Villain Vs Villain (2)

Yu Jinsan was curious about the situation as well.

The moment he entered the cave’s entrance, a heavy metallic scent of blood hung in the air.

Had neither side gained the upper hand yet? The fight dragged on, curses and screams never ceasing.

And corpses lay scattered in the passageway in a gruesome state.

The deeper he went, the more overwhelmingly the dead were thieves.

‘There’s only so much cobbling over a gap in skill with cowardly tricks can achieve.’

It seemed the thieves were overpowering the slave traders’ fighters.

From the row of cells the imprisoned looked on in bewilderment.

Among them he spotted a familiar face. Tearful, it was the merchant who had briefly spoken with him here.

“Oh! My god, you’ve finally come back to save me!”

There are many kinds of people in the world.

But few were as peculiar as this fellow in his memory.

He’d be let out when the time came. Wanting to avoid a tiresome conversation, Yu Jinsan quickened his pace.

The merchant kept shouting and calling, but he deliberately ignored him.

“Please get me out quickly! I’m right here!”

Ordinary people generally fear encountering a martial arts warrior.

Yet this one persisted so annoyingly at his side. It was unbearable.

‘I’ll have to press his vocal point when I free him.’

Pressing the vocal acupoint will render someone unable to speak for a while.

Following the passage inward, a vast rock chamber opened up.

Here, the surviving members of both sides were engaged in a final showdown.

“Come on in, you brats!”

“You dare strike from behind? You’re dead now.”

A seven-against-four fight. The bandits had the numbers, but the slave traders’ fighters were more seasoned.

Yu Jinsan watched their blade work for a moment.

It was, to be frank, a messy and shabby brawl.

There was nothing interesting about it. Besides, his granddaughter waited outside, so he didn’t want to waste time.

“Enough!!”

His deep shout, filled with the internal qi, made the entire cave tremble.

When the chaotic fighting paused, reactions varied.

First, the leader of the thieves bowed his head and kowtowed.

“Oh, you’ve come?”

Yu Jinsan nodded once with an impassive face.

“That will do. All of you, kneel.”

Thud!

Seven of the thieves knelt without hesitation, but the slave traders were different.

The slave trader boss, who didn’t understand, pondered deeply.

This was the child who’d slipped away from Bang Chung and escaped from here. If he had returned of his own accord, he must be a warrior.

Judging by even the reactions of the bandits, there was cause for alarm. On top of that, the sheer inner power that shook the cave.

‘What on earth is his identity?’

Even at a glance, he was beyond their level.

But it was too humiliating to kneel without trying. Even if they obeyed, there was no guarantee they’d live.

The hesitating boss sent an internal command to a fighter on his left.

• You take that runt. I’ll sweep these idiots who kneel.

He intended to see Yu Jinsan’s martial skill with his own eyes.

The warrior who received the captain’s order hesitated, uneasy. But what choice did he have?

Having finally resolved himself, he gripped his sword with steely eyes and stamped his foot to launch at his top speed.

“Die!”

Charging boldly, he swung his sword with all his might.

But his opponent was not someone to be treated as a novice.

Lowering his torso, Yu Jinsan closed the distance like lightning and thrust out his palm.

Swoosh!

The fighter who took the full force of Yu Family’s Heaven and Earth Palm flew three meters and slammed his back against the chamber wall.

Kraang-!!

There wasn’t even a scream. He must have died instantly.

“……”

The hall fell silent as they watched the fighter slump.

All eyes turned to the slave trader boss, asking with their gaze what he would do.

But the resolve that had filled his eyes a moment ago was gone. He’d realized they’d never be able to match this man, even if they woke from death.

“……For now, kneel.”

At the boss’s order, the fighters on both sides dropped to their knees simultaneously.

Thud!

Yu Jinsan moved to a corner of the chamber.

He grabbed bundles of binding ropes neatly stacked there and threw them to them with both hands.

“From now on you’ll bind each other’s wrists. If anyone tries tricks on me, be prepared.”

“……”

Perhaps because they’d seen overwhelming force, no one resisted.

Only the last one had to be tied up personally by Yu Jinsan.

Everything was settled in less than the time of a single meal.

He had gone in alone, but came out to a crowd.

There were a staggering forty-seven innocent people held here.

Perhaps because the local magistrate’s office was protecting them, the scale of the slave trade was vast.

Behind them followed the bound thieves and slave traders.

“Let’s depart now, child.”

Yu Jinsan’s whisper was barely audible nearby. Yet that voice carried clearly to someone perched on a distant sand dune.

“Grandpa!”

On the sand dune, Yu Seol dragged someone by the scruff, running toward them.

“Good work. You’ve been keeping an eye on him.”

“Yeah. What about this man?”

They all looked at the person being dragged along, his back scraping the sand.

A battered face and a tattered official robe.

He was someone they’d all seen at least once before.

“…Gasp!”

“Th-that person is?”

It was the lieutenant Bang Chung, who had been backing the slave trader. Who could have imagined a man of such terrible strength would be captured in this state?

The most surprised was the slave trader boss.

With his hands bound behind him, he approached Yu Jinsan and asked cautiously.

“…Where are you taking us?”

How could they not be curious about their fate?

There was no need to hide it, so he told them the truth.

“We’re going to Dunhuang.”

For a split second a look of glee crossed the boss’s face, then it faded.

Yu Jinsan was not one to miss that flicker.

Dunhuang City was where the magistrate’s office and garrison were stationed. There would be a sizable force, including commanders skilled in martial arts.

He guessed they were hoping those forces would help them.

“If you head straight that way, you’ll arrive within half a day.”

The bandit leader even nodded to indicate Dunhuang’s direction, unaware of his own fate.

Yu Jinsan glanced around and addressed the crowd that had escaped from here.

“In the murim world, we’re called the Yin Yang Twin Monsters.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried to everyone’s ears thanks to his inner power.

“…The murim world?”

“The Yin Yang Twin Monsters?”

Those who’d just escaped were puzzled.

Even if they didn’t know the details, they’d heard rumors about the murim world and the strange occurrences within it.

For that reason, no one now treated the Yin Yang Twins as mere children.

Their extraordinary presence and the seasoned tone of their speech belied their looks. It wasn’t something a child could fake.

“We’ll distribute the funds and goods confiscated here; those who wish may leave now. But if you want to seek redress, you may come with us to Dunhuang.”

Everyone looked doubtful. Although Dunhuang had government troops, trust in them was at rock bottom.

Still, the warrior’s confidence made them hesitant to refuse.

Above all, they feared setting out alone only to suffer hardship again.

At that moment someone shot a hand into the air.

He moved beside Yu Jinsan, his throat apparently unable to make a sound, and kept mouthing words.

And that was the beginning.

“I can’t stand this injustice any longer either!”

“I’m coming too!”

People joined, one by one.

Yu Jinsan had expected at most thirty percent to join, but more than seventy percent came along.

With more people than planned, there was no reason to hesitate further.

“Then let’s depart. We’ll teach those scoundrels a lesson.”

Dunhuang City serves as a gateway to the Western Regions.

Being important in many respects, a large garrison was stationed there.

Under the packed-earth city’s gate buffeted by sandstorms.

The soldiers guarding the gate rubbed their eyes.

“W-what is this?”

“What on earth is going on?”

An incomprehensible crowd was approaching.

Ordinary people of all ages, and even bound thieves; their clothing varied widely.

At the front was a girl whose hair reached her waist.

She was so strong she dragged someone along the sand with one hand.

It was strange, but none of them were armed enough to sound an alarm.

The puzzled soldiers at least shut the gate.

A short while later, when the distance closed to within a dozen feet or so.

“Open the gate. We need to come in.”

Though still quite far, Yu Seol’s voice pried at the soldiers’ ears.

The situation was so absurd the soldiers couldn’t bring themselves to respond.

Not until they saw the official’s face, a smeared ruin, moments later.

“Lieutenant, sir…?”

“How could this be?”

The soldiers who recognized Bang Chung’s face quickly drew their swords.

But that was all they could do.

They couldn’t move, even though the crowd’s lead was right before them.

“W-what is going on?”

“My body— I can’t move.”

“…You too?”

How could they know that a constricting qi was seizing their limbs? Regardless of will, no one could move.

And Yu Seol pushed through them with sheer force, as if not caring at all.

The guards on the wall, bewildered, shouted down.

“What the—”

“What’s happening down there?”

Before they realized it, Yu Jinsan had slipped in among the guards.

“Child, don’t worry about them; hurry and open it!”

“Got it.”

If this had been the imperial palace guarded by the Emperors Army, that’d be different. Border troops like these had no reason to intimidate them.

Most were third-rate warriors, without real martial training.

Yu Jinsan’s figure moved like lightning, cutting through the ranks of soldiers.

Pook-! Pookpook-!!

The guards on the wall were helplessly struck at pressure points.

If it had been the western wall defending against foreign invasion, this tactic might not have worked. It was the eastern gate facing the interior where vigilance was lax, so it was possible.

As they subdued the guards, a thunderous noise rose from below.

Kwoaaang-!!!

It was the sound of the gate being smashed open.

Yu Jinsan, his task complete, peeked down below.

Everyone except his granddaughter wore bewildered expressions.

Who could have imagined the Yin Yang Twins would force their way through like this?

“Now let’s go in, shall we.”

Though Dunhuang was a small city, it was a cultural hub with thriving commerce.

At the thunderous noise, people of all sorts began to flock toward the sound.

Merchants and residents, and even the garrison troops waiting inside.

A suffocating tension filled the silence.

“……”

Then an officer came running from somewhere and shouted to the soldiers.

“Surround them!”

Even now the number of arriving soldiers swelled. They began to encircle the crowd that had entered.

Amid the growing commotion, Yu Jinsan, who had been watching from the wall, slipped away stealthily.

Taat-!

Landing on the ground, he strode toward the government troops and shouted.

“Everyone, we were kidnapped and have just escaped!”

At the grandfather’s cry, Yu Seol trembled theatrically in agreement.

“Me too. I was so frightened.”

The bystanders watching from afar murmured among themselves.

“My goodness…”

“Those children had been kidnapped?”

“So the terrible rumors were true?”

“Tsk tsk. How frightened those poor things must have been…”

As if to prove them right, the crowd that had come from the cave began to step forward all at once.

“That’s right! These bandits kidnapped us and sold us to those slave traders!”

“And this bastard was covering for them!”

“A government official was helping to sell us off!”

Upon hearing the truth, merchants began cursing in turn.

“May they be struck by divine punishment!”

“Ugh, spitting!”

“What are you waiting for—seize those scoundrels!”

The mood was turning, yet the soldiers couldn’t readily act—Bang Chung was their superior.

Besides, how could such a powerful martial artist be in such a stupor?

There was more than one oddity here.

Most baffling was that the intact gate had been torn off for no reason—a gate that would usually take dozens of battering-ram strikes to budge.

The gate guards who should explain the situation stood frozen like ice.

As the soldiers stood unsure of what to do, someone’s shout rang out from somewhere.