"You really don't need to do all this...."
Wei Yan-ho awkwardly wiped his forehead as he looked at the goods piled high on top of the carriage roof and the cart following behind, loaded full of treasures.
"No, Great Hero! You are the benefactor who saved the Green Forest King. If we can't even do this much for such a benefactor, neither the Green Forest King nor I would be able to show our faces."
"...Well, if you put it that way."
Wei Yan-ho looked at the accumulating wealth with somewhat uncomfortable feelings.
'Earlier they said everything that could come out had come out.'
Yet treasures that hadn't appeared despite all the beating were now flowing out smoothly. They say it's not the strong wind but the warm sunlight that strips a traveler's clothes, and indeed, wasn't that the case?
'If the sunlight is real, that is.'
Wei Yan-ho turned his head with an awkward smile.
Since he was a person with at least a minimum of conscience, his heart squirmed every time the Great General expressed genuine gratitude to him.
"This is called a Green Forest token."
"Hmm?"
Wei Yan-ho received the small wooden token the Great General held out.
"What is this?"
"It's a symbol marking you as a friend of Green Forest. As long as you have this token, Great Hero Wei will be treated as a friend on any mountain under heaven. And later, by returning this token, you'll be able to make one request for Green Forest."
"Hmm."
It was a good thing....
A very good thing....
'Is it okay to accept this?'
Even Wei Yan-ho's sturdy stomach found this unbearably burdensome. But wasn't Wei Yan-ho the type who never refused what was offered?
"If the Green Forest King awakens, he would bestow even more wealth and rewards...."
"Imperial command...."
Wei Yan-ho began using the Emperor as a shield. When the words 'imperial command' came out, the Great General could no longer insist and clicked his tongue. No matter how much of a mountain bandit he was, he couldn't ignore an imperial command.
"It's regrettable."
Wei Jeong-han said with a slight smile.
"It would be problematic even if the Green Forest King awakened. If he knew I was here, the Green Forest King wouldn't be too pleased either."
"Mm, that's also true."
The Great General nodded.
Although they had urgently sought Wei Yan-ho's help, originally he and Wei Jeong-han were like oil and water. While it could be called a thing of the past now, too much had accumulated in the past to easily acknowledge and move on from the issue.
"Well then, we'll be going."
"...Thank you."
The Great General bowed his head sincerely.
"Green Forest will not forget the grace bestowed by the Guangdong Wei Family."
"Don't mention it."
As Wei Jeong-han lightly made pleasantries, Wei Yan-ho said bluntly:
"I did all the hard work, so why is someone who did nothing taking credit?"
"Ahem!"
It was a rare situation where he could maintain some dignity, but he just couldn't hold back that one moment and had to nitpick like that.
"Well, then...."
Wei Jeong-han looked back at the mountain stronghold with a somewhat regretful expression.
'If possible, I'd like to wait until the Green Forest King awakens and confirm how he became entangled with the imperial court, but....'
From the standpoint of having received an imperial command, dragging out more time would not be loyalty to His Imperial Majesty. Moreover, even if the Green Forest King awakened, it didn't seem like they would readily tell them about that matter.
If so, it was best to let go of any lingering attachment and leave.
Wei Jeong-han looked at his companions who were surrounding the carriage and waiting for his word, and shouted:
"Let's depart!"
As Wei Jeong-han's words fell, the carriage slowly began moving forward.
As the gate in the middle of the wooden fence rose up, they could see Yo-song's military forces that hadn't yet withdrawn in front of it.
"Yan-ho."
"...Yes."
"Hm?"
"First, let's run! Father!"
"Huh?"
Before Wei Jeong-han could say anything, Wei Yan-ho leaped onto the back of the horse pulling the carriage and kicked it vigorously.
"Ruuuuuun!"
Neigh-hee-hee-hee-hee!
The horse that was suddenly kicked on the back began charging forward at full speed. At the same time, the carriage lurched and rushed ahead.
"Hey, hey, you rascal!"
Wei Jeong-han was startled and followed behind.
The others also began running after the carriage without understanding what was happening.
"That crazy bastard!"
Wei Jeong-han executed his lightness skill and approached Wei Yan-ho's side as he rode the horse, shouting:
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I'll explain later, so just run for now!"
"Even so, I should at least know the reason!"
"Somehow I ended up draining it all."
"What?"
"Internal Energy."
"Internal Energy?"
Wei Yan-ho grinned sheepishly.
"While treating him, it turned out that way—I drained all of the Green Forest King's Internal Energy without leaving any behind."
"...What?"
Wei Jeong-han's face turned ashen.
"Ruuuuuun!"
If the Green Forest King awakened and learned of this fact, he would try to catch and kill them by any means necessary.
They had to get as far away as possible before the Green Forest King awakened.
"W-wait a moment! What should we do!"
Yo-song frantically caught up to Wei Yan-ho's side.
"About what?"
"No, you should give us some orders! If you take away the commander and just leave us behind, what are we supposed to do!"
"Go home."
"What?"
"If you've finished your job, just go home. What are you doing here? If someone later asks why you returned and gives you trouble, just say I told you to go. Wei Yan-ho of the Guangdong Wei Family did!"
Yo-song nodded frantically.
Wei Yan-ho looked at Yo-song and waved his hand with a smile.
"Well then, let's meet again if fate allows!"
"There's no time for chit-chat! Run! Run and run some more!"
Watching the carriage disappear like a storm, spewing clouds of dust, Yo-song let out a quiet sigh.
"It's like being possessed by a ghost."
Yo-song burst into hollow laughter. The situation he had just experienced wasn't something that could be glossed over with laughter. The Censorate had interfered in the Eastern Bureau's direct campaign to subjugate bandits and taken away the Eastern Bureau's envoy.
If he had heard about this incident from the outside, it would have been such an enormous event that he would have been terrified by its gravity.
But perhaps because the eye of a typhoon is naturally calm, or because events witnessed firsthand simply cannot be taken seriously no matter how hard one tries, he just couldn't take this incident seriously.
"Really...."
Yo-song shook his head as he watched the distant carriage.
Frivolous, thoughtless, and even reckless.
But....
"I think I understand why the Chief Inspector bestowed his sacred object upon that fellow."
If they had tried to deal with the Eastern Bureau based on process and procedure, the affairs here couldn't have been resolved so easily. It was only because of Wei Yan-ho's unconventional nature that everything could be settled so simply.
Perhaps the existence called Wei Yan-ho might be the key to cleaning up the Eastern Bureau's corruption that had shown no signs of resolution until now. Though it would be a bit noisy and have serious side effects.
'He said he's going to the imperial palace.'
Yo-song felt both worried and expectant about what would happen next.
***
"Mmm."
"Are you regaining consciousness?"
As soon as the Green Forest King opened his eyes, he surveyed his surroundings.
"Where is this place?"
Unlike someone who had been bedridden for a long time, the Green Forest King's voice was crystal clear.
"This is my mountain stronghold. Your Majesty has been unconscious for a long time. You fell into Qi Deviation."
"Qi Deviation?"
"...A skilled physician just left, and he said the poison caused the Qi Deviation."
"Mmm...."
The Green Forest King looked at his own body as if he couldn't believe it. Seeing his emaciated frame, he seemed to be able to guess what had happened during that time.
"Green Forest! What happened to Green Forest?"
"From the moment Your Majesty lost consciousness, we thoroughly concealed that fact. Fearing information might leak, we brought you here. Most of the mountain strongholds don't know the current situation, and those who do know are keeping completely silent, so you needn't worry."
"I see. You must have had a hard time."
The Green Forest King looked at the Great General with eyes full of affection.
Green Forest was no different from the unorthodox sects, a place where the logic of power took precedence above all else. If the king had fallen, it would be normal for everyone to fight each other to become the new king, yet even in this harsh Green Forest, there was someone who truly offered him loyalty.
'I was foolish.'
He had thought Green Forest could not overcome its fundamental limitations. Therefore, rather than trying to develop Green Forest itself, he had put more effort into strengthening his own power.
But ultimately, Green Forest was also a place where people lived, and where there was betrayal, there was also loyalty. The Green Forest King quietly stroked his beard, newly realizing this fact.
"Who treated me? To treat someone of my level who had fallen into Qi Deviation would have required moving a great figure, but was there someone willing to step forward for my sake?"
In the Green Forest King's mind, the only ones who could treat him were the orthodox sects and the Ming Cult. Even if the orthodox martial world didn't ostracize them as much as they did the Ming Cult, it didn't seem like they would move their heavy backsides to treat him, the leader of the unorthodox sects.
Then the Ming Cult?
That also made no sense. If he fell, the Ming Cult would try to fill their own pockets using that vacant position rather than trying to revive him.
"Wei Jeong-han's son treated you."
"You mean Wei San-ho?"
"No. Wei Jeong-han's second son, Wei Yan-ho, treated Your Majesty."
"Huh, are you joking right now?"
"I am not. While Your Majesty was ill, Wei Yan-ho rose as a great master of the martial world. He has already defeated the Dark King and Do-wan, and even made a Ming Cult High Priest kneel before him."
"...Good heavens."
The Green Forest King's eyes grew as wide as bowls.
Others had time to hear those stories gradually and could prepare for the shock, but for the Green Forest King who had been unconscious all this while, that shock hit him all at once.
"That young child...."
"Yes. That child treated Your Majesty. I urged him to stay and see Your Majesty awaken, but he departed for the imperial palace due to receiving an imperial command."
"Mmm, I see...."
The Green Forest King nodded with a somewhat unpleasant expression.
Perhaps because he had received so much information at once, he couldn't organize it all. And the fact that of all people, the one who had treated him was the son of Wei Jeong-han, with whom he had been most antagonistic, made him feel quite uncomfortable.
"Right. What's important is that I awakened from Qi Deviation, not who treated me."
"Now Green Forest will once again submit to the order Your Majesty establishes."
"That will be somewhat difficult."
"Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
The Green Forest King said bitterly:
"I don't feel any Internal Energy in my body. While it's joyful that I escaped Qi Deviation and came back to life, with a body like this, wouldn't it be difficult to live as a martial artist again?"
"What?"
In an instant, the Great General rushed to the Green Forest King in shock and grabbed his pulse points, his face contorting horribly.
Earlier he had been too flustered to focus on anything but the blood circulation, but indeed, not a trace of Internal Energy could be felt in the Green Forest King's body.
"Is there no one outside?"
At the Great General's thunderous shout, the door burst open.
"Here, Stronghold Master!"
"Catch them."
"Pardon?"
"Catch Wei Yan-ho and that bastard Wei Jeong-han and drag them here immediately! Right nowwwww!"
A cry that seemed to shake the mountain stronghold echoed thunderously.