Chapter 81: Insubordination (1)
The Dog Fortress of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union burned down and vanished overnight.
The smoke and ashes left behind as the water bandits’ mountain fortress atop the peak burned down were enough to dye the nearby river pitch-black.
However, it was not merely that fact which astonished the public.
The provisions and riches that had been piled up in heaps at the water bandits’ mountain fortress.
Those were moved to the houses of the poor commoners overnight.
Families that had not been able to boil even a single bowl of grass porridge for days, families where a mother had given birth but could not receive any postpartum care, families with sick members, and countless others who were worried about their next meal because their farming or fishing had failed.
One morning, they were utterly dumbfounded to see rice and silver coins piled high in the yards of their homes.
This place, Zhangjia Village, was also a similar case.
“My goodness, what is all this?”
“This is a mystery that would make even ghosts wail.”
“Who on earth left these things here?”
The people were staring blankly at the provisions piled high in the center of the village.
Due to a severe drought this summer, they had no stored food left.
Their worries had been as high as a mountain, wondering if they would have to dig out and eat the seeds saved for next spring just to get through the upcoming winter, so what kind of miracle was this?
With this much, the entire village could sufficiently survive the winter.
And that was without even falling into debt anywhere.
The young people whispered among themselves.
“I heard that some heavily bearded men came overnight and piled the provisions here?”
“But there is a rumor that they were the water bandits of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union.”
“What? Water bandits? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Why would those wicked thieves distribute rice?”
“Indeed. Since when do they give back after stealing? Sigh…”
Everyone found the idea of water bandits sharing rice to be preposterous.
However, some of the elders of Zhangjia Village were nodding their heads.
“The Yangtze River Water Bandit Union of the past was not like the one today, indeed.”
“That’s right. When Lord Giant Butcher was around, such things happened often.”
“Back then, they were truly a band of righteous bandits.”
“Seeing these provisions piled up now, it feels as if we have returned to those days…”
Well, in any case, what did it matter if those who brought the provisions were water bandits or government soldiers?
The people of Zhangjia Village excitedly began carrying the provisions to their homes.
The chimneys, which had not emitted smoke for days, were heated hot, and the sound of boiling water began to echo from each house.
Is there really anything grand to human life?
If the starving children could eat their fill of food, the elderly parents who shivered in the cold rooms could sleep warmly, and the wife and husband who were always soaked in worry could laugh for the first time in a while, then that was enough.
The people of Zhangjia Village were thoroughly enjoying the happiness that had visited them for the first time in a long while.
Right at that moment.
A band of water bandits made their appearance in Zhangjia Village.
“Oh? It seems the rumors are true.”
A water bandit with a scar on his face flared his nostrils as he caught the scent of cooked rice.
“It seems the talk about the Dog Fortress bastards going crazy, refusing our invitation, and throwing away the military rations anywhere is actually true.”
“Wow. Distributing the money and rice they went through the trouble of stealing? What kind of disgrace to water bandits is this?”
“It is understandable why Lord Tiger Thousand-Head is furious.”
“Sigh, we will have to suffer like dogs for a while to collect all of them back one by one.”
They were water bandits belonging to the Tiger Fortress.
Several Ten-Head-level water bandits headed toward Zhangjia Village with sabers in hand.
The children playing at the entrance of the village, knowing nothing, cheered and approached them.
“Thank you, uncles! Grandfather, grandmother, mother, and father were so happy!”
A child bowed deeply toward the water bandits.
At that, one of the water bandits smirked.
“Those were the water bandits of the Dog Fortress.”
“Huh?”
“We belong to the Tiger Fortress.”
Having spoken, the water bandit grabbed the child’s hair tightly.
“From now on, we are reclaiming all the provisions scattered in this backwater village. Whatever you have consumed in the meantime must be repaid twofold.”
The water bandits cackled as each of them unsheathed their swords.
The children’s faces were dyed with terror.
Right at that moment.
“A reaction is already coming from the Tiger Fortress.”
An amused voice drifted from the grassy bushes across the road.
Three men and women revealed themselves from where the water bandits turned their heads.
With their faces and clothes covered in fallen leaves, cocklebur fruits, and beggar-ticks seeds, it was hard to make out their appearance at a glance.
Among them, a tall man with languid eyes spoke.
“They must be quite desperate, huh? To the point of sending lackeys like you to retrieve the assets.”
“What? Lackeys?”
The water bandits’ gazes turned fierce.
They walked into the grassy bushes with swords in hand.
“Who on earth are you? Why are you so eager to die?”
“Me?”
The man with the languid eyes tilted his head once.
Then, he looked at the woman beside him.
“Since both of us have decided to stop playing the butcher, we are now just Dog (Sul) and Pig (Hae)… dogs and pigs, indeed. Woof-woof, oink-oink~”
“Shut up! I have the name Jeok-hyang!”
“By that logic, I also have the wonderful name of Gyeon Sul. Ah, starting from my name, Gyeon and Sul… I am the dog of dogs. Woof-woof—”
These were the Dog Butcher and the Pig Butcher respectively.
And the name of the boy between them was, of course, Chui.
“Hey.”
Chui spoke while looking at the water bandits.
“Tell me everything you know about the Tiger Butcher.”
“Tiger Butcher? Did you just call our Lord Tiger Thousand-Head a butcher, kid?”
The water bandits snickered with swords in hand.
It was because they relied on their superior numbers, which exceeded a dozen.
Before long, one of the water bandits’ eyes gleamed.
“First of all, kid, let’s pull out your tongue before we talk. You bastards behind him shouldn’t even think about dying easily either. The beggar bastards of Zhangjia Village will be next.”
Numerous swords pointed toward Chui.
Of course,
…Slash!
not a single one of them was able to swing their sword properly.
This was because Chui had swung the Plum Blossom Ghost Spear once and slashed the water bandits’ knees.
“……Huh?”
The water bandit who had pointed his sword at the child earlier widened his eyes in surprise.
Suddenly the ground came into view, and the strength drained from his legs.
Since no strength could go below his knees, once he fell down, he could not stand up again.
“Huh? Uh-uh?”
Meanwhile, Chui grabbed the water bandit by his hair and pulled him up.
Before he knew it, an awl was held in his other hand.
“Where is the Tiger Butcher?”
“……”
“If you have nothing to say, you die.”
Only then could the water bandits grasp reality.
The fact that a single wrong word had made them cripples, and now even their lives were about to be taken.
* * *
Chui continued to advance toward the Tiger Fortress.
During that time, Jeok-hyang and Gyeon Sul kept following behind Chui.
“……”
Chui paused in his tracks for a moment.
Never mind Jeok-hyang, who had crafted the Plum Blossom Ghost Spear for him, but there was no telling why Gyeon Sul was following him.
Thus, Chui spoke toward Gyeon Sul.
“I will ask one thing.”
“Sure. Ask.”
“Stop following me.”
“Isn’t that not a question?”
Gyeon Sul chuckled and scratched his head.
“Even though I listened to you, disbanded my subordinates, set fire to my mountain fortress, and distributed all the piled-up riches to the commoners, you still don’t trust me?”
“……”
Chui fell into thought for a moment.
In fact, Gyeon Sul had meekly obeyed Chui’s words.
He had distributed all the gold bars, silver ingots, Sichuan brocades, provisions, and so forth that had been piled mountain-high in the storehouse to the weak and poor.
Without a single complaint or regret, Gyeon Sul had cleared everything out, and since then, he had been continuously chasing after Chui like this.
“I can’t just lose and walk away, so shouldn’t we have a rematch?”
Gyeon Sul smiled as he repeatedly tossed and caught the wooden dice and wooden dice markers in his hand.
Chui said as if it were a hassle.
“The Wooden Dice Game is over. If you lost, just get lost.”
“That’s not right. Why would you say I lost?”
“?”
Gyeon Sul raised an objection to Chui’s words.
“You said so with your own mouth. You said one doesn’t know until the dice are thrown to the very end.”
“……”
“I understand that I threw and got a zero. But by that logic, doesn’t it mean we don’t know what number you would have thrown afterward? Since you haven’t thrown yet anyway.”
“……”
“And in the rules of the wooden dice board, there is also one that says when two wooden dice show the same side, you throw the wooden dice one more time. So, strictly speaking, I should have thrown the wooden dice one more time back then.”
Zero and zero. Whether it was considered a match of the same numbers even if the sum was zero, or not.
Gyeon Sul was protesting about this point right now.
Chui furrowed his brow.
“Then why didn’t you say so then?”
“Hohoho—if I had done that then, would my pretty boy have said, ‘Yes, I understand’? I suspect you would have just cut off my neck because it was annoying.”
“That is true.”
“Right? That’s why I have to keep following you and grumbling like this. Until you give me a rematch.”
Gyeon Sul shook the wooden dice in one hand and the Dog-Head Guillotine in the other.
Ssshh…
Chui raised his spear.
It seemed he intended to give him that rematch right here.
At that moment, Jeok-hyang stopped Chui.
“Stop it. If you two fight seriously, it will only become troublesome for both.”
She whispered in Chui’s ear in a low voice.
“Gyeon Sul, that crazy bastard’s skills are considerable. Even Senior Brother Ja and Senior Brother Chuk recognized it. No matter how strong you are, it will be hard to win without sustaining damage unless it’s a surprise attack.”
“It does not matter.”
“It does matter. Think about what you are trying to do right now.”
“……”
Jeok-hyang’s tone was serious from start to finish.
“You are going to strike the Tiger Fortress of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union. Don’t you know what this means?”
“……”
“You are going to bring down one of the pillars of the Fifteen Provinces of the Heterodox Way. To compare it to the journey you walked in the past… yes! It is similar to trying to destroy the Namgung Clan.”
If the Namgung Clan belonged to the Fifteen Provinces of the Orthodox Way that comprised the Martial Alliance, then the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union belonged to the Fifteen Provinces of the Heterodox Way that comprised the Heterodox Alliance.
And Chui was currently on his way to capture the Tiger Butcher, who was the practically strongest figure in that Yangtze River Water Bandit Union.
Jeok-hyang continued speaking.
“No matter if they are collapsing from within due to internal strife… the Tiger Butcher is a master who controls most of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union. It will by no means be an easy fight.”
“What is it that you want to say?”
“That we need even one more ally on our side. At the very least, let’s not make an enemy of him.”
At that, Gyeon Sul picked up Jeok-hyang’s words.
“My Junior Sister is surprisingly smart. But why did our Master cast Junior Sister out? Seeing how well you use your petty wits, you would have survived swiftly and well even within the grasp of the Tiger Butcher.”
“You, shut up!”
“Ahem. Your words are too harsh, Junior Sister. I am still your Senior Brother.”
Gyeon Sul acting sly and feigning innocence, and Jeok-hyang looking full of worries.
However, Chui showed no particular agitation.
As if he were a person with no plans or thoughts.
It was difficult to be this calm and composed right before a grand undertaking.
Wondering if that was highly unusual, Gyeon Sul asked.
“But what is your concrete plan, you guys? Even if you exclude me, how do you intend to strike the Tiger Butcher? There must be many other senior brothers and junior sisters who have sided with him there.”
“Well, as for that, I still…”
Jeok-hyang also hesitated and looked back at Chui.
At that, Chui asked in return.
“Must there absolutely be a plan?”
“?”
“?”
Jeok-hyang’s and Gyeon Sul’s expressions went blank.
But regardless of their reaction, Chui was still calm.
“I plan to just break through the front.”
In the first place, Chui was not the type of person to formulate complex plans.
To just charge in and stab everyone to death.
What method could be simpler and more convenient than this?
Unrivaled Spear Ghost