Chapter 73
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Reunion (1)
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After returning to the Splendid Blossom Pavilion with Maeng Yo, the King of the Green Forest, Jinmyeong was now staying at the Unjeong Escort Agency instead.
‘He seemed at a loss when I said I was leaving the Splendid Blossom Pavilion. Could he dislike it that much?’
Jinmyeong recalled Yang Jeon before he had left the Splendid Blossom Pavilion.
The moment he learned that Maeng Yo, the man Jinmyeong had brought, was the King of the Green Forest, Yang Jeon had thrown a fit.
‘I thought it was because he was scared of Maeng Yo.’
Contrary to Jinmyeong’s thoughts, Yang Jeon was not afraid of Maeng Yo.
Having met masters in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult far stronger than Maeng Yo, it would have been ridiculous for him to fear the King of the Green Forest.
‘I never imagined he was angry that they weren’t my subordinates.’
He had been annoyed when I first brought Gu Jahong, too, and it seemed to be for the same reason.
Especially since Gu Jahong was the grandson of the Sword Demon, the Great Elder whose power in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was second only to the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader.
Yang Jeon had been with Jinmyeong the longest, yet he was still fuming over the fact that he was at the bottom of the pecking order.
In any case, when Jinmyeong announced he was leaving the Splendid Blossom Pavilion, that same Yang Jeon had gotten angry, asking if he was leaving again, only for his expression to turn to one of great joy when he heard Jinmyeong was taking Maeng Yo with him.
It seemed that, although it had only been a few days, Maeng Yo had been quite a nuisance to Yang Jeon.
“How about it? This job was completed safely, so let’s have a round!”
Maeng Yo certainly had a talent for annoying people.
He was currently helping with the Unjeong Escort Agency’s requests.
And whenever an Unjeong Escort Agency job finished safely, Maeng Yo would come to Jinmyeong like this and demand a duel.
“It’s not like you’re doing it yourself.”
“Still, didn’t it end safely?”
Of course, Maeng Yo wasn’t directly involved.
He had brought his subordinates from the Green Forest Mountain and was having them work as escorts.
With burly, menacing bandits working as escorts, the original escorts had been hesitant at first, but now they seemed to have adapted.
The fact that the leader of the Green Forest, who had been obstructing the Unjeong Escort Agency’s jobs, was now helping them was bound to feel rather amusing.
‘It’s strange how well the escorts and bandits are getting along.’
Escorts and bandits were beings destined to clash.
The escorts had to break through the bandits to complete their missions, while the bandits plundered the goods from those very escorts.
‘More importantly, to think it was really the Green Forest.’
The bandits obstructing the Unjeong Escort Agency were truly from the Green Forest.
He had thought it was the work of the Odang Escort Agency, said to be founded by a lay disciple of Shaolin, so he couldn't help but be surprised when he heard that the Green Forest had actually been obstructing the Unjeong Escort Agency.
“What are you thinking about? Let’s fight already!”
Jinmyeong’s train of thought was inevitably cut short by Maeng Yo’s loud voice.
“Let me ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“You said it was the Green Forest that targeted the Unjeong Escort Agency, right?”
“Haven’t I told you that countless times?”
Perhaps because Jinmyeong had asked about this matter several times, Maeng Yo frowned and nodded.
“Who commissioned the job?”
“Hm? I don’t know.”
Maeng Yo wore an expression of complete ignorance.
“You don’t know? You’re the grand chieftain of the Green Forest.”
“That may be so, but I am not the one who decides everything, am I?”
He was the grand chieftain of the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest, but Maeng Yo was not involved in all of their affairs.
“Hmm, who was it? The chieftain of the Oryeong Fortress?”
Maeng Yo struggled to recall the chieftain who had spoken to him about the Unjeong Escort Agency matter.
“Oryeong Fortress?”
“It’s the eighth among the seventy-two fortresses.”
“Are they strong?”
“Well. Even if they are eighth, it would be hard to call them strong compared to the Nine Sects One Alliance or the Five Great Families.”
However, being eighth among the seventy-two fortresses, they weren’t weak either.
They could probably defeat an escort agency of this size.
“Usually, the chieftains of the fortresses in the top ten are guys who have reached the peak level.”
Although Jinmyeong didn’t consider peak-level martial artists to be strong, there were many clans that would have wanted to recruit one.
“They defeated the Unjeong Escort Agency with just that one guy?”
“How could that be possible?”
Although they hadn't been given important positions in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and were assigned to the Central Plains branch, there were still martial artists who had reached the peak level.
Even for a peak-level master, the chieftain of Oryeong Fortress alone couldn’t have killed all the martial artists of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“He requested help from another fortress. I heard he paid a handsome price.”
“Hmm.”
“To be precise, I don’t know either.”
The seventy-two fortresses belonging to the Green Forest, and the smaller fortresses belonging to those seventy-two.
There was no way Maeng Yo could manage the affairs of all those numerous fortresses.
‘Wouldn’t the goods from the Unjeong Escort Agency be insufficient to hire a peak-level martial artist?’
Of course, as time went on, the need for a master would have diminished, but at the beginning, it surely wouldn’t have been easy to pay the full price with just the goods from the Unjeong Escort Agency.
“It wasn’t a request from the Blood Serpent Sect or whatever they're called, was it?”
“This matter is unrelated to the Heretical Alliance.”
Maeng Yo shook his head with a serious expression in response to Jinmyeong’s question.
“Surely you don’t think the Green Forest is part of the Heretical Alliance, do you?”
“It’s not?”
“The Green Forest doesn’t belong to anyone.”
Since their business was robbery, many people assumed they were part of the Heretical Alliance.
However, Maeng Yo seemed quite displeased by the misconception that the Green Forest was part of the Heretical Alliance.
“More importantly, how long are we going to just talk like this?”
Had his patience reached its limit?
A fighting spirit began to flow from Maeng Yo’s body, pressing down on Jinmyeong.
“Don’t tell me you plan to keep stalling like this?”
“Hoo. Alright, let’s get this over with.”
Jinmyeong sighed and stood facing Maeng Yo.
“Ooh.”
As Jinmyeong and Maeng Yo faced off, looking ready to clash at any moment, the escorts loitering around the training ground watched with gleaming eyes.
They didn’t dare get closer, preparing to take in the duel between the two from a distance.
“Hehe. Let’s enjoy this.”
Seeing the controlled swords appear around Jinmyeong, Maeng Yo gave a fierce smile, but that smile didn’t last long.
Just as Maeng Yo drew two axes and was about to charge, Jinmyeong reached out a hand and stopped him.
“What is it?”
“Aren’t you getting too excited? Someone’s coming.”
Just as Jinmyeong said, the presence of someone rushing toward them could be felt.
It wasn’t that Maeng Yo hadn’t sensed the other person’s approach because of his duel with Jinmyeong.
He had sensed it but ignored it.
“Young Master!”
The one who had rushed to the training ground was Giyun, the son of the Unjeong Escort Agency’s chief.
“What’s the matter?”
Seeing Maeng Yo blocking his path instead of Jinmyeong, Giyun couldn't help but flinch.
Few people wouldn’t feel intimidated by Maeng Yo’s massive frame.
“Well…”
Giyun couldn’t bring himself to answer and tried to appeal to Jinmyeong behind Maeng Yo for help, but Maeng Yo was expertly blocking his line of sight.
“Can’t you just spit it out? What in the world is going on?”
With Giyun’s appearance fizzling out his duel with Jinmyeong, Maeng Yo couldn’t contain his anger.
Facing Maeng Yo’s anger head-on, Giyun felt like he was going to die.
“Stop it.”
Just as Giyun’s back was becoming drenched in a cold sweat, Jinmyeong finally stepped in and stopped Maeng Yo.
One might think Jinmyeong had stepped in too late, but Giyun was so anxious right now that he had no time to worry about such things.
“Someone from the Odang Escort Agency is here.”
“The Odang Escort Agency? So suddenly?”
The escort agency founded by a lay disciple of Shaolin, which had stolen all of the Unjeong Escort Agency’s jobs.
It was also the place that had most likely instigated the Green Forest to make the Unjeong Escort Agency fail its jobs.
“Yes. It seems the Odang Escort Agency has been getting fewer jobs lately.”
Ever since Maeng Yo and Jinmyeong arrived, the number of failed jobs for the Unjeong Escort Agency had been steadily decreasing.
The constant attacks from the Green Forest had ceased, and now that the Green Forest was actually helping, they could conduct their escorts in peace.
With fewer failed jobs and no attacks, they were completing requests at high speed, and word of mouth was bringing in more clients.
As a result, the Odang Escort Agency’s jobs began to dwindle.
“Just kick them out.”
“…People from Shaolin came as well.”
If it had only been people from the Odang Escort Agency, they would have done as Jinmyeong said, dealt with them appropriately, and sent them away.
There wasn’t much they could have done, so he wouldn't have even been summoned.
But, as if to boast about being founded by a Shaolin lay disciple, Shaolin monks had come along as well.
“From Shaolin?”
At the mention of Shaolin, even Jinmyeong couldn't help but frown.
‘I really hate getting involved with the Nine Sects One Alliance.’
Hadn’t he just had a bad experience getting tangled up with the Mount Hua Sect?
‘Why on earth do lay disciples of the Nine Sects One Alliance run escort agencies?’
If they didn’t, he wouldn’t have to get involved like this.
“Let’s go see.”
“Yes.”
As he followed Giyun, Jinmyeong turned his head back.
“Why are you following?”
“It seems like it’ll be fun.”
A smile began to play on the face of Maeng Yo, which had been filled with anger just a moment ago.
His duel with Jinmyeong may have fizzled out, but now Shaolin had appeared.
“A duel with you is possible anytime, but Shaolin is a different story, isn’t it?”
“…I have no intention of fighting Shaolin.”
“Hehe. Do you think that’s up to you? In my opinion, you will definitely end up fighting Shaolin.”
“Don’t jinx it. Don’t even think about deliberately picking a fight with Shaolin.”
“Hehe. Don’t worry.”
But because of Maeng Yo’s sinister laugh, it was impossible to believe him.
“Here they come.”
“Ahem!”
Following Giyun, he arrived at the agency’s main gate and saw several people with Gicheolhwan.
“Hmm.”
And the Shaolin monks stared intently at Jinmyeong, who had appeared with Giyun.
“How is it?”
The man standing with the monks asked with a confident smile.
“I don’t particularly feel the aura of demonic arts.”
“You say you don’t feel it?”
At the words of the oldest-looking monk, the smile playing on the man’s lips vanished.
“That can’t be. I heard he was an incredible master.”
“…He is indeed a master, but I don’t sense any demonic energy from him at all.”
Odang, the chief of the Odang Escort Agency, looked flustered as the old monk shook his head.
“It doesn’t seem at all like they’ve sent a master to invade the Central Plains.”
Listening to their conversation, Jinmyeong stared silently at Odang.
‘So that’s what this was about?’
He had wondered why Shaolin monks were here, and it seemed it wasn’t to help the Odang Escort Agency.
He must have convinced Shaolin that a master dispatched by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to invade the Central Plains was at the Unjeong Escort Agency.
“But isn’t this a branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?”
“Just because it’s a branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult doesn’t mean they are here to invade the Central Plains.”
The Shaolin monks were actually showing a more lenient attitude toward the Demonic Cult than Odang was.
“Hm?”
But the faces of the monks, who had remained calm even while looking at Jinmyeong, suddenly stiffened.
“I don’t know if this is a den of the Demonic Cult, but it certainly seems to be a den of the Green Forest.”
They had seen Maeng Yo, the King of the Green Forest, appear from behind Jinmyeong.
Unlike when they were talking about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, a strange killing intent could be felt from them as they looked at Maeng Yo.
“Hehe. It’s because you monks radiate such dense killing intent that people call you corrupt priests.”
“…The Buddha himself would forgive the sin of killing to strike down the king of bandits.”
As the killing intent of the Shaolin warrior monks grew denser, the smile playing on Maeng Yo’s lips also grew wider.