The Childish Princess’s Unauthorized Outing (1)

Nam Yeong’s grief was beyond measure. He learned only later that Baek Sang-cheon had been caught and killed while going down the mountain. When Nam Yeong and the women returned to the mountain fortress, they were so appalled by the sight of corpses strewn everywhere that they could not utter a single word.

On top of that, the buildings of the mountain fortress, which they had worked so hard to construct, had been completely torn apart, now reduced to a state that made it feel wrong to even call them buildings.

They first used the tents that the Necromancer Cult followers had been using to set up temporary lodgings. There were quite a lot of tents, and there was also plenty of preserved food the Necromancer Cult followers had brought to eat, so they did not need to worry about food for a while.

Neung Je-gang and Nam Yeong sat inside one of the tents, worrying about what lay ahead.

“I think it would be best for us to move.”

There was no law that said a place that had been attacked once would not be attacked again.

The Kuaiji Mountain Fortress had also become far too well known. It seemed better to move their dwelling to a place more hidden and safe.

“I had told Baek Sang-cheon to look for a new place around Antang Mountain, but he died.”

Neung Je-gang hoped that Nam Yeong would not lose heart.

“Ah, right, I do have some good news.”

“Good news?”

“When Majil returns, you will hear in detail, but in return for helping with the Black Alliance affair, I put pressure on the authorities and obtained an official post.”

“Huh! What about some official title could possibly be good news?”

“It is an inspector’s post over the military commands of Zhejiang Province and Fujian Province.”

“What?”

Nam Yeong practically jumped.

Zhejiang Province and Fujian Province were where the raids of the pirates were the fiercest. If he could get control of the military in just those two regions, he would be able to defend against the wokou far more effectively.

“It is an office in your name, Master. Which means now you will probably have to move personally.”

“Words alone? No. Now at last I can properly handle those so-called generals of the military, the fellows who never listen to a thing anyone says.”

Nam Yeong, who had been lamenting Baek Sang-cheon’s death, soon regained his energy. It could be said that a new chapter had opened in the lifelong struggle he had waged to exterminate the wokou.

“First of all, we will need a temporary place to stay.”

“Let us go to the Shinsu Medical House. In any case, that will be best for So-yeon’s treatment as well.”

“Understood.”

Neung Je-gang did not like how Nam Yeong kept trying to tie him together with Je So-yeon, but if he was going to treat Je So-yeon’s dantian, it would indeed be most convenient to be where the Soul-Returning Divine Doctor Je Yeong-hak was, so he could not object.

“Majil will be here within a few days. It would be best if we moved together then. Ah, and I also found Cheong Yeon, who used to be with me in the Eastern Depot. He will be coming with Majil. I would like you to accept him as one of the family.”

“Oh, is that so? That is good. If you trust him, then do so.”

“Senior Brother!”

At that moment, Je So-yeon burst into the tent, throwing the flap aside. She was quite excited that Neung Je-gang had returned. On top of that, had he not also brought back the medicine to heal her dantian?

“What is it?”

It was just as Neung Je-gang turned his head, answering her call.

“Cap… tain…!”

From far off, the sound of Majil calling to Neung Je-gang drifted in on the wind. Neung Je-gang’s face twisted. Perhaps thinking he would not be heard, Majil was calling him however he pleased.

“Looks like Majil has arrived.”

Informing Nam Yeong, Neung Je-gang stepped out of the tent to wait for Majil and Cheong Yeon to come up.

“Captain! Hehehehe!”

Majil came running with a friendly grin.

Thud.

Crash.

Punched away and sent flying by Neung Je-gang’s fist, Majil sprang back to his feet.

“Why’d you hit me?”

“I heard everything, you punk!”

“Eh? Hehehe! You did?”

Majil shrank back, his expression sheepish.

“We have just arrived.”

Cheong Yeon, standing behind Majil, bowed his head to Neung Je-gang.

“Ah, right. Welcome back.”

“Did everything turn out well?”

“Yes. Dozens of people died, but for now, the matter here can be considered resolved.”

Neung Je-gang spoke calmly.

He regretted the deaths, but for the moment, finding a new place to move to took precedence.

“On the way here, I saw something like this.”

Cheong Yeon took a piece of paper out from his breast and held it out to Neung Je-gang.

On it was written the classic sort of threatening message: if you want to save Nam Yeong, come out in front of the mountain fortress.

“They had hung that paper on a corpse they had strung up. It seems those bodies were the corpses of the people from this place.”

“Yes, I already know. That corpse was probably one of the fortress’s people as well. Since they could not know which path I would use, they did that.”

“You had already seen it?”

“Yes. After I wiped out the men from the Necromancer Cult, I went down to see what was happening outside and came across it. It seems they did the same not only at the path entrance but in other places as well.”

Neung Je-gang tore the paper Cheong Yeon had handed him and let the pieces scatter away on the wind.

“What will you do now?”

“First priority is to find a safe place for the fortress people to stay. So, what do you say to taking a trip to Antang Mountain with Majil?”

Neung Je-gang intended to entrust Cheong Yeon with the task of searching Antang Mountain for a suitable dwelling. It would have been fine for him to go and look himself, but he was essentially going to be tied down at the Shinsu Medical House to treat Je So-yeon’s dantian.

“With that guy?”

Cheong Yeon’s face twisted.

There were very few people who could make Cheong Yeon frown like that. Majil possessed that rare talent.

“Captain! I do not want to go either.”

From a little distance away, Majil, who had been listening to their conversation, also jumped up in protest.

“Why not?”

“Come on, it is disgusting. He thinks he is a bit stronger than me and hits me every chance he gets.”

“Is that true?”

Neung Je-gang looked at Cheong Yeon. He knew Cheong Yeon was not that kind of person, but if Majil was bold enough to say it like that, it probably was not entirely a lie.

“I only sparred with him a few times, partly for training and partly to knock some manners into him. He made me angry with his habit of saying whatever came to mind…”

So in the end, it meant Majil had provoked him first. Still, the fact that he had sparred instead of just beating him showed he had not simply thrashed him for no reason, contrary to what Majil claimed.

“Shut it! You are going too. Go and take a good look, see if you can find a place where we can build a hideout like the one your master created here. Got that?”

“Got it. If the Captain is asking so earnestly, I guess I have to put up with it. Hehehe!”

Majil said that and laughed.

“Let us go inside. Master is here, so pay your respects and rest, then set off tomorrow.”

The next day, Cheong Yeon and Majil left for Antang Mountain.

Neung Je-gang told them to find a suitable place on Antang Mountain and then come to the Shinsu Medical House in Jinhua.

After Cheong Yeon and Majil had departed, Neung Je-gang and Nam Yeong also led the women and children toward the Shinsu Medical House in Jinhua. On the way, Nam Yeong contacted the warriors from the fortress, then left with them.

Nam Yeong met them, informed them of Baek Sang-cheon’s death, appointed a new person to lead them, and then planned to come to the Shinsu Medical House afterward.

The journey with several dozen women and several dozen children was not particularly difficult. They all understood very well how dire the situation was, so even when they were tired, they did not show it.

However, the eyes watching such a group moving from outside were not so kind.

Neung Je-gang was worried as well. Among those eyes, there were sure to be eyes of the Necromancer Cult. No matter where they moved, if the eyes of the Necromancer Cult followed them there, there would be no point in moving.

“Welcome.”

Still vigorous as ever, Je Yeong-hak warmly greeted Neung Je-gang and the women of the mountain fortress.

As Neung Je-gang felt Je Yeong-hak’s warm welcome, he also could not shake the bitter feeling that the old man probably regarded him as a future grandson-in-law.

He liked Je So-yeon too, of course—but as a cute younger sister, not as a woman. He also knew that Je So-yeon would never betray him and cause him pain. Even so, somehow, he could not easily stir up the feeling of loving her as a woman.

“Well, back then, Je-gwon did not get engaged to Dam Yeo-yeong because he loved her either.”

What would a young Je-gwon have known? It was only because their parents made a promise that he had gotten engaged at such a young age.

Neung Je-gang remembered that the engagement with Dam Yeo-yeong had originally been offered to him.

But he refused it. Whatever his parents might have thought, Neung Je-gang simply did not like Dam Yeo-yeong’s father, Dam Ja-cheon. Leaving Dam Yeo-yeong aside, he had no desire to live with someone like Dam Ja-cheon as his father-in-law.

So he turned it down, and in the end, it was his younger brother Je-gwon who became Dam Yeo-yeong’s fiancé. Since it was an engagement made without them even seeing each other’s faces, such a switch was possible.

Neung Je-gang shook his head. To be standing here greeting Je Yeong-hak and spacing out thinking of the past like that—what a discourtesy.

“Have you been well all this time?”

“We are always the same. But I heard something happened in the mountains.”

“It seems the Necromancer Cult did not like my actions. Thanks to that, dozens of our people lost their lives.”

“Oh dear. So, what will you do now?”

“First, I am thinking of treating So-yeon’s dantian. After that, the next issue is relocating the mountain fortress.”

“If you move the fortress?”

“That will make the trip a bit longer. We have already sent people toward Antang Mountain. They are to contact us once they find a suitable place.”

“Antang Mountain, you say?”

Je Yeong-hak nodded.

For someone like Nam Yeong, whose head was filled with the idea of fighting the wokou, it was a place worth considering. Antang Mountain, being closer to the sea, made moving toward the coast a bit easier than from Kuaiji Mountain.

“Ah, here is the Ice Essence Crystal. Master told me to give it to you.”

Neung Je-gang took out the Ice Essence Crystal that Nam Yeong had handed back to him before leaving with the warriors, and held it out to Je Yeong-hak.

“You really managed to obtain this?”

Je Yeong-hak’s expression was one of surprise.

For a martial artist who cultivated Yin-based inner arts, it would be a treasure of the ages, but even for a physician like Je Yeong-hak, a treasure like the Ice Essence Crystal was rare. It was not some miraculous elixir that could bring the dead back to life, but depending on how it was used, it could save many lives.

“Thank you.”

Je Yeong-hak felt a bit guilty toward Neung Je-gang. Strictly speaking, behind Neung Je-gang’s acquisition of the Ice Essence Crystal lay the high-level swindling that he and Nam Yeong had pulled off.

“What is there to thank me for, when it is to treat So-yeon?”

“In any case, thank you. The fact that you went and obtained this for So-yeon is a favor in itself.”

“Then when will you treat So-yeon…?”

“It would not matter when, but you must all be tired from coming here all the way from Kuaiji Mountain, so let us wait a few days.”

“I am not tired, though…”

“I meant So-yeon, not you. The best time to treat someone is when the patient is in their very best condition.”

“Ah, I am sorry. I was only thinking about myself.”

Neung Je-gang realized that he had not considered Je So-yeon’s condition at all.

“Why did I do that? Right, ever since Master brought up marriage, I have been trying to keep my distance from So-yeon.”

Neung Je-gang looked into his own heart. He was sure of it. After the talk of marriage, he had been trying to put distance between himself and Je So-yeon.

“The human heart really is fickle.”

Before that conversation, he had been able to treat Je So-yeon without the slightest ulterior motive, but now he could not. Depending on the circumstances, the human heart could change in an instant.

“Hm?”

“Ah, it is nothing. I was just talking to myself.”

“It seems you are tired too. Go and rest now.”

“Yes.”

Neung Je-gang went to the lodgings assigned to him by the Shinsu Medical House and lay down.

“Heh, an engagement, is it… Since the two elders have already finished talking everything over, it is not as if I can insist I do not want it now… Maybe I should just shut my eyes and go through with the marriage. It is not as if my clan has anything special, but I still have the duty to continue the family line. Hehehe!”

Lost in thoughts about marriage, Neung Je-gang found himself smiling without realizing it.

“Ah, whatever. Somehow or other, it will work out.”

He decided to put his mind at ease.

One way or another, he was in a position where he would have to marry someday. In that case, smart and lively Je So-yeon was not such a bad candidate for a bride. If only she were not so much younger than he was…

At this rate, she was just the kind of partner who would make anyone call him a scoundrel.