Chapter 571. Which Bandit Dares Make Eye Contact With Me? (2)
Inside the bustling tavern, everyone was drinking, trading cups back and forth until they were thoroughly drunk. A conversation that had begun with polite well-wishes soon drifted into complaints, and then into talk of the wider world.
“Did you hear about that?”
“Hear what?”
“They say Mount Hua is marching against the Green Forest!”
“Huh? Mount Hua is going against the Green Forest?”
The listeners’ eyes widened in disbelief.
“What are you talking about? You mean the Mount Hua Sect? The one from Shaanxi that turned the Heavenly Martial Tournament into a complete mess?”
“Tsk tsk. Do you think there’s another sect with the same name in this world? Of course I mean that Mount Hua Sect.”
In the past, few people would have recognized the name Mount Hua when it was mentioned, but now there was hardly anyone who claimed to follow the news and did not know of them.
“The Mount Hua Sect is really going to war with the Green Forest?”
“So they say.”
“What?”
Suspicion deepened in everyone’s eyes.
“Does that even make sense? Sure, Mount Hua’s name has been making waves, but that was because of the younger generation’s tournament, wasn’t it?”
“Exactly.”
“Even if those outstanding younger disciples are to become the pillars that lead the sect, they’d need at least another twenty years.”
At this point, no one really doubted Mount Hua’s future anymore. At least, not among those who understood the currents of the jianghu.
At the Heavenly Martial Tournament, Mount Hua had proven that its younger disciples were the best in the Central Plains. The ignorant focused on who had won first place, but those who knew how to judge a power’s strength cared about how many disciples it had placed near the top.
Still, that promise of a future was not enough to make people overestimate Mount Hua’s present.
After all, younger disciples were still only younger disciples.
“I heard Mount Hua doesn’t have many seniors left.”
“So they say. It’s a sect that was ruined once, after all.”
“Then the ones who appeared at the Heavenly Martial Tournament are their main force? And they’re going to lead those people against the Green Forest, one of the Five Hegemons of the Jianghu? Isn’t that a little too much confidence just because they’ve been doing well?”
Everyone clicked their tongues one after another. It was only natural.
The Five Hegemons of the Jianghu stood shoulder to shoulder with the Nine Great Sects. Of course, if the Nine Great Sects and the Five Hegemons ever truly clashed, nine times out of ten the Nine Great Sects would come out on top—but that was only because there were more orthodox sects among them than there were powers in the Five Hegemons.
When each sect was judged on its own, the Five Hegemons were by no means a force that would be one-sidedly overwhelmed by the Nine Great Sects.
Sects like Shaolin or Wudang, which claimed the leading place among the orthodox schools, could swallow up just about anyone, but some of the weaker ones would actually fall short of the sects among the Five Hegemons.
And Mount Hua, which was only now beginning to make its name known again, going up against the Green Forest?
No calculation was even necessary to see how that would turn out.
Just then—
“What I heard is a little different.”
The man seated at the neighboring table leaned over and spoke casually.
“Hmm? And who might you be?”
“Just a passing traveler. Word has already spread everywhere farther up north, but it seems the news hasn’t made it here yet.”
The man smiled faintly and went on.
“What I heard is that this all started because of a rebellion inside the Green Forest.”
“A rebellion?”
The crowd stared, stunned. The man continued in an unhurried tone.
“The more radical factions within the Green Forest have risen against the Green Forest King and are trying to seize control of the whole organization.”
“Good heavens. There are even nastier bastards among bandits?”
“Haven’t you heard the rumors about Dae-byeol Bandit Band?”
“Dae-byeol Bandit Band? You mean that bandit fortress on Mount Dae-byeol, the one people say you’re lucky to come out of alive if you ever go in? That infamous…”
“So you do know about them. Supposedly, the ones causing trouble this time are those Dae-byeol bastards. They say they want to turn every other bandit fortress into another Dae-byeol Bandit Band…”
“Th-that’s absurd.”
The listeners’ faces went pale.
Dae-byeol Bandit Band’s notoriety was legendary.
How many mountains were there in the Central Plains, and how many bandits lurked upon them? For one particular fortress to stand out among so many scattered lairs meant only one thing: it was horribly vicious.
“No, if that actually happened, who could even go into the mountains anymore? Right now, even if you run into bandits, all you have to do is hand over a little toll and you can usually pass safely. But I’ve heard that even large escort bureaus won’t go anywhere near Dae-byeol territory.”
“And that’s exactly the problem, isn’t it? Anyway, that’s why the Green Forest King…”
The man speaking coughed lightly as if thirsty, then glanced at the wine jar on the table.
“Might I have a drink?”
“Ah, of course! What are you doing? Pour him a glass, quickly!”
“R-right!”
The person sitting nearest the jar hurriedly filled the man’s cup.
“Ahh.”
After draining it in one go, the man smiled and resumed.
“And so the current Green Forest King, after being driven out, went to Mount Hua to ask for help. He said that if things continued this way, innocent commoners would certainly suffer great harm, and begged them to lend a hand.”
“Goodness. That man isn’t ordinary either.”
But there were those who still did not understand.
“But why Mount Hua? Why not Wudang, or Shaolin? If they’re going to swallow their pride and ask an orthodox sect for help, there are plenty of stronger places.”
“Because those places are part of the Nine Great Sects, aren’t they?”
“...Hmm?”
The man shrugged and explained.
“Would the Nine Great Sects involve themselves in matters of the Five Hegemons? Mount Hua is an orthodox sect, yes, but it isn’t one of the Nine Great Sects, and it doesn’t belong to any power in the world.”
“I-I see.”
“So the Green Forest King asked them for help. And after much consideration, Mount Hua’s sect leader decided to clear out the Green Forest—for the sake of the common people.”
“Ahh. So that’s how it happened.”
“Things really are unfolding in a strange way.”
Everyone exchanged sidelong glances. For some reason, it felt oddly unsettling.
It does make sense, somehow.
It is strange, though.
Helping bandits for the sake of the common people sounded bizarre at first glance, but once they looked at the situation, it was not entirely wrong.
Especially for those who knew of Dae-byeol Bandit Band’s crimes, there was no choice but to nod along.
“Even so, aren’t they helping bandits?”
“Of course. But Mount Hua isn’t such a simple place, is it?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I hear Mount Hua’s sect leader set conditions for the Green Forest King—he had to lower the tolls levied on those who travel through the mountains, and from now on, they would refrain from killing.”
“My goodness…”
“As expected of a Daoist sect. Well, then that makes sense!”
People knew this much: bandit fortresses were not something that could ever be eradicated completely.
No matter how many suppression campaigns were launched, no matter how many government troops were brought in to clear them out, bandit forts would reappear the moment you turned your back.
That was because those exhausted by corrupt officials draining the blood from the common people, and those who had committed crimes and could no longer live among others, would eventually climb into the mountains and build new strongholds there.
Rather than trying to eliminate them clumsily only to leave the field open for even more vicious scum, it was clearly less dangerous in the long run to manage the existing bandits to some degree.
“So Mount Hua isn’t actually going after the Green Forest, but the rebels who rose up inside the Green Forest?”
“That’s what they say.”
Everyone murmured in admiration and nodded.
“But is that even possible? Anyone strong enough to rebel and drive out the Green Forest King would have to be formidable indeed. Can Mount Hua really handle them…?”
At someone’s words, the man smiled gently.
“If you only do what you can handle, how can that be called righteousness? Isn’t true righteousness, true chivalry, standing up even when the task is beyond you?”
“That’s right! Exactly!”
“Now that you mention it, that does make sense. Have you seen Shaolin or Wudang doing anything truly right lately? These are exactly the kinds of things strong sects are supposed to do!”
“What a strange place indeed. A sect that was completely ruined and unheard of until recently, and then in just a few years it shakes the world to its core!”
As everyone grew excited and began talking over one another, the tavern quickly became noisy again. The man quietly emptied the remaining wine in his cup, then slipped out of his seat.
Once he left the tavern, he looked left and right with some caution before ducking into a back alley.
There, beggars were sprawled out on straw mats. The man sucked in a breath and shouted.
“Get up, you beggar bastards!”
“Oh? You’re here, senior brother?”
“Ugh.”
At the sight of the mats, the man’s face twisted. He badly wanted to sit down at once, but he could not bring himself to do it for fear of dirtying his clothes.
“How did it go?”
“How do you think it went? I’ve been making my living with this mouth my whole life, so something like this is nothing!”
“Heh heh heh. Good thing you’ve got a silver tongue. And look at you, wearing a long scholar’s robe for no reason.”
“Shut up.”
The man flipped the long hem of his robe back with a sigh.
“Ugh. I still have at least five more taverns to hit today. The branch chief said he’d check every single one himself.”
“But you get to eat and drink good things, don’t you?”
“If I didn’t get that, I’d have run away already! Now, here.”
“Oh-ho! Bringing more for us again? This is exactly why I can’t abandon you, senior brother.”
As the man took out the food he had quietly smuggled inside his sleeves, the beggars perked up and rushed over in delight.
“Was it manageable?”
“If I can make up lies and sell them for a living, how hard can telling the truth be? It just makes my mouth hurt.”
“Mount Hua really has become something else lately.”
“No kidding.”
The beggars huddled together, chewing on the food as they each tossed in a remark about Mount Hua.
It had not been the Beggars’ Sect Leader’s intention, nor Hong Dae-gwang’s, but even the ones spreading the rumors were slowly developing a favorable impression of Mount Hua.
“Would you call this chivalrous action?”
“I’d say so.”
“Mount Hua didn’t move without gaining anything, though.”
“What kind of fairy-tale nonsense is that? There’s nowhere in this world that moves without gain. However noble it sounds to call something chivalry or righteousness, there are always benefits and interests of some kind within it.”
“...”
“What matters is whether they’re willing to take on great risk. In that sense, Mount Hua is acting with true righteousness.”
“Well… if it were the Beggars’ Sect, we’d have known and still not moved.”
“Exactly.”
“Anyway, they’ve stirred up this much trouble. It ought to turn out well.”
“It’s a problem if it turns out too well, too.”
“Huh?”
The man in the scholar’s robe stuffed a rice cake into his mouth and said, “If they handle this matter perfectly as well, then even the Nine Great Sects won’t be able to claim, without shame, that they stand above Mount Hua. That’s what achievements are.”
“Ah, that’s true…”
“Interesting. It’s getting very interesting.”
The Beggars’ Sect members who carried the rumors around sensed the world shifting and stirring more quickly than anyone else.
“Maybe this one matter alone could twist the whole Central Plains…”
“What kind of beggar is discussing things like that? Stop acting above your station and drink your wine.”
“Ugh. I really should stop talking.”
It was something happening somewhere in the Central Plains.
The rumor spread far faster than Chung Myung had expected, and all the world’s attention focused on the Green Forest.
And the Mount Hua Sect, now at the center of that storm, was still marching without pause toward the Green Fort at this very moment.
“...”
“...”
Hyun Sang, Hyun Young, Unam, and Un Geom exchanged looks, each with a slightly complicated expression.
“Ahem.”
“E-heh-heh…”
Clatter-clatter-clatter. Clatter-clatter-clatter.
The cart carrying them raced swiftly along the official road.
Of course, riding in a cart was not strange in itself. There were more people in the world who traveled by cart than by carriage to begin with.
The problem was…
“Move faster! Faster, faster! What, did I somehow miss you lot while I wasn’t looking and you went and ate boiled caterpillars or something? Why are you so damn slow!”
That mouth-open-in-shock level of abuse.
Baek Cheon’s eyes were bloodshot.
“You little bastard! Then why don’t you pull it yourself, huh?”
“Then it wouldn’t be training! If I pulled, we’d already be there!”
“That mouth of yours…”
Baek Cheon glared at Chung Myung, practically spitting fire from his eyes, then snapped his head away. Grinding his teeth, he shouted, “Run faster!”
“S-Sasuk! If we keep this up, we’ll be completely spent before we even arrive!”
“Shut up and run!”
“Damn it all!”
The Mount Hua Five Swords cursed up a storm as they heaved the cart forward with all their strength. Then they turned their heads and glared at the disciples running beside the cart.
“Don’t fall behind!”
“What the hell, we’re the ones pulling a cart and you’re falling behind just by running? Who is it? Which one of you assholes is back there?”
“...He deserves a beating.”
“He does need to be taught a lesson.”
“Even I, the youngest here, am pulling the cart, and you senior brothers are falling behind while running on your own two feet?”
“...Soso, calm down.”
“Do I look like I’m in a state where I can calm down?”
Even Hye Yeon had been dragged along as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and was now running at the front while radiating murderous energy with the others as he pulled. The disciples who were not pulling the cart were following behind with every ounce of strength they had left.
Are those even people, you little idiot!
Why are they so fast? I’m gonna die for real!
Neatly tailored martial uniforms.
Glinting swords.
An awe-inspiring formation under the bright sunlight, marching in perfect order.
...Yeah, right. Like hell that existed here.
There was no such thing in Mount Hua.
The moment they left the mountain gate, they ran, and kept running until their feet practically smoked. It was as if the sky itself would collapse if they did not arrive even one moment sooner.
“A martial artist must not, ever, even for a second, slack off in training, huh?!”
Seated atop the cart, Chung Myung was delivering a speech so forceful that it practically made the listeners’ ears bleed.
“Back in my day, I even fought while eating with chopsticks!”
“That’s just being rude, you bastard!”
“What the hell kind of behavior is that at the dinner table!”
“Shut up!”
Chung Myung barked at them.
“The last ten people to arrive today don’t get dinner! If you slack off, you can all go to hell for all I care!”
“You bastard who’ll drown in a cesspit and die!”
“What the hell is the ghost even doing?”
“Dammit all!”
Watching Chung Myung mercilessly harass the disciples without pause, Hyun Sang and Hyun Young exchanged awkward smiles.
Should we try stopping him?
Let’s just leave him be.
Should we?
The two of them, seated in a sunny spot, coughed softly and looked up at the sky.
Thank goodness I’m old.
If I had to go through that, I would’ve run away.
Once again, the Hyun-generation and the Un-generation found themselves deeply aware that the hard times they had endured before Chung Myung arrived had been worth something after all.
“But…”
Hyun Sang’s gaze drifted toward the back.
“...are those people really going to keep running like that?”
“Chung Myung said they’re not allowed on the cart. Says why should a bunch of freeloaders get a ride?”
At the sight of Im So-byeong and his subordinates sweating as they ran alongside the Mount Hua disciples, Hyun Sang shut his eyes tightly.
Well, at least that’s a relief. It seems Chung Myung doesn’t think we’re freeloaders.
How very comforting.
How very…
In this way, the Mount Hua disciples were accomplishing something remarkable: they were crossing in just four days a distance that would normally have taken more than half a month.
The swiftly spreading rumor, and the cart moving even faster than the rumor itself, soon reached their intended destination.