Chapter 173: Grand Assembly

Although the demons under Old Man Jong were also like that, Han Young and the Snow Shadows had also implicitly protected and watched the surroundings of our residence, just like when we were at the Baek Family Escort.

According to their report, having quickly grasped the surrounding situation, the movements of the Green Forest bandits were somehow unusual.

“Does it mean that since the deal is about to fall through, they are going to cause trouble?”

Shock is like a ripple. Usually, the first one is the most prominent, but its aftermath does not end with just one.

It was obvious how the situation would turn out.

“Hahaha! The Buddhas will be very busy today.”

‘When you speak while loosening your hands like that, it sounds like you are saying you will beat everyone to death…’

He was clearly just saying those words out of concern for someone, but I didn’t know why I got goosebumps hearing it.

‘Surely Master Heavenly Demon won’t criticize me for this, right?’

It was a very unreasonable thing, but for some reason, Master Heavenly Demon’s nagging seemed to ring in my ears.

If such a situation arose, I was confident that I would desperately protest.

The problem was…

‘This situation is not necessarily bad for me…’

I had a different position from the people here who were gathering the consensus.

From the perspective of the successor of the Heavenly Demon, acknowledged by the Divine Maiden Yi Hwa and Vajra Iron Demonic Sovereign Jong-geuk, I could turn this chaos into a favorable situation for myself.

Yi Gyeong-cheon.

The figure who led the Green Forest bandits who had come into contact with demonic arts or were originally from demonic origins.

In a Green Forest that had clumsily achieved a grand unification, Yi Gyeong-cheon would merely be the head of one of the factions scattered within the Green Forest.

Even if he overcame the internal competition and reached the peak of the Green Forest someday, it was obvious that it would require a considerable amount of time.

But now, it was different.

‘Here, there are fewer restrictions on moving Old Man Jong and the Heavenly Demon’s Guard. Since it is already a mess anyway, isn’t it fine to just add a hand?’

As I checked the possibilities, I felt my emotions sinking heavily.

A cold sensation flowing from my heart wound around my entire body.

It felt like I had become some sort of ruler behind the scenes.

Though, what talent would a greenhorn who ran around and struggled even at small things have to become a ruler behind the scenes.

“That’s the face you make when you have bad thoughts.”

“…Huh?”

A refreshing voice tickled my ears.

The voice, which seemed to wash even the inside of my head, washed away the heavy, sunken emotions lingering in the corners of my eyes.

Sister Seol-ah, who looked ready to pinch my cheek at any moment, stood right in front of me.

“What on earth were you thinking to make such a scary face?”

My cheek, pinched by Sister Seol-ah’s hand, shook this way and that.

“What is it, did you think of a good scheme?”

Baek Mu-ho approached with a brightened face.

Has this young fellow’s ears already gone bad?

“I think Sister Seol-ah just said it was a ‘face of someone having bad thoughts’?”

“That’s what a good scheme is. What is it? Spit it out quickly.”

For a moment, I unpacked and organized the method I had just thought of.

“-Actually, I am the real Heavenly Demon, but there’s a guy in the Green Forest claiming to be the Heavenly Demon. I’m going to beat him up and take over his faction. How’s that, a good idea, right?”

It was a highly creative self-destruction that would be fine to try someday when life ran out of dreams and hopes.

First, I needed to change this content into a different way of expression.

“A good bandit is a dead bandit.”

“…Are you becoming like him?”

Baek Mu-ho spewed venom, casting a glance at Elder Divine Monk.

Look at this guy. I should tattle on him.

“Hahaha!”

It seemed there was no need to tattle. He had already heard everything.

Like that, we shared opinions on how to move in our own peaceful (?) atmosphere.

Until an intruder entered from the outside.

“Excuse me for a moment… I surrender!”

It was said that those who come with good intent do not come, and those who come with ill intent are not good. Moreover, a grim atmosphere was lingering outside the building.

In such a situation, an uninvited guest was hard to welcome.

Even if they were holding their sword in reverse.

‘He’s fast…’

The sword drawn by Uncle Baek Jin-seong was touching the neck of Fort Leader Dan Ya-heun, who had opened the door and entered.

Although it was not comparable to Senior Jang Mun-gyeong, the Seamless Heavenly Robe, it was a movement that confirmed he was quite a skilled expert.

“I apologize. I heard the situation outside was a bit bad.”

“…I think it would be better if you lowered this thing touching my neck before speaking.”

“Indeed, this is too much like a threat, isn’t it?”

The bantering words were filled with warmth.

“Well, everyone come in. Coincidentally, I had many things I wanted to hear.”

Uncle Baek Jin-seong, who quietly sheathed his sword, accepted the uninvited guests.

At that call, the Fort Leaders who seemed to belong to the same faction entered, including Fort Leader Man San-ho who was close to Dan Ya-heun.

However.

“Should I have cut him down?”

“Haha…”

Among them was a person carrying the still unconscious Georok Fort Leader Ak Gun-pae on his back.

It was as if the easiest target to aim for in this chaotic internal conflict, the most appetizing prey for them, had been thrown to us.

‘Somehow, nothing ever goes easily.’

I guess this too was something I had to accept as my fate.

***

Organizing the stories of these poor cuckoos, who had ended up bringing information in the afternoon as well as in the morning, made it easy to grasp the situation.

The Cheonshin Fort Leader set fire to the swollen greed of the Fort Leaders.

With one thing resolved, a follow-up question arose.

“Why did you come here?”

As if having the same thought as me, Uncle Baek Jin-seong asked Fort Leader Dan.

Fort Leader Dan Ya-heun smirked and replied.

“Because this place is the safest?”

“It is indeed a funny answer. A Green Forest bandit saying that an escort agency is the safest place.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Dan Ya-heun laughed out loud. It was a laugh like someone enjoying a comedy.

“What kind of fellows are those who will be slashing swords and axes out there?”

His words were like a question-and-answer test.

However, without even listening to anyone else’s answer, Dan Ya-heun unfolded his own answer.

“They are guys full of greed. They are bastards who swing their swords to grasp what cannot even be held in their hands. They are acting like retards as if they’ve become the Green Forest King. That’s why this place is safe.”

“Because we will be their source of money?”

“Right. Since they are moving with the thought of when they become the Green Forest King, and it is an internal matter of the Green Forest, there is no need to make an enemy of this place. Rather, they have to appease it well. It is not easy to find an escort agency with the insane courage to climb Mount Cheonja.”

His subsided laughter turned into mockery.

“People who are not stupid are moving like puppets in a foolish opera. To dream of being the king of the Green Forest while being manipulated by others. I wonder if they truly don’t know who will benefit in the end if they fight among themselves. Hahaha! I think you are right. This is a funny story.”

Although he was laughing heartily, his blazing eyes were not laughing.

“The Gangmu Fort Leader is a crazy guy, but he’s a smart crazy guy. It will probably turn out as this fellow says.”

Man San-ho added his words in agreement with Dan Ya-heun.

The other Fort Leaders also nodded and agreed.

From the perspective of the listener, it was a story that drew a hollow laugh.

“Why do they think they are the ones making the choice?”

Our strength is by no means weak.

The strength present here right now is not negligible, but considering the forces we can pull from the outside, even the Green Forest cannot ignore us.

I do not deny that a united Green Forest would become a powerful force that shakes the map of Martial World, but that is only if they achieve a proper integration.

If they carve out their own flesh like this, even if they become one, their overall strength is bound to fall greatly.

Furthermore, it is clear that they will consume a significant amount of energy just to coordinate the dissatisfaction and resistance scattered inside.

Did they think they could coercively press us down in such an exhausted state?

We must have shown our strength through the incident yesterday and the spar this morning?

The answer to my question was simple.

“It’s because everyone has lost their minds to greed. It is not surprising no matter what people consumed by greed do. If humans only moved rationally, would there be anyone in this world ruining themselves through gambling?”

“Even so, this is too sudden.”

“I think they put in shills. There was a sign that the Cheonshin Fort Leader was implicitly contacting other Fort Leaders. I thought it was an effort for the grand unification of the Green Forest, but thinking about it now, those actions look different.”

I understood immediately. Come to think of it, the fools who provoked us when we first climbed Mount Cheonja were also like that.

Planting people and manipulating them might be the characteristic of that fellow called Byeok Ji-sim.

“So this is a fight that the fellow called Byeok Ji-sim cannot lose.”

It was because things that would turn the blade at the decisive moment were secretly planted inside each mountain fort.

‘This is bad…’

If he had set the board to that extent, this fight would end in Byeok Ji-sim’s victory.

In other words, Yi Gyeong-cheon would lose.

If so, the reason I came to Mount Cheonja chasing the information handed down by Master Heavenly Demon would disappear.

Apart from that, taking it one step further created a serious problem.

‘If Crane approached the Green Forest, they probably held hands with the fellow called Byeok Ji-sim.’

Through my conversation with Yi Gyeong-cheon, I had obtained a firm answer that a suspicious external force had contacted the Green Forest.

If that external force was truly Crane, then Byeok Ji-sim was an enemy.

If we let this matter flow according to Byeok Ji-sim’s thoughts, it would be akin to handing over the massive force of the Green Forest to Crane.

“Fort Leader Dan.”

“Uh… whenever someone calls me in that tone, a headache always occurs…”

“It is already a troublesome situation, so stop talking nonsense.”

I was already having a headache in a complex situation, so I wished I wouldn’t waste mental effort on useless things.

“How many factions are there in the Green Forest currently?”

“Factions, you say… Let me see…”

Dan Ya-heun raised both hands and bent his fingers one by one. However, the number was insufficient even after using both hands.

“Thirteen?”

“…That’s a lot.”

I could see why the grand unification of the Green Forest had been sluggish all this time.

Since there were so many factions raising their voices, it was inevitable that integrating opinions would be difficult.

‘Did he induce it like this from the very beginning?’

Although it was the worst situation in terms of integrating opinions, conversely, it was the optimal condition if one was thinking of defeating them individually.

It was highly likely that the Fort Leaders who developed ambition were also aiming for this.

Even if they absorbed just one or two of the finely divided factions, they would command a force twice as large as the other factions.

They could judge that they could become the Green Forest King if they defeated the remaining factions individually and devoured them, rolling their increased size like a snowball.

If he designed it with that in mind, Byeok Ji-sim was a man with a dark and insidious mind, unlike his appearance.

“Are there any factions that can be reasoned with?”

“Why do you ask?”

“We must bring them in.”

“Then the story changes a lot.”

Dan Ya-heun tilted his head and looked toward Uncle Baek Jin-seong.

“Same thoughts?”

“Since the share to take will grow, it’s not a bad idea.”

“You know that if you guys drag us along and jump into this mess, this bizarre safe zone will also disappear, right?”

This was the goal of the Fort Leaders, including Dan Ya-heun.

They had intended to step back before being swayed by the chaotic situation where no one knew who would win, and then attach themselves to the final victor. It was a pragmatic judgment.

“I suppose it can be seen as the choice of the side holding the initiative.”

“You are choosing us? Then the plan changes a lot… Do I have the face of a king?”

Seeing how nonsense naturally came out even in such a situation, he was a formidable man.

In a sense, I felt relieved.

‘Then I should move before that fellow Yi Gyeong-cheon collapses.’

Soon, Mount Cheonja will turn into a mess.

There was no guarantee that Yi Gyeong-cheon would be safe in that chaos.

If so, it is better to move as quickly as possible.

It was just when I made up my mind.

From outside, the sharp sound of clashing metal and someone’s shrieking scream were heard.

Not just one, but multiple sounds simultaneously.

“It seems the combat has begun.”

The Snow Shadow looking outside reported.

Apparently, it was a bit late.