Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 151

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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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#151

“Your name?”
“I’m Jeong Chul-pal, sir.”
“You know about Oseong Jang-won?”
He’d asked on a whim, but the answer came straight back.
“You mean the Oseong Jang-won in Hangju, sir?”
He hadn’t realized the Oseong Jang-won’s reputation had spread all the way to Hebei Province. He tried once more, just in case.
“What about the Oseong Merchant Association?”
“Isn’t that the triad in Hangju that the Oseong Jang-won backs?”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s one of the most renowned triads in Zhongyuan. How could I not know of it?”
“The Oseong Merchant Association is?”
“Yes, sir. The rumor’s already spread everywhere—when the Hao Mun dared to provoke the Oseong Merchant Association, their leader nearly died.”
He hadn’t expected the Oseong Merchant Association to have gained such a name for itself.
“I’m the leader of that organization.”
“What? You’re… you’re Kang Chan-sik, the Association leader?”
“Huh, you even know my name?”
Jeong Chul-pal’s eyes widened as he looked up at Kang Chan-sik.
“Does it sound like a lie?”
“No, no! We’re guilty of a capital crime for not recognizing you, Association Leader Kang!”
He felt like he’d used unnecessary force. Judging by Jeong Chul-pal’s reaction, mentioning his name alone would have settled the matter.
“Since you know who I am, there’s no need for long speeches. Don’t you dare lay a hand on my sister again. If anything happens to her, I’ll come back here and burn this place to the ground.”
“Of course, sir. I’d have to be mad to touch the sister of Association Leader Kang. I’d sooner cut out my own heart!”
“Then I can trust you. You seem the most sensible of the lot here—if you keep your wits about you, you might just make it to the leader’s seat yourself.”
“Heh… you think so?”
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
Kang Chan-sik brought his club down on Jeong Chul-pal’s forehead before striding out of the room. He’d just stepped into the sunlit courtyard when someone came rushing in through the entrance.
“Jeong-hye!”
Kang Jeong-hye, who was holding a club, startled at the sight of Kang Chan-sik.
“Brother!”
Kang Chan-sik was even more startled.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard you were here, and… are you hurt?”
Kang Jeong-hye threw down her club and hurried over, anxiously inspecting his ribs.
“Why did you bring a club?”
“Well… I thought it would be better than bare hands.”
Kang Chan-sik pushed her hand away.
“It’s just a scratch. The skin’s a bit torn, that’s all.”
The bleeding had already stopped—the wound was barely anything.
“Still, you should get it treated so it doesn’t get infected.”
“I said it’s fine.”
From his experience, a wound like this needed only a few coatings of medicine before it healed without even leaving a scar.
“What happened?”
“I settled it with words.”
“Settled it with words? Have you forgotten what kind of dogs those thugs are? And you’re going to tell me you talked things through while bleeding from your ribs?”
Crack!
A door inside the Main Hall splintered, and a bloodied figure stumbled out and collapsed onto the floor.
‘Why is he coming back out here just to fall over?’
Kang Jeong-hye stared at the sight with a glazed expression just as Jeong Chul-pal appeared.
Jeong Chul-pal stopped short, startled by the sight of Kang Chan-sik and Kang Jeong-hye.
When Kang Chan-sik jerked his chin toward the collapsed body, the quick-witted Jeong Chul-pal grabbed the man’s legs and dragged him back inside.
“Let’s go.”
Kang Chan-sik and Kang Jeong-hye walked in silence for a long while.
“Why did you do something so recklessly dangerous?”
It took Kang Jeong-hye a long time to speak.
“It’s dangerous.”
“Maybe it’s always happening for you, but do you know how my heart clutches every time you come home wounded? Every single day I ask myself: will he make it back safely today? What if something goes wrong? Do you have any idea what it’s like for a family to live like that?”
Kang Jeong-hye’s voice rose as tears welled in her eyes.
Kang Chan-sik had never realized his sister lived with such feelings. He’d only ever thought of her as an overbearing, tough younger sister.
After she married and left, he’d even felt relief.
“I’m sorry.”
As he apologized, it occurred to him that this might be his first genuine apology in a lifetime.
Kang Jeong-hye, still walking with angry steps, asked him a question.
“Are you still with the Triad?”
Though the Oseong Merchant Association was different from other triads, a triad was still a triad.
“Yes. The Oseong Merchant Association, but… no matter what I say, you won’t understand. Ask someone else about it later.”
“A triad’s still a triad, no matter what you call it.”
Kang Jeong-hye suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the clinic.
“I’m fine, really.”
But Kang Jeong-hye forced him to receive treatment for his injured ribs anyway. As expected, it amounted to a light application of Trauma Ointment and a wrap of bandages.
“You’re getting older now—you should give up brawling and settle down.”
Her nagging, which he hadn’t heard in so long, was almost endearing in its familiarity, though even so, nagging remained every man’s greatest adversary.
“Your child’s cute. How old is he?”
“Six.”
“Raise him well. You could even move to Hangju if you wanted.”
“What? So my son can become a gangster too?”
“Listen to your tone. Anyway, come visit sometime. Once you see things for yourself, you’ll understand I’m not who I used to be.”
“A triad’s still a triad, no matter how you dress it up.”
“There you go again.”
“If you don’t want to hear it, quit the triad and come back here to farm.”
“Does anyone just farm?”
Though he wanted to see his brother-in-law and nephew, it seemed better to leave now.
Kang Chan-sik pressed a pouch from inside his robe into Kang Jeong-hye’s hand. When she resisted, he forced it into her grip anyway and parted from her as though fleeing.
With the troublesome matter resolved, Kang Jeong-hye—poor but determined—would manage well enough.
‘I’ll come visit again later.’
With that thought, he set off down the road, then suddenly stopped. He’d given Kang Jeong-hye every last coin—not even keeping travel money for himself.
He couldn’t beg his way to Hangju. Since he knew the route the Oseong Merchant Association was taking, he figured if he hurried now, he could catch up with them.
“This has been quite a day.”
Still, the thought that he’d helped his sister made his pursuit of the Oseong Merchant Association feel lighter.
With eager strides, it took him less than three double hours to reach Eori Ridge.
At this pace, he could catch the Oseong Merchant Association within the next double hour.
As he descended the winding path past the ridge’s summit, he heard urgent footsteps rushing up from below.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
The man running toward him, breathing heavily, was familiar.
“Huh?”
The name came to him at once, and the runner recognized Kang Chan-sik just as quickly.
“Guild Master Kang!”
“Deung Ga-sik! What’s happened to you?”
Deung Ga-sik, so swift-footed that he’d earned the nickname “Swift Wind,” was a member of the Oseong Merchant Association.
The blood smeared on his face and clothes made it clear something terrible had occurred.
“B-bandits have attacked us!”
Deung Ga-sik spoke with an anxious face, glancing over his shoulder.
“Several of them are chasing me right now! You should flee too, Guild Master!”
“Bandits?”
Fundamentally, bandits’ primary aim in targeting escort agencies or merchant caravans was simple: collecting tolls. Most of the time, the matter was settled by paying the fee, and violence erupted once in a hundred times.
Moreover, the Oseong Merchant Association had skilled guards in abundance—ordinary bandits couldn’t even scratch them.
Yet from Deung Ga-sik’s appearance, it was clear the Oseong Merchant Association had been completely routed.
“These aren’t ordinary brigands!”
From around the winding bend, he heard the sound of two sets of pursuing footsteps.
“Go and alert the Oseong Jang-won!”
“What about you, Guild Master?”
“Don’t worry about me!”
After sending Deung Ga-sik on, Kang Chan-sik hid behind a tree beside the road. Drawing a dagger from his waistband, he took a deep breath and waited for the pursuers to come into view.
Men in leather garments typical of bandits rounded the bend and appeared. Enemies capable of destroying the Oseong Merchant Association were far removed from common city ruffians—they were no ordinary outlaws.
If he didn’t finish this quickly, he’d be the one in danger. Two bandits visible through the grass were hefting enormous broadswords.
Kang Chan-sik waited until they were about to pass the tree, then burst from behind it.
He hurled himself at one of them, barely six feet away.
Thwack!
The familiar sensation of flesh giving way traveled through his hands. As the bandit fell with a dagger in his ribs, Kang Chan-sik rolled with him, and the broadsword clattered down onto his head.
Kang Chan-sik flinched and threw his body sideways—the blade whistled past his face and nearly cleaved his companion’s skull in two.
He scrambled to his feet and closed the distance with a quick step, but the killer of his comrade swung his blade at Kang Chan-sik without hesitation or doubt.
He stumbled backward as the sword carved the air before his chest. The bandit’s eyes were wild, his face twisted with savage determination to end this.
Kang Chan-sik had never studied the Sangseung Martial Arts, but he was no easy opponent.
Still, the difference between a broadsword and a dagger forced him into continuous retreat.
If fighting eight street ruffians had been straightforward, a martial bandit was a different matter entirely.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The blade sang past his face and overhead, raising the hair on his arms. Had he not fought for his life many times before, his body would have frozen.
‘I have to close the distance.’
As Kang Chan-sik barely avoided tripping on a stone, he heard quick footsteps growing nearer even as he danced with death.
Deung Ga-sik wasn’t being chased by just two bandits. If he didn’t kill this one soon, he’d be surrounded.
He dodged a blade sweeping diagonally at his shoulder and stopped retreating.
Crouching was dangerous, but he had to risk it to get close enough for his dagger to count.
The sword sheared through several hairs at his crown. In that split second, he threw his full weight forward.
The bandit yelped and stumbled back, but Kang Chan-sik, moving with all his strength, was faster.
Thwack!
The dagger plunged into the bandit’s chest. There was no time to savor the satisfying death cry—he had to move.
“Bastard!”
Four more appeared. Kang Chan-sik abandoned the road for the forest. He couldn’t follow Deung Ga-sik’s exact path.
“Stop!”
Just as he’d hoped, all the bandits came after him. The forest was dense—he could barely see a stone’s throw ahead.
Branches raked his face and undergrowth caught his feet, throwing off his balance.
Running flat-out through an unfamiliar mountain was as treacherous as sprinting across a field of blades.
As he climbed about twenty paces, the ground suddenly dropped away in a steep downslope.
He paused for just a moment, and the sound of pursuing footsteps became unmistakable.
If he’d taken Kang Jeong-hye’s advice and gone home to eat, he wouldn’t be suffering like this.
“Never lose listening to a woman’s words, they say.”
Having gained this wisdom, Kang Chan-sik threw himself down the slope. He managed a few strides before losing his footing and tumbling.
The world spun—blue and green whirled before his eyes.
Sharp pains in his back and chest came from rocks embedded in the earth.
A dull crack against his sternum sent lightning through him. A rib had struck stone wrong—it felt broken.
Even as the world reeled, he thrashed his arms desperately for something to grab.
His palm met searing pain and something solid. Kang Chan-sik squeezed with every ounce of strength.
His shoulder screamed, but his tumbling finally stopped. What had saved him was a wild vine.
Each ragged breath sent pain through his chest. After sliding thirty paces down that slope, Kang Chan-sik hauled himself up against a tree.
Pressing the spot, he felt carefully—thankfully, his rib didn’t seem fully broken. From the pain, it was cracked, but that was far better than fracture.
Still, his situation was dire. He’d barely survived the slope, and the bandits behind him gave no quarter.
“Damned dogs!”
As the bandits slid down after him, Kang Chan-sik ran again.
He didn’t know this terrain at all, so finding a place to hide seemed impossible. He had no choice but to keep running.
Water sounds echoed somewhere ahead. As he ran further, the rush became unmistakable.
A sound like that meant a proper gorge, not a stream. Diving into the water would give him far better odds of escape than stumbling blind through more forest.

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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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