55. Heavenly Wolf Sect (6)
Heavenly Wolf Sect (6)
55. Heavenly Wolf Sect (6)
"Th-... the sword is flying around!"
One bandit, whose legs had given out as well, stared at the empty air and muttered.
"You moron! That's Qi-Guided Sword!"
Another bandit spoke to his faint-hearted comrade, who had collapsed onto the ground, as if he found him pathetic.
"Don't make me laugh! Look at that wall over there! Don't you see the cut marks—not smashed, but cleanly sliced? Those flames are Sword Aura! Does it make any sense that someone's using Qi-Guided Sword imbued with Sword Aura?"
"It makes sense because that's how it was sliced clean off! Damn it. I have heard of this before. Even the Green Forest Chief can't do it, but they say the Demonic Cult Leader and the Martial Alliance Leader can."
"Then what happens to us?"
"We all die. Whatever. We came here ready to die from the start, just to save Banmae alone."
The bandits bickered and squabbled, trembling in the fear of death. They tried to hold onto their weapons, but they couldn't hide their shaking hands.
"Ah... Young Master? I became overexcited and made a small mistake. We also came to fight Heuk Cheon-gyeon, so we have no reason to oppose you."
The leader suddenly scratched his head and forced an awkward smile.
"A mistake? That's fine. I understand. But you've got plenty of reasons to be hostile. First of all, we're the Orthodox Faction and you're the Unorthodox Faction. I'm from Baek Clan Estate, and you bastards are bandits."
I wasn't really a man of Baek Clan Estate anymore, and there was no particular reason to go bandit-hunting in this situation, but with my master and senior sisters still barely able to hold themselves upright, I didn't have the slightest intention of leaving these dangerous bastards alone.
"N-no! We're not an unorthodox faction anymore. The Green Forest Chief expelled us, so we're not even Green Forest bandits now!"
The leader spoke desperately, drenched in cold sweat. Where the hell had that righteous glint in his eyes from earlier gone?
"What kind of bullshit is that now?"
"While we were away, Heuk Cheon-gyeon attacked White Tiger Fortress, killed our brothers, and kidnapped our Banmae. Naturally, we reported it to the Chief Fortress Leader and begged for support, but the Chief Fortress Leader told us not to make an enemy of Heuk Cheon-gyeon, a fellow powerhouse of the Unorthodox Faction, and told us to forget the lives of a few brothers and Banmae. In fact, he said if we opposed Heuk Cheon-gyeon, he'd expel us from the Green Forest. We served him as our leader our whole lives, and that son of a bitch. In the end, he turned out to be a far worse piece of shit than even Heuk Cheon-gyeon."
The leader ground his teeth and poured out his rage and resentment. So the Orthodox Faction and the Unorthodox Faction were the same after all. In truth, even if the Murong Clan had been intact, even if the Martial Alliance Liaoning Branch right next to them was keeping an eye on Heuk Cheon-gyeon, they wouldn't have helped us either. If they clashed directly with Heuk Cheon-gyeon, one of the Top Hundred Masters, they'd take damage too. And so, whether Orthodox or Unorthodox, scraps like us were pieces they could discard with ease.
These bastards, with nowhere to turn for help, had launched a reckless suicide assault just to save a woman. Given the family I came from, I'd always thought of bandits as trash mobs in an RPG game that just gave you money and experience points, but now that we were in the same boat, my heart wavered a little.
"Uh... Benefactor!! Please, withdraw your sword!"
Ban Ho-jeong came running, long after she'd heard our commotion. It must have taken her a while—she really had gone and pissed on Cheon Myeong-hwa's face, apparently.
"Ba... Banmae!!!"
Seeing Ban Ho-jeong running from afar, the bandits forgot even their mortal peril and their faces lit up.
"I told you not to come! I said I'd escape on my own, and if that didn't work, to wait until Heuk Cheon-gyeon got sick of me and threw me away!"
Ban Ho-jeong's sharp voice. The leader shrank back at her voice and made a pathetic excuse.
"B-... but Banmae. That son of a bitch is a sex fiend! How could we just wait quietly, knowing full well what kind of things you might suffer?"
"You call that an excuse? Even if you reached this place, how were you planning to save me? You all came here to die! And chastity? Are you fucking joking? I personally took most of the men in White Tiger Fortress's virginity, and now you're talking about chastity!"
Ban Ho-jeong screamed at them, but tears already filled her reddened eyes. Even if she'd slept with countless men, her body still belonged to her. Promiscuous sex and rape were not the same. When I first met her, she had clearly told them to kill her after violating her. It had been a white lie for the sake of the sect members she cherished. Bandits or not, they regarded their sect as family, just as we did.
And so my chest ached a little.
"You helped Senior Sister Son, so I'll let you go. But these bastards, no. As you know, my master and senior sisters are in a state where they can barely hold themselves upright right now.
"It took several overlapping miracles to barely manage to save them. I don't want to leave behind any risk factors."
"Uh... Benefactor!!"
Ban Ho-jeong turned deathly pale. I knew they had loyalty. But that wasn't proof they weren't a danger to us.
"You lot give up too. You came here risking your lives to save this woman anyway, didn't you? You've saved the woman like you wanted, so give up your lives."
At those words, the leader closed his eyes for a moment and knelt on the ground. Following the leader, the other bandits set down their weapons and looked at me with composed faces.
"After hearing your story, I see that you also came to save the women of your sect. Thank you. We were prepared to die like dogs without even rescuing Banmae. Do as you wish. I believe you won't harm her after killing us. And as one last favor—please spare us too, if you can!"
He had seemed ready to deliver his final words with dignity, only to end by begging for his life. Damn it. His refusal to posture was making me like him more and more.
"B-Benefactor! Please show mercy one more time. I know you can't trust us because we are Green Forest bandits, so don't trust our loyalty. Trust our small capacity. We don't possess the courage to make enemies of you or those ladies!"
Ban Ho-jeong knelt beside the leader and pleaded with me.
"Th-that's right, Benefactor. This is no time for this, is it? You need to take those ladies somewhere comfortable as soon as possible. But if you leave in such a hurry, what about the Heavenly Wolf Sect's treasure, elixirs, and martial manuals? We'll deliver every last coin to Yeongsan Sect. As bandits, we're excellent at finding hidden silver."
Ah... right. This place held Heuk Cheon-gyeon's funds for separating from the Black Heaven Association, along with his martial manuals. Staying to search worried me because of the women's condition, but leaving empty-handed offended every scrap of pride I possessed as a member of the impoverished Yeongsan Sect.
"How can I trust you?"
"I'll go with you, Benefactor. I can tend to those ladies while we wait for these men. You know what they are like. They're ignorant bandit bastards, but they risked their lives to save me. As long as I remain beside you, they'll never dare betray you."
Rather than relying only on sympathy, she offered a practical compromise. She seemed much like our Senior Sister Lee, managing White Tiger Fortress's household among a pack of ignorant bastards.
"If you go to the storehouse in the back, you'll find that son of a bitch's palanquin. What are you doing? Hurry and bring the palanquin. And Jang-ui, Gu-dong, Wang-seok, Song-il. You four will carry the palanquin and return with me to the Benefactor's sect."
Before permission was even granted, she smoothly and efficiently began setting things in motion. A palanquin? It was less affected by terrain than a cart or carriage, and more comfortable—the first-class transportation of this era. It was exactly what the exhausted women needed.
"Don't worry, Benefactor. Jang-ui is impotent. Even when I suck him myself, he can't get hard. Gu-dong and Wang-seok are lovers. Three years ago, that fucking bitch—no, a young female expert from Sword Empress Pavilion—cut off both Song-il's penis and his scrotum, so he's essentially a eunuch. None of them will harbor lust toward those beautiful ladies while attending them."
Whoa. Even her choice of personnel was flawless. While I watched in a daze, the four large bandits she'd named returned carrying a huge palanquin.
Truly enormous. Almost the size of a compact car. It was big enough for five women, including the young child Cho-ryeong, to ride comfortably. I'd heard of the enormous palanquin Heuk Cheon-gyeon was notorious for riding around in. Of course, the Orthodox Faction types called it a dog kennel.
"Deputy Fortress Chief. Black Moon Pills. They were inside the palanquin."
The man who'd gone to fetch the palanquin held out a small wooden case to her.
"Exactly six. They might as well have been prepared for Benefactor and those ladies. Their effect on internal energy is slight, but nothing is better for internal injuries. They are said to be comparable to the Orthodox Faction's Blue Jade Pills."
Heuk Cheon-gyeon. That son of a bitch. He'd really been using the good stuff, huh?
She briskly handed me the wooden case and hurried toward where my master and senior sisters were, leading the men carrying the palanquin. While I hadn't managed to say a single word, she'd already completely sorted out the situation. And there I stood, left dumbfounded with the bandits.
"Um... hyung?"
The leader scratched his head and spoke.
"Why the hell am I your hyung? You're older than me!"
"In the martial world, the stronger man is hyung. Thank you for sparing us, and for saving Banmae. You may not believe us yet, but we mountain men don't harbor treachery. We'll send every last thing, so please don't harm Banmae."
"I won't touch her. And send all the treasures and elixirs, but keep the martial arts secret manuals for yourselves."
"Whaaaat? H-hyung! That is Heuk Cheon-gyeon's martial arts manual! He was one of the Top Hundred Masters!"
"So what? It's a shame, but how could we practice an unorthodox faction's martial arts? Do you want us attacked by both the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions? Selling it to another unorthodox sect would cause a bloodbath. I'm giving it to you because things have come this far. Don't even think about betraying me. Strip this place clean and bring me everything."
"H-... hyung!!!"
Ah... I hated this. A bearded man over thirty was calling me hyung with tears in his eyes. One rude half-brother was already more than enough.
In the meantime, the enormous palanquin carrying the women came toward us. Cho-ryeong, who was in the best condition of them all, poked her face out.
"J-... Junior Brother!"
"Senior Sister Cho. Let's go back now. It's a little high up, but it's not scary, right?"
"I'm fine, Junior Brother. But can't we let that unni ride too? That unni had a hard time, just like us..."
Cho-ryeong pointed at Ban Ho-jeong, who was standing beside the palanquin, and asked. Perhaps she'd grown fond of her during their shared captivity—Lee Eun-ha also poked her head out with the same expression. Even after being brought to this state, those two were truly pure-hearted. Naturally, Ban Ho-jeong, who'd been a fellow prisoner in that jail, was in terrible shape too. She was standing tall to save White Tiger Fortress, but she probably wanted to collapse right now, too.
"Will it be all right? The palanquin itself must weigh a lot already, and even if they're thin women, can you carry six?"
I casually asked one of the men carrying the palanquin, and he answered heartily.
"There is more than enough strength. Green Forest bandits may have poor internal energy, but in external arts we rival the Huangfu Clan, do we not? Please allow our Vice-Fortress Leader to rest as well."
No. It's true your external arts are strong, but who are you to compare yourselves to the Huangfu Clan?
"Get in and rest too. Six will make it cramped, but Master and my Senior Sisters are all skin and bones, so you will fit. Damn it. I had only just managed to put a little weight on them, and now they are skeletal again. Here. I suffered no internal injuries, so go inside, give each of them a pill, and take one yourself."
I might look like a young master born with a silver spoon, but I'd taken enough elixirs of this grade to be thoroughly saturated. Low-grade spirit pills no longer increased my internal energy. And in a place where elixirs were plentiful enough to remain stocked inside a palanquin, there was no reason to be stingy. Ban Ho-jeong beamed when I handed her the Black Moon Pills.
"Thank you, Benefactor. I'll recover quickly and attend the ladies comfortably during the journey."
She wasn't the kind of fool who let pride get in the way and refused kindness. She gratefully accepted the generosity extended by the strong, and naturally displayed her best effort as the weak. Honestly, she was a woman who tempted me a little.