When they arrived at the Brightstone Village as directed by the youth within the jungle, An Fei realized the origins of Bei Tang’s language.
The written symbols were certainly different from that of her memories, but the verbal clues were sufficient to sate her requirements.
The jungle in which they were catapulted to was called the Chunwoo Battleground.
The youth whom they met within that jungle was named Sima Ji-Hu.
When she thought about it, the miscomprehensions about the conversation between Wen Jiu and Sima Ji-Hu were certainly reasonable. An Fei even wanted to slap herself on the forehead at her inability to pick up on the difference.
Wasn’t it basically Korean?
Certainly, it was different from the Korean language in her memories as several of the words seemed to be directly derived from Japanese, but the core essence of pronunciation and grammar remained consistent to her recollection. Alas…
“The language is similar to Korean, but I still don’t know much about that language, so that basically did nothing?”
By utilizing the close relation between the archaic written form of the Korean language and Chinese characters, An Fei had thought that she had a hope of obtaining a bare means of communication while she was stranded in Bei Tang.
However, the characters she witnessed on the signboards at Brightstone Village proved her completely and utterly wrong.
They didn’t resemble the block-like, alphabetized characters of hangul, nor did they resemble anything like its archaic variant hanja. Rather, the characters resembled more of western languages, similar to the English she primarily utilized for the <Heavenly Talisman>.
“What… is this?”
She saw a bunch of cursive squiggles similar to Latin script, and were completely indecipherable to her staggering mind.
And when she realized that the Shattered Star Continent had adopted a horrible romanization method of the Korean language as the official language of Bei Tang simply for pissing her off, the fury of the young girl was a sight to be witnessed throughout the Realm.
…but that was a story in the future.
“The language of Bei Tang is interesting, isn’t it?” Wen Jiu commented with a twitch of his lips.
“The way they implement a cursive form of written language is rather intriguing – exposing the language to fallacies incurred by differences in handwriting is not a great move for a nation the size of Bei Tang, ah.”
“…you seem to be rather well-informed regarding the issues of Bei Tang.”
The young girl dully remarked, her mind lingering in the shock caused by the discordant appearance of the written form of Bei Tang’s language to the Korean language in her memories.
As such, the scenes of Wen Jiu happily passing her off as his “endearing wife” to the Brightstone Villagers was completely unnoticed by the young girl.
“Of course, this Young Master is not only knowledgeable about Bei Tang, but also Great Yong – the Wen Family has long since been involved in the sacred duty of international relations!” the handsome man graciously preened his prideful self.
“Bei Tang… though the Shattered Star Continent is divided into three primary empires, Bei Tang by itself possesses the military capability to assert complete dominance. Alas, it is heaven’s grace that their method of administration is decrepit and useless to the extent of being dysfunctional.”
“Dysfunctional?” An Fei frowned at the sharp-tongued word.
“Yes, dysfunctional. Bei Tang lacks an Imperial Family, and is instead contested over by two equally powerful familial clans. These clans possess significant variances in language, culture, and political aspirations, causing the empire’s internal affairs to spiral into chaos whenever there is a change in the ruling clan.”
Perhaps… that explained the disconcerting elements of Japanese she had picked up from the verbal aspects of Bei Tang’s language?
But then, from which hellhole did they adopt such an atrocious writing system?
“Then how is the Hundred Clan Coalition related to the matters of Bei Tang?”
“The Hundred Clan Coalition… can be considered as Great Yong’s political shield,” Wen Jiu trembled as he attempted to prevent his muscles from cramping up.
“The Commanderies are preoccupied with increasing their attainments in cultivation, and Jiang’an is detached from the remainder of the empire’s internal and external affairs. As such, whenever there is an attempt of expansion by Bei Tang… our Hundred Clan Coalition is the first to respond, and…”
“…the events don’t end nicely?”
An Fei completed the statement for the nearly heartbroken man. The young girl picked at the ends of the long sleeves of her dress, her lowered head and exposed nape nearly exorcising the bachelor’s heart within Wen Jiu.
“…since the formation of the Three Great Empires, we’ve never won a single contest of borders against Bei Tang. Not only that, our most recent loss resulted in the annexation of a hundred thirty kilometers of territory near the Central Plains.”
A hundred thirty kilometers annexed in a single battle…
Not even the hard-hearted mind of an outsider like An Fei could withstand the blow, much less Wen Jiu who had directly witnessed the event that day.
The two fell into an awkward silence as they strolled throughout the small village, but were stopped not long after by a small group of youths.
“Excuse me,” the young girl at the center interrupted with a sharp tilt of her head.
“You aren’t from our Bei Tang, are you?”
“We’re travelling visitors from the neighboring empire, Great Yan,” Wen Jiu quickly adopted the universal salute of the jianghu.
“I assure you that we are just passing through the village, and will not cause trouble.”
Unfortunately, the group of youths did not take the handsome man’s greeting to heart, engaging in a quiet discussion amongst themselves for a few breaths.
No sooner had Wen Jiu relaxed his posture and turned to engage in conversation with An Fei while searching for a stall selling food, the slender blade of an in-geom blocked their path.
“Minso said that your accent doesn’t belong to Great Yan, but that of Great Yong.”
A male youth coldly remarked from the side. Stepping forwards to stand level with the youth who had unsheathed his sword, he spat onto the ground before An Fei and Wen Jiu, before his eyes suddenly gleamed with greed.
“Only the scum from Great Yong would attempt to deceive others within our Bei Tang. However, we can forgive you two if that sow hands over her spiritual beast as compensation!”
The handsome man’s lips continued to twitch in helplessness, while the young girl struggled to restrain herself from slapping her palm onto her forehead.
Taking into stride the convenience of the situation, An Fei stepped behind Wen Jiu to play with the snow-white fox, prompting the latter’s heart to quiver with exasperation.
She, a mortal girl, could easily thrash the seniors of the Hundred Clan Coalition that even he couldn’t shake the dust off of their robe, and couldn’t bother to deal with the mess that her fox had created?
Irresponsible! At the same time, adorab – no, admirable!
“You dare covet my wife’s treasure? From where do you obtain such courage?”
Wen Jiu’s lips continued to kiss his bachelor’s heart an eternal farewell, though his back continued to release rivulets of cold sweat.
The handsome man of the Wen Family praised the heavens that the young girl behind him did not understand Bei Tang’s language, but persistently worried about the two beams of cold, crimson heat that continued to drill holes into his back…
“Where do we get the courage?” the youth who had drawn his sword laughed in mocking.
“Because we are from the Violet Jade Pavilion, whilst the two of you are only the scum of the earth! You dare make trouble here with me, you make trouble with the Violet Jade Pavilion. Can you shoulder the risk!?”
The male youths displayed similar strains of arrogance and vice, while the girls remained relatively expressionless. However, the insufferable pride flourishing underneath their souls was a sight easily visible to Wen Jiu.
Still, he couldn’t help but make a jab at An Fei.
“Young Miss, they seem to want to ask for your spiritual beast. Rather, they insisted.”
“Even these people of Bei Tang want my fox so badly?” the young girl crouched level with the snow-white fox and groaned.
“Can’t these people just learn to find a fox from the forests?”
