Return to Farming Warrior Chapter 3
The next day.
In the end, it was decided that those without even four nyang of silver, excluding the compensation money, would borrow from Head Yu to go and bring them back.
To retrieve them, the village chief and ten young men who had remained in the village set off for the north of Palgong Mountain, Yeongcheon among them.
“Be careful on your way.”
“Goodbye, Brother.”
Seeing off his family, he left together with the other young men.
Yeongcheon gazed toward the place where the mountain fortress that held Yeongjin captive was located.
The Palgong Mountain Northern Green Forest Fortress.
The corners of Yeongcheon’s mouth slowly rose as he looked at that place.
‘Woo Yeokdae. To think that you became a fortress chief… You’ve grown a lot.’
* * *
In Anhwi Province, where Gokhyang Village was located, there were several famous mountains, and Palgong Mountain was one of them.
There were quite large Green Forest Fortresses there, namely the Four Great Green Forest Fortresses of Palgong Mountain.
U Yeokdae, the fortress chief of the Northern Green Forest Fortress—one of the Four Great Green Forest Fortresses that divided the four cardinal directions—was in an exceptionally good mood.
Because the new goods that had arrived this time were high-quality tea leaves.
Since Anhwi Province was famous for tea, the quality was top-grade, and the storage fee the owner would pay to retrieve it would be substantial.
Moreover, he was holding the people transporting the tea leaves as hostages. He had sent one of them out, so word of the ransom would arrive soon.
But.
‘Why is this? I’m anxious. Something feels off.’
And so it was. He should have been in a good mood, yet something felt uneasy. And since his premonitions had never once been wrong, he felt even more anxious.
* * *
A day had passed since Yeongcheon left the village.
The young men who had left with him lit a campfire and began preparing dinner.
They moved in groups of four, and Yeongcheon was moving with a young man in his twenties, Mr. Yi from the house behind him in his forties, and Mr. Oh, who lived behind that house, in his fifties.
“Um, sirs. Aren’t we going to light a fire?”
The young man in his twenties, moving in the same group, spoke to him.
“Sirs? I don’t know about those sirs, but call me Hyung.”
At his words, the young man said with surprised eyes.
“W-w-weren’t you a mute?”
Mr. Yi and Mr. Oh also had surprised expressions.
“A mute?”
“The village elders said so. That the eldest son of Mr. Go, who had run away from home, came back as a mute. They said the crescent-shaped scar below his neck was the proof.”
At the young man’s words, Mr. Yi and Mr. Oh nodded as well, and Yeongcheon was dumbfounded.
‘Come to think of it, besides in front of my family, the only place I opened my mouth was at the general market……’
Since he hadn’t exchanged a single word with the villagers in that time, it was no wonder such a misunderstanding had occurred.
“Hehehe.”
He could only laugh. The smaller the rural village, the more rumors inevitably spread in distorted ways. And starting rumors was very easy too.
So that was why they still believed he had run away from home!
“Hurry up and go get some wood.”
“Yes. Ahjus……”
“It’s Hyung, you punk.”
“Yes, Hyung. But what about those sirs……?”
“Don’t you know the way of respecting elders?”
Before long, a campfire was also burning in front of them.
Yeongcheon filled a kettle with water and boiled tea, and picking large leaves from nearby, he placed them on the hot ashes and began warming the dumplings on them.
‘To be able to light a campfire so freely like this, how nice.’
In the past, during his time in the Blood Thunder Squad, even when lighting a fire, he had to ensure that neither smoke nor light could be seen to avoid detection by enemies.
The fact that he could openly light a fire like this anew was deeply moving.
“You are quite skilled.”
At Mr. Yi’s words, Yeongcheon laughed awkwardly.
“Hahaha. Do I look like it?”
“This isn’t the skill of someone who’s done it once or twice. So, may we eat now?”
“Yes! Please eat!”
They each picked up a dumpling and brought it to their mouths. Yeongcheon spoke to the young man sitting to his right.
“But what is your name?”
“It is Choyun.”
“That’s not a hastily made name.”
“Yes. My father is a Giant.”
A Giant. It meant those who passed the provincial exam, indicating a very high possibility of advancing as officials. They could even open a school in the village.
“Then why are you living as a tenant farmer?”
“The truth is, my uncle gambled the household into ruin.”
“I see. Then are you going to find your older brother?”
“No. My father is being held by the bandits. I am an only child.”
“I see. Sorry for asking something unnecessary.”
“It’s fine. Well, it is the truth.”
Yeongcheon slowly sized up Choyun. He had a mischievous face but looked quite clever, and his mannerisms weren’t rough.
His eyes had never once been wrong. This lad would surely become someone great.
“Do you like meat?”
“Meat? I can’t eat it because I don’t have any!”
“Is that so? What about you sirs?”
At his question, Mr. Yi and Mr. Oh nodded as well. Truthfully, having walked all day, settling for just one dumpling for dinner was indeed insufficient.
At their answer, Yeongcheon picked up one of the firewood sticks Choyun had gathered. And with the ordinary short sword he had bought along with the steel hoe, he began carving the wood. Soon a wooden skewer was made, and he stood up.
“Wait here.”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“To get meat.”
Regardless of what Choyun thought, he trudged into the forest, and at some point, his figure moved quickly. It was qinggong.
Soon stopping his feet, he suppressed his presence and closed his eyes.
At that moment.
He opened his eyes and threw the wooden skewer in his hand.
Swish!
The sound of a wild beast echoing through the mountain. Before him was a wild boar, dead with its throat pierced by the skewer.
The spearmanship technique called the Soul-Chasing Throw, which never missed its targeted enemy no matter where.
It was that very martial art which had pierced the leg of the Great Thief Muheungak, the Traceless Guest, who with ghostly skills and terrifying qinggong had robbed countless martial arts sects and great families.
Currently, he was affiliated with the government office, serving as an advisor of sorts in catching thieves, but if Muheungak knew that this Soul-Chasing Throw had been used for wild boar meat, there was more than an eighty percent chance he would be so humiliated that he would commit suicide.
But Yeongcheon, having used that great martial art to catch a wild boar, hoisted it onto his shoulder without a second thought.
“This should do.”
And he returned to where the group was.
Thud!
The boar’s carcass struck the ground with a tremendous sound, shaking the earth.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Meat. Don’t tell me you dislike boar meat?”
“No. It’s just that there’s too much. Even if everyone here ate their fill, there would be leftovers.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right. But this boar, did you catch it by any chance?”
“Huh?”
“Please don’t make such jokes about having caught it.”
‘A j-joke?’
At his words, Yeongcheon smiled and said.
“Of course. How could I catch this boar? I simply picked it up. A boar fell off a cliff, and by chance got its neck caught in a tree, flailing about. So I quickly stabbed its neck with this skewer! Hahaha.”
“I see. You have quite the luck! Thanks to you, we can all eat our fill.”
Yeongcheon soon began butchering the boar with his short sword.
“We’ll eat well, Yeongcheon.”
“We’ll eat well.”
They happily ate the meat roasted golden brown over the campfire. Meanwhile, Yeongcheon sighed as he watched them.
‘Ah, it seems I haven’t lived an ordinary life after all……’
Before they knew it, they were approaching the Palgong Mountain Northern Green Forest Fortress where the bandits were. Realizing this, everyone grew tense and focused solely on hurrying their steps.
But Yeongcheon was in a good mood. That moderate tension exhilarated him.
Moreover, since this was a place he had once visited before, that memory made his heart flutter.
In fact, back then, he had come here on a mission and glimpsed his family from afar.
He had wanted to return home. He had wanted to return home like crazy. The oath with his friend had turned his steps away, but…….
His younger sister, whom he saw then, had been so cute…….
Seeing him giggling in that tense atmosphere, some muttered amongst themselves, and unable to stand it, Choyun spoke.
“Hyungnim.”
“What is it?”
“Is something amusing? Why are you smiling like that? If others see, they’ll say you’re crazy.”
“I’m smiling because I’m reminded of the old days.”
“Huh? What did you do in the past that allows you to smile in this situation?”
At his sharp question, Yeongcheon suddenly realized.
‘Damn, I was too relaxed.’
Choyun waited for his answer with sparkling eyes.
“I just did whatever came my way, this and that.”
“Is that so?”
Just then, the village chief’s voice rang out from ahead.
“We have arrived. It is right ahead!”
At that voice, everyone stopped. Before them, as if marking a mountain fortress, there was a wooden fence, and a couple of bandits were standing guard.
“What is your business?”
At the bandit’s words, Foreman Lim bowed his head and spoke.
“Yes. We are from the Yu Estate. We have come with a small token of gratitude for the Lord keeping our goods safe.”
“Oh? Wait. I shall inform the Fortress Chief!”
At that bandit’s overbearing attitude, Yeongcheon sneered inwardly.
‘This was the fortress that the Blood Thunder Squad completely destroyed back then, but they’ve repaired it quite a bit since.’
The bandit who had run off to announce their arrival returned and spoke.
“He says you may enter.”
U Yeokdae, the chief of the Palgong Mountain Northern Green Forest Fortress, had his mouth spread from ear to ear at the news that people had come for the tea leaves.
“Uwahahaha! Today I’ll make a big haul for the first time in a while! Then shall I greet my precious patrons? Let them in!”
“Yes!”
At his words, the gate soon opened, and Foreman Lim and the village chief of the Yu Estate, along with ten villagers, entered.
Holding a wine cup, he arrogantly looked over the people standing before him.
In an instant.
Clang!
U Yeokdae dropped the cup in his hand. His expression was no less horrified than if he had met the Grim Reaper.
This aura was clearly the one he had felt before. The aura that had gifted him the greatest fear he had ever experienced.
Memories of the past flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. He remembered clearly.
That fearsome name he never wanted to see again, nor remember.
The Blood Thunder Squad.
And the one he absolutely never wanted to meet.
The Leader of the Blood Thunder Squad.
He was definitely standing before him.
Yeongcheon deliberately sent his aura only at U Yeokdae. This was possible because Yeongcheon possessed an outstanding ability to control his aura.
And revealing his strength directly would cause too many complications. He wanted to live quietly.
Meanwhile, U Yeokdae, receiving that aura directly, felt like dying. At the time, Yeongcheon had been wearing a mask, so U Yeokdae had not known his face, but having faced him once, he could be certain.
‘He is definitely among them! But who is it?’
U Yeokdae, who had been worrying, inwardly told his worries to go to the dogs. He had already learned this thoroughly, deep in his bones.
That trying to use his head in front of the Blood Thunder Squad Leader was rather like cleanly cutting off his own head and shouting, “Please roll it well!”
If the fortress that had been wrecked seven years ago was destroyed again, he would likely lose his position as fortress chief at the hands of the Central Plains Green Forest Eighteen Fortress Alliance and the Chief Biao who led the alliance.
Just like his predecessor…….
‘Fuck! Not that! Absolutely not that!’
He jumped up from his seat and spoke.
“Hahaha. You must have had a hard time coming all the way here. Please don’t be too angry. It’s all to make a living, isn’t it? Even I am breaking my back trying to feed my wife and my many children. Aigoo.”
At his whining words, a tactless subordinate standing beside him got cocky.
“The Chief is a bachelo… kck!”
“You seem to be in a lot of pain. Hahaha.”
U Yeokdae quickly gave him a light jab in the stomach and continued speaking.
“N-Now then, you should hurry and meet your families. Hahaha.”
After ordering his subordinates to guide the villagers to where the hostages were, he glared at that tactless subordinate.
“You fucking bastard! If you have no tact, at least keep your mouth shut!”
Thwack!
“Kuk!”
“Do you know I almost went to the netherworld because of you? You dog bastard!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Does ‘sorry’ fix everything? You bastard! You’re dead today!”
Thwack! Thwack thwack!
Leaving behind the fortress bustling with the sounds of beating, the villagers were guided by the bandits to where the hostages were gathered.
And they were able to meet their beloved families.
It was the same for Yeongcheon.
Yeongjin, who had been twelve when Yeongcheon left home, had now grown into a dependable young man.
Though he had grown thin from starving and suffering, that face was unmistakably still there.
“Y-you…… are you Yeongjin?”
Yeongcheon’s voice trembled.
“Wh…… who?”
Doubt rose on Yeongjin’s face as he asked back.
“Could it be?”
And looking at that face resembling his father, he opened his mouth.
“Hyung? Yeongcheon Hyung?”
“Yes! It’s your Hyung!”
But Yeongjin asked in a voice full of resentment.
“Why have you returned?”