Chapter 04
The Exile Ends (1)
‘Ugh.’
Yu Yeop-gyeong felt his stomach churn as he looked at the two mountain bandits who had been impaled and killed by the tree.
He didn’t feel any guilt or mental discomfort, as it had been a situation where they would have died if they hadn’t killed them.
Still, he couldn’t remain indifferent while looking at the corpses.
‘Will that boy be okay?’
Even if they were mountain bandits, he had still killed people.
Even he, a grown man, felt his hands trembling and his stomach twisting, so how much worse must it be for that young boy?
‘Hmm…..’
But Mumu’s condition was steadier than he had expected.
Even while looking at the dead bodies, he calmly gathered them together in one place.
Yu Yeop-gyeong frowned and asked,
“Son. If you feel uncomfortable, you can go and throw up.”
“I’m fine, though?”
“Are you really okay?”
“The smell is sickening and the blood is sticky, so touching them is unpleasant.”
“But maybe because I’ve caught so many mountain beasts, it’s not enough to make me throw up like you, Father.”
‘……When did he see me?’
Yu Yeop-gyeong had briefly gone to the outhouse to vomit earlier.
He frowned.
A mountain beast and a human being were completely different.
‘Did I raise him too differently from normal children?’
Although he occasionally interacted with the merchants from the traveling caravan, those meetings were always brief.
Other than his adoptive father, Mumu had never truly interacted or formed close relationships with anyone else.
Still, Yu Yeop-gyeong had once been a man who taught others for a living.
He believed he had at least instilled in the boy the basic decency and character a person should possess.
Yet Mumu’s perception of life and death seemed duller than most people’s.
‘Should I be worried about this? Or……hmm.’
Ah, whatever.
As long as he grew up healthy and didn’t become a bad person, wasn’t that enough?
The Mumu he had raised and watched over for so many years was a righteous child.
He wasn’t the kind to become twisted or go astray over something like this.
That alone was enough.
Just then, Mumu pointed his thumb toward the a-frame carrier loaded with corpses and said,
“I’ve gathered them all.”
“Well done.”
Looking at the corpses, Yu Yeop-gyeong fell into deep thought.
They had killed these men to protect themselves, but the words spoken by the one called the Sub-leader still lingered in his mind.
[Y-You bastard, are you not afraid of future trouble? If I, the Sub-leader, die, the people of the mountain fortress will come here. Are you confident you can handle all of them?]
Honestly, he was afraid of what might happen later.
However, the reason Yu Yeop-gyeong had decisively killed him was not simply because he was enraged that the man had targeted his son.
Whether he killed him or spared him, the outcome would ultimately be the same.
One way or another, the comrades of the dead men would eventually come for them.
In fact, if he had spared the Sub-leader, they likely would have arrived even sooner.
‘This is difficult.’
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
If they had been ordinary commoners, they could have simply fled after killing those men.
The problem was that Yu Yeop-gyeong himself was an exile.
It was even written clearly on the signpost.
[Do not go more than ten ri from the place of exile.]
‘This is driving me crazy.’
It was essentially telling him to remain in place and wait to be attacked.
Ten ri was not a particularly short distance, but it was nowhere near enough to safely escape mountain bandits.
Just then, Mumu spoke.
“Father. We can’t go beyond ten ri, right?”
Mumu had also grasped the seriousness of the situation.
At those words, Yu Yeop-gyeong bit his lip before speaking as though he had already made up his mind.
“Son.”
“Yes.”
“You can escape.”
“……..”
Mumu’s expression darkened.
When his father used to jokingly ask if he planned to abandon him, Mumu had never taken it seriously.
But hearing him say those words now made his chest tighten painfully.
“But you can’t escape, Father.”
“What kind of father would ask his son to die alongside him?”
“Can’t we just run away together, farther than ten ri?”
“No.”
“No one has come to visit for the last five years.”
“Don’t you think those government officials—or whatever they are called—have already forgotten about you, Father?”
As Mumu said, the officials who used to visit once a year for inspections had stopped coming five years ago.
It was genuinely possible.
Perhaps he had simply been omitted from the records.
Or perhaps they no longer cared at all.
However, Yu Yeop-gyeong shook his head.
“Son. Although this father is living such a miserable life in exile, I have never once in my life acted against morality or done anything shameful.”
“But Father…..”
“If I am caught leaving the place of exile, then this father will become an even greater sinner.”
“And that sin will be passed on to our family in Kaifeng—and to you.”
That was what Yu Yeop-gyeong feared most.
Since he had never been officially pardoned, he didn’t want anyone else to suffer because of him.
Yu Yeop-gyeong spoke firmly, as though his mind was already made up.
“Son. This father will be fine, so at least you should escape the mountain—”
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“First, let’s hide the mountain bandits’ corpses somewhere far away.”
“And later, when Mr. Oh from the merchant caravan comes, how about asking him to report to a nearby government office that bandits entered the place of exile and request help?”
“Uh…..?”
“And while that happens, we can hide nearby.”
‘This boy.’
At Mumu’s words, Yu Yeop-gyeong’s face—which had been hardened with grim determination—brightened immediately.
He had already steeled himself to sacrifice his own life to save his son.
Yet where had this child suddenly gotten such a clever idea from?
“Son, you truly have a plan for everything.”
To think he had prepared himself for death only to become happy again so quickly.
As expected, Father really is honest.
Without saying those thoughts aloud, Mumu walked toward the a-frame carrier piled with corpses.
Even with five bodies loaded onto it, Mumu lifted the carrier effortlessly, as though it weighed almost nothing.
“Father, can you clean the bloodstains around here?”
“Are you going to hide them by yourself?”
“With that injured leg, how long would it take you?”
“……Hmph. Well, that’s true.”
“We have to wait for Mr. Oh from the merchant caravan anyway, so stay here, Father.”
Although he was still worried, the words made sense.
In the end, Yu Yeop-gyeong reluctantly nodded.
“Alright.”
“I’ll return quickly after hiding them.”
With those words, Mumu lightly shouldered the a-frame carrier full of corpses and headed toward the mountain.
Watching him, Yu Yeop-gyeong quietly said,
“Son. If you run into any mountain bandits, you must run away and return to this father.”
“Okay.”
—Tatatatak!
With that reply, Mumu dashed off while carrying the loaded carrier.
Watching his son’s retreating figure, Yu Yeop-gyeong clicked his tongue in amazement.
He had already seen him countless times carrying enormous bundles of firewood or branches while running around.
Yet no matter how many times he saw it, he still couldn’t get used to that unbelievable speed.
It was astonishing that he could move like that while carrying such weight.
A place about two ri away from the thatched house.
Mumu, who had been carrying the a-frame carrier, suddenly set it down.
He then grabbed the clothes of the corpse lying on top and dragged it down.
—Thud!
The body belonged to the Hairy Mountain Bandit, his nose shattered and his face covered in blood.
Mumu crouched down in front of him.
Then he lightly slapped the man’s cheek.
—Slap!
“Ack!”
A scream burst out.
Surprisingly, the Hairy Mountain Bandit was not dead.
More accurately, he had been pretending to be dead while waiting for an opportunity to escape.
He had planned to flee from this monster-like brat, gather the members of the mountain fortress, and take revenge.
‘D-Damn it. To be discovered.’
He had tried his absolute best not to move, yet he was exposed after a single slap.
And what a painfully stinging slap it had been.
Mumu looked down at the flustered bandit and asked,
“Why were you pretending to be dead?”
“Keuk!”
“More importantly, Mr. Bandit. Earlier, didn’t you say you had family at that Yangho Fortress or whatever it was called?”
“Haa….haa… You and your bastard father had better prepare yourselves.”
Since he no longer believed he would survive, the Hairy Mountain Bandit finally spat out the resentment he had been suppressing.
Ignoring the threat entirely, Mumu asked,
“Where are those people?”
At that question, the bandit became inwardly puzzled.
But he soon believed he understood.
It seemed Mumu wanted to know Yangho Fortress’s location so he could flee and hide.
“Heh. Do you think you can escape simply by knowing where it is?”
“No. I want to try talking to them.”
“Talk?”
“Father always says people should know how to show magnanimity.”
“So I’m going to ask for your colleagues’ understanding.”
“There’s no good in holding grudges against each other.”
“So you want to negotiate?”
“That’s right.”
At those words, the Hairy Mountain Bandit narrowed his eyes.
If he handled this carefully, he might be able to get rid of this monster first.
So, hiding his true intentions, he smiled and said,
“Hmph. If it’s for such a noble reason, perhaps I can be the one to build that bridge for you.”
Two gak later.
Not far away stood the base of Yangho Fortress.
It didn’t seem as though they had occupied the place for very long.
That was why they had discovered Yu Yeop-gyeong’s house after spotting smoke rising in the distance.
Since roughly fifty men lived together there, the fortress itself was fairly large.
In front of Mumu sat a massive, bald, topless middle-aged man reclining arrogantly on a tiger-skin chair with his arms crossed.
He was the Fortress Leader, Byeon Yang-ho.
Around him stood another Sub-leader and numerous mountain bandits with fierce expressions, completely surrounding Mumu.
‘Foolish bastard.’
The Hairy Mountain Bandit sneered inwardly.
The boy might possess monstrous martial prowess, but his head clearly wasn’t very sharp.
Yangho Fortress’s leader, Byeon Yang-ho, was a first-rate master nearing the peak stage.
The other Sub-leader was also a first-rate master.
Furthermore, more than half of the remaining bandits were martial artists ranging from third-rate to second-rate.
‘You won’t even leave your bones behind.’
There was no possibility of escape.
He had willingly walked into a snake’s den.
Now that he had touched the families of the mountain fortress, it was all over.
The Fortress Leader, Byeon Yang-ho, stroked his chin with an annoyed expression and spoke.
“I can’t tell whether your courage deserves praise or whether you’re simply stupid.”
“You want to talk after killing this Fortress Leader’s subordinates?”
“Yes.”
“Father said that what separates humans from beasts is the ability to think, so dialogue should always come before fighting.”
—Pfft!
“It smells like ink around here somewhere. Don’t you think?”
“Puhahahahat!”
“That’s right, Fortress Leader!”
“The brat learned a few phrases and now acts all high and mighty. Hahahahat!”
At Byeon Yang-ho’s words, the surrounding mountain bandits burst into laughter.
Despite this, Mumu didn’t seem bothered at all.
Instead, he pointed toward Byeon Yang-ho’s body and said,
“You’ve trained strangely.”
“What?”
“Your chest muscles are asymmetrical.”
‘!?’
Byeon Yang-ho was dumbfounded.
To suddenly say his chest muscles were asymmetrical—
Was the brat mocking him?
Or deliberately provoking him?
He had heard the boy possessed martial prowess, so perhaps he was acting confidently because of that.
‘Foolish guy.’
At best, he was merely a sixteen or seventeen-year-old brat.
There was a natural limit to both internal energy and muscle training at that age.
But Mumu continued speaking.
“You need balanced training on both sides to achieve proper muscle balance and density.”
“……You bastard, didn’t you say you came to negotiate?”
“Ah…. I’m sorry.”
“Seeing your asymmetrical chest just bothered me for some reason.”
“This bastard keeps saying ‘asymmetrical,’ ‘asymmetrical’…..”
“You really must be tired of living.”
“Hah! Kill that brat with the iron maces right now!”
“Yes! Fortress Leader!”
At the command, several mountain bandits raised their iron maces.
At that moment, Mumu fiddled with the Strength-Limiting Ring on his right wrist and said,
“You were planning to retaliate no matter what I said anyway, right?”
“Pfft. For a guy who knows that, you sure came here looking for a grave.”
“No. I came here for a couple of reasons.”
“A couple of reasons? What nonsense are you talking about now?”
“It seemed faster to deal with you ahjussis than to run away with Father…..”
“And I was curious.”
—Krrrrrrk!
Mumu turned the dial on the Strength-Limiting Ring on his right wrist.
The dial that had originally been set to Eight slowly turned to Seven.
Then Six.
Then Five.
At that moment, the sleeve covering his right arm ripped apart.
—Riiiip!
The muscles of his arm—the long head, short head, medial head, and lateral head—swelled enormously.
The writhing mass of muscles made even Fortress Leader Byeon Yang-ho swallow nervously.
‘N-No… What kind of muscles are those……?’
A strange sense of unease suddenly washed over him.
Byeon Yang-ho shouted urgently,
“Kill him!”
At that exact moment, Mumu clenched his right fist, the muscles of his arm bulging violently, and slammed it into the ground.
—KWAAAAAANG!
The earth shook violently as though an earthquake had erupted.
At the same time, cracks exploded across the ground with a splintering roar.
The surrounding mountain bandits were blasted away in all directions by the shockwave along with flying debris.
