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Chapter 28. How Can You Bear It?
Southern Province of Henan.
An unnamed mountain.
A day's distance from the Five Peaks Mountain, about twenty people were gathered. They were the bandits who had recently abandoned the Five Peaks Mountain camp and fled.
They had crossed mountains and rivers to reach Ji County, and then, upon hearing late rumors, decided to return. However, when they were close to the Five Peaks Mountain, differences of opinion arose.
Phantom Fist Baek Gyo proposed, "Instead of following an incompetent leader like Boss Pung, let's go to the Red Wind Camp on Mount Pyeongjeong." Mount Pyeongjeong was about two days away from the Five Peaks Mountain. It was like moving to the house next door because they didn't like the current owner.
Baek Gyo, with a lowered nose, asked the other bandits.
"Who wants to go with me to the Red Wind Camp on Mount Pyeongjeong?"
Five men, including Cheon Ilbo and Yeom Saung, moved to Baek Gyo's side.
However, most of the bandits stayed around the Immortal Sword Demon Shim Yanggak.
Baek Gyo's face twisted slightly with indignation.
"Shim Hyung*, do you really intend to return to the Five Peaks camp?" (Note: Hyung = Brother)
"Baek Hyung, you've already heard the rumors. The campaign by the Chamber of Commerce ended unsuccessfully. We don't know why they suddenly stopped the campaign, but since the danger has passed, it makes sense to return."
"Boss Pung's men will treat you poorly. How will you bear it?"
"It doesn't matter. They won't dare say anything to my face anyway."
"Well then, we part ways here. Just thinking about that guy Yeon and the useless ones around him makes me grind my teeth even in my sleep."
"Agreed."
Shim Yanggak replied indifferently.
For bandits, meeting and parting was so common that it was nothing special.
After hesitating for a moment, Baek Gyo headed north with the five men.
When Baek Gyo and his group disappeared from sight, Shim Yanggak laughed contemptuously.
"Hmph! He looks like a thief who knows only one thing and not two. Do they think they'll be welcomed at Red Wind Camp? Who wants traitors who abandon their camp in times of danger? Did they eat dung instead of growing old? Pathetic, pathetic!"
Hwang Yomyung, a wanderer known for his cunning, quickly joined in the mockery.
"That's right. I know someone at Red Wind Camp, and I've heard that the chief has a terrible temper. Compared to him, that guy Yeon is nothing."
"Jeje. At least you have good judgment. Let's go back. I'm hungry."
"Yes, yes."
The fifteen bandits who decided to return began walking south.
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The next day, Shim Yanggak and the fifteen bandits returned to Haga Village with poker faces. The atmosphere in the village was similar to fifteen days ago.
The only difference was that there seemed to be more passing merchants.
The bandits, eyeing the merchants greedily, headed en masse to the Sa Hae Ru restaurant. They wanted to regain their strength after not eating well for so long.
They ordered food until they were stuffed.
When the bandits got up one by one after satiating themselves, the restaurant owner hurriedly followed them.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. Who will pay the bill?"
The restaurant owner asked, assuming that the bandits from the Five Peaks Mountain always paid for their meals.
Shim Yanggak continued walking, pretending not to hear.
Hwang Yomyung, with an awkward expression, scratched his head.
They had spent all their money and had nothing to pay with.
"Don't you know who we are? I'll pay later."
"Ah, yes, yes..."
The owner, recognizing Hwang Yomyung's face, smiled awkwardly.
"Are the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks also here?"
The owner assumed that the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks were present due to the number of bandits.
'The Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks wouldn't refuse to pay the bill,' he thought.
"Eh? Yes."
Hwang Yomyung, knowing they were referring to the bandits who stayed at the Five Peaks Mountain, responded vaguely. After all, the names of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks were not widely known yet.
"Oh! It's an honor. Have a good day."
"Yes, thank you."
When the owner bowed his head, Hwang Yomyung walked away feeling satisfied. He thought he would come back to pay when he had money. If he forgot, it wouldn't be his fault.
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In front of the camp, Shim Yanggak stopped.
He had noticed something strange with his keen vision.
'What's that?'
There were strange marks on the ground as if it had been plowed and then repaired. They weren't there fifteen days ago.
Following his gaze, Hwang Yomyung commented incredulously.
"Ha! Some idiot must have plowed the ground in front of the camp and then got kicked out."
Plowing a field in front of the camp? That didn't make sense, but it was the only explanation.
Shim Yanggak, still puzzled, walked towards the camp.
The interior looked the same as when they had left.
Children played in the yard, and carpenters and laborers came and went, building houses.
They encountered a few bandits, but barely recognized each other.
Shim Yanggak and the other bandits dispersed to their respective huts.
Cheon Gideok, upon entering his room, immediately frowned.
An old Taoist was sitting in the center of the room, meditating.
'What's this? Did they accept a new wandering Taoist?'
It seemed so.
Cheon Gideok left his bundle in a corner and went out.
He wanted to talk to his friend Lee Cheolsan, who had stayed, to catch up.
"What? Ten people have become sworn brothers?"
Cheon Gideok looked at Lee Cheolsan with surprised eyes.
Connected with the powerful of the camp, Lee Cheolsan's face was full of confidence.
"Yes, I'm now the eighth in the camp."
"So you're right below Yeon Hyung?"
"That's right."
"Do you think Shim Hyung will sit idly by?"
“Shim Yanggak? And what can that idiot do?”
Lee Cheolsan referred to Shim Yanggak as if he were talking about a neighborhood dog.
"Hey, hey..."
Cheon Gideok, who was about to cover his friend's mouth, realized it wasn't necessary and lowered his hand. After all, Shim Yanggak wouldn't dare touch Yeon Jeokha's sworn brothers.
With a bitter expression, Cheon Gideok changed the subject.
"Ah, by the way, there was an old Taoist in our room. Is he a new member?"
"No."
"Then why is he in our room?"
"He's a guest of Yeon Hyung-nim."
"How strange! Has someone come to visit Yeon Hyung-nim?"
After looking around, Lee Cheolsan quickly whispered in Cheon Gideok's ear.
"I'll tell you only. That man is the Sage of Heaven and Earth."
"What?!"
Cheon Gideok shouted without realizing it out of surprise.
"Quiet, idiot!"
"Ah, sorry... Is it true?"
"Yes."
"What is that Taoist doing in the camp? I've heard he didn't even reach the Five Peaks Mountain."
"Who told you that? After being defeated by Yeon, he stayed here."
"Defeated? Did Yeon Hyung defeat the Sage of Heaven and Earth?"
"Yes, idiot."
Lee Cheolsan shrugged as if he himself had won. Then, he briefly recounted the events to the still incredulous Cheon Gideok.
"Did the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks become sworn brothers and learn martial arts from Yeon Hyung?"
"Yes. I also learned the Baekja Gugeol and the first move of a sword technique. If you master this, it's incredible. They say a dragon rises from the sword."
"Really?"
"It's a secret, but Yeon Hyung-nim defeated the Sage of Heaven and Earth cleanly with this technique."
Lee Cheolsan couldn't describe it any other way.
"Could you teach me too?"
"Hyung-nim said not to teach it to anyone. If you're caught teaching or learning..."
Lee Cheolsan made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.
In reality, Yeon Jeokha had only told them not to teach others because he was worried about Waryong Manor.
Cheon Gideok looked at his friend with envy.
Not that he believed everything he said, but it seemed true that he had learned something from Yeon Jeokha.
"Damn it! If I had known this, I would have stayed..."
He had suffered a lot for nothing, without gaining anything in return. What kind of misfortune was this? Cheon Gideok sighed deeply, full of regret.
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Had three days passed since then?
At lunchtime, Han Chaeyeon and Ha Sobaek returned to the camp from Haga Village, furious.
The two women went directly to find Boss Pung Yeoncho at the Pavilion of Harmony and Peace.
"Brother! Some damn bandits have impersonated us in Haga!"
"What do you mean?"
Pung Yeoncho, who was practicing swordsmanship with the deputy leader Tak Gomyung, asked in surprise.
Daring to impersonate the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks?
The Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks were not just ten bandits from the camp. They were the sworn brothers of the formidable master Yeon Jeokha.
Why would someone do such a thing unless they wanted to die?
"A while ago, Sobaek and I went to Sa Hae Ru. After eating, the owner told us that three days ago, the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks and other bandits came and ate without paying. That was the day those scoundrels returned! They impersonated us and left without paying! I'm so embarrassed I can't show my face in public!"
Hearing this, Pung Yeoncho went out and struck the bell hanging under the eaves of the Pavilion of Harmony and Peace forcefully.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
The urgent sound of the bell attracted the bandits to the Pavilion of Harmony and Peace.
Pung Yeoncho looked at them with cold eyes.
Seeing the shameless faces of the bandits who had returned a few days ago made him want to hit them. If he had the power, he would have done so already.
Although he didn't say anything for a while, the bandits didn't complain. After all, a bit of waiting was nothing compared to the shame of what they had done.
Finally, Yeon Jeokha, sweating, arrived and sat down. He had come from the main peak of the Five Peaks Mountain, where he had been with the Sage of Heaven and Earth, and thus arrived last.
Once Pung Yeoncho saw that Yeon Jeokha was seated, he began to speak.
"Today, our ninth and tenth sister went to Haga Village and heard something surprising."
The third brother, Ma Hyeongdo, scratched his ear and asked.
"What? Is another Chamber of Commerce planning to attack us?"
"I wish it were that. Someone in Haga has impersonated the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks."
"…"
A heavy silence fell over the Pavilion of Harmony and Peace.
The bandits who had returned looked at each other with surprised eyes.
Now they understood the significance of being one of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks. No sensible man would dare impersonate Yeon Jeokha's sworn brothers. What kind of madness was this?
Pung Yeoncho's angry voice echoed through the great hall.
"Who got full eating at Sa Hae Ru and left a debt in the name of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks three days ago?"
Though he was asking, his gaze was fixed on Shim Yanggak.
Shim Yanggak, pale with fear, quickly looked at Hwang Yomyung.
He remembered that Hwang Yomyung had stayed behind talking to the restaurant owner.
In an instant, Hwang Yomyung's face turned white.
He had completely forgotten the incident of that day.
Now, the deputy leader Tak Gomyung shouted at Shim Yanggak and the other bandits.
"Your surprised faces confirm it was you! Traitors who abandoned the camp! And now you have the gall to use the name of the Ten Heroes of the Five Peaks! Do you dare call yourselves men?"
Shim Yanggak's face trembled with rage from the shame.
Being insulted like this by a young man without martial skills like Tak Gomyung was intolerable.
How could those cowards dare challenge him?