“Leader Hwang, do you have many warriors under you?”
“Warriors, then a little.”
I look at him.
“Is there one as strong as you or a subordinate to a similar level?”
He looks concerned as he says,
“… a little weaker.”
“I see. Then, as you think, if we bring your men here, how many people will be killed or injured? For a simple thought, let’s assume that there are around 100 demons. And let’s say you and your men go off to fight them in that far wilderness.”
He counts and says,
“20 to 30 will be injured.”
“As I thought.”
“I wonder if more than a dozen will die.”
“Will you at least catch the target?”
He nods.
“Yes.”
I look at him and ask,
“Then, what wrong did they do? Are they people who should be killed in that far off wilderness?”
“Uh?”
“Leader Hwang, listen to me carefully. If the demons attack your hometown where the Great Raven clan is, it is right for you to step up and fight against them. Die or get hurt, you are lucky there. Still, you get the name for fighting your home. It would be a fight on behalf of the weak.”
“Yes”
“What is the point of calling your men here and letting them die here like dogs? How many times have you been beaten by me? You are going to call your men to protect your pride? This is neither for revenge nor to protect anyone. Is there anything more horrible to call your men to die for you to show your pride?”
This guy had a disgusting life so he cannot talk back to me just because he decides to act for us.
Leader Hwang says,
“I was wrong.”
For the first time I poured alcohol for him. And I say pouring to the coachman,
“You don’t have to go, so enjoy your meal.”
The coachman drinks.
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
After sharing drinks, I say,
“Leader Hwang, I respect your desire to prove.”
“Yes.”
“But don’t try to turn your men into corpses for it. Why not go on your own?”
He is puzzled by my words.
“If you mean that, you want me to go…”
“Why are you pretending to not understand? That is the demon. I don’t know if they are 100 or 200 out there but if you take down their Leader Red Ghost, then you will be treated right. Indeed, you are a clan leader. You can hear such things. Do you not want to show us that?”
To which he answers,
“It sounds like you are telling me to go alone and die in there.”
“Cannot do it?”
“Yes, I am not an expert here.”
I nod.
“Then don’t act like you are a changed person. It is all a deception.”
He laughs and says,
“Deception?”
“Yes. Anyway,”
Leader Hwang looks around with a strange expression and says,
“Sect Leader, you and I will go tomorrow. To the wilderness.”
After saying that, he went silent smiling. Looking excited.
I say with a smile,
“With me? You have confidence?”
To which he says,
“Not confident, I will show you how to die without running away while fighting next to you.”
He looks around and says,
“Brothers in Kangho who happened to hear all the talk. Keep my words in mind. How is it?”
As he said, everyone was listening to us talk. I scratch my cheek with my finger and respond to his request.
“Nice. Let’s go. The two of us should go and see if the bandits will be cleared or if we die.”
He glares at me and asks,
“If I do not run, will you accept me if I die fighting or survive fighting?”
I answer while pouring myself a drink.
“I will see you fight first.”
“I understand.”
“Let’s drink and rest up. We could fight all day tomorrow. So, we rest now.”
Moyong Baek looked like he was going to say something, so I looked at him.
‘Let’s talk later.’
And he went silent after a slight nod. I get up to find out an accommodation with the group, but someone asks among the tables,
“Where does the Sect Leader belong to?”
Moyong Baek checks his face and then answers.
“Low-Down Sect.”
As I am walking, I hear several people talking. There are people who said they had heard of it and people who were certain of it and those who couldn’t believe two people would go against bandits.
They weren’t worth responding to, so I left.
Moyong Baek comes over to my room and says what he wanted to say earlier.
“Sect Leader, are you really going alone? What about me?”
“Three of us cannot go.”
“Wouldn’t three be better than two?”
I look at him and say,
“Then I will become the same person as Leader Hwang. I will go with him and the two of us will solve it, so do not step out this time.”
Moyong Baek says,
“Actually, I am not worried about you, but Leader Hwang will die 9 out of 10 times.”
“As you said, he can die or not die. If he has poor skills he is bound to die no matter how many times he says. There must be a hundred enemies there.”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to fight to death than live being protected? It is an ugly sight of a leader, and it is his own decision, so the two of us will go to solve the issue.”
“Um, is that so?”
“I will see you tomorrow.”
“Have a nice rest.”
Moyong Baek withdrew without pushing his opinion and so I lay down on the bed closing my eyes. I think about this for a while before rushing into cultivation.
There isn’t much of a difference between the Demon Cult and bandits.
Is the force large or small? That is how the difference starts.
And I cultivated.
After I had a simple breakfast, I left with leader Hwang and moved to the wilderness.
The guy didn’t look good since eating breakfast, but when we arrived in the wilderness, he began to walk fine like he was relaxed enough.
I walked with him, not saying much. It was a windy day and the sun wasn’t too hot so it was a suitable day to fight. Moyong Baek offered help but I refused.
I check the sword on the waist of Leader Hwang and say,
“What sword technique did you learn?”
“The Ruthless Sword Technique.”
“What?”
“Ruthless… sword technique.”
I stopped and looked at him.
Isn’t it a sword technique which doesn’t suit him at all? I really wanted to ask that but then went silent. Since he might die today, it wouldn’t be right for me to come here and tease him.
“How many hand forms?”
“It is Seven forms.”
“Who did you learn from?”
“The former clan leader.”
“Isn’t that the Poison Clan’s martial arts?”
“Yes.”
“Because it is a martial art which is not performed in front of others, I never spoke about it. But today might be the time for me to take the higher step and perform it in front of you. You should take a look.”
“Yes.”
Leader Hwang spread distance between us and drew the sword up. After that, he began to practice the Ruthless Sword technique which holds 17 forms.
I looked at the stance and the movement and estimated how much he trained. It was a sword technique I wasn’t familiar with so I couldn’t understand much. And when he did all forms, I ask,
“One more time.”
“Yes”
This time, Leader Hwang slowly spread it out. As soon as he did it, holding the wooden sword following what he did, I ask,
“Why is this movement like this? Is it a way to cut something?”
“I know all that this is, is the former leader’s technique made by fighting warriors frequently. So, the movements are breaking down the chained attack and stabbing.”
It was only then I understood what this is.
“Right. but it doesn’t make sense to use sword technique when fighting too many. Use it in, one on one fight, these people will emphasize a three-form sword technique. It will be effective when a large number of people are warring. An enemy with excellent skills will be dealt with by the others.”
“Yes.”
“If you survive, blow away all the techniques made to deal with a specific weapon in the seventeen movement. Reduce it to thirteen. There should be more basic movement to deal with a situation. If you read the technique right while coping with the movement, you might be able to use it for assassination too.”
“I will refer to it.”
“Let’s go.”
I walked again with him and after a long walk we could neither see the path anymore nor signs of people living.
It was all wilderness and trees.
Leader Hwang next to me asked worried,
“Sect Leader, I am sorry but…”
“What?”
“Will the wooden sword be fine?”
“You asked so fast. Should we change swords?”
“No.”
“If you aren’t going to, why ask?”
He looks puzzled and says,
“I am not that skilled, so I will use a real sword. I was wondering why you brought a wooden sword, so I asked.”
“I am no idiot to bring a wooden sword here.”
Suddenly, he looked wide-eyed. A dozen bandits were moving quite a distance from us.
“Sect Leader.”
“I am watching.”
As soon as someone said bandits, I looked and pulled Leader Hwang by the shoulder.
“Let’s run.”
“Uh?”
“Run this way, you bastard.”
I change direction and increase my walking speed. Leader Hwang says in an urgent tone,
“No, why did we suddenly run…”
As we began to run at a steady pace, I say,
“We have to run so the enemies come after us. It is too far, and they are on horses, at least the ones on horses will come after us fast.”
“… right.”
The right way to work in a forest is to play weak. In this way, we can know how to use it.
“Leader Hwang.”
“Yes.”
“Those guys will be happy to find the weak. They steal, kill and roast corpses in hunger.”
“Right..”
“Looking at the small number of people, it is a scouting one which travels frequently.”
As we ran the sound of horse hooves grew louder and we began to slow down and stopped as we watched them get close. The bandits split into two, one passed from ahead and the other blocked the exit to slowly turn to a circle.
I looked at their clothes and the expression of Leader Hwang and I smiled.
Looking at them, I say,
“Brothers, how are you? I was crossing the path; do I have to pay a toll?”
When I ask in a friendly tone, the bandits look at each other and burst into chuckles and the man, with woman ornament on, says,
“You are a smart friend. Put down the money and throw the sword this way.”
“Can’t we just pay the toll and move? There is no need to give up the sword.”
Examining his appearance, his arms and legs were dark revealing that he had applied women’s face powder to his face which looked white.
The man grinned and drew his sword.
“Speak less. Throw the sword before I kill you.”
I smiled as I looked at him.
“Do we have to do this?”
To which he said aiming his sword,
“Don’t make me laugh. I will tear….”
As soon as I pull the wooden sword which Elder Heo gifted me, I infuse sword qi into it and cut off the head of the man. With a thudding sound the head falls, and blood flows.
The eyes of all the bandits turn to the headless corpse and I laugh.
“Leader Hwang”
“Yes.”
“Let’s kill.”
I rush to them.
