Ruins (3)

59. Ruins (3)

The bandits devoured the meat and liquor, endlessly praising the cooking. Lee Eun-ha seemed thoroughly pleased by the sight, and without rest she kept bringing out more dishes, which made Ban Ho-jeong anxious.

"What are you doing? You lot should be the ones serving the food!"

"No, Vice-Fortress Leader. Even if the kitchen is only a single campfire, it remains my domain. I can't yield it even to Master."

Looking at Lee Eun-ha's face, I got the sense that she truly wasn't forcing herself but genuinely enjoying it. In the end, Ban Ho-jeong herself, restless and fidgety, could only clear the empty plates and help her out.

"Vice-Fortress Leader, are you not drinking?"

With Cho-ryeong still held in her arms, Jeong-hyang asked her, and she let out a sigh.

"I'm dying to drink, but look at those idiots. Someone has to keep her wits about her to at least try and stop them."

"Wow. Is that person even human? Isn't she a real celestial maiden?"

Bandit A, who'd somehow gotten chummy with me, sidled up and whispered.

"Have any stupid ideas and you die."

"Stupid ideas? To a small-fry like me, she's even terrifying. She doesn't seem like a person of this world at all. I don't know about you, Big Brother, but for a guy like me, our Fortress Leader's loose hole is more than enough to keep me satisfied."

"Hey! You son of a bitch! You're banned from my bedchamber for a month starting today!"

From far away, Ban Ho-jeong caught it like a ghost and hurled back curses. At that, the bandits broke into hearty laughter. She was the lover, wife, and mother of everyone in White Tiger Fortress.

"These bastards have nothing but cocks in their heads, so please understand, hyung. Even on the way here, some of them went completely into heat without Banmae to take care of them. Starting tomorrow, I'll forbid everyone except Banmae and me from entering Yeongsan Sect, so please don't be too angry."

There was no cup. Byeok-geum simply handed me the whole jar of liquor as he spoke.

"In heat? With only men around?"

"There's that one, isn't there? The woman you let live, Boss. We came here without knowing the particulars ourselves, so we heard the whole story from that bitch. For all she's worth, she's got a decent face, so I thought my wrist would snap from beating down the bastards who went into heat over her. That bitch, naturally, belongs to our Boss."

Cheon Myeong-hwa. I'd forgotten about her.

"You brought that bitch too? Where is she?"

"You told us to put the treasure in the storage shed, did you not? We brought her inside a sack with her acupoints sealed. You'll understand once you question the bitch properly. We truly didn't lay a finger on your property, hyung."

"Get her out this instant! Fuck, why'd you put a woman who pisses and shits in my treasure storage?!"

Startled by my shriek, the bandits bustled into the storage shed and hauled out a large sack. Inside the sack was Cheon Myeong-hwa, looking haggard as though she'd been thoroughly interrogated by the bandits, trembling and unable to even move.

I discreetly glanced around. My master and the senior sisters, out of consideration for Ban Ho-jeong who couldn't drink, were having tea far off on the other side.

"Stand up, you bastards who went into heat over this bitch."

The bandits flinched at those words. I could see a few of them watching my expression and hanging their heads.

"Nobody's standing up? According to this bastard, it wasn't just one or two who went into heat. Don't tell me this bastard was lying?"

I tapped Byeok-geum's large head with my finger as I spoke, and several of them, their faces turning pale, hastily rose from their seats.

"Outside Yeongsan Sect, in the forest ahead, there's a small hut your companions built. Don't let her die. You bastards can take care of her yourselves."

"Huh... Boss! What do you mean by that?"

"Do whatever you want with her. By now, you all know this entire Heuk Cheon-gyeon mess was that bitch's doing. I don't intend to give her an easy death or lock her in a dungeon, but I honestly find her so disgusting that I can't bring myself to touch her. So those of you who can get worked up even over a woman like that can handle her."

At those words, Byeok-geum's eyes changed.

"As expected, hyung, you always confuse us. You're an orthodox martial artist, but I forgot for a moment that someone from Baek Clan Estate shares our disposition. Hyung has given permission! Violate that bitch with grateful hearts. From now on, don't let her sleep more than two shichen—four hours—per day!"

In that instant, a thunderous roar of cheers erupted from the bandits. Sensing something had happened, Ban Ho-jeong turned her head and craned her neck, but upon seeing me and the bandits all cheerfully drinking, she quietly returned to her quaint little tea gathering.

"And there's something I must tell you. A few of the Black Swordsmen got away, so by now the Black Heaven Association in Shandong will know of this. It was said he had an especially close relationship with his junior brother, Bloodslaying Sword, so the Black Heaven Association may well make a move."

I'd already anticipated that. The Black Heaven Association, one of the Ten Great Evil Factions. For better or worse, Yeongsan Sect had now acted. Unlike small fry like Seven Fingers Sect, or Heuk Cheon-gyeon who happened to target this place by chance, Yeongsan Sect would now slowly draw the attention of the true powers of the Martial World. I had been preparing in terms of strength, but we were absolutely lacking in forces. No matter how strong I, who used the Spirit-Binding Art, might be, my body was only one. That was why it was difficult to casually drive these bastards away.

"I know. Besides, now that we of the Orthodox Faction have accepted the expelled White Tiger Fortress—no, White Tiger Sect—we have completely made an enemy of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Green Forest Chief of the Eighteen Strongholds as well. Damn it. Yeongsan Sect has only six disciples, yet both the Black Heaven Association and the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds are targeting us. We're not the Mount Hua Sect..."

"With that Qi-Guided Sword wreathed in your Extreme Yang Sword Aura that we saw that day, you could surely overcome them. And besides, are we not here too? We may be unreliable, but we've found Heuk Cheon-gyeon's secret manual, so given only time, we'll be of help in our own way."

Right. There was no turning back now. For better or worse, the power I had displayed in annihilating the Heavenly Wolf Sect would spread throughout the martial world, and the day would eventually come when we clashed with those two great unorthodox powers. Conversely, if we overcame them, Yeongsan Sect would earn a formidable reputation that no one under heaven could easily challenge.

In the future, having achieved such rapid growth here in Liaodong, things might become uncomfortable even with the Murong Clan.

Uncultured and ignorant of etiquette, but exquisitely sensitive to hierarchy—that was White Tiger Sect. They still called Sect Leader Byeokgeum their chief, so at that point they were still just bandit bastards, but now that our Yeongsan Sect was treated as their main Green Forest base, the bastards treated us with remarkable deference. Ironically, because I had been the youngest disciple of Yeongsan Sect, the men who served me as "Boss" were reliably treating even young Cho-ryeong as a clear superior.

In the blink of an eye, they'd thrown up a dozen huts in the forest across from Yeongsan Sect, and just as they'd said, every day they roamed the mountain, hunting game, catching fish, picking fruit—truly bringing it all back and offering tribute to Yeongsan Sect. Our senior sister, who normally prepared meals for six, now had to prepare for thirty-eight—nearly forty people. But having originally prepared the tables of a great house, she found it rather enjoyable, and with the bandits handling all the firewood, stream water, and the chores that had been hard on her, her workload wasn't excessive.

Moreover, since Son Yeong, who used to come and go from the village to buy goods, was still lost in meditation, they ran the errands for us. Thanks to that, life at Yeongsan Sect became more comfortable than before.

"Hyung, today's catch is a deer. We'll tan the hide properly and give it to you later, so please handle dinner again tonight. And stew the antlers thoroughly for our Chief—ah... no, our Sect Leader."

Today as well, without fail, Byeok-geum came to Yeongsan Sect with a large deer slung over his shoulder. At the words "Chief," I no longer even had the energy to object.

"On this small Yeong-san, is there really that much game? How do you hunt like that every day? Yesterday you even caught carp in that shallow stream?"

"Well, since Yeongsan Sect and Seven Fingers Sect have settled in this neighborhood, it's not the kind of place bandits like us or ordinary hunters can easily approach, is it? The animals must know that too."

After that brief reply, Byeok-geum hefted the food for thirty-two that Lee Eun-ha had prepared and carried it off. With his good frame and remarkably high level of External Arts, even carrying a heavy cauldron, he walked as though dancing a tap dance, savoring the scent of the food. In truth, the one with the highest martial prowess here was none other than Byeok-geum.

Our Yeongsan Sect, in need of helping hands and fresh meat. The bandit remnants of White Tiger Sect, in need of a powerful master to protect them from the Green Forest Chief and Lee Eun-ha's delicious cooking. For better or worse, each side precisely filled the other's needs, and we meshed together better than expected.

Of course, we were complete opposites. Just as they felt alien to us, our gentle all-female sect was a strange group unlike anything they had experienced. Some bandits gathered mountain delicacies, carved wooden toys, or caught pretty flowers and insects to give Cho-ryeong. They always presented rare items to Master, whom they treated as their supreme chief, just as they had offered the antlers today. I even heard that one lunatic was searching every inch of Yeongsan Mountain for a bear so he could offer its gallbladder to Master.

Lee Eun-ha went without saying. Before anyone knew it, they were calling her Steward Lee and obeying her words even more loyally than they did Fortress Leader Ban Ho-jeong. In Jeong-hyang's case, the situation had reached the point where a madman had appeared who literally prayed to her, calling her a celestial maiden.

And then there was me. Honestly, I was called out to White Tiger Sect's drinking parties every single night, and every night I enjoyed drinking bouts with the menfolk, the sort I hadn't been able to have at Yeongsan Sect all that time. While I, the one guy, mingled with the men of White Tiger Sect, Ban Ho-jeong, the one girl, was blissfully savoring women's gossip with the ladies at Yeongsan Sect.

And in the midst of all that, Hwangseong had finally completed the improved version of the Spirit-Binding Art.

"Master. It's Yeongmok."

Unlike real buildings, the crude huts made from logs had no soundproofing at all. Moreover, the women now shared one room instead of sleeping separately, so our lovemaking under the pretext of Yin-Yang Art training had been postponed for the time being.

"Ah. One moment."

Master opened the door with quick little steps. Come to think of it, we hadn't found time to speak slowly together throughout all this. I had my reasons, and Master had hers; burdened by guilt over failing to protect Yeongsan Sect, we had somehow both avoided the subject. Only a short time had passed, but the quality protein supplied by White Tiger Sect had restored her old appearance and the luster of her skin. Now that her body had recovered, her heart should have recovered as well.

"I wanted to have a word with you."

"I wanted to talk with you too, my disciple."

Smiling kindly, my master headed with me to the wooden platform. Still broke as ever, we sat on the platform that served as a temporary tea room, and I drank the tea ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she brewed.

"You've endured much hardship in this matter."

"I'm fine. I have already healed completely, see? I'm only a little worried about Yeong."

"Senior Sister Son will be fine. She isn't ill; she's in the middle of an enlightenment."

"Ah. Is that so? You must have become such a tremendous master ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now, my disciple, to know things like that."

My master spoke, her face beaming as if it were her own achievement.

"It's a relief. That a master like you has emerged from our Yeongsan Sect, my disciple. Because I could never actually teach you any martial arts."

"Master. About that matter. The truth is, that wasn't martial arts."

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

"As you know, Master, I came to Yeongsan Sect to abandon the martial path and become a Daoist. That power was actually Taoist arts."

"Whaaat?! That's absurd!"

"You study the Dao, yet you believe in martial arts but not Taoist arts? You once said the founder bestowed my Daoist name, Yeongmok. Reverend Hwangseong left behind an extraordinary Taoist art, just like the Yin-Yang Art. It's called the Spirit-Binding Art, and it commands and moves ghosts. I learned it in the library and traveled with the founder's spirit. The Murong Clan's expedition ceremony, discovering the crisis quickly, and arriving before it was too late—all of it was thanks to him."

"Come now. You're teasing me again because we haven't practiced the Yin-Yang Art, are you not? Wait a little longer. I've practiced all sorts of techniques."

"Master, even if I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stumbled across a miraculous encounter, not even a genius like Senior Sister Son could become strong enough to defeat Heuk Cheon-gyeon in so little time. That power also came from placing a former master's spirit inside my sword and borrowing his help. Here. The founder's spirit is inside the White Feather Fan you gave me. He says he has something to tell you, the sixth Sect Leader of Yeongsan Sect."

Words alone would never convince her. When I handed Master the White Feather Fan, the first Sect Leader of Yeongsan Sect finally met the current one.

Her eyes reddened.

Upon meeting Hwangseong's spirit, Master simply wept like a child for the first time.