Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“L-leader!”

The Suffering Fox, Lee Jong-Bang, burst through the door.

Go Hong frowned, clearly displeased.

“Why all the commotion?”

“L-leader! We’re in trouble!”

Lee Jong-Bang’s face was pale as he shouted this, and Go Hong reprimanded him.

“It’s because that guy, Mun Sa-Cheol, is so flighty. Now, what’s the matter?”

“M-Mount Hua…”

“What?”

“The Mount Hua sect is subduing the other bandit groups and heading this way!”

“… what?”

Go Hong frowned, his tone indifferent.

“What are you saying?”

“Uh?”

“Wasn’t that the plan? Didn’t you say that if I stayed put, they would attack the others, and I just had to watch and then take them out, right?”

“But things aren’t going as I expected! I thought Mount Hua and the other bandits would form a two-party alliance. But now, Mount Hua is single-handedly annihilating the other bandits!”

“Annihilating?”

“I-it’s as I said. They’re overpowering the others without sustaining much damage.”

After delivering his report, Lee Jong-Bang swallowed hard, fearing the leader’s harsh words.

However, contrary to his expectations, Go Hong didn’t seem too upset by the report. Instead, he grinned as if he found it amusing.

“Oh, it seems those youngsters are tougher than I thought.”

“Mount Hua’s strength is greater than we anticipated! Yes, it’s my mistake! I should have realized it when our group was defeated!”

“Tsk. You incompetent fool.”

Go Hong merely stroked his beard a few times and then looked at the bowing Lee Jong-Bang.

“So, what do you propose?”

“Well, things aren’t looking good. First, we should retreat…”

“Retreat?”

Hearing that, Go Hong burst into laughter.

“You coward, have you lost your mind? Are you suggesting that I, Go Hong, should run from these children?”

“B-But leader… their force appears so formidable! Their morale has significantly increased since they defeated two bandit groups…”

Lee Jong-Bang lowered his head as much as he could while speaking.

“There’s a saying that one should avoid the rain when it falls. For now, it might be better to take shelter for a while to avoid it.”

“Tsk tsk. You fool.”

Go Hong sneered.

“With that head of yours, all you’re good for is wiping the backsides of others.”

“L-Leader!”

Go Hong then asked airily.

“Right. I heard there’s a rat among those Mount Hua bastards?”

“… Yes. It’s said that the Green Forest King is also with Mount Hua.”

“Hahahaha!”

Go Hong held his stomach and laughed. His eccentric laughter echoed throughout the building, causing it to shake and dust to fall from the ceiling.

“L-Leader?”

Lee Jong-Bang stared blankly at Go Hong as if he couldn’t comprehend.

Of course, Go Hong wasn’t the most intelligent person around. However, he certainly wasn’t one to take unnecessary risks.

He couldn’t have risen to his position in the Green Forest, a place full of conspiracies, without being cautious. Even if luck played a part in his rise, it was only possible for him to build his current reputation with some skill.

Lee Jong-Bang found himself understanding Go Hong even less now.

“Hahahaha! That rat is really using his brain. He must be coming up here confident of victory.”

“L-Leader. Please assess the situation…”

“Right. I understand it, too.”

Go Hong said harshly.

“You’re saying that the other bandits, who were essentially keeping me in check, are now completely destroyed, and I have no competition around. And the kids of Mount Hua, who are a hundred times stronger, are here with that rat?”

“Yes.”

“What better situation could there be?”

“… Uh?”

There was a bright light in Go Hong’s eyes.

“Then, wouldn’t it mean that as long as I killed those Mount Hua brats and the rat, no one would interfere with me taking the position of the Green Forest king? Those who were idiots wouldn’t dare to stand in front of me, and even those who had some power wouldn’t be able to deny that I caught and killed Im So-Byeong.”

“L-leader! Of course, it is. But isn’t that the case only when we can stop those Mount Hua people with our strength?”

Indeed, the Great Star Bandits had power that couldn’t be compared to the other bandits around them. Even if the other two bandit groups combined their strength, it would still be difficult for them to win.

However, did that mean that the bandits here could take down two bandit groups without taking damage?

‘That made no sense.’

If they had such power, there would have been no need for them to wait until now. Because they could have just swept them away at once.

‘There was no way he wouldn’t know it.’

So why was he in this condition?

“Hehe… there was no doubt in what he said.”

Hm?

The moment Lee Jong-Bang raised his eyes with doubt, Go Hong stood up.

“Open the doors to the place and greet them!”

“N-No! Leader…”

Lee Jong-Bang was shocked and raised his head, but Go Hong’s gaze was on him.

“…”

This made him break into a cold sweat.

“Say something else, and I will rip that mouth of yours out.”

“…”

“Tsk. Tsk. This was why you people couldn’t do it. You couldn’t hold on to it even if there was a chance. Tsk tsk.”

Go Hong’s face was ready for a fight. He shouted in a raging voice.

“Do you think those leaders of bandits down there? Blood Tiger? Do you think they can be compared to this Go Hong! I will clearly explain to those who came from the villages of Shaanxi why I am feared!”

Lee Jong-Bang eventually gulped and nodded.

‘I couldn’t stop him anymore.’

Mount Hua would soon come. As soon as they arrived, the fight would happen, too.

He could only hope that Go Hong had a way out.

“But….”

Baek Cheon, who was climbing the mountain, looked at Chung Myung in confusion and spoke.

“What?”

“… Isn’t the Green Forest one of the Five Hegemonies, one of the strongest sects in the world?”

“Right. Then why did they seem weaker than I expected?”

“Hmm. Instead of being weak…”

“Don’t they have any teeth to bite into others?”

“…”

“Why are they so weak that it disgusts me to deal with them?”

Baek Cheon slowly turned his head and looked at Im So-Byeong following behind him.

As he looked at the man’s drooping shoulders, which resembled willow branches hit with rain, he couldn’t help but ponder.

“…. No, it isn’t true.”

“Sasuk. But, it would be better not to underestimate the Green Forest from now on.”

“Uh?”

Baek Cheon blinked at the unexpected warning and turned to Chung Myung. He thought at least something would be said to dismiss the Green Forest.

But Chung Myung spoke with a serious face.

“Even the best soldiers cannot go against tens of thousands of conscripts. The advantage of numbers is a lot more dangerous than one thinks.”

At this, Baek Cheon’s face stiffened. Chung Myung thought for a moment and said.

“If we have about a hundred, we can wipe out about 500 bandits for a snack after dinner.”

“… It’s not a snack.”

Of course, Baek Cheon also thought so in his heart, but knowing Im So-Byeong was there, he couldn’t say it.

“But if there are a thousand people, it will be annoying.”

“I guess so.”

“Then five thousand?”

“…”

“And ten thousand?”

“… then you won’t even be able to see.”

It felt like a bucket of water was poured onto his head.

“If there are just a hundred bandits in each bandit group, the number of Green Forest bandits would already be easily over 7 thousand. But as you know, there are a minimum of a hundred in a bandit group.”

“… then, around 10,000 people.”

“Could be a lot more, too.”

Baek Cheon fell silent.

‘There were so many bandits in this world?’

He felt goosebumps rise on his back as he imagined the sight of so many bandits in one place.

“Your individual victories only make you appear weak. Bandits don’t typically help each other. So, even if the bandits are falling apart right now, instead of coming to help, they only clap at the sight of loss.”

“It’s a mess…”

“But if there had been someone to command the bandits, the moment we attacked those below, the others would have joined forces and dealt with us.”

At least fifteen hundred people would have been waiting for them then.

Dealing with three times the normal amount was completely different from dealing with 1500 people at once. The more warriors there were, the stronger the opponent felt.

“S-so…”

Baek Cheon looked back.

‘That’s why the Green Forest King is important.’

Only the Green Forest King could unite the bandits of Green Forest, who were at odds with one another, and issue orders to them.

Hadn’t the two defeated bandits, who knew nothing about them, pretended to follow the orders of Im So-Byeong before he vanished?

But the moment the Green Forest King disappeared, they turned into ordinary bandits who couldn’t even be called part of the Green Forest anymore.

“He’s a lot greater than I imagined.”

Baek Cheon was truly impressed. Then Im So-Byeong spoke with a tired look.

“….Taoist, Baek Cheon, do you realize that your personality is a lot worse than you think?”

“Mine?”

Im So-Byeong looked up at the distant sky as Baek Cheon tilted his head, unable to understand.

‘Is this something good?’

Perhaps he had attracted the tiger while trying to avoid the wolf. Of course, rather than being dangerous, this tiger was a bit… weird, and that was the problem.

Baek Cheon didn’t pay much attention to Im So-Byeong. Like Chung Myung, he also had little interest in anything other than Mount Hua.

As expected, he returned to the actual topic.

“If we consider it that way, there are really only a few Mount Hua people.”

In Shaolin, there were over a thousand monks, and the number of Wudang Sect disciples also exceeded five hundred.

Even if each swordsman of Mount Hua possessed amazing skills that surpassed everything, overcoming a numerical disadvantage proved more difficult than expected.

“There is a long way to go.”

As they eliminated two bandit groups, he felt his excitement subside.

“Well, there’s no need to be so gloomy. To put it simply, it’s like a group of weak people banding together and attacking in large numbers.”

Baek Cheon quickly glanced around.

‘I am glad there’s no Beggars Union people here.’

If people had heard what was said, they would be mortified. Truly, nothing hurts more than being hit with words.

“But…”

“Uh?”

“Those bastards seem different.”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung said this while looking at a place. As Baek Cheon followed his gaze, he saw a wooden fence resembling a fort at the peak’s top.

“That man must be in there.”

“Hmm!”

Baek Cheon nodded as if he had composed himself.

Chung Myung’s eyes darkened slightly.

‘He can’t be that stupid.’

Im So-Byeong and the other members of the Green Forest had labeled Go Hong a traitor. Still, if it truly meant that the man was impatient and unable to think his moves through, there was no way he would have calmly stayed under Im So-Byeong for this long.

‘Something is definitely up.’

Chung Myung smiled, finding the situation more entertaining than he had anticipated.

‘Let’s see if a ghost or a monster appears.’

He took a firm step forward.

His feet took him to the Green Forest fortress, which welcomed them with gates wide open.