I watched the bandits beat Chief Deung to death from start to finish.
Chief Deung is naturally stronger than his subordinates, but he can’t stop dozens of punches and kicks. In particular, stronger men caught Chief Deung first, so he was beaten and killed before he could even properly defend himself.
I sit back in the leader’s chair and scan the bandits carefully.
“…….”
When I close my mouth, all I can hear are the grasshoppers and birds chirping.
A scenic mountain surrounds us.
Only then did I look around the main quarters of Namak Sect, surveyed the scenery, and then looked carefully at the bandits again.
You have to stare at them to remember their faces, and you have to look carefully to look at their appearance.
I look through the bandits without saying a word for a moment and say,
“What confidence did you have when you were confronting the alliance? A thousand against one hundred, it’ll work out somehow. You’ll win if you fight. Was that what you were thinking? There’s nothing to be afraid of. If you want to talk, feel free to answer. Since Chief Deung is dead, I want to have a chat.”
After a long silence, one of the men replied.
“We believed in Yayul, our leader.”
“How can you trust Leader Yayul? The alliance leader came in person. Don’t you know Im So-baek?”
This time another guy replies,
“The Ghost Valley Leader was also with us in the earlier fight.”
“And?”
“Leader Im broke his sword and he died instantly. It was unexpected.”
“Did Ghost Valley Leader say he could win if he joined forces with your leader? Was it the skinny one? The one that appeared with your leader.”
“Yes.”
The bandits were really ignorant.
How can a man named as the leader of Ghost Valley Sect be the opponent to the leader of the Murim Alliance?
It seems knowledge is limited in the mountains.
Perhaps the person they feared most was not Im So-baek, but their leader, Yayul.
“Then, when I made a sphere out of the torrent of energy earlier, the guy who jumped wasn’t from Green Forest?”
“Yes, he was from Ghost Valley.”
“Okay, I briefly understand the situation. Anyway, you guys must have had a grudge against the alliance.”
“That’s what we heard.”
Many orthodox masters have a grudge against the alliance. Maybe because their masters or brothers died in their hands.
I nod and tell the bandits.
“But why are you all so ignorant? Is it because you’re stuck in the mountains? You are so ignorant.”
“…….”
“It’s due to ignorance. It’s not about being literate or illiterate. You’re ignorant about life itself. Why is that? If your Leader Yayul was so strong, wouldn’t he participate in the orthodox or unorthodox, instead of the Green Forest?”
A man answers with complicated feelings.
“We’re bandits because we’re ignorant.”
“Okay. It was a pretty ignorant comment, so I won’t kill you. Stand up. Who was it?”
One man stands up timidly, and he looks ignorant at first sight.
“Sit down. I’ll cut you some slack because you look ignorant.”
“Yes.”
I sigh, stare at the bandits, and continue.
“In fact, ignorance and banditry have nothing to do with each other. This is an insult to ignorance. You are lower than ignorance. Not all ignorant men are bandits like you. Your job is to blackmail merchants who cross the hill with knives to extort money, kidnap women, and use numbers as intimidation. This description doesn’t fit ignorance since you use a strategy and think it through. It’s better to say that you’re morons who do stupid things very strategically. I don’t know if you understand me. Hey, you. What did I say?”
The man I pointed out replies,
“You said we’re morons who do stupid things very strategically.”
“That’s you.”
“…….”
“Then what’s ignorance?”
“Ignorance means you have not seen anything, have not heard anything, and have not learned anything properly about a certain topic. It’s neither a sin nor a shame. You’re just ignorant. It’s ignorant that you didn’t know how strong the alliance leader was. That’s a little different from being bandits.”
“…….”
“However, no matter how ignorant they are, if they have the right mind, they don’t beat up merchants to rob them or beat them to death and bury them somewhere. This is quite different from ignorance. In short, you have no shame.”
“What is shame?”
“Not knowing what it is to feel ashamed.”
A man with a pretty ugly face replies,
“Why should we feel ashamed? We just beat up the weak. Isn’t it like the alliance killing us?”
I look at the guy who answered.
“Do you think I’m trying to argue with you? You’re talking back at me now? If I refute with logic, you are the one to refute with a similar case. It’s because you’re shameless. If you are ignorant and have no shame, you generally do not know how to admit your mistakes. I guess I look like a scholar who went to a private academy and read poems. You funny guy. I was wrong about you.”
I stand from the top seat.
“I guess you’re eager to die.”
When the guy who ran his mouth suddenly tries to run away, the big guy next to him grabs his arm.
“Let go!”
A man who looks like a bandit underboss grabs the back of a man who was trying to run away and lightly throws him to where I was. I pull out Black Hare’s Tooth at the struggling man in the air, see blood splatter, and put the dagger back in.
Pzarkk — the body split in half falls on the floor.
The bandits’ faces turn pale again.
I sit down again on the top chair, clicking my tongue.
“I was mistaken, you punks. By the way, I heard you guys attacked Jang Family Merchants? The alliance has nothing to do with the merchant group. Leader Im was angry and called the orthodox forces to the Hyeongsan branch, and walked all night, chewed on hard beef jerky, and reduced his sleep. Why would they come all the way here to kill you fools when they can enjoy honor and wealth even if they were to just breathe? He didn’t come to kill you; it was a march to protect the merchants. Don’t try to discuss logic with me, bandits. No sword fight, no logic debates. Do you understand?”
“Yes, we understand.”
“You bully the weak to extort money from them. The strong leader of the alliance is trying to kill you to protect the people weaker than you. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a very insulting remark. And look at me.”
“…….”
“I’m different from Leader Im. But I’m also different from you guys. Careful with your words is the way to live. Also, does anyone know why I’m rambling so much?”
The big guy who dragged the fleeing guy earlier replies,
“Could it be you are trying to distinguish between men you should spare or kill?”
I look at the guy who looked like a bandit underboss with wide eyes.
“Hey, you’re smart. Come here.”
The man with wide shoulders stands up, approaches and kneels down again.
I carefully look at his big face.
“How old are you?”
“I’m 19.”
“Wow. But why do you look way older?”
“I’ve been like that since I was born.”
“You must have been a warrior by birth.”
“Yes.”
Sometimes there’s a guy like this. They inherit exceptionally strong bodies from their parents. He looks over 30 at first glance, so it was astonishing when he said he was 19.
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Jang San.”
“Jang San, what do you think of shame?”
The big man on his knees answers politely.
“No one here talks about shame. So, I have no idea.”
“Then I’ll let you know.”
“Yes.”
“You are a warrior with superb strength at the age of 19. It is inevitable that you are stuck here for one or two years because of fate. But let’s say you’ve been watching what Green Forest has been doing for a decade. Let’s say you’re 29 by then. If you are living as a 29-year-old bandit who mindlessly harasses the weak, hits merchants, and steals goods- it is not fate, but because you are a shameless fool.”
“Yes.”
“Or if you trained fiercely in martial arts for 10 years, beat the Green Forest Sect Leader with your hands, took control of this place, and sought ways to live other than banditry- what do you call this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then he deserves to be called a man. A man who sets his own direction in life and seeks a way to live alone and become independent, that is a true man.”
I talk to Jang San with my brows narrowed.
“A man like you with great strength, that alone does not make you a man.”
“Is that so?”
“Why? Are you here to be a bandit for 10 years?”
I wave my hand for Jang San to go back to his place. When I go back to my seat and look at Jang San’s face, it was blushed red. It means he knows how it feels to be ashamed.
‘I got one of them…’
I lean on the top seat, look at the bandits, and speak frankly.
“You want to kill me, but the feelings are mutual. Know how I feel. I want to beat you to death one by one. That would be easier for me.”
Jang San answers,
“I saw earlier that you killed us Green Forest Sect the most. I don’t think what you just said lines up.”
“All right, well noted. I killed the most. Your brothers, superiors, subordinates, good bandits, bad bandits… I exterminated them into thin air. But I didn’t beat 100 people to death. Let’s assume that 100 alliance troops went against a thousand of you. You guys can’t win anyway. And let’s assume that one or two members of the alliance member died in the fight earlier.”
“…….”
I tell the truth of what actually happened in my past life.
“You 1,000 idiots would all be killed by Leader Im even before sunset today. That’s how powerful Im So-baek is. He’s a man of great responsibility for his members. How many survived after I brutally killed a hundred of you?”
Jang San replies with a somewhat surprised look.
“Most of us surrendered.”
I nod as I look at Jang San.
“That’s what I intended. Believe it or not…”
I look around the mountain scenery and say bitterly,
“Namak is not yours. Your lives aren’t mine. I told Leader Im I will take over for a while, but actually, I don’t have the skills or personality to accept any of you. The alliance left, so I don’t want to kill anymore. Those of you who want to leave, get up and go down the mountain. I’ll spare you, so try to live a different life than now. My patience is wearing thin. Get up before I change my mind.”
I look at the bandits kneeling by the podium.
No one stood, perhaps because they still feared me.
“You don’t believe that I will spare you?”
Answers came from all places.
“Yes.”
“I understand, but I’m disgusted to see your faces.”
“…….”
“I’m not talking about external appearance. Your thoughts reflect on your expressions. It’s disgusting to read those thoughts every time. Leave, I don’t want to see it. I’m a guy who goes back and forth on his words, but I keep my promises. If you don’t leave now, you won’t have a chance.”
After a while, one or two people stand up, look at me, and bow.
I say, waving my hand.
“Don’t become bandits. If Leader Im gets angry, he will attack other bandit factions.”
With this, bandits rise here and there, gathering in twos and threes, looking around, and quietly disappearing from the Green Forest Sect building.
Somehow, there are more left.
I tell the rest of them,
“Sit comfortably.”
Only then did the bandits who were kneeling, sit on the floor. I bring the bandits close together and speak.
“Look at me one by one and tell me your name.”
I’ll definitely forget it later, but I try to memorize the bandits’ names. The bandit on the left looks at me and recites his name.
Looking at the bandits, I memorize their names with utmost attention as if I were learning martial arts.
When they finished saying their names.
Looking at the bandits, I say,
“Jeon Son, Yuwen Soo, Hoo Woong, Deung Ik, Yeom Yi-rak, Jang San, Yeom Won-gi, Do Dae-sam, Gu Jun, and Gu Pyeong. Are you two brothers?”
Gu Jun and Gu Pyeong answer at the same time.
“Yes.”
“Alright. Jong Sa-chan, Guan Woo-chun, Po Chung-ah, Yang Ho, Jang Son-rak, Nam Joo-kyung, Lee Chan, Cho Ga-sung, Wi Gwang….”
I recite all the names I had memorized. Every time I make a mistake on the way, the bandits correct me. After calling out the names of the bandits, I exhale loudly. I was out of breath even though it was nothing.
A guy named Jo Ga-sung asks,
“How did you memorize all that?”
“Don’t be surprised. I forget quickly.”
I look around at the bandits whose names I called out and say,
“Anyway… you’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”
Then I introduce myself to the bandits.
“I’m Low-Down Sect Leader, Lee Zaha.”
