Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Unexpected Invitation (2)
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The appearance of an uninvited guest.
I wasn't the only one who judged that something was off about the situation.
Cheon Jang-ho, who was holding the reins of the baggage cart at the rear, clicked his tongue and spoke up.
"Anyone who recognizes our Escort Leader and treats him like that has to be the Green Forest King at best... No, the Green Forest King?"
Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization.
- Green Forest King? That lowlife government horse thief we ran into on the way up from Hui Province to Dan River Gorge—he was the one those scum were after? Oh ho? I figured it was some other trash since those guys were so cheap, but the aura he's giving off, the dried blood stench... looks like he's no pushover.
At those words, I tilted my head.
'...Green Forest King.'
The Green Forest King I'd read about in the original story hadn't appeared at this point, and his description didn't match the man in front of me.
'He was described as having a face and body like a leopard.'
But the man before me looked more like a bear no matter how I saw him.
'His build seems natural, so he couldn't have turned from a bear into a leopard through intermittent fasting or something.'
Was he the previous generation's Green Forest King?
As I pondered that,
Yong-myeong stuck close to my side.
"We should prepare for the worst, brother."
At the same time, So-rung swallowed dryly and sidled up beside me as well.
"I-is he really the Green Forest King?"
Right then, the carriage window up front opened, and Jeong Hyeon, wearing Namgung Yun's silk robes, poked her head out.
"Escort Leader Eon? Should I prepare too? If so, may I ask if I should start by taking off this cumbersome robe?"
"Yeah. If they mentioned Wild Wind Double Legs, they know who we are. Get ready."
"Yes, sir."
And Jeon Gal-seolji, who had gone ahead to negotiate the toll, began to move as well.
She tightened the strings on the pouch containing the silver,
then smashed the side of the head of the bandit she'd been arguing with, knocking him out.
Bam!!!!
"Urk!"
At Jeon Gal-seolji's sudden action, everyone froze with mouths agape.
Pop!!
In the meantime, she hurriedly retreated back to us and explained her actions.
"I figured it'd be good to thin them out by one. I held back just in case. Didn't kill him."
It wasn't an incomprehensible move.
It was a clever way to induce confusion in the enemy and safely extract herself.
'And she vented some of that pent-up frustration from earlier?'
Even so, she'd considered the possibility of negotiation and spared his life.
Nosam nodded approvingly at Jeon Gal-seolji's actions.
"Well done."
I added my own words.
"Good work."
In the meantime, Nosam, hands behind his back, took a few steps forward and addressed the six or so riders beyond the log fence.
"Is that you, bandit chief Do Jung-gwang? What brings you here?"
Two men responded to Nosam's words: the man called Do Jung-gwang and the bald bandit who'd ridden up with him.
"Watch your tongue! How dare you speak the name of the Green Forest Lair's seventy-two lord so casually..."
"You bandit scum babbling about 'lord' this and 'honor' that—what the hell! And you, who can't even manage your own bald head, don't you dare tell me to watch my mouth!"
"What?!"
While the bald bandit foolishly opened his mouth against the arm-wrestling giant and got nothing out of it, Jeon Gal-seolji turned to me.
"I wasn't sure since I'd never seen him in person, but if it's Do Jung-gwang, then he must be the Green Forest King."
There was no need to keep up the escort pretense now that they'd recognized us.
"The way he addressed Professor Nosam and his aura made me think the same."
"Why would the Green Forest King come here? According to the info we got from the Alliance's military bureau passing near Luoyang, the nearest threat was the Bandit King, but with all the strongholds rebelling lately, he shouldn't have the spare manpower. He must be busy suppressing them—why come after us?"
As I opened my mouth to respond to Jeon Gal-seolji,
Cheon Jang-ho from the back chimed in slyly.
"Sorry for my smartass comment earlier—it wasn't malicious. Look, he's here because he's here. Why overthink a done deal... Uh, Miss Jeon Gal?"
"......"
And the pouch in Jeon Gal-seolji's hand began to tremble.
"...I-I was just trying to apologize for that smartass comment earlier, damn it, I said it again?"
To prevent our forces from dropping by one, I snatched the still-warm pouch from the bandit and spoke up.
"Don't sweat that smartass comment. The lady's just inexperienced."
"......"
"Everyone goes through that phase. I did. The Grand Strategist at the Alliance probably did too. Even Cheon Jang-ho there must've broken plenty of bowls on his first beggar runs."
"Oh, how'd you know? Yeah, got beat to hell by the punk running the district back then."
"Hoo."
A low breath escaped Jeon Gal-seolji's lips.
Taking that as my cue, I brought up what I'd been about to say.
"Anyway. From my experience, when a big shot pops up without warning like this, they usually state their demands first."
And sure enough,
Do Jung-gwang waved off his fuming underlings to calm them and addressed Nosam.
"I wasn't sure at first with that clean look, but your mouth confirms it—you're Nosam alright. It's getting late for dinner, isn't it? Let's share a meal."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The bandits of this era had a somewhat businesslike side to them.
Thus, it wasn't uncommon for escort agency or merchant group members to accept invitations from stronghold lords and visit their lairs.
However, a Green Forest King inviting a Nosam-level figure along with Righteous Martial Academy cadets to his stronghold was utterly absurd.
'So there must be a real proposal behind that dinner invite?'
Well, whatever.
The situation itself was so bizarre that my comrades all wore "Why is he doing this?" expressions, and Professor Nosam crossed his arms before speaking.
"Why would we eat with bandit scum? Ruins my appetite."
"No appetite? Eat for the flavor then. The lord of this stronghold up here is like a brother to me, and Jinseong around here is a rich area, so the tolls are quite lucrative. The lair's storeroom is stocked with fine liquor and grub."
"Like I care."
"Worried I'll pull something?"
"Obviously."
"Heh. They say even bad ties are ties. You gonna spurn a man's goodwill like that?"
"You lunatic. A filthy thief talking about being slighted."
"If I meant harm, I wouldn't have invited you like this. Sure, I don't hold righteousness too dear, but I owe Wild Wind Double Legs here a life debt, and just recently, one of your disciples helped me out in his own way. I'm not so shameless as to pull dirty tricks."
"One of my disciples helped bandit scum?"
"Aren't you the supervisor of Cheongjuk Hall? Heard a guy called Southern Jiang Divine Hero joined up. Wasn't intentional, I'm sure, but he crushed a stronghold that was about to bite its lord."
"Eon boy. Southern Jiang Divine Hero—ain't that Ha Seong?"
I nodded to Nosam, recalling the next Green Forest King from the original story and my recent chat with Jeon Gal-seolji.
'The Green Forest King appeared much later in the original.'
Green Forest Demon King Yagul Bo.
And he was a Demonic Cult member.
'The military bureau info said strongholds have been rebelling against the Green Forest King lately.'
Not certain, but there might be a clue in whatever the Green Forest King Do Jung-gwang wanted to discuss with Nosam.
'Or maybe jack squat.'
At least lodging and food were free.
With that thought,
I sent Nosam a transmission.
[Professor? What's your plan?]
[Hmm. Got history with the guy—exchanged words and backed off once, fought to the death another time. With you kids here, I'm torn. That bandit chief ain't a lightweight.]
[Then why not go hear him out? Whatever comes out of his mouth could be info even the Beggar Clan can't get easily.]
[Hrm.]
[Remember the military bureau guy near Luoyang? Said the green forests are in chaos.]
[Yeah.]
[He must've rushed here with a few underlings when he heard you were coming to Shanxi. That's probably all the force the Green Forest King brought. And our Shanxi trip crew each have body-lightening techniques to escape. If it's a trap, we bolt.]
[Night's the problem. Dinner talk could drag till sunset. Escaping mountains by day versus forest at night? Worlds apart. You know that, right?]
[Of course.]
Of course I did.
No, more than knew—I welcomed it.
'Night is my oldest friend, after all.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Nosam accepted my proposal.
Thus, we followed Do Jung-gwang up to the stronghold called Jinseong Lair.
His claim of lucrative income from the wealthy surroundings wasn't a lie.
The Jinseong Lair had clean buildings for a bandit den and well-crafted log fences.
Nosam went into the lodge on the highest hill to talk alone with Do Jung-gwang.
"Don't hold back if any punk tries something."
"You know I can't tolerate that crap."
We took our positions too.
Though we'd entered the lair, we didn't fully trust the bandits, so we settled near the entrance overlooking the base of the mountain.
"Goddamn it. Us grunts only get beef on the lord's birthday, and now we're serving it to righteous faction scum."
The bandits, ordered by the Green Forest King to treat us lavishly, grumbled as they brought tables, chairs, and food one after another.
"What has the Green Forest King ever done for us?"
"Idiot, it ain't about what he's done. It's that mouthing off gets you killed."
"Screw it, just quit then?!"
"Eok-sam, you moron—it's flaring up again. Sure, quit and be done. Then what? Starve? Farm? You need land for that."
"Go to Su-ro Lair! Back in the day, I wrapped up some seaweed."
"Dumbass? Grunt here, boot camp there! With your barely third-rate martial arts?!"
But listening quietly, an intriguing snippet caught my ear.
"I know, but what if you could skyrocket your martial arts levels in one shot?"
"...Dream on?"
"Just recently, Hong-sik and I went to Taiwon on the lord's errand!"
"And?"
"Ran into a guy I'd been a grunt with at Myeon Mountain Lair. Total weakling—figured I'd outlive him easy. But a few years later, he's unrecognizable?"
What?
Martial arts level skyrocketed?
And Taiwon?
"Got some fortuitous encounter?"
"Asked him that, and get this..."
Right then.
As the bandit planning to switch to water piracy was about to spill the key info,
"Fortuitous encounters for scum like us? Why you taking that quack salesman's crap seriously, Eok-sam?! That's not the point! Look at that lady over there! Righteous Martial Academy cadet, but her vibe's different, right?!"
The bandits' chatter and lecherous laughs veered into dangerous territory.
"H-hey, miss over there?"
"......?"
"That a disguise? Even disguised, you're stunning—what's your real face like?"
"Yeah, beats Eok-sam's summer escape bullshit. We're treating you to a feast—show us. Let us see that pretty face. Heh heh heh."
Jeon Gal-seolji and the others seemed unsure how to handle this and left the loitering thugs be.
'I get it.'
With Professor Nosam off parleying with the Green Forest King in the tiger's den,
They wouldn't know what to do in a spot like this.
'Guess I'll show 'em.'
I stood without hesitation.
Grabbed a liquor bottle from the table, inverted it, infused it with Heaven-Splitting internal energy,
and smashed the side of the heads of the lechers among the food carriers, one by one.
"What kind of stronghold!"
Bam!!!
"Gack!"
"Has moles this big?!"
Bam!!!
"Urk?"
Having floored the two pervy bandits, I crooked a finger at the one called Eok-sam who'd muttered about Taiwon.
"You. Come here and tell me more about that story in detail."