SYM 66

“We are mountain tigers, elders of the Green Forest! If you obediently hand over everything you have, we’ll spare your lives!”

“Hand over everything you have if you don’t want to die!”

Eun-hyeon frowned as he watched the bandit group rush forward, yelling.

So they weren’t just bandits, but Green Forest bandits.

With Cheonma by his side, he wasn’t worried about bandits, but he was a little concerned if they were really Green Forest bandits.

The Green Forest was a group of bandits, or, to put it simply, a bandit union.

They stuck together, shared Martial Arts, and would rush to take revenge if anyone messed with the Green Forest. Even the orthodox sects, including the Martial Arts Alliance, found the Green Forest’s revenge troublesome.

Examining the approaching bandits closely, he could tell they were indeed Green Forest bandits, as they were trained in Green Forest Martial Arts.

The one leading the charge seemed to be the boss or vice-boss leading the ‘mountain tiger’ group. Dust swirled thickly. The already dry weather, combined with the dust, quickly made his throat sore.

“Cough, cough.”

Eun-hyeon covered his face with his sleeve and coughed dryly. At that moment, Cheong-un, who had been wearing an indifferent expression, raised his eyebrows.

“Master, is your throat bothering you?”

“Ah…! No, I’m fine.”

Despite saying he was fine, Cheong-un took out water and handed it to Eun-hyeon.

“Tsk. I shouldn’t have sent Dark Shadow away. If I had known this would happen, I would have kept them by my side to clean up the surroundings. Please wait a moment. I will take care of it and return soon.”

“…Don’t be too rough.”

“Would I ever do that, Master? I will only lightly correct their manners without even using Inner energy.”

Judging by appearance alone, Cheong-un was just a handsome young scholar, while those men were vicious bandits who had mastered external Martial Arts, but Cheong-un was the Heavenly Demon.

Cheong-un smiled at Eun-hyeon’s worried words.

For some reason, Eun-hyeon felt even more uneasy when he saw that smile.

“…I should have left one or two Dark Shadow members behind.”

Cheong-un muttered as he looked at the approaching bandits. He was annoyed that he had to deal with such things himself.

He had created an unnecessary task and sent Dark Shadow away because he wanted to be alone with his Master. He didn’t want to share his time with Master with anyone.

That included Dark Shadow, whom he had only thought of as the Heavenly Demon’s limbs or tools.

If he could, he wanted to lock his Master away in a place where no one could see him, and make him look only at himself.

Cheong-un licked his lips as he glanced at Eun-hyeon.

He also liked that his Master was trapped in that young and weak body. He liked the Master who took care of him, but now he wanted to do that himself.

Every time his Master sought him out and relied on him, a thrill close to ecstasy arose.

…A Master who only looks at and relies on him.

While Cheong-un was having these outrageous fantasies, the bandit group had come right up to them.

Cheong-un didn’t even think about taking out a sword to deal with these bandits. He just stood leisurely with a fan in his hand, looking at the bandits.

The bandit at the front looked back and forth between Cheong-un and Eun-hyeon’s faces, sniffing with a strange expression.

He was the Fan Lord of Hwalim Stronghold, one of the 72 Green Forest strongholds. The reason he, who was weak in Martial Arts, could become the Fan Lord was because of his amazing ability to attract money.

Today, he was the one who found these two. He smelled money from the moment he saw their figures in the distance. They were wearing expensive silk, didn’t seem to be particularly skilled in Martial Arts, and didn’t even have bodyguards.

The Fan Lord thought they were young masters from wealthy families who didn’t know the ways of the world, so he called all the guys who were hanging around the stronghold and rushed over.

Among the orthodox young masters, there were often suckers like this. They trusted only in their meager personal skills and started their journey through the martial world full of hot air. Such suckers who didn’t know the ways of the world were the bandits’ favorite customers. Their pockets were full and they were so naive, making them perfect customers to fleece.

The only thing to be careful about when dealing with such young masters was to beat them up moderately. If they inflicted injuries that were impossible to recover from, the sucker’s family might take great revenge.

“What is this? I thought they were two boys from afar, but now I see they’ve dressed a woman in men’s clothes!”

Eun-hyeon blinked.

What had he just heard?

“How ridiculous! Do you think we wouldn’t know? You can’t fool the eyes of me, the Fan Lord of Hwalim Stronghold!”

The bandit who identified himself as the Fan Lord laughed so hard that his uvula was visible.

Eun-hyeon’s eyes wavered as he watched.

Surely, the ‘woman’ he was talking about wasn’t Cheong-un?

Compared to when he was Ha Yeo-un, Cheong-un was a bit thinner now, but it was hard to mistake his physique for a woman’s.

If so, then those words must be referring to him. He was speechless and stunned, not knowing what to say.

“This person is very precious to me. Don’t speak carelessly!”

Cheong-un slipped the fan he was holding away and shouted. He was annoyed by the bandits who were interrupting his time with his Master, but he felt like bursting out laughing at the stupid things the bandit was saying. He turned his head slightly and saw his Master with a bewildered expression and a flushed face.

His Master seemed to often forget that he resembled an unparalleled beauty.

“Hahaha, you guys. You’ve been found out. You seem to have worked quite hard to look like men, but such beauty cannot be hidden with that much effort. Consider it your misfortune that you were caught by my discerning eyes!”

“No, what…”

Eun-hyeon didn’t even have a chance to say anything. As soon as the Fan Lord said that, the other bandits nodded and added their own words.

“I see. Now that I’m closer, I can definitely tell. I’ve never seen such beauty before, it can’t be hidden even if you dress as a man.”

“As expected of our Fan Lord. Amazing.”

The bandits nodded and whispered to each other. There were only two opponents, and one of them was said to be a woman, so they didn’t feel the need to be nervous.

“Ahem, a precious person has hidden their identity and come out of the house for a while, and you recognized them, so you have good eyes. If you recognize them, then all of you should quietly step aside.”

Eun-hyeon frowned at Cheong-un’s words. Somehow, Cheong-un’s words felt like they were fanning the flames for the bandits.

“Hahaha! You guys must be runaways. Well, if a man and a woman secretly came out to avoid the eyes of others, it’s obvious. Could it be that you’re lovers who are opposed by your families?”

The Fan Lord was speaking based on the many suckers from the martial world he had met, but Eun-hyeon was just dumbfounded.

“Tsk, tsk. Well, with such beauty, even the son of an enemy could be charmed. Even if you dress them in men’s clothes, their beauty cannot be hidden… Children of enemy families fall in love and run away…”

It was getting worse and worse.

The bandit called the Fan Lord was rough-looking, but he was so talkative that he kept adding to his imagination and chattering on for a long time, even though Eun-hyeon hadn’t said a word.

When Eun-hyeon and Cheong-un didn’t say anything, the bandit looked even more triumphant, as if to say, “See?”

“How is it? My predictions are so accurate that you’ve lost your words!”

“Amazing, Fan Lord! You guessed everything just by looking at their faces. You’re really our Fan Lord!”

“Ha, I also ran away with Yeon-gyeong’s mother back when my father-in-law opposed our marriage. After we had two kids, my father-in-law couldn’t say anything. That’s right! A man should have that much guts for the woman he loves! Parents can’t win against their children, so just have a child first!”

The bandits who were moved by the Fan Lord’s words each said a word.

“Haha! There’s no need to be so surprised. Someone like me can read the story just by looking at them. To fall in love with someone from an enemy family, tsk, tsk, there’s no tragedy like this.”

Eun-hyeon sighed and shook his head.

“Nothing you’ve said so far is correct.”

Cheong-un nodded at Eun-hyeon’s words.

“We can’t tell you our situation in detail, but we don’t have much luggage with us because we left in a hurry. So how about you just let us go?”

“Are they trying to force you into marriage at home? If it’s a forced marriage with a man you don’t love, it’s worth running away. Did the woman shed tears and say, ‘Please take me away, I don’t need anything if I have you’?”

Now, the Fan Lord even started acting, imitating Eun-hyeon with a sweet voice.

Looking at the bandits giggling at the Fan Lord, it seemed like it wasn’t something they had done just once or twice.

“So, a man and a woman who ran away like that. Ah, or maybe, are you pregnant before marriage? Is that why you ran away because you were afraid of being caught? Well, if a man sees a woman with such beauty and doesn’t try anything, he’s not a man!”

The bandit scanned Eun-hyeon from top to bottom. It looked like he was checking if his belly was sticking out.

Eun-hyeon was starting to feel dizzy.

That bandit. I need to shut his mouth first, or else strange rumors might spread.

But before Eun-hyeon could move, Cheong-un came closer. Just as Eun-hyeon turned his head, wondering what was going on, Cheong-un grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into an embrace.

“Uh…?”

“Amazing! As expected of the mountain tigers. How did you guess everything so accurately?”

Eun-hyeon looked at Cheong-un with wide eyes.