Black Mountain Blade’s Queen Bee (2)

Yu Jinsan, who had been staring at his granddaughter, burst into laughter.

This was because Yu Seol was holding onto the pole and dancing, flailing her arms and legs, and messing around.

“Hehehe. Our Seol is making Grandpa happy.”

“Hiiiaaa~”

Seeing her smiling face, she seemed excited.

But when he looked closely, he noticed something strange. Yu Jinsan’s expression, which was smiling, had gone stiff.

“…No way?”

He thought she was just waving the spear for fun, but the reality was much different.

Didn’t the path of the spear’s movement coincide with what he had shown her?

She sat on the ground every day and just imitated his movements on her own.

‘Is this because of her body? With her talent, she might bring back the lost arts of the Spear Ghost.’

She was truly exhibiting amazing skills.

It was as if she had taken baby steps in sword technique, but considering that she was still a 2-year-old baby, it was something that had no precedent in the martial arts world.

What grandfather wouldn’t like his granddaughter displaying such natural talent?

Yu Jinsan, who was in a good mood, hugged his granddaughter, looking proud. Afterward, he sat on the ground and enjoyed the fresh air.

“A long time ago, there was a time when the Pear Blossom Spear of the Yang family and the Killing Wind Spear of the Yu family competed to know who was the best spear warrior in the world. It is said that the Yang family had flashy and strong spear skills, but they couldn’t beat the spear skills of our Yu family even then since ours held both softness and heaviness in it.”

It was a story that Yu Jinsan had heard from his grandfather when he was young, and he had to pass it down to his granddaughter.

“But in today’s time, the Yang family holds the honor of being the best spear warrior. If the Yu family’s skills were put into practice, the result would have been different. But unfortunately, all my grandfather got was the spear.”

Yu Seol blinked, unable to understand, and poked her finger through a hole in her clothes.

Yu Jinsan must have found the sight endearing, for he stroked her head with a smile.

“I’ll buy you clothes when we go into town.”

The clothes she currently had were all he could manage when he fled to the mountains. Because she had grown so quickly, nothing fit her body now, and even what did fit was mere rags.

At that moment, Yu Seol wiggled her fingers and pointed somewhere.

“Meat.”

Yu Jinsan looked towards the kitchen with a puzzled expression. There was a dead rabbit there.

“It will be a while for us to eat again. The rabbit is for dinner.”

Yu Seol shook her head and pointed her finger again.

“Meat!”

Yu Jinsan smiled as if he understood her and stood up.

“It seems you’re envious of the rabbit’s fur. Grandpa will remove it for you.”

He entered the kitchen holding the rabbit by its ears, and in less than a minute, he emerged with the fur.

He needed to clean it, but his granddaughter wasn’t going to wait.

“Hmm, let’s see.”

After pondering for a moment, Yu Jinsan punched two holes into the fur, tied it with thread, and hung it around her neck. The fur hung down her back, resembling a blood-stained robe.

Despite the gruesome image, he couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of a child wearing it.

“Haha! Hahaha!”

Yu Seol also jumped around with her arms wide open, as if she were thrilled about the gift she had received after so long.

“Hiiaa~”

After a short break, a joyful Yu Jinsan grabbed the spear and resumed training. Perhaps due to the headaches, his physical strength was decreasing each day.

Therefore, he couldn’t afford to stop his physical training if he wanted to live longer.

“Ugh, then, let’s resume.”

As if she had been waiting, Yu Seol stood next to him with the spear, having fun imitating her grandfather.

To a child, the spear was both a toy and a training tool.

That was why Yu Jinsan didn’t attempt to teach her too much. All he needed to do was slow down his movements for her to understand it.

He spent nine days focused on training without doing anything extraordinary.

As the days passed, Yu Jinsan’s surprise grew. This was because his granddaughter’s movements were gradually becoming clearer.

Of course, to someone unfamiliar with spear techniques, it would seem like she was just flailing meaninglessly.

On the surface, her gestures held no power, but Yu Jinsan was confident. This kind of training would give her potential in the future.

He dedicated himself to endlessly discussing their family techniques.

Although Yu Seol was too young to understand, he planned to keep explaining so she could engrave it in her heart.

“The softest thing in all of existence is the wind. But nothing can alter the nature of the wind. The roots of our spear method lie with the wind.”

Yu Jinsan, who was in a trance, performed the spear dance. Because he wasn’t using internal qi, it didn’t have any strength, but his form looked flawless and beautiful.

“The wind is flexible because it can move anywhere, and when power is concentrated in one place, it can break through rocks.”

Every time he moved the spear, a cold breeze would follow.

As if it were amusing, Yu Seol began to smile and mimic the movements.

“Interesting.”

Practicing the spear technique in old age was known to be challenging, but seeing his granddaughter like this filled Yu Jinsan with joy.

After training for a while, he stopped moving.

Puak!

He thrust the spear into the ground and began to rub his waist.

“Oh dear, Grandpa’s leg is sore, so he needs to rest now.”

When he glanced to the side, he saw that Yu Seol had also planted her spear into the ground and was rubbing her waist too.

“Oh, my stomach hurts.”

Yu Jinsan looked down in surprise.

The way she was gazing up at him with those adorable round eyes.

“These aren’t things to imitate.”

“Wokay.”

He wasn’t sure if she understood, but it was amazing to see her listen so attentively.

He was relaxing with a content smile when his eyes suddenly turned to the tree outside.

A group of five people approached cautiously.

“I guess the elder was practicing martial arts.”

It was Pungho, the leader of the Black Mountain Blade bandits. He was there with Hyun Hee, who was now the commander, and a few more subordinates.

“Training at my age? It’s just exercise. But what’s this about?”

Hyun Hee, looking elegant in a dress, stepped forward.

“You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“Well, my memory has been unreliable these days.”

“You agreed to come to Baekyang County with me.”

Yu Jinsan hugged his granddaughter with a troubled expression.

“I never agreed to that. If you have nothing else to do, leave now. I need to feed my granddaughter.”

Hyun Hee’s expression changed as if she were about to cry. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“…What do you mean? Don’t you remember that we agreed to go to the Sword Queen’s retirement ceremony?”

“I don’t recall anything like that, so please leave quickly.”

She looked at Pungho with tears in her eyes, as if pleading for him to do something.

Pungho was taken aback.

“If the elder doesn’t remember, then there’s nothing we can do. Let’s not disturb him further and leave.”

“…I was looking forward to this day.”

Yu Jinsan, who had been watching the scene indifferently, was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Hehehe. When you go down to the village, you’ll have to hide your identity. Doesn’t that require practice? I tried acting once to see if I could do it.”

Hyun Hee, who looked like she was about to cry a moment ago, smiled brightly as if she hadn’t been on the verge of tears. Then she made a sulky noise again.

“Ugh, you’re too much! Really!”

Yu Jinsan chuckled and turned his back, holding his granddaughter.

“I’ll get ready in a moment and come out, so please sit there and wait.”

He couldn’t go down to the village without making any preparations.

After washing himself and changing into a clean pair of clothes, he emerged looking quite refreshed.

Pungho looked at him in surprise.

“You look a lot younger when you dress like that. You look so cool, Elder.”

“Hmm. Well, I heard that a lot when I was younger. But are you planning to come?”

“No. I can’t leave my position now, so I’ll accompany you to the bottom of the mountain.”

“It’s a distance that can be covered in half a day. It isn’t like we’re going a long way, so do we need to drop by somewhere?”

It wasn’t that Yu Jinsan didn’t understand her true intentions. Perhaps it was because the Wudang Sect could be around.

And the care of a neighbor had nothing to do with it.

“…even so.”

“Fine. Let’s go. If you want to buy at least a meal when you reach the place, we’ll have to leave right now.”

Baekyang County in Shaanxi was an area that had a small population compared to its land.

However, its recent appearance was quite different.

Wherever he went, there were crowds of warriors. It was because of the retirement ceremony of the Sword Queen, who was known to be the best.

It was the desire of all warriors to witness this moment. Moreover, even famous people from various lands would flock over. It was also a good chance to gain insight.

“I can finally see the Sword Queen with my own eyes…”

It was a disciple of a small sect called the Snow Cleansing Sect. He was talking with his colleague at the entrance of the alley.

“I also only heard it through the rumors, but not just in martial arts; her beauty is known to be the best in the world.”

“Huhu. Is that so? Should this Hyung try flirting with her then?”

“Now, now. If you play too much with those words, you might end up in some kind of trouble.”

“It was just two of them. But her past made her famous for being a tough warrior. Wouldn’t it be fine?”

“I came to take a look because I didn’t believe everything would be fine. Perhaps the retirement ceremony will truly be worth seeing. I heard there is more than one person who has developed a grudge.”

There was a popular saying in Kangho that the more cautiously you spoke, the longer you lived.

They were engrossed in their conversation, but then they suddenly fell silent. This was because they noticed people approaching nearby.

“Hmm! It will take a while.”

A white-haired old man with a bamboo hat, holding a large cane wrapped in cloth, and a woman with a child were next to him.

At first glance, it looked like they were on a family outing.

At that moment, one of the sect’s warriors, who was leaning against the wall, asked with a confused look.

“Grandpa, is this the road to the guesthouse?”

Yu Jinsan paused for a moment and then nodded.

“Yes. We are on our way there. We haven’t had anything to eat.”

“It’s better not to go there since the place is filled with warriors.”

“Hmm, but it’s the same no matter where we go in town. It’s scary, but I need to eat something, so I can’t do anything about this.”

Another warrior of the sect nodded.

“There will be no harm done since fighting is banned. But I cannot be responsible if something happens.”

“Haha. These young friends are so nice and considerate. Thank you for the advice.”

After saying that, he started walking again. And after a while, Hyun Hee naturally approached him and crossed her arms.

“What food does Father want?”

“A simple bowl of somen is enough.”

“If you think other food will be expensive, I have a lot of money. I will buy you something delicious today.”

It seemed like she received a lot of pocket money from the bandit leader.

Yu Jinsan usually didn’t have much of an appetite, so it didn’t matter what he ate. More than that, it was fun to watch her change.

“How did you manage to conceal your vibrant personality and live in the Wudang Sect?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing~ Why did I bother allowing myself to be controlled by the Wudang Sect? I squandered my entire life.”

“You seem content with your current life.”

“Of course, the bandits provide everything I desire. I can also do anything as I please.”

Hyun Hee responded without any hesitation.

Within the bandits, her presence was akin to a queen bee, and every word she uttered was law.

Far from feeling out of place, she was entirely accustomed to this lifestyle.

“But wouldn’t it be awkward to encounter Taoists who recognize you?”

“Ehh. How could that happen? How vast is Kangho?”

“Well, you aren’t wrong. It appears we’ve arrived, so we should eat now and depart promptly.”