I Am This Murim's Crazy Bitch-Chapter 231: Even a Ronin Has the Loyalty of a Ronin (4)

The fired-up warriors tore through the night.

Cheon Yuhak, leading the way, tracked the Trace-Seeking Incense with a mysterious Eastern technique whose principles Qing couldn’t yet understand.

It was one of the skills she’d have to learn eventually.

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Finally, Cheon Yuhak raised a finger outside a secluded, crumbling estate on the edge of the city.

“He’s in there?”

“Yeah. Hmm... no other presence I can sense.”

Qing closed her eyes and focused on the surrounding sounds.

With hearing that bordered on superhuman, she could pick up the breathing of nearby rogue warriors—but nothing else stood out.

She traced the length of the wall, then jumped up lightly to scan the grounds: one main building and a detached structure. Small layout.

She whispered, “I’ll go over the wall at the same time as everyone else. Could you keep watch just in case? There’s a chance someone—him, or a hidden accomplice—might try to run.”

“Hmm. Wouldn’t it be safer if I went with you? Who knows what’s in there. I can’t just let you go in alone.”

“I mean, I am good at slipping away, right? This has to be quick. We can’t let a single rat get away. And besides, if things really go south, we’ll need someone outside to call for help.”

“Hmph. I just hope I’m not worrying your lady master for no reason.”

Back in the previous generation, maybe. But Cheon Yuhak, still in his prime, knew nothing about Ximen Surin’s colorful past—or true nature.

The previous Shintu had deliberately hidden that entire mess just to bury their shame, so even now, Cheon Yuhak was completely in the dark about her.

“So where is he? Main building? Detached?”

“Main building. Central room. If it gets dangerous, just bail. Don’t do anything stupid trying to help lowly bastards like these.”

That was how rogues were treated in Zhongyuan.

But honestly, whether someone was lowly or noble, Cheon Yuhak’s words wouldn’t change. His priority was, and always would be, protecting his disciple.

“Alright, everyone. Our target’s in the central room of the main building. I’ll rush in through the front. Ma So-hyeop, circle to the back. Wang So-hyeop, take the right side...”

It wasn’t even a strategy—just basic four-way coordination.

Still, with only six real directions in the world, attacking from four meant the enemy would have no choice but to dig underground or fly.

And with that, Qing and the rogue warriors leapt over the wall.

The manor was barely big enough to qualify—just a glorified shed with weeds all over the yard.

They crossed the courtyard in a flash.

Qing kicked the door open with a loud BANG, bursting into the room.

Inside, sitting calmly in a chair, was an old man.

Despite being ambushed in the dead of night, he didn’t even flinch.

It was obvious—he’d been expecting them.

He opened his eyes wide, a glint flashing in them.

“Hmph. At this hour—”

BAM! The back wall exploded.

Ma So-hyeop’s group crashed through with a roar, flooding in to block the rear exit.

The old man grunted and, as if he’d never spoken, stayed perfectly composed. Again, his eyes flared.

“In the middle of the night—”

BOOM!

The right wall shattered next, Wang So-hyeop’s group storming in and spreading to either side, swords at the ready.

The old man casually brushed a piece of wall debris off his lap and opened his mouth again.

“When someone is trying to speak—”

CRASH!

The final wall—left side—blew open.

The rest of the rogue warriors poured in and closed the circle, surrounding him.

Qing thought:

Seriously? That was the worst-timed group attack I’ve ever seen. Can’t you all break in at once instead of staggering it like popcorn?

“...”

“...”

“...”

The old man sat silently, as if waiting for a cue, until he was finally certain everyone had arrived.

Then, at last, he began his speech.

“Ahem. I figured some impudent brats might track me down with the Trace-Seeking Incense.”

“Uh... huh.”

Qing glanced over at the other two men.

“I thought we’d been pretty subtle about this.”

“Ahem.”

The old man chuckled dryly.

“You rogue bastards are always the same. You can’t do anything right. Even with Vital Blood Pills in your systems, you couldn’t even beat a bunch of kids swinging swords. Only two of you made it this far?”

“Vital Blood Pill?!”

“Vital Blood Pill!”

“Vital Blood Pill!”

At least three people shouted at once.

Several of the other warriors looked horrified.

Qing figured, Damn. Must be a pretty infamous drug. Not in a good way.

“Man, you’re really relaxed for someone about to get ganged up on. What, are you some crazy master at the Profound Realm or something?”

“Haha. You’re an amusing one. I go by Gyeong Damgan. Your little orthodox brats probably know me better as Mad Demon of Scorn.”

“Mad Demon of Scorn?!”

“A villain of the Blood Sect!”

Qing didn’t chime in.

A glowing red ding flared in the corner of her vision—her mission window, finally begging for attention.

Yeah, of course.

She’d been wondering when it’d make a fuss.

She sighed and popped the damn thing open.

Something about the hundredth crisis, more Blood Sect garbage, and of course—Kill All of the Heavenly Killers. The end.

Loud and flashy as always, with zero useful info.

She shut it off again.

Screw it. I’ll do things my way.

“Is he, like, super famous? Woo So-hyeop, you know this guy?”

“They say he’s one of the Blood Sect’s demon masters...”

“That’s it?”

“They also say he does crazy shit all the time.”

“Well yeah. His title’s literally Mad Demon.”

Rogue knowledge was just like that—broad but shallow.

Scorned Mad Demon. Blood Sect bastard. Uses demonic martial arts.

Horrible temper, dirty tactics. The end.

Qing couldn’t help but miss Jegal Ihyeon.

If she were here, she’d have given the origin of the nickname, explained his martial style, his current realm, and probably dropped five unrelated historical anecdotes no one even asked for.

Gyeong Damgan seemed completely unfazed.

And now that they knew he was with the Blood Sect, several rogues were visibly gulping, beads of cold sweat trickling down their faces.

Still, with this many fighters, surely they could take on one demonic freak.

This wasn’t good.

Qing stepped in to pull the energy back together.

“Hey, old man. You not paying attention? You see all these swords pointed at you?

What, you think just because we’re rogues we’re not a threat? That because you’re some bigshot, you’re untouchable? Even a master dies if they get stabbed. You know that, right?”

Translation:

This arrogant bastard’s looking down on us. Let’s not forget—no matter how strong someone is, a blade still cuts.

The rogues’ energy surged again.

But Gyeong Damgan just gave a slow, oily chuckle.

“Heh. Still, I bet I could take at least half of you with me when I die.

Isn’t that right? You rogues love your own lives more than anything else.

Hmm... you, kid. Why are you standing there like you belong?”

“I’m rogue-born too, y’know?”

“Divine Maiden Sect had rogue disciples?”

“Guess I’m the first. So now you get it. Maybe if we all charge you at once, we could win. But... you really think we won’t?”

Qing didn’t blink as she answered.

“Because rogues have rogue loyalty.”

And like thunder, the warriors roared back:

“Damn right!”

“Rogues have loyalty!”

A thick killing intent rose in the rogues’ eyes.

This wasn’t just empty shouting anymore—their hearts were truly burning.

“Loyalty, is it? Then... how about this.”

Gyeong Damgan snapped his fingers.

“Ughk!” “Khh...!” “Aaargh...!”

The rogues dropped to the ground all at once, clutching their chests and groaning in pain.

Their faces went pale, their breath choking out in strangled gasps.

Only two people remained unaffected—Qing and one rogue.

Gyeong Damgan clicked his tongue.

“This is why you don’t go swallowing pills from strangers without even questioning it. What if there’d been a Gu poison in there?”

“Gu poison?”

“You don’t know what Gu is? Hah... Guess this old man’ll have to educate you.

Gu is... hmm, yes. A parasite. One that releases poison at its master’s command.”

Qing silently cursed.

What the hell. Murim has every damn thing under the sun, huh?

Now we’ve got remote-controlled parasites?

How the hell does that even work? What, he’s shooting brainwaves and manipulating them with psychic powers or something?

It clicked.

The one rogue who hadn’t taken the full pill—said he’d only tried half.

Ah, that’s the one with the parasite inside.

“So, girl. You spoke of rogue loyalty.

What now? You gonna let them all die?”

“Tch. You dirty old bastard. Fine, let’s do this—one-on-one. That work for you?”

Qing raised her sword, but Gyeong Damgan shook his head.

“Heh. Just so you know—if I die, the Gu parasites die with me. And when they die... well, all the poison they’re holding bursts out at once.

What do you think happens then?”

“Oh for fuc—what kind of convenient bullshit power is that? Then what can I do?”

“Well, I could change my mind and remove them. Or, you could bring in a physician and slice open their bellies to take them out.

Though, I should mention—cutting them open will trigger the poison too.”

“So basically, you’re saying you’re holding their lives hostage and waving them around like toys?”

“Kekeke... that’s my favorite thing to do, actually.

Now, I’ll give you one too. If you swallow it willingly, I’ll spare these worthless rogue bastards.

Well? You gonna protect your so-called loyalty? Or die for it?”

He held out his hand.

On his palm sat something pale and hazy, like a tiny white bean.

Qing squinted. Something inside the translucent membrane twitched.

But Qing had eaten worse bugs than that.

Honestly, this one was downright neatly packaged.

Almost polite, even.

And Qing—well, she’d never once worried about food poisoning no matter what kind of wriggling shit she’d eaten.

Poison bursting inside my stomach?

That’s just... high-quality protein, isn’t it?

By now, Qing was completely confident she had the constitution of a poison-devouring freak.

Anything harmful was automatically blocked by her body.

To be honest, her body was basically a walking scam.

“Haaah... fine. I’ll swallow it. Just quit torturing them already. Hurry up. They’re about to drop dead over here.”

Instantly, the groans stopped.

The warriors gasped sharply, then panted heavily as the pain finally subsided.

“Well, well. You’re actually going to swallow it?

Do you have any idea what that means?

Your entire life will hang by a thread I hold.”

“Then at least get rid of the ones inside them. I’ll take their place.”

Qing said it with grave resolve—her voice that of the world’s greatest con artist.

“Lady Qing, you mustn’t!”

“Miss Ximen Qing...!”

Mournful voices tried to stop her.

Though... there weren’t that many of them.

Tch. Bastards.

So much for rogue loyalty, huh?

Guess everyone’s just out here trying to survive. Loyalty, my ass.

Of course, Qing hadn’t expected much anyway.

“It’s fine. If it’s just me, and the rest of you can be safe... then that’s enough.”

“Why? Why would you go that far?”

“Because we’re the same—we’re rogues.

Loyalty. I said it, didn’t I?”

The rogues stared at the floor, ashamed.

She’d spoken of loyalty, but none of them could bring themselves to say they’d rather die.

Their silence stung.

“Now, release them.”

“Heh heh... and why should I?

What are you worth, girl? You think I’m going to trade this whole pack for one veiled mutt?

That math don’t check out—”

Gyeong Damgan’s words cut off mid-sentence.

Because the room had just lit up.

Qing had pulled back her hood, revealing the full brilliance of her face.

Words failed him.

How could they not?

“I don’t know why everyone makes such a fuss just because I keep [N O V E L I G H T] my face covered.

There. Happy now?

One beauty’s gotta be worth more than twenty scruffy men, right?”

Gyeong Damgan broke into crazed laughter.

Unhinged, manic laughter—gwangso, the kind that said: yep, this man’s absolutely nuts.

“Kuheh-heh-heh! You’re a riot, girl!

Too bad. I said I’d spare them if you swallowed it.

Didn’t say anything about removing it.”

“Cheap-ass—”

“Oh, so your mouth still works.

My offer stands. You swallow the Gu, they get to live.

Don’t, and they die. Simple.”

“Tch. Just give it to me.”

A Gu egg arced through the air.

Qing snatched it mid-flight and, without even hesitating, swallowed it whole.

Gasps of horror spread from the crowd of rogues.

But Qing didn’t fear poison.

She did, however, have one little concern...

Poison doesn’t work on me, sure.

But what about the parasite?

Does it die too?

Because if it stays alive... then I can fake it.

Pretend I’m being controlled, and strike back when he least expects it.