Chapter 163
Chapter 163: Azure Dragon Lake
Azure Dragon Lake.
Each season, colorful flowers, grasses, and trees bloomed and withered, creating spectacular scenery, and the strangely-shaped rocks that preserved nature's beauty intact were said to add the finishing touch to this beauty—this was the nickname of Azure Dragon Lake.
However, people referred to Azure Dragon Lake more often by this other nickname than by that one.
Lake of Bandits.
Why was that?
To the west of Azure Dragon Lake lay the major city of River Capital, and to the south stretched trade routes through which various rare treasures and magical artifacts traveled, connecting to Snow South, and to the east to Cloud West, Central Capital, and Pa Province.
In other words, a key point where all roads meet.
Nevertheless, in the vicinity of this lake, there were no great sects, let alone small or mid-sized factions properly existing.
There were various reasons, but the biggest reason was that no sect had conquered Gangdo. They couldn't even conquer the great city of Gangdo, yet pacify the surrounding area?
It was a pipe dream.
Naturally, public order near Azure Dragon Lake became a complete mess, and more naturally, mountain bandits and water bandits gathered.
After a hundred, two hundred years passed, it had now become such a terrible situation that hardly anyone could touch it.
Since the government claimed they needed to preserve their peacetime forces to oppose foreign enemies, they didn't even have the will to suppress them, making it even worse.
As a result, merchant companies and escort agencies suffered hardships every time they passed through this area. That said, they couldn't avoid passing through this place entirely because without passing near here, traveling east meant going a very long way around.
Herb gatherers, hunters, and fishermen came and got robbed, and scholars discussing culture also visited at least once and got robbed again.
Escort agencies at least paid tolls to the water bandits to pass through...... but avoiding it was the best policy under most circumstances.
Naturally, it became a large lake so infamous in the vicinity, teeming with mountain strongholds—Azure Dragon Lake was a derogatory name containing such contempt.
And.
Such expressions weren't used occasionally.
Always, and right now.
"P-please spare me...... Please, please spare me!"
A mountain near Azure Dragon Lake.
A large bandit group's den quite well-known for human trafficking, Plum Blossom Stronghold, was located there.
Inside Plum Blossom Stronghold, dozens of bandits swarmed about, and among them, a dozen or so surrounded five or six women around marriageable age, giggling. All kidnapped women.
They huddled together and trembled.
"Hey hey, who said we'd kill you? Since you'll get eaten later anyway, we're just having a taste first."
The other bandits chuckled at one fellow's lewd words, and another immediately picked up on it.
"You think you'll taste good too, don't you?"
"Wh-what?"
One thoroughly cowering girl answered in a voice stiff with fear.
"Look at this shameless bitch? What do you think will taste good to say yes? Heh heh."
The other trash laughed along with that fellow's words. Then another one threw off his upper garment and said.
"Hey guys, but there's way too little food for a tasting, isn't there?"
Food.
The women instinctively realized what 'food' they were talking about. They pressed their bodies even closer together.
"Why are you asking such a thing? We just take turns eating."
"Guys who don't want to can just suck their hands."
"Why suck hands? Hands should be shaken to taste best."
Heh heh heh.
Seeing the last fellow crudely shake his hand up and down, the bandits all burst out laughing in unison. The way they casually exchanged vulgar conversation, and their filthy speech and gazes weren't the conversation and skills of those who'd done this just once or twice.
One woman, now clearly understanding what would happen next, ran forward frantically with her bare, bloodied feet.
Though her appearance was a mess from being kidnapped, she was a woman with outstanding looks whose beauty couldn't be hidden.
White skin showing between the soot on her face, and just her two clear eyes like embedded stars made her a heavenly beauty. The only flaw in her appearance was the character for "money" carved on her shoulder, visible through her loosened clothes.
But no matter how much she ran away.......
"Save me!"
This was the bandits' den.
She was in the palm of their hands.
Crack!
One bandit followed the fleeing woman and grabbed her by the back of her hair. Then pressed her down to the ground with all his strength.
"Heh heh heh, since she's so feisty, she'll be even more chewy."
Even in her confused state, the woman begged.
"......Please, someone help me, help us...... If you just save us, if you just save us......"
I'll give my everything.
Perhaps finding such a woman amusing, the bandit mounted her prostrate back.
"Yeah yeah, I'll help and save you right away."
The fellow laughed bizarrely and was just about to rip her clothes when he frowned and raised his head.
Rumble rumble rumble—
At some point, as if an earthquake had occurred, a distant peak shook.
It was a peak in this region called Kunpeng Peak.
Kunpeng Peak shook for quite a while with violent thunder-like sounds.
Finally, it collapsed with a roar.
CRASH—!
All directions were covered in stone dust, and the lush forest became a scene of carnage struck by rock fragments.
But that was all.
Anyway, this place was located quite far from Kunpeng Peak.
"Ah, fuck. I got startled for nothing. Thought there was an earthquake or something."
The bandit snickered nonchalantly and turned his head back toward the woman.
No, he tried to.
CRASH—!
Suddenly, about thirty meters away from where they were, dust rose with a tremendous roar as if a meteorite had fallen.
"Wh-what?"
Tap tap.
Dong Bong-soo, who had just fallen to the Lower Realm of this world, lightly brushed off the dust on his body and stood up.
Then immediately looked up at the sky.
The Floating Island that had existed until just now had disappeared without a trace, and the airborne city that had been hazily visible from high above had now vanished beyond the clouds out of sight.
"......"
It was confirmed once again that this was a world where all sorts of physical laws were ignored in a different sense from the Martial World.
What laws governed this place and what forces were strong.
And what things.......
Were worth hunting—he would gradually learn from now on.
Soon lowering his head, he looked around.
On one side.
All sorts of half-naked women and a group of fierce-looking fellows stared at him with surprised eyes.
Typical Eastern-style ethnicities.
Though he'd confirmed it earlier on the Floating Island, the humanity of this world also didn't seem very different from previous worlds.
Looking at this, perhaps parallel worlds really existed.
Since physically, evolutionarily, probabilistically, and cosmically, it was even stranger for intelligent beings to frequently appear in human form.
One more important point.
"The species called human has the same essence no matter when, where, or how it's implemented."
The strong trample the weak. If you're weak, you get eaten; if you're strong, you eat.
Whether money, sex, or power, they always fought like this among the same species, eating and being eaten.
Judging by their clothing, this place seemed to have not escaped the medieval period civilizationally, so it would be closer in form to the Martial World than modern Earth.
Not elegant hypocrisy, but honest barbaric survival of the fittest.
Good.
The Martial World was good too, but somehow this place seemed to suit him even more.
Step, step.
Dong Bong-soo walked in that direction.
The bandit stood up from the woman's back and made a fierce expression.
"Rha'ten var sulen!"
He babbled in an incomprehensible language.
It certainly seemed to have tones and looked close to Chinese, but it wasn't Chinese.
That was enough.
Scrape—
The information this fellow could give.
The bandit's neck split diagonally and his sliced head fell to the ground. The fellow's body, which had been dangling its lower half, only realized much later that it had lost brain control and collapsed to the ground.
The scene became quiet as if cold water had been poured over it.
Dong Bong-soo lightly swept the surroundings once more.
Half-naked women and children.
Easily over thirty people.
Dozens of bandits.
In one corner of the mountain stronghold, even a pile of already dead corpses was stacked in layers.
"Nothing worth eating."
The fallen woman and the trembling kids quickly caught on to the situation and pleaded to him in incomprehensible words.
At the same time, the bandits glared at him with ferocious expressions. They looked ready to rush at him at any moment.
Yes, good.
Survival of the fittest.
Good.
Because this place also applied the same law—human society.
In this location, I am the strong.
The strong are, quite naturally...... predators.
Dong Bong-soo expressionlessly took one step toward the bandits.
Shing—
Immediately, one bandit drew a saber he'd been carrying on his shoulder, one with a flat and wide blade.
It was a Southern Barbarian Saber, about which there was even a saying that properly struck, even an anchovy could sever an ox's neck.
Of course, that didn't matter.
Scrape—
The bandit's neck fell off.
Gurgle gurgle......
Dong Bong-soo glanced at the bandit spewing blood foam and shook off his hand to fling away the blood.
"......"
Silence flowed through the area again. However, that time wasn't very long.
"Eee, eeeeek!"
The bandits recoiled in terror and stepped back.
Step.
Dong Bong-soo took one step toward them. At that, the bandits also stepped back.
[Slash (Passive) Lv.Max Proficiency: 0%]
The technique of swinging a weapon.
Moving a weapon up, down, left, and right to annihilate enemies is one of the most basic attacks.
Current Action Bonus: 50%
[Slash] worked well.
After confirming one thing, his movements resumed again.
He rushed toward the next target, a hairy bandit still dangling his lower half.
Thunk—
The bandit who couldn't react in time had his heart pierced through and tumbled down.
[Thrust (Passive) Lv.Max Proficiency: 0%]
The technique of thrusting a weapon.
Moving a weapon forward and backward to inflict penetrating wounds on enemies is one of the most basic attack techniques.
Current Action Bonus: 50%
Whoosh!
He lifted the bandit whose heart he'd pierced through in that state and threw him as-is toward where the remaining bandits were clustered.
[Throw (Passive) Lv.Max Proficiency: 0%]
The technique of throwing a weapon.
The skill of throwing sharp or blunt objects at enemies to inflict injury is one of the basic attack techniques passed down from ancient times.
Current Action Bonus: 50%
Crack, crack crack crack crack—
With grotesque sounds of all sorts of bones and flesh crumbling, the bandit group departed life in unison.
"The passives are definitely working well."