The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 70 : A Heroic Journey (2)

The martial world is not easy. Many rising stars of the new generation die in their first foray into the martial world, making their blood-vomiting training futile. It is an unavoidable fact. There are many rising stars of the orthodox sect who leave on a heroic journey, but few return alive.

But let's think from the perspective of the Black Way, not the orthodox sect. The rising stars of the orthodox sect who have left on a heroic journey are strong. No matter how much they lack real combat experience, they are those who have stepped into the martial world with the honor of their sect on the line. Because they have harsh training and the secret arts of their sect, they are far stronger than the groups of the Black Way, like mountain bandits or water bandits.

So how many of the Black Way's group will die to take the life of one rising star of the orthodox sect? Dozens, hundreds fall to just one person. In terms of the exchange ratio of lives, an overwhelming number of the Black Way's ruffians die.

And yet, why do the groups of the Black Way flourish all over the world? The reason is that it is easier to extort the reward from others than to obtain it by working directly.

A year of farming is hard, but it is simple to take the fruits from a farmer. Since there are more than one or two who think so, no matter how many martial artists of the orthodox sect wipe out the groups of the Black Way, there is no end in sight.

And that's not all. The groups of the Black Way are also people.

People are beings who think, prepare, and accumulate experience.

Just as the martial artists of the orthodox sect who have survived a heroic journey become masters.

The groups of the Black Way who have survived numerous heroic journeys also accumulate experience.

Of course, since the Black Way did not have a systematic training method or the secret arts of a sect passed down for a long time, very few became strong through real combat.

Most of the surviving Black Way gained wisdom, not strength.

An eye to measure the enemy's strength. An ear to find a place to escape.

A head to come up with various ugly means that can be used when faced with a crisis situation.

And the guts to execute it.

"Uh, uh?"

The group of water bandits that had attacked the Gwak Inseonbang were those who were based in the south of the Yellow River and called themselves the Huseong Unit, named after their leader. Among the water bandits of that Huseong Unit, the man who called himself Huseong's right-hand man, Wang Chang, had been caught up in a whopping seven heroic journeys but was one of the few who continued to be a water bandit with all his limbs intact. As a result, he had been able to accumulate considerable wisdom.

'That fellow, that-! He's no ordinary person!'

The handsome young man approaching nonchalantly. He had a white and blue precious sword casually slung at his side and had a leisurely attitude as if he were going for a walk in the back mountain. In the midst of forty water bandits drawing their weapons and threatening, such courage, such a precious sword, such an expression. Such an air was not something an ordinary martial artist could have.

'A master!'

He had seen through him as a master in an instant. It was better to flee.

But Wang Chang did not flee right away. If he, who called himself the boss's right-hand man, were to flee first, his face would be lost.

A water bandit lives by face and dies by face. A right-hand man without the guts to flee right away would not be forgiven by his comrades even if Huseong forgave him. He would be demoted to a subordinate who rowed an oar and would become an object of ridicule.

'Let's step back and see the situation.'

Stealthily, he hid among his comrades by backpedaling. It was to find out the skill of the approaching young man.

If it seemed like he would win, he would secretly join in, and if it seemed like he would lose, he would run away when he was half-dead. Even thinking about it himself, it was a truly rational judgment.

But Wang Chang's comrades were not rational.

They carried on the momentum of threatening the sailors and shouted at the young man.

"What are you!"

"You want to die?!"

"You're so handsome, if we catch and sell this, it'll be quite expensive..."

His words were not continued. The young man, who had flown like an arrow, kicked the belly of the one who had been talking for a long time. A cool sound of 'peong' burst out, and the kicked fellow flew out of the boat. A splash of water, 'pundeong'.

Wang Chang was astonished. For a martial artist of the orthodox sect, it was basic to come forward, introduce oneself, state one's purpose, and only then display one's skills.

But to approach without a word and just beat them up? It was a violence that transcended common sense.

"This bastard-!"

"I'll beat you to death!"

His comrades approached, brandishing the weapons they had drawn. Then the young man's nonchalant expression changed to one of annoyance.

"I'll spare the ones who throw away their weapons and bow their heads."

"You-!"

The water bandits couldn't even finish their curses. He beat up the fellow who was about to say something first. He clenched his fist and struck his jaw, and his teeth fell out with a clatter in one blow.

Even at a glance, he had tremendous internal energy. Should he run away? Wang Chang hesitated for a moment, but he judged that it was better not to run away yet.

He had seen masters of this level several times so far. It was Wang Chang's pride that he had survived even after seeing them several times.

"Keuak-!"

"Keoheok!"

If you watch, you can learn a lot. Wang Chang's sharp eyes had found out the young man's identity.

The golden alliance pass hanging on the end of the precious sword at his waist was the pass of the Martial Alliance. If he belonged to the Martial Alliance and had a white and blue precious sword, he was an inspector of the Martial Alliance.

He swung his fist a few times and then soon drew his sword and pierced the neck of a comrade who was approaching. Three punches with the meaning of a warning, and then immediately drawing the sword. This was evidence that he had a very impatient personality.

'He's hot-tempered. Good, good, very good.'

If his personality was impatient, there were many openings to stab. Then it was better to kill him than to run away.

If he survived the heroic journey this time too, even the boss Huseong would not be able to look down on Wang Chang.

And the precious sword, the precious sword. If he just had that precious sword, he could do anything.

Wang Chang's eyes, glistening with greed, turned to the side. He spat out a curse and extended his hand towards his comrades who were running in succession.

'Hey, stop the dog-like act of rushing in blindly and bring the black rope first.'

'The black rope? Ah, the black rope!'

The black rope originally referred to the ink line that carpenters carried. But the water bandits' black rope was a little different from that. It referred to a net made by twisting human hair into a rope, feeding it with glue and fish oil to make it hard to break, and then tying it together in a crisscross pattern.

Since its thickness was about two fingers combined, it could not be broken by force. It was tough and hard, so it was difficult to cut with a sword, and even fire did not catch on well.

If ten people gathered and threw the black rope, even a decent martial artist could not avoid it, and if they were covered by the net, they had no choice but to die helplessly.

Wang Chang had survived five of the seven heroic journeys he had encountered so far thanks to the black rope.

"Kuaaack!"

His comrades were dying. Wang Chang let them die.

This was the way of the Black Way. A comrade's life was not his own life, and from a grander perspective, it was nothing more than a tool.

A tool to succeed in one capture with the black rope. There was no need to take care of the lives of the tools.

Wang Chang gathered a few of his closer comrades and secretly finished preparing to throw the black rope.

'Good. I'll give the signal to throw.'

'Alright. But I can't hide for long. How about we throw it now?'

'Shut up, you idiot.'

No matter how hot-tempered and distracted he was by dealing with the swarming water bandits, a master was a master.

A net that was just thrown had room to be avoided. He had to use a strategy, a scheme.

Wang Chang watched his comrades who were holding bows on the opposite side and firing arrows in succession. If the attention of the Martial Alliance inspector was distracted by their shooting, and his gaze was drawn, that would be the chance.

It was a classic feint operation, a hammer and anvil tactic.

Wang Chang had never learned it properly, but he had come to understand tactics to some extent through real combat.

It wasn't a stone, but a bow. A martial artist on their first foray into the martial world was vulnerable to such group tactics and long-range shooting, to the point where they would be hit by a simple stone throw. A volley of arrows shot by dozens of people was truly a rain of arrows. On a narrow sailboat, it would be strange to endure it.

But Wang Chang saw that the young man could probably endure even a rain of arrows.

'After the first wave, we throw on the second wave.'

Watching, it was true. The young man deflected the arrows by swinging his sword without much difficulty. He seemed to have excellent eyesight.

But no matter how good his eyesight was, it was difficult to pay attention to what was below in the midst of a chaotic battle, and it was even harder to see behind. Wang Chang and his comrades had approached by crawling, using their comrades' corpses as shields.

And the distance and the time were right. At the same time as the inspector deflected the arrows, he boldly threw the black rope.

The black rope properly covered the bastard. It was a great success.

Everyone cheered and got up, holding their bows and spears. After tying him with the black rope, they would shoot arrows and stab him with spears. It was a surefire strategy.

But something was strange.

"A net? You're doing all sorts of things."

Even though his body was caught in the net, the bastard muttered nonchalantly. Wang Chang got goosebumps for a moment. The operation had succeeded, but there was not a hint of panic in the bastard's voice.

Did he have no sense of reality? Or did he have the skill to break through this lightly?

'Flee? Or attack? Which one should I choose?'

Wang Chang's choice was a little late.

While his comrades were vigorously stabbing with their spears and shooting arrows like rain.

Just one second.

It was just one second.

"This is why real combat experience is important. I've seen the water bandits' rich tactics well."

A cool wind blew. The black rope froze white and then shattered with a cracking sound.

The black rope, which could withstand three hundred catties, could not be cut even with an axe, and did not burn well in fire, shattered when frozen.

That was an ice art. The ice art he had seen for the first time in his life had mercilessly crushed Wang Chang's tactic of using the black rope.

"You're the leader of this group, aren't you?"

Before the young man's voice reached his ears, before he felt the cold that had shattered the black rope.

In that fleeting moment, Wang Chang saw a white light that cut through the wind and approached him. The light was sucked in between Wang Chang's eyes.

A thrust of extreme speed that was not even visible to the eye.

There was no room to avoid it.

Even for a veteran of the Black Way who had survived seven heroic journeys, there was nothing he could do in front of overwhelming power.

Wang Chang's consciousness was cut off there.

* * *

Of the forty water bandits, only three survived. Only the three who had been knocked out by the first punches.

Jang So-gil looked down at the pile of corpses and the deck covered in blood.

"Gwan, no matter how many of these bastards I cut down, they don't retreat. I thought they would stop if I cut down about five, but they're not scared at all. What do you think is going on?"

Yang Gwan had made full preparations for the worst-case scenario. He had made the sailors retreat, protected the passengers, and was on standby to support Jang So-gil if necessary. He, who had been comforting a child, approached and answered Jang So-gil's question.

"If one person stops the offensive out of fear, everyone will die at that moment. They know that through their lives in the Black Way."

"I didn't intend to kill them all."

"It is wise to kill them all. They are people who are of no help alive."

"The ways of the martial world are unforgiving..."

"Anyway, those guys have no intention of letting you live either, Young Master So. It's common for the groups of the Black Way to die if they lose, and they all think so, so they don't stop. The solidarity of the Black Way is, in some ways, stronger than that of the orthodox sect."

It felt like insects were crawling on his skin. Jang So-gil rubbed his own arms.

"I can finally feel why a martial artist on their first foray into the martial world dies so easily."

Tactics using long-range weapons like stones or arrows, and traps like nets, are difficult to deal with without experience, even if one knows they exist. Hadn't even Jang So-gil been caught by the black rope?

But beyond that, the level of their way of thinking and mental armament was different. Compared to a martial artist who was supposed to exercise heroism and justice, the spirit of the Black Way was much simpler.

If you don't kill, you die. That's why they could have the ruthlessness to use even their comrades as shields.

On top of that, they were armed with a tolerance for violence, blood, and death cultivated through real combat, and a madness that did not even fear death, so it was only natural that an inexperienced martial artist could not handle them.

"That's that, but where's the captain?"

"The sailors say he's holding out in the innermost room."

"Go get that bastard."

(End of Chapter)