Chapter 20
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Ni Dae-ho
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Yang Cho-gun stared at me with who-knows-what expression in his eyes, but oblivious to that, I kept pounding away at the bandits for a good while—slashing, stabbing, kicking, punching, throwing, twisting, stomping.
Lost in that trance-like state as I battered the bandits, a trumpet blast suddenly rang out.
Rwoooooh—
The sound snapped me out of my daze.
And then something hurtled toward me at tremendous speed.
"Dodge!"
At Yang Cho-gun's shout, I reflexively twisted my body aside and evaded it.
It was a spear.
Whoooosh—!
The spear that flew in with a sound like a hornet buzzing past my ear slammed into the ground.
Thud!
It was thrown with such monstrous strength that it buried itself halfway into the earth.
"Which bastard are you?"
I checked out the guy who'd hurled the spear at me.
It was the burly brute who'd blocked the flying dagger I'd thrown at him earlier.
The giant glared at me with a savage expression.
As our eyes met, he raised his right hand, mimed slitting his throat with his thumb, then led his underlings fleeing into the mountains.
"Hah, can you believe that cocky punk? Running away and still acting tough?"
"Reinforcements!"
I soon figured out why they'd retreated in such a panic.
Off in the distance, through clouds of dust, imperial troops appeared.
There were even some who looked like escorts.
Probably reinforcements sent by the Thousand Gold Merchant Group.
The porters, who'd been desperately battling the bandits, began collapsing one by one, gasping for breath.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
These weren't martial artists. They'd likely never in their lives fought so desperately for survival against another human being.
Some sighed in relief at the sight of the approaching reinforcements, while others wailed over the deaths of close comrades.
This was a place where life and death crossed paths every day.
This was the reality of the central plains right now—this was the world of murim.
"F-Father... sob, sob... Father..."
A son who'd started working as a porter alongside his father broke down sobbing before his father's corpse.
Among the bandits I'd slain, some must have had sons like that, too.
But that didn't stir any pity in me.
To me, they were nothing but enemies.
If one of their sons came seeking revenge someday, I'd lop off his head with a smile.
That was the mindset of anyone surviving in murim.
As I mulled over such thoughts alone, Yang Cho-gun approached and clapped me on the shoulder.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good. You were just standing there dazed—I thought you might've been hurt."
"Haha, just some pointless random thoughts."
Then, people came rushing toward us in a hurry.
They politely cupped their fists in greeting and introduced themselves.
"I'm Ni Dae-ho, vice leader of the Thousand Gold Merchant Group. Thanks to you young heroes, my men have been saved. I am truly grateful."
"Hwang Tae-seong of the martial world."
"Yang Cho-gun."
"I don't know how to repay this kindness."
"No need. I owe your grand leader a great debt from Xi'an. I'm just glad I could repay even a little of it this way."
"Oh! Is that so?"
Ni Dae-ho recalled what his daughter Nip Baek-hap had told him recently.
That his senile old man had used a Thousand Ancient Pill—worth an entire house—as a suppository for some lunatic's ass.
But Ni Dae-ho was convinced it wasn't just his father's dementia.
If the bandits had robbed the goods in transit, it wouldn't have been just one house at stake.
So the Thousand Ancient Pill wasn't a loss at all.
"More than that, this friend here stepped up to help me with no prior connection whatsoever. Now that's a true hero of the jianghu, wouldn't you say?"
In other words, he'd already been paid, so take care of my side first.
True to his merchant nature, Ni Dae-ho instantly grasped my meaning.
"Ah, I see? Of course. The Thousand Gold Merchant Group never treats benefactors stingily. If there's anything you need, just say the word."
"I didn't help for any reward."
"Didn't you say you were working off your tuition for the Imperial Palace Martial Academy?"
"What!? Would someone like this settle for being just an emperor's foot soldier? We'll cover your tuition with a scholarship!"
"Uh... well."
For the first time, I saw Yang Cho-gun flustered.
Ni Dae-ho hadn't noticed much amid Hwang Tae-seong's heroics, but he'd clearly seen the skill of this man wielding a foreign sword.
He was definitely approaching first-rate level.
Plus, Ni Dae-ho had already heard rumors in Xi'an about a peculiar fellow using a foreign sword.
And that he was facing a sort of persecution in the central plains murim.
At first, he'd dismissed it as some freak. But seeing him today, his skills were exceptional.
And with no sect affiliation, just a lone bounty hunter—he resolved to recruit him into the Thousand Gold Merchant Group right then.
As he made that vow, an unfamiliar voice rang out from somewhere.
"Did you just say Imperial Palace Martial Academy?"
All eyes turned that way.
A man who looked like an imperial officer was walking toward us.
He was the commander of the imperial troops dispatched to suppress the bandits.
"W-Well."
Ni Dae-ho seemed a bit flustered.
As a merchant group that had to watch the imperial family's mood, he couldn't afford to offend the man.
But the commander laughed heartily and said,
"Why go the long way around when such fine talents want to serve His Majesty? Join me right now!"
Everyone looked taken aback, each with their own awkward, troubled expressions.
Ni Dae-ho felt like the talent he'd greased was now eyed by an imperial general; Tae-seong had no intention of joining the imperial side at all, so he looked annoyed.
Unexpectedly, Yang Cho-gun stepped forward.
He asked the commander the question that had been bothering him.
"Would the military allow weapons like these?"
Yang Cho-gun sheathed his black powder weapon and showed the rapier and mangoshu to the imperial officer.
The response was a cold rebuff.
"Where'd you get that?"
"They were my master's weapons."
"Your master was...?"
"Yes, a Westerner."
"Hm. Even so, that's a bit much... Do you think His Majesty would permit carrying foreign devils' armaments in the central plains? If you join me, I'll gift you a fine central plains longsword. How about it?"
"......"
Yang Cho-gun stared pointedly at Tae-seong.
Tae-seong just shook his head with an "I told you so" look.
"I appreciate the offer, but I have no intention of giving up this sword."
"I see. Well, the Imperial Palace Martial Academy has plenty of fine techniques—surely one will suit you. If you change your mind, come under me anytime."
"Yes, General. Thank you for your interest in an unknown soldier like me."
The general's eyes shifted to Tae-seong, but he flatly refused.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going there to study martial arts."
"Too bad. His Majesty could use more young, capable talents like you by his side."
The general licked his lips in regret and wrote us each a letter of recommendation bearing his name.
Not that I figured it'd be useful or anything.
Since the Thousand Gold Merchant Group's goods were headed to the provincial capital in Sichuan anyway, Tae-seong and Yang Cho-gun traveled with the caravan.
Ni Dae-ho requested temporary escort duty from the pair, and they received a modest fee in return.
After escorting the caravan through the day, the two set up a temporary camp as night fell and turned in.
Having fought a battle, everyone was exhausted and soon fell into deep slumber nearby.
All except the night watch, that is.
That's when Tae-seong opened his eyes.
He quietly rose and scanned left and right.
Yang Cho-gun was sleeping soundly.
Confirming that, Tae-seong slipped out of camp without a sound.
His footsteps were utterly silent.
After putting considerable distance between himself and the camp, Tae-seong glanced up at the full moon.
His face was utterly emotionless.
It was the cold, detached expression of an assassin from his old days.
Sniffing the air, he began walking.
He was heading straight for the Red Tiger Stronghold, the bandits' mountain lair.
During the fight, he'd smeared a few grunts with Thousand-Mile Tracking Scent, so pinpointing their location was no trouble for him.
Once he'd roughly located the stronghold, Tae-seong unleashed his full lightness skill.
His silhouette flickered and vanished like a snuffed flame.
A massive gust of backdraft swallowed the area.
For the first time since entering murim, he'd deployed his lightness skill at maximum power.
Piercing the darkness, he arrived at the Red Tiger Stronghold in an instant.
As he brushed past the entrance, blood erupted like fountains from the napes and groins of the four bandits standing guard.
"Gahk!"
"Kek!!"
In a flash, their carotid arteries and femoral arteries were severed.
Within seconds, more than half their blood had drained from their bodies—an absurd way to go.
Using the shadows as cover, Tae-seong roamed the stronghold, silently dispatching bandit after bandit.
With a casual flick of his hand against a patrolling bandit's jaw, the man's head whipped around full circle before snapping back into place.
Of course, no one survives a full neck twist.
Even the shack where the wounded from the raid were gathered was no exception.
Stepping into the ramshackle hut thick with the stench of blood, he found it crawling with bandaged bandits.
The moment Tae-seong entered, he swung his dagger three times.
A razor-sharp whoosh that could slice air itself spread in all directions.
The groans of pain from those inside fell silent, as if granted peace.
After clearing a few more sheds of sleeping bandits, only one place remained: the largest wooden building at the stronghold's center.
Tae-seong strolled toward it leisurely.
Two sentries at the entrance spotted him approaching boldly from the darkness and hesitated, unsure if he was friend or foe.
They soon bulged their eyes and toppled forward.
Each with a flying dagger embedded in their forehead.