Chapter 172: Mount Tai Gathering
Although there were several unfavorable conditions for Ak Gun-pae, I, who was merely a junior of the younger generation, had brought down a corner of the Green Forest alone.
It was by no means a light incident.
Therefore, it was not strange that such gazes were gathered on me.
‘Yes, yes. Keep looking as much as you like.’
By now, I had become quite accustomed to such gazes.
In addition, I did not want to show a weak side to the Green Forest bandits who had astonished eyes.
My masters nagged me whenever they had a chance, saying that the perfect time to get stabbed in the Martial World was when showing a gap or showing weakness.
They said it was best not to give them an opening to show their teeth in the first place.
This was also a concept mentioned in the art of war.
I managed to control my rough breathing somehow and tried to straighten my waist.
“Fort Leader, this is no time to joke. Get up.”
The Green Forest bandits of the Georok Fort approached Ak Gun-pae and tapped him, not believing that he had actually collapsed.
Perhaps they had never seen Ak Gun-pae collapse before.
Then, realizing that he had truly lost consciousness, they quickly put Ak Gun-pae on their backs and scurried away.
“This is surprising.”
Beside the middle-aged man who spoke, there was another man of a similar age.
Behind them, Green Forest bandits were lined up in a row.
These two also seemed to be Fort Leaders of the Seventy-Two Forts of the Green Forest.
That was all that could be inferred from the circumstances alone.
“Ah! I apologize for this. Having lived a life distant from social interaction for a while.”
With an embarrassed face, the man clasped his hands.
“I am Dan Ya-heun, the Fort Leader of the Gangmu Fort.”
He was someone who didn’t seem like a Green Forest bandit somehow; rather than a rough and wild feeling, he gave off a neat and tidy impression.
‘So there are such people even in the Green Forest.’
I should also show courtesy…
“I was the one who suggested inviting you here.”
“…Are you that crazy guy?”
Neat and tidy, my foot.
Suddenly, the person looked different.
Beneath his neat and polite demeanor, there was a madness full of eccentricity hidden.
It was a bizarre combination where it wouldn’t be strange regardless of what popped out if you handed him a sword.
As expected of a pillar of the Green Forest!
The hometown of nutjobs!
Belatedly, I wondered if my words were a bit too harsh, but the people around him were strangely calm.
Rather, they looked as if they wanted to clap… Was it an illusion?
“Hmm? Ah! I am Man San-ho, the Fort Leader of the Heukho Fort. And it’s fine to curse at this fellow. Actually, you can curse at him more. Proxy satisfaction is always welcome.”
As if it were not just his personal opinion, everyone around agreed.
They nodded their heads in unison as if they had agreed beforehand, showing an astonishing level of uniformity.
“Prophets are always destined to suffer.”
Dan Ya-heun did not care at all.
‘I think I know roughly what kind of treatment he receives.’
That was why I worried.
What on earth was this opinion of the Green Forest that we had been invited all this way for but had not heard yet?
“Let us have a talk.”
***
The results of the spar between Georok Fort Leader Ak Gun-pae and Young Heavenly Dragon that took place early in the morning spread rapidly throughout Mount Cheonja.
Whenever even three Green Forest bandits gathered, they were in the middle of talking about it.
That story also dominated the gathering of Fort Leaders summoned by Byeok Ji-sim.
Bang! Bang!
Byeok Ji-sim, who was holding his head as if he had a headache, struck the table with a highly angered face.
“I understand that everyone is engrossed in an interesting story, but such a topic does not seem to suit this place. Do you not find the time flowing away meaninglessly to be a waste?”
Byeok Ji-sim expressed his dissatisfaction with the sluggish current situation.
The Seventy-Two Forts of the Green Forest had gathered at Mount Cheonja because they agreed with the idea of rallying their forces to oppose the tyranny of the Nine Great Sects.
However, even after winter passed, the Green Forest never united as one.
On the contrary, the division centered around each faction only grew fiercer.
The fact that this sluggish meeting was still continuing was proof of that.
“Is it not because we are leaving the simplest method aside and only trying to take a long detour!”
“Are you suggesting we resolve it with force?”
“Indeed! A very simple and clear method worthy of the Green Forest. However, the one who dismantled that opinion under the pretext that it would only damage the Green Forest’s strength was you, Cheonshin Fort Leader Byeok Ji-sim!”
“That’s right!”
“Who is the one who made us waste our time!”
The Fort Leaders, whose feelings were hurt by Byeok Ji-sim’s outburst just now, slandered him.
Exposed to the raw criticism, Byeok Ji-sim slumped back in his chair, waved his hand, and let out a sigh.
“Phew… I am getting tired now too. Unifying the Green Forest to proudly stand as the ruler of Martial World was my life’s dream, which is why I have been leading this project, but since everyone’s opinions clash so much…”
“Hmph! Then what do you want us to do?”
“What else! It ends like this!!”
Slam!
Byeok Ji-sim struck the table and raised his voice.
“Mmm!”
“Oh, dear… It ends just like this?”
At the sight of the split table, which seemed like the future of the Green Forest, the words of the Fort Leaders who had been loudly criticizing him instantly receded.
Although there had been several meetings so far, this was the first time Byeok Ji-sim had shown such anger.
Therefore, everyone fell into confusion.
“You called it your life’s dream, yet you shift your stance in an instant.”
“I simply dislike wasting time meaninglessly. As you all know, is it not the reality that our opinions are too divided right now? Due to the clumsily split factions, each other’s positions have only become firmer.”
If they were divided into only two or three groups, it might have been easier to gather opinions.
However, the current factions of the Green Forest were the ultimate definition of being torn to pieces.
The problem was that in a situation where the majority was brainstorming together, it was difficult for each faction to rashly change their opinion.
If someone made a concession or bowed their head, they might at least find a clue, but the fact that it was impossible to expect this from bandits also played a part.
“If there is no ‘sign of opinions gathering’ by the next meeting, I will consider the grand unification of the Green Forest as something that never happened.”
Byeok Ji-sim issued a threat, and the meeting adjourned.
The Fort Leaders read the part of those words that carried particular emphasis.
“Need to gather opinions… I see…”
There were various ways to gather opinions. All of them were arduous and long paths.
However, the Green Forest bandits were accustomed to a very simple and clear method.
After all the Fort Leaders had left, Byeok Ji-sim, left alone, leaked a strange smile.
“They say the dirtiest thing in the world is giving and then taking away. It feels like pulling out something already in one’s stomach. You feel good because your stomach is full, but suddenly you are made to feel starved and hungry.”
Before anyone realized, a black-clothed man was sitting in front of Byeok Ji-sim.
“It seems to have worked well.”
“Fortunately. It felt as if a dam that had been built with great care over time burst all at once.”
“Then there should be no problem.”
At the corner of the black-clothed man’s mouth, a smile of the same nature as the one cast on Byeok Ji-sim’s face was hung.
***
After the meeting adjourned, the Fort Leader of the Jeonrim Fort, who came from Guangxi, chewed over the words Byeok Ji-sim had spoken.
Unconsciously, his finger was heading toward the sword at his waist.
“It is strange…”
The Jeonrim Fort Leader recalled the change in Cheonshin Fort Leader Byeok Ji-sim, which was border-line blatant.
“The fellow who used to do nothing but stop us suddenly egged us on.”
It smelled like he was up to something.
It was probably not the judgment of the Jeonrim Fort Leader alone.
He had confirmed that everyone was rolling their eyes when the meeting was wrapping up. What they thought would be similar.
At other times, he would have just ignored it. This was because no one was foolish enough to jump into something that blatantly smelled fishy.
However!
“…It feels empty.”
The grand unification of the Green Forest. He had thought it was nonsense.
However, the moment he saw the massive forces of the Green Forest gathered at Mount Cheonja, that belief was shattered.
The moment he felt firsthand how large and powerful a force the Green Forest could become when united as one, he felt his blood boil.
His heart had pounded with excitement and anticipation.
“To give this up?”
If the grand unification failed like this, he could just return to the past. There was absolutely nothing to lose.
However, the Jeonrim Fort Leader felt as if he were suffering a major loss.
“I don’t want to…”
He could even stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those high-and-mighty fellows of the Nine Great Sects or the Six Heavens.
Returning to their original places made him feel small and shabby.
It was not the thoughts of the Jeonrim Fort Leader alone.
“Shouldn’t we do something?”
Those were the words of the Hapsan Fort Leader, who belonged to the same faction.
His expression looked as if he were looking into a mirror.
The Jeonrim Fort Leader smirked.
“Something… you say? What are you talking about right now?”
“Why do you ask when you already know, Elder Brother?”
“Indeed. Since you know it all. Isn’t this too blatant?”
The Fort Leaders of the faction gently egged on the Jeonrim Fort Leader.
“In fact, hasn’t Fort Leader Byeok tacitly permitted it as well?”
The expressions of the gathered Fort Leaders of the faction gradually became unified into one.
“Strike another faction?”
“Oh, come now, it’s just integrating opinions more actively. This is for the greater good, the greater good. We are merely closing our eyes to small things for a moment.”
“Indeed. Originally, when something large moves, aren’t small things bound to be stepped on a little? There is a saying those educated fellows always use. Sa… Sa… Was it ‘Sacrificing the small for the sake of the big’?”
“That’s probably it! Kaha! You’ve eaten quite a bit of ink yourself.”
“We cannot lose the large because of the small. The Nine Great Sects are targeting the Green Forest. The Green Forest needs to become one!”
Greed was wrapped up as a sense of duty.
When greed blinds the eyes, one cannot see even Mount Tai right in front of them.
Although one could see the whole picture by taking just one step back, their field of vision was bound by something as small as a palm.
The actions of Fort Leader Byeok Ji-sim, which he had thought smelled fishy, now looked like a struggle to achieve his life’s dream.
‘Although some blood will splash on the Green Forest brothers, shouldn’t we close our eyes if it is a small sacrifice to reach a great outcome?’
“Then where would it be good to start integrating opinions?”
“If we are to integrate step-by-step, wouldn’t it be right to start with the small places first?”
“A small place…”
Thinking so, there was a place that everyone commonly came to mind.
“The Fort Leader of the Georok Fort is quite heavily injured.”
“It’s perfect. Aren’t they the guys of the faction that is heavily influenced by the orthodox factions?”
At the Jeonrim Fort Leader’s meaningful smile, the Fort Leaders of the faction also showed smiles.
***
While Heukho Fort Leader Man San-ho and Gangmu Fort Leader Dan Ya-heun were away to attend the Fort Leaders’ meeting, our group pondered over the story we had heard from them.
“This means they want to set a foot in the escort agencies’ station network plan.”
“Indeed. They have a big dream.”
For the escort agencies as well, it was an opinion that had come out feeling half close to a delusion.
In fact, it was too large an undertaking to proceed with only the escort agencies of Hubei.
However, if the Green Forest lent a hand to this?
“It is not something that can be achieved in a short period. If the Green Forest fellows cannot break their habits and lay their hands on a merchant group’s goods even once or twice, it will immediately run aground. It is a task where we must fundamentally discipline them to completely drain out their disposition from their days as Green Forest bandits…”
Uncle Baek Jin-seong trailed off, but he did not brand it as an impossible task from the very start.
If only it succeeded, it would be a great undertaking that could shake the state of the Martial World, and an achievement that would leave their names in Martial World history.
It was not without reason that Uncle Baek Jin-seong showed interest.
‘But why does the air suddenly feel chilly?’
At a somewhat unpleasant feeling, I raised my head to look around, and the man called Han Young was approaching.
The unidentified expert who guarded the depths of the Baek Family Escort, and one of the Snow Shadows who protected Sister Seol-ah.
“Chief.”
“Whenever you call me that, bad things tend to happen…”
At Han Young’s call, Uncle Baek Jin-seong’s face hardened.
“The atmosphere has changed. It smells like quite a few people are about to die.”
If it were anywhere else it might be different, but in a place where Green Forest bandits were crawling everywhere, it was not a statement I wanted to hear much.