Chapter 5 Back to the Front Lines-2

Chapter 5: Back to the Front Lines-2

Staring blankly at the vagabonds skillfully lighting a fire and boiling rice porridge, I suddenly stood up, approached them, and said.

“May I join you for a bite?”

Jang the warrior readily agreed.

“Of course. But didn’t your lovely sister pack you a meal earlier? I thought you’d eat that.”

He answered with a bitter smile.

“My sister’s cooking skills aren’t quite up to par yet, despite her looks. It wasn’t fit for human consumption.”

At my words, the ronin burst into laughter.

“Huh? Pwahahahaha! Well, that makes sense! It would be unfair if such a beautiful daughter of a noble family could also cook well!”

“Wahahaha! The gentleman who marries your sister will have his hands full! Imagine how awkward it must be every time she offers to cook for him?! Kwahahaha!”

“Like you, Gong-ga?”

“What, you bastard?! Yeah, actually, you’re right about me. That’s why I come out early and go in late every day, even when I don’t have work. I only want to see her at night. Kwahahaha!”

Amidst the rowdy laughter and chatter of the vagabonds, I suddenly glanced toward the grassy patch where I’d tossed the rice ball.

There, squirrels and insects that had eaten the rice ball I’d thrown lay dead in a heap.

The survival rate of my comrades working on the front lines was about thirty percent over three years.

So, if I was still alive after about three years, it meant the two beside me would die.

‘Well, that was the rate up to five years from now. After that, it dropped below one in ten.’

Anyway, if one of those two who died was killed by the Blood Cult’s Madou or Maen, the other one usually died at the hands of his comrades.

Comrades who had been possessed by the enemy without even knowing when it happened.

That’s why we absolutely had to keep a close watch on our comrades.

Watch for any changes in their behavior, to see if they might attack me from behind.

Yeon-ha, who came to see me yesterday, looked very different from my memory.

And the fact that she came to greet me today was also different from my memories of my past life.

In my past life, Yeon-ha never came to meet me, yet in this life, for some reason, she even cooked something she never usually made to greet me. It was something that demanded my full attention.

Above all, Yeon-ha’s eyes.

The eyes of that child, who spoke as if concerned for me, held emotions entirely different from her words.

Emotions like inexplicable hatred and contempt.

Those possessed by the Blood Pact lose emotion from their eyes.

Therefore, Yeonha’s change couldn’t be due to being possessed.

I had to admit it now.

Yeonha hadn’t changed; it was just that foolish me back then hadn’t noticed.

That child had never given anything for my sake from the very beginning.

Come to think of it, my male siblings weren’t the only ones who could have killed Danhasang.

“Huuu.”

I let out a deep sigh.

My chest felt tight.

It felt like losing the only child I’d considered my true family for the past thirty years.

Just when I thought I’d finally understood my father’s true feelings and gained one person, I lost another.

It seemed I was destined to have only one family member.

A bitter smile escaped him.

Feeling stifled, I rose and asked Master Jang.

“Could I possibly borrow a sword?”

“Huh? A sword? I carry this spare one around. You can use it. But didn’t Confucius use a sword?”

“Haha, actually, I’m not very good with swords. Thank you.”

While the meal was being prepared, he began swinging the sword.

My body was completely unaccustomed to wielding either sword or staff; it was obvious that attempting any techniques with this body would make me look like a clumsy beginner.

True masters are masters because their fundamentals are strong, not their techniques, right?

The masters I’d actually seen could easily slaughter amateurs with just basic cuts and thrusts.

So I had to lose weight and train my fundamentals at the same time.

And from experience, when my mind felt stifled, slashing felt far more refreshing than thrusting.

The journey that followed was also a continuous training regimen.

I kept running during every move, and once running became somewhat familiar, I ran while swinging my sword.

During rest periods or sleep time, I cut back on sleep to hone my mind techniques.

Thinking of the front lines drawing ever closer, I couldn’t afford to waste even a single moment.

That place was literally a death trap. In past lives, I’d often been spared danger because I was too weak, but in this life, I might die even sooner.

Therefore, if he didn’t want to die, he had to give his absolute best.

After observing me for several days, Master Jang suddenly brought it up during a meal.

“In all my years, I’ve never seen anyone train as relentlessly as you, young master. At first, I thought you wouldn’t last long, but now I find myself ashamed. Seeing you makes me realize I should live more earnestly too.”

The other ronin nodded in agreement, their eyes now filled with goodwill.

He merely smiled awkwardly and replied.

“I’m just struggling desperately because I don’t want to die. If I’d always lived like this, why would I have gotten fat?”

But Master Zhang shook his head and replied.

“Though I’ve reached this age and still only mastered second-rate skills, my years of sword training have given me discerning eyes. Watching Confucius wield sword and Dao, he seemed less like a novice warrior and more like a retired old master.”

Hearing this, another ronin asked curiously.

“What do you mean by that, brother?”

“What I mean is, though the path Confucius wields is slow, he already knows that path and wields it accordingly. He doesn’t just swing wildly like beginners, learning each unknown step by step. He repeats a path he already knows, so his progress is bound to be swift.”

“Ahhh.”

“Come to think of it, watching Master Seonwoo wield the Way, he does seem strangely seasoned.”

Jang Musha looked at me again and said.

“I don’t know what circumstances he faced, but it seems Master Seonwoo’s life wasn’t easy either. I thought the life of a Confucian master from a prestigious family would be somewhat different from ours.”

His words carried a hint of disquiet, and I gave a bitter smile, merely bowing my head once.

As he said, I was changing rapidly.

Though it took me a week to cover a distance that would have taken two days on horseback, in that short time, I had lost so much weight I was unrecognizable. Wielding the sword, staff, and fist techniques wasn’t perfect, but I had become quite proficient.

It was around that time.

About seven days after setting out, an arrow suddenly flew toward me as I was running, panting heavily.

Whizz!

“Whoosh!”

Keeping your senses open to your surroundings is the absolute foundation for a member of the Flying Dragon Corps. No matter how exhausted I was, I wasn’t so distracted that I’d get hit by an arrow flying in a curve.

I could have easily deflected it with my sword, but just in case, I rolled my body to avoid it.

Thud!

‘Hmm, such a graceful roll.’

I felt a surge of pride at how much more agile my body had become.

Then, laughter echoed.

“Pwahahahaha! What was that?! Looks just like a bear rolling around?!”

“Exactly, boss! Bears really do have a knack for rolling!”

Startled by the sudden attack and the voices, Jang Musa and the other ronin drew their swords and shouted.

“Who goes there?! What kind of scoundrel attacks like this, knowing nothing of the martial world’s code?!”

Then, people armed with weapons began bursting out from the surrounding forest.

“Hahahaha! You doomed fools, demanding martial ethics?! Just drop your weapons and surrender!”

There were over thirty of them.

Particularly, the largest and most menacing-looking man among them wore leopard skin and carried a huge axe; he clearly wasn’t some nameless foot soldier.

Master Jang muttered, his voice like a groan.

“Green Tiger Lord Makgu-sam? Why is Green Tiger Chae here?”

Green Tiger Clan?

I had heard of them.

Their mountain stronghold was located near Heungin Nokho Mountain, a bit distant from here. The stronghold’s master was quite notorious in Gyeongju for his monstrous strength and violent temper.

Among the common bandits, who were generally nothing but third-rate scum, he was a rare martial artist who had properly mastered his skills, ranking at the very edge of the second tier.

Master Zhang clasped his hands and shouted.

“I’ve long heard of the Green Tiger Den’s reputation! It’s an honor to meet you in person!”

He seemed to be attempting dialogue.

With only six of us against their thirty-odd men, we were outnumbered. Moreover, we couldn’t claim superior martial prowess individually, so this was only natural.

But these were the very men who had already fired arrows aimed at me. They had no intention of talking.

“Kwahahaha! An honor to meet this elder? More of an honor to die, I suppose?!”

“Kwahahaha! That’s right, boss!”

“We’d better kill him quickly, Boss!”

Jang Musa gritted his teeth at their violent laughter and shouting, then shouted again.

“If you wish, I am willing to pay the toll! Why make things difficult and spill blood when we could resolve this through dialogue?!”

Then he whispered to me in a small voice.

“Master, if a fight breaks out, take that horse and flee. We won’t be able to hold them off for long.”

His words genuinely moved me.

Most ronin were self-serving scoundrels who’d stab you in the back without a second thought. What kind of luck had I had to meet people like this?

I could only guess that Father had carefully selected trustworthy men for me.

At Master Jang’s proposal, Makgu-sam snorted derisively and shouted.

“Toll money?! Toll money, fine! Your toll money is all you’ve got! Those clothes, that horse, that sword, everything you own! Strip it all off right here and run away, and I won’t chase you!”

“Kwahahahaha! Better strip fast!”

“Boss, if the rear view is tempting, can we pounce?! Kwahahaha!”

Realizing there was no room for negotiation, Master Jang urgently whispered to me.

“Master! Mount your horse at once! There’s no time!”

But I did not heed his words.

Instead, I stepped forward and shouted.

“You bastard! How dare you attack me, the third son of the Sunwoo family! It seems you truly wish to be utterly annihilated!”

At that, their laughter abruptly stopped, and they stared at me.

Their expressions said, What the hell is this nonsense?

Makgu-sam frowned and asked me.

“Hey, you bear-faced fool! You call yourself the third son of the Sunwoo family?!”

“That’s right! Green Tiger, Makgu-sam! You dare attack me to dig your own grave?!”

I had heard about it briefly in a past life.

Stories about bandits who targeted only the seemingly weak among the martial families’ sons heading to the front lines.

I had started my activities after I’d already arrived at the front lines. I’d ambushed and killed quite a few martial family scions before my trail was finally picked up and I was wiped out.

They targeted the sons of small and medium-sized martial clans heading to the front lines, who moved in small groups, confident in their own strength, and carried ample funds, thinking they’d be away from home for a long time.

‘So they must have had no intention of leaving any witnesses.’

After all, even a minor bandit wouldn’t want to incur their grudge.

Anyway, they didn’t attack just anyone.

They only targeted easy prey who seemed unlikely to cause trouble.

Of course, that’s how I must have looked to them.

Look at them now.

Didn’t they look flustered when they heard I was the third son of the Seonwoo family?

I shouted at them once more.

“Why can’t you speak?! Don’t you dare ask if you truly attacked this body, the third son of the Seonwoo family?!”

Then, the one with a look like he’d swallowed shit yelled back at me.

“How can I believe a bear-like creature like you is the third son of the Seonwoo family?! Prove it if you’re not lying!”

At his words, I scoffed and retorted.

“Why should I prove it when I’m clearly a member of the Sunwoo family?! And what exactly do you want me to prove?! Do you want me to bring my father, the head of the family, here?!”

Then the man shouted in an angry voice.

“You must prove it now! If you can’t, whether you’re the third son or the eldest son of the Seonwoo family, you’ll die right here!”

His words made me flinch. Fumbling in my robe, I pulled out a token and showed it to him.

“Is this token, the symbol of the family, sufficient?!”

But there was no way the bastard, standing five or six feet away, could recognize the token.

The man pointed at my token and shouted.

“Throw it to me! I’ll check it!”

But I shouted back, as if his words were utter nonsense.

“You want my family’s emblem?! What kind of nonsense is that?! If you can’t see it, why don’t you come and see it yourself?!”

Then the bastard scowled and yelled back.

“Are you kidding me?! Come here and show me yourself!”

His furious shout, as if he might explode at any moment, made me flinch. My voice trembling slightly, I asked.

“If I go over there, won’t you suddenly attack me?!”

He bellowed back, his voice boiling over.

“If you don’t come here immediately, I’ll attack you right now!”

Hesitating, I finally staggered forward, approaching him as if I had no choice.

But when I reached about two meters in front of him, I looked at him again with a face that said it was absolutely impossible and said,

“Just… throw it to me from here! But you have to watch it and throw it back!”

He watched me, who had been approaching hesitantly as if scared, with a look of pity. He answered in a voice full of irritation.

“Hurry up and throw it!”

“Alright, alright.”

I threw the metal plate upward with all my strength.

But I must have thrown it a bit too hard, because the metal plate soared high into the sky and landed right behind his head. He threw his head back to catch it.

“Ouch!”

Thud!

And the guy who caught it suddenly read the characters written on the metal disc.

“Huh? Guiyang… Spots?”

He didn’t know much about it, but it was a token given only to regular customers at Guiyang’s famous Guiyang Restaurant.

That was the moment.

Puuuuk!

“Gahhh!”

My sword closed the distance in an instant, piercing the bastard’s heart.

It was the “One-Stab, One-Cut” technique of the Four-Sword Style, which the disciples of the Pointed Blade Sect boasted was the fastest thrust in the world.