What Kind of Bandit Is This? (4)
Chung Myung lifted his head a little and stared at Im So-byeong.
“So? How about it? You gonna handle this yourself?”
For a fleeting instant, a chilling glint flashed in Im So-byeong’s eyes.
But only for a moment.
“No. As you can see, I’m rather frail.”
He waved a hand as though the whole matter were too much trouble. His motion was oddly limp, almost boneless, and somehow that alone made the onlookers feel their own strength draining away.
“Anything that involves physical exertion is just… cough! Cough! really not… cough! Oh dear, now I’m coughing…”
“……”
Well. He did, in fact, look like the sort of man who’d cough up blood and collapse the instant he swung a blade.
Chung Myung tilted his head. “For someone weak, you sure look strong.”
“And for someone who looks strong, you sure are weak.”
“Hm, that’s fair.”
Hye Yeon, who had kept quiet until now, could no longer hold back and asked the disciples of Mount Hua, “Do… do you gentlemen understand what those two are saying?”
At that, Jo Gul leaned in and whispered, “Monk.”
“Yes?”
“If you’re not gonna understand anyway, at least pretend you do.”
“……”
That wasn’t really an answer, but Hye Yeon still found a strange comfort in knowing there were others like him.
Im So-byeong glanced at Chung Myung with a troubled expression.
“And besides… I’m the Green Forest King in name, after all. It’s hardly proper for me to brawl with some young Daoist. There’s nothing to be gained from it.”
“What, is that supposed to be some huge loss of dignity or something?”
When Chung Myung asked that with genuine puzzlement, Im So-byeong rounded his eyes.
“If I lose, who’s taking responsibility?”
“……”
Even Chung Myung had no immediate comeback for that.
What a truly maddening old bastard.
“Safety first. The world runs on safety first, you know. Solving problems matters, sure, but the best solution is to prevent trouble before it even has a chance to happen!”
Having declared that with utter conviction, Im So-byeong scratched his forehead.
“Ngh. So in many ways, it’s a little difficult for me to step in personally. That means I need a suitable opponent. Hm, who would…?”
“Then why bother thinking about it? Looks like that guy over there’s got some meat on him.”
“Who?”
“The one standing behind you.”
Im So-byeong glanced back at the fake Green Forest King. Then, with a complicated look on his face, he turned back to Chung Myung.
After a brief moment of thought, he abruptly got to his feet and headed to the corner, motioning Chung Myung over.
“A word, if you would.”
“Huh?”
“Over here. Come here.”
Still looking confused, Chung Myung approached him. Im So-byeong turned toward the wall, draped an arm around Chung Myung’s shoulders, and leaned in conspiratorially.
“Listen, young Daoist.”
“Yes.”
“I assume you understand why I’m doing this.”
“……”
“Basically, bandits are the sort of people whose heads are packed full of muscle. They don’t think at all, you see.”
“Should the Green Forest King really be saying that?”
“It’s true, so what am I supposed to do about it? Those brutes never think about intent when they hear an order. They only think about whether they like the order itself.”
“……”
“So this is why I’m putting on this obvious little show. ‘The Green Forest King told us to get along with these guys, and they seem pretty strong’ is one thing, but ‘The Green Forest King ordered us to befriend those strong fellows’ means something entirely different. At least here in the Green Forest.”
“That’s… surprisingly delicate.”
“Simple things are often the most delicate, believe it or not.”
In the end, it meant that among the bandits, the stronger someone was by their own eyes, the more friendly they were treated.
That’s just how the demonic side works.
They might balk if words were shoved into their heads, but if a fist was shoved into their mouths, they understood things quickly enough. Wasn’t that what the demonic factions were like?
Hm?
What, Mount Hua was the same?
…Let’s set that aside for now.
Im So-byeong frowned and continued.
“That fool may look dull on the outside, but his martial foundation is anything but low. He’s born with divine strength, truly worthy of being called brute force that could uproot mountains and awe the world.”
“Asshole?”
“Gigeaese!Gigeaese! Not asshole—gigeaese!”
“Ah, right. Gigeaese. Got it.”
“Cough! Cough! Ugh, now that I’m worked up, there’s that cough again… cough!”
As Im So-byeong coughed right in front of him, Chung Myung leaned back with a distinctly sour expression.
But Im So-byeong didn’t care in the slightest; he kept whispering.
“Young Daoist seems reasonably confident in his skill, but that brute has been rolling around in the Green Forest long enough to know his way about. And he’s so stupid that he couldn’t even execute a command to lose gracefully if he tried. That means you’ll have to beat him entirely with your own strength…”
“Then I’ll do it.”
“……No, as I said, it’s not that easy…”
“I said I’ll do it.”
“……”
Im So-byeong studied Chung Myung in silence, his gaze suddenly heavy and probing. Then he smiled, a thin little curl of the lips.
“Looks like I was worrying over nothing.”
“Yeah. It’s good to be certain about these things.”
At the sight of the two of them grinning like foxes, the faces of Mount Hua’s disciples turned slightly pale.
“No matter how I look at it, this is the scene of a conspiracy.”
“Well, it’s not exactly strange, is it? This is a bandit den, after all.”
“True enough.”
“And Chung Myung somehow looks like he’s found his proper place.”
“……”
The biggest problem was that a Daoist scheming with a bandit chief didn’t look strange at all.
“Then, in that case…”
“Wait!”
At that moment, the fake Green Forest King, who had been waiting behind them, bellowed loudly. Well, technically he had only spoken normally, but his voice was so thunderous it sounded like a roar.
“Green Forest King! Do you truly mean to have me fight that Daoist?”
“Hmm?”
The giant’s face twisted.
“My king! It is, of course, my duty to obey your orders, but I fear I may only end up clashing with that young Daoist in a way that produces results contrary to your intent!”
Im So-byeong sighed. “Then make the result I want.”
“That is impossible! What man could fail to give his all in a sacred duel! I, Beon Chung, cannot accept that!”
Im So-byeong gave Chung Myung a quick nudge with his elbow. “See? See? That’s how they are. Those damn fools have given me chronic stomach trouble.”
“……No, if it’s that hard for you, why do you even do bandit work?”
“What else am I supposed to do? This is what I learned. I’ve got to eat somehow, don’t I? What a cursed life.”
Im So-byeong covered his face with both hands.
“Anyway… will you be all right?”
“Sure.”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“If I’m going to show them, I might as well show them properly.”
“As expected…”
But then Beon Chung shouted again.
“Think again! Does it make any sense for me, Beon Chung, to compete in strength against a tiny mouse of a Daoist like that?”
“……”
At the insult, the mouse in question slowly cocked his head to one side.
At the same time, Baek Cheon and the other disciples watching from the side all turned pale.
Uh… that’s not good.
Sir, why are you suddenly like this?
Those who knew Chung Myung were horrified by the giant’s choice of words.
No matter what he said, this was not a man you provoked. Not because the provocation wouldn’t work. On the contrary, because it worked far too well.
“If you get beaten up by a mouse, that’ll be embarrassing, won’t it? You sure you’re okay with that?”
As Chung Myung spoke with the corner of his mouth tilted crookedly, Beon Chung snorted.
“So the brat got a little fame and now he’s fearless, is that it?”
“Ah, that’s a misunderstanding.”
“Hmm?”
“I had no fear in the world even before I got famous. Which means I’m not some puffed-up fool who got carried away after becoming a big name. I’ve always been like this.”
At that, Baek Cheon and the others nodded in unison.
“That’s true.”
“Can’t deny it.”
“If anything, he was even less afraid back then. He’s matured now.”
Beon Chung blinked.
What is wrong with these guys…?
Come to think of it, their attitude hadn’t made sense from the start. Even for people who had rolled around the martial world a fair bit, when they stood before the Green Forest King in a bandit stronghold, they ought to watch every word and keep their nerves in check.
But these men were beyond calm. They acted as though this place were their own home. Even if the Green Forest King weren’t here, that still wouldn’t have been the attitude you’d expect from visitors…
And they were Daoists from a mountain sect, no less.
Beon Chung truly could not understand this sect called Mount Hua.
But whatever their attitude might be, the task before him had already been decided.
“So you truly wish to understand your place. Come then. If you insist, I’ll personally break every limb in your body.”
“Oh, my limbs? Sure, sure. Limbs are great.”
Chung Myung smiled with obvious satisfaction.
“Come on, then. Let’s finish this quickly.”
A soft smile bloomed across Chung Myung’s face. Mount Hua’s disciples shut their eyes without realizing it.
People soon gathered like clouds.
“A duel?”
“What kind of duel is this all of a sudden?”
“They say Iron Divine General Beon Chung is going to fight that Mount Hua Divine Dragon from Mount Hua Sect!”
“Mount Hua Divine Dragon? That top-notch rising star?”
The camp quickly heated up.
The Green Forest was still a place where the law of strength ruled. So whenever disputes arose, it was common to settle them by testing raw power directly.
Because of that, they were rather used to duels in which both sides fought with everything they had, something that was uncommon in ordinary sects.
Even so, in the Green Forest, it was not exactly ordinary to watch a duel between people of this caliber.
“A duel between Iron Divine General, one of the Ten Shadows of the Green Forest, and the Mount Hua Divine Dragon said to be the greatest rising expert in the martial world!”
“Even if I die, I have to see this!”
The crowd spilled into the courtyard, filling it to the brim.
And at the center of it all, Chung Myung and Beon Chung stood facing each other.
As he watched quietly, Baek Cheon turned a little toward Im So-byeong, who was seated nearby.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“The Green Forest…”
“Ah.”
Im So-byeong raised a finger to his lips and shook his head.
“Please call me Bingseonsaeng here.”
“……Pardon?”
Then, after glancing around briefly, he added, “The ordinary bandits here don’t know that’s what I am.”
“Pardon?”
Baek Cheon looked utterly stunned, but Im So-byeong only shrugged.
“Of course, they know Beon Chung is pretending to be the fake Green Forest King. But they don’t know the real Green Forest King is here.”
“……Do you really need to go that far?”
“If you want to fool your enemies, you have to fool your allies too. And besides, shouldn’t the existence of a king be a little mysterious, a little elusive?”
“……”
Indeed, this man was no ordinary person either.
Then Yu I-seol, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke quietly.
“But.”
“Yes?”
“Wouldn’t that be troublesome?”
“Ah.”
Im So-byeong shrugged.
“It’s fine. The Ten Shadows of the Green Forest are the Green Forest King’s guard, yes, but they’re also the King’s representatives for managing all these bandit forts. Most of the forts will show the same respect as if the Green Forest King himself had come, even if only one of the Ten Shadows visits.”
“I see.”
“So it does have meaning.”
“Meaning?”
Im So-byeong looked at Chung Myung and Beon Chung with a slightly sharpened gaze.
“In other words, the Ten Shadows are recognized as experts in the Green Forest. If Mount Hua’s Daoist Chung Myung defeats one of them, the Green Forest will acknowledge him as a strong man and accept him as a friend. And the more strong friends one has, the better.”
Baek Cheon tilted his head.
Their way of thinking was completely incomprehensible. But if the Green Forest King himself said it, it wasn’t likely to be wrong.
“Then are the Ten Shadows the strongest experts in the Green Forest?”
“Ah, no. The Ten Shadows are literally just the Green Forest King’s guards and representatives. The foundation of the Green Forest lies in the bandit forts, and the strongest experts in the Green Forest are the fort masters of the top twelve forts.”
“Ah…”
“Still, the Ten Shadows are nothing to scoff at. To be honest, a normal rising expert wouldn’t stand a chance against Beon Chung, even if he died and came back.”
At that, Baek Cheon replied lazily, “That figures. A normal rising expert.”
“A normal human.”
“A person.”
“……Pardon?”
Im So-byeong repeated himself in confusion, but Baek Cheon ignored that and asked again in the same flat tone, “Then, for an ordinary sect, would it be fair to say this Beon Chung of the Ten Shadows is about on the level of one of the stronger first-generation disciples?”
“Mm. It’s not a perfect comparison, but I suppose it’s close.”
“So he’s matched up badly.”
“Looks that way.”
“……What exactly are you all talking about?”
At Im So-byeong’s puzzled stare, Mount Hua’s disciples could only sigh.
Soon enough, he’d understand. Soon enough.
“If you back out now, I’ll let you leave with all your limbs intact.”
“You keep saying limbs, limbs. If my shoulder got wrenched out, that’d hurt, you know?”
“You little—”
Beon Chung glared.
“I know you’re strong.”
“Huh?”
“Fame doesn’t come for free. Even if it’s a false reputation, it doesn’t attach itself without reason. So you must be strong.”
“Oh?”
Chung Myung looked at Beon Chung anew. He had seemed like a dull fool, but apparently he could still tell a thing or two.
“But even so, you’re the heir of some greenhouse-raised noble sect. In a real fight, you can’t match me. That paper-thin sword of yours might scratch my body, but it won’t break my bones.”
“Oh, really?”
“The moment I get my hands on you, you’ll learn just how fragile your body is. Don’t regret it later.”
“Hmm?”
Chung Myung lowered his gaze and looked at the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword.
“Hmmm. What a pain.”
The sword Dang Jo-pyeong had forged for him suddenly felt insulted. In his usual mood, Chung Myung would have drawn it then and there to prove its sharpness, but…
In the end, he undid the sword belt and drew it out still in its scabbard.
“Hmm?”
Then he drove it into the ground.
Thud!
The scabbard sank into the earth.
“……What are you doing?”
Beon Chung tilted his head at the incomprehensible act.
Chung Myung grinned.
“Looks like you’ve got a fair bit of confidence in your strength.”
And slowly lifted both fists.
“Let’s set the weapons aside and do this with strength.”
“……”
For a moment, disbelief flashed across Beon Chung’s face, and then fury surged up beneath it.
“With strength?”
“Yep.”
“A sword user wants to face me in a contest of strength?”
“Sure, if I use my sword, it’d be easy…”
Chung Myung crooked a finger with a wicked smile.
“But I’ve got a nasty personality. Crushing someone where they’re most confident is kind of my thing. Since you seem so confident in strength, why don’t you try me there?”
“……”
Beon Chung’s face slowly twisted. Flames of rage swelled in his eyes.
“You… you dare mock me?”
His pride wounded, face reddening to a brutal crimson, he let out a feral howl.
“You tiny mouse of a thing, how dare you!”
With his enormous build and flushed face, he looked like a rakshasa from hell. The pressure he radiated was formidable too.
“I’ll kill you!”
Beon Chung exploded forward, charging straight at Chung Myung.