Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Wow! They Only Take Half the Protection Money?
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Two weeks later.
In a small village called Jipgyeonghyeon in Hunan Province.
The largest inn in Jipgyeonghyeon.
As always, the local thugs with nothing better to do had gathered early to drink.
“Boss, you hear about that?”
“What story?”
“They say the Murim Alliance has completely pulled out of Hunan Province?”
“What nonsense. The Murim Alliance never cared about Hunan in the first place.”
“No, it’s not that. They’re saying they won’t interfere at all. They’re removing Hunan Province from Murim Alliance territory entirely?”
“What? Why?”
At his subordinate’s shocking words, Dooyeong—the man called Boss—widened his eyes and asked. The subordinate then relayed the news he’d heard to Dooyeong.
“You know about that big clash between the Green Forest bandits up on the mountain and the Murim Alliance, right?”
“Who in this town doesn’t?”
At first, some guy calling himself the Bandit King showed up and unified all the bandits, which was surprising enough. Then the Green Forest guys started a massive project clearing mountain paths, and merchants began flocking in.
Up to that point, it could be brushed off as some weird bunch settling in the mountains. But then, for whatever reason, the Murim Alliance sent a subjugation force.
And the shocking part….
‘The bandits actually beat the subjugation force. Unbelievable, no matter how you look at it.’
…Incredibly, the Green Forest bandits had crushed the Murim Alliance’s subjugation squad.
The news spread like wildfire through the quiet Hunan Province, becoming the talk of the region—no one was left in the dark.
“That’s why the Murim Alliance sent a representative this time to talk with the Green Forest. And apparently, they acknowledged the Green Forest’s territory in Hunan and pulled out completely.”
“…No way. That make any sense?”
The haughty Murim Alliance handing over territorial rights to a whole province to mere bandits?
Dooyeong couldn’t wrap his head around it.
“Damn punk. Where’d you hear that crap? Coming here scaring people for nothing. You believe that bullshit?”
“No, Boss, I heard it too.”
“Me too. Word is, merchants swarmed the Murim Alliance rep to protest. They took a huge hit from this mess.”
“Wait… what? So it’s true? What kinda world is this?”
With all his men chiming in agreement, it seemed like it really was the case.
Dooyeong thought the world was full of strange shit and downed his drink.
That’s when the sharpest guy among his subordinates snickered and spoke up.
“But Boss, whatever the details, isn’t this good for us?”
“Good how?”
“The Murim Alliance might’ve ignored Hunan, but… we’ve been watching our step around them, right?”
“Yeah.”
Truth be told, the guys drinking here weren’t just ordinary thugs.
They were warriors from the Black Tiger Gang, Jipgyeonghyeon’s one and only underworld faction.
Sure, calling it a “gang” was a bit embarrassing—they were little more than a pack of street punks—but they were still the town’s sole organized group.
They’d learned some basic martial arts and built up their external strength, scraping by on the blood of common folk without causing any major incidents.
“But now that the Murim Alliance is washing their hands of Hunan entirely, we can shake people down without holding back, right?”
“Oh….”
“This is our chance for the Black Tiger Gang to become the true rulers of Jipgyeonghyeon!”
“Ahahaha! Yeah!”
Dooyeong burst into hearty laughter at his subordinate’s words and bellowed.
“We’ve kept things civil so far, but now we can double, triple the protection money from the commoners, and the Murim Alliance won’t lift a finger! Does the gang leader know? If not, let’s go tell him quick!”
“…Before that, Boss. How about we enjoy some of this fine booze first? On the house, heh heh….”
Seeing the subordinate’s sleazy glint, Dooyeong grinned just as sleazily and nodded.
“Of course! Hey! Waiter—!”
“Y-Yes!”
“You heard everything we said, right?”
At Dooyeong’s question, the waiter nodded with a miserable look.
“…Yes, I heard it all.”
“Then you know we’re the only ones protecting you now, right?”
“…….”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
The waiter clenched his eyes in helpless frustration.
‘Protecting us, my ass.’
Ever since the Black Tiger Gang set up in Jipgyeonghyeon, all they’d done was loiter in inns like this, disrupt business, and mooch free booze.
They hadn’t made life completely impossible, so they’d scraped by so far….
‘But the Murim Alliance pulling out of Hunan….’
…That meant Jipgyeonghyeon was about to become a den of these underworld thugs for real.
Dooyeong shouted triumphantly at the dazed waiter.
“You get it? Now bring the booze! Top-shelf baijiu!”
“…Top-shelf baijiu. Yes, sir. But, hero… do you have… money…?”
“What? You gonna charge the heroes of Jipgyeonghyeon?”
Dooyeong growled and slapped his sword onto the table. The waiter paled and bowed deeply.
“N-No! I’ll get it right away—!”
“That’s right! Ahaha!”
The waiter bowed while holding back tears.
‘These rotten bastards. How’d they even know we have top-shelf baijiu?’
It was reserved for special guests. The thought of handing it over to these guys twisted his gut.
On top of that….
“Heh heh… today’s….”
“Not our day. Let’s bounce.”
The thugs’ rowdiness and threats—swords on tables—had driven away most customers.
Staring at the now-empty inn, the waiter numbly fetched the top-shelf baijiu and served it to Dooyeong.
‘Today’s sales are toast…. At least one guy’s still here.’
Spotting someone lingering in the corner, the waiter headed over.
“Sir… sorry the inn’s so noisy today….”
“I’m fine.”
“Still, it must’ve been uncomfortable. Your meal’s on the house today. Please enjoy and….”
“Wait.”
As the waiter bowed and turned to leave, the customer grabbed his wrist.
Then he started asking questions, pointing at the noisy Black Tiger Gang crew.
“Those guys—they’re the Black Tiger Gang?”
“Y-Yes, that’s them.”
“I see.”
The customer pulled a book from his robes, marked something, then stood and faced the gang.
Now that he looked, the customer had a sword at his waist. The terrified waiter rushed over and whispered.
“S-Sir! What are you doing? Th-Those are the worst scum in town! If you get involved for no reason, you’ll be in big trouble….”
“It’s fine.”
The customer flashed a grin at the waiter.
His face radiated confidence—and now up close, he looked as rough and villainous as any underworld thug.
“I’m from the Green Forest.”
With that, he strode toward the Black Tiger Gang crew.
**
I’d climbed straight back to our mountain stronghold right after wrapping up talks with the Murim Alliance that day.
“Boss!”
“Big Boss—!”
“Bro—!!”
Having spent a few days in Hunan city for the negotiations, the guys gave me a huge welcome like it’d been ages.
I gave them a quick greeting and got right to it.
“No time. Save the welcome for later—gather all the executives.”
“Executives…? Who…?”
“Dongryong, Bangsam, Bongchun, the kid, Jeokyeom, and… Ungchil too. The ones I named are the executives. Round ’em up.”
From Vice Boss Dongryong to Jeokyeom’s oldest subordinate, Ungchil—six in total.
If the Green Forest grows later, we can add more, but this feels right for now. I gathered them in my room and continued.
“Talks with the Murim Alliance went smooth. Those bastards won’t strike first anymore.”
The executives nodded—they’d heard from the kid already.
“Yeah, we know. So, time for a feast or something? Why’d you call us so sudden…?”
“Too early for feasts. I’m turning Hunan Province into our Green Forest’s unbreakable home turf—no one messes with it easy.”
A few years from now, when the Demonic Cult invades the Central Plains, the world turns into pure hell.
Didn’t plan to go this far originally, but with Hunan in my hands, I’m making the most of it.
Call it Hunan Shelter Project.
No matter what shitstorm hits outside, we’ll thrive in our safe zone.
“To do that, we tighten internal control and build strength. That’s why I called you. First, Bongchun.”
“Yeah, Boss.”
Me, Dongryong, Bangsam, Bongchun, the kid.
Bongchun—fourth of our original crew.
Truth is, all us originals have our stories of joining up.
Saved Dongryong’s ass when he was half-dead and made him my guy; Bangsam’s a blur; the kid showed up on his own.
And Bongchun….
‘What’re you staring at, punk?’
…Was an underworld thug I scrapped with at an inn.
Beat the shit outta him for starting shit, but he had grit, so I recruited him.
Might’ve gone overboard on the beating—now he’s overly polite and quiet….
Anyway.
Perfect mission for an ex-underworld thug like Bongchun.
“Bongchun, starting tomorrow, go down and crush every last underworld punk.”
“…Pardon?”
“Hao Clan’ll give you the intel. Use it to roam Hunan, kill who needs killing, recruit who’s worth it, and unify ’em all. I’m giving you the big job of bringing the underworld under our Green Forest banner.”
Hunan’s out of Murim Alliance reach, no major sects, so it’s crawling with small-time underworld gangs.
Unify and recruit ’em, we boost our forces and clean up provincial security.
“B-Bro, I’m not sure I….”
Figured as a fellow ex-underworld guy, he’d be perfect. But he bowed his head, lacking confidence.
I clapped his shoulder and kept going.
“Bongchun, you’re the guy for this. Why so scared? You can do it. Hey, even Dongryong’s got that Bandit King moniker—you need one too. Hmm… yeah, Black Evil King. Sounds badass.”
“Wait, I’m Bandit King, why’s Bongchun getting the cool Black Evil King…?”
“Dongryong, shut it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hearing me out, Bongchun seemed to gain some spine and nodded.
“…Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”
“Good call. And….”
I laid out my exact plan for him.
Which got….
“…Half?”
“Yeah, gotta leave seeds to farm and harvest again next time.”
“Our Boss really is merciful.”
…Bongchun nodding along.
I ruffled his hair and continued.
“That’s me. Anyway, you get it—prep to head out.”
“Yes, Boss.”
And at dawn, Bongchun descended the mountain.
**
“Guhhhh….”
“P-Please, just once….”
“…….”
Bongchun gazed at the collapsed Black Tiger Gang crew before him, lost in mixed feelings.
‘Too easy… way too easy.’
He used to be just another small-time underworld thug.
But after meeting the Boss, everything changed.
Built a dantian, cultivated inner energy; sparred and trained with the Boss to temper his body; learned basic swordsmanship….
Now, he could take a hundred of his past self.
In just two weeks roaming Hunan, he’d smashed over a hundred underworld punks like this.
“Black Tiger Gang, huh… where’s your gang leader?”
“I-I’ll tell you everything, just spare me….”
“Fine.”
Bongchun released the guy’s collar and stared coldly.
Impressed, the waiter rushed over excitedly.
“Hero! Thank you! These bastards… always terrorizing our inn….”
“No more of that. From now on, the Green Forest protects all Hunan commoners.”
“Oh….”
The waiter couldn’t help but be moved. He hated his old self for thinking all bandits were the same scum.
Bongchun caught his grateful look and asked.
“These punks were shaking down every shop in Jipgyeonghyeon, right? How much did they take?”
“Varies by shop, but ours was five standard silver taels a month.”
“Damn, five taels? Total trash.”
“Right? Complete trash….”
“We’ll take three.”
“…Pardon?”
…Huh?
While the waiter blinked in confusion, Bongchun continued.
“Our Boss specially ordered us to halve the usual underworld protection fees. Truly merciful, isn’t he?”
“Oh… y-yeah… he is.”
The waiter was missing something. Bandits were underworld too, living in the hills.
“You look upset. Should we just take the full five?”
“N-No, hero! Only half the protection money? Ahaha! Green Forest’s the best—!”
Bongchun watched the waiter’s twitching grin, chuckled, and poured himself a cup of the top-shelf baijiu the gang hadn’t finished.
Then he addressed the fallen punks.
“Alright, break’s over. Time to move. You lot built up some wealth, right? Gather it all and send it to the stronghold.”
Before he knew it, Bongchun was enjoying smashing underworld gangs. He poured another cup, downed it with glee, and rose from his seat.