Chapter 229: An Unexpected Encounter (1)

"Hmph!"

"Hehe!"

Jang Wi-Cheon frowned. A familiar face with long, horse-like features grinned foolishly back at him.

The man was Jang Ha-Gun, his self-proclaimed right-hand man. Behind Jang Ha-Gun stood dozens of armed men. In front of them, about a dozen women huddled together, their hair disheveled and their torn clothes baring their skin.

"What is all this?" Jang Wi-Cheon asked.

"Hehe! I just took the boys out for a walk, and..."

"And you ran into them?"

"They seemed to have nowhere to go..."

"So, you killed every man you saw and escaped with only the women?"

"Ahem! I just figured you might be lonely, Boss..."

Jang Wi-Cheon, the bandit boss of Hell Demon Keep, pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead. Among the Viridian Forest mountain keeps of Shandong Province, the Hell Demon Keep was the largest. The Viridian Forest under his command numbered over three hundred, and they had earned a brutal and infamous reputation.

Jang Wi-Cheon glared at Jang Ha-Gun ferociously. "Did you forget I told you to lie low for a while? Why couldn't you sit still and stay out of trouble?"

"Well, the boys were getting too restless..."

"You crazy bastard! Pinning it on the boys even now? You defy my orders just because they're restless? Are you out of your mind?"

"W-Well..."

Jang Wi-Cheon raged, and Jang Ha-Gun shrank back like a turtle. He didn't look the least bit sorry, though.

His expression showed that he couldn't fathom the boss's attitude. Since the three-year war between the Silent Night and Heaven's Summit began, Shandong Province had become lawless.

The mighty Ironblood Fortress was indeed present, but it kept to its island and had no interest in subjugating the Viridian Forest.

The Hwangbo Clan, one of the Five Great Clans, and the other sects were no different. Their attention was entirely focused on the war between the Silent Night and Heaven's Summit.

No one spared a thought for the Hell Demon Keep, let alone dreamed of subjugating it.

During this time, Jang Wi-Cheon's efforts to control the Viridian Forest made no sense to Jang Ha-Gun. In fact, the harder Jang Wi-Cheon reined them in, the more the Viridian Forest itched to break free.

Therefore, they took their grievances to Vice-Boss Jang Ha-Gun. Ultimately, Jang Ha-Gun led some of the bandits out of the Hell Demon Keep just to stretch their legs. When they spotted villagers passing nearby, their eyes went wild.

They killed the men and abducted the women. Although Jang Ha-Gun had worried about the Boss's reaction, he truly hadn't expected such a furious reaction.

Suddenly, Jang Ha-Gun, who had been waiting warily for orders, stepped forward with a show of bravado.

"Haven't you grown tired of the women in the keep, Boss?" he ventured cautiously. "I just thought some fresh faces might help you regain your vigor."

"So you slaughtered all the men and brought the women here? Just for me? You expect me to believe that, you fool?"

"Well, it's good for us and even better for you, Boss."

"Keuk! Should I kill this fool or let him live?"

Jang Wi-Cheon's face flushed red with rage.

Sensing his foul mood, Jang Ha-Gun edged back a couple of steps and watched him warily.

Eventually, Jang Wi-Cheon's anger dissipated, replaced by a weary sigh. "No brains, no sense, and a cruel streak to boot. You'll certainly bring ruin to this keep, yet I can't kill you with my own hands. That is my greatest lament."

"Hehe! Hyung-nim." Jang Ha-Gun sidled up again with a servile smile.

Jang Wi-Cheon sighed once more. "Haa..."

If Jang Ha-Gun weren't his younger brother, he would have killed the idiot a long time ago.

For now, the war between the Silent Night and Heaven's Summit prevents martial artists from paying any attention to a small keep like ours. Once things settle down, though, they'll certainly come to wipe us out.

We have to control the plundering to avoid attracting unwanted attention, but that idiot plunders without limit. He'll make us all public enemies of the murim one day.

Rage boiled inside him, but there was nothing he could do about it. The helplessness made his stomach churn all the more.

Choking down his frustration, he walked over to the women Jang Ha-Gun had abducted. As his brother had said, they were in fairly good shape if you overlooked their torn clothes and bruises from being dragged here.

His gaze settled on the most beautiful woman among them. She held a young boy who looked no older than five or six in her arms.

The boy's eyes were so black that they looked like jewels set into his face. His skin, by contrast, was so white that it seemed bloodless, giving him a strange appearance.

"What's this?" Jang Wi-Cheon muttered, looking the boy over.

The boy's black eyes fixed on him, grating on his nerves. His body seemed to tremble, yet his gaze never wavered.

Feeling as though he were being watched, Jang Wi-Cheon frowned.

The mother swiftly threw herself in front of the boy. "You can't have this child."

"What do you mean I can't?" Jang Wi-Cheon snapped.

The mother bit her lip and glared at him, her eyes brimming with resentment.

She and the villagers had been on their way to a neighboring village's festival when they crossed paths with the Viridian Forest under Jang Ha-Gun, resulting in the loss of her husband and others. The world she belonged to had vanished overnight.

Now, all she had left was her son. She would do anything to protect him.

Jang Ha-Gun sidled up and whispered, "That bitch is the most venomous of the lot. She's so fierce that a few of our boys nearly had their tongues bitten clean off."

The Viridian Forest bandits only abducted women to sate their lust. On the way there, several men had tried to force themselves on the woman, but each time, she fought back savagely. Even the bandits were taken aback by her ferocity as she clawed and bit at anything that came near.

"Hmph!" Jang Wi-Cheon looked at the boy's mother. She was still glaring at him with resentment in her eyes.

He didn't care for that look. This was his domain. For whatever reason, everyone here was supposed to revere him.

"Look at me like that one more time, bitch, and I'll slit your son's throat."

The threat worked. The mother quickly bowed her head and dropped her gaze. The boy, however, kept staring at Jang Wi-Cheon.

Jang Wi-Cheon saw himself reflected in those jet-black eyes. It irritated him to no end. Both the mother and the child had a knack for getting under his skin.

He crouched down in front of the boy and met his gaze, but still, the boy didn't look away. "What is it? Kid, why are you looking at me like that?"

"......" The boy gave no answer.

His silence only stoked Jang Wi-Cheon's anger further. His gaze shifted to Jang Ha-Gun, who was standing off to the side. "Where did you drag this thing from?"

"Like mother, like son, eh? He didn't scream even once the whole way here. He's vicious, just like his mother. But, since the mother's a beauty..."

"Hmph!" Jang Wi-Cheon snorted, rose to his feet, and kicked the boy.

SWISH!

The kick was laced with inner qi. A direct hit would mean instant death.

In that instant, the mother threw her body over the boy's.

"Keuk!"

Startled by her sudden move, Jang Wi-Cheon tried to pull the kick back, but it was too late.

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAH!!"

The sound of a bursting leather drum and the mother's scream echoed as the boy and his mother flew nine meters before crashing to the ground.

Their bodies twitched like dying insects. The boy was relatively unharmed, but the mother had ruptured organs and broken ribs jutting through her skin, having received the full force of the kick.

Still, she looked at her son's face. "My... son, I'm so sorry for leaving you all alone in this world... Mommy..."

Finally, emotion flickered across the boy's face, though it was so faint that anyone who didn't know him would never have noticed the change.

Jang Wi-Cheon was one such person. Seeing no real change in the boy's expression, he spat on the ground. "Ptooey! What a snake. You don't shed a single tear even when your mother died for you."

Still, the boy didn't turn his head. The image of his dying mother was branded into his memory.

His pupils trembled. Even as she drew her last breath, his mother looked only at him. He felt her sorrow and regret at leaving him alone and her love for him keenly.

Nevertheless, not a single tear fell from his eyes.

This was why the villagers called him a monster. From a young age, he seldom showed his feelings, and no one could tell what went on in his head.