Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 180

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

#Episode 180

“We know we’re useless!”
Dan Jeong-cheol, who had walked a flower-strewn path his entire life and would surely bask in wealth and glory for the rest of it, nevertheless knelt before the young Geom U-bin.
“But we cannot return like this! The Imperial Guard must remain faithful to the duties entrusted to us, even unto death. Even if that duty leads to our end, we cannot abandon it!”
Kneeling so earnestly put Geom U-bin in an awkward position. And then Yeon Geum-hong joined in.
“Just give us something to do. We can’t tolerate idleness, but we’re willing to do whatever menial work is needed.”
A man’s knees proved effective. No one objected to keeping the Imperial Guard agents.
“All right. But you’ll have to surrender the title of Imperial Guard agent here at Oseong Jang-won. Tell me what each of you does best.”
Dan Jeong-cheol and the other agents merely stared at one another’s faces. They’d said they’d do menial work, but none of them had ever actually done household chores.
“Should we sweep the yard?”
One agent’s suggestion was answered with “We already have someone.” It was Gong Seong-tak who spoke.
“Master, couldn’t you spare one person for me? I’m in need of hands at the moment.”
“Of course. Someone for the smithy.”
Hearing there was work to be done, one agent quickly positioned himself beside Gong Seong-tak.
“I’ll take one person and put them to washing dishes.”
And so one was assigned to Jeon Mi-ryeo as well.
“We do need an extra hand at the Oseong Pavilion.”
Se-hwa’s gaze was fixed on Dan Jeong-cheol as she spoke. It was clear she intended to work him mercilessly under the pretense of having him do chores.
Dan Jeong-cheol deliberately turned his eyes away, and fortunately another agent stepped forward beside Se-hwa instead.
“Tsk!”
And then Dan Jeong-cheol alone remained.
He looked like a child left behind alone at school while all the other children had been picked up by their parents.
“Does no one need another pair of hands?”
Gong Seong-tak turned back and spoke.
“Come with me. I’ll teach you the bellows first.”
“Yes!”
The Imperial Guard agent followed eagerly, delighted to have work at the smithy. Then the remaining two agents also dispersed to find their tasks.
Geom U-bin asked Dan Jeong-cheol a question.
“There’s truly nothing you’re particularly skilled at?”
If someone had asked him that yesterday, he could have talked for a double hour straight. But now his mind had gone blank, and nothing came to him.
“Not at all. How about tending to the dogs?”
“Dogs?”
“Yes. We keep five dogs here at Oseong Jang-won. You’d just need to bathe them once a day and feed them twice.”
“That’s all?”
“They’re gentle creatures, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“I’d feel a bit guilty if it’s too easy… I’ll do some cleaning whenever I have spare time.”
“As you wish.”
Once Dan Jeong-cheol’s work was settled, Go Shin-ji’s expression grew calm.
“Since the agents’ duties are all arranged, I suppose I can take my leave now.”
After Ga Yeon-gil had bowed respectfully to Go Shin-ji and departed, Geom U-bin led Dan Jeong-cheol away.
“Where are those creatures?”
Geom U-bin placed a finger to his lips and let out a sharp, forceful whistle. Just as the piercing sound faded, a loud bark echoed from somewhere in the distance.
Thinking to himself that the dogs must be coming from outside, Dan Jeong-cheol kept his eyes fixed on the main gate.
But then something pitch-black suddenly vaulted over the wall.
“Agh! What is that?”
At first he thought it was a tiger. Something that could leap over a wall more than seven feet high, with a frame the size of a calf—nothing else came to mind but a tiger.
Yet the five creatures rushing toward Geom U-bin were dogs.
Of course, he still couldn’t believe those things licking Geom U-bin’s hands were actually dogs.
‘They must be something else! There’s no way those could be dogs!’
No matter how much they wagged their tails and bounced playfully with delighted expressions, they couldn’t possibly be dogs.
“The largest one here is Oseong-i. And this one is Kkot-nim-i, the dog of Disciple Yeon…”
A name that absolutely doesn’t match its appearance.
“The name is Kkot-nim-i, but he’s male. The name was chosen without regard to sex.”
And worse, it was male.
“And this is Boram-i, the dog of Disciple Do, who’s away traveling.”
Geom U-bin pointed to each dog one by one, telling their names, but he couldn’t promise he’d be able to tell them apart.
“They’re cute, aren’t they?”

***

A stone caught his foot and sent him tumbling across the ground. The speed of the Lightness Skill was so tremendous that he must have rolled a good thirty paces.
The trees Gal Ma-pyeong’s body collided with snapped, and rocks scattered in all directions.
Half-buried in soft earth, Gal Ma-pyeong tried to get up again but finally retched.
“Ugh!”
Watching Gal Ma-pyeong, Eun Bi-yeon asked.
“Why is your brother’s disciple like that?”
“Who knows? Ma-pyeong, what hurts?”
Gal Ma-pyeong let out a rasping voice.
“J-just… a little slower, please…”
“Slower, you say?”
He started to nod, then retched again. He figured even a beating wouldn’t get him moving now, so he just collapsed flat on his back.
“I heard your brother’s disciple was capable, but he’s just frail, isn’t he? I went slowly to spare him the strain.”
“That fool’s bringing shame on his master.”
Gal Ma-pyeong had anticipated this situation from the moment he left with the two of them. But knowing it was coming didn’t ease the pain he felt now.
“Seok-san, quit your whining and get up!”
Though his words were rough, Do Pyeong-su helped Gal Ma-pyeong to his feet and placed his palm on the boy’s back, gently pushing some Inner Power into him.
In an instant, his breathing eased and his churning stomach settled.
“Since you’ve fallen, might as well rest a bit? Looks like we’re getting hungry too.”
Gal Ma-pyeong, overwhelmed by Do Pyeong-su’s kindness, sprang to his feet.
“I’ll go catch something right away!”
“Bring back a tiger! We need to build up your strength!”
As Do Pyeong-su was about to leave to gather wood, Eun Bi-yeon spoke.
“You really need to drill your disciple harder. The way he is, your brother only looks strong on the surface—his core is too soft.”
“What’s wrong with my disciple?”
“He’s weak.”
“He only looks that way because he’s with us—in reality he’s not weak… probably?”
Do Pyeong-su had transmitted martial arts to Hang Ju-sa-ung, but he couldn’t say for certain where Hang Ju-sa-ung stood in the Murim.
‘Perhaps around the level of an elder of the Gudaemun Faction?’
At minimum, that’s what he should be. Setting aside Se-hwa, if those ruffians who’d been called the Gangseо Samak had reached that level, they could be considered quite accomplished.
But it fell short of Eun Bi-yeon’s standards.
“We can’t slow our pace.”
Do Pyeong-su’s mood soured as she kept picking at Gal Ma-pyeong.
“My disciple is my concern—you worry about those ice spirits.”
“Ice spirits?”
“Those girls fighting over their place—they’ve got temperaments you wouldn’t believe…”
“How do you know anything about them to say such things?”
“And how do you know my disciple so well, then?”
The atmosphere between them began to heat, while Gal Ma-pyeong, oblivious, wandered through the forest searching for a tiger.
If he’d been hunting deer or wild boar, he’d have caught one long ago, but since Do Pyeong-su wanted a tiger, a tiger was what he’d deliver.
“They say tiger meat doesn’t even taste good.”
From ancient times, the conventional wisdom held that herbivores tasted better than carnivores.
Though not a hunter by trade, he could guess that a tiger would be somewhere around.
The mountain was treacherous and herbivores were plentiful. It made no sense that an apex predator wouldn’t exist in such a place.
Sure enough, before long Gal Ma-pyeong spotted tiger tracks pressed deep into soft earth—impossible to miss.
‘Not long ago.’
With Do Pyeong-su’s help and moving slowly while catching his breath, hunting one tiger was nothing.
Before a quarter hour had passed, he found a tiger feasting on a deer it had killed.
The wind suddenly shifted, carrying Gal Ma-pyeong’s scent to the tiger.
Roooaarrr!
Before the roar finished, the tiger’s neck was broken.
“Better get back before I catch hell.”
Carrying the tiger, Gal Ma-pyeong ran down the mountain.
“Master! I brought the tiger—!”
Gal Ma-pyeong stopped mid-stride and clamped his mouth shut. The auras of Do Pyeong-su and Eun Bi-yeon, standing fifty paces away, were unmistakably fierce.
Gal Ma-pyeong set the tiger down and approached the two of them.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but please, both of you, calm down.”
He’d come along to break up the fight if the two of them clashed, so he might as well do his duty.
Whoosh!
But the energy erupting between the two of them made it feel as though staying to stop the fight would demand nothing short of his life.
“Please, at least for my sake, compose yourselves.”
He truly didn’t want to step closer, but Gal Ma-pyeong narrowed the distance between himself and the two combatants.
Within ten paces, his skin began to sting, and the seams of his clothes tore open.
There was no sharp wind blowing, yet the mere momentum of the two of them threatened to split his flesh.
‘I could actually die trying to stop this!’
The thought froze him in his tracks. And the next one followed: ‘What damage could really happen here anyway?’
This was no inhabited settlement—just remote mountains inhabited only by beasts.
At worst, a mountain would crumble and a few dozen animals would perish. That was all.
No amount of collateral damage was worth risking his life.
‘As long as no people get hurt, I don’t need to worry about the animals.’
He’d reached that conclusion. But Gal Ma-pyeong should have arrived at it sooner.
Bang!
Before he could even dodge, without a moment’s preparation, Do Pyeong-su and Eun Bi-yeon collided.
“Ahhh!”
Gal Ma-pyeong was hurled through the air with a cry, spinning like a hapless leaf caught in a gale.
He flew at least ninety feet. Several trees splintered under the impact along the way.
Then he crashed to the ground. Dust rushed into his lungs with each labored breath.
That was the most unpleasant part, though nothing seemed seriously broken. Compared to the Bloodwind Four Lions and Eun Bi-yeon, Gal Ma-pyeong was merely lacking—but he was still a master in his own right.
“Cough! Cough!”
The dust triggered a fit. Through his hacking, Do Pyeong-su’s voice cut through.
“Ma-pyeong! Are you all right?”
He didn’t even want to answer.
‘I want to go home!’

***

Dan Jeong-cheol jolted half-awake at the sound of someone knocking on his door. He was ordinarily a light sleeper, but oddly enough, the moment he’d lain down at the Oseong Jang-won, sleep had claimed him instantly. He must have been exhausted.
The window still held the pale blue of pre-dawn, telling him it was far too early.
‘Who could possibly be here at this hour?’
He dragged his heavy body upright and called out.
“Who is it?”
“Time to work.”
It was Jeon Mi-ryeo’s voice. As Dan Jeong-cheol rose from his bed and threw on his outer robe, he ventured, “But the sun hasn’t even broken yet…….”
“The dogs here always eat their breakfast early.”
Dogs. He had to lose sleep at this ungodly hour to feed dogs. In Beijing, he’d been an officer of the Imperial Guard—people would step aside just for him to pass, let alone carriages.
‘What am I doing here?’
A sigh of regret escaped him unbidden.
‘It’s no one’s fault but my own. If only my martial arts had been strong enough.’
Thinking this, he opened the door to find Jeon Mi-ryeo with her arms crossed.
“You seem rather lazy.”
“I’m not lazy, it’s just——”
“Come on.”
Without giving him time to make excuses, she turned and led Dan Jeong-cheol to the back yard.
There stood five troughs, each as large as his own torso.
They were brimming with haphazardly mixed feed. Given the size of the dogs, this much seemed necessary.
“I prepared it today, but starting tomorrow, you’ll need to handle it yourself.”
“That means I’ll need to wake up even earlier than this?”
“Just about half a double hour earlier should do it.”
Dan Jeong-cheol found himself gazing eastward without thinking. The sky was only just beginning to flush with red.
‘I’ll have to wake before the sun even thinks about rising.’
If he wanted to avoid being turned out, he had no choice.
“Understood.”
“This way. There’s more for them.”
Jeon Mi-ryeo led him to the warehouse. When she lifted the bar and opened the door, a sharp medicinal bitterness rushed out to meet him.
One corner of the warehouse was heaped high with wood shavings and grass.

Jeon Mi-ryeo handed the shovel that leaned against the warehouse wall to Dan Jeong-cheol.
“Put one shovelful at a time into the feed trough.”
“It seems the livestock already have plenty, though…….”
Dan Jeong-cheol, speaking as he looked at what appeared to be dried grass and fodder, suddenly drew in a sharp breath. There, visible among the green and brown vegetation, was unmistakably ginseng.
To be certain, Dan Jeong-cheol picked up the yellowish root, examined its shape, and brought it to his nose.
“This—this looks like wild ginseng, doesn’t it? It’s definitely ginseng! We were almost about to feed this precious thing to the animals!”
Jeon Mi-ryeo replied without changing her expression.
“It is ginseng.”
“What? You—you knew?”
“It’s less than a hundred years old, so it’s not particularly valuable.”
Ginseng is considered precious once it passes thirty years. Though Dan Jeong-cheol was no expert, judging by the knots alone it appeared to be at least eighty years old.
“You’re really telling me you feed this ginseng to the animals?”

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