Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 186

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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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#186

“You’re from the Oseong Jang-won in Hangju, aren’t you?”
In Shimyang, there were few voices he recognized, and when he turned, sure enough, that person was seated nearby.
“Aren’t you from Xi’an? Do you know this person?”
At the old man’s question, Seo Cheong-seok, the owner of the blue stone craft shop, nodded vigorously.
“Of course. But why is he……?”
The old man launched into an elaborate explanation of how Do Pyeong-su, Eun Bi-yeon, and Gal Ma-pyeong had rescued people from the fire.
The account was embellished enough that anyone listening would think they had wings sprouting from their backs.
“Ah! I sensed from the beginning that you weren’t ordinary folk. Thank you! You’re the knights-errant who saved my daughter and granddaughter!”
‘Yes. I’m in league with the arsonist who nearly killed your daughter and granddaughter.’
Here and there, the name Oseong Jang-won surfaced, and a few people in the crowd had heard of its reputation.
“There’s supposed to be a place in Hangju where immortals dwell — so it’s there after all!”
“When Hubei Province suffered floods not long ago, wasn’t it the Oseong Jang-won in Hangju that donated a vast sum to aid the disaster victims?”
That was genuine charity, nothing to be ashamed of.
“I’m terribly sorry. Truly, I apologize.”
At Seo Cheong-seok’s sudden apology, Gal Ma-pyeong was bewildered.
“What are you talking about?”
“That stone carving you ordered, sir.”
“Tomorrow at dawn—no, I suppose it’s today now. What about it? Isn’t it finished?”
“It’s not that…… Ugh! The second young master of the Moyong Clan came by and purchased it.”
“Didn’t I tell you I’d already placed an order?”
“I did tell him. But when the Moyong Clan’s young master took a fancy to it, what good was such a protest?”
Without having witnessed it, Gal Ma-pyeong could picture the situation clearly enough.
“I’ll return the deposit along with a penalty payment.”
Money wasn’t the issue. If Do Pyeong-su learned that the Moyong Clan had intercepted the piece mid-commission, he would absolutely not let it slide.
‘On top of burning down half the city, he’d wipe out the entire Moyong Clan.’
At minimum, the Ga-ju would die. One catastrophe was enough.
“I don’t need to take it immediately anyway. Could you possibly craft another identical piece within a month?”
How long the journey to the Northern Ice Palace would take was uncertain, but judging from what he’d heard, it seemed they’d be staying at least a month.
Seo Cheong-seok fell silent for a moment in thought, then spoke.
“I’ll stay up night after night for a month if need be, and craft something far grander and more magnificent than that one.”
“No, identical is fine…….”
“I can’t present our benefactors with something equal to the Moyong Clan’s piece. As it happens, I have a work in progress that’s been difficult and set aside. Come see it a month from now, and I’m sure it will please you.”
Since it would be larger and finer, Do Pyeong-su wouldn’t object.

***

Gal Ma-pyeong returned to the inn utterly exhausted. After bathing, he would have to depart straight for Beijing.
“I might work myself to death at this rate. I never should have left home.”
He yearned desperately for the Oseong Jang-won. Every fiber of him wanted to flee to the estate instead of heading to Beijing.
‘Madam will stop me from dying, so I’ll survive.’
Thinking such things while changing clothes, Do Pyeong-su knocked on the door.
“Where is the Oseong Merchant Association branch in Beijing located?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Sending a slowpoke like you would take forever. Better I go myself and be back quickly.”
His words were gruff, but Gal Ma-pyeong recognized them for what they were—a gesture of consideration—and felt something catch in his chest.
‘Right. I’ll serve him well to the end and return safely.’
He gave directions to the branch, and Eun Bi-yeon entered the room.
“I’ll come with you.”
“Suit yourself.”
Gal Ma-pyeong burst out loudly.
“You cannot!”
“Why the outburst?”
Gal Ma-pyeong’s index finger pointed toward the city streets, still trailing smoke.
“Look at what happens when the two of you are together! Please, madam, rest here at the inn! I’m begging you!”
Gal Ma-pyeong was so eager that it seemed only fair to hear him out once more.
“Eun Bi-yeon, you rest. I’ll slip away and be back before you know it.”
“Please be careful.”
‘Everyone and everything on every road Master travels should be the careful one!’ she wanted to cry out desperately.
“Master, just bring back the money.”
“That one talks too much. Are you a second Yeon Geum-hong?”
“Geom U-bin entrusted us so earnestly to keep you both from causing trouble…… Sigh!”
“Geom U-bin?”
“Yes. He said that even if it took ten times Master Yeon’s worth of nagging, we must do exactly that.”
At the mention of Geom U-bin’s name, Do Pyeong-su’s irritation eased.
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill anyone.”
“And please don’t set any fires either.”
After receiving his second and third promise, Do Pyeong-su departed for Beijing, and Gal Ma-pyeong laid his weary frame down on the bed.
Having slept dreamlessly, Gal Ma-pyeong found the fire that had broken out in Shimyang the night before to feel like a dream.
The sun had tilted considerably toward the west. Nearly four hours of sleep suggested he must have been exhausted.
As Gal Ma-pyeong stretched with a long yawn, his thoughts turned to Eun Bi-yeon.
‘I hope she didn’t get into any trouble while I was sleeping.’
Gal Ma-pyeong washed up hastily and left his room, heading for the inn’s entrance.
But just as on the first day, he stopped in his tracks before stepping outside.
Do Pyeong-su and Eun Bi-yeon were drinking tea in the dining hall.
“Master!”
“Seo Seok-san, why did you sleep so long?”
“Haven’t you gone to Beijing yet? What are you doing here?”
“What nonsense. I’m already back.”
“What? You mean I really did sleep for four hours straight?”
“What foolish talk. Four hours is more than enough for a round trip to Beijing.”
‘A round trip to Beijing in four hours?’
In more than six years with the Bloodwind Four Lions, Gal Ma-pyeong still found reasons to marvel at them.
“What about the money?”
Do Pyeong-su drew a purse from his breast and set it on the table. When Gal Ma-pyeong opened it to check the contents, his expression turned bewildered.
“Two hundred thousand taels? I said a hundred thousand would be enough…….”
“If a man is going to spend, he should spend generously.”
When a wrongdoer makes restitution to those wronged, it’s best to be generous about it.
“Understood. Then I’ll go and deliver this money.”
Leaving the inn, Gal Ma-pyeong sought out Go Geon-no, the neighborhood chief. Still laboring at the disaster site with relief efforts, Go Geon-no looked utterly worn down.
“Haven’t you slept yet?”
“No time to sleep. Ha-ha!”
His good-natured laugh made it impossible to linger long, weighed down as Gal Ma-pyeong was by guilt.
“This is from the Oseong Jang-won. Please put it toward the recovery.”
“What? You saved all those people, and now you’re giving us money too?”
“It’s not much.”
Go Geon-no had assumed it would be at most a few hundred taels. But when he checked inside the purse, his jaw dropped so wide Gal Ma-pyeong feared it might actually unhinge.
“Tha… the bank drafts are, these are twenty drafts of ten thousand taels each… what is this amount?”
Though his mind could calculate the sum clearly enough, the mere thought of holding such wealth left him stammering.
“Please use it where it’s truly needed.”
Go Geon-no caught Gal Ma-pyeong as he turned to leave.
“I cannot accept this money!”
“Why not?”
“A few hundred taels might be one thing, but I have no authority to use such a fortune.”
“Then who does have such authority?”
If he mentioned the magistrate, they would surely tear up the drafts.
“Could you come with me for a moment?”
“Where to?”
“I’ll explain on the way. Please, just wait a moment.”
Go Geon-no returned a quarter hour later with an open carriage drawn by a single horse.
As he drove, Go Geon-no spoke.
“The fire damage recovery will ultimately fall to the Moyong Clan. So you must deliver this money to them.”
With the Moyong Clan being a Blood Alliance member of the Murim League, it was a trustworthy recipient for such funds.
The distance from the city streets to the Moyong Clan estate was about half an hour by carriage.
Beyond the inhabited area, fields stretched on both sides. The paddies, long since harvested, looked desolate in the gathering dusk.
“That is the Moyong Clan.”
At the end of a broad road suitable for carriages, Gal Ma-pyeong caught sight of the Moyong estate and let out an exclamation of wonder.
By the length of its walls alone—each standing a zhang high—it appeared to be three times the size of Oseong Jang-won.
“Impressive.”
“That’s why they call it the Forbidden City of Liaoning Province.”
A note of bitterness crept into Go Geon-no’s voice. At the far end of the road stood an enormous gate, wide enough for three carriages to pass side by side.
The fact that this road ended at the Moyong estate meant it existed solely for their use.
‘The Moyong Clan certainly wields considerable influence in Liaoning.’
When the carriage was still twenty paces away, a shout came from the guards stationed at the Main Gate.
“Halt!”
‘Blast these dogs! They want us to walk the rest of the way?’
Yet the carriage stopped.
“You must descend here.”
Unthinkable at Oseong Jang-won. Treating a guest this way would have brought Geom U-bin’s wrath down upon the servants with tears.
As they climbed down and approached the gate, a guard called out to them.
“What brings you here?”
At least he showed the old man some respect—small mercy.
“A guest of Oseong Jang-won has business with the Moyong Clan, so we’ve come.”
The way Go Geon-no bowed halfway revealed the fear the people of Shimyang held toward the Moyong Clan.
“Oseong Jang-won? Aren’t those the ones who saved people in the city fire?”
The four guards spoke among themselves, and Go Geon-no made the introduction.
“This gentleman here is one of those three.”
“What business does Oseong Jang-won have with the Moyong Clan?”
Listening to this, Gal Ma-pyeong felt irritation rising and spoke bluntly.
“When a guest arrives, shouldn’t you inform someone of rank? Why does a mere gate-keeper ask so many questions?”
Just as the Moyong Clan seemed to Gal Ma-pyeong like some provincial family playing at dominion, so too did the Moyong regard Oseong Jang-won in distant Hangju as merely a merchant house whose name they’d heard in passing.
“This man dares come to the Moyong Clan and—!”
Then three riders emerged from within. A young man and two middle-aged men; by the way the young man rode a horse’s length ahead in the center, his rank appeared to be superior.
“What is the matter?”
At the young man’s question, the guards bowed until their noses nearly touched the ground.
“Someone from Oseong Jang-won has arrived unannounced and wishes to meet with an honored elder.”
“Oseong Jang-won?”
The gazes of all three turned toward Gal Ma-pyeong.
“What business brings someone from Oseong Jang-won to our Moyong Clan?”
“Shouldn’t the person asking first reveal their identity?”
“I am Mo Yong Kang-seok, Deputy House Master of the Moyong Clan. Tell me your purpose.”
Mo Yong Kang-seok carried arrogance as naturally as his own skin.
“I came intending to deliver a donation to help those who suffered in the fire, but I was told that since the Moyong Clan is overseeing the recovery efforts, the donation should go to you instead.”
“Noble intentions indeed.”
Mo Yong Kang-seok turned to the middle-aged men on either side and said something to the effect of ‘Go on ahead; I’ll follow shortly,’ then turned his horse’s head inward.
“Come inside.”
Go Geon-no spoke to Gal Ma-pyeong.
“I’ll wait here.”
“No. Simply return first.”
“It’s quite far… ah, though I suppose you’d be faster than a carriage anyway. Very well. Do visit us before you leave Shimyang.”
After sending Go Geon-no away, Gal Ma-pyeong’s mood had soured considerably. As he walked alongside his host, Mo Yong Kang-seok refused to dismount, forcing Gal Ma-pyeong to crane his neck upward to converse.
‘Can I trust such discourteous men with funds?’
He doubted the men themselves, but he had little choice but to trust the name of the Moyong Clan.
The grounds were vast but the buildings lacked grace. Like a nouveau riche flaunting their wealth with garish ornament, the lack of harmony left an impression of chaos rather than elegance.
In the reception hall Mo Yong Kang-seok showed him, various porcelain pieces and paintings were arranged.
After summoning a servant for tea, Mo Yong Kang-seok spoke.
“My sister mentioned meeting the Deputy House Master of Oseong Jang-won some time ago.”
Mo Yong Seol-yeong had been caught up in the incident that led to the Daseong Merchant Association’s downfall.
“According to Seol-yeong, the martial arts of Oseong Merchant Association’s Deputy House Master left quite an impression.”
The tone suggested something more like ‘competent enough, I suppose.’ This was why martial arts could not be judged without direct experience.
“Our Deputy House Master is quite capable.”
There was no need to overstate Geom U-bin’s martial prowess.
“Why would Oseong Jang-won donate to Shimyang, a place with which you have no connection?”
“How could one turn away from tragedy unfolding before one’s eyes? If circumstances were difficult, I would understand, but when one has the means to help, one should. There’s truth to the saying that all lands within the four seas are one family.”
“Kind words indeed, and as a man of Shimyang, I am grateful. Since the Moyong Clan stands as the Regional Overlord of Liaoning, we cannot fail to match your charitable spirit. We shall contribute twice the amount Oseong Jang-won provides to the fire recovery relief fund.”
“There’s no need to go that far…….”

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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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