Chapter 168: Oh Boy
Man San-ho, the Chief of the Black Dragon Fortress, had treated the opinion of Dan Ya-heun, the Chief of the Gangmu Fortress, to cooperate with escort agencies and jump into the logistics distribution business as the nonsense of a madman, but there were more chiefs who agreed with Dan Ya-heun’s opinion than expected.
Since they were in a situation where they could not back down, they had only tried not to show weakness, but now that their size had grown to an unmanageable degree, they were indeed worried about their future.
If they were to go down the mountain and establish themselves as a hegemonic force, a fight with the existing established powers was unavoidable.
And their end was highly likely to be extremely bleak.
This was because although they might win battles, they would lose the war.
In simple terms, supply was the problem. Currently, the Green Forest did not have the capacity to endure a prolonged war.
In fact, if they possessed that capacity, there would be no need to engage in sword fights with the established powers in the first place.
However, something akin to a solution for that had been proposed.
Furthermore, if they played their cards right, it seemed they could even exclude the intervention of the government, which was the most dangerous factor.
Perhaps due to that, the factions of fortress chiefs who had been negative about this Green Forest Great Integration were also stealthily changing their minds.
However, Man San-ho, the very person who had sent the invitation to the Daejin Escort Agency, still maintained the negative thought that things would not go well.
The reason was simple.
“Would those escort bastards be crazy enough to come here?”
The most essential element for this business to run properly was indeed the escort agencies.
It was only natural.
Even if the Green Forest became a hegemonic force and went down the mountain, their roots were ultimately bandits who hung around with broadswords and axes, extorting passing merchants to make a living.
When such bandits opened a distribution business and asked people to entrust goods to them, would there really be any madman who would take that at face value?
Well, the world is wide and there are many madmen, so there might be those with a screw loose like the Daejin Escort Agency, but that was a rare breed that might exist once in a hundred or a ten thousand times.
The majority of sane people would not approach a wild beast that had begun to starve.
Ultimately, in order for the Green Forest to launch this business, they had to start by involving an escort agency.
Unless they built up a track record of transactions and established a relationship of trust in that way, it was not an area the Green Forest could touch alone.
He was secretly convinced that Byeok Ji-sim, the Chief of the Heavenly God Fortress on Mount Tianzi, also known as the Great Blade of the Flying Dragon, who was the main protagonist of the Green Forest Great Integration and the one who pushed the opinion to send invitations to escort agencies, was also negative about this matter.
This was because it was such an absurd proposal.
However, something unexpected occurred.
“They came?”
“They are here.”
“Are those guys crazy?”
“We will find out once we meet them.”
Dan Ya-heun laughed cheerfully.
Man San-ho, who developed a deep skepticism about whether they should cooperate with these madmen, stiffened his expression even further.
Having gone with Dan Ya-heun to see the escort agency that had ascended Mount Tianzi, Man San-ho had to retract the words he had spoken.
“…They are indeed madmen.”
Even if this side committed a fault, to charge straight in without holding back?
Even someone with decent courage would piss themselves and collapse if stared down by this many giants.
In reality, it was this side that was wetting themselves in contrast.
As the saying goes, even with considerable skill, one hand cannot match ten hands.
The headcount gathered here was not just on the level of ten hands.
If they were picking a fight while knowing that, they could never be normal.
“I like it!”
“I do not!”
Avoiding what a madman liked was beneficial to one’s longevity.
Engraving that truth in his bones anew, Man San-ho shook his head.
Yet, even Man San-ho could not take his eyes off those who were raising their momentum beneath the escort flag.
The escort group that ascended the mountain captured the attention of all the Green Forest bandits with their powerful presence from the start.
***
“I do not know what you are expecting from bandits.”
Among the bandits, a man stepped forward.
‘Probably one of the fortress chiefs.’
He was judged to be someone in a fairly high position as well.
He was a fellow whose smirking face was unpleasant.
Uncle Baek Jin-seong patted my shoulder and stepped forward.
“I will speak with that gentleman.”
“Do you know him?”
“Looking at the absurdly large Nine-Ring Blade and the beard that looks like it got struck by lightning, it is obvious. It must be Byeok Ji-sim, the Great Blade of the Flying Dragon. He is the Chief of the Heavenly God Fortress situated here on Mount Tianzi. Should we consider him the one who led this assembly of the Seventy-Two Green Forest Fortresses?”
Looking at the current atmosphere of Mount Tianzi, it was clear that the Green Forest King had not yet been decided.
However, according to Uncle Baek Jin-seong’s explanation, I understood that he was one of the men closest to becoming the Green Forest King.
At Uncle Baek Jin-seong’s words recognizing him, the bandit Byeok Ji-sim, who had a beard like it got struck by lightning, smiled leisurely.
“There is no need for me to introduce myself. And you?”
“Baek Jin-seong. I am the Chief of the Baek Family Escort. I came representing the escort agencies of Hubei.”
“The Baek Family Escort…”
Perhaps because the regions were different, he did not seem to recall it immediately.
From the perspective of a Green Forest bandit who rarely had reason to go down the mountain, there was no need to know the names of escort agencies in other regions one by one.
However, he soon looked at Uncle Baek Jin-seong with a gleam in his eyes.
“I think I have heard before that such an escort agency existed in Hubei. Hmm… The Baek Family Escort of Hubei…”
Judging by his still-unfamiliar reaction, his claim of having heard of it just now seemed to be a lie.
It was highly likely that someone had informed him via sound transmission.
Nevertheless, perhaps having caught his interest, he rolled his eyes and scanned our side.
“Though it is only one, you did come after all.”
Perhaps it was the direction held by someone who had made up their mind, but a resolve that had not been there before could be felt in his voice as he replied.
“Very well. I accept. For it is true that after inviting you, our hospitality as hosts was lacking.”
At that moment, something flashed and cut through the air.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Hand axes flew and embedded themselves one by one into the heads of the bandits we had smashed.
“Is that sufficient?”
It could be taken to mean that he would treat us properly as guests from now on.
Looking at that sight, I recalled a past memory.
I remembered the Chief of Georok Fortress, whom I clashed with on my way back from Suzhou, using hand axes quite fiercely.
‘He was a fellow with quite a temper. If he sees me here, he will charge at me blindly…’
“You bastard! Good to see you!”
A giant of an ominous momentum, the Chief of Georok Fortress, Ak Gun-pae, charged forward, shouting that he would split my head open with an axe as massive as his own build.
However, that ominous attempt ended in failure.
“Good to see you as well! You damn sentient being!”
Paying no heed to where this was, the Divine Monk’s single palm struck Ak Gun-pae’s flank.
Crack!!
…Kuek!!
Flying away exactly as I had pictured in my mind, Ak Gun-pae rolled on the ground.
‘That fellow is out of luck too.’
Although he was a strongman whom ordinary experts could not even compare to, the Divine Monk was on a different level.
“You rascal! You rascal! You rascal!”
“Kahk! Ah! …Sha, Shaolin? Argh!”
“Even though I held back, seeing that you are not crushed at once, your achievement in Soft Vajra is quite something despite being a hodgepodge!”
It seemed he had been half-intent on truly killing him.
The Divine Monk relentlessly trampled on Ak Gun-pae, who had collapsed in a bloody mess in an instant.
He was so fearsome that even Byeok Ji-sim, who had been acting solemn and heavy, looked flustered, not knowing how to handle the situation.
Uncle Baek Jin-seong quickly pre-empted him.
“You said you would treat us as guests. It was after that when that side charged first.”
“That is true, but…”
“Isn’t it a relief that he is even alive after provoking the Elder? Let us not be petty. It is not like you are going to split his head like you did with those scoundrels, right?”
“Ugh…”
Byeok Ji-sim swallowed his groan and held back whatever he had been about to say.
I could guess roughly what he wanted to say.
‘He was probably trying to ask if the Divine Monk was the one splitting heads instead.’
Indeed, it was a somewhat worrying part.
I should stop him before he crosses the line.
***
Fortunately (?), Ak Gun-pae did not die.
For now.
Byeok Ji-sim, the Chief of the Heavenly God Fortress, also showed no sign of holding the Divine Monk, who had smashed Ak Gun-pae, or us accountable.
Rather, he dismissed the matter as trivial and even guided us to settle in a suitable place within the fortress.
Normally, anyone would get angry if their subordinate came back beaten up, but no such emotional response was visible in Byeok Ji-sim at all.
‘As if Ak Gun-pae was not an ally.’
It might be because their factions were different, given that the Great Integration had not yet taken place.
Furthermore, he even left a strange remark at the end.
“I said it was an interesting combination, did I not?”
A look carrying some intent turned toward Old Man Jong.
It seemed he had taken note of the bizarre situation where a Shaolin high monk and a peak demon were in the same place.
‘Even if rumors spread, it would be possible to cope by making it known that Old Man Jong is not an enemy, but… it will be hard to avoid attention.’
“You have a face full of thoughts.”
“Ah!”
Before I knew it, the Divine Monk had approached.
“If you are worrying about Jong-geuk, there is no need. If it really becomes a problem, I can just say I am holding him and reform him.”
“Thank you.”
The Divine Monk’s name carried great weight in the Orthodox martial world. If it was a guarantee from the Divine Monk, they would not be able to easily ignore it.
“However, you spoke to that friend Jong-geuk as if you were his master.”
“…Yes?”
Before a new burden fell upon me.
In a way, it was extremely dangerous content.
This was because the Divine Monk believed Old Man Jong had entrusted himself to my grandfather.
“Well, is it really something to nitpick at this point?”
Yet, even though he saw me at a loss for a reply, the Divine Monk did not press deeply.
“I shall trust you.”
Instead, he lightly patted my shoulder and slid away to another spot.
Whether he truly did not know or was pretending not to know.
I had thought the Divine Monk was someone far removed from the concept of maturity, but it seemed that was not necessarily the case.
‘I can breathe a sigh of relief.’
I can let go of one issue that I had been worrying about.
Then, there are three things I need to worry about now.
Whether the Green Forest can truly achieve Great Integration.
What the reason is for inviting us.
It did not seem they had invited us thoughtlessly as a response to a crazy demand for some information.
I could tell by looking at their reaction to us.
At the very least, it was not an action taken arbitrarily by someone, but they had sent the invitation after agreeing to some extent.
It meant there was a purpose.
Since they told us to rest well today and see each other again tomorrow with a clear mind, the main point will come out then.
And perhaps, something even more important to me.
“Just what does it mean that there is something I must obtain here?”
The real reason I set foot in this place.
For Master Heavenly Demon had pointed out and instructed that there was something I needed to obtain by coming here.
“It would be nice if it were the divine power of water.”
Out of the Five Elements Divine Powers, I have obtained four. Only the divine power of water remains.
Once the Five Elements relationship became complete, a harmony of mutual generation and overcoming would be achieved.
The perfection of the harmony of power meant that my capability would rise significantly.
Just imagining how great the completed Five Elements Divine Power would be made my heart tremble on its own.
And that evening, when night arrived, I came to know what Master Heavenly Demon had spoken of.
***
“Speak. Who is the owner of the demonic qi that shook Mount Tianzi during the day?”
“…”
A middle-aged man who resembled Yi Hwa so much that I wondered if he was her father came to visit in the middle of the night, looking down at me with an arrogant expression.
“The energy within me is reacting to you. Could it be that you are also a demon?”
I never imagined that what I had to obtain would be a person.
Excuse me, Master Heavenly Demon?
Could you come out for a second?
“If so, consider it an honor. For this is giving you the opportunity to follow the real Heavenly Demon.”
Well, look at this?