Hubei is Always Cloudy - 6
We swiftly suppressed the reactionary elements in Hubei who had collaborated with the water bandits, and obtained intelligence confirming that the scale of the bandits matched exactly what the officials had assessed. As a result, the suppression proceeded without a hitch. If there had been more bandits the officials hadn't detected, we'd have been busy reinforcing the troops and blocking new escape routes, but since the information aligned perfectly, there was no need.
"Taegyeok Geomgong is with us!"
"Offer the water bandits' heads to His Highness Yangyang Wang and Taegyeok Geomgong!"
Even Taegyeok Geomgong himself took the vanguard of the suppression force. Any swordsman, no matter how rural, had heard of this warrior—a hero who earned a ducal title with a single sword. With such a figure leading the charge despite his advanced age, it was only natural that the troops' morale soared to the heavens.
In the martial world, old men are the most dangerous.
There's a saying in murim: beware children, women, and the elderly. It basically means watch out for everyone, but in any case, Taegyeok Geomgong was one of those elders the martial world needed to fear. With every swing of his sword, bandits dropped dead, proving his danger with their very bodies.
Though there was that even more terrifying muscle monster.
Unlike Taegyeok Geomgong, who moved with the soldiers, I recalled Je-gal Jin, who had charged ahead like a comet the moment the suppression began. Thinking back still made me chuckle in disbelief. No matter his muscled appearance, he was still a scion of the Je-gal family—the family head, no less. I'd expected him to deploy illusions or activate formations in true Je-gal fashion once the operation started.
"There might be secret passages we don't know about. I'll quickly take out the ringleader and return."
But contrary to expectations, as soon as the suppression kicked off, Je-gal Jin surged forward ahead of even Taegyeok Geomgong. If Taegyeok Geomgong was the vanguard, Je-gal Jin was practically a scout. It was a jaw-dropping sight, but I couldn't bring myself to stop him. As he said, the bandit leader might have prepared an escape for himself, and besides, Je-gal Jin was too fast to rein in anyway.
He'll handle it fine on his own.
Of course, separate from the shock, I wasn't worried. Je-gal Jin was a super peak realm master. Weaker than the Hwagyeong expert Taegyeok Geomgong, perhaps, but no mere bandit rabble could touch him.
"It's done."
True enough, thirty minutes after Je-gal Jin launched his beeline decapitation strike, he returned holding a dark red lump in one hand.
Tenderized meat?
The sight of that lump immediately brought the thought to mind. Was that even human? It looked like something you'd get after pounding meat mercilessly at a butcher shop.
The size is human, at least.
To be precise, it was the size of an adult male with limbs slightly hacked off.
... Yeah, probably.
Je-gal Jin was the one angrier than anyone about this water bandit incident. For mere bandits to stir trouble between the Je-gal family and Wudang, it would have been weirder if the family head hadn't been furious. So it wasn't surprising that a bandit had turned into... whatever that was. The only headache was how hard it would be to identify the corpse.
A single volley of cannon fire to celebrate the start of the suppression. Another at the end. The bandits' stronghold, having endured no less than two barrages, was obliterated without a trace.
We'd already secured the bandits' corpses for public display on the streets, along with the loot and documents from inside the base. Burning their hideout with cannons was only proper.
"As expected, operating with the officials makes things so much easier. If it were just martial artists, we'd have had to bother with lighting the fires ourselves."
As I watched the base purify itself in flames, Taegyeok Geomgong approached with a faint smile.
"Greetings, Taegyeok Geomgong."
"Mind if I join you?"
"How could I presume to grant permission to one such as yourself? Please, make yourself comfortable."
"That's an embarrassing thing to say. No matter that this old man's a duke, with the crown prince here before me."
Letting out a hearty keh keh laugh, Taegyeok Geomgong clasped his hands behind his back and turned his gaze to the bandits' stronghold.
"Water bandits rampaging on Dongting Lake was surprise enough, but I never imagined bandits scheming to provoke a clash between Wudang and the Je-gal family."
I nodded calmly at Taegyeok Geomgong's words, tinged with a wry smile. Thanks to Gi Gangwang constantly upending the Yangtze, water bandits were on the brink of extinction. Who could have dreamed they'd pull off such a massive stunt in Hubei, right next to the river?
It almost made me suspect they had spare lives or something.
"It was nonsense to claim the Je-gal family sank Wudang ships, but without finding the true culprits, a collision was inevitable. We can only be grateful to His Highness Yangyang Wang for bestowing mercy that prevented the disaster and punished the guilty."
"How could a mere bandit plot obscure the heavens? Even without His Highness, the truth would have come out eventually."
"Heh heh, perhaps so."
Stroking his beard at my words, Taegyeok Geomgong stared at the stronghold for a long moment.
"Soon, His Highness Gi Gangwang will move again."
"Yes, he will."
I nodded again, as it was obvious. Gi Gangwang's loathing for water bandits was known across the Central Plains. Word of bandits causing havoc in Hubei only to get wiped out reaching his ears? His fleet would flood the Yangtze.
Actually, he might move even without hearing about it.
"Today's meal was subpar. That's because the bandits are stirring trouble on the Yangtze, disrupting merchants' trade. Ingredients aren't fresh, so the taste suffers."
Gi Gangwang was the man who suppressed bandits because a meal dissatisfied him.
"Fine weather today. The heavens have shown mercy, making it easy to wipe out the bandits."
He suppressed them because the weather was good.
"Why are the heavens so dark? The bandits' evil has reached them, angering the skies. Suppress the bandits to appease heaven."
Bad weather? Still suppressing bandits. That was Gi Gangwang.
Even if we kept this quiet, the bandits' wails would echo on the Yangtze in due time.
Thinking about it, the man was utterly mad. In terms of insanity, he outdid even the water bandits.
"When His Highness Gi Gangwang moves, Wudang will lend a hand. It's the path for the good of the realm."
"A truly righteous and noble intent."
He was expanding his wrath from this wiped-out bandit group to water bandits everywhere. Gi Gangwang would flip in joy if he heard.
"Je-gal Jin seemed to share this old man's thinking."
His words brought back the image of that tenderized meat. Perhaps Gi Gangwang had found a like-minded friend at last.
Once the official announcement of the suppression results went out, Hubei regained its vitality. The people, who had feared a clash between Wudang and the Je-gal family, breathed sighs of relief upon learning the two giants had joined forces instead—and rejoiced that the officials had crushed the bandits threatening their peace.
Ironic, wasn't it? The bandits' scheme to spark conflict between Wudang and the Je-gal family, plunging Hubei into chaos, had instead cost them their lives and forged cooperation between the sects, securing Hubei's peace.
Water bandit heroes who immolated themselves for peace and harmony. No one would miss them.
"The captured bandits will be punished according to the severity of their crimes, and the ringleader's corpse will be displayed on Yangyang's streets."
"Will that even be okay to display?"
At Yangyang Wang's words, I reflexively questioned, and even he fell silent. Je-gal Jin's special tenderized bandit meat didn't look human at first glance. Hung on the street, the people might mistake it for pork or beef.
"Hang it alongside the other officers' corpses, then."
In the end, Yangyang Wang couldn't refute the tenderizing and settled for, "With the other bandits beside it, people will know it's the leader."
Yeah, together they'd probably be fine. Lined up with other human-shaped ones, you could infer it had been human once. Alone? No one would guess.
"The spoils will be distributed to Wudang and the Je-gal family, who suffered direct losses from the bandits' scheme. I'll also reward the Jwa-cheom Do-eosa who joined the campaign appropriately, but don't feel slighted if it's modest."
"That you remember even small merits fills me with gratitude."
I bowed my head in thanks at Yangyang Wang's words. Honestly, my contributions here were just spectating. He was padding my purse out of regard for my comrade's grandson—no sane person would complain about the amount.
"And Jwa-cheom Do-eosa."
"Yes, Your Highness. Speak."
"The Yangtze will be noisy for a while, so don't even glance that way."
"I'll keep it in mind."
I accepted immediately, knowing Gi Gangwang would rampage there. Getting spotted by him mid-suppression could see me kidnapped into his forces.
"...But it's surprising. The suppression just ended, and Gi Gangwang's already moving?"
"He's moving separately from this one."
"Pardon?"
At my reaction, Yangyang Wang sipped his tea and chuckled.
"His fleet was already underway before we even spotted the spare bandits. He just chose this moment to launch."
I lifted my teacup at that. Suppressing bandits before even knowing they'd appeared in Hubei. Classic Gi Gangwang.
With or without pretext, if he felt like paddling, he'd hunt down and slaughter bandits gladly. The ultimate man's man. No matter how mad the bandits, before Gi Gangwang, it was all fake insanity.
Let's head west.
So I resolved. Next destination: not Hunan or Zhejiang, but Sichuan. Lingering near the Yangtze would just mean brawling with bandits again.