Chapter 402: To Sichuan (3)

Gu Jeolyub wasn’t coming to Sichuan.

The first thing I thought of after hearing the news was Gu Sunmoon.

Is this related to Muyeon?

Including the Captain of the first army, it seemed like Gu Sunmoon was heavily favoring Muyeon.

Because of that, it seemed like Gu Jeolyub made the decision to go back to Gu Sunmoon immediately.

As if the First Elder knew what I was thinking, he spoke after letting out a small sigh.

“It’s what he wanted. The Lord gave him approval as well.”

“I see.”

Father probably didn’t care about Gu Jeolyub’s decisions.

However, I was a bit disappointed.

If he returns to Gu Sunmoon like that,

I wondered if that was truly the right thing for him to do.

Though of course, I didn’t think it was any better for him to continue chasing me around.

But I can’t help but feel a bit concerned.

I was concerned.

That bastard’s darkened expression also bothered me. After staring at Gu Jeolyub’s face for a moment, I looked away.

If that’s your decision, then I won’t try to stop you.

Gu Jeolyub had concluded that it was best for him to return to Gu Sunmoon right now.

Because of that, I wasn’t going to try and convince him to make a different decision.

I might’ve given Gu Jeolyub a different suggestion if he came up to me and asked, but he didn’t. He was already certain that he had made the right decision.

After seeing that, the only thing I hoped for Gu Jeolyub was for him to have no regret in this decision.

I said my goodbyes to everyone and boarded the carriage.

I was in Gu Clan’s carriage and I didn’t bother calling any servants.

Tang Clan’s main goal was to move prisoners to Sichuan, so it would be more work for them if I brought more people.

For the Pe Clan, it seemed like they had made an agreement to help the Tang Clan escort the carriages.

Other than that…

I gazed towards the Pe Clan’s carriages. Cheol Jiseon was likely sitting with Pe Woocheol right now.

I had to learn more about the bastard as well. We were going to be a little late because of the evacuation process.

Our planned path to Sichuan had changed for the safest evacuation, so we had to see if there were any potential problems we were going to run into midway.

There were a ton of things to think about.

I organized my thoughts so much, yet I still had a ton left.

I started to get headaches for the first time in a while.

Right as I let out an exhausted breath, mixed with heat, a cold hand suddenly came out of nowhere and landed on my forehead.

It was Namgung Bi-ah’s hand.

When I took a quick glance at her, I was able to see that her blue eyes were filled with concerns.

She stared at me and asked.

“…Are you… okay?”

Am I okay?

Why did she ask me that?

I responded to her with a slight smile.

“Of course, I am. I’m perfectly fine.”

“…”

“But I must smell a ton right now, so you should stay away from me.”

I was referring to how I got on the carriage in a messy, unclean state.

I had considered walking instead, but Wi Seol-Ah and Namgung Bi-ah insisted that I don’t do that.

Even though I would’ve had no problem with it.

Anyway, right as I was about to lightly push away Namgung Bi-ah due to my dirty state, she reached her arm to my head and pulled it in towards her.

I then felt a soft sensation.

It was Namgung Bi-ah’s thighs.

Right as I was about to get up immediately from this sudden situation, Namgung Bi-ah spoke.

“…You… are tired. It’s okay to sleep…”

I gave up trying to get up after hearing Namgung Bi-ah.

How did she know that I was tired?

I had used my Qi to make myself look perfectly fine and did my best to calm my breathing, but Namgung Bi-ah seemed to have noticed somehow.

…This is a problem.

While I felt comfortable lying on Namgung Bi-ah’s legs, I couldn’t help but feel like this was a waste. I was wasting time.

Sleeping like this was wasting a lot of time. I should’ve been using this time to train, so I wondered if it was okay for me to fall asleep like this.

Now that I think about it, Moyong Hi-ah is…

Moyong Hi-ah, who hasn’t contacted me recently, thankfully delivered a message saying she would be a little late in coming to Sichuan.

She said she would be joining us a few days after we start heading there. During this, I noticed something strange in my thought.

Thankfully…?

Why did Moyong Hi-ah confirming that she would be joining us late make me feel that way?

Have I gone insane from being too exhausted?

…Anyway, I have to think about all the things I need to take care of Sichuan right now.

I had to focus on what was important.

I had many reasons to go to Sichuan, but there was one thing in particular that I was concerned about other than the Golden Nature Clan and the White Demonic Stone.

That bastard happened to be there right now. One of the bastards that I’ve been thinking of inviting to my alliance for the future’s calamity was currently in Sichuan.

Originally, he would’ve made his appearance one to two years later, but I planned to visit him earlier than that.

As long as my expectation is correct, it won’t be hard to find him.

The bastard will be hiding at the highest mountain in Sichuan, as long as the information from my past life remains the same.

He was the first step in forming my alliance.

He was a Demonic Human in my past life, and he was one of the bastards that wouldn’t care one bit about me turning him into one in this life.

As I thought about his face, I felt a soft hand brushing my hair.

Was it Namgung Bi-ah?

Or was it Wi Seol-Ah, who was sitting next to her?

I wasn’t sure.

One thing I was sure about was the fact that I felt at peace because of this simple hand motion, which I found very fascinating.

Despite constantly telling myself that I needed to get up, this exhausted body of mine wasn’t going to allow it, so I decided to sleep in the end.

I’ll just get up after a tiny nap.

Or at least that was my plan.

The Ghostly Mountain in Sichuan.

It is the name of the biggest mountain in Sichuan.

People called this a mountain haunted with ghosts due to its sheer size and the ominous, cold air it has.

Because of this, there were also a ton of rumors such as a ghost appearing at night, or a person not being able to escape the mountain alive if they went to it alone.

The Ghostly Mountain was known for its bad reputation.

Despite all the crazy rumors surrounding the mountain, there was one truth that no one knew about.

There weren’t actually any ghosts in the mountain.

Of course, it was possible for ghosts to exist, but them appearing during night time was a false rumor spread by people.

A person not being able to leave the mountain alive was true, but it wasn’t because of ghosts, but rather people instead.

There was a group of people who spread these rumors and blocked outsiders from entering while secretly residing in this mountain.

The people of Central Plains decided to call them as the Green Forest.

Because Demon Gates started appearing in mountains and seas, the number of people of the Green Forest decreased considerably by this point.

Some people said that the age of bandits was over.

They weren’t wrong.

Truthfully, there was practically no one who had seen a bandit, and the area where the Green Forest could operate has been significantly reduced with the increased number of people joining forces to fight against Demons.

Due to that reason, it wasn’t strange to call the ones residing in the mountain the last remains of the Green Forest.

In a spooky abode on the side of the mountain, Slide-

A liquor bottle was rolling around in a messy room.

There were liquor bottles everywhere in the room, as well as leftover food attracting a ton of flies.

Between those things, men who didn’t seem to have washed themselves for days were sleeping in a pile, all snoring.

It was almost concerning with how loud they were snoring, as the noise could easily echo in this mountain.

Then, someone suddenly kicked the door open and ran in the building.

Slam-!

“Boss!”

The bearded man who entered immediately started to shout. Because of the noise he was making, the men who were sleeping on the ground started to get up lazily.

“Ugh… My head…”

“Water… water!”

“Blergh-!”

“Agh! You bastard…! Stop puking here!”

“Grab this bastard and throw him out!”

As the situation turned into a mess in an instant, the bearded man who had shouted first spoke while looking around the room.

“Boss? Where’s boss?”

“Oh, it’s your youngest brother.”

“Youngest… bring me some water for now.”

It almost seemed as if no one heard what the bearded man had shouted, because they were busy trying to speak over themselves.

Just how much did they drink last night? The room was filled with the smell of alcohol.

“Ugh! You all! Where the hell is boss!?”

The bearded man shouted again, in anger. Then, the noisy room suddenly became silent in an instant.

The bearded man paused awkwardly after because the other men glared back at him.

“…Hah, look at this bastard.”

“Is the youngest perhaps sick anywhere? What a loud voice he has. The bastard just shouted at us, right?”

“Ptooey.”

Crack.

The men on the floor slowly started to get up, one by one.

It was hard to tell before, but they all showed their impressive physique when they got up.

Their heads were barely short on reaching the ceiling.

Due to their giant physique and Combat Qi slowly flowing out from their body, the bearded man flinched and backed up a little.

“Uh… brothers… I didn’t mean to—“

“You didn’t mean to, you say? It seems like your tongue forgot what it means to be respectful.”

“Should we educate you for the first time in a while?”

A thick hand reached towards the bearded man. The man clenched his eyes shut when he saw the hand reaching for him.

He expected to feel pain right after, but he strangely felt nothing.

Right as he slightly opened his eye to see what was going on…

“…Huh?”

The man who had reached out for the bearded man stood still as if none of this had happened.

The bearded man wondered why he was acting in such a way.

“…So.”

Then, he became stiff immediately after hearing a voice coming from behind him.

The bearded man, creakingly, turned his neck and looked who was behind.

In that spot, stood the ‘real’ man, who was a foot taller than the other giants. He didn’t have any clothes to cover the top of his muscular body.

His body had deep scars all over the place, but the sight only helped in making him look more terrifying.

The dark glare that shined between his long, scattered hair brought fear to anyone that looked at it.

While staring into those eyes, the bearded man spoke to the giant nervously.

“B-Boss… Ugh!?”

The man, known as boss, suddenly grabbed the bearded man by his neck and lifted him up.

It looked unreal to see a fully grown-up man get lifted up in the air by someone using one hand.

“What happened for you to cause this much trouble early in the morning.”

“…A…bout that… Ugh…”

“If your response doesn’t satisfy me, then you die here. Got it?”

The killing intent from the giant started to fully take over the bearded man’s body.

It was terrifying to see the giant talk with his ominous smile like that.

While looking back at his boss, the bearded man managed to speak out just barely.

“…T-Tang Clan…”

The boss’s eyes slightly widened after hearing the bearded man.

Then…

Thud-!

“Ugh!”

The bearded man was let go, and he fell to the ground. He then immediately had to breathe heavily, due to how powerful the giant’s grip was.

“Huff… Huff…!”

He was able to breathe a bit, but it only lasted a moment.

Creak-

The boss kneeled towards the bearded man on the ground and asked him a question.

“What about Tang Clan. Speak.”

The bearded man started shaking his shoulders when he saw his boss speak with an evil smile.

The giant with the overwhelming atmosphere was the boss of the last remaining Green Forest left in the Ghostly Mountain, and he was known as the Green King in the future after he became the Heavenly Demon’s minion.