Chapter 571. Which Bandit Dares Make Eye Contact With Me? (5)
After confirming that the city gate leading into the city was firmly shut, Dong Ung’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Should we break it down?”
“This isn’t a mountain.”
People might turn a blind eye to what happened on the mountain, but if bandits smashed through a city gate and stormed inside, then even the stubborn dogs at the yamen would have no choice but to move.
Some problems could be solved with bribes. Others could not. What Dong Ung needed to do was keep this from crossing that line for as long as possible.
He turned his head and looked at the wall. The ramparts were not especially high, and they seemed easy enough for them to climb.
“The quieter we handle this, the better. Over the wall!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Try not to kill the imperial soldiers if you can help it! We’re only after that rat, Im So-byeong!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Green Forest bandits, who had suppressed their presence as they approached the city, clung to the wall as though they were melting into it.
Whoosh!
Like the wind itself, the bandits raced up the wall and sprang into the air.
Darkness had settled thickly over the city, leaving the wall above them without a single light. Only their eyes shone there, bright and fierce like the gaze of beasts in the mountains.
Thud!
Tap!
That was the moment the bandits, having safely crossed the wall and leapt down on the other side, began to look around.
“Who goes there!”
The guard who had been dozing off with his head bobbing suddenly snapped awake at the suspicious movement and roared.
Just as he was about to blow the whistle hanging at his neck,
Swish!
“Ghk…”
The heavy saber that flew like a streak of light nearly sliced the guard’s throat clean in two.
With his neck torn open by the jagged, uneven blade, the guard could not even manage a proper scream before collapsing to the ground.
“Tsk.”
Dong Ung frowned at the sight.
“You could’ve just knocked him out. Didn’t I say to avoid making trouble if possible?”
“Sorry.”
Though he said that, Dong Ung had no intention of blaming them any further.
It was he—and, beyond him, their chieftain, Go Hong—who had made their hands so merciless in the first place.
Clicking his tongue once, Dong Ung took a small medicine bottle from his sleeve and walked toward the body on the ground.
Then he slowly poured what was inside over the corpse.
Hissssssss!
The body, which had been flowing hot blood only moments ago, soon gave off white smoke and melted away without a trace.
“To waste such expensive Hwagol-san on this.”
Of course, even if they erased the body, no fool would fail to guess that the missing guard was their doing.
But suspicion and evidence were two very different things.
As long as they erased the evidence completely, the value of Hwagol-san was more than justified.
“Move down.”
“Yes, sir!”
Changsha might have been a fairly large city, but the security atop its walls was laughable.
Even with so many people climbing over the ramparts, nothing in particular seemed to go wrong.
After wiping away all traces of the corpse’s former resting place, Dong Ung looked around with glittering eyes.
“Where’s the contact?”
“I think he’s coming over there.”
Among the houses stretching out in front of the wall, a man cautiously revealed himself, then hurried straight up to Dong Ung and bowed deeply in obvious panic.
“I greet the chieftain!”
“Hmm!”
Dong Ung glared with his large eyes and spoke.
“Where is that rat, Im So-byeong, now?”
“He’s staying at Hwang-yeon-ru.”
“Hwang-yeon-ru?”
“Yes! It’s one of the largest inns in Changsha.”
“An inn?”
Dong Ung sneered.
“He’s grown quite fat and comfortable, hasn’t he? He knows Mount Heng is right in front of him, and he still openly set up in an inn?”
Someone listening to their conversation from behind casually cut in.
“Isn’t that exactly the kind of trick a scholar would use? If he stays at an inn on the main road, he’s betting we won’t dare make a scene.”
“No matter what, he’s still a rat.”
Dong Ung growled low in disgust.
“And the righteous little brats he dragged in with him—who are they?”
“That is… they seem to be from Mount Hua.”
“Mount Hua?”
Dong Ung’s eyes widened.
“You mean the Mount Hua Sect in Shaanxi? The one that used to be one of the Nine Great Sects?”
“Yes. That’s the one.”
“...What exactly is that bastard thinking?”
Dong Ung frowned, clearly unable to make sense of it, and bit his lip lightly.
There was no denying Im So-byeong’s martial strength was worthless by their standards, but no one doubted his brilliance.
So after he vanished and reappeared with righteous sect members in tow, Dong Ung had assumed he must have brought in some famous sect...
“I did hear they made a little name for themselves at the martial arts tournament, but even so, aren’t they just some small sect tucked away in the backwaters of Shaanxi?”
“Chieftain, you shouldn’t underestimate Mount Hua. You know those Maninbang bastards stormed Mount Hua and lost their heads, don’t you?”
“Hmph.”
After a moment of thought, Dong Ung snorted.
“Even so, they’re just a bunch of brats. If some nobody like Yado or that Spear of Death guy had fallen into my hands, I’d have chopped them at the waist already.”
No one dared argue with that.
There was some bragging in the statement, but it wasn’t exactly wrong.
Dae-byeol was one of the strongest bandit strongholds among the seventy-two Green Forest forts, and Dong Ung, one of its most highly regarded experts, was strong enough to swallow most chieftains whole.
Whether by reputation or by skill, he had no reason to fall behind the leaders of Maninbang.
“A dog always has the advantage in its own yard. But this is Changsha. I’ll make those fools regret ever leaving Mount Hua and coming here!”
“So you’re attacking the inn?”
“Once we’ve come this far, there’s no other way. If a few problems come up, we’ll hit fast and withdraw.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Let’s go!”
“I’ll lead the way!”
The man took the lead and began guiding them forward.
They avoided the main road, but with more than two hundred people moving all at once, it was impossible to hide completely from everyone’s eyes.
“W-what is that?”
“Bandits?”
“W-why are bandits here?”
Those out on the road in the dead of night caught sight of the rushing Green Forest bandits from far away and scattered in alarm.
Some bolted deep into the alleys, while others hurried into their homes and barred the doors.
“Mom…”
“Shh! Be quiet!”
Everyone held their breath, afraid of drawing the bandits’ attention, but fortunately the bandits paid them no mind.
Those hiding inside carefully opened their windows, saw the bandits had passed, and patted their chests in relief.
“What is this world coming to… bandits showing up in the middle of the city?”
“What on earth are the imperial soldiers doing…?”
Everywhere, anxious eyes followed the bandits racing by, each gaze wary and suppressed.
The Dae-byeol bandits, having nearly cut straight across Changsha, finally stopped in front of a large building.
“Is this it?”
“Yes! This is Hwang-yeon-ru!”
Dong Ung narrowed his eyes and studied the inn.
There were lights in a few of the windows, but it was quiet enough to feel deserted.
Still, he didn’t miss the presence drifting from inside the inn.
“Surround it!”
“Yes, sir!”
No sooner had Dong Ung spoken than the bandits moved nimbly to encircle the inn.
They spread their noose without a single gap and glared at the building with meaningful eyes.
“Should we go in? Looks like they’ve rented the whole inn. We can just kill everyone inside.”
“Hmm.”
Dong Ung, who had been studying the inn carefully, asked his subordinate for confirmation.
“You said there were over a hundred people with him?”
“Yes. That’s what I heard.”
“A hundred, huh…”
If they killed more than a hundred people in the middle of the city, they had to be prepared for the matter to spread like wildfire.
It would be easier if we just killed them all.
But reminding himself once again that this was not a mountain, Dong Ung summoned the last of his patience.
“Go inside.”
“Chieftain?”
Seeing the confused look on the subordinate’s face, Dong Ung spoke.
“Tell the men inside that the heroes of Dae-byeol have arrived, and they’d better hand over Im So-byeong obediently. Say that if they do, we’ll spare their lives.”
“Do you really think they’ll listen?”
“They’ll listen.”
Dong Ung turned around and said quietly,
“Everyone, draw your weapons. Make sure the sight of us is enough to turn their legs to jelly!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Green Forest bandits, weapons drawn, unleashed their killing intent all at once.
The murderous aura of nearly two hundred bandits surged toward the inn.
Because they were by nature such brutal, rough people, even their killing intent was ferocious beyond measure.
Nodding as if satisfied, Dong Ung pointed his chin toward the entrance.
“Go and deliver the message. Tell them whether they want to die or hand him over.”
“Yes, sir!”
At that order, the man dashed into the inn.
“Hmph.”
Arms folded, Dong Ung watched the inn with a meaningful gaze.
Anyone can have a little swagger.
He didn’t know what sort of sophistry Im So-byeong had used to beguile those people, but if they had eyes and senses, then they must have begun to realize who they were dealing with.
There was no reason for the righteous sect to risk its life just to protect Im So-byeong. Soon enough, they would probably choose to hand him over and end things there.
But…
“...”
“...”
Ten minutes passed, then a full quarter-hour, and still no response came from the inn.
Unable to bear the endless passage of time any longer, Dong Ung’s face twisted fiercely.
“What in the world could they be doing that’s taking this long?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Of course, even if Dong Ung’s temper was a little less explosive, that was only by comparison with Go Hong.
Would a truly calm, patient man have become a bandit in the first place?
Staring at the inn with a face already flushed with irritation, Dong Ung shouted in a voice thick with annoyance.
“Those bastards! How dare they drag this out when I’ve come all the way here? I was even planning to let this end peacefully!”
Snorting hard with rising anger, Dong Ung bellowed an order with a face full of fury.
“Someone go in! Find out what’s happening!”
“Yes!”
Those who heard the irritation in Dong Ung’s voice went pale and hurried into the inn.
Dammit! If we’d met them on the mountain, I’d have chopped off every last one of their heads!
Trying to keep his temper down and handle the matter quietly made it feel as if his stomach were on fire.
Whatever the case, they were bandits, and this was a city, so he had to keep problems to a minimum...
And then, in that very instant—
BOOOOOOOOM!
The inn door, trembling in the wind, exploded into splinters.
“Huh?”
Dong Ung’s eyes flew wide open.
At the massive noise, like lightning had struck nearby, everyone reacted at once.
“W-what was that!”
“A cannon blast?”
“What kind of bolt from the blue is this?”
As though prepared in advance, lights came on all across the city, and people screamed and rushed outside.
Seeing that spectacle, Dong Ung’s mouth fell open on its own.
“Quietly... han... dle...”
And then.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Something shot out at high speed from inside the inn where the door had been smashed and slammed into the ground.
“Gah!”
“Song Cho!”
“M-my God!”
The bandits shrieked and rushed toward the body smashed into the floor.
“Ugh… g-gghh…”
The eyes of the bandits surrounding the fallen man widened to the size of saucers.
“W-what did they do to him?”
“How can a human face even look like that…?”
Seeing Song Cho, who had swollen to more than twice his size and lost all trace of his original features, they all shuddered.
Just how much did you have to beat a man in such a short time to make him look like this?
“Y-you bastards!”
They were still flustered and at a loss over the absurd situation when—
Step. Step. Step.
From within the darkness-heavy inn, someone slowly walked out.
Clink. Clink.
Wine?
Confirming that the thing in the person’s hand—still too far away to make out the face—was a bottle of liquor, Dong Ung stared at him with an increasingly dazed expression.
At last, when the man’s face was fully revealed, a dry laugh slipped from Dong Ung’s mouth.
It was a downy-faced youngster, barely old enough to have reached twenty, who staggered out with a flushed, drunken face and stopped before them.
Then he turned his head, swept his gaze over the Green Forest bandits surrounding the inn, and twisted his face in disgust.
“What?”
“...”
“Have these bandit bastards lost their minds? Where do you think you are, waltzing in here and drawing your blades? Are you all trying to die?”
“...”
At the brash stream of lively, unrestrained curses, Dong Ung’s mouth hung open before he even realized it.