“… No, you bastard! What are you saying in this situation!”
However, Chung Myung yelled out in anger,
“Are you really saying that in this situation?! What should I say in this situation?!”
“Still, what is a guy known to be a part of the Justice Faction saying in front of bandits, ‘educated men’? Are you for real? Yah, you bastard, if bandits were educated people, then beggars are the most cultured!”
Hong Dae-Kwang, who was listening to this from behind, cleared his throat,
“Hmm. That is a bit wrong…”
“What?”
“Do not step in, Mister.”
Hong Dae-Kwang’s words were instantly cut off, and he turned to the distant sky.
‘I feel like I am being ignored way too much these days…’
How did he, a brancher leader; a candidate to be the next sect leader; someone who had all the right skills, end up being treated this way?
Whether he was sorry or not, the two of them continued to bicker.
Baek Cheon was wide-eyed with anger.
“Do not act like a fool and draw out your sword!”
“You! What good will drawing my sword do now? Yah, Jin Dong-Ryong!”
“No, but why, Cho Sam!”
At that moment, their ears heard a cold voice,
“Be quiet, both of you. Unless you want to be stabbed in the back.”
“Yes.”
“Sorry.”
Yu Yiseol’s voice was as cold as the north winds, silencing both of them.
“Kuehehehe. Are these people actually doing this in front of us?”
At that moment, a large man, built like a reliable steel tower, stomped forwards and grabbed the massive blade which was stuck in front of the cart.
“I wonder if that mouth will work well after I skin you all alive!”
Hearing the ferocious dialogue that came from this man’s mouth, Baek Cheon and Chung Myung looked at each other.
“This seems to be a business proposal?”
“Right, something similar.”
The man flinched at this.
“… do these people know who I am?”
He shouted like a ferocious mountain,
“I am the ruler of this mountain! Like a tiger, the Martial Twin Great Blades’s Lee Kwang!”
Chung Myung and Baek Cheon sighed at the same time.
“Another tiger.”
“Right, another one…”
Do bandits have obsessions with tigers? Why were bandits so eager to liken themselves to tigers?
What is with these grandiose names? Chung Myung sighed as he asked,
“So, why did you stop us?”
“Huhuhu, you are a fool. To ask such a thing even after looking at the situation.”
“This man really makes me feel stuffy. Would I ask if I knew? I was trying to have a good conversation.”
Chung Myung cracked his neck and grabbed his sword, to which Lee Kwang snorted.
“You want to fight back? This little guy isn’t afraid. Even after seeing these numbers, he wants to fight. I will let you know how reckless your thinking was by taking your life!”
His eyes changed,
“Get them right…”
Just then…
“Get out!”
“Get out of my way.”
In came a low, cold voice, and the group of bandits began to part.
“Uh?”
Baek Cheon tilted his head and looked towards the commotion. The previously menacing bandits had opened up a path, and down this path walked a group of people dressed in green uniforms.
Baek Cheon frowned.
‘Strong’
At first glance, those who appeared now seemed different from the other bandits. Anyone who recognized this difference saw it as the difference between warriors and bandits.
Among them, the most eye-catching was the man in the lead.
Was he around forty or something? His body appeared slightly small, probably because of the massive bandits surrounding him. The man had this cold face, like he was covered in a thin layer of ice, and his expression was twisted.
And this man turned to Lee Kwang.
When he noticed the stare, Lee Kwang flinched.
“Group Leader.”
“Uh?”
“I made sure to tell you I wanted a polite stop.”
“Uh? Y-You said so?”
“What is this supposed to mean?”
“Didn’t you tell me to handle the guests respectfully? Isn’t this a business matter…?”
“…”
The man looked at Lee Kwang and sighed.
Baek Cheon felt an unknown sense of this bandit’s identity the moment he saw the man.
“… I literally meant for you to show respect to the guests. I didn’t mean for you to stop them like this.”
“You should have said…”
As Lee Kwang mumbled, the man shook his head like he didn’t want to hear it anymore.
“Everyone back off.”
“Uh? What…”
The man with a cold gaze made Lee Kwang flinch before waving his hand,
“Back off. Everyone back off!”
All the bandits who watched this situation just moved back without a word.
“Take those too.”
“Put that away! That too! That thing too!”
The retreating bandits took back all the weapons they had thrown around the cart.
Yoon Jong looked back at Baek Cheon with a face that said he couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Sasuk, what is happening?”
“Umm…”
While traveling with Chung Myung, Baek Cheon had gone through a lot of weird things which no one would have normally gone through. Unfortunately, the things he was experiencing seemed to be growing more bizarre.
When the bandits finally moved back, the man in green robes walked forward,
“Excuse me.”
The man bowed his head deeply and then continued,
“There has been some kind of misunderstanding. I did speak about it…”
The guy gritted his teeth, and each time he did that, Lee Kwang would flinch.
“Phew.”
He controlled his breathing and turned to Baek Cheon.
“I am Kwak Min.”
“Kwak Min?”
At that moment, Hong Dae-Kwang, who had been hiding behind the cart, jumped up shouting,
“Kwak Min? Black Night Tiger Kwak Min? The one who is a part of the Green Forest Ten Shadows?”
The person called Kwak Min nodded at his words,
“Yes.”
“Ah…”
Chung Myung looked at him and tilted his head,
“Who is he?”
“One of the Green Forest Ten Shadows, the elites who escort the Green Forest King.”
“Oh?”
Is that so?
Chung Myung turned to Kwak Min, and the man asked in a gentle voice,
“You are Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon?”
“Yes? What about it?”
“We have been rude. The Lord of Mountains wants to see you, please follow me.”
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung smiled and said,
“I asked for him to come to the Tang Family, so why wait here?”
“…you can ask him that directly.”
“Yes, well. I can?”
As Chung Myung shrugged, Kwak Min gestured towards the forest.
“This way.”
Chung Myung didn’t answer, but the man didn’t wait and moved ahead with the other green-robed warriors following behind him.
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung jumped down from the cart,
“The bandits are coming out hard.”
“Yah, Chung Myung. Are you really going?”
“They are calling.… So, of course, we need to go.”
Despite the worried tone, Chung Myung was giggling,
“You never know? We could pull out plenty of riches this time.”
“…”
At this point, they weren’t sure what kind of people these bandits were.
Even while walking, Kwak Min would constantly glance back.
Grrr!
Thud! Thud!
Even at a glance, it could be discerned that the iron cart was quite heavy, but it was still being pulled down this mountain path.
Even though Kwak Min had been patient enough to let this go, he couldn’t stand it any longer.
“That…”
“Uh?”
“…do you really need to bring the cart?”
“Ah. Yes. Well, you expect us to leave the cart on the side of the road and go away.”
Chung Myung smiled,
“But, this place is not somewhere else, but instead in an area full of bandits. And because of this, I am quite nervous about leaving our luggage behind.”
“….”
Kwak Min’s eyes twitched.
‘How was this guy like this?’
A little while ago, his name and title were revealed, and Hong Dae-Kwang had spoken about it. He had even spoken kindly about their King.
But even after hearing such powerful people’s names, this man was being this cool?
‘Is this guy made of iron?’
He was told to be careful because Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon was a rather odd human, but this was beyond his imagination.
“Are you talking this casually out of habit?”
“Yes? Casually?”
“You talked about us being bandits a while back.”
“Ah, I don’t usually compliment others, I am rather stingy.”
“…compliment?”
Kwak Min didn’t really understand what he meant and asked,
“What do you mean? A compliment?”
“Uh? Bandits are people who make a living by stealing other people’s things and their money. Isn’t what I said a compliment to their work?”
“…”
Chung Myung smiled like he wasn’t used to complimenting others so openly.
“Still, it seems like you hold a high position, so I said something nice.”
“…”
Kwak Min gave up talking to Chung Myung. He could feel thousands of calm cells in his body exploding, but he didn’t bother saying more to the man who the Green Forest King personally wanted as a guest.
Instead, he looked back at Chung Myung with cold eyes.
“You can say anything to me.”
“Uh?”
“But be careful of what you say when meeting our Green Forest King.”
“Ugh, so scary. Should I just turn back?”
“…”
Stop.
Stop.
Kwak Min shook his head and hurried forwards.
“Let’s go together!”
Chung Myung smiled brightly and followed behind him.
Not long after they had hurried forwards, a large mountain came into view. An atypically large mountain and a huge building surrounded by a wooden fence. The size of all of this was so extraordinary compared to what they had seen till now.
The disciples of Mount Hua admired all of it,
“Wow.”
“It is really big! How did they build this in the mountains?!”
“… what? Mount Hua also has a place on top of the mountains.”
“Uh? Right.”
Jo Gul realized his question was absurd.
“Is this where the Green Forest King lives?”
Hong Dae-Kwang shook his head at Baek Cheon’s question.
“Yes and No.”
“Huh?”
“This is the Great Tiger Woods, the King usually resides in the Green Woods. But the King rarely stays in the Green Woods. He usually travels all over, taking care of his bandits.”
“Ahhh.”
“Which is why there is a saying in Kangho, ‘The Green Forest King only ever stays in the Green Woods.’ Meaning this place is both the Great Tiger Woods and the Green Woods.”
Baek Cheon nodded as he observed the building. At that time, Kwak Min reached the front gate and shouted,
“Open the gates! The guests have arrived!”
As if waiting, the large wooden gates opened up.
“This way.”
“Umm.”
Chung Myung’s eyes shone, and he entered the main grounds of the compound.
“Are we really heading in?”
“…of course we should.”
The disciples of Mount Hua also followed behind Kwak Min with worried faces.
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung glanced around the wide yard. Surrounding the yard were large wooden buildings and huts for all the bandits, and those who were around glanced at them.
“Mister Beggar.”
“Uh?”
“Take good care so that these bastards don’t touch the cart.”
“What…? You aren’t taking me in?”
The answer, however, came from Kwak Min,
“The Green Forest King wants to see only the disciples from Mount Hua.”
“Ugh.”
Hong Dae-Kwang looked around anxiously, pained.
“And what about Monk Hae Yeon?”
“Yes, he is a guest of Mount Hua.”
“Than me?”
“Mister is a beggar living in front of Mount Hua.”
Hong Dae-Kwang’s face twisted at this.
“What do I get to do when I am being cornered, you bastard!”
“Should we just kill you?”
Chung Myung giggled and urged Kwak Min,
“What are you waiting for? Take us in.”
“…come this way.”
Kwak Min shook his head and took them in. Standing in the largest building…
“I will say this one more time.”
The cold eyes looked at Chung Myung,
“If you disrespect our King, do not even dream about leaving alive.”
“What are you talking so much for? Get out of my way.”
“…”
Kwak Min gulped and just moved, unable to communicate with this guy.
“Ahem!”
Chung Myung put his hands behind his back, and the door opened. Baek Cheon looked at Kwak Min, feeling a bit sad, and then led his sahyungs into the room.
And….
“Uh?”
“Ah?”
“UHHH?”
“…oh god.”
The disciples all exclaimed at the same time.
“This…”
Baek Cheon was also wide-eyed.
“Uhahaha!”
Inside the large hall was a massive chair decorated with a leopard’s skin. And sitting on it was a gigantic man with an arrogant form, large enough to make the chair look small.
“Come in! I am the Green Forest King who dominates the mountains.”
His rough beard looked like it was made from hay.
His forearms were much thicker than a woman’s waist. Literally, he was a dominating man in terms of appearance!
“…are they brothers?”
“I heard that there are two of everyone in the world.”
“We should have brought the Nanman Beast Palace Lord.”
“It would have been a tearful reunion.”
With his extremely familiar appearance, the disciples of Mount Hua felt a lot more at home.
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