Chapter 20. To Mujang Mountain (2)

[Mujang Mountain]

Mujang Mountain was home to a group of bandits known as Mujang Cai, who had been operating for a full decade.

Although they were a third-rate bandit gang, not even making it into the 72 Cai of the Green Forest and thus unknown in the martial world, they were still a symbol of fear in the nearby villages.

However, now they were trembling with fear.

"…Chief, Chief. Baegun Escort Agency sent us an ultimatum today. They said if we don't dismantle our camp by the end of this month, they will exterminate us all…"

One of the bandits, who looked fierce enough to eat a wild boar, trembled as he handed over a letter.

The man called Chief, who had been lounging in a chair, took the letter with a calm expression and then, without even reading it, dropped it to the ground and crushed it with his foot.

"So what?"

"T-the…"

The bandit trembled even more.

The man called Chief did not look like a typical bandit. He had a scholarly and frail appearance, almost like a scholar.

It was a bizarre sight to see the bandits, who looked capable of eating a wild boar, cowering like mice in front of this man who seemed like he would die from a single blow.

The man said,

"Do I have to respond to every bluff?"

"No, no."

"Right?"

The Chief flicked his finger.

Then, a large man slowly emerged from behind the tent. Strangely, this large man had a pale face like a corpse.

He moved stiffly and raised his pot-lid-sized hand to grip the bandit's neck.

"Ugh!"

"Then why did you bring it?"

"Ch-ch, that's…!"

"Do I look like an easy target? Or are you trying to mock me?"

As the Chief's expression grew more distorted, the large man's grip tightened. The bandit, choked and gasping for air, could no longer make a proper excuse.

"P-please…"

*Crunch*

The bandit's neck was completely crushed before he could finish his last plea, leaving him a bizarre puppet-like figure with a dangling head.

The other bandits, who witnessed a man being strangled to death, trembled like dogs on a hot day.

The Chief looked at the dead bandit with a look of disgust.

"Clean this up. It stinks."

A few bandits came forward to carry the dead comrade outside. The Chief watched them and said,

"Talk nonsense, and this is what happens. Understand?"

"Y-yes! I understand!"

"Good. Good. No matter who comes, one Iron Corpse is enough. You should focus on keeping the place clean and not causing trouble."

The Chief patted the large man who had just strangled the bandit.

*Clang*

The sound of hitting metal echoed even though he was hitting a person.

"Anyone who continues to cause trouble will be made like this one."

The Chief pointed to the Iron Corpse.

The bandits' faces turned even paler.

* * *

After a few more days of training at the escort agency, I received word that the ultimatum to Mujang Cai had been ignored.

I didn't know who the new Chief was, but he seemed to have a lot of confidence.

When it comes to bandits versus an escort agency, one might think the bandits have the upper hand, but that's not the case. In fact, the bandits are at a significant disadvantage.

Most bandits become bandits because it's easier to make a living that way compared to farming. They are far less skilled in martial arts compared to professional escort guards.

Moreover, the escort agency can hire high-level experts if needed, making their available force incomparable.

So why doesn't the escort agency just wipe out the bandits? There are reasons.

One is the symbiotic relationship.

Think about it. Without bandits, who would pay the escort agency to transport goods? They could just send them with regular people.

Ironically, bandits are necessary for the escort business to exist.

The second reason is the Green Forest.

When people talk about bandits, they often refer to the 72 Cai of the Green Forest. These are organizations that protect the interests of bandits. If the escort agency were to recklessly eliminate bandits for profit, these organizations would impose travel restrictions across the entire Central Plains.

The 72 Cai of the Green Forest have high-level experts, making it impossible for the escort agency to break through with force. This would result in the agency's business collapsing.

Thus, the current state of the martial world is a strange symbiotic relationship between the Green Forest and the escort agencies.

However, in this case, the 72 Cai of the Green Forest promised non-intervention.

This is understandable. In the martial world, justification is important.

Even though the 72 Cai of the Green Forest represent bandits, if they ignored the justified retaliation of Baegun Escort Agency after an ambush, their influence in the martial world would decline.

'So Mujang Cai is completely cut off. What confidence do they have?'

Putting aside my doubts, I memorized the map thoroughly, as I was the guide.

However, on the day of departure, I was taken aback.

"Why is it just this?"

1. Me

2. Baegun Hwa

3. Penguin and his bodyguard, Weizhian

Just four of us.

Three melee fighters and one thief—this was a recipe for disaster.

"That's all there is."

"Sir Baegun? Is this a vanguard, and the main force is separate?"

"That's all there is."

Why such an unreasonable composition?

Has the head of the escort agency lost his mind?

Penguin, seeing my confusion, said,

"Uncle, you don't know! When dealing with experts, it's better to go with a small group. If you bring too many, you'll all die together."

"But even so, this is too small, isn't it?"

Baegun Hwa quickly explained,

"Our goal is to quickly eliminate the enemy leader. Bringing too many people would only lead to unnecessary battles and make it harder to retreat. It's better to have a small, elite team to quickly eliminate the leader and disband the group. You, as the guide, just need to lead the way and hide nearby. We three can handle any expert, so there's no problem."

Since this was my first bandit raid, I couldn't find any counterarguments.

After all, Baegun Hwa knows better than I do.

With a bloodthirsty expert like Xuefeng, what could go wrong?

"Understood. Then, Chief, everyone, I'll lead the way."

I immediately accepted and started guiding the way.

* * *

The journey to Mujang Mountain was long, treacherous, and exhausting, especially for me.

The three of them had such incredible stamina that even with my improved physical condition from two years of internal energy training, I couldn't keep up. My current physical condition is even better than when I was a sergeant in my prime.

Unlike them, I couldn't use lightness skills, so I had to run almost at a jog. Despite this, they walked leisurely, always right behind me. It felt like they were from a ghostly mountain retreat.

Feeling the silent pressure from behind, I pushed myself to the limit, drenched in sweat. But they didn't even break a sweat after walking the same distance.

I guess when your internal energy reaches a certain level, you don't sweat.

"Huff… huff… Chief. Wouldn't it have been better if Strong Guard had come?"

During a break, I asked Baegun Hwa while gulping down water from my canteen. According to my calculations, we still had an hour to go.

I thought it would have been better if Strong Guard, who could use lightness skills, had come instead of me, but Baegun Hwa said otherwise.

"Strong Guard has things to do at the agency."

"Like what?"

"Negotiations with Jeolgeum Gate and Jeongjaja. Both sides need to be negotiated with."

Ah, right.

"The negotiations are almost complete, so I plan to finish them tomorrow after we eliminate Mujang Cai today."

Eliminate the bandit camp in one day?

It's true that we didn't prepare for camping, so spending a night here would be impractical, but it's quite a confident plan. They said there were a hundred bandits.

After a short break, we continued our arduous climb. I never thought I'd have to do mountain running again.

After a long, grueling walk, when I thought I couldn't go any further, I saw the palisade in the distance. I checked the map, and the location was correct.

"There it is. That's Mujang Cai."

We first climbed to a nearby high ground. It's standard to survey the area from a high point.

The bandit camp seemed to be on high alert.

'That one is even holding a bow.'

Inside the palisade, there were a few wooden towers, and a bandit was standing guard with a bow.

This will be difficult to breach.

From my experience, it's extremely hard to sneak in during the day with such a high level of alert.

"As expected. It shouldn't be too difficult."

"Right, sis."

Penguin and Baegun Hwa exchanged these words and drew their weapons.

Aren't they underestimating the bandits?

"Chief, is this really okay? It seems dangerous."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, they have bows, and there are many towers. We'll be spotted as soon as we get close. At the very least, we should wait until night."

A chuckling sound came from behind.

"Did you think we were going to assassinate the Chief with a surprise attack?"

"Isn't that the plan?"

I couldn't think of any other strategy.

"No, we're going to break through the front."

"Break through the front?"

"Yes. It seems you're not familiar with expert battles."

"Well… that's true. I've never seen an expert before."

The only expert I've seen is Beomcheonbaek, but I only saw him laughing maniacally at night and never in a real fight, so I don't know what a real expert battle is like.

"You'll see."

She said this and gestured to the two. They nodded, and then the three of them shot forward like bullets.

*Boom*!

Dust rose where they had been standing.

…Is that human speed?

It's the kind of speed you'd expect from a person shot out of a cannon.

Rushing to the top of a rock on the hill, I could barely keep up with their speed.

In the blink of an eye, they closed the distance to the bandit camp, and I could see the guards at the camp panicking and trying to close the gate.

*Bang*!

But the wooden gate, which hadn't even closed, was shattered by Peng Gui's massive sword. It looked like an explosion.

"…That's an expert."

I gaped.

Clearly, a hundred or two hundred bandits are nothing to them. They are like tanks. What use are a hundred primitive men with stone axes against a tank?

Baegun Hwa, using her internal energy, began to shout in a deep, resonant voice.

"Listen, the wicked Chief of Mujang Cai! We, Baegun Escort Agency, have never been enemies with you. How could you obstruct our operations for the sake of wealth!"

Her voice was so loud it could be heard from here. I took advantage of the chaos to get as close as possible, hoping to witness the expert battle up close.

"We have given you multiple chances to explain yourself, but you refused! You have violated the code of the road, so now we will act according to the laws of the martial world! Come out and face my sword!!!"

The bandits all had weapons, but they couldn't even raise them. They just trembled and wandered around.

They knew.

There was a huge gap between them and her, like the difference between sheep and a lion.

No matter how many sheep there are, they can't defeat a lion. The only way would be if a lion appeared among the sheep. They all looked at one place with expressions of hope.

And their lion appeared.

"Annoying woman."

The person who came out was…

To put it bluntly…

A man who looked like a failed scholar.