The border of Yodong Province begins at the Amnok River, bordering Joseon.
Starting from Dandong, where the critical point of Joseon, Uiju, can be seen across the Amnok River, the road passes through the trade routes between Joseon and the Central Plains, finally reaching Shenyang in the north, where the Murong Family is located.
In other words, the route governed by the Central Plains and the Murong Family includes the trade road that consists of the pass situated between Shenyang and Uiju.
Even the most important trade routes in Yodong Province are sometimes attacked by bandits or the Jurchens. Therefore, as one moves further east, the state of security becomes painfully predictable.
Countless Jurchens and bandit groups. For the common people who have barely settled in arable lands, these groups were always a source of terror.
“B-bandits!”
“Get inside! Hide the kids!”
As the villagers spotted the heads of the bandit group over the ridge, they hurriedly began to beat the drum to alert everyone of the approaching enemy.
“Bandits, huh? We have nothing to fear from the Jeokpung Band.”
The leader of the bandits approached the village, casually smirking on one side of his mouth.
The Jeokpung Band. A ruthless band of robbers currently dominating this area, who have no qualms about killing even children if they find them displeasing.
“Ha ha! If we show up, it’s just a matter of time before we have our fun. By the way, where are all the men?”
All the people who were visible just a moment ago had rushed inside their homes. Only the village chief and a few men stood at the front of the storeroom, showing no signs of resistance.
The deputy leader laughed at the villagers’ expressions of despair.
“Tsk tsk tsk. After a few visits, they’ve given up, huh? The youngsters these days lack spirit.”
“Those who dared to find their spirit in front of the leader ended up with their skulls bashed in, didn’t they?”
“Keheh. That’s true. But it’s a shame. I love breaking skulls every time I come here.”
The bandit leader licked his lips with a crazed glint in his eyes.
“I wonder how much those beggars have managed to save… If I can get a good haul, it’s back to living comfortably for a month.”
The deputy leader muttered with longing about mere years past.
“Damn the Murong Family…”
“They’re the real ruffians lacking any sense of propriety. If they monopolize the trade route, what are we supposed to do to earn a living?”
“Those guys are the worst thieves indeed.”
The bandits’ journey towards the impoverished east was ironically due to the Murong Family.
When Murong Sang-a took over the trade route with Joseon, countless bandits lost their lives, and those who survived had to turn their gaze eastward towards the less monitored Yodong Province.
“I’m feeling down. How about you, leader? Let the kids handle the money and indulge in some women first?”
“Do you think there’s a woman worth having in a beggar’s village…? Huh?”
The bandit leader momentarily doubted his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“You stay here. Only half of you come with me.”
“Leader?”
Regardless of what the deputy said, the bandit leader hurriedly urged them forward.
A woman with skin as fair as snow, one that couldn’t be seen in the wallows of the town, was visible from afar, so stunningly beautiful that one couldn’t help but notice.
——
“That way!”
The village that had disappeared behind closed doors. The bandits turned into hounds. Following their leader’s command, they hurriedly moved to corner a woman.
“Where has she disappeared to?”
“I see her over there!”
“Where are you rushing off to?”
In the center of the village, the hunting dogs successfully cornered their prey. The bandit leader spread his arms wide to block the fleeing woman.
“…….”
She barely dodged the man who was about to sweep her into an embrace, but to the leader, she only looked adorably defiant.
“What in the world. Why didn’t I know there was such a beauty in this village?”
A woman with skin as white as snow in a humble farming village. A lotus blooming in filthy mud, perhaps? No, describing her beauty merely as a lotus fell terribly short.
All the bandits surrounding her were so entranced by her looks, they couldn’t help but drool.
“Bandits?”
A woman devoid of expression spoke in a voice that was as beautiful as her appearance.
“Wow. Even your voice is sweet. Lovely. You know why we’re here, right? Let’s not bother each other. Heh heh heh.”
Did she not know who they were? Or had she simply lost all fear? It didn’t matter either way. The ending she would face was singular. A sinister glimmer danced in the bandit leader’s eyes.
‘After several dry spells, I’ve hit the jackpot!’
Just as the bandit leader was about to rush forward to claim her, one of his underlings stuttered in fear.
“L-leader.”
“Why?”
“I think I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
He had seen her before. If his eyes weren’t deceiving him, he had surely encountered her before. He wouldn’t forget that beauty.
“Wha—? You’re trying to stake your claim before I do… Gah!”
A beautiful arc was drawn across the giant’s neck.
The leader’s head flew clean off.
The gargantuan body crumpled, and the recently lustful head rolled weakly before the bandits.
The bandits could not believe what had just transpired.
“W-what the?!”
“I-it’s her! The assassin from the Murong Family!!!”
The bandits’ horrified voices echoed. It was already far too late.
“The Murong Family?!”
In the midst of the bandits, seeing the group armed with polearms might well have sent them into a panic, but the woman still retained her cold demeanor.
“Spear Peak.”
The tiger-like group had already encircled the hunting dogs. Murong Sang-a called upon the Spear Peak Band, lying in wait with suppressed presence.
“Charge!”
“W-what the heck?!”
Only then did the bandits realize that they themselves were surrounded by the Spear Peak Band and the realization hit them.
They had ventured too deeply into the village. To catch the fleeing woman, they had already dismounted.
It was far too late to escape.
“Leave no one alive.”
Those who had been the hunters were soon turned into prey.
——
“Damn it! It’s the Murong Family!”
“Shit! What are they doing here?!”
The sudden appearance of the Murong Family shocked even the bandits waiting outside the village.
“What are you doing?! Get on the horses!”
The deputy leader shouted at the panicking bandits and hurriedly mounted his horse.
“Deputy leader! Are we going to rescue the leader?!”
“From now on, I’m the leader! Understand, deputy?”
“Huh! Got it! Leader!”
The bandits had banded together purely for their own interests. There was no loyalty among them.
“Rearguard! The Murong Family is charging!”
One of the bandits shouted toward the Spear Peak Band rushing from the village.
“Damn it!”
“The horses are fast! Why don’t we strike back since it’s come to this?!”
“Fools! The Murong is the family whose heads we’ve been smashing from childhood! Get a move on!”
As soon as the deputy leader confirmed that all the bandits were on their horses, he whipped his horse’s rear.
“Front! Right side, Murong Family!”
“Damn it! They’re well prepared and have sprung a trap for us!”
The man gritted his teeth, seething with rage.
“Leader! What do we do?!”
One who had just been promoted to deputy leader, his face filled with terror, addressed him as he spotted the approaching warriors from the Murong Family.
“Deputy!”
“Yes!”
“I’ll remember you!”
“What?”
“I’ll keep a record of your sacrifice! Dive in!”
“Puhihihihing!”
The man cracked his whip against the rear of the horse ridden by the newly promoted deputy leader. The horse, feeling a pain unprecedented, hurriedly dashed off.
“Damn it! Where are you whipping it? Hey!!! You bastard!”
A swift promotion, followed closely by a swift termination.
“We’ll remember too!”
Seeing their fate would be sealed if they did nothing, the bandits whipped their horses toward the Murong Family’s warriors, as if doing it out of sheer survival instinct.
“Hey, you lunatics!”
“Damn you! Even in hell, I’ll remember you all!”
“A pathetic farewell! We’re turning left!”
Fortunately, time was bought.
The man smirked slightly as he pulled the reins. They lost half of their bandits, but he didn’t care.
Now that he had become the leader, if he could just come back alive, he could wring out the blood of even more men to make amends for today’s loss.
At that moment, as the man smiled triumphantly…
“Look over there, beyond the ridge!”
Just beyond the hill. Countless cavalry appeared against the sun.
“Now listen carefully.”
Lord of Spear Peak, Murong Pyeong, rode toward the bandits without concern, his tense gaze fixed on the frightened newcomers.
“Up ahead, it’s the Murong Family!!!”
“Wha—?!”
“You are just chicks that have left the nest.”
Warriors that had been carefully selected and cultivated for two years in the Chuseondang to reclaim the Murong Family after defeating the Demonic Cult and the Changryong War.
Calmly, the lord spoke to the fresh recruits.
“Charge!”
“Chicks cannot enter the Spear Peak.”
“Charge!”
“Those who fall from their horses are not entering the Changbong Hall; they will have to train from the very beginning at the Chuseondang.”
“Charge!”
“Prove that you’re not just chicks.”
“Charge!”
There was no need for an explanation of the strategy. They weren’t raised to be so naive that a reminder was necessary.
“Goddammit!!!! It’s too late to change direction!!!”
“Don’t!”
Voices filled with terror echoed from those daring to steal in the Murong Family’s territory.
It was the perfect situation for a real combat training.
“Charge!”
“Damn Murong Family!!!”
The last wails of the bandits reverberated across the plain.
—————
“Keheh. Looks like the spider woman misses the taste of a man.”
Outside the village, the situation was being sorted. The bandits surrounding Murong Sang-a showed no desire to loosen their grip.
Even though she was the infamous spider woman, no matter how you cut it, she was still just one woman. Once they no longer needed her as hostage, what followed would be merciless hunting. They must not let her escape.
“…….”
“How dare you speak to the lord like that!”
“Stay still.”
Murong Sang-a calmly addressed the flustered deputy commander.
“Lord!”
“Yes. If you mess up, another mouth will grow on your lord.”
“We’ll leave, but I’ll kill that woman before I go!”
The bandits, perhaps aware of their impending demise, showed no intention of backing down.
‘It cannot end with simply capturing a bandit group.’
Murong Sang-a observed the approaching bandits with a clear mind, ready to strike.
She wasn’t petrified merely because bandits approached.
Once the Spear Peak Band grows in size, the question would become one of substance.
Murong Sang-a recalled her subordinates, paralyzed with loss, who were unable to speak as they witnessed help arriving from Qingyun.
In a decisive moment where the fate of her family hung in the balance, increasing the size of the organization took precedence. Her brother, allied with the Demonic Cult, wielded a formidable power.
Gathering countless warriors to form the Spear Peak Band, expanding operations, accumulating reasons to secure her family’s dominance.
The owner of Changbong Hall. Murong Sang-a.
Towards her loyal Spear Peak Band, a force crafted in just two years, she found it hard to believe, yet something important was lost.
Murong Sang-a recalled the last words from a love she could never forget.
— Reclaim the Murong Family.
The lord had commanded her to reclaim her family.
Strength must be countered with another strength. Was merely overthrowing her brother allied with the Demonic Cult enough to reclaim the Murong Family?
No. She needed to become a beacon.
“Mom. The fairy is in danger.”
“Stay still.”
She bore the stars within her.
The notorious Demonic Cult. The righteous swordsman willingly stepping into peril to save a loved one. She knew she would die should she step outside, yet he always smiled for her.
Within her heart burned an undying star.
Murong Sang-a gazed at the anxious Spear Peak Band before her.
They too needed to realize. They weren’t mere martial artists from a declining family but the Spear Peak Band opposing the Demonic Cult, the pillar of righteousness in Yodong Province, a part of the Murong Family.
She had to be their star.
Just as the lord had become her star, she must become theirs.
On the vast Manju plains, like Polaris guiding those who are lost under the night sky.
‘Someday even if I achieve my purpose and fall from the skies.’
Let it be known that the Murong Family has protected the pride of righteousness for a millennium.
Murong Sang-a decided to show all the members of the Spear Peak Band.
“From now on, I will show you the sword of the Murong Family.”
Meteoric Sword Technique. In Murong Sang-a’s hand, the sword of the Murong Family, which had stood the test of a millennium, shone brightly.
