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Chapter 15: The Thief Who Wields the Sword Well
Kang Mudok, after glancing towards the direction from which the arrows came, advanced towards Pung Yeoncho and shouted:
“Finish off these petty thieves!”
At his command, the caravan guards drew their swords.
Pung Yeoncho retreated as if he had encountered a tiger. In fact, Kang Mudok was like a tiger to him.
When the arrow attack, in which he had placed his hopes, failed, Pung Yeoncho panicked.
Clearly, the Mansu Caravan was not like the Namyang Caravan.
Not only did they have overwhelming superiority, but even the name of Nokrim didn’t faze them.
At that moment, the wisest thing to do was to flee.
Just as Pung Yeoncho slightly turned his body to escape, someone quickly passed by him and stood in front of Kang Mudok.
It was Yeon Jeokha.
Pung Yeoncho, startled, reached out to stop him but couldn’t catch him.
Kang Mudok was perplexed to see the slender young man standing in his way.
“Ha! A young boy already on the path of banditry! Your parents must have been terrible! Today, in the name of your parents…”
Yeon Jeokha calmly interrupted Kang Mudok.
“Do not insult my parents.”
Having experienced an ambush before, Yeon Jeokha maintained a serene expression.
In fact, there was a reason for his calmness.
When Kang Mudok cut the arrows earlier, it reminded him of Cheon Gideok. He felt he wouldn’t lose, a sensation that boosted his confidence, while Kang Mudok’s movement, which had frightened Pung Yeoncho, further strengthened that confidence.
“Tch! An inexperienced brat talking like that...?”
Suddenly, Kang Mudok thrust his sword forward.
At the same time, Yeon Jeokha's wooden sword cut through the air.
Swish! Clang!
‘Huh?’
Kang Mudok looked ahead in surprise.
Hearing the metallic sound, he knew something had gone wrong.
When he realized it, his sword was cut in half.
From the old wooden sword in the young man’s hands emanated a sharp energy that was chilling.
‘An expert!’
He felt that if he moved even a little, his limbs would be cut off.
Kang Mudok stood still with the broken sword in his hand, sweating profusely from his face due to the intense tension.
Yeon Jeokha frowned and said:
“Ah, sorry. I still can’t control my strength well. I almost cut your neck.”
Only then did Kang Mudok feel the heat on his neck.
Touching it with his left hand, he felt the cut skin and sticky blood.
‘Oh no! It wasn’t that close...’
That meant that in that brief moment, the sword energy had extended.
Kang Mudok’s face paled.
There was a saying in Murim: ‘Beware of children, women, and the elderly.’ Today he had met his nemesis.
“P-please, forgive me.”
That simple plea from Kang Mudok resolved the entire confrontation.
Shortly after, Pung Yeoncho, feeling smug, received forty taels of silver from Gwak Imsaeng.
Although they took the money, Gwak Imsaeng showed gratitude, bowing repeatedly.
Back at the camp, Pung Yeoncho asked Yeon Jeokha:
“Jeokha, what was that earlier?”
“Do you mean cutting the sword?”
“Yes, that.”
“It was the second brother’s sword technique, the Exorcist Sword Art.”
“The Exorcist Sword Art?”
Pung Yeoncho alternated his gaze between Yeon Jeokha and Tak Gomyung, frowning.
The Heaven Techniques and the Exorcist Sword Art were third-class techniques. How could one of those techniques cut the sword of the Lightning Swordsman Kang Mudok? He couldn’t believe it despite having seen it with his own eyes.
Returning to the camp, Pung Yeoncho asked Yeon Jeokha to demonstrate the Exorcist Sword Art.
In the center of the courtyard, Yeon Jeokha displayed the three stances of the Exorcist Sword Art.
Swish! Swish!
Each movement of the wooden sword emitted a lethal energy that extended in all directions.
The tree branches that intersected with the energy broke, leaving the nine bandits gaping.
That was not the market’s Exorcist Sword Art.
It seemed like a technique that could make a demon flee in terror.
From that day, the bandits begged Tak Gomyung to teach them the Exorcist Sword Art.
In winter, the Five Peaks Camp became quite famous in the region.
After the Mansu Caravan paid the toll, just like the Namyang Caravan, merchants began to pay voluntarily. If each merchant paid approximately one tael of silver, Pung Yeoncho didn’t cause trouble.
With the camp’s name spreading, criminals pursued by guards began to join the camp one by one.
Around the turn of the year, the members of the Five Peaks Camp reached twenty.
Even the Daebyeol Camp, upon hearing the news, sent wine to congratulate them.
From autumn to winter, Yeon Jeokha participated in fifteen raids.
There were five sword confrontations.
The caravan guards couldn’t withstand a single strike from Yeon Jeokha’s sword.
Among the caravan guards crossing the Five Peaks Mountain, a rumor spread that “there is a thief who wields the sword well in the Five Peaks Mountain.”
After five confrontations, the caravans crossing the mountain began to pay the toll quietly. Since then, Yeon Jeokha didn’t need to use his sword.
One night, the sixth brother, Jang Sobong, called Yeon Jeokha.
While walking through the snow-covered courtyard, Jang Sobong asked quietly:
“Brother Jeokha, the new members aren’t obeying well, are they?”
“No, not really.”
An awkward smile appeared on Jang Sobong’s lips.
He wasn’t sure if that meant they were obeying well or not.
“The eldest brother is a bit worried. He thinks you might be too harsh. If we go out on a raid, it would be problematic if the new members get injured.”
The new camp members were all notoriously known. Some of them were even famous in Hunan Province.
Naturally, what they wanted was to climb the hierarchy.
From Lee Cheolsan, the eighth, to Han Chaeyeon, the tenth, they automatically bowed and didn’t touch them. The first test for the aspirants to rise in the hierarchy was Yeon Jeokha, the seventh.
Since Yeon Jeokha declared, “If you want to challenge the elder brothers, you must go through me,” it had been so. That effectively meant they shouldn’t touch anyone above the sixth.
Suddenly, Jang Sobong looked at Yeon Jeokha with a soft gaze.
To Jang Sobong, Yeon Jeokha was a burden, but also someone he was grateful for.
Last summer, when Pung Yeoncho and Tak Gomyung brought Yeon Jeokha nearly dead, it was he who took care of him. That’s why, although Yeon Jeokha could have climbed higher in the hierarchy, he had remained in the seventh position.
It seemed like it was just yesterday when he praised him for not trembling, and in just four months, Yeon Jeokha had changed drastically. How could a 17-year-old thief from a remote corner become so famous?
Jang Sobong felt a healthy envy for the rumor that “there is a thief who wields the sword well in the Five Peaks Mountain.” That’s how nicknames are born.
Yeon Jeokha stopped and asked:
“Brother, is it about tomorrow’s duel? Are you worried those old men will get hurt?”
Due to the recent snowfalls, they hadn’t been able to go on a raid, so the new members had requested a duel to clarify the hierarchy.
“Eh? Ah…”
Jang Sobong stopped at Yeon Jeokha’s rude language.
Although the newcomers were rough and vulgar, hearing a young man say “those old men” was strange.
“Do you dislike them?”
“Chaeyeon said those old men were badmouthing the boss behind his back. If it had been me, I would have knocked out all their teeth on the spot...!”
“Ah!”
Only then did Jang Sobong understand why Yeon Jeokha was so upset.
He couldn’t tolerate anyone belittling his boss or sworn brothers.
It seemed that the new members had crossed a line with Yeon Jeokha.
Jang Sobong decided not to say more.
If that was the problem, not even the leader could stop him.
‘Unless he stays still like a borrowed sack of barley…’
Once Yeon Jeokha made a decision, no one could stop him.
Meanwhile, in the lodging of the other bandits, the talk about tomorrow’s duel continued.
The domineering Jang Han spat as he spoke:
“First, take down the young seventh, and then it will be easy. Except for boss Pung and sub-leader Tak, the others up to the sixth are easy to handle. Those guys can’t even look me in the eye.”
The elderly man with a goatee, Shim Yanggak, scratched his head as he asked:
“Do you know anything about boss Pung and sub-leader Tak?”
“I heard that boss Pung has learned the Heaven and Earth Art, and sub-leader Tak has learned the Exorcist Sword Art.”
“It sounds familiar. Aren’t those techniques the ones street vendors show in markets?”
“Why not? The boss learned from a street vendor, and the sub-leader in a temple.”
“Tsk tsk! Leaders shouldn’t be like that. They need to respect Nokrim’s reputation.”
The newcomer, the solitary Hwang Yomyung, spat as he spoke.
“He’s right. I heard there will be a Nokrim meeting in spring. We should settle everything before that. I heard the hierarchy was established according to the order of arrival. How ridiculous! Not even in children’s schools. We trust you two elders to establish the order in the camp. We trust you.”
The elderly man who had been silent, the Shadowless Fighter Baek Kyo, spoke.
“But don’t we know very little about Yeon Jeokha?”
Hwang Yomyung hesitated.
Actually, he didn’t know much about Yeon Jeokha.
He had tried to get information from Han Chaeyeon, but she only smiled. The same happened with Lee Cheolsan and Cheon Gideok, who had been in the camp longer.
“I heard Yeon Jeokha learned the Exorcist Sword Art from sub-leader Tak. I don’t think we need to worry…”
“Nonsense.”
Baek Kyo cursed.
If the caravan guards called him “the thief who wields the sword well in the Five Peaks Mountain,” there must be a reason. The Exorcist Sword Art wasn’t enough.
Realizing his mistake, Hwang Yomyung said no more.
Shim Yanggak stroked his beard and said:
“Don’t worry too much. Even if Yeon Jeokha’s skills are as rumored, he won’t be a match for Baek. Who wouldn’t fear the Shadowless Fighter?”
“Ha ha. You flatter me. I couldn’t compare to you, the Knife in the Mouth Shim Yanggak.”
Shim Yanggak and Baek Kyo looked at each other with intent.
Both were already thinking about what would come after Yeon Jeokha. One of them had to be the leader, but they both hoped the other would yield.
Actually, given their renown, either of them would make a good leader.
“We trust you, elders.”
Hwang Yomyung bowed his head on behalf of the new and skilled bandits.
When dawn broke, the Five Peaks Camp was tense.
That day, the hierarchy of the bandits would be decided.
The camp had a total of twenty-five members.
Of those, twenty had no complaints about Pung Yeoncho’s leadership. Not only because Pung Yeoncho wasn’t too strict, but because they respected Yeon Jeokha.
But the five new ones were different.
Since morning, they walked with hard faces, showing clear hostility.
When the sun was high, Shim Yanggak signaled Hwang Yomyung, who was in his corner.
It was the signal to start stirring things up.