Chapter 347
"A-a master!"
Someone from among the mountain bandits shouted upon seeing my sword qi.
To think they'd shout like that after seeing just this much. As expected, the mountain bandits' own military power is nothing special.
'That was Ma Cheon-deuk's mistake.'
In fact, Ma Cheon-deuk could have raised the Green Forest to be much stronger.
But, he didn't trust his subordinates and didn't properly pass on his martial arts to them.
So the gap in martial arts between Ma Cheon-deuk and his subordinates grew wider and wider, and with his death, the Green Forest collapsed on its own and eventually fell apart.
In fact, what was protecting the Green Forest was not because the mountain bandits were scary, but the fear that they would be retaliated against by Ma Cheon-deuk if they tried to subdue them clumsily.
Because after Ma Cheon-deuk died, the sects and government troops of the areas that had been suffering damage gradually subdued the mountain bandits.
'So if Ma Cheon-deuk came this time, I was going to finish him off here.'
That was the very reason I readily accepted this request.
Although there was also the feeling that I wanted to solve the matter related to the Green Snake with my own hands, more than that, it was because I wanted to weaken the power of the Evil Faction Alliance, which would deal a great blow to the orthodox martial world in the future.
"Hey. What are you all doing? Aren't you going to fight?"
I rather walked a few steps forward and said.
Every time I took a step, a step forward, the mountain bandits flinched back a little and retreated.
The bald man with the crescent blade, perhaps thinking that he shouldn't be pushed back by the momentum, suddenly shouted loudly.
"You bastards! What are you all doing? We are the brave warriors of the Green Forest. Don't do such a disgraceful thing!"
Still, perhaps because he was the leader among them, it seems the mountain bandits have come to their senses a little at his shout.
"You were all scared because of a nobody. I'll show you!"
He, swinging his crescent blade around, kicked the ground hard and rushed at me.
The footwork he performed and the precision with which he held the crescent blade are better than I thought.
It is a martial art that seems to be at the level of Chae Eung-seok, who had driven me to despair and made me go back home when I first entered the martial world in my past life.
At that time, Chae Eung-seok was also a Green Forest member, so I think I remembered him.
Although I have no way of knowing if he is dead or alive now.
Although the bald mountain bandit jumped up with great momentum, he soon plunged back to the ground.
He did not fall to the ground in the same way he had jumped up.
His upper and lower body were separated and fell to the ground as two.
Because he had been split in two by my sword.
"N-no...!"
"Lord!"
Although I didn't hear his name, seeing that they called him 'Lord', it seems he was a person with a pretty high position.
I, looking back at my senior brothers, shouted, "Now!"
At that moment, my senior brothers, who had been waiting with their swords drawn without being told,
kicked the ground at the same time and were shot at the mountain bandits like four streaks of light.
The moment the four lights and the group of mountain bandits collided.
"Uwaaah!"
"Keu-ak!"
"Hic! R-run away!"
The mountain bandits, who had lost their leader, began to run away in a panic.
Since I haven't properly joined the battle yet, it's a clash of about a hundred and just four.
But, the hundred or so mountain bandits couldn't do anything against the four senior brothers and were just being cut by their swords or running away.
"We can't win!"
"I don't want to die!!"
They, as if to show what a disorderly mob is, began to scream and run back at full speed.
But they are not able to spread out in all directions and run away.
Because the left and right are all deep water, and there is only one place to run away, which is behind.
Another reason I set up camp here is this.
Because if the enemies run away in all directions, it's not an easy task to catch each and every one of them, so it's to make them run away in only one direction.
I, performing my movement technique to the fullest, stepped on the shoulders and heads of the mountain bandits and jumped to the very front of them.
And then, after arriving at the path where they would run away, I, with my internal energy full, shouted loudly at the running bastards.
"Stop!!!"
My voice echoed as if it would swallow this space itself, and the sound was so loud that not only the mountain bandits but also my senior brothers, who were cutting down the mountain bandits from behind, stopped their movements for a moment.
"From now on, I will cut down anyone who moves. If you want to live, throw away your weapons and surrender!"
The mountain bandits, without showing any particular reaction to my words, are just looking at each other with their eyes darting left and right.
If they come closer to me, they think they will die at my hands, and if they surrender right away, they are afraid of what their comrades will think, so they can't do anything right now.
In a situation like this, there is a very good way.
"I was going to let you all live, but I guess I can't. Then the ten who put down their weapons last will be killed!"
"H-heok!"
"I surrender."
"Please spare me!"
As soon as my words fell, the bastards began to put their weapons down on the ground.
As expected, you have to make them compete for their lives.
Usually, such villains, the better you treat them, the more they crawl up, and the more you treat them scary or harshly, the more they tend to be obedient.
Because they are petty people who have a tendency to obey the strong and reign over the weak.
"You, you, and you. You get up right now and dispose of the corpses."
"H-how..."
"Whether you throw them into the river or dig a hole and bury them, that's your business. Do I have to teach you that too?"
As I said, pointing at the bastard with my sword, the mountain bandits' faces turned white and they answered that they would.
"When you're done with the corpses, you come to the end over there too. If you run away, I'll chase you to the end of the Central Plains and kill you. Got it?"
"Yes. I understand!"
As they began to clean up the corpses, I, along with my senior brothers, led the mountain bandits to the place where we had first set up camp and made them all kneel.
In that short time, more than thirty mountain bandits had died. It seems my senior brothers' martial arts are even more outstanding than I thought.
In fact, rather than worrying about my senior brothers' skills, I was worried if they could properly swing their swords at people.
Especially that Un Gwang fellow, since his personality is so gentle, I even doubted if he could kill a person.
But at a glance, it seemed that he, because of his gentle personality, did not hesitate to swing his sword at people.
Since it would only cause great pain for a long time if he were to injure them clumsily, it seemed he had chosen a way to kill the opponent with a single clean blow.
Although Un Gwang had fought like that in his past life, seeing him fight like that in this life, where he doesn't have much experience yet, it seems that a person's innate disposition cannot be helped.
Senior Brother Un-hwang and Senior Brother Un-ji-hak also fought much better than I thought.
At this rate, I don't think I need to worry.
"Who is the next leader after the dead bald man among you?"
I said to the kneeling mountain bandits.
But no one answered.
I don't know if they thought they would be marked if they answered, or if there was no one who could be called a representative other than the bald man.
"Aha. You're not going to come out. Is that it?"
As I deliberately stomped the ground with a kwang! and shouted, a person who looked quite old reflexively came running out and said, "G-great hero! We have no positions other than the lord. So I, who am the oldest among us, have come out."
He was a man with graying hair, who seemed to be transitioning from middle age to old age.
"Great hero? What great hero. Do you know who I am?"
"N-no."
"You don't even know that, and you call me a great hero? But that's also funny. You came to kill us without even knowing who we are?"
"W-we didn't come to kill you. We just came to confirm the rumor that you know about Lady Green Snake, and to report that fact to the Green Forest King..."
"Lies. You came to get information, and if you could, you were going to kill or capture us and take us away."
"......"
The mountain bandit couldn't answer.
Because saying no here would be too obvious a lie, and then he couldn't gauge how I would react.
"That's enough. I'll let you all live."
"Yes...?"
"Didn't you hear? I'll let you live. I'm not a murderer, and I don't want to cut the necks of dozens of people who are not resisting here."
"G-great hero. Thank you. Thank you!"
"But I'm not just going to let you live."
I, looking back at the bastards, said, "Never again do things like banditry, where you make a living by harming other people. If you meet me again, you will surely die. I have a very good memory. I've memorized all of your faces."
The mountain bandits began to nod their heads as if they were one body.
"But even if I say this, I know well that some of you will go back to your mountain fortress. A few of you, go back to your mountain fortress and report in detail what happened here to your leader. And as you expected, I know the whereabouts of the Green Snake."
As I brought up the Green Snake's name, I heard gasps of heop! from here and there.
I rolled my eyes and memorized all of their faces.
Because they will be the ones who will go back to the mountain fortress and tell Ma Cheon-deuk about me.
"So tell Ma Cheon-deuk to come himself if he wants to hear about her whereabouts. Then I'll tell him."
Although my story was over, the mountain bandits couldn't answer for a long time, and they couldn't take any action.
"Aha. Are you reluctant to go? Then shall I kill you right here?"
As I said that and drew my sword, they, in a panic, got up from their seats and began to run away with all their might.
Even the ones who had been trudging this way after cleaning up the corpses, as if they had roughly grasped the situation, mixed in with them and naturally ran away.
At that sight, as I let out a chuckle, Un Gwang came up next to me and asked worriedly, "Hwi-ya. Is it okay to let them all go like that?"
"Yes. It's okay. Anyway, if we keep them, it will only be a hassle for us. We have to feed them, watch them while they sleep, and even send them to the bathroom... if so many people stay here and do their business, this whole riverbank will be contaminated with poop and pee."
"No, for that reason..."
"And those bastards will never come back here."
"How do you know that?"
"Originally, that's what mountain bandits are like. They are bastards who never go to a place where they will die. So they build a fortress safely and only do banditry around it. The bastards saw our strength for a moment, right? Then they can never come back. Unless they continue to do banditry somewhere else."
As I spoke with such conviction, Un Gwang just nodded his head as if to say 'I see' and moved on.
"But that doesn't mean we should let our guard down. The ones who will come next will probably be only the strong ones among the mountain bandits. I said before that mountain bandits never come to a place where they will die, right? So it's not much different from saying that only those who are confident that they will survive will come."
Un Gwang nodded his head and answered, "Then it would be most important to maintain our physical condition at its best until then."
"That's right. That's it."
Not only Un Gwang but also the other senior brothers nodded their heads with a serious expression.
That's right. Although the mountain bandits have come and gone, nothing will change.
Because my purpose from the beginning was not the small fry, but Ma Cheon-deuk.
I also have to wait for Ma Cheon-deuk in the best physical condition.
(End of Chapter)