Chapter 240: Chapter 240

“What do you think?”

In the place where the high-ranking members of the Martial Alliance gathered, Bang Man-jung spoke cautiously. In front of him lay ten corpses, all of which had decayed so much that it was difficult to recognize even the white bones anymore.

Looking at them, the figures of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang whispered among themselves.

Some even cast suspicious glances, wondering if Bang Man-jung had brought white bones from the very beginning.

“Are you saying these are truly corpses of those who died less than two months ago?”

“Yes, I killed them myself, so there is no mistake. It took a month to get here. As you can see, I filled it with ice with the help of the Golden Ring Merchant Group. Even so, they ended up in this state.”

Seonjin, the leader of the Martial Alliance, closed his eyes tightly while chanting a Buddhist prayer. If those words were true, these could by no means be considered ordinary humans.

“It is hard to believe, but… if it is true, I suspect it is due to some special sorcery.”

Heogong, the sect leader of Wudang, discovered something strange while examining the white bones here and there. It was a smooth cross-section that looked as if it had been cut by a blade.

Heogong glanced at Bang Man-jung.

“I only killed five… and someone else handled the remaining ones.”

“May I ask who it was?”

“No, do not ask.”

Bang Man-jung replied with a blunt expression.

He did not seem to have any intention of answering even if questioned further.

Since he was none other than the Beggar Emperor Bang Man-jung, he would surely know many hidden masters who had not revealed themselves to the Central Plains.

Among them, there might be someone capable of making such clean sword wounds.

Heogong bowed his head as if apologizing for his rudeness.

“At any rate, they are bastards who received professional training. The five fought against me and lasted for over a hundred exchanges.”

“Is… is that true?”

“Yes.”

Frowning, Bang Man-jung recalled that time.

“In any case, the mere existence of such fellows is threatening enough. The Martial Alliance must be exceptionally careful from now on.”

“Amitabha…”

Seonjin chanted a Buddhist prayer once more and joined his palms.

Since they had not yet experienced their direct threat, they could not know how strong or how terrifying they were.

However, if it was to the point where none other than Bang Man-jung said such things, it was by no means a matter to be taken lightly.

At that moment, Bang Man-jung glanced over and spoke to Noh Hak-sang, the chief of the Beggars’ Sect.

“Release all the children of the Beggars’ Sect. I must find out what kind of bastards they are.”

“But… will we be able to catch their tail by doing that? They are those who have not even revealed a tail until now…?”

“Do it when I tell you to! Why do you talk so much?”

“Ah, I understand.”

When he threatened by holding the gourd bottle worn at his waist, Noh Hak-sang broke into a cold sweat and nodded.

Since he was the most rough-tempered among the Five Emperors and a great elder of the same Beggars’ Sect, he could not help but be even more terrified.

“Perhaps it is the work of these bastards. The Kunlun Sect, I mean.”

At those words, Seonjin looked at Bang Man-jung as if it were strange.

Had there not already been testimony about the matter of Kunlun?

“I know too. What you are trying to say. But isn’t it strange? They said his dantian was destroyed before their eyes? A fellow like that returns alive and well on his own, regains his strength in less than a year, and destroys Kunlun? What a joke, of course there is someone behind him.”

“I see…”

“Think a little, you lumps of dung. Your heads are stiff because you only do desk work every day.”

These were the words of one of the two most dirtily dressed people among those present.

The renowned masters of the Nine Sects showed dissatisfied expressions, but they did not dare to express it.

They had simply learned of the whole situation, so they only hoped that Bang Man-jung would return as quickly as possible, even by a day.

* * *

“Lump of dung!”

“What?”

At the words heard all of a sudden, Jang Sam-tae frowned and glared at Mae-hyang. Even without this, he was dying from having so much to worry about due to the situation of having to sleep outdoors again today, so why did she keep lingering around and fouling up a person’s mood?

“If you took a poop, cover it up, will you!”

“Ah, does looking at that kill you? If it’s so dirty, why don’t you cover it up yourself?”

“What is this dirty human saying right now?”

“Ha! Hey, even so, I stayed quiet when you secretly farted, and I didn’t say anything when you picked your nose? So you should let it slide too.”

“I stepped on it, you bastard!”

With her face turning bright red, Mae-hyang screamed at the top of her lungs. And she had not thought in the slightest that her actions would have been caught by Jang Sam-tae of all people.

“Puhaha! Did you wipe it before coming? Ugh, the smell. Go away!”

Jang Sam-tae rolled on the ground while holding his stomach.

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun quietly made his appearance.

Whether he had been to the stream, the hems of his trousers were considerably wet.

Jang Sam-tae, who had turned around at that chilly presence, stopped laughing and stared blankly at Dan Woo-hyun.

Pat, pat.

Dan Woo-hyun shook his trousers.

Water splashed onto Jang Sam-tae’s face.

“Did you go relieve yourself?”

“…Yes.”

The figure of Dan Woo-hyun approaching as soon as he heard the answer was somehow frightening.

It was even more so because there was no change in his expression at all.

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun pointed to a spot and asked.

“Did you do it over there?”

“…How did you know?”

“You sure pooped a lot.”

“…”

“…”

The two stood facing each other in silence. Especially Jang Sam-tae, who was at an utter loss for how to make an excuse.

He wanted to burst into laughter, but if he did, he might really die.

“…Damn it!”

Simultaneously with spitting out the curse, an unbearable and excruciating pain rushed into his head.

“Aaargh!”

That painful scream echoed frantically.

Listening to it, Mae-hyang felt her chest clear up.

“Sob… I am sorry. I won’t do it next time.”

Jang Sam-tae muttered tearfully.

It felt like it had already been an hour since he had his head shoved against a sharp stone protruding from the ground as punishment.

Blood flowing from his forehead seemed to be because his skin was scraped from having it shoved there for too long.

“What a terrible smell.”

“…Because what I ate recently was poor.”

Sitting in front of the campfire, Dan Woo-hyun poked at the fire. A large wild boar was being roasted whole, and on a flat stone, the mushrooms that Jang Sam-tae had prepared in advance were cooking to a golden brown.

Looking at that, Jang Sam-tae swallowed his saliva.

What he ate was truly poor.

During those long days crossing from Beijing to Liaoning, he mostly dug up and ate wild greens, and the fish caught in the river once in a while was everything.

There was barely any time to hunt, and he could not even sleep properly.

He had to wake up early in the morning to train, and after eating a small amount of food, he had to repeat moving again. Since his physical condition had become miserably exhausted, it could not be helped that the smell of his stool was terrible.

“It sounds as if I did not feed you anything.”

“He… hehe, how could that be? I must feed myself! Would I dare ask the Manor Leader to feed and keep me alive?”

“Wow… how servile…”

Mae-hyang could not bring herself to open her eyes and watch that sight. She wondered how he could utter such servile words without hesitation.

“Tsk, tsk, even this child follows well, yet is your body ruined by only this much?”

“Ahaha, no way! It is completely like steel! It is sturdy! Where would there be a place that hurts! Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Jang Sam-tae wept inwardly.

If he said it was hard, Dan Woo-hyun would abandon him and leave without hesitation.

If he had travel expenses, it would not matter, but if he was abandoned in a situation without even travel expenses, he would have to eke out a living by stealing again.

He absolutely hated that.

Had he not sworn not to become a shameful person to Dan So-mi!

“Enough, sit down now.”

Dan Woo-hyun gestured and offered a seat.

Jang Sam-tae, who stood up quickly, ran over and sat next to Dan Woo-hyun.

“I like the seat next to our Manor Leader the most!”

“Is that so?”

“Hehe, of course.”

‘Flattery…’

Mae-hyang looked at Jang Sam-tae with an absurd expression.

At times he was a man with a very manly side, but in front of Dan Woo-hyun, he did things that even a three-year-old child would not do.

Every time he acted like that, it was extremely disillusioning.

She also occasionally thought about whether she had chosen the wrong person to follow.

“By the way, Manor Leader, are you not worried about So-mi?”

“Worried… since there are fellows stuck by her side, I am not greatly worried.”

“But couldn’t there be other trouble?”

“Hahaha, other trouble? To that child?”

“Yes, I feel uneasy somehow.”

Sincerity could be felt in Jang Sam-tae’s tone.

She was a child who was so kind that she could not be any kinder. Therefore, she could easily be deceived by others, and she could also get involved in strange matters.

Like when she saved Gwon Mu-jin.

Like when she cut off Sa Do-hak’s beard.

He did not know about the former, but the latter case was quite dangerous. Thanks to that, the manor was half-destroyed and eventually had to be rebuilt.

“There is nothing to worry about, regarding that child.”

Dan Woo-hyun chuckled and was about to reach his hand toward the meat. At that moment, Jang Sam-tae reached out his hand first, tore off a piece of meat, and held it out toward Dan Woo-hyun.

“Please eat!”

Dan Woo-hyun, who had been staring blankly at Jang Sam-tae, smiled unconsciously.

Perhaps he had chosen him as a companion because he knew this fellow’s pleasant personality all too well.

Although it was Dan Woo-hyun, who normally would never have done so, he opened his mouth and accepted the meat held in Jang Sam-tae’s hand.

At that sight, Jang Sam-tae could not hide his surprise.

He thought he would tell him to eat it himself, but since Dan Woo-hyun readily accepted and ate it, it was a fascinating feeling.

Now that he felt Dan Woo-hyun trusted him to this extent, a lump rose in his throat unconsciously.

His eyes grew red, so he turned his head.

He did not want to show this expression to another person.

A gentle emotion vibrated in his chest.

Whether she knew Jang Sam-tae’s mind or not, Mae-hyang quietly stared at him as he turned his head and let out a sigh.

“By the way, you washed your hands, right?”

“…”

“…Ah.”

A small groan escaped from Jang Sam-tae’s mouth.

He closed his eyes as if thinking for a moment.

Before long, he stood up in a hurry and ran.

“I am sorryyy!”

His voice echoed and resounded in the mountains.

Dan Woo-hyun, who had been watching without a word for a while, stood up.

Mae-hyang could not know what had happened.

The moment the figure of Dan Woo-hyun, who was in front of her eyes, vanished.

“Aaaaargh!”

A sound like a pig being slaughtered was heard.

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