Chapter 9: Provocation

“Just because.”

The old man raised his hand in front of my eyes and wiggled his fingers from side to side.

“No way. There’s no way a cunning guy like you would do something like that for no reason. Tell me honestly. Did you fall for that girl? She looked pretty to me too.”

Haha……

“When did I see her to help her? I don’t even know her name.”

“Mo Eun-ha. She’s the daughter of the prestigious Mo Family. You must have heard of the Mo Family’s reputation, haven’t you?”

“……Yes.”

The old man continued to chatter excitedly.

“And most importantly, Ak Mun-yeong, the Unit Leader of the Vermilion Bird Unit. That child is my younger brother’s daughter. She grew up well despite not having a father. She’s the spitting image of my brother. A bit cold, though.”

“Yes…… yes……”

I listened to the old man’s story with one ear and let it out the other.

It was because I felt like he would tell me to turn back right away if I showed interest with my eyes sparkling here.

The old man stopped talking and asked.

“Are you listening to me now?”

“Yes.”

“Where was I…… Ah…… My younger brother was a bit cold. But he had a deep heart. He was more chivalrous than anyone else. Once, something happened……”

While the old man was chattering like that, the villagers’ carts followed behind.

“Let’s go together, Dong-jae.”

Ak Mun-yeong, who entered the port, gathered the members of the Vermilion Bird Unit.

When the members who were on the merchant ship gathered, she called Yi Yeong, who was carrying a bow.

“Piercing the bandit leader’s neck, that was impressive skill.”

There were nearly ten members who were good at archery, but Yi Yeong was the only one who could accurately pierce the neck from that distance.

But he shook his head.

“I didn’t do it, Unit Leader. I didn’t s*oot the arrow.”

Ak Mun-yeong looked back at Mo Eun-ha with questioning eyes.

“Where did the arrow come from?”

“I think it came from this port.”

Her answer surprised Ak Mun-yeong.

It would have been roughly two hundred paces from this port to where the bandit leader’s ship was.

Besides, the bandit leader wouldn’t have been standing still, which meant that he had pierced his moving neck.

Originally, bows are not used in a chaotic battle where allies and enemies are mixed.

It was because if you made a mistake, you could k*ll your allies.

But the unknown person accurately pierced the bandit leader’s neck from that distance.

She looked around at the members and asked.

“Did anyone see the archer?”

But none of the members answered her question.

Ak Mun-yeong sent the members to the inn to rest and stayed at the port herself.

“Didn’t you see anyone s*ooting a bow here?”

She grabbed the people working at the port and asked.

But no one said they saw the archer.

“Were there no other people here?”

Eventually, she changed her question.

“Ah…… There were crows.”

“Did you say…… crows?”

Ak Mun-yeong didn’t understand the word crows right away.

“Yes. You know, the ones who collect the dismembered bodies and sew them up. About ten of them came with a cart carrying a coffin, watched for a long time here, and disappeared.”

Only then did she realize the crows they were talking about.

‘Could there be someone who shoots a bow that well among the crows?’

If they were this good at archery, they wouldn’t be doing such a dangerous and despised job.

‘It’s a shame.’

In the end, she couldn’t find out anything and headed to the inn where the members were waiting.

Young talents who received the Hundred Martial Arts Plaque flocked to Yangyang one by one.

They didn’t run to the Martial Alliance in one step.

They settled in at the inn and waited for the talents who would enter with them.

The talents recognized that the other party had received the Hundred Martial Arts Plaque at a glance, even before they mentioned that they had received it.

It was because most of them had made their names in the martial world, and their spirit was extraordinary.

“Are you Sa Hu-myeong of the Anhui Sa Family? I’ve heard rumors about you in the martial world and wanted to meet you. I’m Sun Won of the Hunan Sun Family.”

Haha……

“I heard a rumor that a young dragon appeared in Hunan, and the owner of that rumor was Sun, the young hero. Nice to meet you.”

They started to build friendships as soon as they recognized each other.

“Let’s go to a good inn and have a drink.”

“I know a very good inn.”

The young talents moved to find an inn to strengthen their friendship.

“It seems they’ve sent out all the Hundred Martial Arts Plaques this year. I heard a rumor that they only sent out sixty last year.”

“I heard a rumor that there were few casualties in the Four Divine Units the year before last. Last year and this year, I heard that nearly a hundred were sacrificed. But which of the Four Divine Units do you want to join, Sa?”

“Wouldn’t the Azure Dragon Unit be the best? There’s a rumor that Unit Leader Yeon Ja-ryong will become the best under heaven, and it’s the unit with the least casualties.”

Haha……

“You have the same thought as me.”

The unit the talents wanted to join was the Eastern Heavenly Azure Dragon Unit, where Yeon Ja-ryong was the Unit Leader.

But they couldn’t join just because they wanted to.

The Unit Leaders of the Four Divine Units randomly drew the numbers on the Hundred Martial Arts Plaques that the talents carried and took them.

Ptooey!

As the talents were walking to find an inn, the butcher owner, who was sticking his head out, suddenly spat in front of them.

They were furious.

“What are you doing?”

Facing the cold gaze of the talents, the butcher owner quickly bowed his head.

“Oh my. I’m sorry. I didn’t spit at the heroes, I spat because I had bad luck because of that b*stard over there.”

The talents looked in the direction the butcher owner was pointing.

There, a young man with meat in one hand was walking along.

“Who is that guy?”

“He’s a crow. The most famous crow among the crows.”

“Crow?”

When the talents tilted their heads, the butcher owner quickly opened his mouth.

“You know, the ones who wait for martial artists to d*e and then sew up their bodies and put them in coffins. That guy is the best among those crows. I’m forced to sell meat to the crows to make a living, but I have bad luck whenever I see those crows.”

“Ah…… So that’s the crow I’ve heard rumors about.”

Two of the talents understood the butcher owner’s words right away.

Come to think of it, they had heard rumors that there were people who did that kind of work.

There was also a story that they appeared on the battlefield of the Martial Alliance’s Four Divine Units.

They were subtly angry as if they were already members of the Four Divine Units.

“Wait!”

The talents shouted at the young man who was walking away with his back turned.

The young man, who was walking, turned around as if he heard their voices.

“Me?”

“Are you the crow?”

Young martial artists with swords at their waists walked towards me.

“That’s what people call me.”

“A guy who makes a living doing hideous things is shameless.”

Why are they cursing at me?

I didn’t do anything to them, and I didn’t even know them.

But from the way things were going, it seemed like I would have to get beaten up a few times before it ended.

“I didn’t do anything hideous.”

“How can a guy who makes a living off the deaths of martial heroes not be hideous? This won’t do. I’ll have to break your arms and legs so you can’t do such hideous things again.”

Ah…… What should I do about this?

It seemed like it would be difficult to let this go smoothly.

Since there was a quarrel, onlookers were already gathering.

“Let’s go somewhere else…… since there are people watching.”

I quickly turned around and left the village.

Humph!

“The lowly guy seems to want to save face.”

The young martial artists followed behind, revealing a faint murderous aura.

Arriving at a small forest on one side of the village, I put down the meat I was holding and stretched my back.

“So, what are you going to do to me?”

The young martial artists who followed were quite flustered when my tone of voice changed.

“What did you just…… say?”

“You said you’d break my arms and legs? Go ahead and do it.”

Their flustered faces contorted, and a murderous aura swirled in their eyes.

“Seeing what you’re doing, your arms and legs won’t be enough. I’ll make you a cripple.”

As soon as the stern scolding ended, the young martial artist standing on the left stepped forward and threw a fist at my face.

Tak!

Puck!

I blocked the fist flying towards my face with my left hand and threw my right fist at the man’s face.

Ugh!

“You b*stard!”

As the man who was hit by the fist fell with a suppressed scream, the man on the right immediately threw a fist.

I bent my waist slightly, dodged the flying fist, and punched the man’s chin with my left fist.

Kugh!

The young martial artist who was hit in the chin fell, and the young martial artist who was hit first got up and reached for his sword hilt.

I quickly stepped forward with my left foot and kicked up my right foot.

My foot spun in a circle and slapped the face of the young martial artist who was about to draw his sword.

Puck!

Cough!

This time, perhaps because I put some strength into my foot, the young martial artist who was hit in the face spun around and fell backward.

I kicked the face of the other martial artist who was trying to get up in succession.

Puck!

The martial artist who was hit in the face fell with a scream.

Groan……

The young martial artists only groaned and couldn’t easily get up.

I left them like that and tried to leave the forest.

But the old man, who appeared out of nowhere, came up to me and whispered.

“Quickly, take their Hundred Martial Arts Plaques.”

I responded indifferently and started walking.

“What would I do with the Hundred Martial Arts Plaques? I already have two at home.”

“Bury those guys here and go to the Martial Alliance in their place.”

“You’ll get punished, old man.”

“I’m Jeong Bong of the Hanam Jeong Family.”

When the upright-looking man politely bowed, Zhuge Don raised his hand and pointed to the chair in front of him.

“Sit down. And hand over your Hundred Martial Arts Plaque.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Zhuge Don took the Hundred Martial Arts Plaque and observed the behavior of the young martial artist named Jeong Bong.

Judging by his clear, shining eyes, polite voice, and cautious demeanor, it was clear that he had a good personality.

Besides, his physiognomy was also good.

Since he had a good personality, he wouldn’t have neglected his martial arts training and would have studied as well.

“How far have you studied literature?”

“My knowledge isn’t deep. I’ve only skimmed through books on military strategy.”

Hearing Jeong Bong’s answer, Zhuge Don continued his questions.

“Where does the saying ‘too much is as bad as too little’ come from?”

“I believe it’s from the Analects.”

As expected, his guess was correct.

This young man named Jeong Bong was a talent.

“Go out and rest.”

Jeong Bong, who got up from his seat, politely bowed and left the room.

Zhuge Don wrote the name Jeong Bong, number 12, on the document spread out on the desk and added the words Hanam Jeong Family next to it.

Above Jeong Bong’s name were written the names and families of about twenty talents.

Then he opened the drawer, took out a separate document, and wrote Jeong Bong’s name there.

“Next.”

When the martial artist guarding the door opened it, the young man waiting outside entered.

“I’m Sa Hu-myeong of the Anhui Sa Family.”

Hmm……

Zhuge Don carefully looked at the face of Sa Hu-myeong, who was bowing.

His face was bruised black and blue, and the swelling hadn’t even subsided properly, as if he had been severely beaten somewhere.