Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 198

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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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#Chapter 198

“That’s right. First we’ll go to Sae-oe, and if we can’t capture Sam Gongja there, we’ll head to the Northern Ice Palace where Do Pyeong-su is.”
“Hehehehe! This will be quite the journey.”
“We need to hurry, so it’ll be a swift one.”
“Then let’s depart quickly.”
“Without any preparations?”
“A few silver coins should suffice. We can hunt for food when we camp, buy clothes along the way as needed. Luggage would only be a burden.”
That was true enough. Without the threat of the Han Dynasty’s incursion, there was no need for heavy winter clothes even on the journey north.
So all they gathered for their departure was a generous supply of traveling funds.
“Before we leave, we should send a carrier pigeon to Do Pyeong-su letting him know we’re headed to Sae-oe. Since Gal Ma-pyeong said he’d pass through the Hao Mun branch in Heilongjiang Province five days from now and check for word, he should be able to receive our message.”
It took Geom U-bin only a quarter hour to write the letter and send off the carrier pigeon.
Watching them depart with no luggage at all, Jeon Mi-ryeo asked:
“You’re leaving just like this?”
“Yes, why?”
“Wait just a moment!”
When Jeon Mi-ryeo returned from her room, her hand held what looked like a coin with a green oasis etched on both sides.
“If you need help in Sae-oe, find someone named Hak Jin-poong. Show him this, and he’ll trust you.”

***

Eun Yi-seol, who had been struck on the shoulder by Gal Ma-pyeong, bounced backward and tumbled across the floor. Shocked that his own attack had sent her flying, Gal Ma-pyeong rushed anxiously to her side.
“Are you hurt?”
Eun Yi-seol’s frown faded as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by that familiar cold expression.
“I’m fine.”
Do Pyeong-su, watching from the side, clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“You’re too weak. How do you expect to win a sparring match like that?”
Eun Bi-yeon, who had been observing alongside him, spoke up:
“She’ll improve with time.”
“She’d better improve quickly. We don’t have much time.”
At that moment, Cheong-yeong and Hong-yeong entered the hall. They served as the eyes and ears of Do Pyeong-su and Eun Bi-yeon within the Northern Ice Palace.
“You asked us to report if Baek Gang left, didn’t you?”
Do Pyeong-su asked:
“She’s trying to go out?”
“She’s already gone.”
“She should have told us before leaving. Which direction did she go?”
Having learned the direction, Do Pyeong-su rushed out of the Northern Ice Palace without delay. His lightness technique was too swift and too subtle for the palace guards to catch him.
Bounding off the trees, Do Pyeong-su soon had Baek Gang in sight as she moved ahead.
As he went, the path grew familiar—one he’d taken before. The road was familiar, and so was the person Baek Gang was meeting.
“What brings you here? It’s troublesome when you appear so suddenly near the palace. If someone else were to notice, it would be disastrous.”
Ya-wang Moonju spoke.
“Don’t worry. The only creature watching us is a little rat over there.”
When Ya-wang Moonju pointed toward where Do Pyeong-su was hidden, the man started and ducked behind a branch.
‘Did he notice me?’
But then he spotted a rat disappearing into the ground below and let out a breath of relief.
‘There’s no way I was discovered.’
“What is it this time?”
“Sam Gongja speaks of you often with great affection.”
“Of course—I’m to rule the north. Surely you didn’t come just to pass along his feelings, though.”
“Sam Gongja has sent you a gift.”
Ya-wang Moonju handed over two boxes, one large and one small.
“What are these?”
“Spirit Medicine called the Five Dragon Heartpiercing Pill, which rivals the Shaolin Temple’s Great Restoration Pellet.”
To a Murim martial artist, spirit medicine was always as precious as a mother’s milk to a newborn child.
Baek Gang opened the larger box with a broad smile. The way she chose to open what looked most valuable first revealed something of her nature.
“That’s the one to take second.”
Inside the large box lay eight round, brown pills. In the second, smaller box that Baek Gang opened, four pills were arranged.
“That’s the genuine Five Dragon Heartpiercing Pill.”
Though Do Pyeong-su stood twenty paces away, he could see the pills in the box with perfect clarity.
‘Those are the Demonic Cult’s medicines I found in the dead Huashan faction leader’s room…… what was the name again? In any case, they’re identical in size and color.’
Of course, most pills tend to look similar—dark and spherical—but their sizes usually vary considerably.
Do Pyeong-su drew in a deep breath, maximizing his sense of smell. At once, the scent of the pills from twenty paces away stimulated his nostrils.
‘The smell is identical too!’
It had to be that Demonic Cult poison whose name he couldn’t recall.
‘So this Sam Gongja has connections to the Demonic Cult?’
While Do Pyeong-su pondered, Ya-wang Moonju, who had just finished explaining how to use the Five Dragon Heartpiercing Pill to Baek Gang, took his leave.
“My business here is concluded, so we won’t be seeing each other for a while.”
“There was no need for you to come all this way.”
“I’m merely someone who moves at Sam Gongja’s command, so you’ll have to tolerate seeing my face. Hehehehe!”
Ya-wang Moonju departed with his jest, and Baek Gang returned to the Northern Ice Palace.
After hesitating briefly, Do Pyeong-su decided to follow Ya-wang Moonju. Baek Gang’s return to the Northern Ice Palace was of little consequence, but Ya-wang Moonju, who possessed the Demonic Cult’s poison, was a crucial figure.
Once Ya-wang Moonju left the mountain, he crossed the plain and entered a village where three hundred households had gathered.
Even in this frozen wasteland, people had made their homes, and the village was large enough to support an inn.
Ya-wang Moonju entered through the inn’s door, while Do Pyeong-su climbed onto the roof.
Though hidden from sight, Do Pyeong-su could track Ya-wang Moonju by the distinct aura each person carried—an aura as unique as a fingerprint.
Once Ya-wang Moonju reached the upper floor and entered a room, Do Pyeong-su lifted away a tile, slipped inside the roof cavity, and soundlessly drilled a hole through the ceiling.
Peering through the hole, he saw two men seated across from each other at a table.
The man facing Ya-wang Moonju was a rather elegant-looking youth.
The youth spoke first.
“Did you deliver the Moonblood Poison to Baek Gang successfully?”
“I told her it was spirit medicine, and she seemed delighted.”
‘That’s it! Moonblood Poison!’
Do Pyeong-su had finally remembered the name. He thought, ‘I should write this down before I forget,’ only to realize belatedly that he’d never even mastered basic characters, and embarrassment washed over him.
“Then the Northern Ice Palace matter is settled.”
“There’s the variable of Eun Bi-yeon, but since Baek Gang seems confident, we should trust her judgment for now.”
“If circumstances require, our Moyong Clan could offer assistance.”
‘Eh? That young man was from the Moyong Clan?’
“Sam Gongja will speak up if he requires anything.”
“Still, you’ll have more to worry about once you return to Sae-oe than here at the Northern Ice Palace.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hak Jin-poong. You haven’t dealt with him yet.”
“I’m merely proceeding with caution. If circumstances weren’t a consideration, the man would already be dead by my hand.”
“I hear Hak Jin-poong has a sluggish nature, but his talent for martial arts is the kind of genius born perhaps once in a century. Will you be alright?”
“Hmph! When Sam Gongja arrives, I’ll come bearing his head to prove it.”
“Sam Gongja is coming to the Northern Ice Palace?”
“He’ll arrive on the sparring day. Sam Gongja said he would visit the Moyong Clan at that time.”
“It’s fortunate that Father recently emerged from his seclusion training not long ago.”
“The Young Master of Moyong and I have both successfully completed our duties here—a relief for us all.”
“When you return to Sae-oe, I hope you achieve your aims.”
The two men parted ways, and Do Pyeong-su found himself alone once more. Now his shadowing was complete.
He could have followed the young Moyong man to the Moyong Clan, or trailed Ya-wang Moonju to Sae-oe.
‘Which one should I seize and force to confess?’
But confess to what? He couldn’t simply demand vague answers about everything they knew.
‘Damn it! Interrogation takes brains to do properly.’
In the end, Do Pyeong-su let both men go unhindered and returned to the Northern Ice Palace.
As Do Pyeong-su entered his room and attempted to organize in his mind everything he’d heard that day, Gal Ma-pyeong knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The moment Gal Ma-pyeong opened the door, he spoke.
“You’ve received word from Do Pyeong-su.”
“From Hang Ju-sa-ung? Has he arrived?”
“He’s left Oseong Jang-won, but he’s headed to Sae-oe instead of here.”
“Why would he abandon the Northern Ice Palace and this charming junior for the desolate Sae-oe?”
Gal Ma-pyeong bit back a retort at the word “charming” and spoke.
“Do Pyeong-su suspects that Sam Gongja is in Sae-oe. He said if he fails to apprehend Sam Gongja there, he’ll come here to the Northern Ice Palace.”
“And if he succeeds in capturing him, he won’t come here?”
“I’m not entirely certain about that.”
Eun Bi-yeon had spent nearly the entire day holding onto Eun Yi-seol, while Gal Ma-pyeong was busy instructing her in martial arts.
Occasionally tailing Baek Gang and hearing nothing but the squeak of rats—the Northern Ice Palace had grown tedious beyond measure.
‘I shouldn’t have followed them. Ugh, I’m so bored!’

***

They had arrived at Guolingguo Te, the frontier post where Sae-oe crossed westward into Jilin Province.
Two hundred li to the southwest lay Shilinhu Te, where Ya-wang Moonju held his seat.
The reason Geom U-bin’s party had not proceeded directly to Shilinhu Te was simply a lack of intelligence.
Since their purpose in reaching Sae-oe was to capture Sam Gongja, they could not afford to move as the Bloodwind Four Lions always did.
To find Sam Gongja required stealth rather than force.
“We can’t all move about openly. I was hoping someone might visit Do Pyeong-su.”
“The Northern Ice Palace?”
“Yes. We need to find out if there’s any intelligence we’ve gathered.”
The three exchanged glances, each hesitant. When no one stepped forward, Geom U-bin spoke.
“Then I’ll go.”
Seo Seok-san stopped him hastily.
“Absolutely not. I can’t send you to that cursed place where even the frost bites—where even a man’s balls freeze solid.”
In the end, the three drew straws, and Yeon Geum-hong drew the short one.
“Well, it worked out. Besides, you’re the fastest anyway.”
“Ha! There’s no comparison with you slugs.”
“We’ll wait here.”
“I’ll be back in a flash.”
Though she had to cross the edge of Jilin Province and pass through Heilongjiang, the sparse population and open terrain posed no hindrance to her Lightness Technique.
So before the sun set that day, Yeon Geum-hong had reached the Northern Sea.
She had visited the Northern Ice Palace once before, long ago, on account of her karmic bond with Eun Bi-yeon.
Though the guards maintained strict vigilance, no one saw Yeon Geum-hong slip over the wall.
She made for the Palace Master’s residence.
It had been so long since her last visit that her memory was hazy, but the building’s unusual architecture was unforgettable.
After slipping through a window, Yeon Geum-hong sharpened her hearing to its limit.
She hoped to catch Do Pyeong-su’s voice somewhere, but instead she heard something odd.
—Mmph! Hngh!
The woman’s moans sounded like those she made ‘at those times.’
‘Tsk, tsk! The sun hasn’t even fully set yet, and who on earth—’
—Are you all right?
The voice that followed made Yeon Geum-hong start. It was Gal Ma-pyeong’s voice—he had come to the Northern Ice Palace with Do Pyeong-su.
‘What in the world is this bastard doing here?’
Since there was no way to find Do Pyeong-su without knowing what Gal Ma-pyeong was doing, approaching him was her best option.
The woman’s moans grew increasingly heavy.
Yeon Geum-hong positioned herself before the door from which the sounds came.
Unlike an ordinary door, this one was quite large and substantial. When Yeon Geum-hong pushed, it swung open without resistance.
‘You’d think they’d at least lock the door.’
If the door was different, the room certainly wasn’t ordinary either.
The floor was laid with marble, and Gal Ma-pyeong sat upon it, his back visible.
A woman’s figure was faintly visible behind his shoulder.
—Ahem!
At Yeon Geum-hong’s theatrical cough, Gal Ma-pyeong spun around in shock, scrambling to his feet as if scalded.
“Master Yeon!”
Yeon Geum-hong deliberately averted her gaze as she asked.
“I seem to have interrupted a pleasant moment.”
“What? No, no! My muscles were tense, and I was just loosening them a bit.”
“I’m sure that’s it.”
“I’m telling the truth! Look—our clothes are all on!”
“Though it does look like you pulled your trousers up rather hastily—”
“Master Yeon…”
“Never mind. Where is Pyeong-su?”
“I’ll fetch him at once.”
As Gal Ma-pyeong hurried out, he said to Eun Yi-seol,
“This is one of my four masters.”
“Four? But she looks younger than me. And why do you have four masters?”
“Quite so.”
Gal Ma-pyeong, caught in Yeon Geum-hong’s sharp gaze, vanished in a heartbeat.

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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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