Chapter 22
Gok Bo-ok wanted to scream.
Where in the world was there a method of guidance like this!
This was clearly student assault!
But looking at Sa Bigang, who was staring at him with an expressionless face, not a single word came out of his mouth.
A beast.
Sa Bigang’s eyes right now were exactly like that.
“Now, if you understand, hurry up and guide me.”
Gok Bo-ok awkwardly got up, glanced at Yeon U-gyeong, and went down the stairs.
Sa Bigang walked over to Yeon U-gyeong with heavy steps and gulped down the tea placed on the table.
“The taste is indeed good.”
Sa Bigang glanced at Yeon U-gyeong once and went down the stairs.
Yeon U-gyeong, who had been quietly watching his retreating figure, wore a cold smile.
‘Hoot. Let’s see you try.‘
Meanwhile, Sa Bigang, who had left the teahouse with Gok Bo-ok, hesitated while passing through the marketplace.
“Wait a moment.”
He left Gok Bo-ok standing to one side, approached a beggar begging by the roadside, and threw him a single iron coin.
‘What? Good deeds in the middle of all this?‘
Gok Bo-ok snorted and turned his head away sharply.
Sa Bigang approached.
“Let’s go.”
“I’ll say it again, but there’s already…”
“Shut up and just go.”
***
“Here it is.”
Gok Bo-ok stopped when they reached the village outskirts.
He pointed to the right side of the village entrance.
“Those bastards suddenly appeared from over there and fled into this forest.”
“How many were there?”
“Three men.”
“What weapons did they use?”
“Sabers and swords. Two of them used curved sabers.”
Sa Bigang nodded.
It matched what Yeom Ja-ryang had testified.
“After fleeing here, they all scattered in different directions.”
“You stayed until the end and then went to get Yeon U-gyeong?”
“That’s right.”
“Very strange.”
“What is?”
“Why did those bastards let you all escape?”
Gok Bo-ok frowned.
“Well, that’s because there was someone who didn’t run away, so they probably didn’t bother chasing us.”
“No. Usually in cases like this, it’s normal to chase the ones who run away first. They wouldn’t want things to get complicated. But those bastards didn’t chase any of you. As if they only had business with Ja-ryang from the beginning.”
“……!”
“Isn’t it strange? As if they already knew that Ja-ryang had a lot of money and acted accordingly.”
Before he knew it, Sa Bigang was staring intensely at Gok Bo-ok.
Gok Bo-ok unconsciously stepped back.
“Well, that’s something I wouldn’t know either. Why those bastards did that…!”
“Right. You don’t know. It would be a big problem if you knew.”
Sa Bigang shrugged his shoulders and swept his gaze through the forest.
His eyes narrowed.
The footprints dug into the ground and the scattered branches and fallen leaves showed traces of a fight.
Bloodstains were visible here and there.
“The kid put up a good fight.”
Watching Sa Bigang mutter to himself while moving around, Gok Bo-ok frowned.
‘What’s he babbling about by himself? What meaning does this have? Tch!‘
Well, he must be scared shitless.
If he couldn’t find the membership fees within five days, the Martial Arts Study Journey would be canceled.
Moreover, since he lost the membership fees, he wouldn’t be able to avoid severe punishment.
Just then, Sa Bigang waved his hand without even looking back at Gok Bo-ok.
“You’re not needed anymore, so get lost.”
“Is it okay for me to just leave?”
“Yeah. Get lost.”
Gok Bo-ok hesitantly backed away and then ran off quickly.
Even after that, Sa Bigang wandered around for quite a while before his eyes suddenly lit up and he bent over.
A torn piece of cloth.
Holding it in his hand, he straightened up and said,
“Did you come?”
To whom was he speaking?
As soon as his words fell, men in black light armor dropped down around him like rain.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swish.
“Everyone has been assembled. My lord.”
The person who bowed respectfully with a Cupped Hands Salute was none other than the beggar who had received the iron coin from Sa Bigang in the marketplace.
Sa Bigang threw the piece of cloth with a flick.
The beggar, who nimbly caught it, looked at Sa Bigang and tilted his head.
“What is this?”
“Find them. There are three in total. Their height exceeds eight cheok, one used a sword, and two used curved sabers. One of the saber users was stabbed in the back of his hand, and the other has a long cut on his thigh. All injuries from today.”
Sa Bigang was conveying information based on what he had heard from Yeom Ja-ryang when he paused and looked over the surrounding traces again.
Footprints that swept the ground, sword marks carved into tree trunks, bloodstains scattered around.
All of these become clues.
He furrowed his brow briefly and added,
“The one who uses a sword is closer to saber techniques than swordsmanship. Originally, that bastard was probably mainly a saber user too. Of course, he’s the strongest among the three.”
“Is this piece of cloth from them?”
“Yes. It belongs to one of the three. Do you need more information?”
“No, this is sufficient.”
The beggar bowed his head respectfully.
Sa Bigang chuckled.
“That’s right. Bandits should know bandits well.”
“……”
“First find them and report back. I’ll give you three days.”
“I’ll resolve it within two days.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
Sa Bigang was about to walk away when he suddenly turned back.
“You guys haven’t caused any more trouble since then, have you?”
“We’ve been living in self-restraint as you instructed.”
“Good. I don’t trust humans. So don’t all get careless and keep your wits about you.”
“We’ll keep it in mind.”
“Then, good work. I’ll be going now.”
Sa Bigang waved his hand and walked away.
Only when his figure was barely visible did one of the black-armored men approach the beggar.
“Elder brother, do we really need to go this far? Rather than secretly behind that person’s back…”
“Shut up.”
The beggar’s voice became sharp.
At that seriousness, all the men in black flinched and straightened their posture.
The one who had spoken also closed his mouth and bowed his head deeply.
The beggar who had received the iron coin from Sa Bigang was none other than Go Jeok-san, the general manager of Ghost Night Stronghold.
And all those currently with him were warriors of Ghost Night Stronghold.
Go Jeok-san closed his eyes tightly and spoke in a trembling voice.
“You… haven’t experienced that day, so you think that way.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I saw clearly. What happens when that person gets angry…”
Go Jeok-san’s eyebrows trembled.
That day, Sa Bigang appeared at Ghost Night Stronghold out of nowhere.
The warriors blocked his path, but it was useless.
Like a ghost, he moved through space and reached the stronghold leader in an instant.
It was as if he was possessed by something.
He had never seen or heard of such martial arts existing in the world.
Sa Bigang said to the stronghold leader,
“I won’t tell you to kneel. Quietly disband. Then I won’t question your past crimes.”
Of course, the stronghold leader didn’t even bother to snort.
Sa Bigang said that if he refused, he would kill the stronghold leader and take all his subordinates under his command.
They thought some crazy person had suddenly appeared and was spouting nonsense.
General Manager Go Jeok-san, who was standing right beside the stronghold leader, was so dumbfounded that he wasn’t even angry.
And the moment the stronghold leader sneered and showed his intention to refuse, Sa Bigang disappeared from sight.
A gust of wind brushed past him, and when he looked for Sa Bigang again, the stronghold leader and guardian who had been standing beside him had lost their heads and were spurting blood.
The guardian’s head was rolling on the ground, and the stronghold leader’s head was in Sa Bigang’s hand, dripping blood.
Go Jeok-san couldn’t say anything.
Sa Bigang lifted the stronghold leader’s head to face him and said as if complaining,
“See… you should have just surrendered obediently. You lost your precious head too, what kind of mess is this? Tsk tsk.“
Sa Bigang’s gaze turned to Go Jeok-san.
“Are you the next highest after him?”
Go Jeok-san couldn’t say a word.
His throat was completely blocked like someone whose Silent Point had been pressed.
Sa Bigang picked his ear and grumbled.
“When someone asks you something, you should answer. Well, if you’re prepared to die soon, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Thud!
Go Jeok-san fell to his knees and squeezed out his voice with all his might.
“Please… spare me!”
“So answer what I’m asking. Are you the highest-ranking one here?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“What will you do? Will you also stake the honor of a bandit and offer your neck…”
“I-I-I consider it an honor for you to take us in, my lord!”
Go Jeok-san immediately banged his head on the ground.
His forehead split and blood came out.
‘Thinking of that day still gives me a headache.‘
Go Jeok-san rubbed his forehead and pressed his temples firmly.
After a moment, he looked around at his subordinates with burning eyes.
“Don’t even think about stabbing that person in the back. I won’t forgive it.”
“We’ll keep it in mind.”
There was no choice but to be like this.
That day, Sa Bigang had said,
If even one person betrayed him, he would massacre all the surviving members of Ghost Night Stronghold.
Those eyes were sincere.
He could feel from those eyes that he had committed such cruel acts many times before without hesitation.
In fact, Sa Bigang had lived that way in the Demon Realm.
The Demon Realm was a place where you had to do that to survive.
The probability of all Ghost Night Stronghold members being massacred was higher than the probability of stabbing Sa Bigang in the back.
At least that’s how Go Jeok-san saw it.
He trusted his instincts.
***
Two days passed.
Yeom Ja-ryang’s recovery speed was much faster than expected.
Although he wasn’t completely healed yet, his body had improved enough to travel back and forth between the dormitory and Busin Pavilion for treatment.
This was also because Sa Bigang had properly adjusted his body, but Yeom Ja-ryang only had a vague guess about it.
“So, everyone who could pay has paid?”
“Yes, the three people who held out until the end paid today.”
Yeom Ja-ryang answered Sa Bigang’s question.
“Who were those three people?”
“They were students Mok Dan-hwa, Min Yu-hyang, and Baek Mi-ryeong.”
“I see.”
The reason those three people who held out until the end paid their membership fees was probably because they learned about the loss of the membership fees.
They probably thought the Martial Arts Study Journey would be canceled anyway even if they paid their fees.
“So, there are two who couldn’t pay due to their circumstances.”
“Yes.”
Yeom Ja-ryang’s expression darkened.
He thought of the membership fees that were stolen two days ago.
But Sa Bigang just nodded roughly and moved on.
“I understand. Good work. Prepare well for the trip during the remaining time.”
“But… we lost membership fees worth seventy percent of the total expenses. How are you going to handle the insufficient funds…”
“I’ll take care of that myself. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Still, if I hadn’t gone out that day…”
Yeom Ja-ryang bit his lip tightly.
He felt like tears would come out because he was pathetic and frustrated that he couldn’t even handle this level of work properly.
Sa Bigang looked back at Yeom Ja-ryang with a serious expression.
“If you get dejected over just that level of incident, what use would you be? It seems you’re lacking in masculine energy.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll help you replenish the masculine energy you’re lacking.”
“Lacking masculine energy…”
“Follow me. I’ll show you good scenery and train you.”
Sa Bigang grinned and stood up.
