Chapter 58
Green Forest (3)
What on earth are those two talking about?
Oh Kyung’s brows furrowed when he saw Jo Woo-chi and Namgung Hyuk sitting face-to-face.
He had only stepped out briefly to speak privately with the Yellow-Green Stronghold’s chief, yet in that short time, those two had already struck up a conversation.
He’s not changing his mind at the last minute… is he?
The reason Oh Kyung had personally come here wasn’t only because he had sworn brotherhood with Jo Woo-chi in their youth.
Although the Yellow-Green Stronghold ranked eighth among the seventy-two Green Forest bands, its actual might rivaled even that of the Fifth Stronghold, the Mighty Bear Fort.
On top of that, many of the smaller bands that had once followed the late Tiger King Fort now served under Yellow-Green.
The Grand Chief ordered me to eliminate Jo Woo-chi…
Oh Kyung, however, had claimed that he could persuade Jo Woo-chi instead, using their old friendship.
Of course, his goal wasn’t truly to help Jo Woo-chi.
When the inevitable war between the Orthodox and the Evil Sects broke out, the Green Forest—though allied with the Evil faction—would not escape the conflict.
Rather than sacrifice the Mighty Bear Fort, Oh Kyung had planned to send Jo Woo-chi and his Black Wolf Unit to the front lines.
I almost had him convinced… until those damned Martial Alliance people showed up.
He had a rough idea why the Alliance had appeared in this remote place.
If Jo Woo-chi ended up siding with the Martial Alliance now, no one would be in a worse position than Oh Kyung himself.
“It’s a shame to waste all that effort,” he muttered darkly, “but since it’s come to this, I’d best remove this source of trouble entirely.”
He turned, his voice low and grim.
Behind him knelt Yul Mok-gi, commander of the Mighty Bear Fort’s elite battle corps, the Iron Wind Brigade.
“The men are ready?”
“Of course. They await only your signal.”
“Good. Then when the time comes—kill Jo Woo-chi and everyone from the Martial Alliance.”
“As you command.”
A cruel smile curved Yul Mok-gi’s lips.
That night, past midnight, when the hour neared the Ox Hour, Namgung Hyuk lay awake in the room they had been given.
My instincts as a hunter are warning me—tonight will be dangerous.
Even if they weren’t, he had no intention of sleeping soundly in the heart of enemy territory.
And Tang San was no different.
“I’ll take the first watch. You should rest.”
“……”
Despite his words, Tang San only sat silently against the wall, eyes open.
By contrast, Kim Ji-seok was sleeping like a baby.
Oh?
Namgung Hyuk lifted his head slightly.
His Thunder Web Formation, stretched like a spider’s web around the building, had detected movement.
Those movements… from the Mighty Bear Fort’s people, no doubt.
He smiled faintly.
Jo Woo-chi hadn’t given him a definite answer earlier. There was nothing more he could do now but watch which way the man’s heart would lean.
But it seems those people couldn’t wait even one night before acting.
If Jo Woo-chi had wanted to prove his loyalty, he could’ve killed Namgung Hyuk’s group on sight. Yet he hadn’t. He had listened to him instead.
Now suspicion divided the bandits themselves—this was the result.
“Ji-seok, Tang San.”
At his call, Kim Ji-seok rose instantly, and Tang San lifted his head. Their sharp reactions satisfied him.
“It seems the Mighty Bear men are moving. Their target isn’t just us—they mean to kill Jo Woo-chi as well.”
Even as he spoke, Namgung Hyuk could see, through the Thunder Web, dozens of hostile presences closing in stealthily from outside.
He issued quick orders.
“Ji-seok, Tang San—you intercept the ones coming this way. I’ll go save Jo Woo-chi.”
“Understood.”
“……”
Kim Ji-seok answered crisply; Tang San only nodded.
Their contrasting temperaments made Namgung Hyuk frown slightly.
Can those two really work together?
He trusted their skill, but their teamwork was another matter.
Still—
Trust them. You trusted your teammates in your past life when raiding those dungeons, didn’t you?
This was no different.
“Then I leave the rear to you.”
With that, Namgung Hyuk slipped out the window—since the bandits were surely watching the doors.
If I draw attention now, the local people will misunderstand everything.
Moving silently, he reached the building where Jo Woo-chi’s quarters were.
The guards there were tighter than expected, so he hid on the roof.
The sentries were members of the Black Wolf Unit, led by Kang Ryang himself.
Normally, the man never stood night watch, but now he was visibly tense.
He too must have sensed something coming.
Just then, from the shadows, Oh Kyung appeared, hands clasped behind his back.
“You’ve worked hard, men.”
“What brings you out so late, Vice Chief?”
Kang Ryang’s tone was wary.
Oh Kyung approached with a slick smile.
“There’s a matter that must be settled before the night is over.”
“It’s quite late. Perhaps you should return in the morning and speak with the Chief then.”
Kang Ryang’s voice was polite but firm.
Behind Oh Kyung, shadows shifted—one after another, the Iron Wind Brigade emerged.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
Kang Ryang and the Black Wolves drew their swords as one.
The Iron Wind men responded by brandishing staves and great axes.
At last, Oh Kyung dropped the pretense.
“As Vice Chief of the Seventy-Two Green Forest Bands, I am here to arrest Jo Woo-chi of the Yellow-Green Stronghold for conspiring with the Orthodox Martial Alliance!”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
“You brought members of the Martial Alliance right into our stronghold—don’t deny it!”
Oh Kyung’s shout was brazen.
At that moment, the doors burst open and Jo Woo-chi himself stepped out.
“What kind of bullshit are you spewing, brother?”
“I’m sorry, brother. But for the sake of restoring order to the Green Forest, I have no choice.”
He raised his hand.
From the rear line, men armed with repeating crossbows stepped forward.
Weapons rarely seen outside the royal army.
Jo Woo-chi flinched.
“You smuggled those into my fort without my knowledge?”
“They say it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Oh Kyung said coolly. “I brought them in case they were needed.”
He had dismantled and hidden the parts in cargo to smuggle them in—meticulous as ever.
It was no wonder the Grand Chief trusted him.
“Damn you! So you were aiming for my head all along.”
“Not at first, brother. If those Martial Alliance bastards hadn’t come here today, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Kh!”
Jo Woo-chi ground his teeth.
He bitterly regretted letting the man into his stronghold unguarded, just because of their old sworn-brother bond.
And yet—
I was even going to refuse the Martial Alliance’s offer tomorrow morning for the sake of the Green Forest’s unity…
Now that he’d been betrayed, only rage remained.
“As a fellow Green Forester, I’d rather not shed blood. Surrender quietly.”
“Bullshit.”
Jo Woo-chi drew his blade.
Blue, razor-sharp blade-energy shimmered along its edge.
Kang Ryang and the Black Wolves released their killing intent without hesitation.
“If you resist, we’ll have no choice. Think of the lives of the others in the stronghold,” Oh Kyung said.
“Hah! Pretending to show mercy, are you? You think I’ll end up like the Tiger King Fort?”
The Grand Chief had once promised not to touch Mount Madusan or Tiger King Fort.
But after Madusan’s death, Tiger King Fort was destroyed by the royal army thanks to an anonymous tip.
Everyone knew it had been the Grand Chief’s doing.
“I see there’s no helping it, then.”
Oh Kyung lowered his hand.
Seven repeating crossbows fired in unison—bolts deadly even to masters of the highest level.
Zzzt-crack!
“Argh!”
“Huh-aaah!”
But before the bolts reached their marks, the crossbowmen screamed, foaming at the mouth and collapsing.
A bolt of lightning had struck the crossbows from above.
“What in the—!?”
Thunder from a clear sky—it made no sense.
Just then—
Whssh!
A figure dropped from the night sky, landing in front of Kang Ryang.
“You—!”
Oh Kyung’s eyes widened when he saw Namgung Hyuk’s face.
Jo Woo-chi was equally astonished.
“You… how did you—?”
“I sensed danger approaching,” Namgung Hyuk said, glancing back at Jo Woo-chi. “So I came to help.”
Meanwhile, at the guesthouse where Kim Ji-seok and Tang San had stayed behind, another group was closing in.
“We finish them off quickly, then go assist the Vice Chief,” said Yul Mok-gi.
To his eyes, Namgung Hyuk’s companions were nothing but young, inexperienced brats.
“What about the sentries?” a subordinate asked.
“Kill them.”
Even fellow Green Foresters were expendable obstacles. Such was the Iron Wind Brigade’s ruthless code.
“There.”
He spotted the guesthouse on the small hill ahead and gave a cold grin, signaling his men to advance.
But—
Whoosh!
An arrow flew from above and struck a man’s shoulder.
“Gah!”
The wounded man fell, clutching his shoulder.
Yul Mok-gi’s eyes widened—then more arrows rained down in rapid succession.
“Take cover!” he shouted.
His men scattered, seeking shelter, but six or seven had already been hit.
Did they know we were coming?
Grinding his teeth, Yul Mok-gi looked toward the source of the arrows.
Another scream rang out—someone had been hit even behind cover.
Impossible! How can anyone shoot so precisely in this darkness, even with moonlight?
Only an archer of extraordinary skill could do this.
He suddenly remembered the young man he’d seen earlier that day—Kim Ji-seok.
It’s him.
He had dismissed the boy, seeing only a naive face and a bow—an unorthodox weapon among martial artists.
He hadn’t imagined the kid was a divine marksman.
“Follow the arrows’ path! Dodge and rush the archer!” Yul Mok-gi barked. “Take him down fast!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Iron Wind men charged up the hill—
—but then arrows rained down like a storm, as if shot by many archers at once.
Clang! Clang!
“This is nothing!” Yul Mok-gi roared, swinging his massive Azure Dragon Sabre to deflect the shafts.
But not everyone could do the same.
Several of his men were struck and tumbled down the slope.
Thud. Thud.
“Huh?”
One man at the front noticed something roll to his feet—a small round bead.
Fssh!
Green smoke burst from its cracks.
“Wha—!”
“Cough! Cough!”
In an instant, the hillside was shrouded in noxious vapor.
Yul Mok-gi inhaled a trace of it and realized in horror—poison gas!
“Damn it!”
His subordinates writhed within the toxic fog, while arrows still whistled through the air.
Only then did Yul Mok-gi realize how gravely he had underestimated his opponent.
