Chapter 86
Baek Mu-Gun left Wenzhou, passed Songyang, and reached Mount Jiulong in five days. Crossing Mount Jiulong, which was located southwest of Zhejiang Province, was necessary to reach Jiangxi Province. Hence, after spending a night at a guesthouse near Mount Jiulong, he climbed it early the next morning. He could have crossed it in less than half a day if he used his step technique, but he didn’t bother rushing.
Strolling, Mu-Gun enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Mount Jiulong as if he was on a sightseeing trip. The weather and scenery were so great he couldn’t help but hum to himself.
After quite a bit of hiking, he heard a woman’s scream from not far away. Without any hesitation, Mu-Gun rushed toward its source and witnessed an unforgivable atrocity not long after.
A few men, who appeared to be mountain bandits, were trying to rape a woman. On the ground next to them were a few bleeding men, most likely the woman’s companions. A glance was enough for Mu-Gun to get the gist of the situation. The mountain bandits’ lecherous hearts got the best of them when they saw the woman, so they tried to rape her. The few men accompanying her tried to stop them but were mercilessly cut down.
“Stop!”
Without wasting any more time, Mu-Gun approached the bandits, who had just stripped the woman bare of her clothes. When they saw Mu-Gun, they snorted.
“Young brat! We are just trying to have fun for the first time in so long, so just go your way instead of interrupting us. If you interrupt us one more time, you will end up just like those bastards lying on the ground over there. Consider yourself warned,” one of the bandits said as if he was being extremely merciful.
“You bastards truly deserve to die.”
Upon confirming his suspicion to be right on the mark, Mu-Gun decided to kill all the bandits. Men like them did not deserve to live.
“What did he just say?” one of the bandits asked, looking dumbfounded. Little did he know that those words would be his last.
Mu-Gun unleashed the Vajra Exorcism Finger and penetrated one of the bandit’s foreheads. When he collapsed on the ground with a finger-sized hole in his forehead, the other bandits’ expressions stiffened. At that moment, they realized that Mu-Gun was by no means an ordinary person. They quickly equipped their weapons and tried to attack Mu-Gun, but Mu-Gun gave them no chance to retaliate. He gathered qi at his fingertips and executed the Vajra Exorcism Finger over and over again. With their foreheads pierced, the bandits dropped dead before they could even resist.
“W-wait a minute! We are the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s bandits!” the last bandit standing hurriedly shouted.
“So what?”
“Messing with the Nine Dragons Stronghold will put you in great danger. If you let me live, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” The last remaining bandit borrowed the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s power to threaten Mu-Gun.
His threat wasn’t baseless. The Nine Dragons Stronghold was a member of the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin, the most powerful bandit group in the Central Plains. They were strong enough to defeat most small and medium-sized martial arts clans. In particular, the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s Chief, Meng Heuk-San, who was renowned as the Great Dragon Saber, possessed incredible martial arts. He was also rumored to be an Upper Peak Realm master, so no one could easily mess with the Nine Dragons Stronghold.
However, that did not apply to Mu-Gun.
“I have no need for that. I’ll just obliterate the Nine Dragons Stronghold. Now, die.”
Mu-Gun gathered qi at his fingertips and released another Vajra Exorcism Finger toward the last remaining bandit, sending him to the ground with his forehead pierced. After killing his opponents, Mu-Gun looked at the woman whom the bandits almost raped. She hurriedly covered herself with her torn clothes and rushed to the men who had fallen victim to the bandits.
“Uncles! Uncles! Open your eyes, please! You can’t die like this!”
The woman shook the men as she shouted, but none of them answered. They had already stopped breathing.
Mu-Gun approached the woman.
“I’m afraid they have already stopped breathing.”
“Sniff... This is all because of me. These uncles died trying to save me. What do I do? Sniff...”
The woman wailed and blamed herself in front of the deceased.
“It’s not your fault, so don’t blame yourself. Those bastards over there are to blame. They’re worse than beasts.”
The woman tried to wipe away her tears and calmed down in response. Afterward, she bowed to Mu-Gun.
“Seems my gratitude is overdue. Thank you for saving me.”
“It’s a shame that I came late. I could have saved those two as well.”
“This is all because of those bandits. I don’t know why the murim clans of Zhejiang Province are leaving the Nine Dragons Stronghold alone. If they had gotten rid of them, these uncles would not have had to suffer untimely deaths.”
The woman expressed her resentment not only toward the bandits but also toward the murim clans of Zhejiang Province for leaving them alone instead of getting rid of them. Mu-Gun looked bitter upon hearing her words. The Nine Dragons Stronghold charged an exorbitant amount of toll from many merchant associations going to and from the Jiangxi Province and the Zhejiang Province. They didn’t hesitate to murder and rob people, either.
Although the Zhejiang Martial Alliance was well aware of the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s monstrosity, they did not take any action. While that was due to the strong power of the Nine Dragons Stronghold, it was also because they were afraid that the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin would retaliate. The Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin had a strong sense of camaraderie. If one of their members were harmed, the others would unite and take revenge.
As a result, it became impossible for anyone to mess with the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin. With its current power, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance wouldn’t have trouble getting rid of the Nine Dragons Stronghold. However, the moment they messed with them, the alliance would be subjected to the retaliation of the entire Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin. Afraid of that happening, the Zhejiang Martial Alliance couldn’t touch the Nine Dragons Stronghold.
Despite being fully aware of that, the woman’s words seemed to stab into Mu-Gun’s conscience like a dagger. For the Zhejiang Martial Alliance to establish itself as a prestigious alliance, they should fight against injustice no matter the danger instead of just ignoring it. Unfortunately, they are currently failing to do that.
That had to change. Mu-Gun decided not to ignore the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s tyranny anymore. He currently possessed power great enough to no longer be afraid even if the entire Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin came together anyway. Hence, there was no more reason to hesitate.
“You’re right. Zhejiang Province’s murim sects have been very cowardly all this while. However, that won’t be the case anymore. Although I do not represent the murim sects of Zhejiang Province, I promise you that the Nine Dragons Stronghold will be rendered incapable of tyranny again.”
“Are you speaking the truth?”
“Yes. I, Baek Mu-Gun of the Baek Sword Sect, swear to you that I’ll accomplish that in our sect's name.”
“Ah, so you’re Young Master Baek! Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet either. I’m Ha Dan-Young. I grew up in a remote mountain village, so I am not affiliated with any family.”
“Considering you’re trying to cross Mount Jiulong, are you on your way to Jiangxi Province?”
“Yes. Those two uncles were very close to my late father and worked for the Poyang Merchant Association in Jiangxi Province. They both felt sorry for me since I have been living a hard life, so they prepared a job for me at their workplace. We were on our way there when this happened.”
“I see. What are you going to do now?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. Now that my two uncles have been met with an untimely death, I don’t know if there will be a place for me in the Poyang Merchant Association even if I go there. It will likely be difficult for me to reach that place alone, too, so it’ll probably be better for me to just return to my hometown.”
“Where are you from?”
“I’m from Unhwa.”
“I can help you, then. I’ll write you a letter of introduction to the Justice Martial Sect, so please go to them. They will give you an appropriate position to work at.”
“Thank you so much. I’m already very grateful to you for saving me from the bandits, yet you’re even providing me with a good workplace. How can I ever repay your generosity?” Dan-Young asked, feeling deeply emotional.
“There's an old saying that states even brushing past a person is one's karma. Think of it as a special connection between us, Lady Ha. For now, let’s retrieve their bodies and descend the mountain.”
Mu-Gun retrieved the bodies of the two middle-aged men who traveled with Dan-Young. Together, they then went to Songyang, which was where he stayed a night before climbing Mount Jiulong. Although he was trying to go to Jiangxi Province, he refused to let Dan-Young go alone even if it meant delaying his trip.
After leading Dan-Young to Songyang, Mu-Gun gave her a letter of introduction and some money to use for travel expenses. He then headed toward Mount Jiulong again. Mu-Gun planned to dispose of the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s bandits before crossing over to Jiangxi Province.
* * *
Meanwhile, upon discovering the corpses of the bandits Mu-Gun had killed, the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s bandits became hellbent on finding the culprit. After some time, they finally found tracks they believed were the culprit’s, so they immediately followed it to Songyang.
They had become so ferocious that if they went down to Songyang in this state, their tyranny would likely cause many of Songyang’s residents to suffer. However, before that could happen, Mu-Gun, who was climbing up the same path they took to descend down, sensed the presence of dozens of people coming from the top. Immediately identifying the presence to be the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s bandits, he leisurely waited for them to come down from the mountain.
After a while, a little under thirty men who obviously looked like bandits finally appeared and soon came across Mu-Gun, who was leisurely standing at the foot of the mountain with a sword sheathed on his waist and the Flying Golden Shield strapped to his back. He temporarily stopped using the Flying Golden Shield to hide his identity from the Great Namgung Family and Great Huangfu Family. Since those two great clans had already discovered his true identity, he no longer had to do that.
Noticing Mu-Gun was armed with a sword and a shield, the bandits realized that he was the one who killed their colleagues.
“Are you the one who killed our brothers?”
“They committed a crime deserving of death. Hence, naturally, they had to die.”
“You fucker! Don’t you know who you’re messing with?”
“I’m well aware of who you are. You’re all from the Nine Dragons Stronghold of the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin. What about it, though? At the end of the day, you lot are just mountain bandits.”
“This young bastard is asking to be killed.”
“What makes you think you’re capable enough to kill me?”
“What are you guys doing?! Why haven’t you ripped off that cheeky mouth of his yet?!” shouted the bandit who was talking with Mu-Gun, unable to stand it anymore.
Even if he didn’t order them, Mu-Gun’s comments made the other bandits so furious that they immediately equipped their weapons and charged at him. Mu-Gun slowly unsheathed his sword while looking at the bandits rushing toward him. As soon as it was out of its sheath, he unleashed countless sword shadows against the bandits at lightning speed.
Witnessing the rampaging moonlight sword shadows made the bandits realize that Mu-Gun was a master they could not go up against. They hurriedly tried to defend themselves, but their attempts proved futile. The moonlight sword shadows cut across the space and mercilessly pierced through their necks and chests.
“Agh!”
The bandits fell to the ground with blood splurting from their neck and chest wounds. As a single attack took down ten of their brothers, the remaining bandits stood rooted to the ground. Having confirmed Mu-Gun’s overwhelming ability, they no longer dared attack him anymore.
“Why? Why did you stop attacking me? Didn’t you say you’re going to rip my cheeky mouth off?” Mu-Gun mocked the bandits, who were bewildered and at a loss.
“W-we made a big mistake because we failed to recognize you, Sir Master. Please forgive us just this one time.”
“I can’t do that, can I? If I wasn’t this strong, would you have spared my life?”
At Mu-Gun’s rebuttal, the bandits became speechless.
“Despite so, you’re still asking me to spare you? I have decided to kill every single Nine Dragons Stronghold bandit today. No one will be spared.”
The bandits’ expression stiffened at Mu-Gun’s declaration. Considering they were going to be killed either way anyway, it would be better to try something before they died.
“Die!” The bandits rushed at Mu-Gun with the determination to die.
Instead of backing away, Mu-Gun approached them and retaliated. By the time he had finished attacking, all but one of the bandits had perished with a hole on their throats and chests. Mu-Gun purposely kept one alive so he’d have someone to guide him to the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s base. The last remaining bandit immediately plopped to the ground. Witnessing Mu-Gun’s overwhelming martial prowess had caused all of the strength in his legs to disappear.
“Lead me to the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s base.”
“I’ll do what you want, but please spare me in exchange.” The bandit begged for his life.
“Fine.”
“You promised. You’re not going to go back on your words later, are you?”
“I swear to God that I won’t kill you with my own hands.”
The bandit was suspicious of Mu-Gun’s promise, but he didn’t really have any other choice but do as his captor ordered and hope that he would spare him. The bandit led Mu-Gun to the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s base. When they arrived, Mu-Gun analyzed the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s combat forces.
According to the bandit, the Nine Dragons Stronghold comprised a total of three hundred people. The masters within their ranks included Nine Dragons Chief Meng Heuk-San, also known as the Great Dragon Saber, and the Four Tigers of Jiulong, who were his personal guards.
The Nine Dragon Sky Ascension Squad, which the Nine Dragons Chief had personally trained, was also said to have excellent skills. According to the bandit Mu-Gun kept alive, the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s combat forces were great enough to fight most small and medium-sized martial arts clans.
The very thought of fighting alone against that many would normally be considered preposterous. Nevertheless, Mu-Gun walked toward the Nine Dragons Stronghold without hesitation.
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