Chapter 75 - The Black Flame Dragon Who Surpasses the Gate (3)
First, to handle the initiation fee I had mentioned to the bandits of the Hwamak Stronghold, I requested help from Haomun through a messenger hawk.
Two days later, exactly as I had ordered, wagons loaded with dozens of wooden barrels entered the village, and I could not hide my surprise when I saw the person leading the procession.
"Aren't you supposed to be in Yueyang?"
The one chuckling was Yang Gunbaek, the owner of the information broker inn in Yueyang and the 11th disciple of the Sect Leader of Haomun.
"It just happened that way. Still, thanks to this, it's an absolute pleasure to see you again after a while, Sir Sowoon."
Yang Gunbaek's attitude was exceptionally friendly. Even considering the fact that my position had changed from Yueyang and I was now a 'Guest' of Haomun, it was so excessive that it made me extremely uncomfortable.
'In a way, he lost the Sect Leader position of Haomun because of me. Does he know that?'
Whether he knew that or not, Yang Gunbaek still had a beaming smile on his face.
"Did you bring what I asked for?"
Yang Gunbaek nodded.
In a corner of the wagon he guided me to, four boxes were lined up side by side.
When I opened the first and second boxes, there were fifty gold coins inside.
"Normally, an initiation fee for a merchant group or escort agency costs about twenty taels of gold, but is there a reason you prepared this much?"
When I opened the third and fourth boxes, there were twenty gold ingots in each.
Each box contained an amount equivalent to a thousand taels of gold.
"I was told the village residents were dragged off to Mount Cheonmok."
"Ah... Don't tell me..."
His face darkened with worry as he realized my intention.
"... I am sure you have a plan, Sir Sowoon, but I cannot help but worry."
I was curious as to what he was thinking.
"Golden-Faced Buddha Blade and One-Eyed Blood Axe, who have newly ascended to the Stronghold Master positions on Mount Cheonmok, are both brutal and greedy individuals. Even if you rescue the hostages, they will likely resume their atrocities in a matter of days."
"Please continue."
"Furthermore, the Ssangmak Stronghold is twice as large as the other Seventy-Two Strongholds of the Green Woods, and their numbers reach over a thousand. How about you look for another stronghold even now?"
He was looking at me as if looking at a younger brother being dragged off to a battlefield.
"I have already accepted the request."
"A request?"
"Yes. Village Chief Heo's grandson made the request."
"If it's a request, does that mean you have already received the payment? Just how much was it..."
"One tael of silver."
"Pardon?"
Yang Gunbaek could no longer continue speaking and just stared at me with complicated feelings.
"This must also be related to the matter you entrusted to me, right?"
"Yes."
"... I just hope you do not get hurt."
Touched by his concern, I took out the five-thousand-tael gold promissory note I had kept in my robes.
It was an amount that covered the gold, the alcohol, and the cost of hiring people.
"..."
Yang Gunbaek looked at the promissory note for a moment, then shook his head and pushed it back.
"Is it too little?"
"No. It is a sufficient amount."
"Then why?"
"I want to offer this matter as my gift to you, Sir Sowoon."
"Pardon?"
No matter if I was a Guest of Haomun, Haomun was thorough in their give-and-take transactions.
Why on earth was he refusing to take the money?
"Senior Sister Haeryeong has looked after me like a mother since I was young."
"Ah."
"When such layers of misfortune fell upon her, my feelings were beyond words."
Yang Gunbaek took his hands out from his sleeves and respectfully offered a fist-and-palm salute.
"Thank you so much for saving my senior sister."
Unlike when I saw him in Yueyang, Yang Gunbaek's appearance was completely genuine, laying bare his inner feelings.
* * *
"Geumpyo hyung, just what is the Eldest Senior Brother thinking?"
"Who knows, but more importantly, aren't you going to put some proper strength into it?"
"In the first place, we could just make the people who brought the alcohol do this."
Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong were pushing a cart loaded with massive barrels with all their might.
"Ugh, I think the Eldest Senior Brother has some sort of plan."
"Dongryong, you'd believe the Eldest Senior Brother even if he said he makes soybean paste out of red beans."
"Isn't that true, though?"
"Damn it, both of you put your backs into it seriously, before I let go too."
"Dammit! Just what is that man we call Eldest Senior Brother thinking, bringing all this oil..."
Eunho was grumbling like that right next to me.
"You're saying that for me to hear, right?"
"Huh? Eldest Senior Brother? When did you get here?"
"Hmph."
I casually flicked a finger wind and broke one of the wheel latches.
SNAP.
"Uh-oh!"
"S-Step back!"
"Dodge!!"
The wheel came off and the cart crashed apart with a *CRUNCH*, while the barrels loaded on it simultaneously rolled down, shattered, and spilled the liquid filling them everywhere.
By a stroke of incredible luck, the cart the Geum-eun-dong Brothers had been pushing was at the very back, so there were no injuries.
"Tsk, tsk, can't you guys even pull that properly?"
"If we weren't using moving cultivation, we could have moved it no problem."
"Then there'd be no point in training, would there?"
While I was bickering with my junior brothers like that, Bang Duchil approached.
"Do you really think you can save the hostages with this?"
Bang Duchil's subordinates, along with the escort warriors, were already moving the carts up Mount Cheonmok.
A spectacular sight unfolded as thirty whole carts were making their way up a single path.
"All of this will be meaningless if we don't actually wipe out the Ssangmak Stronghold."
"Either way, isn't it better not to have hostages in the way?"
"..."
When the procession, loaded heavily with alcohol, reached the end of the path on Mount Cheonmok, bandits appeared and blocked the way.
"Halt!"
They were the very same bandits who had attacked the village a few days ago.
"Greetings."
"You're a guy who doesn't keep his appointments."
Thanks to me having sent someone in advance to announce we would pay an initiation fee, the bandits already knew we were coming.
"My apologies. As you can see, there were many goods to deliver, so we were a bit late."
The bandits looked quite satisfied at the sight of the meat and alcohol barrels piled high on the carts.
"It doesn't matter to us, but the Stronghold Masters of the Ssangmak Stronghold won't let this slide easily."
"I have prepared separate gifts for them, so you do not need to worry."
"We will move the goods from here on out."
"Understood."
Along with the bandit's words, hundreds of figures suddenly popped out from the bushes.
"Waaaaah!"
Appearing with a thunderous roar, they began carrying away the goods loaded on the carts with lightning speed, exactly as if they were conducting a raid.
"Hold on."
I blocked the hand of a bandit reaching for the box placed in front of me with the Black Dragon Sword.
"What the!"
"These are items I will deliver directly to the Stronghold Masters."
"What kind of bullshit...!"
SMACK.
When I batted his hand away with the scabbard, the bandit grabbed his hand and looked ready to draw his blade at any moment.
"Stop it. Don't carelessly touch the Stronghold Masters' goods."
When the bandit I had been conversing with spoke up, the one who was about to draw his blade quickly averted his gaze.
"Follow me."
* * *
The hills located between the two massive peaks that formed Mount Cheonmok.
Whenever there was a grand event, the Ssangmak Stronghold would gather in these hills to hold a feast.
"Waaaaaaah!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
The atmosphere rang out loudly as a crowd of over a thousand people shouted within the hills.
It was an overwhelming number—enough to make the faces of not only the Geum-eun-dong Brothers and Bang Duchil's subordinates but even Bang Duchil himself, who had lived as if he were the sole master of his own universe, turn slightly pale.
"Senior Brother, is this really okay?"
Geumpyo could not hide his anxiety.
Although their attire and weaponry were not uniform, considering that each and every one of them was an expert trained in martial arts, the Ssangmak Stronghold was practically on par with the mid-tier sects of the 108 Peaks.
"Enough!"
When a booming Lion's Roar swept across the hills, the cheering bandits stopped their movements and looked toward the two people sitting in the highest seats of honor.
"You're Jin Sowoon of the Taiyi Sect?"
A large chair was placed atop a tiger skin, and leaning against that chair was a massive blade easily two palms wide. It was Golden-Faced Buddha Blade, Song Go-ak.
"Martial arts junior Jin Sowoon greets you seniors."
To be precise, using a title like 'senior' for Underworld trash made no sense, but I was a great warrior who showed courtesy even to villains.
"Kukuk. If it's the Black Flame Dragon, the title of senior doesn't sound too strange."
The one-eyed man sitting on a bear skin next to him was none other than the Geummok Stronghold Master, One-Eyed Blood Axe.
"So, what brings Junior Black Flame Dragon to a place where bandit trash live? And gathering the entirety of the Ssangmak Stronghold in one place, no less?"
"Could it be you called us to take the Murim standard exam?"
"Kuahahaha."
"Kuahahaha."
The hills rang with thunderous laughter at One-Eyed Blood Axe's words.
Playing dumb like that despite knowing exactly why I asked them to gather was just a ploy to raise their asking price.
"As you seniors are well aware, how could the Taiyi Sect possibly qualify for the Murim Academy standard exam? I intend to pay the initiation fee, just as I mentioned originally."
"Hmm."
"Our Taiyi Sect recently acquired a large merchant group, and it seems we will be traveling back and forth between Hangzhou and Suzhou quite often. Therefore, I have prepared a small gift."
Geumpyo and Eunho walked forward, each holding one small box.
Golden-Faced Buddha Blade and One-Eyed Blood Axe looked unimpressed by the boxes, which contained twice the amount normally used for an initiation fee.
"We appreciate the sincerity you've shown by bringing alcohol and meat for the initiation fee, Junior, but gathering us all in one place for just this offends us quite a bit."
I nodded coolly. When I had initially asked them to gather all the bandits from the Hwamak Stronghold and the Geummak Stronghold in one place, the other side's reaction had been exactly like this.
"In truth, there was something else I really wanted to propose."
Geumpyo and Eunho opened the large boxes once again.
The boxes, each containing twenty gold ingots, radiated brilliance in all directions as they caught the sunlight shining on the hills.
The thousand or so bandits who had been chattering all around stood wide-eyed and drooling, seemingly struck dumb for that moment.
"While touring the nearby villages, I heard that the villagers are doing hard labor here."
THUD.
When Golden-Faced Buddha Blade stomped his foot, the shockwave subtly reached me.
"So?"
"Our sect has a motto: 'Benefit mankind widely.' Because of this, I simply could not overlook it. If it is alright with you, please grant me permission to take back the people who were brought here."
I offered a fist-and-palm salute, but the other side gave no response.
"Kuku. You're an amusing fellow."
One-Eyed Blood Axe picked up his red axe and ran his hand along the blade.
"To dare propose a trade with the Ssangmak Stronghold."
"Isn't most of the world driven by transactions?"
"However, stepping on the other party's pride does not make for a transaction. In exchange for that, you might have to leave your neck behind here."
"Since ancient times, it has been said that killing the goose that lays the golden eggs is something only fools do."
"What!"
One-Eyed Blood Axe shot up from his seat.
The bandits sitting on the right side of the hills followed suit, standing up and drawing their weapons.
Startled by that momentum, Geumpyo, Eunho, Dongryong, and Bang Duchil's subordinates all tried to draw their own weapons.
"I do not know if you have heard, but the Taiyi Sect acquired the Namgung Clan's Cangqiong Merchant Group without possessing any decent martial arts. There is no predicting how much larger it will grow in the future. Letting such a good business partner slip away while being blinded by momentary greed is something only fools do."
"Haha, do you have three lives or something?"
"It is because I am confident that the esteemed Stronghold Masters of the Ssangmak Stronghold would not make a foolish choice."
"You're a cheeky bastard."
One-Eyed Blood Axe said while twirling his axe. However, his gaze remained glued to the boxes.
No matter if he was the Master of the Geummak Stronghold, he could not help but be easily swayed in front of a thousand taels of gold.
"As you say, we can release the people along with taking the money. However, we cannot guarantee they won't end up back here again."
It meant they would take the money, and then simply catch the released people and bring them back again.
'That's exactly what thieves would say.'
I coolly nodded.
"What happens afterward is of no concern to me."
"What?"
"Huh?"
At my words, both my group and One-Eyed Blood Axe along with Golden-Faced Buddha Blade stared at me wide-eyed.
"We are merely doing a good deed; we cannot possibly stop disaster from striking them again, can we?"
One-Eyed Blood Axe, who had been staring blankly as if struck dumb, burst into uproarious laughter.
"Kuahahahahaha."
"Kuahahahahaha!"
At the same time, the bandits on the right who had drawn their weapons burst into laughter in unison, as if they were One-Eyed Blood Axe's shadows.
"You're a fun bastard! I heard a Rising Star of the Underworld wearing the skin of the Orthodox faction had appeared, and you are indeed just as the rumors say."
'No, how dare you compare me to the likes of you.'
"Fine. Take them. However!"
One-Eyed Blood Axe paused for a moment.
"They must prepare the food for the feast before you take them!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
At the word 'feast,' the bandits, catching the scent of alcohol, hollered from all directions.
"Do you think this settles everything?"
At that moment, a booming sound transmission struck my eardrums, startled me so much I almost covered my ears.
Turning my head, I saw Bang Duchil's lips moving slightly.
Just like his ignorantly massive internal energy, he couldn't control his sound transmission either.
"Didn't I rescue them for now?"
"Thanks to you, we lost the chance to launch an ambush."
"You were planning to ambush them? Against a thousand people?"
Is one of the traits of the Heavenly Dipper Limitless Body having a dense brain? How come his brain can't even keep up with half of what his body can do?
"..."
"Just stay quiet and watch. Everything has been prepared."
