“G-great captain…”

“Uhh…”

The pirates, who had clearly seen with their own eyes their great captain being cut in half and killed, couldn’t believe what they saw.

Because of his extreme anger, he was an object of fear to everyone under him, but his skills were what made them stay below him.

But right now, Chan Bo-Heuk was torn into two, unable to even mount a challenge.

“… No…”

Despair filled the eyes of the pirates.

The trustworthy, great captain was dead, and all directions were blocked by extremely strong opponents.

What lay ahead of them was a crushing defeat.

‘W-we need to run somehow…’

And the cunning fox didn’t miss that.

“Shoot!”

The arrows, which had stopped, began to fall from the cliff again. The amount of arrows falling was enormous, as if more arrows had been moved up.

“Shoot! Shoot more! So much more that there are no gaps in the ground!”

Im So-Byeong laughed like he enjoyed this.

For those who studied war strategy, a situation where one could unilaterally attack an opponent from a position where you could not be attacked was no different from raining gold.

Im So-Byeong had no thought of letting go of this chance he got this time.

“Shoot! Shoot more! Be perfect! Turn them into a mess!”

At his encouraging words, the archers didn’t mind breaking their arms. The iron bow was specifically made for warrior use. The bow was pulled constantly with strength that even a person of Kangho would fear.

“AKKK!”

“A-avoid it! Avoid! You will die!”

They knew they had to avoid it, but how would one avoid the rain of arrows coming from above? Even normal rain would end up getting their bodies wet; this rain of arrows pierced their bodies.

“Kuak!”

“Ack!”

A person whose neck was pierced by an arrow collapsed without even closing his eyes. The arrows raining down on the unconscious body turned the man into a hedgehog.

“Eikk!”

Fear began to appear in the eyes of the pirates who had to block the arrows. If this continued, everyone would die in time.

“Euhahaha! These pathetic bastards… argh! You bastards, will you not shoot the arrows, right? I almost died…!”

Beon Chung, who had dodged an arrow, shouted at the cliff. However, when he made eye contact with Im So-Byeong, he flinched and bowed his head.

“Ohh!”

Thud!

He let out a roar as he hit the pirate in front of him.

“This is the order of the Green Forest King! Do not leave even a single one of them alive!”

“Yes!”

It was the very moment when the bandits increased their movement and aimed to wipe out all the pirates.

“ENOUGHHHHH!”

A thunderous voice burst out. Everyone stopped their actions and turned toward the sound.

“Tsk.”

Naturally, there stood Chung Myung.

He looked up at Im So-Byeong and shouted.

“Ah, enough shooting! If this continues, they’ll all die!”

“Shouldn’t they all die?”

“Look at this man and his bandit nature.”

“… no. Uh.. no. I didn’t…”

For a moment, Im So-Byeong’s face became dazed and then distorted.

And the disciples of Mount Hua, who saw that from the other side, fully understood his feelings and closed their eyes.

‘I don’t want to hear those words from you.’

‘From him of all people.’

‘Just curse us out loud.’

Chung Myung clicked his tongue and then added.

“The fight is already over, so what are you doing, killing all these precious slaves… no, precious lives!”

Im So-Byeong felt agitated and tried to do something else, but Chung Myung paid no heed and, this time, turned to the pirates.

The pirates, who had been injured in various places by arrows, looked at Chung Myung with a bit of hope.

“Anyone who puts down their weapons will be spared.”

“…f-for real?”

“Were these bastards fooled or something? I am a Taoist, Taoist!”

Baek Cheon covered his face in despair.

“You only become a Taoist when you want to, you damn bastard.”

No matter how much they thought about it, it was clear that there was no heavenly god above. If one did exist, they wouldn’t have left this demon in the world alone like this.

“Will you not throw the piercers away? Huh! Maybe I should impale them with their own weapons!”

The pirates all trembled at Chung Myung’s words.

They were clearly outnumbered now.

They had never heard of a person surviving after being defeated by pirates. To put it bluntly, if the officials had caught a thief, it was the same as having the head immediately cut off.

But…

‘Damn it, isn’t it the same as dying?’

‘No, but we have to resist and then die…’

‘What do we do now?’

It was then.

“Amitabha,”

Hae Yeon quietly spoke.

“I guarantee that those who give up their weapons and surrender will not be killed.”

A good-looking monk in monk’s robes, spoke as such, which gave them trust.

And on top of that.

“We are the disciples of Mount Hua. We also promise you your lives.”

As Baek Cheon stepped ahead and said this, the faces of the pirates turned red.

People’s trustworthiness varied depending on their behavior. When such words came out of the mouth of Baek Cheon, who no one could hate, there was a clear difference in trustworthiness.

“I surrender.”

“I surrender, too!”

“Please spare me!”

Everyone gave up their weapons and surrendered.

However, even though the desired result was achieved, Chung Myung didn’t look that happy. Instead, he was running wild.

“How dare these bastards discriminate between people? When I speak, you flare your noses? Yeah, this won’t do. Pick up the piercers now, you bastards! Let’s all just die today!”

“Stop him! Grab him!”

At Baek Cheon’s shout, Yu Yiseol and Tang Soso rushed over and grabbed Chung Myung.

Tang Soso grabbed him by the waist, and Yu Yiseol hit Chung Myung on the head.

“Sahyung! Be patient! You promised, right?”

“Scold him.”

“These bastards!”

“I get it! I said I got it!”

“Scold him.”

Every time Chung Myung growled and tried to rush in, the pirate retreated in fear.

Baek Cheon shook his head at this.

“Sasuk, shouldn’t we start organizing things first?”

“…we should.”

Baek Cheon sighed at Yoon Jong’s words and mumbled to himself.

‘A sight we are used to seeing on the path.’

He realized once again how difficult it was to create a consistent scene around him.

The pirates, tied together with ropes, knelt side by side.

The question of the limitations of the surroundings would be to the warrior who learned martial arts would change, got proved with the bandits who were holding these black-edged weapons.

“Haa….”

“Shh.”

The bandits looked down at the pirates with disapproving looks. If they were given permission now, they were ready to slit their heads off in one swoop.

The pirates, numbed by this bloody atmosphere, couldn’t even lift their heads and lowered their gazes.

“He’s saving them to use them for something else.”

Im So-Byeong also looked at it with a sad expression. Baek Cheon, who was next to him, laughed softly.

“But doesn’t that mean we can’t go around killing all of them either, right? It isn’t something a human should do.”

“Well, it isn’t that tough. Since we have tied them all up, we can just throw them into the water, right?”

When Im So-Byeong pointed to the Yangtze River, Baek Cheon trembled. He thought that this person might actually do it.

He might seem like a sly scholar to the Mount Hua disciples, but wasn’t he the Green Forest King?

“Chung Myung probably has something thought of, too.”

“Hmm.”

At that time.

“Not here!”

“There is nothing but wealth and money in this place! I cannot see anyone else.”

“Yes! Nothing but wealth…”

“Uhahaha!”

Im So-Byeong and Baek Cheon, who flinched for a moment, turned to Chung Myung with an odd look.

“Kehehe! Hehe!”

Chung Myung put his fist near his mouth and cleared his throat.

“It is just grain and money piled up like a mountain…”

“Ughh!”

“…”

“Ahem! Hehe!”

Baek Cheon mumbled in despair, looking at the guy losing his composure.

“Wouldn’t it be better to se…”

“That guy has a lot of money.”

“Eh, shut up! So much money… ahem! Money and treasure… there is just that! Money and grains. All kinds of medicinal herbs could be there and pills, too!”

“… there is no such thing, you bastard.”

“Ehhh!”

Chung Myung was getting angry for no reason and turned his head. Then he pushed the bandits aside and moved through the crowd.

After a while, Chung Myung grabbed the collar of the guy who was bowing too deeply.

“Do you see this bastard who bowed his head this low?”

“E-eeeik!”

“What? Do you think I wouldn’t know if you did that? Do you think my eyes are just for decoration?”

“S-spare me!”

“Come here!”

The one who was caught by Chung Myung was dragged and thrown to the ground.

“Ack!”

Jo Seung screamed and shivered as he looked up at Chung Myung with trembling eyes.

Kwang!

At that moment, Chung Myung stomped right next to his face. The footprint was deep in the ground. He didn’t even have to imagine what would have happened if the foot was directed at his face.

Chung Myung grabbed Jo Seung by the collar again, lifted him up, and shouted.

“How should people act, you bastard!”

“S-spare me! Great warrior! I have nothing to…!”

“This bastard is not coming to his senses, is he?”

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Chung Myung slapped Jo Seung on his cheeks.

“G-get your mind together! Haven’t you heard the story that even if you get bitten by a tiger, you can survive if your mind is put together? Uh?”

Baek Cheon slowly closed his eyes at this horrid sight.

Chung Myung… it was better to get bitten by a tiger than by him… people didn’t regain their senses after being hit by him….

In an instant, Jo Seung’s cheeks swelled up, and tears streamed down his face.

“Don’t know.”

“What? Will you not speak properly to me now, you shit?”

Jo Seung began to get anxious again. Baek Cheon, unable to watch this, turned his head. At that moment, Im So-Byeong clasped his hands, seemingly impressed with the situation.

“Haa… you lost so badly. Even the bandits will have to learn from this. Tsk tsk. Tsk. Losing this badly to a Taoist must hurt anyone’s pride.”

… who did he think he was making fun of?

Baek Cheon looked at him.

Slap!

“Speak right now.”

“I don’t know!”

Jo Seung began to cry.

“We have never captured anyone. I don’t know what you expect me to say. But I will say anything; just spare me!”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes! I swear that I have never done anything like that!”

“Then what is that ship? Why did you drag it here?”

“T-that is because they were resisting. First, we bring the ship to the base… the civilians will be freed then! If we had really engaged in human trafficking, would we have been able to do our business without stopping? We cannot do something like that carelessly!”

“… No then?”

“Yes!”

Chung Myung tilted his head to the side.

“You are speaking the truth?”

“If what I am saying is a lie, you can kill me! I will risk my life on my word!”

“UH… is that so?”

Chung Myung slightly relaxed his grip on the collar and turned his head.

Baek Cheon met his gaze, went silent, and turned to the distant mountain, wanting to avoid Chung Myung’s eyes.

“Sasuk.”

“…”

“He says he doesn’t know?”

“…”

A frustrating silence spread between the two.

“Then…”

“…”

“Why was everyone fighting here?”

“… Chung Myung.”

“Uh?”

“…just hit me instead.”

“…”

For the first time since leaving Mount Hua, Baek Cheon wanted to die.