Chapter 11 (1)
Chapter 11 (1)
"Woo-ha!"
"Wahahahaha!"
"To think all this is ours!"
The bandits, who had killed even the porters and looted the goods of the Songjeong Escort Agency, let out cheers of joy.
Well, it's understandable. They had been hiding away in fear of martial artists and government officials after their mountain stronghold was raided, so they had every reason to be happy about looting cargo for the first time in a while.
To be honest, I'm having a bit of fun too.
"Gather the bodies in one place. I'll burn them all to ash."
However, since cleaning up is more important than getting the spoils, I focused on erasing traces rather than expressing joy.
Even though it was a one-sided massacre, bloodstains have a stronger presence than you'd think, so the ground needs to be overturned and churned up.
"Move quickly! The most important thing is not letting the world know we exist!"
"Yes!"
Fortunately, these guys are experienced, so they followed my orders, gathering the firewood the escorts intended to use, piling up the bodies, and starting to wipe away the bloodstains.
They're stupid, but if they can understand instructions to this extent, at least I won't have a headache.
"Boss! We've gathered all the bodies!"
"We've wiped away all the bloodstains!"
"Take the carriages and go. I'll handle the rest."
"Yep!"
I aimed both arms toward the pile of tangled corpses.
"Unlimited Power!"
Pwoooooosh!
Pure white flames engulfed the bodies, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Having undergone Rebirth and now possessing the Yang Arts, which are even more powerful than the Fire Artisan's martial arts, I now have the firepower within my body to easily melt even metal.
I even used this power to melt the mask I'm wearing right now without needing coal.
Since there were only small grasses around, there was no worry about a large forest fire.
I have to be careful, as a forest fire would draw attention to this area.
Once all the bodies were disposed of, I overturned the ground to take care of the ashes.
"Let's go!"
"Yes, Boss!"
Good, that's one thing settled.
I took care of all the witnesses, and since I wore a mask just in case, no one will know my true identity.
I and the bandit underlings headed toward an area where the path wasn't paved, then moved to a spot that backed onto the forest.
From now on, this is my temporary hideout.
Now then, I should teach these guys the joy of being the winner.
"Open all the boxes! Scrape up everything that's worth money!"
"Yes, Boss!"
The most anticipated moment when getting treasure is the timing of opening the boxes.
Honestly, when reading martial arts novels, there's a lot of talk about "escort goods, escort goods," but often you don't know what the contents are, excluding the important items that go into the main story.
To satisfy that anticipation and doubt, I grabbed one of the boxes and forcibly pried open the locked lid.
"Hm? Is this tea leaves?"
Inside the box, I confirmed there were fist-sized canisters, and inside the canisters were long, thin leaves.
If the memories injected into me are correct, this is.......
"Boss! That's Junshan Silver Needle! I've seen it a few times before because the old boss loved it, saying it could be sold for a high price!"
The guy who had been acting as the boss of the bandits that attacked me had been the one with the highest rank, so he had been forced to be the boss. Since it wasn't his natural temperament, he looked brighter, as if a heavy burden had been lifted now that he had handed the boss position to me, and he informed me of the identity of the tea leaves I had obtained.
It is one of China's 10 famous teas, cultivated on Junshan Island, a small island in Dongting Lake.
Since it's a fine tea offered to the Imperial Court, the price is bound to be decent.
After smelling it and tasting a tea leaf by rolling it on my tongue, I could feel that even if it wasn't top-grade, it belonged to the mid-to-high grade.
Besides that, there were medicinal herbs, silk, celadon, and pottery, but,
"This won't do. We have to scrap everything except the medicinal herbs."
"Yes? Isn't this much fine?"
It seems this guy wasn't of a very high rank in the bandit group.
"All of these things will be worth money. But if guys like us suddenly come to the city and sell these items, what will people think? None of these are things ordinary citizens can obtain, right?"
"B-but when we were at the mountain stronghold......."
"Back then, you must have been on familiar terms with the black-market merchants who had contracts with the stronghold. Think about it carefully. When going to trade these items for money, wasn't it always the same guys who went, or did the high-ranking guys go themselves?"
"Uh... now that you mention it......."
"Certainly......."
At my question, the other bandits nodded as they recalled their memories.
"Such matters are important issues for both the black-market merchants and the stronghold, so only people who can be trusted should go. But right now, we haven't even gotten on familiar terms with such black-market dealers... no, we don't even know who the black-market dealers are. So, bury everything in the ground except for the medicinal herbs, which we can use the excuse that we know how to identify."
"Ah......."
"It's a waste, but... certainly......."
If I just told them to do it blindly, these guys probably wouldn't understand and would end up wasting more time.
My motto is that when managing subordinates, you must make them understand rationally.
"Boss, have you done this kind of work before? You even know such information?"
"Hmm... well, a little bit back in the day."
To be precise, it was experience gained from playing as a bandit in a game where I could decide the direction myself—whether to form a mercenary group and become the Mercenary King, become a noble, or become the king of a nation.
Originally, I intended to become a sincere and loyal noble, but in the end, I couldn't abandon my true nature, so I remember training a princess with a claim to the throne, elevating her to queen, and swinging my lower half at talented female generals.
Hah~ That's a memory now, too.
Thanks to looting villages that had women of my taste, I accumulated notoriety and suffered quite a bit, but the thrill of overcoming that was amazing.
I had my subordinates dig the ground and bury all the items that couldn't be sold.
Meanwhile, I gathered all the money pouches the escorts had and collected the money in one place.
This isn't enough.
I need to rob a few more merchant groups.
Honestly, there's no reason for me to keep my promise to these guys, but I need them to slip through the investigation net.
My plan is as follows.
If they cooperate with the looting, I'll distribute the money 8 to 2 and then leave.
The reason I need money is to find out Im Ha-yeon's location from an information broker and to get information about female martial artists in the Murim world, even if it's just a little.
Since Ha-yeon is a member of the Demonic Cult and likely holds a high position as a Dharma Protector, I'll obviously need a lot of money, and since the number of female martial artists is also significant, I won't be able to ignore the price even if I only get basic information.
I definitely like Ha-yeon, but I'm not a pure-hearted man who is satisfied with just one woman.
Anyway, if I successfully loot, distribute the money, and part ways, what will these guys do?
They'll obviously start spending the money, right?
When you suddenly get a large sum of money, you naturally want to spend it.
And the victims, who will belatedly find out that their goods were stolen, will try to find the criminals who dared to rob them.
People who suddenly come into money always stand out.
Even modern police start searching around and tightening the net when they discover someone suddenly spending a lot of money.
My goal is to quietly slip out of the investigation net when they get caught in the investigation.
From the moment I met these guys, I changed my face with the disguise technique I obtained from the Shadowless Divine Thief's secret vault.
The reason I wore a mask is that if the disguise technique were to wear off for any reason and these guys saw my face, things would go wrong.
Of course, a development where I deal with all these guys and simply burn the bodies would be good, but a master of tracking could find the traces I left behind without realizing it.
If I create too much evidence in reverse, the investigation power will be dispersed analyzing too much evidence, and they will waste futile time.
From now on, I'm going to plant a lot of false information in these guys, and if they believe that evidence, a situation will come where they won't even suspect me when they see me.
Furthermore, since these guys will scatter, if they spend time searching for them spread out here and there, I'll have that many more opportunities to slip away.
"Uh? Boss! There's alcohol here!"
"What? Alcohol?"
When one of the underlings opened the last box, we could see a large liquor bottle made of black porcelain, sealed with a wooden lid without any gaps, and tied with a rope.
The bandits looked at me with eyes like puppies looking at their prey.
To these guys living as fugitives, it must be more precious than gold.
Well, they are laborers who will be decoys for me anyway, so it wouldn't be bad to boost their morale.
I also need to let them know that they can feel this kind of leisure only by being with me.
Since it's about time for twilight to set in anyway.......
"Drink to your heart's content. But we have work to do tomorrow, so don't come whining about a hangover—control yourselves."
"Yes, Boss!"
"Thank you!"
The guys cheered and were busy opening the sealed lids.
"Boss, the scent coming off this... it seems like a really well-aged one."
At that moment, the guy who had been acting as the boss handed me the opened liquor bottle.
Since they were guys who lived as bandits, they knew they had to look good to the boss.
Come to think of it, I haven't been able to drink much since coming to this world, so I should enjoy it leisurely this time.
The guys waited for me to drink, and only after I put my mouth to the bottle did they start opening the liquor bottles one by one.
Gulp- gulp- gulp-
It's quite strong.
Still, thanks to the setting of Alcohol Tolerance 100, I could feel the deep aroma and taste hidden beyond the high proof.
I can feel a subtle sweetness and a scent that is sweet yet not vulgar.
Jap-ryang-ju.
If the knowledge injected into me is correct, it's a liquor brewed from five types of grains, and it's called the Moutai of the future.
Honestly, the only alcohol I've tried is soju and beer, so drinking alcohol that goes beyond that category feels unique.
It's quite atmospheric to drink leisurely while admiring the sun setting beyond the horizon.
"Khaaa~ This is the best!"
"How long has it been since I've had a drink like this!"
It would be great if there weren't only the voices of rough men.
I chewed on the beef jerky I had prepared for the descent as a snack and looked forward to what kind of women I would meet in the future.
Ah, dammit.
No matter how much I think about it, it's such a waste that the Sword Empress, that fucking damn breast-boy, died!
At the very least, I should have felt the pleasure of my entire cock being softly pressed by those breasts!
By the power of Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Zeus, Dangun, and Shiva, dammit!
Please, Sword Empress, let that breast-boy be alive!
My preference is big breasts that wrap around my entire cock!
If you feel this pleasure, everyone will think like me!
If you just save the Sword Empress, I will work hard to crush the Heaven-Breaking Association!
Please grant my wish!
And I hope Seol-rin, who went with her, is safe too!
They said only a few people survived because of the landslide, but they didn't say the names of the survivors, so I'm going crazy with frustration!
Two years ago, after the herb village that had a cooperative relationship with the Yakwangmun was wiped out by the Demonic Cult, the Yakwangmun gathered herb gatherers who wanted to settle down and allowed them to settle where the herb village used to be through various support.
The Yakwangmun also has professional herb gatherers, but it was impossible to form a village, and since there were problems that needed attention elsewhere, creating a new herb village was profitable and convenient in the long term.
And since they received promises that the militia, the Jeongmumae, and the Blood Alliance warriors would come to patrol regularly so that the same situation as before would not happen, public order became better than before.
"Phew~ This should be enough for today."
The herb gatherer, who had newly settled in the herb village with the support of the Yakwangmun, smiled while looking at the medicinal herbs full in his basket.
This place has good energy, so there are many high-quality medicinal herbs.
There are many wild animals, but in that case, one can just move with the hunters.
At first, leaving his hometown was a bit difficult, but now he was full of thoughts of burying his bones here.
This village was such a good place where one could live prosperously and without worry.
However, if there was one thing that bothered him, it was that traces of half the mountain collapsing and crumbling remained near the village.
The range was so huge that he heard the majority of those who were fighting the Demonic Cult's jiangshi at the time were swept away by the collapsing mountain and died.
The problem was that the range was so wide that it couldn't be handled by human power.
If the state mobilized people, it might be possible somehow, but there was no reason to mobilize that much manpower to a mountain village where only high-quality medicinal herbs grew.
Since the herb gatherers couldn't do anything about what even martial artists had given up on, they eventually had to leave that monstrosity as it was.
Still, since there were other mountains besides that place, there was no problem at all in gathering medicinal herbs.
Ku-woong......
"Hm?"
While he was heading to the village with a basket full of medicinal herbs, he felt a vibration resonating from the floor.
Ku-woong......! Ku-woong......!
"W-what!? Is it an earthquake!?"
The ground shook, and some rough collision sound started to get closer.
The source of the sound and impact was,
Kwaaaaaang!
"Whoa!"
It was right from under the ground.
As the ground broke and a huge hole was created, the herb gatherer who was near that shocking phenomenon screamed and fell on his butt.
"Cough! Cough! Sword Empress-nim! It's light! We're finally on the surface!"
"I see. We've finally made it to the surface."
From the hole in the ground, the voice of a young and energetic woman and the voice of a gentle and elegant woman could be heard.
"Hu-ha~!"
The young woman, covered in dirt here and there, gasped for breath as soon as she came out and took in plenty of fresh air.
It was Hong Seol-rin, who had fallen underground with the Sword Empress after being caught in a trap dug to kill the Sword Empress.
The Sword Empress, who appeared afterward, also had her pure white clothes dirtied with mud, but she was moved that she had come up to the surface and was able to see the clear air and sunlight.
"Let's return to the Jeongmumae first. We must let them know we've returned alive."
"Yes! But it's already been 2 years, I don't know if there will still be a place for me."
Since she had been missing for 2 years, the position she held must have already been filled by someone else.
"Do not worry. With the current Hong Family Spear Technique that has newly developed the profound principles of the Bi-eung-sin-chang's spear technique, even without my help, you will be able to rise higher than before... no, even higher than that."
The place where the two fell was the hideout of the Bi-eung-sin-chang, who was once a public enemy of the Murim but had gone missing.
The Bi-eung-sin-chang had fallen into Qi deviation while learning martial arts and had unintentionally committed numerous massacres, and when he came to his senses, he had already created a mountain of corpses.
Unable to overcome his guilt, the Bi-eung-sin-chang blindly dug under a cave, settled in a suitable open space, and lived and died in solitude, atoning for his whole life.
But he, too, was a martial artist in the end.
A martial artist who did not wish for the lineage of the martial arts he had achieved to be completely cut off.
Therefore, he spent his whole life contemplating and modifying the problems of the spear technique and internal energy cultivation method within the deep cave, and by doing so, he created a new spear technique and internal energy cultivation method where the power was slightly weaker than before, but the problem of Qi deviation had completely disappeared.
Of course, Hong Seol-rin, who possessed the Hong Family's spear technique and internal energy cultivation method, had no reason to look at martial arts created by someone else, not her family's.
However, Hong Seol-rin, who confirmed that the spear technique and internal energy cultivation method contained content that could compensate for the problems or weaknesses of the Hong Family's martial arts, succeeded in modifying the profound principles of the Bi-eung-sin-chang's martial arts based on her family's martial arts with the help of the Sword Empress.
Furthermore, Hong Seol-rin, who had become rich in practical experience through sparring with the Sword Empress, gained the skill and confidence to win even if 2 or 3 of her past selves gathered.
If Jin Cheon had seen that, he would have understood why the will of the world had dropped him.
"W-who are you people...!?"
The herb gatherer, surprised by their appearance, stuttered and asked for their identities.
Seeing his appearance, the two women smiled, thinking it worked out well while they were worried about what to do because their clothes were a mess.