Chapter 5: Silver Hairpin and Silver Ring

“Oh my, no. I didn’t say anything.”

The village Ajusshi’s face turned pale as he repeatedly bowed.

“Get out! You bring bad luck just by being seen!”

“Yes…… Yes.”

The village Ajusshis hurriedly turned their horses towards the outskirts of the village.

I realized from the young martial artist’s words that we had arrived too early.

Apart from the martial artists, there were few villagers in this small village.

I could find the reason on the outskirts of the village.

In a sunny spot on the outskirts of the village, there was a newly built, large burial mound.

It seemed like the villagers who had been killed by the bandits were buried together in one pit.

Sob, sob, sob……

As if showing how deep the resentment was, black figures wailed sorrowfully around the burial mound.

Tsk, tsk……

Martial Emperor Ajusshi, who had appeared at some point, stood beside me, looking at the burial mound.

“The spirits are getting scared because Ajusshi appeared.”

As soon as Martial Emperor Ajusshi appeared, the black figures that had been wailing sadly disappeared.

“If they’re dead, they should go to a good place quickly. I don’t know why they keep trying to stay here.”

I was so dumbfounded that I stared blankly at Martial Emperor Ajusshi’s face.

“Are those words really coming out of your mouth right now?”

Ahem! Hem!

Ajusshi coughed unnecessarily and looked away.

At that moment, the young martial artist who had spat on the ground and cursed walked towards me.

“Are you the guy who can find corpses like a ghost?”

“Yes, I am. Why?”

“Follow me.”

The ill-mannered young martial artist turned around without even giving a reason.

I followed behind him.

The young martial artist entered the village and took me to a middle-aged martial artist.

“This is the guy from the rumors.”

The middle-aged martial artist stared intently at me as I bowed and then opened his mouth.

“Two days ago, a young female martial artist from our family, unable to control her bloodlust, chased after the bandits. By the time the other female martial artists found out, it was already too late. That’s the situation, so can you find her?”

I couldn’t answer right away.

No, why are they asking me to find a person?

But I soon found the reason in the middle-aged martial artist’s expression.

He seemed convinced that the young female martial artist was already dead.

The reason they couldn’t move themselves was that the number of female martial artists here was small.

“They’re scared of the bandits. They don’t want to d*e, so they’re making you do it. It means they don’t care if you d*e. So, ask for a high price in silver.”

Ajusshi whispered in my ear, standing beside me.

I ignored Ajusshi’s words and bowed deeply.

“Yes, I’ll find her. First, please tell me about the young female martial artist’s appearance, physique, and if she has any birthmarks or scars on her body.”

“Her height is…… roughly six feet, and she’s fifteen years old. She has a slim build and a large birthmark on her right buttock. Please, if you can find even just her body, I’ll reward you generously.”

“Where is the bandits’ mountain stronghold?”

The middle-aged martial artist raised his hand and pointed to a high mountain rising in the north.

“I understand.”

As I left the village, I quickly prepared to depart.

I made a small backpack, put it on my back, and packed a quiver full of arrows.

As I was preparing to leave, the village Ajusshis approached and asked,

“Where are you going?”

“Yes, I’m going to find a body.”

Huh……

“You’re the only one making money.”

The village Ajusshis seemed envious that I had been given the job.

“Then do you want to come with me? It’s a bandit stronghold.”

The startled village Ajusshis waved their hands in refusal.

“No, thanks. You go make a lot of money.”

Tsk……

“The most masculine person in the family is a fifteen-year-old girl…… How can these martial artists be so lacking in spirit, spirit?”

Ajusshi grumbled constantly as he walked with me.

“Ajusshi, please help me.”

No matter how good I am at finding corpses, how can I search this entire vast and high mountain?

“Anyway, you can’t do anything without me.”

“Yes, I’m always grateful to Ajusshi, so please help me quickly.”

“You speak well, you do. Be this obedient usually.”

Ajusshi’s figure, walking beside me, vanished into the air like dissipating smoke.

As soon as Ajusshi disappeared, I lightly kicked off the ground and moved my feet.

Whoosh……

The trees in front of my eyes quickly flashed past.

There was definitely a difference between running on flat ground and climbing a mountain.

The faint mountain path disappeared, and trees and rocks appeared densely packed before my eyes.

As I climbed the mountain, pushing through branches, I felt a human presence and quickly crouched down.

I bent down and slowly approached where I felt the human presence.

Soon, I heard people’s voices.

“Shouldn’t we run away after raiding a village? I don’t know what they’re thinking, staying here when the Martial Alliance guys might barge in.”

“I heard they’re planning to raid one more village in the west and then move. Wait and see. The Head of the Bandit Group must have a plan.”

“I’m scared that the Martial Alliance’s Four Divine Units might come barging in today.”

Judging from the conversation, they were definitely bandits.

I grabbed the bow I was wearing in my left hand and pulled out two arrows with my right hand, placing them on the string.

As I got a little closer, I could see the bandits through the leaves.

They were typical bandits, wearing animal furs.

I pulled the string and lightly released it.

Thwack!

The two arrows that flew through the leaves accurately struck the bandits’ foreheads.

Thud.

The bandits, with arrows in their foreheads, rolled down from the rocks where they were sitting.

I stood up and approached the spot where the bandits had fallen.

Ajusshi, who had returned at some point, was squatting in front of the sprawled bandits.

“You killed them without hesitation. Very well done.”

I searched the pockets of the dead bandits.

A silver hairpin and a silver ring came out of their pockets.

“To k*ll people just to get a silver hairpin and a silver ring…… Ugh, these bastards.”

Ajusshi kicked the faces of the dead bandits furiously.

But his kicks didn’t reach their bodies.

“You kick them for me.”

“They’re already dead.”

“Really? Then I won’t tell you where the body is.”

Oh dear……

Unable to withstand Ajusshi’s threat, I kicked the bodies of the bandits lying there with arrows stuck in their foreheads.

Thwack! Thwack……!

Every time I kicked, the bodies of the already dead bandits shook.

But this time, I felt the presence of people coming from further down the mountain.

I hurriedly looked around and, finding a narrow crevice between rocks, quickly slipped into it.

After a while, I heard people’s voices, as if they were whispering.

“Unit Leader, shouldn’t we make a plan before going up?”

“It’s alright. There aren’t that many bandits, so we can just rush in and beat them all to death.”

“They might have set a trap, so let’s be careful. This won’t do. I’ll take a detour to the right and attack them from the rear, so Unit Leader, you charge in from the front.”

“Alright. Vice Unit Leader, take half the men with you.”

Soon, I felt about half of the approaching human presences move away.

“Unit Leader, there’s a body here. It looks like it hasn’t been dead for long.”

The human presences became noisy, and I heard the voice of the person called Unit Leader.

“Someone has already come up to get rid of the bandits. This is no good. We’re supposed to be the ones to beat them to death……”

I could hear the flustered voice of the Unit Leader, and then his voice rose a little.

“Increase your speed. It seems like martial artists from the jianghu have come up to get rid of the bandits before us.”

I slipped out of the crevice after the human presences quickly disappeared.

“Who’s the Unit Leader?”

“Baek Mu-ho of the White Tiger Unit. He may be simple, but he’s not stupid. He’s also got a strong sense of justice.”

I was relieved that the Martial Alliance had dispatched the Four Divine Units.

“Where’s the body?”

“Follow me.”

Ajusshi led me deep into the mountains.

There was a small stream there, and a body was lying sprawled in the middle of the flowing stream.

I brought the body down and took the coffin out of the cart.

The bandits had cruelly cut off all the arms and legs of this fifteen-year-old child and thrown them into the ditch.

I put the body, dressed in clean burial clothes, into the coffin and called the middle-aged martial artist who had given me the job.

Sigh……

The middle-aged martial artist let out a deep sigh and then called the female martial artists to move the coffin.

“This is your payment. I put in plenty.”

He handed me the entire money pouch and then stepped back.

I opened the money pouch and checked the silver.

Fifteen taels of silver.

The original fee I had set was twenty taels of silver.

But he said he put in plenty and gave me fifteen taels of silver.

“Ugh……”

I felt a surge of irritation, but I held it back, thinking of the female martial artist who had died at fifteen.

Martial Emperor Ajusshi got angry on my behalf.

“That child was the only decent person in that family of cheapskates, and now that she’s dead, only trash will be left in that family.”

I ignored Ajusshi’s words and headed towards the burial mound where the villagers were buried.

I dug into the soil of the burial mound with my hands and took out the silver hairpin and silver ring from my pocket, burying them together.

“Doing useless things……”

Ajusshi showed his displeasure beside me, but he didn’t say anything more.

I also knew that I was doing something useless right now.

What good would a silver hairpin and a silver ring do for people who were already dead?

But I didn’t think I could feel at peace unless I did this.

When everything was finished, I got into the cart.

At that moment, the village Ajusshis, who were sprawled here and there drinking, looked back at me as I got into the cart.

“Are you done with your work already?”

“Yes.”

“How much did you get?”

“Fifteen taels of silver.”

The village Ajusshis’ eyes were filled with envy.

They also knew that I received twenty taels of silver each time I did a job.

“Buy us a drink.”

“Later. I’ll be heading back first.”

The Ajusshis who were drinking were surprised.

“You’re going back already when the work hasn’t even started?”

“Yes. The White Tiger Unit of the Martial Alliance went up to get rid of the bandits.”

“We know that too. We saw the White Tiger Unit go up.”

The village Ajusshis seemed to be waiting for the White Tiger Unit to d*e while fighting the bandits.

That’s because only then could they sew up their bodies, put them in coffins, and receive silver.

But I guessed that no one from the White Tiger Unit would d*e this time.

“Don’t just drink for nothing and go back. I think it’ll be a wasted trip.”

I didn’t want to stay here any longer.

“Ah…… That guy is talking nonsense. Let’s just wait one more day.”

“If you go home alone, what are we supposed to do? Are you saying you’re done because you made money?”

Since the village Ajusshis were so annoyed, I couldn’t just be stubborn.

As we waited endlessly like that, darkness fell.

When the darkness deepened a little more, the White Tiger Unit came down from the mountain.

As I had guessed, there were three or four injured people, but no one was dead.

“D*mn it. Dong-jae made a good deal again. Let’s go!”

Only then did the village Ajusshis get into their carts.

Swish……

As the gloomy sword light flashed past, a leaf that had fallen on a branch was split in half, becoming two leaves, and the two leaves increased to four, then eight.

By the time it reached the ground, the leaf, divided into dozens of pieces, scattered in the wind.

I sheathed the rusty sword.

Ajusshi, who had been watching from the side, looked at me with a somewhat regretful expression.

“When can I manifest Sword Energy and Sword Aura?”

I learned sword techniques as Ajusshi taught me, but he said that this sword technique was incomplete.

I thought I would be able to manifest Sword Energy at least, but so far, there was no Sword Energy, not even a heat haze rising from the sword.

“You can’t manifest Sword Energy or Sword Aura now, and you won’t be able to in the future either.”

“Huh? Why?”

I had seen a martial artist from the Martial Alliance manifest Sword Energy before.

Every time he swung his sword, something like a heat haze flowed from the sword, and the sight was so mesmerizing that it remained deeply etched in my heart.

But to say that I won’t be able to manifest Sword Energy or Sword Aura in the future, what does that even mean?

“I told you before, didn’t I? Your sword technique is the Third Dokgo Un’s martial arts. Not just the sword technique, but even the fist and foot techniques and archery are based on his martial arts, so you won’t be able to manifest Fist Aura, Leg Aura, or anything like that either.”

Ah……

I was so shocked that I wanted to collapse on the spot.

To tell me this only now.

How can it be the best martial art under heaven if I can’t manifest Sword Energy or Sword Aura?

“I…… Is it really the best martial art under heaven?”

I was so flustered that I even stuttered.

“Of course it is. It’s the Third’s martial arts.”

“Then can Ajusshi’s sword technique manifest Sword Energy and Sword Aura?”

Ajusshi answered nonchalantly.

“I guess it can manifest Sword Aura?”

I’ve been tricked.

Completely tricked.

As I stood there speechless, Ajusshi put on a serious expression.

“You must complete the sword technique. Then, from that moment on, you’ll be the best martial artist under heaven.”

“……Yes.”