Chapter 571. Which Bandit Dares Make Eye Contact With Me? (3)
“Everybody, stopppp!”
“Kyaaah!”
“Damn it!”
No sooner had Chung Myung’s voice exploded out than the Mount Hua disciples dropped to the ground in heaps, collapsing where they stood.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Chung Myung hopped down from the cart and clicked his tongue as he looked around.
“You barely ran at all, so why the hell are you panting like sick dogs?”
At that, sparks practically flew from the eyes of the Mount Hua disciples.
“Hey, you little bastard! You’re the one who rode in on a cart, and you’re saying that?”
“I ought to hang you from a cartwheel!”
“What color’s the blood running in your veins, huh?”
The mood was so heated it looked like a riot could break out any second. Naturally, Chung Myung didn’t care even a little.
“If you’d run a little faster, we’d already be there resting! You bunch of slowpokes!”
“……”
Everyone gaped in shocked silence, but no one bothered to answer anymore. They had nothing left to say, and even less desire to keep talking to him.
What made them even more stunned was the reaction of Baek Cheon and the others who had pulled the cart instead of the oxen.
“Haaah. That’s the end of it for today.”
“Still, it’s a lot better than when we went to the Northern Sea, isn’t it? The cart was light, too.”
“That’s true. If it had only been that bad back then, we wouldn’t have suffered so much.”
They were chatting in a relatively relaxed manner as they stepped down from the cart, and the Mount Hua disciples watching them felt tears well up in their eyes.
Martial Uncle, what on earth did you go through?
Why do you look so calm? Why!
Has he been conditioned too hard or something?
Chung Myung frowned as he looked at the Mount Hua disciples, who were still gasping for breath.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves! If you’ve got eyes, use them to look behind you for once! Even that sickly guy is running just fine! And yet you healthy bastards are whining like this over something this small?”
At that, everyone’s gaze turned toward Im So-byeong at the rear.
Meeting the Mount Hua disciples’ eyes, Im So-byeong gave a faint smile.
And then—
Thud.
“H-Holy crap! Green Forest King!”
“Pull yourself together!”
He toppled over right there.
Beon Chung and Heuk Ya-ho rushed to the fallen Im So-byeong in alarm.
“Y-you idiot, you absolute half-wit! Ugh!”
Chung Myung smacked his own chest as if he were about to explode from frustration and shook his head.
“Uuugh…”
Supported by the two men, Im So-byeong barely managed to raise his upper body halfway. With a dazed look on his face, he muttered blankly, “...Everybody’s insane.”
“……”
They didn’t say it out loud, but Beon Chung and Heuk Ya-ho felt exactly the same.
Does he have the ghost of some racehorse clinging to him or something?
How the hell do you start running the moment you open your eyes and keep going until the sun goes down? Even a horse would foam at the mouth and collapse if you made it run like that.
Running itself was one thing.
But what in the world was that absurd pace?
More importantly, even after the kind of forced march that would have left even the Green Forest’s own experts breathless, not a single person had fallen behind.
Mount Hua really is no ordinary place.
Of course, stamina wasn’t the only measure of whether someone was a master or not, but at least in that regard, they had undoubtedly reached a level no orthodox sect in the Central Plains could match.
Beon Chung and Heuk Ya-ho felt it in their bones now: this was why Im So-byeong had come to Mount Hua for help instead of anywhere else.
“These days, people really have no grit. None at all!”
“Ahem.”
“Khrrm.”
The old-timers, who had come comfortably riding on the cart, awkwardly cleared their throats and climbed down.
The disciples were the ones who had been running hard, so it was embarrassing to be the ones who rode. But not everyone looked embarrassed.
“Uuugh. My back’s killing me after bouncing around in that cart all day.”
Hyun Young complained with a pained grimace.
“Are we there yet?”
“We’re almost there now.”
“Haaah. I’ve lived my whole life without ever really leaving Mount Hua, so I never knew the Central Plains were this wide. It just keeps going and going.”
At Hyun Young’s words, Unam gave a bitter smile.
It was probably said without much thought, but it carried everything Mount Hua had endured over the years.
“What about sleeping? We’re not sleeping on the ground again tonight, are we?”
“No, we’re not.”
Unam shook his head.
“Once we cross that hill, we’ll be in Changsha.”
“Huh? We’ve already come that far?”
“Yes. We’re planning to rest at an inn in Changsha tonight. We’ve been camping for days now, so it’s best to loosen up before entering Mount Heng.”
At that, the Mount Hua disciples who had been sprawled everywhere all shot upright, their eyes suddenly gleaming.
A bed!
Hot water!
Food that isn’t cold!
But Chung Myung stared at them, clearly displeased.
“Why waste money on an inn? Just throw down some blankets anywhere and sleep.”
“Enough.”
Hyun Young waved a hand dismissively.
“The kids are one thing, but my back can’t take this anymore. Let’s sleep somewhere comfortable for once.”
“Hehe. If Elder says so, I’ll find us a decent inn.”
The speed with which he changed his tune was astonishing, and the other disciples could only stare in disbelief and grind their teeth.
That damn bastard.
“Still…”
In the middle of it all, Un Geom—the only one who had remained calm throughout—finally raised the perfectly reasonable question he should have asked from the start.
“If that’s so, we could have gone straight into the city. Why did we stop here, Senior Brother?”
At that, Unam gave a bitter smile and sneakily glanced at Chung Myung when no one was looking. Then he said, “I was just about to talk about that.”
He stepped forward and looked over everyone.
“Listen carefully.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Changsha is a large city. If we all go in at once, it’s bound to attract attention.”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
“It may be fine for you to drop to the ground like that and joke around among yourselves out here. But you must not act that way inside Changsha. Never forget the Sect Leader’s words: everything you do tells others what kind of place Mount Hua is.”
At that, everyone’s eyes drifted toward one person instead of answering.
“...What?”
Chung Myung, now the target of everyone’s gaze, tilted his head. He looked completely innocent and utterly clueless, as though he had no idea why they were all staring at him.
The disciples’ faces, which had brightened at the thought of finally resting in an inn, darkened all over again.
Will this be okay?
Wouldn’t it be better to just sleep here?
Baek Cheon seemed to be thinking the same thing. In a low voice, he said, “Um… Martial Uncle. Why don’t we just set up camp here and rough it—”
Unam gave a quiet sigh.
“I did consider that, but we do have things to do. First, we need to stop by the Beggars’ Sect branch in Changsha and make sure nothing unusual has happened there.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Baek Cheon kept stealing glances at Chung Myung. Not just him—everyone who had pulled the cart was looking at Chung Myung with unease written all over their faces.
He makes me nervous.
My stomach hurts.
No matter how I think about it, this doesn’t feel like a good idea.
Wasn’t Chung Myung exactly the kind of person who always managed to find and do whatever they told him not to do?
Just then, Hyun Sang, who had been standing there silently, spoke up.
“There’s no need to worry.”
“Yes?”
A gentle smile appeared on his normally stern face.
“Chung Myung, from the moment we enter Changsha, don’t leave my side.”
“Huh? No, why am I the only one—”
“Hoho. Let’s just do that.”
At Hyun Sang’s wise decision, the Mount Hua disciples cheered inwardly. The clouds that had settled over their faces finally began to clear.
We’re saved! As expected, it’s Elder Hyun Sang!
That’s experience, you bastard!
With the biggest problem resolved, everything moved quickly after that.
“Baek Cheon, go ahead and find us a decent inn. Since there are so many of you, it’s fine if we split up into a few places.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle!”
“All right, let’s set off again!”
The Mount Hua disciples marched toward Changsha with their heads held high.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A massive chair sat on a raised dais, extravagantly decorated with thick beast hide.
The man seated there lazily crossed one leg over the other and ran a hand along the armrest.
“It’s been a long road.”
It had taken decades just to sit in this unremarkable chair.
From the bottom of the chair to this place, narrowing what amounted to only a few steps had taken decades of his life.
And yet, this seat still wasn’t fully his.
Still, it’ll be mine soon enough.
The man was Go Hong, the leader of Dae-byeol Bandit Band, one of the Ten Green Forest Forts.
Just as he let out a crooked grin and was about to lean back, the door flew open.
Three men wearing beast-hide garments strode in.
“Boss!”
“What is it?”
“Those bastards won’t listen to a damn thing we say.”
“Tch.”
Go Hong clicked his tongue in irritation and glared at the man in front.
“Looks like you’ve been living too comfortably in the mountain fort. You can’t even make those kinds of men submit?”
“Haaah. It’s not that. They’re no ordinary hard cases. Even if you ripped out all their fingernails and drove iron needles through every finger, they wouldn’t so much as blink.”
“...How vicious.”
“If we want to go further, we’d have to cut off an arm or a leg. Is that all right?”
At that, murder flared in Go Hong’s eyes.
“You useless piece of shit!”
At the thunderous shout, the bandits who had come in all shrank their necks.
“If you make them worthless, then what, you idiots who can’t even read are supposed to run the Green Forest? What, should I hold a funeral and pray for it to collapse in a heap instead?”
“B-but no matter what we do, they won’t be persuaded—”
“Damn it.”
Go Hong’s face twisted.
“That’s why we should never have let that rat get away.”
If Im So-byeong had died, winning over the men left in the Green Forest Main Fortress wouldn’t have been difficult. No matter how loyal they were, loyalty only had meaning when there was someone to be loyal to.
With the right treatment, a little coaxing, and enough patience, they would have ended up following him whether they liked it or not.
But he had failed to capture Im So-byeong. The slippery bastard had realized what was happening and disappeared before he could make a move.
“The Green Forest King… no, that rat—have you still not found any trace of him?”
“...No, Boss.”
“What a bunch of useless trash!”
Go Hong shot to his feet, looked around, and then pulled the spear that had been planted behind his chair and hurled it straight out.
“Gah!”
The bandits ducked hastily. The spear, packed with force, spun through the air and narrowly whipped over their heads. The tension was so sharp it made their whole bodies tingle.
“Find him! No matter what it takes, find that bastard!”
“Yes, sir!”
Go Hong’s twisted face was a thing of horror.
If I drag this out any longer, I’ll give the other bastards a chance, too.
If another leader found Im So-byeong first, it would be like a dog that had chased a chicken only to stare up at the roof in vain. They could use Im So-byeong as a bargaining chip to attack him, or kill him with their own hands and claim the rightful succession to the position of Green Forest King.
Neither outcome suited him.
“Before the other forts, that bastard must be—”
“Boss!”
At that moment, another man burst in with a shout. Go Hong frowned.
“What is it now?”
“H-he’s appeared!”
“Hm?”
The man who had come in drew a deep breath, then poured out the words in a rush.
“C-Changsha! In Changsha, the Green Forest King… no, that Im So-byeong bastard has shown himself!”
“...What?”
Go Hong’s eyes flew wide open.
“Where?”
“I-in Changsha.”
“...Changsha is right next door, isn’t it?”
“Yes!”
“That bastard showed up right under my nose?”
“Yes!”
“Ha… hahahah.”
For a moment, Go Hong was so stunned that he laughed in disbelief for a long time before suddenly springing to his feet.
KA-AANG!
The foot he stamped down crushed the floor like tofu.
“That bastard must be out of his mind, looking for death! To think he’s mocking me by skulking around right in front of me.”
“B-Boss, please calm down!”
“Calm down?”
“It’s Changsha. It’s a city. If we go there ourselves, things will get serious.”
“Serious, my ass! He’s literally appeared in front of me, and I’m supposed to just stand here with my eyes open and watch?”
“He didn’t come alone. He brought a whole crowd of orthodox sect bastards with him, and we can’t tell who they are.”
“Orthodox sect?”
“Yes. We’re checking their identities now, but—”
“That bastard has truly lost his mind! So now he’s dragging orthodox sect trash into this, too?”
After shouting, Go Hong ground his teeth.
“How many are there?”
“It doesn’t look like more than two hundred.”
“...What did you say?”
“Not more than two hundred—”
“Hah?”
Go Hong let out a hollow laugh.
“He brought only two hundred men to my front door?”
“Th-that appears to be the case. From what we could see, they mostly looked young, so at least on the surface they didn’t seem all that impressive…”
“Dong Ung!”
“Yes, Boss!”
“Take the boys and go bring that bastard back right now!”
“B-but the government office…”
“Forget the government office. Once I become the Green Forest King, those dogs won’t dare lay a hand on me!”
“Yes, sir!”
“There’s no guarantee another chance like this will come twice, so move now! Right now!”
“Yes, Boss!”
The three men who had entered first hurried back outside in a panic.
Go Hong sat back down heavily in his chair. Then he slowly ran his fingertips along the armrest.
“That stupid bastard must be getting desperate by now.”
There were only so many moves a man who had lost the Green Forest Main Fortress could still make.
Thinking that the seat would soon be his, the corners of Go Hong’s mouth rose of their own accord.