Kuuuuung!
Foam bubbled from the mouth of the Great Tiger General as he lay face-down on the ground.
Those who saw his legs shooting upward and trembling pitifully couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Even Jin So-ah, who could be said to have suffered the greatest damage from the Great Tiger General, couldn't hide his sympathy.
"That… Young Hero Wei."
"Where does this beggar-like bandit scum think he's going!"
"…Young Hero Wei?"
"Hm? Yeah, keep watching. I'm going to thoroughly stomp this bastard…"
You're going to stomp him more?
He's already been stomped so much that I'm worried he might mistake his own identity as a sock rather than a human being!
"F-First, please calm down!"
"Kyauuuuul!"
Wherever and however he was being stomped, the Great Tiger General began letting out indescribable screams.
"Looks like something burst?"
"Probably burst."
"Now we can't call him Great Tiger General anymore. Should we call him Great Tiger Empress: instead?"
Watching those who spoke so casually, Jin So-ah shuddered. No matter how martial world people were, how could they be so calm when a person was being so brutally stomped?
"P-Please stop! He'll really die at this rate!"
When Jin So-ah shouted at the top of his lungs, Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.
"Would it be bad if he died?"
"Of course it would be bad!"
"Wouldn't it be beneficial to the world if one bandit died?"
"…Huh?"
Now that he heard it, that seemed to be the case too.
Moreover, this wasn't just any bandit, but a bandit who was the leader of Great Tiger Stronghold, so the evil he had inflicted on the world over the years wouldn't be just a thing or two.
"Even so, as long as I'm a physician, I can't just stand by and watch someone die before my eyes."
"So-ah!"
Jin Ye-ran looked at Jin So-ah with moved eyes. When had her younger brother become such a physician who could confidently assert his own opinions?
Jin Ye-ran, who realized that her decision to let Jin So-ah out into the world hadn't been wrong, was swimming in waves of emotion.
"What's he saying?"
Of course, it didn't work on Wei Yan-ho at all.
Wei Yan-ho picked his ear and said:
"I understand what you're saying. So you don't want me to beat this guy anymore, right?"
"That's right!"
Jin So-ah said with conviction.
"But just because you tell me not to beat him doesn't mean I have to listen to you, does it?"
"…What?"
For a moment, confusion appeared on Jin So-ah's face.
"Aren't you angry because I got beaten up?"
"I am."
"But I'm saying I don't want it."
Wei Yan-ho frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Seeing the bewildered Jin So-ah, Wei Yan-ho continued his explanation.
"It's true that I got heated because you got beaten up, but I'm beating this guy because I'm heated."
"…T-That's right."
"So I'm going to beat him until my anger subsides. What does it have to do with you?"
"Is… is that so?"
Confusion about what was right and what was wrong began to set in.
At that moment, the Great Tiger General raised his hand high.
"Wow! This fellow's tough. Is it because he learned External Arts?"
"I have something to say!"
The Great Tiger General got up and sat properly, then shouted with an utterly confident face:
"Please spare my life!"
"Damn it!"
Wei Yan-ho picked up the shoe he was wearing and threw it. The Great Tiger General, hit by the shoe and rolling on the ground, desperately crawled toward Wei Yan-ho and clung to his leg.
"I don't know anything about this! It was my subordinates who did it!"
"Originally, subordinates' responsibilities are the superior's responsibility."
"Oh my, elder! If subordinates make mistakes, it's the subordinates' fault. How can that be the superior's fault?"
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue.
"Then what do superiors do? Just lie around acting arrogant and not take responsibility? You're a superior because you have to take responsibility. So…"
"Wait a moment!"
At that moment, the Great Tiger General's eyes lit up.
"Did you say it's the superior's crime?"
"Hm?"
"Then it's not my crime! Isn't the Green Forest King above me?"
"…"
Everyone's pupils trembled.
Feeling those chilly gazes, the Great Tiger General seemed to realize his mistake and quickly pulled his neck in.
'What, what did I just say?'
Selling out one's lord to survive was unwelcome behavior from any side. Even Demonic Cult bastards don't do such things.
"That Unorthodox bastard…"
"How low."
"He deserves to be beaten to death."
"Handing him over to the Green Forest King would also be one method. Is there really a need to dirty our own hands?"
Not only from Wei Yan-ho's group, but blade-like gazes could be felt from behind as well. The other generals were glaring at the Great Tiger General with looks that could devour him.
'No, this won't do.'
Realizing that he had opened his mouth unnecessarily in a situation where he should have just taken a proper beating and made things worse, the Great Tiger General looked up at Wei Yan-ho with trembling eyes.
But Wei Yan-ho was nodding his head.
"That makes… sense!"
"What?"
"What did he say?"
Rather, shocked reactions burst out from his companions, but Wei Yan-ho was nodding his head with a serious face.
"Certainly, if it's the superior's fault, we should go all the way to the top."
"Hey, you bastard. Then if an official makes a mistake, is that His Majesty the Emperor's fault?"
"That's right."
"…Huh?"
Wei Yan-ho nodded with confident eyes.
"Of course it's the fault of the person who couldn't manage properly. You shouldn't stand above others without that kind of resolve. You should at least think, 'All my subordinates' mistakes are my mistakes, so I'll take responsibility.' That's the resolve of someone who stands above others!"
Wei Jeong-han was slightly pushed back by Wei Yan-ho's eyes as he spoke with conviction.
"Then you're saying you'd approach it with that kind of resolve if you stood above others?"
"You're saying something frustrating!"
Wei Yan-ho frowned and said:
"That's why I'm living as an unemployed bum!"
"…How proud of you."
"You take responsibility because you carelessly take on positions. If you don't think about taking positions in the first place and just live as a wastrel, you don't need to take responsibility…"
"Damn it! You bastard!"
This time Wei Jeong-han took off his shoe and threw it, but Wei Yan-ho lightly dodged, and the innocent Great Tiger General got hit by Wei Jeong-han's thrown shoe and rolled around.
"Anyway, since the reason we came here was to see that Green Forest King person, let's meet him while we're at it."
Wei Jeong-han became like someone who ate honey and nodded his head.
He didn't know why things were unfolding this way, but…
'Anyway, that bastard is someone who'll just cause accidents no matter what task you give him. In that case, it might be better to achieve our objective quickly.'
In any case, having things progress even a little faster was welcome.
"So where is this Green Forest King?"
The Great Tiger General looked at Wei Jeong-han with dumbfounded eyes.
What was with these people who had been beating someone to death just moments ago having such a sudden development?
"Want to keep getting beaten?"
"Over there!"
There was no need for his head to step forward. As soon as Wei Yan-ho finished speaking, not his head but his instincts raised his hand. Seeing the Great Tiger General point toward the inner courtyard, Wei Yan-ho nodded.
"Guide us."
"Yes!"
Now that he thought he wouldn't get beaten anymore, suddenly his whole body ached, but the Great Tiger General got up from his spot without showing it. He thought that if he showed any other signs, this damn bastard might do something else again.
"…However."
"Hm?"
"The Green Forest King is not feeling well right now, so please…"
The Great Tiger General's eyes were colored with anxiety. If he were someone with common sense, he wouldn't beat up someone suffering from Qi Deviation, but in just that short time, it wasn't difficult to figure out that this human called Wei Yan-ho was far from common sense.
This person was truly someone who might commit any kind of act.
"Don't worry about that. I'll stop him."
"Great Hero Wei!"
The Great Tiger General felt like tears would flow.
Wasn't this Wei Jeong-han, who was even called the 'Enemy of Green Forest'? But now he had to rely on Wei Jeong-han to stop that troublemaker Wei Yan-ho.
Yet he wasn't blaming the situation and was volunteering to step forward himself—how could this not be moving?
'Truly the Righteous Hero Sword.'
The Great Tiger General was newly thinking that the epithet wasn't given for nothing.
"Then this way."
As they began walking toward the inner courtyard, Wei Yan-ho's group swarmed after him. And the Green Forest bandits who had been blocking from behind split left and right, clearing a path.
Subtle fear could be seen in their eyes.
'Keuuk.'
He felt like crying.
Having shown himself getting beaten like a dog on a summer day in front of all these stronghold members, would he have any dignity left in the future?
'If only that bastard hadn't been there…'
He didn't know who first suggested persuading Wei Yan-ho to treat the Green Forest King, but once this matter ended well, he was determined to find them and throw them to the tigers as food.
The Great Tiger General, who had entered the inner courtyard and headed to the deepest room, stood in front of the door and cleared his throat.
"Let me say once more, the Green Forest King is currently in very poor physical and mental condition…"
"You talk too much."
"…"
"There's a physician here, and many experts, and they'd know the situation better than some bandit nobody. Stop babbling and just open the door."
As if anyone wouldn't know the situation.
You're doing this because you have no common sense!
He had much to say, but nothing he could say. The Great Tiger General, who already thought the situation was beyond help, squeezed his eyes shut and threw open the door.
Wei Yan-ho's group, led by Wei Jeong-han, entered the room. He didn't know why so many people had to go inside, but the Great Tiger General couldn't even open his mouth for fear of getting beaten if he said even one word.
"Eh…"
Wei Yan-ho, who had entered the room, tilted his head.
The room wasn't very splendid. How splendid could a place where bandits live be? There were signs that they tried to arrange things in an antique style, but…
"That's a bandit taste for you."
"…I agree."
It would have been better if they had just kept it clean without anything special, but because of unnecessary pretense, it looked even more shabby.
The pinnacle of that pretense was the bed.
On a large bed decorated with golden silk embroidered with dragon and phoenix patterns, a man was lying. Seeing that sight, Wei Yan-ho stroked his chin as if displeased.
"So where's the Green Forest King?"
"Over there…"
"That person?"
"…Yes."
"That person?"
"…"
The Great Tiger General closed his mouth, and Wei Yan-ho tilted his head as if he couldn't understand at all.
"You're saying that old man there is the Green Forest King right now?"
Wei Yan-ho pointed at the bed irritably, but the Great Tiger General could only smile awkwardly.
On the bed lay an old man so emaciated he looked like he couldn't even get thin gruel, someone who anyone could see was living his last days. His sunken, gaunt eye sockets and the age spots blooming all over his face gave a sense of the old man's condition.
It was impossible to imagine that this person was that Green Forest King who dominated all the mountains under heaven and wielded great power.
Wei Yan-ho asked again with a serious face:
"Shouldn't we be looking for an undertaker rather than finding a doctor?"
"Damn it! You bastard!"
Wei Jeong-han mercilessly smacked the back of Wei Yan-ho's head.