“The Chief has fallen! Everyone, run!”

Seol Lihyang scowled as she watched the bandits flee in the opposite direction, but she quickly pulled herself together and began the chase.

Given that her techniques revolve around sound, she could rapidly spread cold energy across a wide area. No matter how fast they tried to run, several were caught as their bodies stiffened in the cold.

She subdued three more Green Forest bandits whose feet were frozen to the ground, then let the others go—for now. They’d be caught soon enough anyway.

Sure enough, just as Seol Lihyang was knocking out a bandit with a blow to the head—after her still-clumsy pressure point strike failed to seal his meridians—

—Kyaaaah!

—The Tang Family?! How did they—?!

—Damn it! Scatter!

Screams echoed from afar. Not that scattering would do them any good. The others were surely lying in wait nearby, and Seo Mun-Hwarin was probably already closing in.

I smiled wryly at Seol Lihyang as I began tying up the unconscious bandits with prepared ropes.

“Your pressure point technique hasn’t improved much, has it?”

“Not my fault, okay? I’ve got so much to learn and not enough time.”

“I’m not criticizing. Pressure point techniques are certainly useful, but they’re a form of grappling. Prioritizing your core martial arts is the right call. I’m just saying, next time leave it to me.”

Her attempt wasn’t a total failure—it had merely produced weak results. She had correctly targeted the meridian point, but the internal energy she injected had been too little to fully paralyze the target.

Still, I didn’t expect her to just give up and knock the guy out instead.

“In this kind of case, your aim was correct, but you didn’t inject enough energy. Next time, try using a bit more.”

“Hmm… Isn’t that dangerous?”

“If you only mean to subdue them, then yes, overdoing it could leave them unable to move even after releasing the seal. But… should we really be so considerate with Green Forest scum?”

“Ah…”

Only then did she seem to understand, nodding thoughtfully.

We were keeping them alive only in case they had useful intel—and because handing them over alive to the authorities would make a stronger impression.

Dead by our hands or executed later—either way, they were as good as dead. It wasn’t like they had to be spared.

After tying up the unconscious bandits, I looked over at the still-frozen Chief.

“If we thaw him out now…”

“We’d just end up with a soggy corpse.”

“In that case, let’s just transport him as is.”

Not that we’d be carrying him ourselves—the captured bandits would do it.

After a bit more waiting, Seo Mun-Hwarin returned, accompanied by the other Tang warriors who had gone to chase down the fleeing bandits.

Counting heads, it seemed they had managed to recapture every last one.

Some were already dead—killed by hidden weapons or poisoned. Some were dying. Still, at least half were alive.

That should be more than enough.

“My lord, we’ve captured them all. What now? Should we descend the mountain right away?”

“We should interrogate them briefly, just in case. Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin, could you summon the rest of our people who are stationed nearby?”

“A simple matter.”

Seo Mun-Hwarin focused her internal energy into her fist and struck the air toward the sky.

Paang!

A streak of red internal energy shot upward, cutting a line across the sky.

No martial artist worth their salt would miss that signal. Anyone who saw it would find their way here.

In the meantime, I had the Blood Venom Unit warriors prepare a special poison and administer it to the relatively uninjured bandits.

It wasn’t a long interrogation—barely ten minutes. I held a faint hope, but as expected, we didn’t uncover anything noteworthy.

All they knew was information about their own base. Even the Chief likely didn’t know much about the others.

Still, confirming that none had escaped was good enough.

“All right, let’s head down now.”

***

After turning the captured Green Forest bandits over to the authorities, we rested for the remainder of the day. The next morning, we set out again to locate more hideouts.

Our hit rate wasn’t particularly high. Most turned out to be empty or long abandoned.

But roughly one in every four did yield Green Forest members—and each time, we wiped them out completely.

Sometimes Seol Lihyang took the lead, as she had in the beginning. Other times, the Tang warriors stepped forward to engage.

When things got dangerous, Seo Mun-Hwarin or I would step in. But still, these warriors had ample opportunity to gain real combat experience—both one-on-one and in group battles.

Thus, we moved tirelessly, sweeping through Sichuan, then Gansu, Shaanxi, and finally Hubei Province.

We didn’t destroy every Green Forest base in those regions—but we did take out a total of eight hideouts.

Separately, the Black Lotus Sect managed to subjugate one base in Zhejiang. They failed to complete a second raid, allowing most to escape…

But according to our agreement, they passed that intel to the Namgung Clan, which then successfully carried out the subjugation in Anhui Province.

Some bandits fled from Anhui all the way to Guangdong—only to be betrayed by the Hao Clan, who took their bribes but passed the information straight to the Black Lotus Sect, who promptly crushed them.

Perhaps it was because no one in Murim history had ever destroyed this many Green Forest hideouts in such a short time—

At first, people reacted coldly, but their attitudes began to change. Especially among the merchant guilds, who had suffered the most from the Green Forest—their reaction was explosive.

Whether it was the Tang Family, Namgung Clan, or the Black Lotus Sect, people flocked to them, hoping to offer help or request assistance. There were even rumors that the imperial court might send an envoy to the Tang Family specifically to commend them—likely because I, who had destroyed the most bases, was affiliated with them.

Of course, not everyone in our group made it through unscathed.

There were no fatalities, as Seo Mun-Hwarin and I were always vigilant—but some did sustain serious injuries.

Those were treated by nearby physicians and sent back to the Tang Family to recover in comfort.

Naturally, our numbers dwindled little by little… and just as we were on the verge of not having enough people to form a proper encirclement—

Some post-core disciples of the Black Lotus Sect, remembering my request, came to join us. With that, our numbers swelled again.

Seol Lihyang took charge of the new recruits while I continued the hunt for hideouts.

By the time we had wiped out three more bases and arrived in Henan Province…

We began finding only empty hideouts—and not a single Green Forest member.

“So, this is it.”

“What do you mean?”

Seo Mun-Hwarin tilted her head. I glanced at her appearance—grimy from days of nonstop travel and battle.

It made sense. Besides me, she had worked the hardest throughout this entire mission.

Honestly, even making it this far was a massive accomplishment. None of this would’ve been possible without two Flowering Stage warriors actively leading the effort.

“What’s all over your face?”

“…?”

Seo Mun-Hwarin tilted her head the other way, not understanding.

I reached out and cupped one of her cheeks in my hand, using my thumb to wipe her mouth, under her eyes, and her cheeks.

“Mmh… hng… mmf!”

She passively let me touch her face, tilting this way and that, blinking tightly or holding her breath in response to my movements.

Once her face looked a little cleaner, I nodded and pulled my hand away.

“Better now.”

“…That… actually felt kind of nice…”

“…Huh?”

Caught off guard by her sudden mutter, I asked for clarification, and she quickly cleared her throat and tapped her cheeks repeatedly.

Maybe because of that, her cheeks had turned bright red as she shook her head.

“Ahem! It’s nothing. Anyway, what did you mean just now?”

“Ah, just what I said. I’ve done enough damage by now. The Green Forest finally realized that their usual tactics don’t work on me.”

“Then the reason we’ve only found empty bases lately is…”

“They’ve started abandoning everything—including their established plans and resources—in favor of hiding. From now on, it won’t be easy to find them like we did before.”

The Green Forest is structured like a network of isolated cells. No one knows the other bases’ locations—except the Chief.

I had hoped that if we kept wiping them out one by one, they’d be too slow to react…

But we were publicly handing over captives to the authorities, and news of each victory was spreading.

Instead of figuring out how we were locating and wiping them out, they chose to abandon all their bases—along with a portion of their treasure—and go into deep hiding.

My memory of their locations was nearly exhausted. And now that they were actively staying hidden, we had no way to track them further.

Worse, they’d probably stop their banditry for a while out of caution—making even small clues hard to find.

Seo Mun-Hwarin nodded in understanding.

“I see. Then, what will you do now?”

“No point staying out here. Time to return to the Tang Family.”

“And what about those children who follow Hyang?”

She glanced sideways at the Black Lotus Sect disciples who had formed around Seol Lihyang.

It still surprised her that they had followed Seol Lihyang all the way here—and the level of their devotion clearly bothered her a bit.

But we had already settled that matter.

“No need to worry. I received permission from the Black Lotus Sect Master. Those with strong resolve will become guest retainers of the Tang Family and return with us.”

“So I worried for nothing, hmm.”

“It’s understandable. The Black Lotus Sect Master is well known for her obsession with talent.”

The reason he poured so much gold into hosting the Black Heaven Tournament was precisely to cultivate loyal warriors—not from existing sects, but those who followed him alone.

These Black Lotus disciples may lack prestigious backgrounds, but their skills are decent, and their loyalty is the kind he values most.

In exchange for intel on Green Forest bases, we released a few to him. He nodded his approval without hesitation.

Only one of those victories had been publicly announced—one base in Zhejiang. But I’m sure he took out one or two more in secret.

He likely wanted to interrogate them himself before handing them over.

His grudge against the Green Forest runs deep.

“Well then, let’s descend the mountain. We’ll find a good inn, rest today—and maybe tomorrow too. Those parting ways can do so, and the rest will return to the Tang Family.”

“That sounds like a good plan. I’ll go inform the others.”

Just as Seo Mun-Hwarin turned to walk toward the group—

Thud.

She stopped mid-step. Her face suddenly went rigid.

“Senior.”

“I didn’t expect this either…but yes. I believe you’re right.”

I drew my sword and shouted loudly:

“Everyone, get behind me! It’s the King of the Hundred Peaks—the Green Forest Chief has appeared!”

The group, startled, quickly rushed behind me. Not long after, figures clad like Green Forest bandits began surrounding us.

And then, from the front, a monstrous figure emerged—never once bothering to conceal his presence.

He was a massive brute, the kind of person whose size made you question if he was even human—typical of someone who cultivated strength through external martial arts.

He wore a robe made of tiger pelts and carried a giant axe slung over his shoulder, eyes burning with fury.

“So, you’re the brat they’ve been calling the White Moon Sword Lord.”

“Oh my. You’re about to be the first Green Forest Chief in history to get beaten by a brat.”

I snapped back reflexively, but my mind was racing.

We have two Flowering Stage martial artists on our side. Why would he come here?

Surely he didn’t come to die…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep