Chapter 144 : Chapter 144

Chapter 144. Fighting Ghost (2)

I thought.

That all trashy bastards were the same.

The Nine Dragons Fortress Leader betrayed the Green Forest Fighting King.

Conversely, the Green Forest Fighting King must have been planning to betray the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader as well.

That's what I had predicted.

But looking at that guy's reaction now, it seemed he was sincere.

However, my opinion of Hwangbo Ak didn't change.

It was just absurd to hear a bandit talk about grace and filial piety.

Trying to suppress a hollow laugh, I asked him.

“By the way, the reputation of the Nine Dragons Fortress is quite widespread, but there’s nothing particularly eye-catching here.”

The pavilion was empty in many ways.

No, not just here, but the entire manor felt somewhat empty.

“Where did all the things that were originally here go?”

It seemed that all the gold, silver, jewels, and ornaments that were here before these bastards took over had disappeared.

At my question, Hwangbo Ak replied in a nonchalant tone.

“I sent them all to my foster father. He probably shared them with the brothers at Nine Dragons Mountain.”

“Why didn't Brother Hwangbo take anything?”

“I’m not particularly interested in those things. I find fighting more enjoyable. But my brothers like them, so I gladly give them away.”

The bandit was talking about filial piety, and now he was saying he had no interest in wealth either.

“Weren’t those things you took by force, Brother Hwangbo? Weren’t you disappointed or feel it was unfair?”

“Hehehe. Isn’t that what family is? My heart and my foster father's heart are the same, so my foster father will take care of it for me. I’m not interested in such trivial things.”

Hwangbo Ak, who said that, raised his cup.

“From what I see, Brother Jin also seems to be a man who is not interested in such things. How about we just skip such trivial stories? Hahahaha!”

The guy drank as if we had sworn an oath of brotherhood.

I wondered if Zhang Fei looked like that when he swore the Oath of the Peach Garden.

It wasn't all bad.

If that guy got drunk, I could hear more about the internal affairs.

Excluding Senior Sister Baek Hyang and Senior Sister Choyeon, several rounds of drinks were passed around.

Whether he was in a good mood, Hwangbo Ak raised his cup again and exclaimed.

“It would be great to continue drinking together and having life-and-death battles like this in the future, hahaha!”

“Do you want to fight again?”

At my question, Hwangbo Ak grinned.

“It was a life-and-death battle for me, but it wasn't for you, Brother Jin, was it? Did you think this fighting ghost wouldn't know that?”

It seemed he had noticed that I was holding back.

“Next time, I will show my skills so that Brother Jin can respond with all his heart.”

He was greatly mistaken.

It wasn't because his skills were lacking.

It just naturally turned out that way as I tried to calm my constantly rising killing intent.

“Don’t worry. It seems we’ll have a life-and-death battle at some point.”

“Hehehehe. I’m really looking forward to it.”

The crazy guy rejoiced at the words that I would kill him and drank again.

“By the way, Brother Jin, your internal energy is quite considerable for your apparent age.”

“I was lucky and picked up a spiritual herb.”

At my answer, Hwangbo Ak laughed heartily again.

“Hahahaha. Well, well. It seems you and I have a lot in common, Brother Jin! I also happened to pick up a spiritual herb while playing around on Nine Dragons Mountain a few years ago!”

This was new information.

No wonder a guy who looked to be in his early to mid-twenties had already reached the peak.

Like Hyeok Ilso, I had no idea how these trashy bastards were so good at picking up spiritual herbs.

Then, a doubt arose.

Hyeok Ilso quickly accumulated internal energy with the spiritual herbs that the Unwol Sect Leader gave him.

This guy was lucky and picked up a spiritual herb in the mountains.

Senior Sister Baek Hyang. No, the future Lust Disaster, quickly accumulated internal energy with the Absorption Art.

Then what about the rest of them?

Come to think of it, talent and internal energy were separate.

If a talented person obtained a divine martial art, they could accumulate internal energy faster, but it would ultimately require time.

The Thunder Disaster and the Teaching Demon were exceptions.

They would already be middle-aged at this time.

The Blood Disaster was highly likely to have been given spiritual herbs by his sect.

Then there was one person left.

The one who might be Senior Sister Choyeon. The future Killing Demon.

How on earth did the Killing Demon accumulate so much internal energy in just over a decade?

Did the Red Moon Falling Flowers give her spiritual herbs?

Recalling my memories, there were quite a few assassins in the Red Moon Falling Flowers who had reached the peak.

Giving spiritual herbs to not just one, but several people?

In an assassin group at that? To assassins who were nothing more than tools?

Just as the question that started began to lead to a string of others, Hwangbo Ak's voice pierced my ears.

“Is something bothering you?”

“I was just curious. Spiritual herbs aren't something you can get so easily, are they?”

I gave him a suitable answer to his question.

For now, I had to let go of my doubts about the Red Moon Falling Flowers and the Killing Demon.

Since there was a high possibility of facing them again soon, I could solve it then.

For now, I had to focus on the matter at hand.

After that, we continued to drink and chat for a while.

By the time my stomach was about to burst from the alcohol, even Hwangbo Ak's face, who was a heavy drinker, turned red.

Senior Sister Baek Hyang asked Hwangbo Ak, who was pleasantly drunk.

“Leader Hwangbo, you seem to really enjoy fighting, but do you also enjoy fighting against the weak?”

At my Senior Sister’s question, Hwangbo Ak snorted.

“Hmph. Fighting the weak doesn’t make my heart pound, so it’s not enjoyable.”

“Then what do you think about taking the wealth of the weak? You are not interested in wealth, and you are not interested in fighting the weak, are you?”

At that question, this time Hwangbo Ak replied in an indifferent tone.

“It’s not a matter of whether it’s fun or not. It’s just natural.”

“What do you mean by natural?”

“Just as a tiger in the mountains preys on other animals, isn’t it the way of the world for the strong to take from the weak?”

Survival of the fittest. The logic that trashy bastards always spout.

But something was subtly off.

Unlike someone who preaches that logic, his expression looked bored.

His face looked like he was forcing himself to do a boring task.

My Senior Sister must have noticed this as well, as she asked again.

“Is that also your thought, Leader Hwangbo?”

“It’s a story my foster father told me since I was young. And I also agree with his words.”

This time, I asked Hwangbo Ak.

“What kind of person is the Fortress Leader? We’re joining the Nine Dragons Fortress now, aren’t we? I’d like to know about the person we’ll be serving from now on.”

At my question, Hwangbo Ak, as if very proud, enthusiastically recounted the magnanimous episodes of the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader.

***

After the drinking party with Hwangbo Ak ended, we headed to a separate building that the bandits had guided us to.

I immediately sat in a cross-legged position and circulated my internal energy.

After expelling all the intoxication with my internal energy, I opened my eyes with a deep breath.

“Inhale. Exhale.”

The two Senior Sisters who hadn’t drunk, as well as the Tang Clan guy and Nam Geon, were all looking at me.

“Have you already expelled the intoxication?”

“I practice Poison Art, you know. Getting drunk is nothing.”

“I, I was barely drunk. I, I’m fine.”

Since everyone seemed to have come to their senses, we continued our discussion on future plans.

Thanks to the kind Hwangbo Ak, we were able to hear about not only the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader but also the key figures of the Nine Dragons Fortress.

Just as Hwangbo Ak was called the Third Dragon Leader, there were a total of nine dragons in the Nine Dragons Fortress. Of course, it was a name they had given themselves.

Hwangbo Ak was insisting that they were all a family thicker than blood, but that was just his thought. It seemed there were factions within.

As the discussion about the Nine Dragons Fortress executives continued for a while, Senior Sister Baek Hyang carefully opened her mouth.

“Senior Brother. What do you plan to do with Hwangbo Ak?”

“Why do you ask?”

“……I just felt that he was a person who simply likes to fight.”

Even Nam Geon and the Tang Clan guy agreed with my Senior Sister’s words.

“Tha, that’s right. He, he didn’t seem like a bad person.”

“He didn’t seem like a guy greedy for wealth either.”

I also agreed to some extent.

The guy had no interest in being a bandit. He was a guy with no interest in wealth in the first place.

It was more like he was working for the Fortress Leader who had raised him.

Instead, he was relieving that boredom through fighting.

Through fights with the chivalrous heroes who came to punish the Nine Dragons Fortress, or through duels with the Fortress Leader or the executives.

Honestly, it looked like he was being used.

Even more so considering that he would be betrayed in the future.

But I had no intention of letting him live.

“Even if he’s not trash, what about the people who have died at his hands? Yes. We can overlook fights between Murim people. But he has ultimately been a bandit. How many commoners must have suffered at his hands?”

Forgiveness should be given by those who have suffered.

Who was I to forgive a bandit on their behalf?

“I can deliver punishment on behalf of the powerless, but I cannot forgive on their behalf.”

At my firm answer, everyone else fell silent.

But that was also for a moment. Nam Geon, with a somehow gloomy expression, muttered.

“My, my mom was a bad mother. Sh, she tried to make me do bad things. I, if I had done bad things, w, would hyung-ah have killed me?”

Whether it was because of his build or his story, Nam Geon seemed to feel a sense of kinship with Hwangbo Ak.

That Hwangbo Ak guy was also abandoned when he was young, and the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader had picked him up and raised him.

It was one of the things he had told us when talking about the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader.

Just as I was about to answer Nam Geon’s question honestly, this time the Tang Clan guy opened his mouth.

“It’s not just Brother Nam. It’s hard to say this, but what about Miss Cho? By your standards, she committed a crime anyway, didn’t she?”

“She was in a situation trapped in a place worse than hell because of trash, and it was an act to protect her younger sister. How can you treat that the same as that grown-up bandit?”

“In any case, we forgave her on our own, didn’t we?”

Just as my head was getting dizzy from the Tang Clan guy’s sophistry, Senior Sister Choyeon suddenly drew her sword.

I quickly swung the Master’s Blade to block the sword.

Senior Sister Choyeon’s target was not the Tang Clan guy.

She tried to cut her own throat.

“What are you doing?”

“If I die, won’t you spare my brother?”

Even while attempting suicide, Senior Sister Choyeon said so with an indifferent expression.

At this, the Tang Clan guy was startled and said.

“Tha, that wasn't what I meant, Miss Cho.”

“Then are you going to kill my brother too?”

“N, no, that’s not what I mean.”

While the Tang Clan guy was babbling like a drunkard, Senior Sister Baek Hyang, who had been quietly watching the situation, opened her mouth.

“Senior Brother. Then is the reason you’re trying to kill Hwangbo Ak because of the victims?”

“That’s right.”

“Then how about this? Before killing him, how about at least giving him a chance to be forgiven?”

“Give him a chance?”

I looked at my Senior Sister, wondering what this was all about.

My Senior Sister calmly discussed the plan she had come up with.

In a way, it was a preposterous plan, and in another way, it was a somewhat plausible scheme.

I pondered the plan my Senior Sister had mentioned for a moment and then sighed.

“Hah. For now, since we’re going to meet the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader soon, let’s decide on that matter later.”

Hwangbo Ak had said.

That since Guju was somewhat stable, he would go to Nine Dragons Mountain to introduce us to the Fortress Leader.

Well, since it was something he had babbled while dead drunk, I didn't know if he would remember it.

In any case, for now, subjugating the Nine Dragons Fortress was the priority.

I would decide while watching Hwangbo Ak in the process.

Whether to spare him or not. Whether to use the method my Senior Sister suggested or not.

***

Fortunately, Hwangbo Ak remembered what he had babbled about while drunk.

“Hahaha. There’s no need to drag it out, so how about we leave today?”

The guy, accompanied by only a few subordinates, left Guju with us.

On the way to Nine Dragons Mountain.

A question suddenly came to mind, so I asked Hwangbo Ak.

“What do you plan to do after taking control of this entire area?”

“What do you mean by plan?”

“As your power grows, the government will surely step in, won’t they?”

“Hahahaha. Brother Jin. Why are you being so weak-willed again? Of course, we have to beat them up as they come, don’t we?”

“…….”

“Hahahaha. I’m actually looking forward to it. I wonder what level the government’s masters are at!”

He was a guy with nothing but fighting in his head.

“I don’t mind, but does the Fortress Leader think the same?”

If he really planned to just fight off anyone who came, then the Fortress Leader was also a serious moron.

“Hahaha. My foster father is also a magnanimous mountain brother, so of course, he would think the same as me.”

I wondered if the Nine Dragons Fortress Leader was also a serious moron, but Hwangbo Ak added a strange remark.

“Well, Mrs. Jo seems to have a slightly different idea from us.”

Mrs. Jo.

It was a title where I could only know the surname, but I thought I knew who she was talking about.

Jo Ryeong. The Nine Dragons Fortress Leader's beloved concubine.

And the woman the future Green Forest Fighting King despised the most.