Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Bandit City
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The young man's face was covered in blood in an instant.
"You crazy bastard..."
The One Hundred Mad Demons grimaced. They had thought Ak Muyoo would just scold the kid. But he had actually beaten him.
And he had done it with full sincerity.
"Did you just hit me? Did you just hit me? Do you even know who I am?"
The young man wasn't ordinary either. Even drenched in blood, he screamed furiously.
"How the hell would I know who you are, you bastard."
Ak Muyoo kept swinging his fists. His clenched fist slammed into the young man's face.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Aaack! Uwaaack!"
The young man kept screaming.
His face burst open in more and more places, blood flowing as it lost its original shape.
"Okay, that was wrong."
"Yeah, you were wrong a hundred times over."
Ak Muyoo released the young man. But that wasn't the end of it.
This time, he kicked mercilessly.
Thud!
Ak Muyoo's foot struck precisely at the young man's lower body.
"Kuaaaack!"
A gut-wrenching scream burst from the young man's mouth. Unable to endure the pain, he rolled on the ground.
Clack!
Ak Muyoo pinned down the writhing boy with his left foot and drew a dagger from his waist.
"I'll cut it off nice and clean, so say 'ahh.'"
He forced the young man's mouth open, grabbed his tongue, pulled it out, and pressed the blade against it.
"P-please, forgive me."
The young man even pissed himself.
"If you call me a bastard one more time, I'll cut out your tongue and chew it up. Got it?"
The young man nodded.
Ak Muyoo stared down at him silently before returning to his original spot.
"Are you sexually frustrated lately by any chance?"
Yo Pung asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"You beat the kid too hard."
"Whether kid or adult, you take responsibility for your words. And it ended at that because he's a kid. If he were an adult, he'd be dead."
"If you're frustrated, just say so."
"And if I do?"
"I'll sacrifice this body to relieve you."
"You're hilarious."
"You think it'll come?"
Yo Pung asked.
"What?"
"You just picked a fight with the entire bandit gang."
"Pfft! How'd you know?"
Ak Muyoo chuckled and asked.
"We've lived together for years. How could I not know?"
"I guess so. Let's go."
Ak Muyoo spoke to the girl.
"Yes."
The girl started walking.
"Is there a name for this city?"
"It's called Horse Capital."
"Meaning the capital of the horse bandits, right?"
"Yes."
"How many bandit gangs are there?"
"Here, if you call them bandits, you're in big trouble."
"So what do they call them?"
"Everyone calls them Horse Lords."
"Then the bandit gangs are called Horse Lord Bands?"
"Yes."
"How many Horse Lord Bands are there?"
"A total of fifty-two."
"Personnel?"
"Over ten thousand, but most belong to the Ten Great Horse Lord Bands."
"Ten Great Horse Lord Bands?"
"It's a collective term for the bands ranked from first to tenth: 'Western Xia Black-White Bandits, Blood Rain Ink-Iron Maniacs.'"
"The first is Western Xia Alliance?"
"Yes. Wind is Wind Wave Force, Black is Black Sand Alliance, White is White Crow Band, Bandit is Red Snake Band. These five Horse Lord Bands are the strongest. Western Xia Alliance has two thousand members, the others around a thousand each."
"Blood Rain Ink-Iron Maniacs are the second tier, huh?"
"Yes. Blood is Blood Blood Band, Rain is Flying Evil Squad, Ink is Ink God Band, Iron is Iron Bow Band, Maniacs is Mad Demon Band. Each has around five hundred members."
"Just these ten organizations total nearly eight thousand members?"
"In truth, they make up almost everything. The rest are minor groups."
As they passed through the city center, they felt many eyes watching them. Then, a man emerged from a building and approached the group.
"Hello. My name is Im Chung."
Ak Muyoo looked at the man.
He was in his mid-forties to mid-fifties, with a triangular face, thin mustache on both sides of the philtrum and under the chin. His eyes darted left and right ceaselessly, looking familiar.
'Where have I seen him... a rat.'
Now he knew why the face seemed familiar. It was a rat-like face.
"What?"
He asked, looking at Im Chung.
"Do you perhaps need a job?"
"A job?"
"I'm not sure if you know, but you can't do anything alone here. You must belong to an organization."
"What kind of work mainly?"
"Well..."
"Isn't the work just plundering?"
"You can't survive on plundering alone."
"Then?"
"We fight wars on behalf of others."
"Proxy wars?"
"Yes."
"So you're like ronin?"
"It's a bit different from ronin."
"How so?"
"Ronin go individually, but here it's by organization."
"The organization makes the contract?"
"Yes."
"We're two hundred strong. Couldn't we just form our own organization?"
"If you form one, you'll be bullied by the others. Might even have to fight wars."
"The established ones bully newcomers?"
"The fewer rivals, the more spoils."
"True. Are there any organizations at war now?"
"Forest Edge Band, Iron Bow Band, and Blood Blood Band are at war."
"Iron Bow and Blood Blood are attacking, right?"
"How did you know?"
"Fights are always started by the strong."
"That's true."
"Who's winning?"
"Iron Bow and Blood Blood together make a thousand, Forest Edge Band has two hundred."
"Forest Edge Band doesn't stand a chance?"
"Yes."
"Any organization you recommend?"
"In Horse Capital, it's none other than Western Xia Alliance."
"Western Xia Alliance is the strongest?"
"Yes."
"How many members?"
"Two thousand."
"Not down to sixteen hundred now?"
"Pardon?"
"I heard four hundred went out on expedition recently and about four hundred died. Isn't that right?"
"Huh?"
Im Chung's eyes widened.
It was top secret that four hundred Western Xia Alliance members went out and only fifty returned alive. Yet this newcomer knew.
"How much do you get?"
"Pardon?"
"How much commission for introducing people?"
"Well..."
"You're not doing it for free."
"That's a trade secret."
"What's the Western Xia Alliance leader like?"
"A descendant of the Western Xia Kingdom."
"Which one?"
"Well..."
"Do you know who the last king of Western Xia Kingdom was?"
"..."
"I'll bet a copper coin that even the Western Xia Alliance leader doesn't know the last king's name."
"The past isn't important."
"Maybe not to you. But to some, the past is very important. It's infuriating when mongrels defile their ancestors' names."
"You're saying there's a real descendant?"
Truthfully, Im Chung didn't believe Yi Yang was a Western Xia descendant either. Even if he claimed to be the current emperor's brother here, no one would believe it.
"I'm just saying. Anyway, we've decided where to stay, so if you need to contact us, come to Great River Inn."
"You're going to Great River Inn?"
"Yeah. Problem?"
"That's where Forest Edge Band, Iron Bow Band, and Blood Blood Band are fighting."
"Then room rates will be cheap. Anyway, come there if you have something to say."
"Understood."
Im Chung stood there, watching Ak Muyoo's group walk away.
"People do anything to die. But that face looks familiar..."
Im Chung tilted his head.
"Ah! That guy!"
He rummaged in his bosom and pulled out a sheet of paper.
It bore a portrait.
**[Wanted Criminal]**
**Name: Black Wind**
**Crime: Rebellion**
**Reward: 500,000 nyang**
It looked newly printed, the drawing and text sharp.
"It's him!"
Im Chung yelled and dashed off.
* * *
"How old are you?"
He asked the girl.
"Eleven."
"Do you have a name?"
"Gun Seol."
"Gun Seol?"
"Yes."
"I know someone with the Gun surname too..."
Suddenly, he recalled Gun Cheokjeon hadn't told him his daughter's name. He'd only said his wife's name was Yun Bong and hadn't given her surname. Then asked him to relay a message.
"She must be a good person."
"Because same surname?"
"I'm a good person too."
"That person's not good."
"Why?"
"He was too busy to even see his only daughter's face once."
"That's pretty bad."
"What about your father?"
"He passed away."
"That's too bad."
"You don't need to feel sorry, uncle."
"It's just polite talk. Truth is, I don't feel the slightest bit sorry."
"...Your mouth is something else..."
Gun Seol glared at Ak Muyoo. Then continued.
"We're here. That's it."
Gun Seol pointed to the building ahead. It was quite large, but not enough for two hundred people.
"We all might not fit."
"There's houses in the forest behind the inn."
"Yeah?"
They arrived at the inn and went around back.
As Gun Seol said, dozens of houses stood in the poplar grove. The inn was on a low hill, so the houses weren't visible from the front.
"We call that area the Grove."
North of the Grove was desert.
"Is that desert big?"
"About ten li north-south, a hundred li east-west."
"An odd-shaped desert."
"It used to be smaller."
"The land is turning to desert?"
"Seems like it."
"But no one lives in those houses?"
"About half are empty."
"Who lived there?"
"Forest Edge Band members' houses."
"So half died in the meantime?"
"Yes."
"Can we get meals?"
"Not all at once, but fifty at a time is possible."
"Now tell me about you."
"Me?"
"You said Forest Edge Band, Iron Bow Band, and Blood Blood Band are at war. Yet you brought us to Forest Edge Band's base."
"You need money to fight a war."
"So with money, you can buy food and weapons?"
"Yes."
"There are no laws here, but one unwritten rule: 'No one monopolizes food.'"
"Seol, is that you?"
A woman's voice came from inside the inn then.
"Yes, Mom. I brought guests."
"Guests?"
The back door opened, and a woman came out.
Her face was darkly tanned, hair disheveled, but it couldn't hide her beauty. She had an air that didn't fit with bandits at all.
"Guests came?"
Following the woman, five men emerged. Most were elderly men in their sixties or older.
'Experts... tsk!'
Ak Muyoo grimaced. He could immediately gauge the elders' martial arts.
'I shouldn't be doing this.'
He shook his head.
"Welcome."
The woman bowed her head.
"Two hundred people—possible?"
Ak Muyoo asked.
"Yes."
"Prepare meals first, then."
"Got it. Plenty of empty houses below—pick and stay. Cost is one nyang per day, including three meals."
"Pay upfront?"
"That'd be great."
"So Pung!"
Ak Muyoo called So Pung ahead.
"Yeah."
"Pay the lodging. Two hundred nyang."
The money Ak Muyoo's group used was what Huang Bo-se had loaded on the camels.
—Transmission.
One of the five elders who came out sent a sound transmission to the one beside him.
—What?
The white-haired elder turned his head.
—Look at that young man's hands.
—Why his hands?
—Just look.
The white-haired elder turned his gaze to Ak Muyoo's hands.
'Gasp!'
The elder's eyes went wide.