novelraw Chapter 27 : Chapter 27
Chapter 27 : Chapter 27
Chapter 27 - He said he would come again
“You stupid bastard!”
Jjwaak!
A voice full of anger and the sound of a whip echoed through the stronghold.
Jjwaak!
Every time the whip touched his body, a red brand was carved into his white skin.
His skin swelled up and blood splattered everywhere.
But, the man did not resist in the slightest.
“If you were going to let it be stolen with your eyes wide open, why were you guarding it! You idiot!”
Jjwaak!
The man's body was already covered in blood, but the whipping showed no signs of stopping.
A middle-aged woman, unable to watch any longer, ran over in small steps and bowed her head.
“Leader! Please forgive him!”
“Get out of the way!”
“He has already lost consciousness! If you wish to punish him, it will not be too late to do so after he regains consciousness.”
“……!”
The man looked at the bloodied man with flashing eyes.
Indeed.
It wasn't easy to see because his head was bowed, but the man was unconscious.
Unable to endure the beating any longer, he had fainted while kneeling.
“Ha! No wonder he couldn't even guard a single safe, being so weak.”
The leader of the Tiger-Bear Stronghold.
Wi Sung glared at the fainted man with a cold gaze.
In many ways, he was a person who did not fit the image of a stronghold leader.
His build was small, and his clothes were refined, unlike a bandit's.
If the seven-cheok giant Jang Pae was the typical image of a stronghold leader, Wi Sung looked more like a strategist or a scholar.
An impression that would make one ask, ‘That’s the master of the stronghold?’ if they met him on the street.
His rat-like face also gave off a vile and wretched impression rather than a magnanimous one.
However, like the leader of a stronghold, a clear ‘savagery’ existed in him.
The weapon Wi Sung held in his right hand.
The Black Snake Silk Whip, woven from the skin of a black python, was glistening with blood.
Some might ask why a bandit would use a whip, but for Wi Sung with his small build, it was the perfect weapon.
No matter how large the axe or sword, it was useless if it couldn't reach.
The Black Snake Silk Whip was the weapon that had contributed greatly to Wi Sung becoming the leader of the Tiger-Bear Stronghold.
“Starve him without giving him a single sip of water until I give the order.”
“Ye…… yes!”
“Kaak, ptui!”
Wi Sung spat on the ground and left.
The middle-aged woman approached the man with a face full of worry.
“Yeoho! Get a hold of yourself!”
The man's name was Absolute Protector.
No one knew his real name.
Not even Absolute Protector himself.
He was taken in by Wi Sung at a young age, before he even knew his own name.
At that time, it was this middle-aged woman who had suggested taking in the child who was about to starve to death in the mountains.
Wi Sung had said, ‘If that's the case, will you share your own food?’, and the middle-aged woman had nodded.
She was in charge of food and laundry, and also clumsy but effective treatment at the Tiger-Bear Stronghold.
Unlike Absolute Protector, she had a real name, but people called her Great Mother.
It was a name given to her because she was in charge of the household affairs, including meals, but she was also the only person in the Tiger-Bear Stronghold who still had some humanity left.
“Hey, Great Mother. At this rate, your neck is going to fly off before his. Did you see how the Leader's eyes were flipped?”
A one-eyed man approached Great Mother and bared his missing teeth.
“The Leader has no intention of killing this guy anyway. Who do you think is the reason the Tiger-Bear Stronghold has grown this much? Why would he cut open the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs? Kehkeh.”
“Stop talking nonsense and help me lift this guy’s body.”
After carefully wiping the blood with a worn towel, Great Mother lifted one of Absolute Protector's shoulders.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to lift him.”
“Heh. Damn it. What kind of misfortune is this, getting involved for no reason?”
The one-eyed man reluctantly went to the opposite side of Great Mother and supported Absolute Protector.
The two soon laid Absolute Protector down in the room where Great Mother stayed.
“Heave-ho! He's so damn heavy, maybe because he's tall. Don't even think about feeding him anything secretly behind the Leader's back. He lets you be because you do a lot of work, but I don't think he thinks too highly of you.”
“I’ll take care of my own affairs. Thanks for your help.”
The one-eyed man snorted once and left the room.
‘His whole body is a mess.’
Great Mother's face was filled with sorrow.
Thinking back, it was truly a harsh beating.
Just how valuable was that thing, to turn a person into such a pulp.
“They weren't even prepared there in the first place…….”
Since even the great Jang Pae couldn't do anything about the safe, they thought no one would be able to take it.
So, apart from the guard post, no one paid attention to the area around the Martial Arts Hall.
In that situation, the endlessly loyal Absolute Protector had volunteered.
He said he didn't care where he slept, as long as he could guard the place where the safe was overnight.
‘This child has always been like that. He was more loyal to the Leader than anyone else. But to put him in such a state…….’
Great Mother's rough fingertips caressed Absolute Protector's cheek.
Should she call it a blessing in disguise?
Although he couldn't avoid scars on various parts of his body, his refreshingly handsome face was unharmed.
Was it because of the shock of being abandoned as a child?
Growing up in the stronghold, Absolute Protector had become stubbornly single-minded.
He didn't have a single friend, a common thing to have, and he desired nothing in terms of eating, sleeping, or drinking.
There was only one thing in his mind.
That he must repay the favor to the leader who saved his life.
In reality, it was thanks to Great Mother that he was able to survive, but no one in the stronghold told him the truth.
At first, Wi Sung was indifferent to Absolute Protector, but over time, he changed his mind.
This was because his skill with the sword was unusual from a young age.
That guy will protect my side whether it rains or snows.
In an emergency, he could also be used as a shield.
From then on, Wi Sung began to pay attention to Absolute Protector.
Absolute Protector's growth far exceeded Wi Sung's expectations.
Even before the Tiger-Bear Stronghold established its base on Diancang Mountain, there were large and small wars, and each time, Absolute Protector stood at the forefront and wiped out the enemies.
The expression ‘the goose that lays golden eggs’ that the one-eyed man had used came from that.
After Absolute Protector grew up, the Tiger-Bear Stronghold was able to expand its power day by day.
The story that his martial arts might be stronger than the leader's was no longer treated as a secret.
Was Wi Sung's pride hurt by that rumor?
No.
He was very pleased with the rumor.
Because he knew that unlike others, Absolute Protector would never betray him until the day his life ended.
He was a person who was lacking in everything except for one blind thought.
“……Hm.”
Considering the degree of the throbbing pain, it was a faint groan.
Absolute Protector let out a low groan and opened his closed eyes.
“Are you awake? Yeoho.”
“Yes.”
“It hurts a lot, doesn't it? I've applied medicine to your wounds, so it's going to sting for a while.”
“Yes.”
He could have at least offered a simple greeting, but Absolute Protector's reply was utterly indifferent.
But Great Mother took it as if it were nothing, as if she had always experienced it.
“Don't resent the Leader too much. He's just like that because his expectations for that item were so high.”
“I know.”
“Yes. I knew you wouldn't think badly of the Leader.”
Looking at Absolute Protector's low, sunken gaze, she felt she had said something unnecessary.
This child was not upset about being beaten.
He was just frustrated that his skills were lacking and he couldn't catch the thief.
Great Mother, worried that Absolute Protector would blame himself, changed the subject.
“That thief you encountered last night…… was he that strong?”
“Yes.”
“Much stronger than you?”
“Yes.”
“He must be a truly great person.”
Great Mother had also heard about the events of last night.
She heard that the thief had fled by flying into the sky like a bird, holding a sword and the safe in his arms.
Leaving behind the infuriating farewell, ‘Goodbye, everyone!’.
Great Mother doubted her ears when she heard the story from the bandits.
Fleeing by flying in the sky?
What kind of story was this, as if from a dream?
Wi Sung, who had been sleeping drunk at the time, also jumped up in the morning when he heard the report.
But since all the bandits who were at the scene were saying the same thing, there was nothing he could do to anyone.
Cruelly, Absolute Protector became a good outlet for Wi Sung, who had no way to vent his anger.
Because no matter how harshly he was treated, he would never change his mind.
Besides, there was the good excuse that he was the first to discover the thief at the scene.
‘That bastard…….’
Twitch.
Absolute Protector's body flinched once.
Great Mother was startled and stopped his movement.
“Stop. It’s too much for you to get up now. The wounds I just stitched up will also open. The Leader also said you shouldn’t move at all for the whole day.”
“He said…… he would come again.”
“Huh?”
“That guy…… said he would come again……”
“That thief…… said he would come here again?”
Absolute Protector closed his eyes instead of answering.
He felt dizzy, perhaps from the strain of trying to force his body up.
Through his fading consciousness, he heard Great Mother's voice.
“That's strange. Why would a thief come back after stealing what he wanted?”
That was something Absolute Protector didn't know either.
But he had definitely heard it.
The man had foretold that they would meet again soon.
‘It was a strength of a different dimension.’
He had never felt such a huge wall after clashing swords with someone before.
He was a person whose gap was so vast that he couldn't even guess.
If that man came again, he would be a great threat to Wi Sung.
‘I must recover quickly and protect the Leader.’
That was Absolute Protector's last thought before he fell asleep.
***
“Keung. What should I do with this.”
Biyoung scratched the back of his head as if he had a headache.
In front of him, the manuals, the Sect Leader's letter, and the Diancang Treasure Red Seal were neatly laid out.
From the Diancang Sect's perspective, they were priceless treasures.
Moreover, the safe that had contained them was none other than Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, which was said to be worth whatever one asked for it, was made in the shape of a box, so its value was beyond words.
The problem was that such treasures had now become a nuisance.
“It's not like I can hide this in the house…… and I can't just bury it in the ground…… hmmm.”
Since it was a small thatched hut, there was no suitable space to hide the manuals.
What if he just dug a hole and buried it, and then it rained?
What if the manuals got wet and became unusable?
On that day, Biyoung would be called not the ‘World's Fastest Sword’ but the ‘Diancang Sect's Number One Fool’.
Hongchil, who had come once before and caused a ruckus (to be precise, he tried to cause a ruckus and went back half-crippled), was also a subtle burden.
He was ready to beat him up at any time, but he couldn't predict what he would do while he and Jinbae were away.
“Isn't there a suitable place somewhere. There should be.”
Biyoung knew what the best way was in times like these.
That is, to temporarily entrust it to someone who has no connection with the Diancang Sect.
A trustworthy person with a strong sense of faith, enough to suppress their curiosity about the items.
It's even better if their family is well-off.
The possibility of it being stolen would be low, and street thugs wouldn't easily enter.
If it were the ‘World's Fastest Sword’ of the past, there would have been several people who met those conditions.
There were even people who would have stepped up to help without being asked.
But for the current Biyoung?
“There’s no way I have such connections.”
Biyoung scratched his head and frowned.
At that moment, someone's voice was heard from a distance.
“Biyoung!”
“Sedong?”
From the bottom of the mountain, Sedong was running up, dodododo.
His already mouse-like build looked even smaller from a distance.
Biyoung confirmed it was Sedong and grinned.
Seeing him running with such a happy face, it seemed he had heard some news through the caravan's Head Manager Jo Seom.
“Huh?”
Wait.
What were the conditions again?
Has faith, has no connection with the Diancang Sect, and is from a well-off family?
……That's it.
“I’m a fool too. I didn’t even recognize him when he was right in front of me.”
Biyoung gave a meaningful smile and raised both his arms.