CLS-Chapter 204

Chapter 204

Watching WeiJeong-han flinch and twitch, Wei Yan-ho shut his mouth tight like a sparrow that had been chirping. If he said one or two more words here, a punch would come flying. A person must know when to speak and when not to speak. Wasn’t that what Wei Yan-ho was best at?

“Will it be alright?”

Jin Ye-ran asked with an anxious tone.

“Yes, well…”

Wei Yan-ho nodded his head nonchalantly.

“It might not look like it, but our forces here are tremendous too.”

It wasn’t wrong to say so.

There were the late-stage masters guaranteed by the Righteous Alliance, with Seokmucho and Gongmujin following along. It was the kind of force that could simply blow away any ordinary sect. Moreover, with Wei Yan-ho here, the very fact that such power was traveling with just one carriage was something that could hardly happen under normal circumstances.

‘That’s exactly the problem.’

Even if not bandits but a mid-sized sect blocked their path, they had the power to say “Oh my, stumbled on a rock” and overturn them completely. Yet the battle situation Wei Yan-ho saw before his eyes was evenly matched.

These weren’t ordinary bandits. Even if the elite of elites from Green Forest had attached themselves, one had to question whether they could display this level of skill.

Even if that were possible, there was no reason for Green Forest’s finest to gather in such numbers just to catch that one water ghost. Unless they had witnessed Green Forest King plotting rebellion.

“It looks dangerous…”

Jin Ye-ran couldn’t hide her anxious heart, perhaps because she had never witnessed such large-scale combat before. It wasn’t incomprehensible. Even from Wei Yan-ho’s perspective, the situation wasn’t that favorable.

‘Those bastards, really.’

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes grew narrower and narrower.

At first, his thinking had been dominated by ‘Green Forest bandits, whatever,’ but the skill of the Green Forest bandits now facing WeiJeong-han exceeded Wei Yan-ho’s expectations. What made Wei Yan-ho even more puzzled was that the Green Forest bandits were barely using any techniques.

They were pressuring the group with nothing but simple swings and basic techniques that even third-rate warriors from the marketplace would know. Not just those facing WeiJeong-han, but the others as well.

“Ugh.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head vigorously.

“This won’t do. Using my brain doesn’t seem to be my job. Big brother will figure it out himself.”

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Wei Yan-ho comforted Jin Ye-ran and turned his head.

Kwaang!

Sure enough, explosive sounds were erupting.

“…Let’s go easy, let’s go easy.”

Jang-il looked with a disgusted face at WeiSan-ho, who was driving back the Green Forest bandits beside him.

‘Is that guy really the same class as me?’

People should basically live according to common sense. You know how it is. If a five-year-old child is said to be strong, they should be able to lift small stones. Who would just pass it off saying “My, how strong” after seeing a five-year-old child easily lifting person-sized rocks that even adult men couldn’t lift?

Jang-il’s feelings toward WeiSan-ho were exactly like that.

Clearly the same class and similar age as him, yet WeiSan-ho’s sword strikes rippled with tremendous destructive power like a hundred-year-old master grabbing his waist and striking down.

The Green Forest bandits facing them also seemed flustered, constantly retreating whenever WeiSan-ho unleashed his sword.

‘The ones receiving those attacks are the amazing ones.’

Truth be told, treating this guy as one of the late-stage masters made no sense at all.

‘If a guy like this is a late-stage master, what am I supposed to do?’

No matter how much martial prowess wasn’t considered that important among the Beggar Sect beggars, having such a guy right next to you made comparison inevitable.

And that wasn’t the only comparison to be made.

“Eeeeek!”

Shangguan Hong was gritting his teeth as he faced the Green Forest bandits. His eyes held a mixture of impatience and anger.

“Tsk tsk, give it up.”

Jang-il shook his head while watching him.

No matter how much Shangguan Hong was one of the Three Dragons, that was only when comparing within the same class. Though he was called the strongest within his class, standing out among the Three Dragons, in Jang-il’s view he was still just a frog in a well.

To begin with, WeiSan-ho wasn’t just the best within his class, but a late-stage master called the greatest even when viewed throughout history. Unlike Shangguan Hong, who couldn’t be certain of holding an advantage when compared to late-stage masters of the Nine Sects beyond the Righteous Alliance, WeiSan-ho was already someone recognized by other sects as the strongest late-stage master of the current generation through numerous heroic deeds.

Setting all that aside…

‘In direct confrontation, he couldn’t last three seconds.’

The first virtue a Little Beggar of the Beggar Sect must possess was keen eyes. Eyes that could accurately gauge a person’s character and ability. Jang-il’s eyes, trained through endless discipline, were telling him that Shangguan Hong’s efforts were futile.

‘Rather, those guys seem stronger?’

Jang-il’s eyes turned to one side.

Jang-il’s eyes showed interest as he observed Peng Dao-hyeong and Eon-hyo, who were fighting the Green Forest bandits on the other side.

From an objective evaluation, Shangguan Hong should be at least one move, or at least half a move ahead of them. But the results Jang-il’s eyes saw now were the opposite.

Watching them leisurely dodge attacks while each facing two Green Forest bandits, he wondered whether Shangguan Hong was really stronger than them.

And it seemed they were feeling the same way.

‘How did this happen?’

Eon-hyo was bewildered.

He couldn’t help but be bewildered. He too was a martial artist and possessed the ability to assess an opponent’s capabilities. In his view, the Green Forest bandits before his eyes should be at least stronger than him.

Holding out against one person was the best he could do.

But…

‘Slow.’

The blade flying toward his head looked like a slug. That didn’t mean he could dodge it leisurely. His body was equally slow.

His body wasn’t yet keeping up with his eyes.

‘How is this possible?’

Blades that should feel like lightning were felt sluggishly. His eyes were catching every minute movement of the blades.

Eon-hyo, who even had the leisure to look around, glanced at Peng Dao-hyeong. Peng Dao-hyeong was also dodging blades with a bewildered face.

‘Could this be?’

If he and Peng Dao-hyeong were experiencing the same situation, the reason was obvious.

‘Well, these blades couldn’t be faster than those stones.’

Eon-hyo had spent weeks dodging stones flying at speeds so fast that getting hit once meant certain death. To Eon-hyo, who had dodged stones so fast they only appeared as long lines, the Green Forest bandits’ blades were attacks that were far, far too slow.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Wei Yan-ho’s training had been steadily conditioning them. Though he didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that they had grown stronger from lying around eating sweets while dodging thrown stones, how could he deny it when the results were so clear?

Looking back, he could realize how amazing it was to make it so people wouldn’t die even when hit by stones flying with the natural force and speed to kill upon impact.

‘But why do I feel so melancholy?’

Growing stronger as a martial artist should be something to welcome above all else, but somehow his heart ached.

Jang-il quietly watched Peng Dao-hyeong and Eon-hyo before looking around. Gongmujin, flanked by Seo Mun-da-yeon and Yi Seol-hwa on left and right facing the Green Forest bandits, was showing why Mount Hua was Mount Hua, and Shangguan Hong and Namgung Hye were fighting well in their own way.

WeiSan-ho went without saying, and Peng Dao-geuk was exerting strength again, seemingly having recovered his energy.

‘Quite a group.’

This group’s power was stronger than he had initially assessed. And as soon as he realized that, another question came flooding in.

“Then what exactly are those Green Forest bandits pushing this group back?”

It was a force that seemed capable of fighting even if they invaded Green Forest’s main camp, yet Green Forest bandits numbering only three times their number were pushing them back.

Jang-il’s eyes narrowed and his head began spinning rapidly. Should he consider that Green Forest’s power had grown stronger, or…

And at that moment, something Jang-il had never expected began to happen.

“Uaaaaaaah!”

One of the Green Forest bandits facing WeiSan-ho let out a yell, then began screaming with bloodshot eyes.

“How dare this little brat!”

Kwaaaaaaah!

Jang-il’s eyes widened as if they might tear.

One Green Forest bandit began emanating a completely different aura from before. Though he had been incomprehensibly strong for a Green Forest bandit until just moments ago, the aura the Green Forest bandit was now emanating transcended that dimension.

It was incomprehensible why he had been hiding such power until now.

“Mm!”

WeiSan-ho also seemed to realize his opponent’s aura was extraordinary, gripping his sword with a hardened face.

But at that moment.

Something no one had expected happened.

Kwadeuk!

The Green Forest bandit who had been emanating his aura looked down with disbelieving eyes. Someone’s hand was protruding from around his heart area. What that blood-stained hand was gripping was all too obvious.

“…What?”

Jang-il muttered as if his soul had left him.

The one who had extracted the Green Forest bandit’s heart wasn’t among them. The one who had pierced his body from behind was absurdly another Green Forest bandit.

Udeudeuk.

The hand embedded in the person’s body was pulled out, creating a bizarre sound.

The Green Forest bandit, unable to hide his shock, spat blood from his mouth and collapsed powerlessly to the ground.

The situation was so absurd that all those who had been fighting each other stopped and stared at the scene.

“How dare.”

The Green Forest bandit who had thrown the gripped heart to the ground muttered while looking around with murderous eyes.

“Is there another who would disobey that person’s command.”

All the Green Forest bandits shook their heads with resolute faces.

“Those who fear death, step forward.”

Wei Yan-ho watched the scene quietly before opening his mouth.

“…These guys are completely insane.”

Though Wei Yan-ho thought he had met quite a few people since coming out into the martial world, these kinds of madmen were a first. He absolutely couldn’t understand why they had killed that person.

The Green Forest bandit who had shaken the blood from his hands hardened his face and shouted.

“Kill them! If not that, then die! Either way, you won’t leave this place alive!”

“We obey!”

The Green Forest bandits began rushing at them with completely different faces than before. Even the great WeiJeong-han seemed bewildered by this bizarre situation, hardening his face.

“They don’t seem like ordinary Green Forest bandits…”

A completely different movement from before began. At least until now, it had taken on the aspect of something resembling battle. But having seen one of their comrades die, the Green Forest bandits began rushing in disregarding their own lives.

“These crazy bastards!”

Watching a Green Forest bandit swing his blade while ignoring the sword that had pierced through his belly, WeiJeong-han spat out curses. Though it was a scene he had seen quite often in the past, seeing such behavior from Green Forest bandits was endlessly bewildering.

The maxim that momentum comprises thirty percent of skill wasn’t wrong – those who had been fighting well until now began to be pushed back all at once.

And at that moment, Wei Yan-ho shot up from his seat.

“Well, well, well, these bastards.”