CLS-Chapter 47

Chapter 47:

“That, that crazy bastard really!”

Gok Bi-hang wanted to immediately jump up onto the carriage and grab Wei Yan-ho by the collar to shake him senseless, but given the circumstances, he couldn’t put his thoughts into action.

He merely glared at the top of the carriage with eyes filled with rage before turning toward the Green Forest bandits to plead his case.

Dealing with that crazy bastard would have to come later.

“I swear on the honor of the Swift Dragon Express that such a thing will absolutely never happen. If such rumors are heard after this moment, wouldn’t it be all too easy for the Green Forest to wipe out the Swift Dragon Express? But why would we throw away our lives!”

The Green Forest bandits showed signs of slight contemplation, as if there was some merit to his words.

“Moreover, we’ve maintained good relations with the Green Forest all this time. If this escort mission fails, the express company will be ruined! Then the Green Forest’s income would decrease too, wouldn’t it!”

“Hmm…”

The Green Forest bandit nodded his head.

It wasn’t wrong.

Just as the Green Forest bandit who thought so was about to let the escort party pass.

“That’s not right.”

The sound of tongue-clicking came from atop the carriage.

Gok Bi-hang glared at the top of the carriage with wide eyes.

“Ah, mister, you’re really frustrating. You can’t persuade people like that. Those people aren’t fools either. Once the rumors spread, the Peng Family will already be making a fuss about going to war with the Green Forest. What would eliminating one small express company accomplish then? The fire would already be at their doorstep. It would be much more profitable in the long run to eliminate the source of trouble from the beginning. Those people aren’t fools, so there’s no way that would work.”

The Green Forest bandit hurriedly nodded his head.

“R-right. W-we’re not fools! I was thinking the same thing. Really.”

At that moment, Gok Bi-hang fell into very deep contemplation.

‘Since it’s come to this anyway, should I just beat that young bastard to death first?’

This way they’d all die together, but he really wanted to see that brat die first. If by any chance Gok Bi-hang died first, he wouldn’t be able to close his eyes even in death.

Though he wanted to immediately jump onto the carriage, Gok Bi-hang squeezed out his patience again and again to calm his mind.

Now wasn’t the time to make things bigger.

“It seems we can’t let you live after all.”

Then, Peng Daoji quietly whispered to Gok Bi-hang.

“It seems those people have no intention of letting you live anyway. So while I hold them off, please escape from here.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m not that weak. I can buy enough time for you to escape. So when I charge in…”

Then, once again a voice came from atop the carriage.

“No, no. That won’t do!”

“Shut up!”

Gok Bi-hang shouted without realizing it.

What was that damned bastard trying to stir up trouble with now!

He must have been thinking wrong. Before doing anything, it would be beneficial in many ways to first stuff a luggage bundle into that damned bastard’s mouth.

“No. Mister, don’t get excited and listen to what I have to say. Even if you run away carrying this luggage, how far could you get? You’d be caught before even getting halfway down the mountain, right? What could someone who was running away because they couldn’t handle it in the first place possibly block—and for how long?

“…”

The problem was that what that damned brat was babbling actually sounded quite plausible.

“And what he’s saying isn’t very trustworthy either. Honestly, this whole thing happened because he snuck into an escort party that was doing fine, and if he hadn’t come here, this wouldn’t have happened. If we die, it’ll be because of him, you know?”

Thud!

Wei Yan-ho’s words became a dagger that stabbed Peng Daoji.

“And speaking of proper words, if you’re going to die, die alone. Don’t drag all these people into it and then act like you’re doing a favor by saying you’ll block them now so they can run away. How ridiculous. It’s like throwing someone off a cliff, giving them a rope, and then acting like you did them a favor for the trouble of finding the rope.”

Thud!

Another dagger pierced Peng Daoji.

“Where does he get off acting all bold like he’s seen it all, when if you really look at it, he’s the worst person here? A person should have some conscience, some conscience!”

Thud!

Peng Daoji’s body swayed.

“If you were going to do that, you should have stuck your face in from the beginning and asked for help. If you knew and did it anyway, you’re a bad person, and if you didn’t know and did it, you’re a fool. Either way, you’re an idiot.”

Thud!

Peng Daoji collapsed right there and pressed his hands to the ground.

Wei Yan-ho’s words were not wrong in the slightest.

“I-I didn’t intend that…”

Peng Daoji looked around.

It seemed like the eyes of the people who had been watching him had grown cold.

Peng Daoji gritted his teeth.

Certainly, the words coming from atop the carriage were not wrong at all. He himself had put all these people in danger.

When the thought occurred to him that his hope for an unlikely stroke of luck, due to the enemy’s relentless pursuit, had endangered all these people, Peng Daoji felt like he wanted to bite his sword and collapse right then and there.

“The one who ties the knot must untie it! Since I caused this trouble, I’ll resolve it. I’ll block them, so here…”

“Ah, that guy. Really stupid. Why can’t he understand what people are saying, really.”

“…”

Now Gok Bi-hang and Peng Daoji were afraid of what words would come out next. Even the Green Forest bandits across from them were pricking up their ears, wondering what would be said next.

‘If you’re going to help, just help this side, you damn bastard!’

Why was he helping both sides simultaneously! Why!

“I told you, if you run away from here you’ll be caught in a bit, right? And if you run away, then what? They already know about the Swift Dragon Express. The Swift Dragon Express will be destroyed before news reaches the Peng Family, right?”

Peng Daoji’s shoulders became infinitely narrow.

“It’s like a water ghost… no, a water ghost doesn’t catch multiple people. Then what should we even call that thing?”

Tears welled up in Peng Daoji’s eyes.

Gok Bi-hang, who had now completely given up, sighed and looked up at the carriage.

“Then what should we do?”

He was annoyed, angry, hateful, and wanted to beat him to death, but it was clear that Wei Yan-ho was looking at the situation most coldly among all the people here.

That’s why Gok Bi-hang asked Wei Yan-ho for his opinion.

“What do you mean what should we do. We have to fight.”

“With them?”

“If we run away, we’ll have to fight with just the escort party personnel. But if we fight here, since that water ghost is here, he’d be helpful. It’s the highest probability.”

“I see.”

Wei Yan-ho’s words made sense. If they had to fight, dying fighting here would be cleaner than running away and getting stabbed in the back.

And the probability of survival would be slightly higher too.

Gok Bi-hang turned his head to look at the Green Forest bandits.

“Are you really not going to just let us go?”

“It pains my mouth to say it twice.”

Hearing those words, Wei Yan-ho sighed.

“At times like this, you should say you’ll let them go, catch the water ghost first, then target the express company, but that’s why they’re stuck being bandits for a living. Sigh.“

The Green Forest bandit’s face turned bright red.

Why did that bastard have the talent to make people feel bad even when he kept saying things that were right?

Gok Bi-hang and the Green Forest bandit’s eyes met in midair.

For a moment, there was an exchange of opinions through their eyes about whether they should join hands first to catch and kill that crazy bastard.

When the conflicted Gok Bi-hang turned his eyes away due to his sense of duty as an escort leader who couldn’t capture the goods with his own hands, the Green Forest bandit ground his teeth.

Grind.

“You bastards… even if you die, you won’t die peacefully.”

Gok Bi-hang now looked up at the carriage with a face that transcended everything.

‘If I could just land one sword strike before dying, I’d feel less wronged.’

Gok Bi-hang realized there would be no more negotiations.

Then all that remained was to fight.

The escort guards who roughly understood the situation slowly filled in beside Gok Bi-hang.

They too knew that this was a situation where their lives couldn’t be guaranteed, but they also understood that they had to fight to live.

‘What if we scattered and ran in different directions?’

Gok Bi-hang shook his head.

Then someone might survive, but even if they survived, there would be no future.

Eventually, the express company would be destroyed too.

“Prepare yourselves.”

As Gok Bi-hang’s words fell, the express company personnel began to form their battle formation.

Peng Daoji stood at the very front.

Knowing that he was the strongest among them, he took the most dangerous position.

But even Peng Daoji’s martial arts were at a level that would struggle against two Green Forest bandits.

The remaining eight would have to be handled by the escort guards.

‘Would they be a match?’

In Peng Daoji’s view, it was naturally impossible.

Even with just three Green Forest bandits, the escort guards would be swept away in an instant.

But there was no time to worry. Seeing that their formation was set, however crudely, two Green Forest warriors didn’t give them time to prepare countermeasures and charged at them in one rush.

“Kuk!”

Peng Daoji grabbed his blade and blocked the incoming sword.

Clang!

The sword and blade collided, sending a sharp metallic sound ringing through the air.

That was the signal.

While he couldn’t take his eyes off the Green Forest bandit in front of him, the sound of weapons clashing rang out everywhere.

Peng Daoji unconsciously frowned at the tremendous force pressing down on his blade.

Despite being trained from childhood with good elixirs, good martial arts, and the best teacher, he found it difficult to face two Green Forest bandits simultaneously.

‘The martial world is vast indeed…’

Peng Daoji was filled with regret.

If he had known that the world was this vast and dangerous, he wouldn’t have gotten involved in this affair. Having always faced only peers, he had forgotten how frightening a place the martial world could be.

Though he had heard it until his ears were sick of it since childhood, though he had heard countless times that a moment’s carelessness could cost his life, why had he underestimated the enemy?

From the time he was praised as a promising young hero of the later generation, an unknown carelessness had quietly taken root in his heart like poison.

‘It’s too late for regret.’

Now wasn’t the time to regret. It was time to struggle desperately.

Regret could be done plenty after escaping from this place.

Suddenly, a Green Forest bandit’s sword thrust toward Peng Daoji’s throat.

“Hah!”

Peng Daoji rolled his body backward, trying to escape the sword’s range. But the Green Forest bandit’s sword wouldn’t allow it.

“Kuk!”

The Green Forest bandit’s sword mercilessly slashed at the retreating Peng Daoji. Peng Daoji’s face turned ashen.

Two people?

Even that was arrogance. Peng Daoji, who had been trained with the utmost care by the Hebei Peng Family, was at a level where he couldn’t even handle two Green Forest elites.

His hands and feet flailed about chaotically.

“It’s over, brat.”

An unstoppable sword pierced toward his throat.

Peng Daoji realized his death. If it were just his death alone, he might be able to accept death gladly. But his death meant the death of everyone else.

‘It’s my fault.’

Peng Daoji’s eyes were stained with despair.

That was the moment.

“How tiresome.”

A blunt, gruff, annoyed, and slow voice was heard.