The loyalty of bandits was as futile and light as a gambler’s promise.

“Are you really… acquainted with the Fortress Master?”

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“If not, I’m really going to die!”

The bandit leader named Dongsang was said to be the lowest of the low among the Seventy-Two Fortresses of the Green Forest.

Originally, he couldn’t even belong to the Seventy-Two Fortresses, but recently, due to the attacks of the group of men in black who were moving along the forest roads, the mountain fortresses of the Green Forest had also greatly decreased.

Thanks to that, Dongsang, who had come to be at the bottom of the Green Forest, had his confidence quite high.

Of course, the moment he met Jin Sohyun, his confidence plummeted to the bottom of the earth.

“This is it.”

The place that Dongsang guided them to was a huge clearing in the mountains created by large-scale logging.

There, numerous makeshift tents and mountain fortresses made of wood were lined up.

“Hmm? Who are you?”

“Hello. I am Dongsang, the fortress master of the Hodu Fortress.”

“Was there such a mountain fortress?”

“Haha… I recently became the seventy-second mountain fortress of the Green Forest.”

“Hmph. So you’re a low-ranking one. By the way, who’s the guy next to you? Why does a man look like a girl?”

The man with a sturdy build walked straight toward Jin Sohyun, with his firm chest muscles exposed.

He tried to grab Jin Sohyun’s chin with his rough hands.

But his hand swung through the empty air.

“Huh?”

Jin Sohyun, who had at some point passed the man, spoke to Dongsang.

“Where’s the general fortress master?”

“Ah… ah! He should be inside.”

The man, who had been ignored in front of everyone, stretched out his hand again toward Jin Sohyun with an angry face.

But this time, too, his hand could not reach Jin Sohyun.

Even after stretching out his hand several times, Jin Sohyun stood still and dodged all his touches, and then said annoyedly.

“Aish! You’re annoying!”

“Do you know who I am!”

“I don’t know! And I don’t care!”

Jin Sohyun lightly struck the man’s head with his fist.

Kwang—!

The man who had been hit on the head collapsed on the floor.

“This is why I hate bandits.”

Jin Sohyun, who had turned around, panting, discovered the bandits who were glaring at him with fierce faces.

He had knocked down a fortress master in this place where all the fortress masters of the Green Forest were gathered.

Because this was no different from a declaration of war against the Green Forest.

The bandits all surrounded Jin Sohyun, holding axes, broadswords, and swords.

At this, Dongsang flinched his neck.

“Wh-what do we do now?”

“I came to meet the general fortress master, so where should I go?”

At Jin Sohyun’s question, the fortress masters showed their killing intent instead of answering.

At this, Jin Sohyun also raised his fighting spirit, and a familiar face popped out from between the fortress masters.

“Ah, no!? Young Master Jin?”

“You are… who were you again?”

“It’s me, Palbong! Palbong!”

Palbong, who had appeared, pushing the fortress masters, greeted Jin Sohyun with a happy face.

“Hehe… have you been well?”

“It was you, Uncle Palbong. Is the general fortress master uncle also inside?”

“Yes. He is inside. Did you come to meet the general fortress master?”

“Yes.”

“I will guide you!”

Palbong personally took the lead and pushed the fortress masters, who were still emitting killing intent, to the left and right, and threatened them.

“He is a guest of the general fortress master! If you don’t want to die early, put down your weapons right now!”

“A guest of the general fortress master?”

“Palbong! Do you believe that bastard’s words?”

“But what if it’s true? If we’re not careful, our necks will be on the line.”

The trust of the fortress masters and bandits in Palbong was as light as a feather, but the name of the general fortress master was by no means light.

While the fortress masters and bandits were retreating with suspicious faces, the deputy general fortress master of the Green Forest, Gil Simun, appeared before them.

He faced Palbong and Jin Sohyun with a displeased gaze.

“What brings you here, Young Master Jin.”

“I came to meet the general fortress master uncle.”

“Uncle…”

Was there anyone else in this world who called the Green Forest General Fortress Master ‘uncle’ besides Jin Sohyun?

He didn’t know, but Jin Sohyun was probably the only one who treated the general fortress master of the Green Forest like a neighborhood uncle.

Gil Simun cleared a path with a lament that he didn’t know how the prestige of the Green Forest had fallen this far.

“Follow me.”

The place they arrived at with Gil Simun was a small, ordinary hut.

Gil Simun, who had approached the door of the hut, lightly knocked on the door.

Kung kung—!

“General Fortress Master! A guest has arrived.”

A short while after Gil Simun’s call, the door opened, and the general fortress master of the Green Forest, Kang Seopyeong, appeared.

His face was slightly red, as if he had been drinking since broad daylight.

“Oh my… oh my… who is this? Isn’t it our Young Master Jin Sohyun?”

“It’s been a long time.”

“It’s been a long time indeed. Hahaha!”

Kang Seopyeong staggered over and put his arm around Jin Sohyun’s neck.

Jin Sohyun frowned at the smell of alcohol coming from his mouth.

“Can you get away from me?”

“Keuk—! I drank after a long time… my head is spinning.”

Kang Seopyeong gulped down the cold water that his subordinate had brought and then looked straight at Jin Sohyun.

“My little brother!”

“I’m not.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten that we decided to become sworn brothers?”

“How can the son of a merchant become sworn brothers with a bandit leader. More than that, I heard the situation of the Green Forest is not good.”

At Jin Sohyun’s following words, Kang Seopyeong caught his breath and drove out the drunkenness from his body.

As a hazy mist rose from Kang Seopyeong’s pores, Jin Sohyun waved his hand like a fan and drove away the smoke.

“The world is a sea of blood. Originally, the Green Forest is close to the heretic path, but we have never been involved in the fight between the righteous and heretic paths. Because we are fundamentally… bandits.”

As he had said, the bandits of the Green Forest were close to the heretic path, but they were not called the heretic path.

The reason was that the Green Forest did not belong to a martial faction.

Thanks to that, when the Ming Cult was defeated in the Righteous-Demon War and the heretic martial world hid from the righteous path, the Green Forest did not have to crawl into the mountains.

And the Martial Alliance did not bother the Green Forest either.

Not only did they not have the mind or leisure right after the Righteous-Demon War had ended, but in the first place, the Green Forest had maintained neutrality and had not stood on either side.

“But the situation is quite different this time.”

“Because the bandits are suffering damage?”

“Yes. This war is something strange. They are wandering around like a band of fire thieves and are plundering whatever they can. The problem is the government forces…”

“Why the government forces?”

“Usually, due to the unwritten rule of not interfering with each other, the emperor and the martial world do not interfere in each other’s affairs. However, only when a huge war like the Righteous-Demon War breaks out do they move the soldiers and watch the trend of the martial world.”

Due to the non-interference between the government and the martial world, the government forces belonging to the imperial family and the martial artists of the martial world do not interfere with each other.

However, this was limited to the fights between martial artists.

If innocent residents were harmed by the fights of martial artists, and if the scale grew, not only the government forces but also the emperor’s army could move.

That’s why in the wars in the martial world, they held the flag that revealed their affiliation and fought an all-out war on an empty plain where no one was.

Because if they crossed the line, the imperial army would wipe out the martial world.

“No matter how good the masters of the righteous and heretic paths are, they can’t be compared to the army that the emperor has.”

“But are the government forces not moving this time?”

“The Nine Great Sects have many Daoist sects, so they build their sects on mountain peaks where no one is, but the Five Great Families are different. Since they have a close relationship with the prefectures and provincial capitals, there is an invisible but quite deep connection between the government forces and the Five Great Families. But the Hebei Peng Clan and the Sichuan Tang Clan… could not receive any help.”

Jin Sohyun’s face, who had already heard the news of the Hebei Peng Clan and the Sichuan Tang Clan from the Jongnam Sect, darkened endlessly.

“Now those bastards are even touching us. Already, fifteen mountain fortresses have been massacred by the heretic path members in black.”

The group of men in black did not distinguish between the righteous martial world and the Green Forest.

They had attacked the mountain fortresses to seize food and wealth and had killed the bandits as if they were killing insects.

“I was just wondering what to do with those bastards. I’m glad that my little brother Jin has come.”

“I haven’t said anything yet?”

“Isn’t my little brother also in need of help? If not, there’s no way the eldest son of a merchant family would have come to meet the leader of the bandits himself.”

Although he didn’t like it, Kang Seopyeong was right.

Now was the time when even the help of bandits was needed.

“That’s true…”

“Gr-great Master!?”

At that moment, someone came running to Jin Sohyun from a distance.

Jin Sohyun’s eyes widened when he saw him.

“Jeokmyeon?”

“Aigoo! Great Master!”

Jeokmyeon prostrated himself in front of Jin Sohyun.

“To think that I would meet the Great Master in a place like this! It seems it’s not my time to die yet!”

Jeokmyeon said, shedding tears.

“Those vicious bandits… attacked me while I was riding the Hwanggu that the Great Master cherishes!”

“What!?”

Jin Sohyun said with a very angry face.

“They attacked Hwanggu!?”

“Ah, no… I-I was also attacked…”

Jin Sohyun’s eyes turned to Kang Seopyeong.

“What did you do to Hwanggu?”

“Hwanggu? Are you talking about the ox that that bastard was riding?”

“Yes!”

As if a fire was rising in Jin Sohyun’s two eyes, Kang Seopyeong scratched his head in embarrassment.

“That… that ox… what did you do with it?”

At Kang Seopyeong’s question, Gil Simun answered with a sighing voice.

“He should still be alive. He’s probably carrying the timber to build the general mountain fortress right now. I’ll tell Palbong to bring the ox.”

At Gil Simun’s instruction, the bandits brought the ox that was carrying timber from somewhere.

“Hwanggu!”

Moo—!

Hwanggu, who had discovered Jin Sohyun, came running in one go.

“You’re alive!”

At the sight of Jin Sohyun, who was hugging Hwanggu and was happy, Kang Seopyeong burst out laughing without him knowing.

Next to him, Gil Simun said with a displeased face.

“What are you going to do with that person?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jin Sohyun will try to use our Green Forest. Is there any reason for us to join hands with that person?”

“The enemy of my enemy is our friend. I don’t know, but this war is different from the Righteous-Demon War…”

Kang Seopyeong’s gaze went to the distant sky.

“A bloody storm that we have never experienced before will blow. There is no law that says that storm… will not touch us.” 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“But…”

“I know what you’re worried about. Jin Sohyun is more of a righteous path than a heretic path. He is a person who belongs to the righteous path. So if we’re going to stick with someone, the Heretic Path's Alliance would be more suitable for us than the Martial Alliance.”

“…”

“But Simun.”

Kang Seopyeong said, putting his arm around Gil Simun’s shoulder.

“What is the most important thing for a bandit?”

“A warm and flat mountain with a forest road where rich merchants frequently come and go.”

“Don’t joke.”

“…It’s to survive.”

The essence of a bandit is survival.

The bandits, who had started as defeated soldiers in the distant past, had prioritized survival above all else.

And this had continued like an instinct until now.

“Yes. The most important thing for bandits is to survive, even if they have to crawl on the floor for a day. And I want to bet the survival of the Green Forest on that fellow.”

“Why?”

“Because that fellow is strong.”

“I heard that there is a guy called the Blood-Sucking Sword Demon in the heretic path. He is said to have a crazy martial art that kills a whopping Five Great Masters of the Central Plains and takes his power and martial arts.”

“I know that much. But… somehow…”

Kang Seopyeong looked at Jin Sohyun, who was stroking Hwanggu’s face and smiling with satisfaction.

“I don’t think that fellow will lose.”