Seemingly delighted at the opportunity to get another jab in, Yi Ja Ryong added a few more words, "Ah, yes. That's right! Cheon Woo, you sliced off that dude's entire right arm, starting from the shoulder, with one swing. Then, in your next move, you cleanly took off his right thigh, cutting halfway through the femur. Cutting off his right arm and right leg unevenly like that, you really went overboard then."
"What do you mean I went overboard?"
"Totally overboard. Slicing off his right arm and right leg at once? How's the dude supposed to use crutches now? If he holds them with his left arm, he can't step forward with his right leg. And how's he gonna manage crutches with his right arm and stick out his left leg? If you chopped off his right arm, you should've gone for the opposite left leg to keep things balanced. At least that way, he could still hobble around. But cutting off both on the same side? That's like giving him a life sentence in bed. Come on, think it through before going all slicey-slicey. Tsk tsk."
Casting a sympathetic gaze as if pitying the poor victim, Jo Cheon Woo snapped at Yi Ja Ryong with anger clearly at its peak. Sensing the rage that seemed ready to erupt at any moment, Namgoong Sang intervened to defuse the situation.
"Hey, ease up, you guys. There's no point in getting all heated over nothing. What's the use of bickering like this?"
Although Namgoong Sang wedged himself between the two, Jo Cheon Woo still seemed pissed off while Yi Ja Ryong continued to run his mouth. One way or another, these two just kept going back and forth, inflating the situation.
"At least no one died, that really is fortunate," Namgoong Sang chimed in quietly. That had been the silver lining he was grateful for too.
"But we sure saw a lot of blood," Geum Yeong-ho added, a sentiment everyone else seemed to concur with from their nodding. And they really had seen a lot of blood. As the bandits charged in recklessly relying on their numbers advantage, the Vermillion Bird team had chosen to show some mercy by only lopping off one limb instead of killing them. Just because they hadn't killed anyone didn't mean they saw less blood though. Severing an entire limb guaranteed blood spewing out from the cross section after all, something unavoidable even in the chaos of battle. As the others continued their incomprehensible back-and-forth, all Baek Seok-dong could do was watch on dumbfounded.
Here's what had happened to Vermillion Bird team's group:
As they accompanied the Central Armed Escort Agency convoy heading towards Nanchang, around 500 bandits were somehow lying in ambush for them in the mountains near Sichuan. Everyone in the pugilist world knew well that the Emei Sect backed the Central Armed Escort Agency. These bandits clearly wouldn't dare attempt robbery without knowing about the Ten Great Escort Agencies of the Central Plains. The fact that they still dared to attack showed they had steeled their resolve. Somehow they had found out the convoy's route and set up an ambush along the way.
The bandits were lying in wait to rob the escort goods and swarmed in like madmen. As the Vermillion Bird held them off, the escorts reorganized their convoy to protect the escort goods. But no one managed to break through the Vermillion Bird's line of defense, instead only losing a limb before being driven back. Having crippled nearly half their numbers by making them disabled, the apparent leader of the bandits stepped forward.
But funnily enough, the master of a mountain stronghold, the leader of a group trying to rob one of the 10 major escort agencies no less, had a swollen right eye speckled black and blue and lips so red and filthy they looked strange – at this sight, the Vermillion Bird couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Thinking their laughter was mockery, the enraged bandit leader charged forward. Jo Cheon Woo of Huashan stepped up and engaged him. With two casual sword strikes from Cheon Woo, the leader lost both his right arm and right leg before being carried off by his subordinates. Morale crashing, the remaining bandits lost their nerve and retreated. No injuries whatsoever amongst the Vermillion Bird members. Only a few escorts sustained minor wounds.
"Fortunately no one was hurt. This is really heavenly fortune. (Except for that those that died…)"
"What heavenly fortune. It was all thanks to everyone's skills, " Noh Hak retorted, pouring cold water on the words previously said with concern. Noh Hak's snickering and impudent remark, led Baek Seok-dong to think to himself – no wonder he doesn't get respected.
"But the second one was the bigger issue," Hyun-woon said with a faint smile as he looked at Namgoong Sang. His eyes seemed to ask, 'Right?' Namgoong Sang quietly nodded his head once more, and at the same time, all the Vermillion Bird members nodded their heads in agreement, as if to say 'That's right.'
"Uh, the second one?"
Despite Hyun-woon's random words leaving countless question marks in his mind, Baek Seok-dong himself was not directly involved in the incident, so there was nothing much he could do besides silently listening to the words of those who were. He felt his insatiable thirst for information and endless curiosity and inquisitiveness were proof that he was a Beggar's Sect's disciple.
"There was another ambush," Geum Yeong-ho said vaguely, looking up at the sky. The weather that day was also very clear, just like it was now. "There was another ambush. This time, it was an ambush again as well. We were left wondering how they knew so well. And the bigger problem was, this time there were nearly double the number from the previous Tiger Bone bandits, with over 1,000 swarming at us all at once. At that moment, I did feel a slight sense of danger. With that black mass rushing at us like an army of ants, wouldn't you feel the same way if you were in our shoes? But even then, we laughed it off. Do you know why? Because it was so damn funny.
This time, the boss-looking guy was unharmed, but the bandit next to him with a face that seemed to say "I'm the deputy boss" had the exact same swollen eyes and burst lips as the previous boss of the Tiger Bone Fortress, Tyrant Tiger Chung-kwang. Not a single detail was different. It was as if he had suffered the exact same wounds from the same person. His swollen black eye told the story. Considering the location, size, and color of the wounds, there was no doubt they were inflicted by the same person around the same time. Huh? But how could that be possible, you say? If they were wounds inflicted by the same person around the same time, the bruises should have already faded by now, right? No bruise lasts over a month, you would say.
But these did. While they may not have been inflicted at the same time, they could have still been caused by the same person… After all, people have two legs to walk around on. But there's no doubt they were inflicted around the same time. The guy we caught confessed. He said the deputy boss had returned about fifteen days ago from a pleasure trip somewhere with that swollen black eye and busted lip, and formed this ambush plan after coming back. So the timing definitely matched up. A bruise that still doesn't fade after a month and a half? The perpetrator must have surely used some special method. There's no other way to explain it.
Anyway, leaving aside that deputy boss, the boss of Dragon Bone Fortress seemed quite formidable. With the nickname Tyrant Dragon, his name was Woo-ak. For a mountain bandit to use the dragon (龍) character was pretty audacious. But as you know, he was the boss of Dragon BoneFortress, one of the 72 Forest Fortresses, so he lived up to that, being quite strong. Well, in comparison to the previous fight, that is.
But in the end, he wasn't much either. The so-called Tyrant Dragon, who fearlessly charged at us wielding his sword, was taken out with just three stones thrown simultaneously at his Upper, Middle and Lower Dantian by Tang Three. In other words, his three Dantians were pierced through in one go. Obviously, he died.
But this time, even after we took out their boss, these mountain bandits kept wildly charging at us. We were a bit taken aback. We thought they'd retreat on their own after losing their boss. But instead they kept attacking, seeking vengeance… With no other choice, we held them off again. While our barricade line remained unbreached, there were still bastards coming round the rear to attack the tribute goods. There wasn't much we could do about them. Our hands were already full just holding off those charging at us from the front. With that swarming mass, even just defending our line was difficult. We only barely managed because of the narrow mountain path. If we were in an open field and they charged at us like that, even we would have been in danger. At least, it would have been very difficult to keep the tribute goods and escorts safe.
In the end, it proved the Ten Great Escort Agencies aren't just a hollow name. The way agency leader Jang Woo-yang swung his sword, it was as if he was unleashing all his pent-up frustration. I guess he had a lot piled up over the years. Even the regular escorts were skilled enough to fight the bandits without losing their lives. But those bastards kept swarming, relying solely on their numbers. Whenever the escorts were endangered, Tang Sam threw rocks to save them. If not for that, there would have been far more casualties. As he kept rescuing them, he ran out of carved rocks and had to grab random stones off the ground to throw. Still, one hit from those was enough to make them whimper and collapse. Well, smacking them barehanded made the same squealing noise anyway.
What? Why do I keep saying Tang Three this, Tang Three that? Ah, Tang Sam is Tang Cheol-yeong's nickname. We all call him Tang Three. But don't even dream about addressing Cheol-yeong as Tang Three yourself. You might suddenly find yourself departing on a trip to the afterlife if you do. We specifically targeted and beheaded their leaders. That deputy boss with the bruised eyes didn't make it either. After maiming half of them and crippling the other half, they finally started retreating reluctantly.
They were so stubborn. It was quite an intense fight. Many of the escorts were injured too. But the fact that not a single escort died was truly a miracle."
With the word "miracle", Geum Yeong-ho ended his long account.
"It was a bit chilling at the time, my friend."
Hyun-woon made an exaggerated expression as he jokingly spoke.
"They kept swarming at us mindlessly despite crumbling from just a few hits."
Noh Hak frowned slightly as he spoke.
"Many of the escorts were hurt. It was a major blow to the escort agency."
"This uniform was dyed from back then too."
Moyong Chwi made her first monumental statement, smiling like a crescent moon.
"I ran out of carved rocks so I threw random stones I picked up, but well, even those were enough for the likes of them," Tang Cheol-yeong said. He too had been quite active back then. If not for him, there would have been numerous casualties in Central Armed Escort Agency.
"Half were killed, half escaped. About 500 each, I'd say."
Hyun-woon spoke as if he had counted them one by one. The more Baek Seok-dong heard, the more flabbergasted he became. If he didn't show any surprise here, that would fail to meet their expectations. Fortunately he didn't disappoint them, so Baek Seok-dong was currently quite stupefied. The proof was his jaw hanging wide open.
"You fought and defeated 1,000 men with just 16…?"
"Not 1,000, 500 men. The ones we took down, that is. And it wasn't 16 people. The agency's escorts numbered over 100 as well."
Geum Yeong-ho spoke as if it were no big deal.
"But what made them so reckless to attack like that? How did they plan to deal with the aftermath? They may get away with it immediately, but what about later? As the 72 Forest Fortresses, earning Emei Sect's hostility can hardly be desirable, no?"
These were the natural doubts arising in Baek Seok-dong's mind. No matter how mighty the 72 Forest Fortresses were said to be, they seemed lacking to become enemies with Emei Sect. Because making Emei Sect the enemy meant not just fighting a single sect, but a battle with all associated forces rallying to their support.
"Oh right, we heard from the guys we caught that the ambush was a unilateral action by Tiger Bone and Dragon Bone Fortresses. Seems the other Forest Fortresses weren't involved."
Noh Hak cut in as if wedging his way into the conversation. He was the one who had caught and interrogated those men. With just the right amount of 'persuasion', the captives had sung quite obediently. Though what constituted the 'right amount' remained rather ambiguous…
"What? That makes even less sense! They must be tigers who eat tiger livers! How could they even think to oppose one of the great escort agencies of the Central Plains, let alone Emei Sect backing them? And with just a single mountain fortress without the 72 Fortresses' support? Picking a fight with Emei Sect was clearly asking for death. They really chose an inauspicious beast to model their fortresses after!"
"Oh, for them, that was meant to be their last job," Geum Yeong-ho explained.
"Huh?"
"They were planning to quit after that haul. Give up being bandits. Seems they wanted to distribute that loot when it was over, then disappear. Since the shipment was so huge this time, success here would set them up for life. That's why they brought all their men. Even those guarding the mountain fortress."
"How could that be possible? Were the transported goods that valuable? Enough to stake the entire fortress' fate on it?"
"Yeah, I only heard about this later but… what was it called? Ah right, Goryeo Celadon. It's some kind of porcelain originally called Goryeo Sanggam (Inlaid) Celadon, but they shorten it to Goryeo Celadon. They were transporting three sets of them. From what I heard, selling even one set could buy an entire castle, that's how valuable they apparently were. Especially the ones transported this time were said to be the creme de la creme of all Goryeo Celadons. Yeah, worth staking your life on. Owning even one set would let you spend the rest of your days leisurely, never working again."
"*Gasp*"
Baek Seok-dong's jaw dropped. To think a single piece of ceramic he had only considered as a container or trivial decoration could be worth an entire castle. As a beggar, when had he ever seen or even heard of such a thing? He was simply flabbergasted.
"Hey, you'll dislocate your jaw. And your breath stinks, so close your mouth."
Noh Hak snapped at Baek Seok-dong, who stood there displaying the number of cavities in his mouth for the whole world to see. Geum Yeong-ho continued speaking.
"Therein lies the problem. The ambush itself was nothing compared to this. The issue is why they brought their entire force lying in ambush. Every single man… Without even leaving anyone to guard the fortress. They knew exactly what the Central Armed Escort Agency was transporting. Things even we didn't know, they did. So they gambled everything, abandoning the fortress to attack us with all hands on deck. And not just one group, but two!"
With a look of utter incomprehension, Geum Yeong-ho fell deep in thought. He only vaguely sensed something was off, but the details remained obscure and hazy.
"The agency leader must have carried this out in utmost secrecy… Yet they found out enough to stake the survival of their entire fortress on this ambush…"
Geum Yeong-ho still couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"How do you think they found out?"
Seeing Baek Seok-dong stare at him with a terribly curious expression, Geum Yeong-ho smiled.
"I'd like to know that too."
Geum Yeong-ho gazed quietly at the sky. The sky welcomed their return with its endless azure hue, cloudless as the radiant sun beamed down especially warmly today. From within the main gate, raucous clamoring could be heard as hundreds of people rushed out, eager to see them. Gazing upon those people, it truly hit home for them that they had returned. Returning to Heavenly Martial Academy… It was nothing short than a miracle.