Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 18

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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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#018

One look at Dong Chang-min’s cold expression was enough to tell he hadn’t come with good intentions.
“Proprietor.”
At Dong Chang-min’s summons, Seo Poong-sik came scurrying over.
The way he fawned made it clear he knew exactly who Dong Chang-min was.
“Clear out the guests.”
“But sir, I—”
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
In Hangju, few people could defy the orders of the Dong Ssi Do-ga’s sub-leader.
Seo Poong-sik made his rounds from table to table, announcing the closure.
“My apologies, everyone. The inn must close for now. No charge for your meals.”
Though some grumbled, most left without protest. Even those who didn’t know Dong Chang-min’s name felt the cold emanating from a man who carried steel at his side—a chill that made sharing the same room unbearable.
As Dong Chang-min fetched a chair and moved to set it beside the table, Geom U-bin spoke.
“I don’t recall inviting you to sit.”
Dong Chang-min froze mid-motion, left standing in an awkward half-crouch.
“Excuse me?”
“How about showing some manners? If you won’t respect courtesy, I’ll return the favor in kind.”
“Do you have any idea who you’re speaking to, and what you’re saying?”
Dong Chang-min’s hand went to the hilt of the sword at his waist as he spoke.
Ever since Dong Chang-min arrived, the Bloodwind Four Lions had been exchanging urgent telepathic messages with one another.
―Does anyone know who this man is?
Seo Seok-san’s question drew a response from Yeon Geum-hong.
―Sub-leader of the Dong Ssi Do-ga.
―The Dong Ssi Do-ga? Ah! Those sword-slingers who lord it over Hangju! So why is he picking a fight with our leader?
―I forgot to mention it earlier, but that sub-leader’s been harboring ill intent toward Namgung Hye-yeon.
―How did you find that out, Geum-hong?
―When our leader visited the Seo Yang Pyo Trading Company yesterday, this sub-leader was there too. He fawned all over Namgung Hye-yeon, but she didn’t give him a second glance. Instead, she was having a wonderful time with our leader.
―Blinded by jealousy, is he? But something about his manner troubles me. Should I draw my blade?
―From the sound of his breathing, he’s about to.
Do Pyeong-su let out a chuckle.
―Hehehehe… If he draws, he’s a dead man the moment the blade clears the sheath. He drew first, so our leader won’t blame us for putting him down.
―But keep the killing intent hidden! If he senses our Martial Arts and flees, we lose the perfect chance to test our hands against a real opponent!
At Yeon Geum-hong’s warning, they all suppressed their aura.
“Hehehehe! What’s put our young master in such a foul mood?”
At Yeon Geum-hong’s playful jab, Dong Chang-min’s voice turned glacial.
“Your nephew cranes his neck like a fool, staring up at a tree he’ll never climb. Hasn’t it occurred to him that such a neck is ripe for a blade?”
“Before you blame others for Namgung Hye-yeon’s lack of interest, shouldn’t you examine yourself first?”
“You sharp-tongued wench!”
His blade slid further from its sheath.
The Bloodwind Four Lions watched the sword emerge and spoke as one through their link.
―Draw it! Please, draw it!
Even as they urged him on, their eyes darted between one another.
Only two could savor combat experience against this man, but four predators were stalking. Two of them would be left striking at empty air.
‘If I move now, Geum-hong and I have the advantage of proximity.’
As Seo Seok-san calculated this, Do Pyeong-su quietly shifted his chair closer.
―Why are you inching toward me like that?
―Can’t help myself. Hehehehe…
Even Jang Man-dok, disadvantaged by distance, tensed his legs, ready to spring forward at any moment.
Oblivious to the fact that he was putting his head into a tiger’s mouth, Dong Chang-min continued with his savage expression.
“From the moment he came looking for spirits at our Dong Ssi Do-ga, I’ve had my doubts. And now look—it’s come to this.”
―Our leader went to the Dong Ssi Do-ga looking for spirits? What does that mean?
All eyes turned to Yeon Geum-hong, but she was equally lost.
―First I’m hearing of it.
“Holding a grudge over something so trivial—isn’t that petty?”
“Let’s see if you can say that when your wrist is severed!”
At last, more than half of Dong Chang-min’s blade had sunk into the ground.
“That’ll do!”
The urgency to slip away faster than the other three drove Do Pyeong-su to surge forward with newfound momentum.
“That damned fool!”
“Pyeong-su! Kill your momentum!”
Seo Seok-san and Yeon Geum-hong cried out, while Jang Man-dok widened his eyes to show his will.
In that instant, the man who had been standing beside Dong Chang-min like a sack of barley suddenly moved.
With startling speed, he struck the hilt to draw the blade back in, then seized Dong Chang-min and retreated with a leap.
It was a flawless motion that unfolded in the blink of an eye.
“Damn it all!”
The prey that had been within reach slipped cleanly away. The three men stared at Do Pyeong-su with savage eyes.
“You fool! How could you squander such a golden opportunity to have real sport?”
Do Pyeong-su, with nothing to say even if he had ten mouths, could only watch the others’ faces.
Dong Chang-min, a mass of blood who hadn’t even realized he’d been seconds from death, shouted bitterly at the man.
“Gam! What are you doing?”
“I think it best we withdraw for today, sir.”
“Withdraw? When I haven’t done anything yet? Today I won’t rest until I’ve severed one of that wretch’s limbs!”
The Bloodwind Four Lions’ desperate wish for him to return went unfulfilled as the man forcibly dragged Dong Chang-min away.
The moment they stepped outside, Dong Chang-min cried out.
“Your duty as my guard is to protect me, not to stop me!”
“I am merely fulfilling my role.”
“What did you say?”
Among the four men who were with Geom U-bin, I can’t speak to all of them, but one is a martial master.”
Dong Chang-min’s face twisted in disbelief.
“Those brewery hands? A martial master? What are you talking about now?”
“They are not mere brewers.”
Dong Chang-min, unconvinced, pressed him with a mocking tone.
“Just how remarkable a master could he be?”
“At the very least… beyond what I could handle.”
Dong Chang-min’s expression hardened at those words.
Gam U-pyeong was not a man who diminished himself. Though not of the Dong Ssi Do-ga, so his depths remained unclear, but this much was certain: humility was no virtue of his.
―He is not inferior to your second uncle.
His second uncle, Dong Cheol-seung, was the strongest in the Dong Ssi Do-ga save for the patriarch Dong Seong-bang.
Having departed on a martial pilgrimage three years ago, he might well have surpassed Dong Seong-bang by now.
“You’re saying he’s truly stronger than you, Gam?”
The only person in the Dong Ssi Do-ga who knew of Dong Chang-min’s dual nature was his mother, and it was out of that concern that she employed Gam U-pyeong for fifteen silver coins a month.
Gam U-pyeong ranked among the top ten martial masters Dong Chang-min knew, so his words were not easily believed.
“Without doubt. Had the pavilion master drawn his blade, neither of us would have walked from this place alive.”
“How could someone so formidable be content merely brewing spirits?”
“That part of his circumstances I cannot fathom.”
For now, he had no choice but to trust Gam U-pyeong’s word.
‘So that’s how it is, then?’
As Dong Chang-min turned to head back toward the tavern, Gam U-pyeong blocked his path.
“Do you not trust what I’ve said, sir?”
“No, I believe you. But if we’re still alive, that just means he won’t attack us, doesn’t it?”
“That would be correct.”
“Then that’s settled.”
Leaving Gam U-pyeong behind, Dong Chang-min approached Geom U-bin once more.
“We’ll call it a day. But mark my words well—if there’s ever someone who ends your life, know that it will be me.”
As Dong Chang-min turned to leave, Geom U-bin’s voice rang out.
“What happens next, I cannot say. But today—today I saved your life.”
Dong Chang-min wanted nothing more than to draw his blade and cut Geom U-bin’s throat, but he summoned superhuman restraint.
Once Dong Chang-min, glaring, had vanished, the unfinished conversation resumed among them.
“So you brought the spirits back, and the Dong Ssi Do-ga purchased them for double the price?”
Geom U-bin nodded at Yeon Geum-hong’s summary.
“That’s right.”
“Why didn’t you mention such an important matter? We should have crushed those Dong Ssi Do-ga bastards entirely!”
“That’s precisely why I didn’t. What happened hardly warrants such severity.”
Yeon Geum-hong lowered her voice.
“Seok-san didn’t lose his hair because he committed some wrong, did he?”
“Why are we even talking about my hair?”
“Seok-san’s done nothing wrong, and yet look at him. If someone actually deserves it, they ought to pay the price.”

Five days later, word began to spread that Dong Chang-min had entered closed-door training. The rumor included a pledge that he would not emerge until he became a martial master.

***

“How many people does the Dong Ssi Do-ga have?”
“Who knows? Maybe two hundred?”
The Hyeolpung Saja had regarded the Dong Ssi Do-ga as beneath their notice.
“There’ll be women and children who know no Martial Arts among them—we can’t just slaughter them all.”
“True enough. The Dong Ssi Do-ga deserve execution by dismemberment for what they’ve done, but we can’t massacre innocents who’ve never learned Martial Arts.”
“The ones who’ve trained in Martial Arts should number around a hundred, though.”
At least the figure of a hundred coaxed grins from their lips.
“It’ll be good to feel real combat experience again after all this time.”
“Three of us, then.”
At Seo Seok-san’s words, everyone’s expression hardened.
They all craved the taste of combat, but someone had to remain here to guard Geom U-bin.
Do Pyeong-su rattled a wooden box with a hole drilled in its top, then set it on the table.
“Whoever draws the slip marked ‘not’ stays behind.”
Since they’d already made the agreement and the slips were prepared and inside, no one raised objections.
“I’ll go first.”
“No, I will.”
“What are you saying! I’m going first!”
Jang Man-dok made his intent clear by blocking the box’s opening with his hand. They didn’t trust each other enough to know what tricks might come out of it.
“Is this how little we trust each other?”
Do Pyeong-su picked up on Yeon Geum-hong’s words.
“Then you draw last.”
“I hate being last at anything.”
Crack!
Jang Man-dok applied too much force, and the box shattered, scattering its contents. The slips were creased and folded so many times that their surfaces revealed nothing of whether they bore the character meaning “not” or “may.”
As they gazed at the slips scattered among the wood fragments, they eyed each other warily.
“Why don’t we just claim whichever slip is closest to us?”
At Seo Seok-san’s suggestion, Yeon Geum-hong and Do Pyeong-su shot Jang Man-dok a glance.
It was unlikely that Jang Man-dok had deliberately shattered the box to engineer this situation. He lacked the cunning for such subtlety.
“Fine.”
Everyone agreed.
Even without drawing lots, the closest slip to each person was plain enough to see.
Yeon Geum-hong quietly reached out and grasped her slip first. Then the other three each took what was nearest to them.
A dry swallow went down involuntarily.
Perhaps today was the only chance they’d ever have to truly test their combat mettle. None of them wanted to forfeit this rare, heaven-sent opportunity over a single character.
‘Please, please……!’
Yeon Geum-hong unfolded her slip, creased four times over.
―May.
“Yes!”
“Shh! You’ll wake him!”
At Seo Seok-san’s rebuke, Yeon Geum-hong hurriedly clamped her mouth shut, though the suppressed laughter still leaked through.
“The odds just dropped to one in three. Poor wretches. Ah, what should I wear when I go paint the streets red?”
Crunch!
A corner of the table in Jang Man-dok’s grip crumbled to powder. The other two hurriedly unfolded their slips at his reaction.
Both slips bore the same character.
“Jang Man-dok draws the short straw!”
As everyone had expected, Jang Man-dok hadn’t rigged anything. Shattering the box had only dug his own grave.
“Hehehehe! Man-dok, my friend—take good care of our brother.”
“We’ll have all the fun we can in your place. Hohoho!”
Each of them offered a parting remark before leaving the room.
From the moment they stepped out, their movements became utterly cautious. If Geom U-bin caught wind of their departure, he might end up back in bed, enduring withdrawal symptoms through a sleepless night.
Such a disaster could not be allowed to happen.
They crossed the courtyard in silence, like assassins returning from a kill.

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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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