Chapter 108 : Isn’t That Right, River Bandit

Jin Seong-un asked if he had come from a water stronghold.The man, Jang Gwang, felt as if his heart dropped.

He turned his head and looked at the child. Moonlight streaming through the window illuminated the boy.

Fortunately, he was sound asleep, ignorant of the ways of the world.

“What nonsense are you talking about.”

Jang Gwang’s tone grew a little rough. But he kept his voice low, worried that the child might wake.

Jin Seong-un stared straight at him.

“There were suspicious men lingering in front of the inn. They looked like bandits or river bandits to anyone’s eyes.”

“It has nothing to do with me. How unpleasant.”

Jang Gwang dismissed him firmly and shut the door.

Creak, thud.

Jin Seong-un looked at the closed door with dry eyes for a moment before speaking calmly.

“If I misunderstood, I apologize.”

With that, Jin Seong-un disappeared.

Jang Gwang listened to the sound of the innkeeper’s steps fading away and then let out a long sigh.

“……”

The pitch-black room.

The large man sitting quietly, watching the child, looked unusually lonely.

“Tomorrow, I’ll have to earn more money again.”

A sense of unease overcame him—that he might be driven out. And he knew that the moment he left this inn, his and the child’s lives would be in danger.

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It was before Jang Gwang had come here.

As Jin Seong-un had said, he was a river bandit. Not just any bandit, but the Stronghold Leader of one of the Eighteen Water Strongholds of the Yangtze River.

Of course, he wasn’t the overall Chief of All Stronghold Leaders, who reigned at the top of all eighteen strongholds.

He ruled over Hongho Stronghold, located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and was also the right hand of the Chief.

Once a year, he attended the grand assembly of the stronghold leaders, and this time, he was heading to Jingzhou, where the Chief resided.

That Chief presided over Yigong Stronghold.

It was the largest of all, encompassing Yichang, Yidu, Zhijiang, Jingzhou, Shashi, and Gong’an.

When Jang Gwang arrived there, the first thing he witnessed was a scene filled with blood.

“What, what on earth happened here?”

Several river bandits of Yigong Stronghold lay collapsed on the ground, their bodies mutilated.

And the Chief, Jeong Won-gyo, stood there glaring at Jang Gwang, wielding a massive axe.

“You’ve come.”

“Yes, brother. But…”

Jang Gwang flinched for a moment.

The man glaring at him was not the Jeong Won-gyo he knew. The madness and emptiness in his eyes made him seem less like a man and more like a beast.

The assembly began.

Jeong Won-gyo uttered extreme declarations from start to finish.

He claimed he despised the growing influence of a certain Oh Jeong-san of the Merchants’ Association and insisted they should march down to Jingzhou at once and kill him.

Of course, everyone—including Jang Gwang—tried to dissuade him. They had heard that Oh Jeong-san was a secular disciple of the Wudang Sect.

Then, without warning, he declared he would ascend to Hubei and fight the Murim Alliance Leader to the death.

Had they exchanged even three blows, the Chief would have been split in half.

The reason he had killed his own subordinates earlier was even more absurd—he claimed they had colluded with the Green Forest Bandits.

That was, of course, impossible. The Green Forest Bandits and the Water Strongholds occupied entirely different territories.

That night, Jang Gwang learned the truth from the Deputy Stronghold Leader of Yigong Stronghold, the man who served closest to the Chief.

“Qi… Qi Deviation?”

Startled, Jang Gwang blurted it out, but the deputy quickly put a finger to his lips and nervously scanned the surroundings.

“Hongho Stronghold Leader. Keep this secret. I’m telling you only because you were the one he cherished most. The fortunate thing is…”

The deputy lowered his voice further.

“…he will soon be able to overcome it. If the Chief conquers this, he will surely make a decisive breakthrough.”

A decisive breakthrough.

That meant transcending into the next realm.

The Chief had already stepped into the threshold of the Peak Master Realm. If he overcame this, he would advance into the realm of complete mastery.

It meant he could hold his own against sect leaders, clan heads, and elders of the great orthodox sects and clans.

“Well, that would indeed be good. But how exactly is he supposed to overcome it? His condition looked grave.”

“That is…”

The deputy trailed off.

He knew Jang Gwang’s nature well.

Despite being a river bandit, he had rarely stained his blade with blood. And even so, he had risen to become a Stronghold Leader—a reliable man.

It was precisely because of this that the deputy could not say more. Jang Gwang would foam at the mouth in opposition if he knew.

“You’ll find out soon enough. For now, let’s keep moving forward. How much longer must we endure being treated as lesser than the Green Forest?”

Jang Gwang slowly nodded. At least, there was hope.

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Two weeks later, Jang Gwang discovered the method the deputy had spoken of.

A small child stood blankly in the middle of the stronghold.

He had heard that the Chief’s Qi Deviation was similar to the backlash of Demonic Arts. In exchange for rapid growth, his qi spiraled out of control, leaving him unstable.

The solution was simple. One only needed to consume an extremely stable spiritual medicine. The problem was that such medicines were almost nonexistent in the world.

Shaolin’s Great Cycle Pill. Mount Hua’s Purple Dawn Pill. Wudang’s Taiqing Pill.

Things they could never hope to obtain.

But then, they discovered a child with the Yin-Yang Body. In theory, the innate qi of that child was the most stable in all the world.

Jang Gwang’s eyebrows furrowed deeply.

“So. What are you saying you’ll do with that child?”

Even though the deputy was his elder in both rank and age, Jang Gwang could not help but speak informally.

The Deputy Stronghold Leader’s face stiffened.

“Then will you go to Shaolin and steal the Great Cycle Pill yourself? Or will you let the Chief fight the Murim Alliance Leader to the death as he is now?”

“…Even so!”

Jang Gwang’s voice rang loudly.

So much so that the deputy grew restless and glanced about nervously.

It was an utterly outrageous idea.

To consume the innate qi of a human being.

It was revolting—no different from eating human flesh. And this was the qi of a child, no less.

“Is it even possible?”

“Looking for a method. Something like the Demonic Cult’s Absorbing Star Great Art…”

“You insane bastard!”

Jang Gwang shoved the deputy hard and stormed straight to the Chief’s quarters.

He spoke his mind directly…

And was thrown out by the riverside, all his limbs broken.

The pain in Jang Gwang’s heart was greater than the pain in his body.

It hurt that the Chief he had known for decades had become like this, and it hurt even more that such a man treated him this way.

He heard that the child’s parents had been killed.

Right before the child’s eyes.

After that, the boy had lost his voice.

Jang Gwang trembled.

How could anyone do such a thing?

Memories of his childhood surfaced.

His father, a head escort, had been killed by the Green Forest Bandits.

That was the reason he became a river bandit. Back then, he thought river bandits were simply the opposite of mountain bandits. Now, it seemed laughable.

Yes, river bandits were villains by nature. Yet, even so, they rarely harmed ordinary people.

Conflicts seldom occurred, and even the authorities often left the river bandits alone.

The reason was simple. River bandits maintained the waterways in exchange for money collected from escort agencies or merchants.

Paradoxically, smoother waterways meant more travelers, which in turn meant more income for the river bandits.

Still, some would point fingers. Calling them leeches who lived by stealing others’ money.

Jang Gwang admitted that. Yet he also believed he had never crossed an absolute line in how he lived.

But this time, the Chief’s actions had clearly gone beyond all limits.

If this became known, the Murim Alliance or the authorities might launch a full-scale suppression of the Water Strongholds.

Jang Gwang waited as his body healed.

After all, a grand art to absorb innate qi was not something easily acquired.

The only saving grace was that they had fed and cared for the boy well, wanting to preserve his qi intact.

And once his body had recovered—

Jang Gwang fled. Taking the child who had kept drawing his eyes.

Whether it was rebellion against the Chief, or a foolish sense of duty not to let the line be crossed, or perhaps seeing his childhood self reflected in the boy—he did not know.

He had no idea where to go. The one certainty was that if he returned to his Hongho Stronghold, he would quickly be caught and killed.

So he ran aimlessly upstream, eventually arriving in a small city called Yichang.

He needed a place to hide.

While walking, he saw an inn. It was so large and luxurious he doubted it was even an inn, and banners of congratulations from powerful clans and sects hung along its walls.

Before, he would have turned away immediately at the sight of those names.

But in his current situation, he judged that such an inn would actually be safer.

Even if the cost was high, he had ways to earn money. After all, he himself was a master who had reached complete mastery of the Peak Realm.

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“Indeed, that’s what I thought.”

Yet Jang Gwang was uneasy.

He never imagined river bandits would pursue him all the way here.

At least this inn should be safe.

None of them would dare act recklessly in a place flying the banner of the Murim Alliance.

But he could not hide here forever.

Jang Gwang sighed, running a hand as large as a pot lid down his face.

It was then—

“Uuugh…”

Startled by the groaning sound, Jang Gwang looked at the child. Sweat drenched his hair, plastering it to his forehead.

The boy twisted restlessly, face filled with suffering.

Jang Gwang placed his massive hand lightly on the boy’s tiny forehead.

“…!!”

It was burning hot.

So hot he doubted a human body could endure it.

Alarmed, Jang Gwang hurriedly slung the boy onto his back and rushed outside.

He needed to find a physician. The problem was, it was deep in the dead of night.

Jang Gwang sprinted through Yichang’s dark, empty streets.

There were very few medical houses in Yichang.

He regretted not waking the innkeeper or anyone else to ask before running out.

In his panic, he had rushed straight ahead.

Now, should he turn back, or keep searching for a medical house since he had come this far? He was still hesitating when—

“Found you.”

Startled, Jang Gwang turned his head.

River bandits.

More than a dozen, armed with sabers and axes, advanced toward him.

“W-wait a moment…”

Jang Gwang spoke urgently.

Never in his life had he feared the river bandits so much.

They kept closing the distance.

Jang Gwang’s heart pounded violently.

Then suddenly, one of them charged.

“Die!”

The man swung a massive axe.

Jang Gwang narrowly dodged and unleashed his strength.

Clang!

The man’s ribs shattered as he collapsed to the ground. Jang Gwang grabbed the fallen axe in one hand.

Carrying the child made it terribly inconvenient.

And the bandits knew it.

“Kill him quickly and take the child!”

“Whoever comes first will die!”

Jang Gwang shouted back.

The river bandits hesitated for a moment.

They knew too. Jang Gwang was not a ruthless killer, but he was without question their superior in skill.

“Why—why are you doing this? Even you must see the Chief’s actions are wrong!”

Jang Gwang deliberately raised his voice.

Hoping someone, anyone, would hear and come.

“You idiot! What are you waiting for? Kill him now!”

One bandit charged, qi surging. The others followed, casting off their fear.

Jang Gwang’s axe cleaved two bodies in half at once. But the child’s groan against his back thundered in his ears, breaking his focus.

His heart grew frantic.

The more anxious he became, the more his breathing faltered and his steps stumbled.

And wielding an axe nearly three times heavier than his usual saber exhausted him even faster.

Already at a disadvantage, the battle swiftly turned desperate.

Crack!

A foot slammed into Jang Gwang’s stomach.

He staggered back two steps.

At that moment, a saber came crashing down toward his crown.

Jang Gwang knew instantly. He could neither dodge nor block. He would die here.

And the child…

Bang!

The saber stopped mid-swing.

It had been caught by another man’s hand. He had stopped a saber infused with qi using nothing but his bare hand.

Jang Gwang stared in shock.

It was the innkeeper.

Looking back at him, the man spoke in his usual calm, indifferent tone.

“Isn’t that right, river bandit.”