Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“These bastards!”

“How dare they run!”

Disciples of Mount Hua, dressed in black uniforms adorned with vivid plum blossom patterns, chased after the bandits with gleaming eyes.

“Ackkk! Spare us!”

“We promise to live good lives!”

The bandits fled, screaming, but unfortunately, those pursuing them knew nothing of mercy.

“Who wants to die? Won’t you stand still!”

“Stand still! That’s the worst thing to do in this situation. If you keep running, won’t you get killed?”

Faced with these bloody threats, the bandits ran, saliva dripping from their mouths.

‘These senseless bastards!’

Suddenly, Taoists who had invaded their mountain to capture the remnants of the bandit troops were on their heels.

‘Don’t these bastards have any mercy?’

The bandits were brutally beaten and fled in tears. If there was anything called a heart, wasn’t it basic to give a person a reasonable amount of time to gather their belongings and run?

However, these people, who wouldn’t even bleed from a needle prick, rushed into the mountain without giving them time, occupied the place, and chased them down.

“You! You bastards are worse than beggars!”

“No, what is that bastard!”

“Such harsh words!”

As the eyes of the Mount Hua disciples flared, they chased even faster.

No matter how hard they ran, a bandit was a bandit. It was impossible to escape the Mount Hua disciples chasing after them.

Taaaak!

“Ackkkk!”

In the end, a bandit was struck hard on the back of the head with a sword sheath and collapsed on the spot. A Mount Hua disciple who had been running jumped on his back and began to pound on his head.

“Say that again, you bastard!”

“Ack! Ack! Taoist! Ack! I was wrong!”

Kwak Hoe, who had been happily hitting the back of the bandit’s head, clicked his tongue and tied the bandit’s hands with the rope he had prepared earlier.

“If you’re so confident, give it a try. I’ll end your life right here.”

“…”

The other bandits who had fled were also captured by the disciples of Mount Hua.

“Why are you running so hard if you’re just going to get caught? Just surrender now.”

‘You wouldn’t be able to run though, would you, you bastard?’

Although the bandits were enraged, they didn’t dare to retort. These people were so different from the justice sect they had dealt with until now.

Was this right? What Justice sect were they from?

The faces of all those captured were swollen. Even the Evil sect didn’t beat people like this.

‘What kind of Taoists are these people!’

“How dare this bastard roll his eyes!”

“N-No! I didn’t do that!”

“So, you think I saw it wrong?”

“T-that…”

Kwak Hoe was enraged. At that time, the other disciples behind him stopped him.

“Sahyung, there’s no time for that. We have to move quickly. If we’re too late, Chung Myung will cause another mess.”

Kwak Hoe, looking at the rising sun, groaned.

“Right. Let’s get this done quickly.”

“Yes.”

The disciples of Mount Hua managed to subdue all the remnants and led the bandits in a line to the main base.

“…there are more than I thought.”

“Right?”

In the center of the main base, which seemed twice as big as the Green Forest manor, the disciples of Mount Hua drew their swords around them and didn’t even slow down in keeping guard.

Kwak Hoe dragged the bandits he had captured with him and went to Baek Cheon.

“Sasuk! We caught them.”

“Hmm.”

Baek Cheon looked at the swollen faces of the bandits and seemed confused.

“…you hit them a lot.”

“These bastards kept talking…”

Kwak Hoe, you’re a Taoist.

Did it make sense to throw punches at them just because they were speaking? Especially for a Taoist?

Baek Cheon sighed, realizing the obvious.

“…right. You all went through a lot. Push them in there.”

“Yes!”

Kwak Hoe dragged the captured bandits to where the other bandits were and made them kneel.

“Were there any other problems?”

“I thought they would draw their blades and resist, but they were more obedient than I expected.”

“Hmmm.”

Upon hearing those words, Baek Cheon slowly surveyed the bandits.

“Perhaps because they’re just ragtag bandits. They gave up their fight as soon as their leader died.”

The faces of the bandits turned red.

‘This heartless bastard!’

‘This guy is the worst of all!’

Why wouldn’t they want to resist? But they had clearly seen it. This was how Mount Hua fought the Green Forest.

Not only did they cut down those odd people who were terrifying to the bandits, but they also beheaded Go Hong, who had ruled like a king.

There was no way they could escape the sword.

Clearly, if they drew their swords, they would be reduced to ashes, so why would they fight?

However, Baek Cheon and the other Mount Hua disciples couldn’t understand their feelings.

“But why are there so few people? Did you arrive early? Judging by the number of bandits, it can’t be from them.”

“Everyone is back.”

“Then where…”

“Chung Myung said that if even one bandit was left untouched on the mountain, he would make them return to Mount Hua on their hands, so everyone went out to check if any bandits were left.”

“…”

Kwak Hoe’s face turned pale.

There were so many messed up things about Chung Myung, as many as the stars in the sky, but one of the most messed up things was how he always kept his word.

Uh?

Why was he so damn good at it?

‘So messed up.’

Usually, it was something to threaten or joke about, but that guy actually followed through on his words. He was the type who would applaud and say that he would make people crawl to Shaanxi on their heads, too!

“…should we join them?”

“No, you guys wait. You need to stay here to dismantle the bandits’ base.”

“Uh? Demolish?”

Kwak Hoe turned his head and surveyed the bandit manor sprawling around him.

He pondered what tasks the bandits undertook that required such industrious construction. They had numerous palace-like structures made of wood.

“All of this?”

“Yes.”

“But why?”

“If the bandit manor remains, bandits with nowhere else to go will gather, and groups will form. We need to demolish it to prevent them from regrouping.”

“Chung Myung?”

“Who else, if not him?”

“…”

Then, nothing more could be said.

‘He is trying to eradicate all the bandits.’

Upon reflection, this was the correct course of action. If you want to accomplish something, it’s better to be thorough. At most, they demolished the manor, but if a smaller bandit group’s dwellings were left, then bandits would regroup.

“… but where is Chung Myung?”

“Over there.”

“Uh?”

“There.”

Kwak Hoe’s gaze followed where Baek Cheon pointed.

There, bandits were ferrying something between the buildings.

“Huh!”

“Hmmmm!”

Among the bandits, who were hauling luggage while stuck with mortal fear, someone was directing them.

“Over there.”

“Yes!”

“That goes there.”

“Yes, Taoist!”

“…”

Kwak Hoe was flabbergasted. It was Hyun Young who was pointing and directing the bandits, with Chung Myung sitting beside him, munching on sweets.

Kwak Hoe, upon seeing this, tilted his head in confusion.

“What are they doing now?”

“Looting.”

“… what?”

Kwak Hoe’s eyes widened at Baek Cheon’s nonchalant response.

“…. Sasuk, I think I misheard…”

Baek Cheon sighed at this.

“We’re in the process of removing items from the base. The guy named Go Hong is known to have hoarded quite a bit.”

“Ah….”

“I was wondering why you were talking about tearing down the place…”

Baek Cheon gritted his teeth.

A good reason for giving the Nine Great Sects… no, of course, that wasn’t the right justification when one belonged to the justice sect, but it was still plausible enough.

‘This must have been his real intention.’

The Great Star bandits were ranked as the highest among the Green Forest bandits. Of course, they would have accumulated a lot of wealth.

Even during the most life-threatening subjugation, Chung Myung never missed his chance to loot someone. This obsession he had was truly creepy.

“…was he a ghost who died because of a lack of money or something?”

“No, Sasuk. Ghosts even fall short in front of Chung Myung. Don’t they also discriminate among people?”

“He is the same.”

Still, everything was ruined… even a ghost wouldn’t work now.

No, even if he wasn’t a Taoist, he wouldn’t even be possessed by a ghost.

“But as expected, it is Chung Myung. We don’t have to think more about this. Once we take down the bandits, we need to take hold of their wealth.”

Baek Cheon stayed at Kwak Hoe in silence.

“What is it?”

“…nothing.”

Seeing the disciples thinking nothing of the bandits being hit and looted, he wondered if something went wrong in the teachings.

In front of the mountain of wealth, Hyun Young stood with a solemn look.

“Open this.”

“…Yes.”

When a bag was opened, there were sparkling jewels within it. At the same time, Hyun Young’s eyes shone brightly.

“Hehehe. These are truly expensive-looking items. If it is like this, then…”

Gulp!

Hyun Young’s hands began to move quickly. Looking at the incredible speed, it was difficult to understand why this person gave up learning martial arts.

“As expected! It really is the best bandits! They saved all the things! Ahahahaha!”

“….”

“….”

The faces of the bandits carrying the luggage turned pale.

‘Is this man really a Taoist?’

‘They are scarier than bandits in a few ways.’

However, some actually welcomed this reaction.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit better than expected?”

“Yes! These people really brought all the good things. How great it is for us to go after them! I think this is more than the wealth a single sect can gather in a decade!”

Hyun Young laughed, unable to contain his excitement.

“I never thought that being bandits could bring so much profit. If I had known this would happen, I would have pushed Mount Hua to change its profession…”

“Hey! People are listening!”

“Ahem. Right.”

Hyun Young covered his mouth and cleared his throat. He suddenly grabbed Chung Myung’s head and shook it.

“You brat! You ghost! Even during this time, you can think about bringing us profit! This is why I can never hate you!”

“Ouch! It hurts!”

“Brat! This guy!”

Hyun Young, who held Chung Myung’s head tightly, smiled with delight.

Anyway, this guy smelled money like a starving ghost.

“So what do we do now? We take all this and return to Mount Hua?”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung’s eyes shone when he looked at the piled-up luggage.

“That would be fine, but… it probably won’t look good, right? Too many eyes will see it.”

“Right.”

“Which is why I am saying this.”

“Huh?”

For some reason, his eyes were showing more evil than bandits.

“We aren’t short on money right now, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do something with this, right?”

“… Huh?”

Hyun Young looked confused at Chung Myung’s words.

“Hehehe. First, let’s clear this.”

Hyun Young just smiled happily, seeing Chung Myung.

My pretty child.

How could he be this evil?

It was then that Hyun Young sympathized with the Nine Great Sects for the first time because this child held a grudge against them.