I Became the Hidden Ruler of the Martial World

"C-can't you forgive these people?"

Hong Yungae asked Baek Yoonjun with a desperate look, as if he were jumping into a pit of fire.

Hearing those words, Baek Yoonjun.

Clank.

He sheathed his sword.

Although his outward appearance was ferocious, since Baek Yoonjun had no thoughts, it was an action that came out without any particular thought.

He would cut down villains and not cut down those who weren't; that was Baek Yoonjun's way of thinking.

However, since it didn't look that way on the outside, an even thicker tension flowed as Baek Yoonjun sheathed his sword.

Seeing that, Baek Yoonjun frowned.

'Who's going to eat you? Why are you so frozen?'

Although he had thought of killing them, not eating them, it was not a particularly important matter to Baek Yoonjun.

'It's as if I'm the one bullying them. Tsk, these days, humans can't even withstand the aura of a third-rate martial artist. Are they all weaklings?'

Baek Yoonjun stealthily gathered his aura.

"Pant, pant."

Only then, as if the surrounding people could breathe, the bandits and Hong Yungae gasped for breath.

It was just that Baek Yoonjun's aura had disappeared.

Except for Zhuge Hwaryeong, who was quietly observing the situation from inside the carriage, there was no one who was not glancing at Baek Yoonjun.

And Baek Yoonjun himself had no particular thoughts, as the hallucination he had been hearing had also gone away.

Baek Yoonjun, who had killed his aura, quietly looked at Hong Yungae.

"Forgiveness... there must be a reason, right?"

"That's..."

Although Baek Yoonjun's appearance looked the same as usual, Hong Yungae, who had tasted the aura that seemed to crush even the sky, had no choice but to be cautious.

Although it was hard to open his mouth, since he had already spoken, he had no choice but to open his mouth.

"W-well... as I said before, we haven't suffered any damage..."

"Although it was an attempt, they did try to inflict damage, didn't they?"

"Well, that's true, but..."

Hong Yungae hesitated.

He couldn't understand at all why he was taking the bandits' side.

But the moment he backed down here, the six bandits would lose their lives at Baek Yoonjun's hands.

'No, they're bandits, so do I have to care about their lives?'

Although he had a doubt about himself for a moment.

'No. At least for those who are not irredeemable villains, shouldn't we give them a chance?'

Hong Yungae steeled his heart.

Although he couldn't understand himself with his head, for some reason, he was thinking that he had to do so.

"Shouldn't we give them a chance at least once?"

"Why?"

"Because they might change...?"

"Hah."

Baek Yoonjun was dumbfounded.

He looked intently at Hong Yungae, who was saying what he had to say even while being completely cowered.

"Then are you saying we should just leave them here? To go back to banditry?"

"I-I'll watch them!"

"What?"

"Since the journey will be long anyway, I'll watch and manage them!"

Although Baek Yoonjun was still dumbfounded, he kept his mouth shut.

Because since he had said this much, it was difficult for Baek Yoonjun, who was a born homebody introvert, to push through.

'What does this brat trust in these guys he's seen for the first time today that he's saying he'll manage them?'

Although he didn't trust them at all, there was a part that pricked Baek Yoonjun's conscience.

'Change... it doesn't seem likely at all, but since a person like me has also changed, is it not completely impossible?'

Baek Yoonjun quietly recalled his own life.

Originally, he wouldn't have been able to wander outside like this, but now he was coming out to some extent and even raising disciples.

Although Baek Yoonjun looked firm-willed and had high self-esteem on the outside, his inner self-esteem was at rock bottom, and his will was like a reed.

'A guy like me also changes, so there's no law that says others can't change.'

In the end, thanks to his extremely low self-esteem, Baek Yoonjun had no choice but to agree with Hong Yungae's words.

"Do as you please."

"Thank you, Master!"

"He'll only come to his senses after being stabbed in the back once."

Although he had acknowledged it, since he was reluctant, Baek Yoonjun grumbled for no reason and returned to the carriage.

As Baek Yoonjun returned to the carriage, the bandits, who hadn't even been able to breathe, all rushed in front of Hong Yungae and knelt.

"Thank you! Great hero!"

"We will never betray you, great hero!"

"We will faithfully follow your teachings! Great hero!!"

Although the fear of Baek Yoonjun from before still remained in the bandits' eyes, besides that, emotions such as emotion and gratitude were also contained.

Although Hong Yungae was very flustered by the situation he was experiencing for the first time, on the other hand, he felt his self-esteem being filled to the brim.

Hong Yungae's back straightened, and his shoulders rose high.

"I hope you do not forget that you are alive because Master has shown you mercy."

"Of course! Great hero."

At the attitude of treating him as an extreme superior, Hong Yungae's self-esteem pierced the sky.

That day, six beggar aspirants were added to the journey.

* * *

The journey was smooth.

Unlike the first day, even bandits did not pop out well.

Unlike when they had first departed, it was thanks to the addition of six men with rough impressions in the form of guarding the carriage, making it a sight that was hard to touch easily.

Baek Yoonjun looked at the former bandits, who were holding their weapons and glaring, guarding the surroundings of the carriage, as if he didn't like them.

"Is it okay to give them back their weapons?"

"Since the world is so rough, it's a bit much to take them around bare-handed, and even if you give them weapons, if it's Master, you can send them to the next world with just one finger, can't you?"

"Well, that's true."

It was true.

Baek Yoonjun answered, fiddling with a long needle (hidden weapon) inside the carriage.

"Heeik!"

At that, one of the former bandits grabbed his own neck and let out a groan.

Towards that bandit, Hong Yungae asked.

"Il-bok, why are you suddenly like that?"

"It's nothing, big brother."

"You're so timid for your size."

The titles of Hong Yungae and the former bandits were unified as 'big brother' and 'younger brother'.

Naturally, Hong Yungae was the big brother.

No matter how one looked at it, whether by face value or actual age, the youngest Hong Yungae had become the big brother for the sole reason that he was strong.

Baek Yoonjun looked at the conversation with a dumbfounded face.

'Even if you just go by face value, this brat Hong Yungae is the youngest. Does he have no conscience?'

Of course, it was not something that Hong Yungae had decided, but something that the former bandits had actively insisted on.

That was not the only dumbfounding thing.

'How can a person's name be Cho Il-bok?'

The former bandits were all brothers, and their names were Cho Il-bok, Cho I-bok, Cho Sam-bok, Cho Sa-bok, Cho O-bok, and Cho Yuk-bok in order.

Baek Yoonjun, who had heard their self-introductions next to Hong Yungae, had lost his killing intent for the former bandits on that day.

"Stop! We are the heroes of the mountain!"

And so, as Baek Yoonjun was lost in thought, a bandit popped out.

As soon as he heard those words, Baek Yoonjun operated his internal energy and waved his hand.

Kwaang!

At that, the bandits who had popped out were simultaneously slammed into a nearby mountain.

It was Baek Yoonjun, who had become annoyed with various things, who had used his hand right away, also for his palm technique research.

A large palm print over ten zhang wide was stamped on the mountain where the bandits had been slammed.

"Hiiik!!"

As the bandits were all sent flying, the former bandits screamed.

Although they couldn't tell for sure because it was far from the mountain where the palm print was stamped, since it was reddish, they could tell that they had been turned into a bloody mess in one go.

The former bandits recalled.

'W-we also, if we had been careless...'

'We were saved thanks to Brother Yungae stepping up!'

'Right. Let's quit the banditry that we don't even like and become beggars like Brother Yungae. A beggar is much more upright than a bandit!'

That day, the beggar aspirants were reborn as perfect beggars, even in their mindset.

The subsequent journey was also smooth.

Although the appearance of bandits had decreased a lot due to the six rough beggar aspirants guarding the carriage.

"Stop!"

Kwaang!

They popped out from time to time and were dealt with by a wondrous technique that only Baek Yoonjun insisted was a palm technique.

"Stop! We are...!"

Slice.

And so, after some time had passed, he became too lazy to even move his palm and dealt with them by just moving his finger.

Although he himself didn't know, it was a technique that applied the principles of object manipulation from a distance and strong energy.

'This works? Since I'm using my finger like a sword, should I just call it a sword finger or something?'

Every time Baek Yoonjun used his hand, although the beggar aspirants had a seizure in fear, it was none of his business.

The beggar aspirants were polite to Hong Yungae, and they also treated Zhuge Hwaryeong as politely as they did Hong Yungae.

And Baek Yoonjun was treated with caution, down to a single finger movement, due to the fear and awe mixed in with the politeness.

"E-elder, the meal is..."

"Why am I an elder?"

"Th-then what should I call you..."

"Tsk, just call me elder."

"Ah, I understand! Elder!"

Although Baek Yoonjun didn't usually like titles like 'elder', it was a decision he had made because he didn't particularly want to be called familiarly by the former bandits.

Although Baek Yoonjun was not particularly conscious of it, to the former bandits, he, who could make the bandits' heads fly with just a flick of his finger, was an object of fear beyond awe.

Of course, Baek Yoonjun did not pay any attention to that.

Instead, he was minding something else.

'They pointed a weapon at me, but is this the second time I've let them live?'

The only beings that Baek Yoonjun had let live after they had shown hostility to him were the three slightly strong ruffians he had met a long time ago.

Of course, it wasn't that he had let them live of his own free will, but that he had been forced to let them live because his skills at the time were lacking.

But the result was revenge against him, and an ambush.

'These bastards are weak, so it seems they can't ambush.'

Compared to the three ruffians at that time, they were very weak beings.

But Baek Yoonjun was extremely wary.

"E-elder, please have your meal."

"Did you poison it?"

"N-no! Absolutely not!!"

Baek Yoonjun warily accepted the rice bowl that the bandit had politely handed him.

Although his body had become one where most poisons wouldn't work because he had gained a considerable resistance to poison in the process of absorbing a little of Tang Yuhwa's poison, he was still wary due to his nature.

Especially at night, that wariness reached its peak.

"E-elder, please sleep comfortably. I will stand guard..."

"Who do I trust? I don't sleep anyway, so just go to sleep."

"Huh? That's..."

"What? You're not going to sleep? Are you perhaps planning to ambush me?"

"Th-that's not possible! I'll go to sleep!"

That day, Cho Il-bok, who had talked with Baek Yoonjun, spent the night with his eyes open.

Although he couldn't sleep due to his fear of Baek Yoonjun, from Baek Yoonjun's perspective.

'This bastard isn't sleeping? Is he really planning to ambush me?'

No matter how he looked at it, it was suspicious, so Baek Yoonjun glared and watched the beggar aspirant.

The mental state of the beggar aspirants was becoming more and more exhausted day by day.

Then one day.

"We've run out of food."

Since six unexpected people had been added, the speed at which the food ran out was fast, so it was a scheduled sequence.

The problem was that there was no village nearby.

"W-what should we do? Brother Yungae."

"That's right. Should we go hunting or something?"

And so, as everyone was at a loss as to what to do, Baek Yoonjun, who was watching from the side, clicked his tongue.

"Tsk."

"Hiccup!"

As Baek Yoonjun clicked his tongue, the beggar aspirants let out a groan and hiccuped.

Naturally, Baek Yoonjun did not mind at all.

"Wait a moment."

Leaving those words, Baek Yoonjun kicked off the ground, and his figure disappeared in an instant.

The beggar aspirants, forgetting their fear, just stared blankly at the spot where Baek Yoonjun had disappeared.

"What on earth is the elder? Brother Yungae?"

Cho Il-bok carefully asked Hong Yungae.

"That's right."

Hong Yungae also had a hard time answering.

Although he knew that his master was amazing, the things he had shown during the journey were things that were beyond common sense.

Nevertheless, it was not that he had nothing to say.

"He is a person who has passed down a peerless martial art to me, a beggar."

To Hong Yungae, Baek Yoonjun was a respectable master.

"Although he is treating you roughly now, if you show him your sincerity, he will give you a suitable answer."

Hong Yungae looked at the place where Baek Yoonjun had disappeared with eyes full of awe.

"I see."

"Anyway, I understand that he is an amazing person."

The beggar aspirants also, hearing such words from Hong Yungae, were looking at the place that Hong Yungae was looking at with a gaze full of awe beyond fear.

While everyone was looking at Baek Yoonjun's back with awe, there was also one indifferent gaze.

It was Zhuge Hwaryeong.

'He's our master, so what can't he do?'

In Zhuge Hwaryeong's case, since it had already gone beyond awe, whatever Baek Yoonjun did looked natural.

And so, as various gazes were being exchanged, Baek Yoonjun returned.

Thump!

Carrying a boar the size of a house.

But people's gazes were not directed at the boar.

"M-master, th-that's not a person, is it?"

Because besides the boar, there was a person held in Baek Yoonjun's hand.

"I picked it up on the way."

Baek Yoonjun said nonchalantly and put down the boar and the person on the ground.

(End of Chapter)