Scattering the Geese

Dokgo Jin walked steadily into the heart of the encampment, his voice calm and unhurried.

"Hear me, Fallen Goose Cavalry."

Infused with profound internal energy, his words cut clean through the dawn stillness, reverberating across every corner of the valley.

"Lay down your weapons and surrender. Do so, and your lives will be spared."

Stirred from their slumber, the bandits blinked open their bleary eyes one after another.

Stunned, men tumbled out of their tents, only to find a single young man standing unaccompanied in the middle of their camp.

"What? The Fallen Goose Cavalry?"

"What is this lunatic babbling about?!"

In truth, 'Fallen Goose Cavalry' was a mocking moniker—a derogatory slur meaning they scattered like a flock of startled geese at the first whiff of danger. Naturally, no one dared utter that name to their faces.

"I don't know how you sniffed your way here, brat, but don't dream of walking out alive!"

To walk alone into a camp holding over sixty seasoned brigands and demand their unconditional surrender was, to them, the height of absurdity.

"We'll make you regret waking us from our sleep!"

Three bandits burst from a nearby tent, traded wicked grins, and drew their sabers before lunging in unison.

"Die!"

The murderous momentum of their charge was fierce, reeking of men who had butchered plenty of travelers in their time. Yet against Dokgo Jin, it was laughably insufficient.

Without budging an inch, he casually flicked his fingers three times in rapid succession.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The heads of all three snapped violently backward, their momentum dying in an instant as they crumpled into the dirt. Invisible beams of piercing finger qi had punched straight through their foreheads, obliterating their brains. They had collapsed without even having the time to utter a shriek.

"Gasp!"

"A—A master!"

A suffocating chill seized the encampment.

No one moved a muscle. Most of the bandits could not even fathom what kind of martial art had just extinguished three lives in the span of an exhale. Those who had drawn their weapons slowly lowered their hands, trembling.

He's a monster beyond our reach. We have to run!

True to their moniker, their survival instincts were second to none.

One sharp-witted bandit spun on his heel and bolted toward the camp's main entrance.

Pat-pat-pat-pat!

Evidently having practiced light-body techniques, his strides carried him swiftly across the clearing. But just as he reached the mouth of the gorge, a massive iron prayer bead descended from the shadows like a falling meteor.

Crack!

"Urgh!"

Blood and bone sprayed into the morning mist. His skull crushed inward, the bandit collapsed lifelessly to the turf.

Wang Saeng stepped out from the darkness, twirling his heavy iron necklace.

"Amitabha. May the patron refrain from sin in the next life and attain rebirth in Sukhavati."

Mok Woo-jeon sauntered out right behind him, tilting his head with a bemused smirk.

"Hey, Wang Saeng. Don't tell me your name actually comes from 'rebirth' in Sukhavati?"

"……Amitabha."

Wang Saeng offered no defense, merely chanting his Buddha's name with a serene, infuriating smile.

This bastard is stark raving mad, Mok Woo-jeon thought, shaking his head.

Behind the two team leaders, the rest of the Mad Tiger Squad filed into view, locking down the perimeter. The bandits scrambling toward the gorge ground to an abrupt halt.

Dammit!

The entrance is sealed!

"What the hell were our scouts doing while these bastards crept in?!"

"Th—There's only a handful of them! Rush them together!"

One bandit screamed the rally, but not a single man stepped forward.

Are you insane? Anyone with eyes can tell they're peak experts!

The gorge is too narrow to swarm them anyway!

The blood drained from the bandits' faces. For ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three years, Clear Water Ridge had been their backyard. When pursued, they scattered; having scattered, they survived. That was the natural order of their world. Yet today, their retreat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was entirely severed, and they stood trapped before monsters they could never hope to match.

Wh—What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do we do?

Fleeing was impossible, yet charging the calm youth in the center seemed like sheer suicide.

Right then, a choked groan drifted from the opposite end of the camp.

"Guh!"

Thud.

Another bandit pitched forward, a short iron nail embedded deep between his eyes.

At the northern edge of the camp lay a secret, narrow fissure—barely wide enough for an adult male to squeeze through, yet an ideal escape hatch. A bandit had tried to slip away through the crack, only to meet instant death.

"None shall pass this way."

Tang Pung-yeong stepped into the faint morning light, twirling a slender Back-Piercing Nail between his wax-coated fingers. The sight plunged the outlaws into utter despair.

"D-Damn it all…!"

"What are we supposed to do?!"

As chaotic shouting erupted across the camp, the flap of the largest command tent was shoved aside with a sharp snap.

"What is all this infernal racket?!"

A booming roar tore through the air as a burly, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠broad-shouldered man stepped outside. A massive saber hung from his waist, radiating an oppressive, bloodthirsty aura. It was none other than the chieftain of the Fallen Goose Cavalry: Jin Gan, the Wind Soul Saber.

His sweeping gaze took in the camp in an instant: three underlings dead with pierced foreheads, the entrance sealed by armored warriors, and a single, aloof youth standing at the center of it all.

Jin Gan recognized immediately that this youth was the true source of danger.

"Who are you?"

Dokgo Jin answered flatly.

"I am the Commander of the Northern Heavenly Alliance's Mad Tiger Squad. I have come to exterminate your band."

Jin Gan's brow twitched.

The Mad Tiger Squad? The newly established strike force of the Northern Heavens…?

Operating boldly within the Alliance's sphere of influence meant he kept close tabs on regional intelligence. A look of bitter frustration crept across his face.

I heard they hadn't even been formally deployed yet… How troublesome.

Newly formed or not, a squad commander was still an elite officer. Judging by how effortlessly the youth had dispatched three veteran cutthroats, his martial prowess far exceeded Jin Gan's own.

Jin Gan glanced toward the entrance.

Those must be his squad members.

Though few in number, their discipline was terrifying. Against such warriors, his sixty-odd men were little more than sheep awaiting slaughter. He glanced toward the northern crevice, spotting Tang Pung-yeong, and a dry chuckle escaped his lips.

They prepared this trap meticulously.

It was an airtight predicament. Yet even so, the seasoned outlaw did not lose his head.

I've survived twenty years in the borderlands by wriggling out of tighter nooses than this.

His eyes locked back onto Dokgo Jin.

…My only way out is to take this brat hostage.

He knew he was outmatched in pure cultivation, but Jin Gan possessed dirty tricks honed by decades of survival. Feigning defeat, he took a slow step forward.

"The Mad Tiger Squad Commander, is it…?" His tone was lowered, steady and unthreatening. "So a brand-new unit picked us for their maiden hunt. Did we look that easy to you?"

Dokgo Jin did not bother answering the petty taunt.

"Wind Soul Saber, this is your final warning. Drop your weapons and surrender."

"Do you really think I'm that soft, boy?!"

Jin Gan kicked off the turf.

Whoosh!

Shooting forward like an arrow, his right hand drifted toward the hilt of his saber, drawing Dokgo Jin's focus downward. But the true strike came from his left.

Clack.

A crisp mechanical click echoed from within his sleeve, followed by the deafening roar of hundreds of metal projectiles bursting forth simultaneously.

Th-th-th-th-th-th-zip!

It was the concealed weapon mounted to his right wrist—the lethal Torrential Rain Soul-Shattering Cylinder.

The sudden betrayal was so swift that even the watching squad members cried out in alarm.

"Commander!"

"Look out!"

A dense curtain of steel needles blanketed the space before Dokgo Jin, leaving neither room to evade nor time to retreat. For twenty years, this hidden trump card had saved Jin Gan from the brink of death time and again. Against an ordinary martial artist, it was an inescapable death sentence.

Yet Dokgo Jin merely raised his left arm and flicked his wide sleeve.

Fwump—!

A vortex of pure internal qi erupted from the edge of the fabric, sweeping forward like an invisible tidal wave.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!

The hundreds of flying needles struck the wall of force and shattered their trajectories midair. Sparks danced in the dim morning light as the entire volley fell harmlessly to the grass like spent autumn leaves.

Not a single thread on Dokgo Jin's robes had been disturbed.

Jin Gan's eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated horror.

In two decades, the Torrential Rain Soul-Shattering Cylinder had never failed. At most, a grandmaster might deflect a handful with a drawn blade. But to dismantle the entire barrage with a mere flick of an empty sleeve?

Th—This is impossible!

In the very instant Jin Gan's mind recoiled in shock—

Swish.

Dokgo Jin glided through the air like mist carried on the wind, closing the distance before Jin Gan could even register the movement.

And then.

Tap.

Dokgo Jin's extended index finger pressed gently against Jin Gan's sternum.

That was all.

"I take it that means you refuse to surrender."

"……?"

Jin Gan instinctively looked down at his chest in bewilderment.

What did he just…

His confusion lasted only a fraction of a heartbeat.

BOOM!

An explosive shockwave detonated within his chest cavity. Jin Gan's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as blinding agony tore through his senses.

"Guh-urgh!"

Dark, clotted blood erupted from his mouth. That single touch of finger qi had completely liquefied his heart and shattered his internal meridians from within.

"Ah… kgh…"

Jin Gan's knees gave out, his heavy body collapsing into the dirt. His trembling hands clawed at his chest, but it was already too late. As his vision blurred, he looked up one last time into the eyes of the young commander.

Those eyes were not human. They were an unfathomable, bottomless abyss devoid of light.

A… monster…

The light drained from his pupils.

Thud.

Jin Gan, the Wind Soul Saber, slumped lifelessly onto the cold soil. It was an empty, pathetic end for a bandit chieftain who had terrorized the northern trails for years.

Dokgo Jin turned his back on the corpse, facing the remaining bandits.

"I shall say this one last time." His voice was low, devoid of emotion, yet carried the crushing weight of a mountain. "Throw down your arms, and you shall live."

Clatter!

A lone saber slipped from a trembling hand, striking a stone. Like an infectious tremor, weapons began hitting the ground all around.

Clang, clatter, thud.

The remaining outlaws dropped to their knees in unison, pressing their foreheads into the dust.

"M—Mercy! Spare us, please!"

Dokgo Jin looked over the groveling survivors and issued his order.

"Mad Tiger Squad, bind them all."

"Understood!"

Thus, the newly christened Mad Tiger Squad concluded its very first mission without a single casualty.

"Have you heard? The Fallen Goose Cavalry has been wiped out!"

"Oh? Those elusive pests?"

"Aye. Rumor has it that the newly established Mad Tiger Squad hunted them down. Cleared them out in a single sweep without letting a single rat escape."

"Impressive. Those bastards were famous for scattering into the mountains the moment trouble showed up. How did they pull that off?"

"Not only that—they captured nearly all of them alive. Brought them right back to Bukcheon Castle in chains."

"Well, well. It seems the Dragon-Tiger Plaque Master isn't just a deadly duelist; he knows how to command troops as well."

"That's not even the half of it. They returned carrying the severed head of their chief, the Wind Soul Saber, impaled atop a banner pole!"

"Hah! Brutal and thorough."

"Indeed. That young commander possesses quite the ruthless spine. Anyone who thought the squad could be looked down upon just because of its small size had better think twice."

Upon receiving the report, the White Tiger Flag Master burst into hearty laughter.

"Hahaha! As expected of the Dragon-Tiger Plaque Master… no, our Mad Tiger Squad Commander."

Standing before him, the masked White Fang Unit Leader bowed slightly.

"The commander has requested permission to publicly expose Jin Gan's severed head at the city gate."

The Flag Master nodded without hesitation.

"Grant it. Mount it high above the Southern Gate so the entire populace can see."

"Understood. Furthermore, the commander suggested holding a public execution for the captured bandits."

"A fine suggestion. Convey the request to the Hall of Discipline and tell them it is my personal wish."

The White Fang Unit Leader hesitated before speaking in a low, guarded tone.

"Parading the head on a banner pole during their return was already quite a spectacle. I wonder if this public display might be somewhat excessive… It risks stoking unease among the common folk."

The White Tiger Flag Master smirked.

"Is that how it seems to you?"

"Yes. It feels as though the young commander is being overly eager to flaunt his achievements. Such ostentation might tarnish the alliance's dignity."

"It is quite the opposite."

"…Pardon?"

"To a shallow eye, it may appear reckless. But in truth, this action elevates the prestige of our alliance far more effectively than any proclamation."

"……"

The White Fang Unit Leader remained quiet, unable to fully grasp the reasoning.

The Flag Master's eyes gleamed with admiration.

"He is far more formidable than I initially credited him for." A subtle smile touched his lips. Perhaps… I need to revise my plans regarding that young man.

Within the private quarters of the Mad Tiger Squad, the leadership gathered around the central table. Wang Saeng leaned forward, voicing his dissatisfaction.

"Commander, why did we bother dragging those wicked scoundrels all the way back here? Sending them straight to Sukhavati on the mountain would have saved us plenty of rations."

Mok Woo-jeon shook his head, clicking his tongue.

"Good grief. And you call yourself a disciple of the Buddha? Talking about slaughter with such relish…"

"Amitabha. As you well know, this poor monk was defrocked long ago and no longer walks the monastic path."

Mok Woo-jeon stared at him in utter disbelief.

Then why on earth do 'Amitabha', 'poor monk', and 'Sukhavati' never leave your mouth, you fraudulent bald rascal?

Tang Pung-yeong chimed in before the bickering could escalate.

"Team Leader Wang Saeng fails to grasp the commander's foresight."

"What do you mean, Vice Commander?"

"Those bandits will inevitably face execution once the Hall of Discipline delivers its verdict."

"That is precisely my point! If they're doomed to die anyway, why drag them across the province?"

"Because that is how you deliver an unmistakable warning to every other outlaw in the region."

"……?!"

"Mounting Jin Gan's head on a banner and hoisting it above the Southern Gate serves the exact same purpose," Tang Pung-yeong continued, a faint, chilling smirk gracing his features. "It is an unyielding message carved into the minds of every rogue operating in the alliance's territory: cross our borders, and this will be your fate."

"Then the captured outlaws…"

"Their public execution will cement that terror into stone. A quiet death on a remote mountain teaches no one. A public spectacle terrifies thousands."

And naturally, the reputation of the Mad Tiger Squad would skyrocket alongside the spectacle.

"Ah…"

Understanding finally dawned on Wang Saeng's face. He glanced at Dokgo Jin with newfound awe.

To think our young commander's calculations ran this deep…

Dokgo Jin took a slow sip of tea, breaking his silence with a single remark.

"…I look forward to seeing which team earns the right to be designated as Squad 1 for our next assignment."

The moment the words fell, the air turned electric as Wang Saeng and Mok Woo-jeon locked eyes in a fierce, silent clash of wills.