doing?!

She'd entrusted her precious disciple to him, thinking,

"Oh, he's a scholar of Hanlim Academy, he must be reliable."

What a mistake.

Her disciple, smiling brightly, saying “I’ll be right back”—

That smile was still vivid before her eyes, as if she might walk through the door any moment—

"Ah— I just missed her.

Looks like we crossed paths.

Oh—and the wanderers are here too!"

—Still vivid?

“Sifu! I’m back!

You know, those Blood Sect bastards? I found their base!

And they’re total pieces of shit!

So—”

“XIMEN QING, YOU DAMN BRAT—!!!”

SMAAACK!!!

Qing collapsed to the floor without even managing a scream, clutching her head.

When the pain was that overwhelming, you couldn’t even roll around and whine—

You just froze, crushed flat into the floor.

Qing learned that firsthand.

“Miss Ximen!” “Miss Ximen!!”

“Miss Ximen, are you alright?!”

The wanderers rushed to her in a panic, falling to their knees around her.

Some, overcome with emotion, even burst into tears—

their relief, joy, and guilt for all their past worries spilling out at once.

It was... well, it was a bit strange, seeing a bunch of men bowing tearfully around a girl who was face-down and motionless on the floor.

“Sniff... You went through all this... for us...”

“Come on, we’re all wanderers here.

What did I say?

What are wanderers?”

“...Loyalty.”

"Alright. That’s enough, right?

You’re fine, so just go up to the third floor of Wucheon Pavilion and stay there.

Nanah—you know about the Poison Queen, right? She’ll administer a quick antidote for now.

Just think of it as getting some deep sleep for three or four days."

After urging the wanderers, who were too overwhelmed with gratitude, guilt, and shame to even lift their heads, to hurry along—

Qing saw them off and was left alone °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° with Ximen Surin, whose face was set in a stern, heavy expression.

"This time, I absolutely cannot let it slide.

What the hell were you thinking, doing something so reckless?

If you wanted to die, girl, you could’ve just told this old woman—I would have split you cleanly in half."

"Hehehe, you were worried about me?"

"Worried, my ass!

The moment I heard you swallowed a Gu parasite and got captured by those Blood Sect bastards, I nearly fainted!"

"Uh, sorry about that.

Actually, there was something I didn’t mention, but... I have a bit of a special constitution.

Poisons... don’t work on me at all."

"Poisons don’t work on you?

Are you saying you’re immune to all poisons? That you were born with 'Invulnerable to All Poisons'?

That’s the most outrageous bullshit I’ve ever heard."

"Hehe. Yeah, something like that.

I mean, it’s apparently not even that good of a thing."

Ximen Surin narrowed her eyes at Qing.

Qing kept lowering her gaze, clearly reluctant to meet her master's eyes, making it obvious she was hiding something.

If Qing had lied smoothly, Surin might’ve been fooled—

but this awkward, guilty demeanor basically screamed "please don't ask me any more."

It made it hard to press her further even though it left Surin frustrated.

"Fine.

So you were immune to poison, that’s why you just swallowed the Gu like it was nothing.

You weren’t worried there might be some other effect?"

"Nope.

It seems like... anything poison-related just doesn’t work on me."

"So you figured you’d be able to get out no matter what happened, huh?

That’s why you walked straight into their trap."

"You know me.

If they tie me up, I’ll just undo the ropes; if they block me, I’ll just bust through..."

Ximen Surin let out a deep, heavy sigh.

Since Qing hadn’t acted recklessly without a plan, she couldn't exactly scold her any further.

If anything, it was impressive—something that deserved praise for quick wit and courage.

But still. She just couldn’t bring herself to praise her.

"Fine.

So where are the Blood Sect bastards holed up?"

"Ah, well... Turns out, the underground of Kaifeng is way, way bigger than I thought."

****

In Qing’s hometown, there had been a popular, cynical saying for a while:

“The dream is grand, but reality’s a sewer.”

Gyeong Damgan, the Mad Demon of Accusation, was exactly that.

He had once harbored grand dreams too.

At the twilight of his life, he wanted to shape precious materials into masterpieces—art he could be proud of before death.

This final spark of ambition filled him with excitement and fervor like never before.

His initial plan:

Grab a couple of wanderers by morning, chop off a few heads as payback for their arrogance.

There were twenty of them anyway—killing ten or so would be no big deal.

As long as he spared half, it would still be plenty fun to see the survivors’ reactions.

Then, once he sowed the seeds of misunderstanding among them, the rest of the wanderers—those stupid, righteous bastards they tried to protect—

would blame it all on her.

Then they'd deliver violence, humiliation, and torment beyond imagination.

That was how he had planned the "discarding" phase.

And maybe, just maybe—he could use the broken Sword Blossom, Moyong Juhee, for an extra show.

Throw her and the Divine Maiden Sect disciple into the same room.

Give them a grand feast, but hide rotten rice soaked in piss among the dishes and tell them to pick just one to eat.

See if that upright disciple would offer herself first—or if she'd crack and reveal her ugly, selfish nature.

Good bedding for one. A shit bucket for the other.

A perfect setup.

Moyong Juhee was already halfway broken.

If he could gently twist her resentment toward the Divine Maiden Sect disciple, what an entertaining sight it would be.

If he could make Moyong Juhee directly torture her...

oh, what a masterpiece it would be.

Such was Gyeong Damgan’s glorious dream.

But reality?

The wanderers holed themselves up inside the Murim Alliance, never coming out.

As if they had planned it.

Even with the Alliance's usual complacency, sneaking in now would be suicide.

He figured: fine.

Two of them would have to come out for the next round of matches anyway.

He'd catch them then.

Still, it felt wasteful to come back empty-handed.

So he at least dragged back four random heads to toss at the Divine Maiden Sect disciple.

“You killed two, so I’m returning four.”

He thought it might make her feel guilty.

Or maybe furious.

He wanted to see tears—

but not enough to completely break her spirit.

Thus, humming a cheerful tune with four heads neatly wrapped, Gyeong Damgan headed back underground.

Only to hear the news:

Sword Blossom had escaped.

The moment his grand, perfect plan shattered into pieces.

"What?!

You idiots lost the girl with a Gu parasite inside her!?

HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!

YOU GODDAMN MORONS!

What about the Divine Maiden Sect disciple!?"

"Uh... um... she's still in the dungeon."

"Fuuhh—good.

There’s no way that girl can run.

She’s got a hostage’s life on the line, after all.

Kuhuhuh!

Heh, maybe I can tell her Sword Blossom ditched her—

get them fighting against each other..."

At that moment, one of his underlings scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Uh, actually...

It was the Divine Maiden Sect disciple who broke Sword Blossom out."

"What?!

You just said she was still in the dungeon!"

The underling hesitated for a second, then confessed.

"Well, she was still there...

but, uh, she left and came back on her own.

She said she got hungry and went out to have dinner..."