Chapter 21 – v1c21 – Golden Spider

Volume 1 Chapter 21 – Golden Spider

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Translated by Rain

Read more at Nineheavens.org

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“Hey, seriously, I told you to stop?”

The leader did not want to add to his troublesome affairs.

Just looking at her attire and appearance, she was clearly a lady from a high-status family, yet she had absolutely no intention of listening.

“Fuck.”

Soon, his patience ran out.

“The warning is over, girl.”

As he gestured, one of his subordinates dashed forward.

With a low posture and a low center of gravity, his already fast speed seemed even faster.

He thought he might get hit once by the poker, but his plan was to slam into her and subdue her at once.

‘Got her…!’

Jeong-ah's body moved exactly one step to the side, evading the man.

If she had been even a bit faster, the man would have corrected his trajectory, and if she had been even a bit slower, she would have been caught just like that.

“Ugh…!”

And the tip of the poker she held had already accurately stabbed the opponent's solar plexus and retreated.

Jeong-ah struck down the highly raised poker straight onto the nape of the man's neck, cutting off his consciousness.

If it had been a sword, it was a terrifyingly precise posture that would have pierced the opponent's heart and severed their neck.

Only then did the men's gazes change.

“She is no ordinary girl! Show no mercy!”

Men rushed at Jeong-ah from her left and right.

She naturally retreated, narrowing the angle where she could be attacked by both at the same time.

“Hup!”

The fist of the man who had rushed in first grazed her face.

The next fist swung also grazed the front of her nose.

In the meantime, the handle of the poker that suddenly rose from below shattered the man's lower jaw.

“Keu-heok…!”

The second man rushed in during that gap, but Jeong-ah had already retreated to widen the distance.

“Fuck!”

Losing the distance continuously, he changed his tactics.

He swung his hands recklessly, trying to grab her fluttering hem.

This was because if he could grab any part of it, he could seal her movements.

However, no matter how hard he tried to grab, her hem only fluttered and narrowly escaped his grasp.

‘This, makes no sense…!’

Just as all the strikes of the man before had missed, the gestures of the man aiming for her hem also only sliced through the empty air.

Clearly, the woman in front of him did not move at a speed that transcended imagination like a martial artist, so why did all the attacks miss?

“Ugh…!”

The man, who was rushing in frantically, failed to spot his unconscious companion and tripped.

‘How…?’

Clearly, this woman was stepping backward with him in front of her.

Her gaze had been fixed on him, so how did she avoid the unconscious man while stepping backward?

The poker flew at the back of the head of the man whose mind was completely in chaos.

“……Amazing.”

From the mouth of Se-ah, who was blankly watching that sight, admiration spilled out unconsciously.

No matter that the opponents were bare-handed and she held a poker, they were not some random rabble.

Although they had not learned 'martial arts' which required inner force, they were elites of the Black Bone Sect trained in 'martial techniques'.

As indicated by the dozens of skull tattoos, were they not those who had harmed dozens of lives, accumulated experience, and proven their abilities?

“……Crazy.”

Now, it could not be helped.

The leader, left alone, drew a sharply bladed dagger from his bosom.

“Girl. You brought this all upon yourself.”

If an ordinary person had seen it, they would have only seen the flash of the blade.

However, Jeong-ah's 'eyes' precisely saw the blade.

Not only the blade, but also the texture of the blade, the grime accumulated on the leather wrapped around the handle, the fingernails caked with black dirt due to lack of grooming, and even the dirty pores from not washing well,

all were visible to her.

When she slightly raised the poker and slipped it into that trajectory, the dagger bounced off, sparking.

The second strike came immediately after.

No matter how much she saw all of it, it was impossible for a body without a single drop of inner force to evade all the consecutive strikes.

However, she was listening to the opponent's breathing, and she could feel the opponent's muscles moving.

The senses maximized by her 'eyes' were turning the impossible into possible.

It was fun.

Before she knew it, Jeong-ah felt that she was smiling.

Seeing her smile, the leader's eyes rolled back in anger.

“You son of a…!”

Thud.

It was a blow that completely took away his breath.

Jeong-ah, who had consistently maintained a defensive posture until now, had instantly wedged her way into the gap when the opponent spoke.

The man, whose philtrum was struck hard by the poker, rolled his eyes and fell backward just like that.

It was a perfect single-point stab, both psychologically and physically.

“Haah, haah.”

Jeong-ah exhaled rough breaths, supporting herself by planting the poker on the ground.

The sweat dripping from her face fell to the floor in large drops.

There was nothing she could do about her physical limits either.

“Jeong-ah!”

Se-ah, who had rushed over, supported Jeong-ah.

In her sister's embrace, Jeong-ah steadied her rough breathing and shook her head.

“Sister, this is… tough.”

Se-ah let out a hollow laugh.

“No, did you learn swordsmanship at the Sword Family?”

Jeong-ah shook her head.

“No.”

“Then?”

Jeong-ah smiled faintly.

“I just 'saw' it over the shoulders while coming and going.”

Se-ah could not understand what that meant.

“Jeong-ah, what does that mean—”

At that moment, Jeong-ah broke free from her support and corrected her posture.

“Is it still far from a quarter of an hour?”

“Not yet.”

Jeong-ah frowned as she looked toward the entrance.

“This time, even I cannot do it.”

Just then, the door burst open, and Se-ah's subordinate, who had reported earlier, rolled inside covered in blood.

“P-Pavilion Master, e-escape…!”

A ringing woman's laughter resounded from the hallway.

The ear-piercing volume clearly meant the woman was a martial artist possessing inner force.

“How boring. Where did everyone go that there are only such pathetic, bug-like things left?”

Se-ah knew that voice.

“……Geum-ju.”

Stepping through the open door was a beauty with extravagant clothing and heavy makeup.

The woman's clothes were entirely bright red, and even the makeup on her face was all in shades of red, making her impression incredibly intense.

And behind her, three individuals of various appearances revealed themselves, fully armed.

With their faces practically plastered with black skull tattoos, all three of them were undoubtedly martial artists.

And the hallway was filled with regular members of the Black Bone Sect.

“Oh, what is this?”

Geum-ju, who had made a pleasant entrance, looked down at her subordinates sprawled unconscious on the floor.

Then, realizing the situation through Jeong-ah and the poker she held, she raised her hand to her forehead.

“To think I fed and raised such things as elites…”

Among the three standing behind her, the sleeve of the one wearing Buddhist robes fluttered.

"……."

Jeong-ah hurriedly blocked the front of Se-ah, but the one in Buddhist robes had already returned to their original stance.

Fortunately, the attack was not aimed at them.

The needles that shot out from that sleeve were embedded in the vital points of those who lay unconscious.

‘As expected, I couldn't react…!’

Jeong-ah bit her lip.

Her 'eyes' had sensed the sign and could see that what flew were needles, but because the difference in speed was too vast, it was meaningless.

It was the limit of an ordinary person without inner force.

If those needles had been directed at them…

“Geum-ju, what on earth is the meaning of this?”

Se-ah, stepping in front of Jeong-ah, asked in a low voice while brushing up her hair.

“I am sure you know that doing such a thing will bring consequences.”

Geum-ju shrugged.

“The hospitality for guests here is quite terrible. Not even serving a common cup of tea.”

Just then, one of Geum-ju's subordinates standing in the hallway dashed inside.

And he searched for tea leaves at the place where Se-ah and Jeong-ah had been sitting.

They were tea leaves that Se-ah had specially prepared for Jeong-ah.

“……A guest? You must be joking.”

At Se-ah's words, Geum-ju snorted with a smirk.

“You always pretend to be so smart, but your brain seems to have suddenly frozen.”

She crossed her arms and continued.

“If I were an enemy instead of a guest, would you still be standing there so fine?”

Se-ah waved her tobacco pipe.

“Seeing you spout such trivial talk, it seems certain you did not come as an enemy.”

She snatched the teacup from Geum-ju's subordinate who was brewing the tea.

At her extremely confident attitude, the subordinate also just stared at her blankly.

“Then tell me.”

Se-ah sat with her legs crossed on the chair, enjoying the aroma of the tea.

“Ha. Seriously.”

Geum-ju let out a hollow laugh.

“I really wish my boys would learn some of that guts.”

When Geum-ju flicked her finger, the Buddhist robe fluttered once more.

A few needles grazed past, and a few severed strands of Se-ah's hair fluttered away.

Yet Se-ah did not even blink, only glaring at Geum-ju with her remaining eye.

“Tch.”

Geum-ju clicked her tongue as if it were no fun and got to the main point.

“Lately, the attacks on the guys among my boys who are actually useful have become extremely frequent.”

“Is that not the price of aggressive expansion?”

“But for some reason, I have a strong feeling that you are behind these attacks.”

Se-ah looked at Geum-ju with disbelief in her eyes.

“……The reason you caused this commotion is merely because of that feeling?”

Geum-ju waved her hand.

“No, it is because there is something I heard somewhere.”

Se-ah took a sip of tea and replied.

“As for stories, wherever there is a mouth, a story will be born.”

At Se-ah's calm attitude, Geum-ju bared her teeth.

“Do you not know how I was able to come at this exact moment? At the very moment when your surrounding defenses were empty?”

Se-ah set down her teacup and lit her pipe again.

The smoke she puffed out long scattered toward the ceiling.

“Probably a spy.”

Geum-ju wagged her finger.

“No, no. Do not change the subject.”

Her voice sank low.

“Does it not mean that I, Geum-ju, the Golden Spider, have found a place where I can obtain proper information?”

At her voice filled with inner force, the tea in the cup vibrated faintly.

“It means I will no longer be swayed by half-baked playhouse organizations like yours.”

The momentum emanating from her heavily pressed down on the entire space.

“And?”

Se-ah sighed calmly.

“Did that 'genuine' information organization say I was the mastermind?”

“It is still a bit lacking. But you see, there is something wrong with what you said…”

Geum-ju fumbled through her wide sleeve and pulled out a circular plaque.

“That place is no mere genuine organization. It is the most powerful place in Luoyang, in Henan, and in the entire Central Plains.”

On the gleaming circular metal plaque, the four characters of the Luoyang Sword Family (洛陽劍家) were embossed.

“Sword Family Bronze Plaque…?!”

It was Jeong-ah who cried out the name of that object.

Geum-ju looked at Jeong-ah in wonder.

“You recognize this? Who are you?”

"……."

However, Jeong-ah only kept her mouth tightly shut.

“Well, whatever.”

Geum-ju waved the Sword Family Bronze Plaque in her hand toward Se-ah.

“Now, do you understand? Why I cause such a commotion with only suspicion? Why I do not worry about the consequences even if I cause this commotion?”

Geum-ju smiled brightly, showing her white teeth.

“Can I have a look at that?”

A voice suddenly heard.

Jeong-ah's face brightened at that familiar voice.