Chapter 70
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: King of the Green Forest (1)
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“Kugh!”
“To think there was a master like that.”
Jinmyeong pointed his index finger at the bandits who were staring at him with aggrieved eyes.
*Pow!*
Every time he pointed, a bandit's head exploded.
“Uhm.”
The expressions of the escorts waiting silently behind Jinmyeong were filled with fear.
‘I've seen it several times, but I can't get used to it at all.’
He was just standing still, extending his hand.
Yet the bandits who had attacked them died without even getting close, their heads exploding or their bodies being pierced with holes.
“You've worked hard.”
The head escort, Gi Yun, approached Jinmyeong.
“You truly are amazing.”
Gi Yun's eyes, looking at Jinmyeong, were filled with something akin to reverence.
The fact that Jinmyeong was younger than him had no effect on him whatsoever.
Rather, Jinmyeong, who had been ignored until now only to suddenly become such a master, seemed incredible.
“It makes me wonder if we even needed to come along.”
The bandits who had constantly hindered them were now dying, powerless.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Jinmyeong could have completed this escort mission all by himself.
“It's strange, though.”
“Pardon?”
“I've never been on an escort mission, so I don't know for sure, but is it normal to encounter bandits this often?”
They had just entered Sichuan.
But encountering bandits almost every day was strange.
When he traveled to carry out missions with the Demonic Shadow Brigade Leader and the Heavenly Demon's disciples, he could count the number of times he'd seen bandits on one hand.
It was a situation of complete opposites.
“And this isn't even the mountains. At this point, can you even call them mountain bandits?”
“That is true, but…”
That wasn't the only strange thing.
The bandits appeared as if they had been waiting for the Unjeong Escort Agency to arrive.
“It's also strange that the bandits just charge at us without demanding money.”
It was strange enough for bandits to be in a place that wasn't the mountains, but they charged recklessly without even demanding a toll.
They just weren't wearing masks; it was no different from an ambush, not a bandit raid.
“And they're strong for bandits.”
From their clothes and rough faces, anyone would think they were bandits, but most were at the level of first-rate to peak masters.
With such people constantly blocking their way, it was no wonder the Unjeong Escort Agency was bound to fail its commissions.
“Is the Green Forest this strong?”
“…No. It's true that there are strong fortresses within the Green Forest, but not all bandits are strong.”
Not all bandits belonging to the Green Forest were strong.
The chieftains of the fortresses were at the first-rate to peak level, so if these corpses were truly from the Green Forest, it would mean the chieftains of several fortresses had gathered to attack them.
“If they only look like bandits and aren't from the Green Forest, then who could they be?”
It must be the work of someone who wanted the Unjeong Escort Agency to fail its commission.
And it wasn't difficult to think of who that might be.
“Is it the Odang Escort Agency's doing, as expected?”
“That's highly likely.”
However, without evidence, they couldn't press the matter.
If they had the power, they would have stormed in and searched every nook and cranny for proof.
That's why Gi Yun wanted to ask Jinmyeong for help with that as well.
“How much further?”
“We need to go to Chengdu, so it's a bit further.”
Gi Yun, who had been hesitating, about to ask for help searching the Odang Escort Agency, snapped back to his senses at Jinmyeong's question.
‘That's ridiculous.’
The reason Jinmyeong was helping with this escort was for the payment upon the commission's success.
If they couldn't pay him that much, Jinmyeong wouldn't help them.
And unfortunately, the Unjeong Escort Agency currently didn't have the wealth to reward Jinmyeong.
They had scraped together every last penny just to ask for his help.
“Let's move out.”
“Yes.”
Perhaps because they were now close, the bandit attacks ceased.
“I guess this really is the territory of the Righteous Faction.”
Unlike Hunan, where the Heretical Faction's influence was strong, Sichuan could be called the domain of the Righteous Faction in every sense of the word.
With the Emei and Qingcheng Sects of the Nine Great Sects and One Union, and the Sichuan Tang Clan of the Five Great Families, it was a difficult region for the Heretical Faction or the Demonic Cult to exert their power.
It seemed their opponents weren't foolish enough to attack in such a place.
“That must be why there were so many attacks before we entered Sichuan.”
Since attacking would be difficult once they entered Sichuan, they must have wanted to annihilate the Unjeong Escort Agency beforehand.
Though Jinmyeong had single-handedly stopped them all.
“We'll take lodging at that inn over there.”
And with no more attacks, the Unjeong Escort Agency was able to reach Chengdu at a much faster pace than before.
Gi Yun quickly chose an inn and rented a separate annex.
“Then I will go and finish our business.”
Since they had arrived safely at their destination, Jinmyeong's job was done.
Jinmyeong spent his time in a private room in the inn's annex that Gi Yun had rented, while Gi Yun moved busily to finalize the commission.
“Is the job finished?”
“Yes.”
“Then I can head back first, right?”
Gi Yun wore a flustered expression at Jinmyeong's words about returning first as soon as the job was finished.
“Aren't we going back together?”
“I have somewhere to be for a bit. Do you need me to stay longer?”
“No.”
Now that the goods were delivered, they no longer needed Jinmyeong's protection.
But it was also true that he was sad to part with Jinmyeong like this.
“Thank you so much. Thanks to you, Young Master, we were able to complete the commission safely.”
Gi Yun bowed politely to Jinmyeong.
“You really don't seem like someone from the Demonic Cult.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, why are you being so polite?”
He wondered if it was because he had lived in the Central Plains instead of at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's headquarters.
Of course, from Gi Yun's perspective, he had no choice but to be polite, as Jinmyeong was powerful and a disciple of the Heavenly Demon.
But it was also true that his overly respectful attitude made Jinmyeong want to help him more.
“If this was your plan, you and your father are master strategists.”
Gi Yun still looked bewildered, not understanding Jinmyeong's words.
“When I get back, I'll send a few useful men over.”
“What? Really?”
“I can't send many. We're short on personnel too.”
“Th-that's fine.”
Gi Yun's face lit up at the mention of sending men.
Of course, they wouldn't be masters on the level of Jinmyeong or Shin Yehyang.
But for now, Jinmyeong's offer of help was incredibly reassuring.
“Well, I'm off then.”
“Yes. Thank you so much.”
Jinmyeong sighed once more at Gi Yun's polite courtesy and left the inn.
‘Mount Green Forest, that was it.’
It is also known as Mount Green Forest.
As the name suggests, Mount Green Forest was where the main headquarters of the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest was located.
And the place Jinmyeong was heading to was this very Mount Green Forest.
‘It was lucky I was assigned to Dongting Lake.’
Mount Green Forest was located between Hunan Province, where he was, and Hubei, which was right above it.
Until now, he had been busy and had been putting off going to Mount Green Forest with various excuses.
But since he was out for the first time in a while, he planned to visit Mount Green Forest, a trip he had only been planning in his mind.
‘I'd rather not meet the King of the Green Forest.’
He was the grand chieftain of the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest, a man called the King of the Green Forest.
He wasn't one of the Three Revered Ones and Ten Kings, but he had given himself the title of 'King' because he ruled over all the bandits of the Green Forest.
Just because he gave himself the title didn't mean he was weak.
He may not have made it into the Three Revered Ones and Ten Kings, but he was a master worthy of the title 'King'.
‘On the same level as the Violet Mist Sword.’
That's about how you should think of him.
The King of the Green Forest was considered to be a martial artist on par with Mae Jinpung, the Violet Mist Sword, the sect leader of the Mount Hua Sect.
‘And it was still hard to be certain I could win.’
Perhaps because of his thoughts from the time he fought the Violet Mist Sword, he didn't want to meet the King of the Green Forest.
But hadn't he improved since then?
‘I'm also curious.’
Back then, he couldn't even perform swordsmanship with his Sword Control.
But now, he could.
One could say he had stepped into the realm of true Sword Control.
So, he couldn't help but want to test his skills.
‘I should be grateful to the Violet Mist Sword.’
He was the one who had made Jinmyeong, who had been content with his skills, once again devote himself to martial arts like a madman.
‘It's quite large.’
Arriving at Mount Green Forest, Jinmyeong suddenly felt at a loss.
He was at a loss as to how to find the place of fortuitous encounter on this huge mountain.
‘I found the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame easily because I knew it would be at the summit.’
But the fortuitous encounter on Mount Green Forest was not like that.
It was a place the novel's protagonist, Gang Muhwi, discovered while falling off a cliff after losing a fight with the King of the Green Forest.
‘It didn't make sense for him to find and enter a cave on the cliff face in that short amount of time.’
But the protagonist managed it, and after entering, he consumed an enormous amount of spiritual elixirs.
And with the help of those elixirs, Gang Muhwi, who had reached the state of Divinity, fought the King of the Green Forest again and killed him.
‘That's what the protagonist mistakenly believes.’
In reality, what the protagonist discovers in the cave isn't just elixirs.
There, Gang Muhwi also learns another sword art.
The true fortuitous encounter Gang Muhwi obtained was creating his own unique sword art by blending that art with his own.
In truth, all Gang Muhwi gained from eating the elixirs was the effect of his body recovering a bit faster.
‘So, I'll be the one to eat the elixirs.’
Jinmyeong thought that the sword art alone was more than enough for Gang Muhwi to gain from this place.
The elixirs were something he could take or leave.
‘Then the first thing I need to do is find the place where the protagonist and the King of the Green Forest fought.’
To do that, he had to head toward the Green Forest's main headquarters.
‘I heard it was a little ways away from there.’
Jinmyeong didn't know in which direction or how far.
The novel had written that the protagonist and the King of the Green Forest kept moving as they fought, eventually reaching the edge of a cliff.
‘It would have been nice if there was another entrance, but of course, there wasn't.’
The place where the protagonist, now stronger after his fortuitous encounter, came out was the same entrance he had gone in.
He had leaped up the cliff using his movement arts.
Since the protagonist had searched inside and found no other passage, it meant he had to blindly search for that specific cliff.
‘Is that it?’
As Jinmyeong carefully ascended the mountain, wooden houses began to come into view.
And as he got closer, the form of a huge fortress was revealed.
‘I've found the fortress.’
Gang Muhwi fought the King of the Green Forest in this fortress.
Jinmyeong began to survey his surroundings, trying to predict where the King of the Green Forest and Gang Muhwi might have moved.
‘Should I try going over there?’
One thing was certain: the phrase 'on a dizzying cliff' was definitely in the description.
So, Jinmyeong planned to search for a dizzying cliff with this fortress as the center point.
‘I guess I have no choice but to search one by one like this.’
Just as Jinmyeong was about to turn his back on the fortress and move.
“Kuhahaha! It seems an interesting fellow has arrived!”
A sudden shout rang out.
*Whoosh!*
And something started flying toward Jinmyeong, cutting through the wind.
*Clang!*
Jinmyeong drew his sword and struck the incoming object.
‘An axe?’
It was an axe larger than Jinmyeong's own body.
The huge axe, deflected by Jinmyeong, was caught lightly by a man of enormous build who had suddenly appeared.
‘That guy shows up here?’
Jinmyeong frowned as he looked at the enormous man.
Of all people, the first person he met here on Mount Green Forest was the one he had hoped to avoid.