Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 130

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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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#130

So Gi-cheon found Kang Chan-sik in less than a quarter hour.
Kang Chan-sik was sitting on the second floor of a tea house, keeping watch over the silk shop below.
“Have you noticed anything suspicious?”
Startled by Geom U-bin’s voice, Kang Chan-sik scrambled to his feet.
“Lord, what brings you to this place?”
“I came to meet the association leader. Is that woman down there Bok Seon-nyeo?”
“Yes.”
She wore a violet jacket and had her hair pinned up with a hairpin. Though her face wasn’t fully visible from the front, her beauty was unmistakable.
The silk shop owner thanked Bok Seon-nyeo repeatedly, and she received the gratitude with a smile before moving to the next shop.
“That’s what she does—visits house to house, asks what they need, and offers help. Apparently, in that last house she fixed a child’s indigestion.”
“A small kindness, but a good one nonetheless.”
“Yes, but it’s not just the good deeds. Strange rumors have begun to spread. People are saying that homes visited by Bok Seon-nyeo receive good fortune. In just a few days, this absurd belief has taken root among them—and it bothers me.”
Kang Chan-sik paused thoughtfully before continuing.
“Such things don’t happen without organization. That’s why I’ve been watching.”
“You think she’s fabricating these tales deliberately?”
“Yes. I experienced something similar once before, and the pattern matches exactly.”
“A kind of fraud?”
“I suspect she may be a cult leader.”
“A cult leader?”
“Yes. The neighborhood where I used to live fell apart the same way.”
Kang Chan-sik’s eyes sharpened.
“People can certainly live righteously, but there’s something calculated hiding behind that woman’s goodness.”
“But couldn’t she simply be trying to live a good life?”
Kang Chan-sik laughed. “Lord, when a beautiful woman like that moves through the world so freely, there’s always a reason. Though we of all people know that sometimes there truly isn’t one, which is why I’m keeping watch. I believe the only woman in this world who is both beautiful and genuinely good is Yeon Geum-hong.”
Whether Yeon Geum-hong would hear that as a compliment or an insult was debatable.
“I know well the damage cults cause. I won’t let such wickedness take root in Hangju.”
Geom U-bin nodded. Bok Seon-nyeo continued her rounds, speaking warmly with the townspeople.
“Don’t move against her without certainty.”
“I’ll make sure of that.”
“And use this to buy meat for the Oseong Merchant Association members.”
Kang Chan-sik tried to refuse the silver coin Geom U-bin offered, but she pressed it on him firmly before leaving the tea house.
Bok Seon-nyeo spoke brightly with the townspeople, but Geom U-bin could sense something subtly false beneath her expression.
“It does seem suspicious, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, hearing what the association leader said, it does seem off.”
“Nothing unusual from the children?”
“Not yet. Why? Should we ask them about it?”
“Tell them to try begging when they’re alone. Then we’ll know what she’s really after.”
“Understood.”
If Kang Chan-sik was right and this was indeed some sort of cult, there was one person who would be furious.
“If that happens, I’ll catch hell from Gong Seong-tak.”

***

Hang Ju-sa-byeon arrived at Haenyeong Port and stared at the burned Oseong Merchant Association branch.
“We were trying to keep this quiet, but this is beyond keeping quiet.”
O Tong-su’s words were picked up by Go Seo-bang.
“Hao Mun dug their own grave.”
“What in the world were those bastards thinking, going this far?”
Yang Tae-gon, sent as reinforcement from the Oseong Merchant Association headquarters in Hangju, came running breathlessly.
“We’ve found where they’re hiding.”
“Where are they holed up?”
“They’re not hiding—they’re sitting brazenly in an inn, drinking in broad daylight.”
Se-hwa looked bewildered, but Gang Seo Samak understood the situation immediately.
“It seems Hao Mun views us as mere pawns on a gameboard.”
“Is that even possible? Hao Mun has decent intelligence networks, though maybe not quite as extensive as other major sects. But you’re saying they know nothing about us—the Oseong Jang-won?”
Go Seo-bang fielded the question.
“Estate Master, in your view, what position does the Oseong Jang-won occupy in the Murim?”
Se-hwa, who had been thinking for a moment, spoke.
“Well, calling us part of the Murim is a bit much, isn’t it? We’re not really a Murim faction in the traditional sense.”
“Exactly. From the outside, our estate looks more like a merchant collective. Those thugs came and got broken, but there’s no reason word would spread. Nobody knows about the assassin attacks or the Heuksahoe raids. So it makes sense they’d see us as just a merchant group with some capable people.”
Gal Ma-pyeong picked up where O Tong-su left off.
“There’s one strange thing, though. Usually, Hao Mun agents handle their business quietly. This time, they came out into the open like this.”
“That’s what troubles me too. Those bastards eat by selling information and getting a cut of profits. They’re not the type to stretch their hands out so blatantly. It’s not like Hao Mun at all.”
Se-hwa spoke.
“Then we should grab those dogs and beat some answers out of them. Where’s the inn they’re staying at?”
Yang Tae-gon, who had been shocked to hear that assassins had actually attacked the Oseong Jang-won, jumped at Se-hwa’s question and answered in a startled rush.
“The Oseong Inn at the Haenyeong branch. They’ve been freeloading for four days now. There are twelve of them, so I’ve already sent a few people ahead to keep watch.”
“Good work. Have them posted around the inn to catch anyone who tries to run. Though I doubt any of them will make it that far.”
They made their way to the Oseong Inn, which lay about a quarter hour’s distance away.
The inn occupied the center of a newly developed commercial district that had sprung up as Haenyeong Port expanded.
Se-hwa pushed aside the bamboo curtain and stepped inside.
Crackle!
The sound of the curtain drew every eye to the entrance. Twelve men occupied the dining hall, which held some forty tables.
They were unmistakably Hao Mun members—you could see it at a glance.
“Oh!”
As if on cue, twelve Hao Mun agents gasped in unison. Se-hwa’s beauty was not the kind you encountered easily anywhere.
“Well, we’ve had no customers in ages, and now one walks through the door like this—a stunning lady, no less. What are you boys doing? Miss, please, sit. Make room for the lady.”
At the words of the heavily bearded man, eleven of his companions scrambled to move.
Then they caught sight of Gang Seo Samak appearing behind Se-hwa and froze.
“You have a companion? No matter. Sit over here as well, friend.”
Hang Ju-sa-byeon took the seat the Hao Mun agents had prepared.
“The fools actually sat down.”
As the bearded agent sat across from Se-hwa, the eleven others closed in around Hang Ju-sa-byeon in a ring.
“I may not be good at much, but I’ve always had sharp instincts. You’re not here as customers, are you?”
Se-hwa took over the conversation.
“Just curious—why does Hao Mun covet Haenyeong Port?”
“Money. There’s profit in it.”
“Is Hao Mun so deranged that you’d shove your head into a tiger’s mouth for profit?”
The bearded agent grinned wickedly.
“You’ve got a sharp tongue. We’ve been content to seem weak for a while now, I’ll grant you that. But things are going to change. From now on, Hao Mun will show exactly what it’s made of.”
“A flower that never blooms before its stem is severed. What’s your name?”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to break your bones. The least I owe you is knowing your name.”
“Yang Jeong-do. Heh heh heh! My bones are much more flexible in bed. So you came from the Oseong Jang-won?”
“That’s right. What’s your rank in Hao Mun?”
“Commander of the Huaryan Squad under the Black Silk Party. You’ve got a sharp look in your eyes—you might be good at nightwork too.”
“I manage. But if I work you over, will the higher-ups in Hao Mun come looking?”
“You think I can’t be handled? Shall we head to a bed?”
As Yang Jeong-do winked, the men gathered around him drew short swords and daggers from their belts.
Se-hwa, a faint sneer playing at her lips, turned to Gang Seo Samak.
“Disciples, be careful not to break the furniture. Leave this one for me.”
“Should I just kill him cleanly?”
“I’d like to, but the Master wouldn’t approve.”
“Then I’ll make sure it hurts enough that he wishes he were dead.”
Gang Seo Samak rose from his seat.
The Hao Mun members, thugs though they were, barely differed from common street gangsters, and even their martial arts amounted to little more than third-rate competence.
To Gang Seo Samak, who had already ascended to the first rank, they were merely straw men.
To prevent the furniture from breaking, he first struck their pressure points. All eleven men went rigid in an instant and collapsed like logs.
“Don’t let them fall on the chairs.”
Gang Seo Samak laid the Hao Mun agents out in neat rows on the floor. That’s when the screaming began.
As Gang Seo Samak’s hands methodically broke limbs, his movements held not a trace of hesitation.
Watching this, Yang Jeong-do’s face drained of color with each passing moment.
Though he was no master himself, his eyes were keen enough to recognize one when he saw it.
“Your complexion doesn’t look good. How do you expect to perform in bed looking like that?”
Yang Jeong-do snapped back to awareness and maintained the calmest expression he could muster. Now of all times, he couldn’t afford to show fear.
“Perhaps we could negotiate—”
The world suddenly lurched upward, and pain exploded through his nose.
“Ugh!”
Only after the cry tore from his throat did he realize Se-hwa had grabbed his hair and slammed his face into the table.
It didn’t stop at one blow.
Bang! Bang!
His nasal bone crumpled, his front teeth shattered, and finally the solid table itself gave way.
Hang Ju-sa-byeon’s shadow fell across Yang Jeong-do’s writhing form as he lay sprawled on the ground.
“You told us not to break the furniture, didn’t you?”
“I’m not accustomed to beating people.”
Gang Seo Samak, watching Yang Jeong-do, spoke.
“Once you get used to it, it’ll be worth watching.”

***

Seven days had passed since Bok Seon-nyeo arrived in Hangju.
At first, the people had been grateful for her kindness, but gradually they began to sense something amiss.
‘Why is she helping people like this?’
It was rare for anyone to show goodwill without reason, and where the rare occurred, suspicion cast its shadow.
Ever since the butcher Daebong lost three molars after his incessant chatter, the suspicion had only deepened.
A woman in her twenties—beautiful-faced and trained in martial arts—wandering Hangju dispensing good deeds?
There had to be something to it!
Everyone who knew of Bok Seon-nyeo thought the same.
Yet they did not refuse her kindness, both because it genuinely helped them and because of her name itself.
They said that good fortune followed in her wake, which meant that driving her away would take the fortune with her, didn’t it?
So the people continued to accept her aid.
In the meantime, a small following of people who blindly devoted themselves to Bok Seon-nyeo had formed. Today, as yesterday, she had come out after tending to a child with severe indigestion.
“Will she be all right?”
“She’ll be fine by tomorrow. Just trust me.”
One of the six people who trailed after Bok Seon-nyeo cried out.
“Of course! All we need to do is trust Bok Seon-nyeo!”
“There’s nothing Bok Seon-nyeo can’t do! Have faith in Bok Seon-nyeo!”
It was indistinguishable from the devotion of heretical religion followers. As irritation rose in Bok Seon-nyeo at the sight, she was about to speak.
“Are you becoming a cult leader?”
At the cold voice, Bok Seon-nyeo turned around.
The person carrying an A-frame laden with farming implements—a hoe and sickle—was Gong Seong-tak.
He had lost his parents to a heretical religion and become the Master of Il Jincheonmun because of it, so merely hearing the word sent shivers down his spine.
“Who are you calling a cult leader?”
Gong Seong-tak was stung by Bok Seon-nyeo’s abrupt retort, though he was not one to concern himself with courtesy anyway.
“Your conduct speaks for itself.”
“What I do is hardly your business as a blacksmith, is it?”
“There’s a saying about Heaven and Earth’s Dual Rage, so it’s not strange for one to show anger toward a cult leader.”
“Heaven and Humanity’s Shared Rage, you mean.”
“A woman clever enough to know the distinction, yet you choose to become a cult leader instead—the world truly is in its final age.”
“I’m not a cult leader!”
“Your conduct is that of a cult leader.”
“What I do is hardly your business as a—”
Realizing she was simply repeating herself, Bok Seon-nyeo swallowed her words with a deep breath.
“That’s enough. Let’s stop.”
“I don’t wish to quarrel with a young woman either. But if you establish a heretical religion in this place, I won’t stand idle.”
Gong Seong-tak left that warning and passed by Bok Seon-nyeo’s side.
Every instinct screamed at her to snatch the sickle from his A-frame and drive it through his skull, but Bok Seon-nyeo barely held her anger in check.
There was a saying that three acts of patience could spare one even from murder, and so she endured and endured again.
Turning her head toward the watching crowd, she suddenly offered them a bright smile.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”

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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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