Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 152

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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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#Episode 152

The trees thinned as rocky terrain emerged. Given the mountain’s height, it was almost certainly a gorge wedged between cliffs rather than a valley stream flowing across open ground.
Since childhood, when he’d earned the nickname “Otter” for his swimming prowess, Kang Chan-sik had always been confident in the water.
Suddenly the path opened before him, and the opposite cliff face came into view. The roar of water grew louder—unmistakably, a torrent rushed between the canyon walls.
The problem was the cliff’s height. If it exceeded twenty zhang, hitting the gorge below could shatter every bone in his body.
With ten zhang still between him and the precipice, Kang Chan-sik slowed his pace—until a bandit materialized from the left, blocking his way forward.
The brigand from the left stood directly in Kang Chan-sik’s path toward the gorge.
If he stopped now, the pursuing bandits would close in and trap him.
‘It’s now or never.’
Kang Chan-sik pushed himself faster. The bandit’s eyes widened—he hadn’t expected such acceleration.
The man swung his blade at Kang Chan-sik’s midsection as he charged forward. The space was too cramped to duck safely.
Kang Chan-sik used his momentum to drive his foot hard into the earth, launching himself horizontally. The blade whistled past his chest, and he collided with the bandit mid-air.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The bandit’s scream pierced his ears as they tumbled together into the void.
Staring down at the gulf below, Kang Chan-sik cursed silently. He’d hoped for less than twenty zhang. It looked easily fifty or more.
Gripping the bandit’s neck, Kang Chan-sik fought desperately to keep the man beneath him.
But maneuvering mid-fall proved far harder than he’d imagined.
The two figures spun and twisted as they dropped, their positions constantly reversing. If Kang Chan-sik ended up below, his spine would shatter—he’d be dead.
The gorge rushed toward them, its waters churning with terrible speed. Kang Chan-sik threw everything he had into forcing the bandit lower.
Fierce wind screamed past his ears; blue-green water filled his vision in an instant.
Bang!
The impact sounded less like water and more like striking stone. Kang Chan-sik’s consciousness shattered.

***

“Where are you headed?” So Gi-cheon’s voice called out as Geom U-bin entered the quieter streets beyond the town center.
Geom U-bin turned. This wasn’t the So Gi-cheon he knew. The clothes were still rags, but they’d been washed clean, and he now carried a pack on his back.
“Oh?”
Geom U-bin blinked at the sight of him.
“Where are you going?”
“My master sent me on an errand to the Jegal Family. You too?”
“Yes—I was invited by Hoon and I’m heading there as well.”
Though Geom U-bin was pleased, So Gi-cheon practically bounced with joy.
“Traveling together with you! I can’t believe this is happening!”
“Didn’t your master go himself? He sent you instead?”
“Something urgent came up suddenly, so he told me to go in his place.”
“Remarkable! So our Gi-cheon has grown into someone who can represent the Sect Master?”
“Heh! My martial arts have to rank in the top ten among the master’s disciples, at least.”
“Top ten? How many disciples does your master actually have?”
So Gi-cheon shook his head.
“No idea. Probably not even he knows.”
Geom U-bin felt a twinge of regret about declining the Hyeolpung Saja’s company, but he found himself far more excited about traveling with So Gi-cheon—someone his own age.

***

Kang Chan-sik’s eyes snapped open. He was grateful to still draw breath, irritated to find himself still in the water.
For a gorge between cliffs, the current moved sluggishly. A jagged log jutting from a crevice had snagged him, keeping him from being swept away downstream.
Without catching on that log, he’d likely have drowned by now—fish food.
Before he could take more than a few breaths, chills rolled through him. Another half hour in this cold and he’d freeze to death.
Beyond a crack in his ribs, he felt no new wounds. Fortunately, he’d managed to position the bandit beneath him at impact.
Looking up at the cliff face looming impossibly high above, there was no question of climbing out.
Unless this place was like the Wushan Three Gorges, there had to be somewhere downstream where the cliffs ended and both banks opened onto level ground. Swimming to find such a place was his only option.
Kang Chan-sik pushed off from the log and let the current carry him forward.
After roughly a quarter hour of swimming, he began to hope his luck wasn’t completely exhausted.
The cliff face on the right grew steadily lower, and gravel-and-grass-covered flatland slowly came into view.
Kang Chan-sik cut diagonally across the valley with a swimmer’s stroke. Once he reached solid ground, he could make his way to civilization one way or another.
‘Damn bastards. How dare they lay a hand on Oseong Jang-won.’
He had no doubt whatsoever that the bandits who’d attacked the Oseong Merchant Association would be wiped out.
Beyond the densely wooded area along the valley’s edge, a stretch of gravel bed came into view. The gravel would be easier for climbing out.
But Kang Chan-sik stopped swimming before he reached the gravel bed.
A group of bandits bearing large swords had appeared.
“We have to find him!”
“Shouldn’t he be dead by now?”
“Then find the body!”
The bandits hadn’t given up on Kang Chan-sik, even after he’d plunged into the gorge.
‘Cursed dogs!’
Kang Chan-sik hid himself in the undergrowth and waited for the bandits to leave. They scanned the lower reaches of the valley, craning their necks to search the spot where he lay concealed.
He inched deeper into the tangle of drooping branches, burying himself beneath the thick canopy of leaves.
Through the foliage, he could see the bandits conducting their search nearby.
They wouldn’t linger long, he thought. If he just stayed quiet, the danger would pass—but then a new threat crept toward him, slow and deliberate.
Leaves rustled softly, and a snake slithered into view.
The creature was covered entirely in green scales, no more than a foot long. But size meant nothing when it came to danger.
‘Is it venomous?’
Knowing nothing about snakes, Kang Chan-sik could only pray this one carried no lethal venom. Better still—that it would simply pass him by without incident.
But the snake advanced toward him, as if drawn by his very dread.
‘Go on. Get away from here!’
Though his silent plea would reach no ears, Kang Chan-sik hurled it at the creature anyway.
The snake’s body scraped against the leaves. It was getting closer.
Without turning his head, Kang Chan-sik glanced at the bandits. If they’d left, he could have fled into the water, but they remained visible at the edge of his vision.
The snake crept steadily nearer until it coiled onto his shoulder. Even through his clothes, the creature’s cold skin sent chills racing down his spine.
If he didn’t move, it would crawl across him like a branch and disappear into the water.
Yet Kang Chan-sik wasn’t the only thing that could move. Absurdly, a broad leaf that had been hanging harmlessly above suddenly fell—striking the snake.
Startled by the light touch, the snake struck out wildly, sinking its fangs into Kang Chan-sik’s shoulder.
A sharp, burning pain pierced through him like a blade. He couldn’t so much as twitch, couldn’t even cry out.
All he could do was clench his teeth hard against the agony.
The snake that had bitten him slipped into the water as if nothing had happened.
Thump-thump-thump!
His bitten shoulder throbbed like a drum. Every snake carries some measure of venom, and pain inevitably follows.
The question now was how potent this snake’s poison truly was. If it was weak, his body might purge it on its own. If not, paralysis would set in soon.
Shrill!
A whistle’s cry pierced the air, and the bandits scattered like a receding tide.
‘Why couldn’t the dogs have left a moment sooner!’
He resented the bandits far more than the snake. Once he was certain they’d gone completely, Kang Chan-sik swam to the gravel bed and hauled himself out.
As he staggered to his feet, his body felt like lead, and the world tilted. He collapsed onto the stones.
He wasn’t going to lose consciousness. Not yet.
“I won’t die like this.”
Forcing himself upright, Kang Chan-sik trudged across the gravel bed and into the forest beyond.

***

Yeon-un Port was busy as ever that day, its wharves teeming with activity.
“Get that lot moving and keep the road clear for the carts! How many times do I have to tell you—the heavy cargo goes in the back, not the front!”
Jong Seo-gil, the branch leader of the Oseong Merchant Association’s Yeon-un Port division, was shouting himself hoarse at the workers on the dock.
Barely half a month since opening the branch, business was pouring in relentlessly—proof of the Oseong Merchant Association’s growing power.
The harbor was crowded not just with Oseong vessels but with ships from every corner of Zhongyuan, swarming with cargo handlers and passengers.
As Jong Seo-gil moved among them, urging the workers on, he heard someone calling his name.
“Branch Leader! Jong, Branch Leader!”
It was a shout forced through gasps—someone desperately wanting to yell but too breathless to manage it properly.
Jong Seo-gil glanced around and spotted a familiar face, its skin bleached pale with exhaustion.
“Deung Ga-pung?”
The nickname came to mind before his real name. Deung Ga-pung had left with the Oseong Merchant Association’s caravan bound for Beijing—he shouldn’t have returned yet.
Seeing the man’s staggering gait and the grave distress etched across his features, Jong Seo-gil rushed toward him.
“What’s happened?”
“Sir, the pigeon… a carrier pigeon… to Hangju… the Association… the bandits… attacked… retch!”
Deung Ga-pung’s stomach finally gave way. The details remained unclear, but one thing was unmistakable: the Oseong Merchant Association had been struck by the Nok-rim bandits.
Deung Ga-pung, brought to the Yeon-un Port branch, had barely regained his wits before recounting the whole affair from beginning to end.
“You’re telling me the Nok-rim Bandits actually attacked the Oseong Merchant Association? How did such a thing come to pass?”
“It wasn’t a matter of conflict breaking out—they simply launched an unprovoked assault.”
“They targeted the shipment, not passage fees? Are those bastards out of their minds?”
Bandits, as a rule, refrained from attacks. Becoming a confirmed enemy of both the imperial garrison and the courier houses of Zhongyuan was a situation they were bound to avoid at all costs.
“The fact that you alone escaped suggests things were dire indeed.”
“The Nok-rim Bandits who attacked were no ordinary rabble. Judging by the quality of their martial prowess, they seemed to be one of the Seventy-Two Nok-rim Factions.”
“But you said the attack occurred at Eori Pass? There isn’t a single faction of the Seventy-Two stationed there.”
“I find that strange as well, but if they weren’t from one of the Seventy-Two, how could they have slain our merchants so thoroughly?”
The martial guards of the Oseong Merchant Association were hardly the sort of rabble that ordinary bandits could fell.
“We must dispatch a carrier pigeon to Hangju at once.”
As Jong Seo-gil rose to his feet, Deung Ga-pung spoke up.
“Please be certain to include word of the Association Leader.”
“The Association Leader? What concern is he of yours?”
“Had he not held the line for us in the middle of the chaos, I would never have made it here.”
“Has the Association Leader fallen?”
“I cannot say whether he lives or has perished.”
“The Association Leader is one whom the Master of Oseong holds dear.”
Jong Seo-gil hastily dispatched a carrier pigeon toward Hangju.

***

They were intently observing five dogs. Eun Bi-yeon’s Oseong-i stood at the rightmost position, followed by Do Pyeong-su’s Boram-i, then Seo Seok-san’s hound, Jang Man-dok’s beast, and Yeon Geum-hong’s Kkot-nim-i clustered together on one side.
The pecking order among the dogs was now plainly visible. Though Yeon Geum-hong, Jang Man-dok, and Seo Seok-san had administered Spirit Medicine and even applied the Chugung-gwahyeol technique, the two dogs under Eun Bi-yeon’s care maintained clear superiority.
“What else should we try here?”
At Seo Seok-san’s question, Yeon Geum-hong whispered softly.
“Shall we infuse them with some Internal Power?”
“These mangy curs haven’t even formed a Dantian space yet—what good would Internal Power do?”
“Then we’d need to create a Dantian space first.”
“But the Yungi Haengong cultivation is required to generate Internal Power in the Dantian. How on earth would you teach these mutts to cultivate?”
“By beating it into them, perhaps?”
As Jang Man-dok pondered the matter with a serious expression, Gwak Bong came rushing in.
“Masters! Terrible news!”
Though Gwak Bong’s face was urgent, the Bloodwind Saja remained unmoved.
“Has the Oseong Pavilion caught fire again?”
“Or perhaps someone’s made off with the wine?”
Even as they spoke, Gwak Bong, breathing heavily, delivered her words.
“The Oseong Merchant Association heading toward Beijing has been attacked by bandits!”
The Bloodwind Saja’s reaction was indifferent. Instead, it was Go Seo-bang whose voice followed.
“Bandits? Our masters wouldn’t stir themselves for such trivial vermin.”
Go Seo-bang had voiced what the Bloodwind Saja wished to say, yet what came next stirred the Saja’s displeasure.

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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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