Chapter 38
Drip, drip.
Water droplets flowed down her sleek legs.
From her slender shoulders and curved chest, past her narrow waist to her softly rising hips, and along her honey-smooth thighs down to her thin calves.
It was truly a sculpture carved to perfection.
Mae Seol-lan shook her wet hair once and wrapped herself in a large towel.
Truly a face and figure beautiful enough to take one’s breath away.
She stroked her chest reflected in the bronze mirror once and smiled slightly.
This should be enough.
‘Today for sure.’
Mae Seol-lan put on her undergarments and then donned thin clothes that clearly revealed her body’s curves.
Of course, she also loosened the front of her dress to make her voluptuous chest stand out prominently.
‘Good, this should be enough.’
She confidently opened the door wide.
“You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you? I’ve finished bathing, so now it’s the Instructor’s turn to wash… but…?”
Her voice, which had started with a bright smile, gradually grew smaller.
No one could be seen in the dim room.
Instead, a letter was placed on the table.
–Â I’ll return soon. Please take care of the students. –
Mae Seol-lan trembled slightly.
A woman was bathing naked, yet he left without any tension and disappeared somewhere?
Among all the people she had met so far, this type of human was absolutely the first.
‘Damn it! Sa Bigang!’
She threw the towel down irritably.
***
“Hmm. One of those two places.”
Sa Bigang looked at the distant mountains from atop a tree branch swaying in the wind.
Toi Mountain (兎耳山), named for resembling rabbit ears.
True to its name, two large peaks rose prominently, one called Jwai Peak and the other Ui Peak.
The place Sa Bigang needed to go was Jwai Peak.
However, since left and right change depending on the viewing direction, it was impossible to determine which was Jwai Peak just by looking.
‘I should rest for today and go tomorrow.’
The item he needed to obtain from Jwai Peak was incomparably more important than everything he had collected so far.
It would probably be a turning point in this life for him.
The barrier would be correspondingly intricate.
‘Well, even so, it’s designed with Central Plains people who know nothing about mana in mind, so it shouldn’t be too much of a threat.’
Still, there was no harm in being cautious.
First, he needed to find out which side was Jwai Peak.
Then tomorrow when daylight came, he would head to Jwai Peak.
It was better to search during broad daylight when yin energy was weak rather than at night when yin energy was strong.
Because the barrier’s properties would be correspondingly weakened.
‘Should I ask the innkeeper?’
Sa Bigang, who had been scratching his chin while lost in thought, suddenly frowned and looked into the distance.
Quite a distance away.
It was dim so he couldn’t see clearly, but quite a few people seemed to be gathered there.
‘Are they people from this village? Perfect. I can ask them.’
Sa Bigang, who had confirmed the group through Wizard Eye magic, jumped down from the tree branch.
***
“Hey, don’t my words make sense?”
The thug spat between his missing front teeth and growled.
The travelers with their bundles trembled.
“Sir, please overlook this just once. Without this, we’ll starve to death.”
“Do I look like a ‘sir’ to you?”
“……”
“You’re seriously mistaken about something. If I were a sir, why would I be threatening innocent people like you here? I’m a bandit. So I’m faithfully doing my job right now.”
The three bandits beside the thug snickered at his words.
One of them tapped his own neck with the flat of his blade and said.
“Consider yourselves lucky. If there had been women among you, you would have had to come with us.”
“Come on, so don’t argue and hand over what you have. The sun is setting, so we need to get back quickly, don’t we?”
The five travelers exchanged glances.
There were four bandits with weapons.
They seemed to have learned martial arts too.
While their side had more people, they had no skill to win in a fight.
Finally, they gave up and sighed deeply as they unpacked their bundles.
“H-here….”
“Is that all you have?”
The thug asked after looking through the bundles.
The elderly traveler bowed deeply and said.
“As you said, we’ve given you everything. Please let us go now.”
“What if we search your bodies and find something else? You’ll die, right?”
“B-but this is everything we have….”
“That’s why I said you’ll die if we find something when we search. If we find something.”
The travelers’ faces turned pale.
The thug seemed to enjoy their reaction as he watched and grinned wickedly.
“I’ll give you one last chance with a heart as vast as the sea. If you hand over everything you have even now….”
“Excuse me, may I ask something?”
“Sure, ask aw… huh?”
The thug, who had been responding carelessly, frowned deeply and turned his gaze.
The bandits beside him also turned around.
A man of considerable height with handsome features was walking toward them.
He wore a uniquely shaped sword at his waist that might be seen in the Western Regions – it was Sa Bigang.
‘What’s that now? A martial artist?’
The thug narrowed his brow.
The bandits glanced at the thug and whispered.
“Boss, he looks like a martial artist. What should we do?”
“What do you mean what should we do? We have way more people. Nothing to be scared of.”
They had learned martial arts too.
If the opponent had second or third-rate skills, their superior numbers would be much more advantageous.
Sa Bigang, seemingly oblivious to the menacing atmosphere, approached the elderly traveler and asked a question.
“You seem to know the roads best, elder. Do you happen to know which of those two peaks visible over there is Jwai Peak?”
The old man looked at Sa Bigang with a puzzled expression.
“Jwai… Peak, you said?”
When he responded in confusion, Sa Bigang smiled warmly and answered.
“Yes, I absolutely must know. Do you happen to know?”
“It’s over there.”
The old man pointed to one of the peaks with his finger.
“Are you certain? This is very important to me. I don’t want to make a wasted trip.”
“Of… of course.”
“Then, if I want to go to Jwai Peak, which way would be the fastest route?”
The old man glanced at the thug’s expression.
“Please, I really need to know. It’s very important.”
Sa Bigang grasped his hand.
Again, the old man responded in confusion.
“Th-that would be… if you follow this road, you’ll come to a fork….”
While the old man continued his explanation, the thug watched the two with an incredulous expression.
‘What is this guy doing?’
Asking for directions at a robbery scene?
Is he sane?
“Hey.”
The thug called out with a frown.
But Sa Bigang was busy getting directions from the old man.
Veins bulged on the thug’s forehead.
“Hey! Can’t you see us right now?”
When the thug roared loudly, Sa Bigang finally turned his head.
“Hmm? Do you have business with me? Then wait a moment. My business isn’t finished yet. It’ll just take a moment.”
“What, what did you say?”
The thug’s expression became even more distorted, but Sa Bigang paid no attention.
Rather, he urged the nervous old man to finish his explanation, saying it was fine.
Finally, after hearing the complete explanation, Sa Bigang cupped his hands in salute.
“Thank you, elder. I understand clearly. That was very helpful.”
Then Sa Bigang turned to the thug and smiled brightly.
“Now, is it your turn? You seemed to have business with me earlier? Why did you call me?”
The thug’s face contorted with rage.
‘What kind of bastard is this?’
Just then, one of the bandits beside him whispered.
“Boss, I can’t tell if he’s ignoring us or trying to appease us because he’s scared.”
The thug ground his teeth and shouted.
“Hey! Kid. What kind of place does this look like to you? Does it look like a place where you can so comfortably ask us questions? Do you even know who we are?”
“Well, of course I know.”
The thug flinched at the unexpected answer.
“You… you know? Who are we then?”
“It’s written on your foreheads. ‘Bandit Bastards.'”
Sa Bigang’s face had already turned cold.
Moreover, his aura had changed somewhat from before.
Only then did the travelers come to their senses and shout.
“Great Hero! Please save us!”
“We’re being threatened by these men!”
The thug exploded in anger.
“Shut up! You bastards! Hey, since it’s come to this, you hand over that sword too and get lost.”
The thug pointed at Sa Bigang’s sword.
Sa Bigang chuckled.
“If I give you this, you’ll die.”
“What?”
“Looks like I can’t just leave. I received help, and trash like you are ignoring me, so I feel like shit.”
“Now I see you’re completely insane.”
The thug and the bandits each drew their weapons and surrounded Sa Bigang.
Even during this, Sa Bigang just crossed his arms and told the travelers.
“Please go ahead and leave.”
“Where are you going? Don’t move. After we kill this guy, we need to teach you a lesson too.”
“Don’t worry and go. I’ll take responsibility.”
“If you leave, we’ll kill you too.”
Sa Bigang and the thug spoke alternately.
The travelers didn’t know what to do and fidgeted anxiously.
Sa Bigang spoke again.
“It’s repayment for the directions. Hurry and go.”
“But….”
“Go!”
Sa Bigang roared loudly.
His voice, filled with internal energy, rang thunderously through the night air.
Only then did the travelers quickly grab their bundles and hurry away.
Meanwhile, the thug and the bandits still looked at Sa Bigang with surprised expressions.
‘That voice just now…!’
That was absolutely not the kind of vocalization a second or third-rate martial artist could produce.
Even without facing him directly, they could feel profound internal energy from that voice alone.
‘Damn! Was he a master?’
Only then did the thug instinctively realize he had misjudged his opponent.
And as always, sad premonitions are never wrong.
Sa Bigang muttered.
“If you don’t have skill, you should at least have awareness. But you have neither awareness nor manners. That’s why your lives are bound to be miserable.”
Whoooosh.
Before they knew it, fire energy began to condense in Sa Bigang’s hand.
“Gasp!”
The thug and the bandits swallowed empty air and stepped back.
‘What is that? Fire suddenly…!’
‘I’ve never seen anything like that!’
The four men’s faces turned pale.
The thug barely managed to muster courage and squeezed out his voice.
“L-look here… we didn’t recognize a great person….”
“Too late.”
Sa Bigang spoke coldly as a flame spear flew from his hand.
Whoooooosh!
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Desperate screams followed.
***
“What? Kidnapping? Cough!“
Gok Bo-ok, who had been drinking tea, choked and coughed.
After barely regaining his composure, he looked at Yeon U-gyeong, who wore a faint smile, and asked.
“Are you… joking?”
“Why would I make such an unfunny joke?”
“You’re really suggesting we kidnap someone?”
“That’s right. Instructor Sa Bigang plans to spend two whole days in this place anyway. I don’t know what he’s trying to do, but he probably has personal business.”
“Right, if it weren’t for something like that, there’d be no reason to stay so long in such a remote village.”
“That means we have plenty of opportunities too. While the Instructor is taking care of his personal business, our actions can escape surveillance accordingly.”
“But still, kidnapping….”
Gok Bo-ok muttered as if still somewhat troubled.
Yeon U-gyeong leisurely took a sip of tea and continued.
“You heard it too. The talk about Black Blade Twin Demons causing trouble in this village lately. What was their specialty?”
“Well, kidnapping… surely not…?”
“Right. It’s no trouble at all to pin what we do on what they did. Think about it. If a student gets kidnapped during a Martial Arts Study Journey? Who will be held responsible?”
A hint of amusement appeared on Gok Bo-ok’s face.
“Heh heh heh. That would be interesting.”
“This is the perfect opportunity.”
“But who would be good to kidnap?”
“Well, the more she’s close to the Instructor and spends time alone, the better it would be if she’s a woman.”
Yeon U-gyeong smiled faintly and gestured with his chin toward the window.
Just then, Neung So-so could be seen walking toward the stable below the inn.
Gok Bo-ok’s expression was colored with an evil smile.
“Heh heh heh. Perfect timing.”
Yeon U-gyeong nodded faintly.
“I hadn’t planned to go this far. But I changed my mind after that day.”
“When I think of that time, my teeth still grind. My butt still seems to hurt.”
He was referring to the incident at Black Gratitude Gang.
When he thought of being beaten until his buttocks bled that day, rage still flared up even now.
