Chapter 20: Chapter 20

“Fucking bastard.”

Walking along the forest trail, Gang Ryung, the master of the Oktop Merchant Group, muttered so to himself. Right now in his mind, Gang Chung of the Merchant Guild, with whom he had plotted work together, was coming to mind.

Overwhelmed by the fact that they were from the same hometown and the words that driving out the natives would allow them to find a gold mine, he had stamped the guild’s seal, but midway he got scared and tried to pull his feet out.

Added to that, hearing rumor that a Martial Alliance Patrol member came nearby, he was even planning to collude with the Martial Alliance Branch Head to arrest him. In the end, to buy time, he had no choice but to kill Gang Chung secretly.

And then he had to abandon all the merchant group employees and enter this forest bringing only swordsmen gathered with money who didn’t know the situation.

“Don’t mind it too much. At any rate, it was an identity that had to be shed once the goal was achieved.”

Whether he heard his muttering, a warrior beside him whispered in a low voice. He was a warrior whose face and body type were difficult to properly confirm due to a black cloak and bamboo hat. However, Gang Ryung knew his face, knew his identity, and knew his martial arts. Trying hard to relax his expression, Gang Ryung whispered.

“However, haven’t we lost the gold mine?”

“Although placer gold came out from the riverwater, that doesn’t promise a definite mining output. Do not forget that the gold mine was merely to drive out the natives there.”

Gang Ryung wanted to curse. How could he speak in that manner when he left behind the merchant group he built over three years and entered the mountains bringing thirty swordsmen who knew nothing. However, the whisper seeping out from his mouth was polite as could be.

“…I hope that servile barbarian’s story turned out to be proper.”

“Already confirmed his Danzhong point. To be able to open a person’s blood points like that, he seems to be a fellow with remarkable spirituality. A spiritual entity sufficient to enter the Grand Scheme. Unit Master will be pleased.”

“Ah, yes. I suppose so.”

Gang Ryung answered roughly. Being a low-ranking member of low-ranking members, he didn’t even properly know what that Grand Scheme was. He merely prayed for the soul of the native fellow who had been disassembled by that warrior’s touch.

He continued to hope that the valley natives would appropriately get scared and retreat, so that warrior’s purpose would be safely achieved. Because only then could he establish a new merchant group with a new identity again. Gang Ryung found his merchant group that was growing rapidly under shadow support far too wasteful.

As he was secretly letting out a sigh like that, suddenly the swordsmen stopped their steps.

“…Hey, employer? Someone is over there?”

The swordsman walking at the very front turned around and acted slouched. Gang Ryung found that attitude compared to his merchant group warriors shitty once again, but couldn’t help it. Stepping past the warriors, he moved forward and looked at the man who appeared.

He wore faded martial robes, and on his right shoulder there was even a large patch mark. The sword strapped to his waist also appeared to be an item with nothing particularly special.

However, standing quietly in the middle of the road with his left hand resting on the scabbard, there was a momentum difficult to handle carelessly.

Feeling an unknown anxiety, Gang Ryung shouted. It was a distant distance of five zhang.

“Hey there! I am Gang Ryung of the Oktop Merchant Group! Who are you over there!”

The man who received the question, Jang Geon, quietly raised his head and looked at the sky for a moment. In the clean sky, a few mountain birds were seen flying swiftly. Wrinkling his brows, Gang Ryung asked toward such a Jang Geon again.

“…Hey there? Who are you?”

“Unfair or fraudulent contracts targeting natives are being severely punished by the Merchant Guild and the Martial Alliance. If caught, it doesn’t end with just a fine. You might end up locked in a Martial Alliance jail serving a prison sentence.”

At that out-of-nowhere answer, Gang Ryung blinked his lips for a moment. What kind of fellow was this guy to suddenly block the road and act crazy? However, soon able to roughly guess the situation from the words he said, he wore a sneer as if flabbergasted.

Laughing like that, he spoke.

“…Seeing now, it seems the savages living in the valley hired a Central Plains person. Such a vermin bastard. Is there no money to receive so you receive savage money? Or what, did the savage harlots attach themselves to you?”

Still looking up at the sky, Jang Geon spoke in the same calm voice as before.

“If there is a misunderstanding between each other, it can be resolved. If you think there is a gold mine somewhere in the valley, rather than driving them all out, there is also the direction of giving them a share of the gold mine as compensation and mining together. Even if you can’t take one gold mine completely, it would be an amount sufficient for one merchant group to handle.”

The face of Gang Ryung who was sneering became distorted.

“What kind of dog nonsense is this vermin spouting out of nowhere? Shares? Giving gold mine shares to savages? I already bought that land paying five hundred silver coins! The ones who must get out right now are those idiot-like primitive people! Why should I share my property with savages who don’t even know the value of gold?”

Losing his merchant group and fleeing, his anger was soaring but had no way to be vented, so Gang Ryung stepped forward shouting as if to vent all his anger on this opportunity.

“If you or your savages don’t get out right now, do you know what will happen? Going right now, those primitive people living in hovels will all be killed! Anyone resisting will be killed and the wenches will be captured and sold off! Any trace of those bastards existing will all be burned down!”

Listening to that story, Jang Geon looked at him with sunken eyes. Having heard the story only from the natives’ side, he intended to hear the Central Plains side’s story as well, but judging by his manner of speech right now, there was no separate son of a bitch like this. Gang Ryung continued shouting, unaware that even the surrounding warriors felt somewhat uncomfortable.

“Ah, right. Seeing last time, there were quite a lot of brats too. Having nothing else to do, they spawned them out, but lately dark markets pay good prices for kids, right? Perfect! Capturing those kids and selling them off, ”

At that moment, an arrow flying from somewhere stuck ‘Tuk’ right in the middle of Gang Ryung’s chest. The swordsmen around him couldn’t do anything, and feeling the flying arrow, Jang Geon and the black-cloaked warrior had no will to block it.

Passionately spouting bullshit, Gang Ryung blinked his lips trembling as if unable to believe the arrow stuck in the middle of his chest. Turning around slowly after a long while unable to even touch the stuck arrow properly, he spoke.

“…H-Heuk-sa-nim. S-Save me…! P-Please! Do something about this…”

The black-cloaked warrior slightly raised his chin and looked at Gang Ryung. Gang Ryung could meet the warrior’s purple-black eyes visible under the bamboo hat. And the cold smile below them.

“What do you expect me to do?”

“D-Divine Art! With the power of Divine Art…!”

Looking down at Gang Ryung who was sitting kneeling as his strength gradually drained, the warrior answered.

“To a trash like you?”

As if unable to believe those words, Gang Ryung looked up at the warrior with wide open eyes, then eventually collapsed flat. And after twitching briefly, he went limp.

When all the surrounding swordsmen were looking back and forth between dead Gang Ryung and Jang Geon standing ahead with flustered faces, behind Jang Geon, the warriors of the valley tribe revealed themselves. Each painted on their faces with colorful paint, they were glaring at the swordsmen with hardened faces.

Seeing them appear in the forest like shadows, the swordsmen couldn’t easily open their mouths as if scared.

Meanwhile, seeing the feather of the arrow stuck in the merchant’s chest, Jang Geon could tell it was Bi-rang’s. She seemed to have gotten angry at the words to capture and sell the tribe’s children. Simultaneously, Jang Geon realized the situation had become subtle.

Clearly, according to what he heard from the tribe people, that merchant was the culprit who caused this commotion. Seeing him lead swordsmen up right now, he might have been planning to really realize the stories he had just spoken. It was a situation that could be guessed just by looking at the flustered figures of the swordsmen.

However, Jang Geon noticed from the warrior’s figure whom the merchant begged dying that there was something he didn’t know beyond what was revealed on the surface.

Whether his premonition was correct, the black-cloaked warrior shouted loudly.

“Get a grip! Your employer was shot by a savage arrow and died, are you going to just let it pass!”

Far from getting a grip at that warrior’s shout, the swordsmen bickered among themselves as if a suppressed atmosphere had burst out.

“Wh-What, fuck. He died charging forward himself, what are we supposed to do?”

“Damn it! There was still money I had to receive!”

“Th-This, what’s this? Don’t we have to run away from this? Since employer died, is there a need to fight them?”

Listening to them bickering confusedly like a rabble, the warrior shook his head gently, then raised his voice again.

“Fools. Don’t you remember what the employer told you? If you keep going up this path, there is a native village, and there is full of gold! Added to that, there are only about a dozen warriors and the rest are all elderly and weak!”

“Gold? Full of gold? Right, he said there was a gold mine.”

“Uh-uh, he, he seemed to have said such words… But that’s not our business, right?”

Pausing his words for a moment, the black warrior raised his voice.

“Added to that, those savages killed a Central Plains person first! How dare they! How could mere savages living in wild mountains! What wrong did our employer do? At most he just swore a bit! Yet thrusting an arrow into him! As expected, uneducated barbarians can’t be helped! As fellow Central Plains people, are you going to let this pass? Isn’t there something we must do for a unfairly killed Central Plains person!”

“…Right! Killing a Central Plains person with a surprise attack! Savage bastards!”

“…Our dead employer, what was his name, Gang Ryung! Let’s avenge Gang Ryung!”

Jang Geon frowned at those swordsmen’s figures. They were getting excited too easily. Unless they were true rock-bottom sword-shields of life, getting agitated and shouting together at such talk was a strange matter. The native warriors who appeared with hardened faces to intimidate were also looking back and forth at each other in embarrassment at such a sight.

At that moment, a strange sharp scent brushed past the tip of Jang Geon’s nose. Quickly holding his breath, Jang Geon raised his internal energy. Something attempting to be absorbed into his body was pushed back to his respiratory tract by the power of internal energy.

With suppressed breathing, Jang Geon exhaled that poison qi ‘Puh-‘. And holding his breath as it was, he glared at the black-cloaked warrior. Something hazy was continuously flowing down from beneath his cloak. Feeling Jang Geon’s cold gaze and meeting his eyes, he was showing his teeth in a smirk.

“Let’s avenge! Let’s kill! Let’s wipe out the savages!”

“Let’s wipe them out! Let’s kill them! Let’s kill them and bring back gold!”

Meanwhile, the swordsmen were shouting cheers among themselves. Added to that, native warriors were also getting their faces distorted gradually, guessing that they were swearing and saying harsh words even if not completely understanding their words.

Jang Geon shouted toward those warriors.

“Hold your breath! That fellow is spreading some poison that excites people…”

However, whether it was already late, the tribe warriors lowered their stances slowly with distorted faces, putting hands on their respective weapons. As if unable to hear Jang Geon’s words, they glared at the shouting swordsmen with yellow eyes flashing like beasts.

Even Red Wind and Bi-rang were baring their teeth and growling without getting a grip. Central Plains people’s voices grew louder, and warriors appeared ready to draw weapons any moment. The black warrior who appeared to have created this shit was looking at Jang Geon with a smile as if asking what you were going to do.

It wasn’t good. If they fought like this, according to Jang Geon’s advice, there would be no way to avoid martial artists’ strikes, and the traps laid in the forest over the past few days would be useless. Whichever side won, it wouldn’t be winning, and in the worst case if the warriors lost, what would happen to the tribe from the excited swordsmen was obvious.

Central Plains swordsmen, as if holding some rally, yelled and finally grabbed their worn swords. Excitedly shouting nearly like barking, they tried to draw their swords. And that was the same for the warriors standing behind Jang Geon.

Jang Geon’s eyes sank deeply. Whether poison mixed into his breathing or not, he inhaled a deep breath. And he shouted.

“Shut! Up!”

As if ten thunderbolts struck at once, an immense roar and vibration reverberated through the forest, valley, and the entire mountain range.

Terrified mountain birds flew up from the entire forest, making the clear sky chaotic. The swordsmen who were shouting until a moment ago and the growling warriors were dumbfounded, all sitting down on the spot or looking at Jang Geon with dazed faces.

Among them, the black-cloaked warrior, with his bamboo hat blown backward, stood barely with trembling legs and looked at Jang Geon in disbelief, speaking.

“Lion’s… Roar!”