Chapter 3: Mumu (3)

‘It’s been eight years since I became a bandit…’

What he saw right in front of his eyes was the absurd sight of his iron club turning into an iron ball, a club he had been using for eight years.

He did hear that some warriors with profound internal energy can bend iron like a stick, but this, this felt different.

Clench!

Just how much did this kid train his arm muscles?

A sharp cry brought him back to reality.

“Look here! What are you doing!”

Only then did the bandit come to his senses.

He reflexively pulled out the dagger he had around his waist.

But,

“Let’s take this out.”

“What?”

Swipe! Kang!

“Cough!”

Mumu hit the bandit in the head with the iron ball he made.

The bandit’s body, which was hit by the iron ball, turned one and a half times, and then with his back bent, he fell.

Crack!

The bandit’s body trembled.

“Ah…”

Mumu covered his mouth with his hand and glanced at his father, Yu Yeop-kyung.

He was a little furious at the thought that something dangerous would happen to his father, so he threw the iron club, which was now an iron ball, at the bandit without much thought.

‘I’m knee-deep in trouble.’

“Father, this is…”

“G-Good job!”

Yu Yeop-kyung exclaimed excitedly.

Seeing that, Mumu felt happy.

His heart felt heavy as he was scared that his father, who saw that, would scold him for training his body when he was clearly asked to not train.

Actually, Yu Yeop-kyung didn’t have time to worry about that.

He was worried about his son, who never fought in his life, but when he saw that his son could handle the bandits on his own, he felt greatly relieved.

“L-Leader!”

The hairy bandit called for the scarred man.

They, too, seemed to be a little shocked.

The kid just bent an iron club into a ball with his bare hands and threw it at the man.

What Mumu just displayed wasn’t something ordinary people could do.

‘He is someone who has trained a lot.’

The man with a scarred face frowned.

It had been a long time since he met such an enemy.

The kid seemed pretty young, yet he was bending iron clubs. It seemed like he was devoted to his internal energy cultivation training.

But since he looked young, he seemed innocent.

‘Inexperienced.’

Loopholes in his movements.

For example…

“Stop that one with a joint effort. And I will catch his father.”

The bandits smiled at the order from the bandit leader.

That was indeed their leader.

The young one looked strong, but would he still want to fight if his family was taken hostage?

Seeing how young the boy was, he would be shaking after falling to his knees.

“Guys, let’s go…”

Let’s go! Was what he wanted to say.

Puck! Pull!

They paused.

Mumu held a tree that was pretty huge and old and uprooted it.

‘Uh?’

And then he swept the tree with a clenched grip and threw it at once.

Swoosh!

A tree, a huge old tree, had turned into a wooden spear in Mumu’s hands and moved at the speed of lightning.

There was no way to escape.

Hit!

“Kuak!”

“Ack!”

The tree pierced the bodies of two bandits who were right in front of him.

The two bandits, who were struck by the tree, shook their heads and fell.

‘No… this is insane…’

The hairy bandit was speechless.

They were bandits who learned martial arts and were included in the Green Forest’s Seventy Two Warriors.

Two men worthy of being called third-rate warriors turned into skewered meat and died in an instant.

“H-How can this…”

“Damn it!”

Their leader was perplexed.

It was beyond common sense to dismiss the young one as an inferior candidate.

Hand-to-hand combat with this kid seemed risky, even for him, who was almost a first-rate Warrior.

“Catch the father first!”

The bandit leader and the hairy bandit ran at the same time.

In terms of distance, they were closer to Yu Yeop-kyung than Mumu.

Knowing that the bandits were trying to take him hostage, Yu Yeop-kyung also tried to run away from them, but he couldn’t move much because of the dagger stuck in his thigh.

In the blink of an eye, they were in front of him.

It was then.

Pack!

Something flew in front of them.

Behind the father was his adopted son, Mumu.

As Mumu stopped, the ground around rose up like a wave of dust.

“Woah!”

Yu Yeop-kyung was shocked.

‘This!’

On the other hand, the bandits were trembling.

They were closer to the man, and they arrived first.

But the kid was there in an instant. It was surprising how his legs were strong enough to shatter the ground as he came to a halt.

“You seem to lack manners.”

“What?”

“You were trying to take my father hostage, right?”

Up close, the boy was pretty handsome, but because of the languid look in his eyes and the tone of his voice, he seemed fairly innocent.

But, such a kid was moving his hands and hurting people without hesitation.

‘This young guy doesn’t seem to be enrolled in any school, yet this is his level of skill. He’ll end up being a great warrior if he finds a nice teacher.’

It was really incredible yet annoying.

They wondered if they touched the wrong person.

‘Ah!’

But for a moment, a good idea popped into the leader’s mind.

It was a simple idea, but he thought that if the kid knew about Murim, then he would know about the Green Forest’s Seventy Two Warriors.

If so, then he could use that information.

The leader spoke up.

“Kid, you seem pretty good at martial arts. I’m Yun Pyeong, a member of the Green Forest’s Seventy Two Warriors. Whose disciple are you?”

The man deliberately used the name Green Forest’s Seventy Two Warriors.

If one knows about Murim, then they’ll understand what the man was talking about.

Behind him were stronger bandits, and there were seventy-two more strong bandit masters like himself too.

“What is martial arts, and what are you talking about?”

“What?”

The man was left speechless.

Naturally, he thought that the young one was a disciple of a great warrior or a member of a famous sect, but he couldn’t understand what the kid just said.

“You shouldn’t joke aro…”

Puck!

Before he could even finish his words.

Suddenly, the hairy bandit who got hit in the face with the ball was punched by Mumu and fell down.

The leader was shaken up.

The kid should have heard about the seventy-two bandit masters, so why was this happening?

“Y-You aren’t afraid of the Green Forest’s Seventy Two Warriors?”

“I don’t know what you are saying, but they are all bandits, right?”

‘This kid…’

Only then did the man realize.

Something wasn’t connecting well with the kid.

The kid didn’t know martial arts and simply dismissed the Green Forest’s Seventy Two Warriors and called them bandits.

Who could be so dumb?

‘I should run away.’

Nothing more can be done.

It was better to run away and bring someone higher than him.

In front of the head bandit, a famous warrior, and 50 bandits, the kid would be unable to do anything.

Phat!

The leader decided to run.

But, before he could even take a single step.

Shhhh!

‘Ugh!’

Mumu’s kick, which flew like lightning, struck his shoulder.

As he was already nervous, he decided to protect his body with internal energy.

Puck!

However, as soon as the foot touched him, the feeling of his bones being crushed and his body being thrown away helplessly was felt.

Thud!

His body stopped after rolling on the ground a couple times.

The leader lost consciousness for a moment and then woke up.

The moment he got hit by the kick, his body hurt so much that his mind went black, and he lost his senses.

Step!

Towards him, Mumu walked.

The head bandit’s two pupils shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

‘What is with those calves!’

He didn’t know what was happening, but the back of the thighs and calves were so thick that they could be seen through the pants.

It was his first time seeing someone’s muscles so visibly despite them having clothes on.

Did that mean his absurd power came from his muscles?

“Don’t bandits ever do any strength training? Your bodies are so weak.”

‘What nonsense is he talking…’

Step! Step!

‘Shit!’

As the steps became louder, he felt like the life was being sucked out of his body.

The man, who was in fear, panicked and shouted.

“Y-You aren’t afraid of the outcome? If I, the leader of a bandit group, dies, people from my place will come here. Are you willing to handle all of those people?”

At his words, Mumu tilted his head and looked at Yu Yeop-kyung.

It was as if he was asking what to do.

The leader, who thought he had a chance, shouted.

“Look here. If you let me live, I will never come back here. I promise this on my honor as a bandit.”

At those words, Yu Yeop-kyung was troubled.

Could this man really be trusted?

Yu Yeop-kyung grabbed his aching thigh and staggered towards the man.

The bandit leader fell on his face and begged.

“Spare me.”

“Son.”

“Yes?”

“You haven’t forgotten the lesson that a gentleman needs to be generous, right?”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

‘Ahh!’

The man’s face brightened at that.

Even though Yu Yeop-kyung was exiled, the bandit thought that he was a decent man.

It seemed like now he would be saving his life.

However,

“But, when your family is targeted, you don’t have to be so generous.”

‘!?’

“You told them to kill my son, right?”

“W-Wait a mom…”

Puck!

Before he could even finish his words, Yu Yeop-kyung pulled out the dagger from his thigh and lodged it into the neck of the bandit leader.

“Kuak… no… no…”

Thud!

The bandit leader, who panicked with the dagger in his throat, gasped and slowly stopped breathing.

‘Sigh…. Sigh…’

It was for the sake of his son, but the hands of Yu Yeop-kyung, who had killed someone for the first time, were shaking violently.

He, who lived his entire life holding a brush in his hand, was going through unusual things.

Still, he tried to maintain his composure as he didn’t want his son to see him shaking.

But, his legs began to shake.

‘Ugh.’

It was probably because of the wound.

Mumu ran over and supported him.

“Father! Are you alright?”

“I-I am fine. Ahh.”

“No, why did you pull it out?”

Tear!

Mumu tore the hem of his shirt and tied it around the blood-stained thigh of his father.

With a trembling voice, Yu Yeop-kyung opened his lips.

“… Son. I think I might die seeing how the bleeding isn’t stopping.”

“Ugh!”

Mumu panicked and tore another piece of his shirt off and tied it around the bleeding thigh.

Looking at his son, Yu Yeop-kyung thought.

‘Why does he keep getting stronger?’