Chapter 6: Hero
“Dong-jae, it seems there will be a big fight between the Martial Alliance and bandits on Yongdu Mountain, so get ready quickly.”
At the words of the next-door Ajusshi, I rushed into the room and hurried to prepare for the journey.
Yongdu Mountain was less than four days away from the village.
If the distance was far, it would cost a lot to eat and sleep on the way, but four days’ distance was enough to consider moving.
After finishing preparations for the journey and driving the cart to the house that made and sold coffins, the old man Gi asked in a subtle voice.
“I have a good coffin made of agarwood and lacquered. Are you interested? If you take it, I’ll give it to you for five silver taels.”
Agarwood was used because of its good scent, but why would you lacquer it?
“No, thank you. I’ll just take the three silver tael one.”
“That’s Yongdu Mountain.”
Jang Ryong raised his left hand, pointed to the eastern sky, and looked up at the top of the mountain.
The morning sun, just beginning to rise, revealed its face over the giant rock and shot out dazzling sunlight.
The giant rock with the sun behind it was shaped like a dragon’s head, making it clear why the mountain was called Yongdu Mountain.
“Vice Unit Leader, how about eating first and then moving?”
“Let’s do that.”
As Jang Ryong nodded, the young martial artists, numbering about forty, gathered in groups of three or five and lit fires.
They put rice and dried meat in large iron bowls, poured water, and hung them over the fire.
All of their movements were natural, as if they were not doing it for the first or second time.
After a while, as the water started to boil, the smell of the rice cooking spread in all directions through the cool morning air.
“Vice Unit Leader, there’s a rumor that Elder Jang lost his Hundred Martial Arts Plaque again. Do you know anything about it?”
When a young martial artist spoke, all the other martial artists looked at Jang Ryong.
Their mouths were full of playful smiles.
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
Jang Ryong turned his head away, avoiding their gaze.
The young martial artists asked him about Elder Jang because Jang Ryong was his grandson.
‘Sigh. Why can’t he drink a little less?’
He guessed that the reason his grandfather lost his Hundred Martial Arts Plaque was because of alcohol.
Elder Jang Seung-il was famous for his love of alcohol.
“The food is ready.”
The young martial artists, who were about to have breakfast, all turned their heads in the direction of Yongdu Mountain.
“You…… d*mn…… bastards……”
As soon as curses poured out of their mouths, a dark rain of arrows fell from the sky.
Swoosh……
Clank……!
The young martial artists were deflecting the shower of arrows pouring down on their heads with their weapons, as if they had taken them out at some point.
“Hey, you bastards! Do you have no manners!”
The young martial artists erupted in anger at the bandits who had launched their attack right before their meal.
Rumble……
But as soon as they burst into anger, large, round boulders began to pour down from the mountain.
“Oh…… s*it.”
The flustered martial artists scattered in all directions.
As soon as they scattered, the boulders poured down in heaps, sweeping over the spot where they had been.
Thud!
Jang Ryong, who had split the boulder that had rushed in front of his eyes in half, looked up at the mountain.
The rock, split in two, grazed his body and rolled down the mountain to crash.
‘Cunning bastards.’
The bandits did not readily attack down the mountain.
They were just watching the situation from afar.
He had been feeling that it was becoming increasingly difficult to subdue bandits these days.
If it had been the bandits of the past, they would have charged down the mountain without a second thought, but these days, bandits used ambushes, surprise attacks, and even decoys, as if they had learned military tactics.
“How about charging up?”
The martial artists who had scattered to avoid the rocks gathered one by one.
“Wait.”
Jang Ryong firmly stopped the young martial artists’ reckless attack.
If they charged up the mountain, they would be able to wipe out the bandits, but the young martial artists were also likely to be injured.
“Hahaha……!”
“You pathetic bastards! Why can’t you come up? Are you scared?”
Rough shouts came from the mountain.
“You pathetic things who don’t even know who your parents are! I am your father!”
Insults that were hard to even listen to poured out, but Jang Ryong calmly assessed the situation.
No matter how despicable the tricks those guys used, no martial artist would fall for that decoy.
“Vice Unit Leader! Are you just going to stand there and take it?”
One of the young martial artists, his face red, tried to jump up.
Ah……
It seemed that not everyone had avoided the decoy.
“Wait.”
Once again, Jang Ryong stopped the young martial artists with a calm voice.
“Twenty years ago, I and your mother…… So you are my children……!”
The bandit’s dirty talk was unbearable.
But Jang Ryong endured it as if it were nothing.
Eventually, as if his throat had become hoarse, the bandit’s shouting subsided, and once again, arrows rained down like rain.
Clank……!
The young martial artists calmly deflected the pouring arrows with their weapons.
‘I think it’s almost time……’
As Jang Ryong was thinking that, the arrows that had been pouring down like rain stopped abruptly.
“Argh!”
“Ah!”
And screams began to erupt from above.
“Attack!”
Jang Ryong charged up before the other martial artists.
Lightly kicking off the ground and soaring through the air, he shot up the mountain and into the place where the screams continued.
Slash.
He cut the throat of the bandit in front of him and struck the waist of the bandit who jumped out from the side.
Thud!
As the head fell and blood splattered, a handsome man greeted him with a smile.
“Hey…… You’re a little late.”
“Unit Leader.”
The young martial artists who had come down the mountain after killing the bandits were carrying loads on their backs.
As the young martial artists charged from above and below, the surviving bandits scattered and fled.
“Let’s go down.”
At the young Unit Leader’s words, the young martial artists who had climbed the mountain dragged the bandit leader by the collar and went down the mountain they had climbed.
When they reached the place where they had been having breakfast, the young martial artists made the bandit leader kneel and began to punch and kick him.
Thwack! Thwack……!
“Say those filthy words again.”
Especially the young female martial artists’ punches and kicks were very fierce.
Cough! Hack!
The bandit leader of the mountain stronghold only screamed in agony and curled up.
“Please spare me! Just…… spare my life!”
The martial artists, who had stopped beating him, tied the bandit leader’s arms behind his back with a rope.
The young martial artists who had come down the mountain with their backpacks unloaded their luggage on the ground.
Silk, medicinal herbs, and silver poured out of the luggage in heaps.
“You’ve gathered quite a bit in four months.”
Jang Ryong clicked his tongue as he checked the contents of the luggage.
That was because it had only been four months since the bandits had settled on Yongdu Mountain.
“Now, let’s divide it fairly.”
The young martial artists began to divide the items that had come out of the luggage one by one.
Since there were about eighty martial artists, they had to divide it into eighty parts.
“What should we take to the Martial Alliance?”
Jang Ryong asked as he divided the items.
The young Unit Leader pointed to two large pieces of luggage that had not yet been unpacked.
“What’s in them?”
“Silk and valuables.”
Originally, all valuables and goods obtained from killing bandits and water bandits were supposed to be reported to the Martial Alliance’s warehouse.
That was the principle, and it was a rule that had to be followed.
But they were embezzling goods and silver without any hesitation.
After dividing all the goods and silver they had taken from the mountain stronghold, they each packed their luggage.
And they started to collect the iron bowls scattered on the ground.
Many of the iron bowls were dented and broken because of the falling rocks, but there were still more than ten intact.
“Let’s go.”
At the Unit Leader’s command, the young martial artists all shouldered their backpacks and went down the mountain.
“I hope we get some usable guys this year……”
Originally, the Eastern Heavenly Azure Dragon Unit had ninety members.
Not only the Eastern Heavenly Azure Dragon Unit, but also the Western Heavenly White Tiger Unit, Southern Heavenly Vermilion Bird Unit, and Northern Heavenly Black Tortoise Unit maintained roughly ninety to one hundred members.
However, due to numerous subjugations and battles, ten had died, and about eighty remained.
Most of those who died in battle were rookies who had joined last year.
Excited by their ambition, they disobeyed the orders of the Unit Leader and Vice Unit Leader, acted recklessly, and lost their lives.
At least the Eastern Heavenly Azure Dragon Unit was in a much better situation than the other three units.
The Northern Heavenly Black Tortoise Unit had lost more than thirty lives this year alone.
“At most, ten.”
The Unit Leader’s thoughts were very pessimistic.
Out of one hundred rookies, there would be less than ten usable ones.
In the Four Divine Units, martial arts skills alone were not enough to survive.
Above all, one had to be quick to judge the situation and know when to attack and when to retreat.
If one relied only on their reputation for martial arts skills, they would not last a year and would become a cold corpse.
“No wonder it was too easy……”
When the Unit Leader, who was walking at the front, stopped, Vice Unit Leader Jang Ryong also stopped.
In front of them, dozens of bandits were blocking the road.
In addition, a faint murderous aura could be felt from the forest that stretched out beside the road.
As the Unit Leader and Vice Unit Leader put down their backpacks and prepared for battle, the unit members also put down their backpacks and drew their weapons.
“Their momentum is unusual.”
As Jang Ryong said, the momentum of the bandits blocking the road was unusual.
They looked more like sharply honed martial artists than bandits.
“Hand over the bandit leader.”
A heavy, cold voice flowed from the mouth of the bandit blocking the road.
The Unit Leader, who had been watching them closely, gestured behind him.
Then, the unit members who were dragging the bandit leader from both sides brought him forward.
The Unit Leader immediately drew his sword.
And he pointed the sharp blade at the bandit leader’s neck.
“If you don’t clear the way, I’ll cut this guy’s throat.”
Groan……
“Unit Leader……”
The unit members closed their eyes tightly at his sudden action.
It was because they were so ashamed of the Unit Leader.
Even those who were blocking the road were speechless, their eyes wide open in disbelief.
“I, is this what those who revere he roism and righteousness do?”
One of the bandits shouted in a flustered voice.
“Are you talking about righteousness and heroism with the mouths of those who k*ll and plunder innocent civilians?”
When the Unit Leader calmly retorted, the man standing in the middle of the bandits opened his mouth.
“You must be Yeon Ja-ryong, the Unit Leader of the Eastern Heavenly Azure Dragon Unit.”
The man in his early thirties recognized the Unit Leader’s identity.
“And you are Vice Unit Leader Jang Ryong. I see two of the Seven Colors here.”
And he also recognized Jang Ryong, who was standing next to the Unit Leader.
Unit Leader Yeon Ja-ryong realized that the opponent was no ordinary person.
Among the bandits he had dealt with so far, there had been no one as calm and sharp as this man.
“What’s your name?”
At Yeon Ja-ryong’s question, the man smiled coldly.
“You don’t need to know. Attack.”
As soon as his words left his mouth, hidden weapons flew from the forests on both sides.
At the same time, those who were blocking the road also charged.
Clank……!
The unit members calmly deflected the hidden weapons and soared into the forest.
Slash. Slice……
The moment the sword light flashed, necks fell to the ground one after another, and blood spurted from chests.
Yeon Ja-ryong and Jang Ryong cut the bandits’ throats and chests without their weapons clashing even once.
That meant their martial arts skills were outstanding.
The five or six enemies who had charged from the front fell in an instant.
“See you next time.”
The man, who had been standing still, left a sneer and disappeared like smoke.
By that time, the unit members who had jumped into the forest had all returned.
“They only threw hidden weapons and all ran away. Should we chase them?”
Unit Leader Yeon Ja-ryong was puzzled by their actions.
“Don’t chase them. There might be a trap.”
Groan……
At that moment, the bandit leader groaned in pain and knelt on the ground.
Foam was coming out of his mouth, and blood was mixed with the foam. “Oh……”
Only then did the Unit Leader realize that the enemies’ target was not them, but the bandit leader.
Gurgle…… Groan……
The bandit leader, who was painfully vomiting blood, collapsed on the ground.
He had finally breathed his last.
