Bandits live in the mountains, and river pirates live by the river. The bandits were a group of robbers with no fixed base. They might live in the mountains or be holed up in some remote countryside.
Still, it was a bit surprising to see them clustered together in a small village not far from the main road. The place wasn't so remote that it was hard to reach, so officials would surely come to collect taxes every year. If they were caught, government soldiers could come swarming in.
The village, seen from the cover of the forest, was a poor hamlet of about twenty households, the kind you could see anywhere. There was no one carrying a sword, nor were there any defensive wooden fences.
"Don't you think that dead bandit was lying?"
Jang Tae couldn't easily answer Jeon-sang's common-sense question. Dong Hae-il, who was observing the village from the front, called the two over.
"Let's catch that fellow over there and ask him."
Dong Hae-il pointed to a thatched-roof house next to the only tile-roofed house in the village. A man of medium height with narrow shoulders came out, yawning. He shivered from the cold, as if to relieve himself, and walked toward the back of the house.