The net didn't seem to be entangled with the branches of the tree.

Yun Hseong then spoke upon seeing the net.

"It's a net! They were intending on kidnapping the students and demanding a ransom for them!"

"But if it's a net, it would probably rip quite easily…"

"This isn't an ordinary net. Look very carefully! The net is made with wild silk."

The other teachers then looked at the net carefully, taken aback. This was because the only material that couldn't be cut by a sword was silk made from the wild silkworm.

If this precious material was woven into thread, it would be more than capable of being able to capture and hold the students.

"Wait a minute."

"...?"

"What on earth could the bandits have encountered that caused them to be wounded in such a way, and then to have disappeared without a trace?"

The other teachers and warriors collectively nodded at the query. Whilst they attempted to ponder, and even cooked up various theories, they were unable to come up with a conclusive reason.

"What shall we do? Is it necessary to change the route for the purposes of safety?"

Yun Hseong nodded at the question.

"Whilst the bandits that were going to ambush us seemed to have been destroyed by some unknown force, who knows what else we could come across if we continue down this route."

"In that case...!"

"We need to think up of a new route!"

"I think the second route would be the safest to travel through."

"I agree."

After the teachers decided to change routes, they sent a warrior to inform Eun Myeong-myeong.

Yun Hseong, who was standing and waiting for the warrior's return, tilted his head.

The tree he was standing beside looked a little strange.

The tree was most definitely a pine tree, but it was completely stripped of its needles.

"Who had the idea of taking all of the needles of the tree to use? Whoever it was, the fellow was in great luck. He took all of the pine needles before the bandits came. But...why did he use all of the needles of a single tree….."

***

The Princ.i.p.al, Eun Myeong-myeong, frowned upon hearing the warrior's report.

He was angered by the thought that bandits would dare attempt to attack students of the Academy.

"Are you okay?" Ok Hae-mi asked him with a look of concern. He quickly nodded his head.

"I'm fine. It's all fine."

Eun Myeong-myeong then looked back at the warrior who had come to inform him of the news.

"Go back and tell the teachers on the advanced route that we are going to change routes. We are switching to route three."

"Understood."

The warrior hurried back. Eun Myeong-myeong then gnashed his teeth.

"Ok Seonsaeng."

"Yes, Princ.i.p.al."

"Do you think the information that we are out on a field trip has leaked out?"

"I apologize."

"There's no need for you to be sorry. It's known that when there's a single unfaithful person, even if ten people tried to, they wouldn't be able to stop them. The issue is that we only decided to have the trip within the time span of a day. There must have been a certain agenda that was being aimed for."

"...."

"Ok Seonsaeng."

"Yes, please continue speaking."

"Quickly go and tell the other teachers and warriors to be on full alert. We don't know what could happen further on in the journey."

"Understood."

"I wonder what on earth could have happened that caused the bandits to retreat, leaving only traces of their blood."

Ok Hae-mi tilted her head at the sight of Eun Myeong-myeong talking to himself.

She rapidly moved within a few moments.

'Hey, thinking about it…!'

She recalled that when she had encountered Kang-hyuk earlier, she had noticed a scent of pine needles mixed with blood on him.

The forest he had emerged from was also a shortcut to the place where blood traces of the bandits were found.

'Could it be...? Kang-hyuk Seonsaeng?'

She shook her head, laughing at herself for having such a ridiculous thought.

She thought that it impossible that someone could take on a group of bandits and injure them within the timespan of a few minutes.

'Well, that could only be possible if Kang-hyuk Seonsaengnim was the Retired Leader! Oh my? Don't they have the same name as well? I guess people bearing the same names can be found everywhere!'

***

Kang-hyuk smiled as he noticed the commotion going on in front of him, with the news of the route being changed. He knew that it must have been due to the teachers discovering the remnant blood trails of the bandits.

He could have erased the blood trails, but he didn't do so purposely.

He wanted to alert the martial teachers and the warriors of the Academy.

Kang-hyuk's plan had worked, and he could see a renewed sense of alertness and caution in the guards' eyes.

'But wait a minute...who leaked the information to the bandits?'

If this information hadn't leaked, the bandits wouldn't have been confidently waiting at the edges of the path with nets made of such precious wild silk.

But overall, it didn't really matter as Kang-hyuk had discovered them in advance, leaving them with a gift of pine needles.

They wouldn't have the ability to even pick up weapons for another four days as he had aimed for a particular pressure point that controlled the motor ability of the arms and legs.

The blood stains were actually from their twisted use of weapons, causing them to injure themselves from having lost control of their arms and legs.

'Anyway, we can now go to the site of the field-trip without any further issues.'

They had travelled by using Gyeonggong for half a day until a magnificent landscape began to come into view.

Goseon Mountain was resident to many Taoist hermits, and its scenery was as beautiful as its name.

"Wow!"

"I didn't know that there was such a place near Nakyang!"

"It's so beautiful!"

Exclamation at the sights of the mountains weren't limited only to the students, but the teachers couldn't help but exclaim as well.

Whilst the landscape was indeed famed for its beauty, it wasn't a place that anyone could judt enter with ease.

It was because the mountain was private property of the Clan Leader.

One of the Hwacheon Clan Elders had also retired at a place next to the mountain, but not many were aware of this information.

The reason the field trip was even allowed to be here was because the Clan Leader had given his permission.

The location was a gift from him for the short-notice he had given for the field-trip.

Kang-hyuk smiled at the breathtaking views.

'Well, these views are a definite gift.'

Suddenly, a figure was seen to be approaching from afar. It was Byeok Ae-rin and Baek-gap who had arrived in advance.

"Seonsaengnim, you've arrived!"

"Did anything happen on the journey?"

Kang-hyuk nodded at their queries.

"Well, nothing much happened."

Of course, Byeok Ae-rin was extremely sharp. She didn't miss the faint smell of blood that was emanating from Kang-hyuk's body.

She immediately sent him a telepathic message.

-Seonsaengnim, what's this smell of blood?

-The smell of blood? I tried to be careful, but I guess there were still remnants. It wasn't a big deal, so don't worry.

-But….

-On the way, there were some bandits planning to attack the students, so I had to take some action.

Byeok Ae-rin's face became pale.

-I-I apologize! I thought I cleared all of the obstacles on the way but…

-You can't do much about obstacles that are on the move, can you? Don't worry about it.

Whilst Kang-hyuk smiled, with a serious expression, Byeok Ae-rin bit her lip and hung her head low.

Having noticed the change in Byeok Ae-rin's expression, and her head hung, Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g cautiously spoke up.

"Erm, are you okay? Maid?"

"Ah! I'm fine."

She quickly raised her head and answered.

"If you need us, please call us. We'll be over there."

Byeok Ae-rin pointed towards a particular area. It was a campsite for maids, servants, and Liberal Arts subject teachers.

They had different arrangements from the rest of the students and martial teachers. This was due to part of the field trip being to set up camp.

"Will do."

All of a sudden, the sound of beating drums echoed loudly throughout the mountain.

"We will be camping here! Everyonr can start preparing!"

The individual groups immediately began to move into action. They wanted to secure the optimal spot for camping.

"That's our spot!"

"What are you talking about? Does it have a sign up saying that it's your spot?"

"I'm standing here, so it means the spot is claimed!"

"Don't be ridiculous, get out of the way!"

"I refuse!"

"If you refuse, I have no choice but to use my skills."

"Come on then! I'll flatten your nose to a pancake!"

Ownership over a particular camping spot would always cause disagreements among the students.

However, no one from the Academy tried to break up their arguments. The teachers of their groups simply watched on.

They did not only spectate, but they also acted as judges.

They felt that it was a training opportunity, necessary for them to adapt to the compet.i.tive climate of Moorim.

The fight for camping spots was also fierce because if they were unable to obtain a good spot, students would have to reside in a less optimum location for three nights and four days.

The current fight over a camping spot was going on between the Samjo and Chiljo groups.

Kang-hyuk looked at the two students in front of him that were screaming at each other.

"Aaah! Are you deaf? This is our rightfully claimed spot!"

"Don't you know that the spot belongs to whoever lights a fire there first?"

"Are you blind? Can't you see that we're lighting a fire?"

"Yes, you're lighting it, but it's not alight yet, is it?"

"You…!"

"Why? You don't like what I said? Let's have a round then! You always lose to me anyway!"

"What? Fine! I'll give you a good beating today!"

"I think I've heard you say that a hundred times already."

Kang-hyuk sighed after observing their quarrel.

'Aren't they the children of the Namgoong and Jaegal families? They were fighting when I was eating noodles at Ilmibanjeon before. They're even fighting here?'

Even recalling the incident that had caused his noodles to become soggy put Kang-hyuk in a bad mood.

Their quarrels had actually come up a few times in the morning meetings of the teachers.

Despite having been given penalty points for their behaviour, their relationship was still the same.

At this moment in time, swords had been drawn, and it looked as though they were putting their lives on the line to fight.

It seemed as though they were taking the opportunity to properly fight here, as they knew that they wouldn't be stopped.

'They're names are Namgoong Min and Jaegal Ho, right?'

Unable to stop their fight, Kang-hyuk simply watched on. If there was a huge issue however, the teachers would of course step in and give penalties.

Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g, who was standing next to Kang-hyuk, spoke up.

"Seonsaengnim, who do you think will win?"

Kang-hyuk shook his head. He was reluctant to give his judgement on the results, as it would divert the audience's attention to him.

But, the end result was obvious to Kang-hyuk.

It was clear that Namgoong Min would lose.

Whilst he was a child of the Namgoong family, famous for their Heavenly Sword Energy, he didn't have the appropriate skills and cultivation to execute that power fully.

'It's because of his impatient personality. Aigoo-yah! His personality exactly mirrors his grandfather! Tsk tsk.'

Whilst his grandfather was now nicknamed the 'One Slash Sword Emperor', in his youth, Namgoong Jook was known for his fiery personality.

Namgoong Jook's character only improved after he had encountered Kang-hyuk, and had a few near-death experiences, fixing his unruly character and allowed his true potential to shine through.

Kang-hyuk sighed, as his prediction of Namgoong Min's defeat came true.

Namgoong Min was part of the Samjo group, which he too was a member of.

"Aarghh!"

Namgoong Min staggered backwards as Jaegal Ho's sword was drawn to his neck.

The teachers of the Chiljo group declared their victory joyously, as they then looked over at Oh-Tae.

They wanted to confirm whether he too agreed on their victory.

He sighed, and nodded his head. Namgoong Min had unarguably been defeated.

"Stand up!"

Oh-Tae bellowed at the still collapsed Namgoong Min, whose face was flushed red. He immediately stood up.

His shoulders were trembling with anxiety.

"So, where would be a good place to set up camp? Oh Seonsaeng?"

Kang-hyuk addressed Oh-Tae, who proceeded to look around the site until he finally pointed towards a particular location.

"We'll have to set up camp over there."

However, the location didn't look particularly appealing.

The ground of the site was uneven, and there were also small stones all over the floor which would be uncomfortable to sleep on.

But alas, there was no other option. There were no other s.p.a.ces available to camp on.

"I apologize."

As it was his fault that his group had to camp in such a place, Namgoong Min was unable to raise his head as he apologized.