< Episode 89: Sichuan Wind Clouds (2) >
The second floor of the guesthouse.
A group of men wearing weapons were having a secret conversation in whispering voices.
“Those damn mountain thieves are so crazy. How dare they invade Sacheon which can be said to be a small territory and commit such an act.”
“The ambassador type. Are you just going to wait and see? “Shouldn’t we come forward and help the party?”
“Calm down. Bo Priest. “Don’t you know the rumors going around right now?”
“Ambassador you really believe that? No matter what the Sacheondangga is the same…”
“fizzle. “Quiet.”
“…I apologize. “Anyway there’s no way the party would do that right?”
“Even so the rumor spread too quickly. “It was probably done by green forest bandits.”
“What if I do that? Are you just going to stand by and watch? “If Greenlim and the party come together we must also help Cheongseong.”
“Even if I wanted to I lack justification. If he really did something like that in the party he would be criticized by the Central Plains people. “If we help too rashly we could end up getting involved.”
“Didn’t you take off your uniform in preparation for that?”
“Uh huh. Bo Priest. No matter how many thieves there are the one who leads them is Nokrimtuwang. Do you think a superhuman who has received the title of Eight Saints won’t even be able to distinguish between the swords of the Blue Saint Sect?”
“Tsk.”
“The priest is right. For now let’s be cautious and watch. From what I heard they are still in a standoff. I wonder if that is true or not…!?”
At that time a middle-aged man in the group who was called the Great Brother stood up and looked downstairs.
The man next to him asked in confusion.
“Why are you doing this Ambassador?”
“They. Can you see it?”
The middle-aged man’s glance made a group of men look there.
There someone with two swords on his waist was trying to go out and people who appeared to be warriors were following them.
Anyone could see that they were martial people not ordinary warriors.
But among them there was one person who particularly stood out.
“Don’t you know who he is?”
It was a muscular bald man wearing shabby robes with a tear near his arm and a broken prayer bead tied around his neck.
One of the men who was staring at him opened his mouth.
“Isn’t that author Jae-jae-jeong a member of Samgwang?”
“Do you recognize it now?”
The men were agitated by his words.
They were concentrating on the story and sitting inside so they didn’t notice the author.
However since their grand brother was sitting on the side with a view of the lower floor he seemed to have spotted that crazy man.
Most of these people called Samgwang (三狂) were madmen who were called crazy.
Therefore regardless of their origins most of the members of the political faction treated them like Sima Ma and the outside world.
The same was true for Jae-jeong an apostate monk of Shaolin.
“How is that crazy monk here?”
“fizzle. Be quiet. “It’s still going out.”
“no. Ambassador type….”
“This is where they sat. Look over there.”
At the words of the middle-aged man called Daesung-hyung everyone looked at the place where the food dishes were placed.
I saw bowls of uneaten food there.
It seemed like he woke up without eating as there were noodles and food left in most of the dishes.
At this a man spoke with wide eyes.
“Did it really happen in the middle of the day?”
“As for the apostate monk Jae-jeong they all seemed to be martial people so I looked at them from time to time just in case but they suddenly woke up on the way.”
“So you’re saying you overheard our conversation?”
“It could be so.”
The men could not hide their embarrassment at such grand words.
If he overheard their conversation and woke up during the meal…
“Aren’t you on the same team as the Green Forest Islanders?”
“I don’t know if they are part of the same gang but I can’t deny that they are not.”
“If that’s the case you shouldn’t just leave it alone. Even so I heard that the party is outnumbered and on the defensive. In the meantime if Sapa’s experts help with greening further troubles may occur.”
“That’s my opinion too.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Since there is no justification we cannot help the party directly but it seems we must prevent reinforcements from going to Green Forest.”
“yes!”
At his words all the men stood up.
* * *
Outside the manor of Sacheondangga
There were numerous bandits surrounding the large manor.
Just looking at the number of people surrounding them we could see that they were almost three times the number of people guarding the inside of Sacheondangga.
They were bandits from the green forest who had left oil drums and furnaces and were fully prepared to strike with fiery arrows at any time.
The expressions on the faces of the Tang family warriors watching this from the fence were not very good.
There were some among them who had a lot of experience in various battles but this was the first time that they were facing off like a sit-in protest over their hometown.
As they entered the third day in a state of tension due to a battle that could break out at any moment they could not take their eyes off the Green Forest Islanders even for a moment.
Among the warriors of this party the warriors guarding the front gate were glaring at some people far away with eyes full of hatred.
-Munch!
The people they were glaring at were none other than Seok Pae-woong the king of Nokrim and the executives of Nokrim who had set up a large barracks about twenty feet away across from the party house and were sitting underneath it setting up a sumptuous drinking table.
‘Damn thieves!’
‘Are you putting me on medication now?’
No matter who saw it it was an act of provocation.
Of course that was correct.
“Hahahaha! “Have a drink.”
“They come all the way to Sacheon and feast on them.”
The executives seemed to be enjoying themselves by drinking alcohol and eating meat.
It was to lower the morale of the party’s warriors and raise their spirits.
It worked surprisingly well.
Because they were relatively superior in number the Green Foresters maintained the siege day and night in shifts but the Tang family warriors were outnumbered so they could not sleep properly and stood guard all day with their eyes open.
As a result fatigue will naturally accumulate and medication will increase.
On the haggard faces of these Tang family warriors a gunman known as the left hand of King Nokrimtu among the executives showed his yellow teeth and spoke.
“Giggles. Fighting. It seems to be working. “I was wondering why they were giving us four days to kill them but it turned out that it wasn’t just something they were doing it was to stop them and kill them.”
“It is both a business and a business.”
“If that’s the case do you have any other reasons?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
With those words Nokrimtu King Seokpaeung poured down his drink.
In his memory what she said suddenly came to mind.
[It may be difficult for a long time but how about giving it four or five days?]
[Give me an ending?]
[yes. Even a mouse being hunted will bite the neck of the cat it was chasing when it gets stuck in a dead end. So I thought it would be a good idea to give me something to think about.]
[It’s good to give something to think about…]
At first I thought that statement made sense.
The goal was not to go to war recklessly; the goal was simply to take back Christians.
But is it really necessary to do that for four or five days?
If there was no justification there was no need to give a long ending because this side had the advantage of protecting the converted Christians.
In fact it might have been better to give it just half a day and push through it without having time to think.
However in a situation where such a proposal had already been made it was also rejected in the middle of the proposal.
I just hoped that the head of the Tang family would not make the foolish choice of trying to protect Baehwagyo members.
* * *
The carriage and horses of Mo Gyeong-un and his party which had left Deyang were quickly heading southwest.
However when they were only 1 ri away from the village the road was blocked by a group of people.
They were about 30 masked people wearing gray military uniforms.
Seeing them all wearing swords Nie Chun sighed and said to Mong Wuyak who was driving his horse alongside him.
“There is no way there are bandits on the forest path not far from the village… Are they those guys from the guest house?”
“I guess so.”
Meng Wuyue nodded and answered.
Although they were masked they were all wearing similar gray military uniforms and they had rented the entire second floor of the guesthouse so I remembered the group as a whole.
“Brothers. “It’s good to cover your face but I guess you haven’t thought about changing your clothes and wearing weapons?”
“….”
The men in gray uniform fell silent at Nie Chun’s shout.
This was because there was nothing to reply.
Since we had to outrun those who started first we didn’t even have time to worry about our attire.
Although it was covered up along the way the mask was also used as a precaution since it was an awkward situation to make an official appearance.
One of the men in gray uniform came forward and shouted.
“Where are we going?”
At that question Apostolic Monk Jae-jeong who was sipping from a gourd laughed and said.
“What does it matter where Director Nam goes or not?”
At those sarcastic words one of the men in gray uniform shouted angrily.
“Aren’t you going to help the Green Forest Islanders?”
“green wood? What do you mean a bunch of bandits?”
“Don’t act like a fool. Wasn’t it to help the Green Foresters attack the Tang family?”
“Help the Green Forest Islanders? under? “That’s a really refreshing idea.”
Jaejeongjeong laughed at their words.
-Kkiik!
Then the carriage door opened and someone’s face was revealed.
He was Mok Gyeong-un.
“What’s going on?”
The masked Marahyeon who was guarding the side of the carriage answered that question.
“It seems like the people on this floor of the guest house followed us.”
“Oh them.”
“Okay what should I do?”
In response to that question Mok Kyung-un glanced at the men in gray uniforms and then spoke casually.
“I’m busy so please leave just one or two minutes to take care of it and follow me.”
-widely!
After saying that Mok Kyung-un got into the carriage.
It wasn’t just Mo Gyeong-un’s subordinates who heard those words so the men in gray uniforms were dumbfounded.
‘under?’
‘What do you do?’
No matter how much they hid their identities they were elite swordsmen of the Cheongseong faction a prestigious political faction.
After hearing the news that Sacheondangga was in conflict with Nokrim those who were dispatched to investigate the situation could not help but feel proud of those words.
At this the ambassador came forward and showed his anger.
“You are truly arrogant. “I don’t know if you dare show such confidence in who we are but if you want to get out of here be prepared…”
The great brother of the Qingcheng faction who was speaking stopped midway.
He was raising his voice as he spoke but none of them were listening to him.
“The owner says to do it but who will do it? Do you want to go? Or should I just do this?”
“….”
“If you don’t want to do it at least answer. Damn you. Anyway I don’t like it. Just either of you stay and deal with it. No are you having a hard time because of that guy over there? Or we can handle it together. “I can’t do this because I’m being sarcastic because of that guy.”
“You don’t think I know I’m just passing it on because it’s annoying?”
“Kuhuhul.”
Nie Chun who was clicking his tongue looked at Hyeonja the ambassador of the Cheongseong faction swordsmen and said
“I think he’s going to do at least a little bit.”
Hyeonmunja was a swordsman with a high reputation among the Cheongseong faction.
Excluding the elders and elders of the Qingcheng sect he possessed the highest rank of inaction.
He said ‘I have reached the beginning of the peak.’
Meng Muyak who recognized his skills at a glance developed a desire to win.
Even so my military status has risen rapidly recently and I wanted to test myself against a truly capable person.
To this Meng Wuyak said:
“I’ll take care of the author. You handle the rest. “Seopchun.”
“what? “That guy said I was going to do it.”
This was the same for Nyeopchun.
He also had a great desire to test his increased skills so he wanted to deal with the author who showed the most outstanding skills.
Hyeonmunja was truly angered by their argument.
The only person he could keep in check was Jae-jeong a member of Samgwang.
But how ridiculous must the youngest-looking among them have thought of themselves to inflict such humiliation?
-Sreung!
Hyeonja drew his sword halfway and tried to step forward.
But that was right then.
-no. It would be faster if I just did it myself.
They heard the voice of the young guy who was talking about handling them in the carriage.
I don’t know what this guy is doing why he says such arrogant things no matter how much he hides his identity.
I definitely feel like I need to show my true self…
-Kkiik!
It was then.
The carriage door opened and two swords were seen floating out of it as if they were alive.
‘!!!!!!!’
When Hyeonja saw this his body froze with his sword half drawn.
< Episode 89: Sichuan Wind Clouds (2) > end
ⓒ Hanzhongwolya
