Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#104

Gal Ma-pyeong slapped his own forehead.
“Ah! So this is what Master said she lost!”
He remembered Do Pyeong-su’s words: ‘I’ve left it in a sunny spot, so don’t forget about it.’
Someone must have carried it to the Kitchen Storage Pantry.
“What’s the name of this stuff in the bottle again? Yulan? Something made from the white part of citrus, was it?”
The name was so odd that both Do Pyeong-su and Gal Ma-pyeong had forgotten it.
“I should just hang it back where it was, right?”
He felt ashamed of himself for suspecting that Do Pyeong-su might have grown even more foolish.

***

When Yeon Geum-hong lifted the lid of the medicine bowl, both she and Seo Seok-san opened their eyes wide.
“I heard it was supposed to smell foul, but it’s actually fragrant.”
“It really is.”
Jang Man-dok’s facial muscles twitched, but Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san couldn’t tell what he meant to say.
“Anyway, we need to get Pyeong-su to drink this. How should we do it?”
At Yeon Geum-hong’s words, Seo Seok-san picked up the bowl.
“Getting Pyeong-su to drink something is like taking candy from a baby.”
Despite Seo Seok-san’s confident words, it proved to be anything but easy. They ran into Do Pyeong-su on the way to the Back Garden.
“Drink this.”
Do Pyeong-su glanced at the cup being thrust at him without preamble.
“What is it?”
“Brilliant Mind Decoction.”
“What does that even do?”
“Makes you smarter.”
Do Pyeong-su let out a derisive snort.
“If such a medicine existed, I’d have drunk it long ago. And would anyone sell medicine so carelessly? Do I look like a fool?”
He did look like a fool, though perhaps not quite as much of one as he seemed.
“I’m serious. If you drink this, you can master the remaining half of the Thousand Character Classic in a month.”
No matter how many times Seo Seok-san insisted it was true, Do Pyeong-su would never believe him.
“You drink more of it and master the Ten Thousand Character Text instead. I have no use for it.”
Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok grabbed Do Pyeong-su’s arms as he tried to turn away.
“What are you two doing?”
Seo Seok-san came forward, lifting the lid from the bowl.
“For everyone’s happiness. Just bear with us for a moment.”
“You, you people have all gone mad? You— Wait! Senior! Could someone help me here!”
At the mention of Geom U-bin’s appearance, Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok’s grip loosened. In that instant, Do Pyeong-su wrenched his arms free with all his strength and bolted.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
Seo Seok-san set the medicine bowl down and gave chase.
“Catch the fool!”
Yeon Geum-hong blocked his front path while Jang Man-dok cut off the left. With the escape route sealed, Seo Seok-san spoke urgently.
“Would we ever feed you something harmful? Just drink it!”
“How can you expect me to drink something I don’t even know about! At least try to make sense!”
“If you keep going like this, you’ll have dementia before long!”
“Dementia?”
“You’ve been getting dumber by the day!”
“That’s nonsense! My stupidity boasts a glorious history and tradition spanning fifty years!”
Seo Seok-san pressed forward again.
“That’s exactly why we’re trying to eliminate that worthless, glorious history and tradition of yours.”
“Then at least tell me first what exactly you’re trying to make me drink.”
Forcing Do Pyeong-su to comply would easily destroy three or four buildings. So they had to persuade him with words first.
“Four Emperors’ Brilliant Mind Decoction.”
“What is that?”
“Like I said. A medicine that makes you smarter.”
“Just now you said Jinseong Chongmyeong-tang and… what? That Sashwang Chongmyeong-tang? The one where your hair falls out all over if you drink it? That Sashwang Chongmyeong-tang that only foolish Murim martial artists are stupid enough to consume?”
“Losing your hair is better than losing your mind to dementia. Besides, the hair grows back quickly.”
“Quickly, my foot! Five out of every ten end up living like hairless monkeys!”
“Are you really so unlucky?”
“When I see how I’m stuck with you lot for life, that tells me my luck is absolutely abysmal!”
“Do we really need to force you to drink it by force?”
“Go ahead and try. If I die, so be it—but you won’t end up looking like you, Seok-san.”
“You’ll regret this.”
Just as Seo Seok-san was about to hurl himself forward, Do Pyeong-su shouted.
“Wait!”
“What?”
“Bring it here. I’ll drink it.”
‘This isn’t like him at all.’
As Seo Seok-san was turning this over in his mind, he noticed Do Pyeong-su’s gaze fixed on something behind him. He glanced back.
“Ah!”
Four dogs were eagerly drinking the Sashwang Chongmyeong-tang he’d set down on the ground.
“Get away, you brutes! Do you have any idea how hard it is to gather these ingredients!”
The four dogs scattered at Seo Seok-san’s shout, but barely a mouthful of the Sashwang Chongmyeong-tang remained.
“Hehehe… so we gave medicine to the dogs.”
“You think that’s funny? How much dumber do you get before dementia sets in? What happens then?”
“Who’s getting dumber?”
“You send Ma-pyeong to find things you don’t even know about, you try to get Ji-u to drink alcohol. Is any of that the product of a sound mind?”
“That’s…!”
Just then Gal Ma-pyeong came running with a bottle in hand.
“Master, I found it! It was in the Kitchen Storage Pantry. Looks like one of the workers found it hanging on the wall and stored it there.”
“I told you to keep it somewhere safe!”
“My apologies. I was tired after my cultivation practice and forgot. But that’s… Yulan, isn’t it?”
“That’s right! Who came up with such a tongue-twisting name anyway? Take this to Go’s wife. There’s nothing better for a child’s stomach than this.”
“Understood.”
The three men watched Gal Ma-pyeong disappear around the corner of the building.
“So it really was Yulan that was there?”
At Seo Seok-san’s question, Do Pyeong-su snapped back.
“Of course!”
“And it wasn’t alcohol at all that he was trying to give Ji-u.”
“Giving a child alcohol wouldn’t make you thoughtless—it would make you insane.”
The three men exhaled together in relief.
“Thank goodness. I was worried you were coming down with dementia. Thought you might go around drooling and killing people. Since you’re not, we’re good.”
The three men dispersed as if nothing had happened, and only after they disappeared did Do Pyeong-su shout into the empty air.
“Damn you all! Not a single apology!”

***

Geom U-bin spread out the Land Deeds and Shop Documents he’d purchased from the Jo Hwang Clan across the table.
Jo Ja-myeong and Bae Do-sang stared at them in astonishment.
“When did you acquire all of this?”
“I’ve been purchasing them bit by bit whenever the Jo Hwang Clan put things up for sale at rock-bottom prices.”
The five hundred thousand silver taels that Go Seo-bang had brought back, plus the proceeds from Oseong Wine and Saegiuju sales, and the revenue from Oseong Pavilion—the funds were more than sufficient.
“There’s about two hundred thousand taels available for this. Will that be enough?”
“Enough, you say? Hehe!”
Bae Do-sang, fifty-five years old, let out a hollow laugh and flipped through the documents with his one right arm.
“These are tea plantation deeds. These are eight inns, and these are land and field documents. Did you say your intention is to provide employment for those who’ve lost their livelihoods?”
“Yes. I’m not doing this for profit. The wine and Oseong Pavilion bring in more than enough for our needs.”
“Lord, you should never go into business.”
“Why’s that?”
“Without greed, a business is doomed to fail.”
Geom U-bin smiled as he spoke.
“That’s exactly why I’m entrusting it to Director Bae.”
“What if I cheat you and run off with everything?”
Gwak Bong spoke up.
“Better not. I handled the river pirates with one arm, but the people here aren’t quite so merciful.”
Geom U-bin asked with a puzzled expression.
“River pirates cut off your arm?”
Bae Do-sang swung his empty sleeve as he spoke.
“Fifteen years ago, I was traveling through the Donglyeo Canal when river pirates attacked and robbed me. That’s when I lost it.”
Geom U-bin knew the name Donglyeo Canal by reputation.
“That’s the canal that flows from Haenyeong County to the edge of Buyang County, isn’t it? There are river pirates there?”
“They’re far more vicious than the Janggang Sippal Chae, incomparably so.”
“A canal maintained by the state…… yet managed so poorly……”
Geom U-bin’s expression darkened.
“The canal runs through several counties, so jurisdiction is complicated. Since the pirates’ base isn’t fixed, each county pushes responsibility onto the next, claiming it isn’t their jurisdiction. As a result, only the common folk crossing it die. They don’t just rob the merchant vessels that pass through—they raid the villages around the canal too. This has made the Donglyeo Canal the most expensive shipping route in Zhongyuan. Few merchant caravans use it anymore as a result.”
“So instead of collecting tolls and coexisting with merchants, they plunder them—they’re quite wicked then.”
“The Donglyeo Suchae is exactly that sort of place. A nest of brigands who revel in robbery and murder.”
Jo Ja-myeong added his words.
“The villages that lined the Donglyeo Canal have all become ruins because of them.”
“Yet no one steps forward to stop them?”
“The authorities watch from across the river as if it’s not their concern. We’ve appealed to the Dongsi Doga, but they have no reason to act. If it were a land battle, that would be different—but why would they spill blood in a water fight with no profit to gain?”
“A hollow Orthodox Faction indeed.”
Gwak Bong chimed in.
“My lost arm has steered the conversation in the wrong direction. As for the business, it’s essentially inheriting the operations of the Jo Hwang Clan, so hiring workers shouldn’t be difficult. As long as profit isn’t the sole focus, it should succeed well enough, and if we add the silk trade on top of it, there shouldn’t be any major problems.”
Since Bae Do-sang had been conducting this business for thirty years, running it would pose no real difficulty.
“If we could use the Donglyeo Canal, the business would be far more convenient.”
As Bae Do-sang left Oseong Jang-won, he spoke those regretful words. Ten days later, after Bae Do-sang and Jo Ja-myeong departed with a detailed plan in hand, Geom U-bin’s deliberation began.
But Geom U-bin’s struggle did not last long.
Eliminate the wicked and help the business too—there was no reason to leave the Donglyeo Suchae as it was.
The next morning, during breakfast, Geom U-bin broached the subject of subjugating the Donglyeo Suchae.
“Of course I should go!”
The chopsticks in the Bloodwind Saja’s hand danced with enthusiasm.
“I’m planning to go alone.”
The dancing chopsticks stopped as abruptly as if caught in a lie.
“What? You’re going alone, brother?”
Hang Ju-sa-ung, reading the mood, hurriedly finished his meal and fled the room as Yeon Geum-hong spoke.
“You’re going alone to wipe out river pirates? Without accurate information about their numbers or strength?”
“Going with Gwak Bong, there shouldn’t be much danger.”
“You’ll take Gwak Bong but not us? Why won’t you take us with you?”
“I know the disciples will feel hurt.”
“You’re abandoning us and leaving far away?”
“I’m not abandoning you, it’s just——”
“You are. You’re leaving Oseong Jang-won to go far away, and you’re leaving us behind—that’s abandonment, cold and harsh.”
Yeon Geum-hong even made a show of wiping tears from her eyes with her sleeve. But Geom U-bin, having anticipated this already, did not give way easily.
“I can’t remain under the disciples’ protection forever. I’m fourteen now.”
“Fourteen isn’t grown.”
“But it’s not so young either.”
Seo Seok-san spoke.
“It’s an age when even the pavilion is off-limits.”
“Still, I’d like to go this time by myself.”
The Bloodwind Saja understood Geom U-bin’s heart, but had no intention of giving up traveling with him.
Yet charging along thoughtlessly from the start was a way to spoil the mood from the very beginning.
They had to depart in a warm and harmonious atmosphere, without fail.
“Brother, give us time to convince you.”
“I was planning to leave today.”
“You can decide when to leave on your own. But you must give us our chance too.”
“How so?”
“We’ll convince you.”
“All four of you will gang up on me?”
Geom U-bin gestured toward Jang Man-dok as he continued.
“Especially the facial expressions Jang brings to bear—I find them hard to withstand.”
Though he’d meant it as a joke, not a soul among the Bloodwind Saja laughed. Well, Jang Man-dok did laugh, but it looked more like a grimace.
“Since brother is alone, we’ll convince you one by one as well.”
“Very well. Go ahead, Yeon.”
“The one doing the convincing isn’t me. It’s this one.”
Yeon Geum-hong tapped Do Pyeong-su on the shoulder, and he jumped.
“Me? You mean me?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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