Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 201

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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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#201

When Yeon Geum-hong lowered Na So-myeong to the ground, he staggered and crashed down hard on his backside.
For him not to retch was remarkable enough. What seemed even more remarkable was Geom U-bin.
He had sprinted so fast the landscape became a blur, yet Geom U-bin matched that speed with his Lightness Skill.
‘Martial Arts like that at his age?’
Na So-myeong, who had considered himself reasonably talented, found himself forced to accept what Yeon Geum-hong had called him: a dull pupil.
From the grassland’s ridge, the village sat small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. The inn nestled within it was easy enough to spot.
“Myeongho Inn. That place, right?”
“Yeah.”
Smack!
Na So-myeong, struck on the back of the head by Jang Man-dok, swayed forward unsteadily before collapsing with a thud.
“Why’d you hit me!”
Jang Man-dok acted while Yeon Geum-hong spoke.
“Show proper respect to your senior.”
“We’re practically the same age——!”
Under the fierce gaze of Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok, Na So-myeong felt his knees go weak and could only clamp his mouth shut.
“It’s fine. He’s not even one of us, after all.”
“Even so, I can’t abide when that little wretch speaks so disrespectfully to my senior.”
When the Hyeolpung Saja grew stubborn like this, even Geom U-bin had no recourse.
Of course, the person with the least recourse was Na So-myeong.
For Na So-myeong, the only way to avoid showing disrespect to Geom U-bin was to stay silent. So he kept his mouth shut all the way to the inn.
“What room number?”
“Room two hundred and… two, sir.”
―Sorry. My disciples are a bit unusual. Bear with it a little.
Geom U-bin’s apology softened Na So-myeong’s irritation somewhat.
Only Na So-myeong entered through the Main Gate; Geom U-bin infiltrated room two hundred and two via the roof.
Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok kept watch on the surroundings in case anything went wrong.
After Na So-myeong entered the room and confirmed it was empty, he spoke.
“Doesn’t look like he’s arrived yet.”
“He might not come at all.”
“That’s… true, I guess.”
“It’s fine. Both my disciples are outside.”
“How are you even their senior, anyway?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I like long stories. And right now, there’s not much else to do.”
“Something will come up soon.”
Geom U-bin felt someone landing on the roof. It wasn’t Yeon Geum-hong or Jang Man-dok—those two would never make a sound like that.
Geom U-bin raised his voice.
“Don’t lurk up there like Yangsan Gongja—come inside!”
There was no way to know for certain if the person on the roof was Hak Jin-pung, but he called out that way regardless.
Then a face appeared through the window, pushing downward.
With his head hanging toward the ground, his hair cascaded down in long strands, making him look eerie.
“Well, if it isn’t the little one?”
“Oh! Master Hak!”
“Little one!”
“I’m not ‘little one’—it’s So-myeong! Na So-myeong!”
“If you’re Na So-myeong, then you’d age a decade at a time, they say? So that younger brother beside you must be the Five Kings you mentioned?”
“Yes. Are you planning to stay hanging like that?”
“If things go wrong, I’ll just have to run.”
Hak Jin-pung, with only his head thrust through the window, surveyed the room left and right. He appeared to be in his early forties, with an air of eccentricity about him.
“There’s only the two of us in here.”
Since Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok were outside, Geom U-bin wasn’t lying.
“You said Mi-ryeo was with you? Doesn’t she have any message for me?”
“No.”
“That can’t be right. Like, didn’t she at least say she loves you, or something like that?”
“Ugh! I had no idea Sect Master Hak was my love rival!”
“Hehehehe! Every man in this world, young or old, is a rival of mine.”
“I never expected to run into someone like Seok-san here.”
At the sound of Yeon Geum-hong’s voice, Hak Jin-pung was hurled through the door like a stone from a catapult.
“Ow!”
Rolling across the floor, he crashed backward into the wall before finally skidding to a stop.
Through the window came Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok, and Hak Jin-pung’s face was painted with shock.
“How could you fool my senses and strike at me?”
“You’re a foolish man clinging to pride in foolish techniques.”
Hak Jin-pung sprang to his feet and took a fighting stance.
“No one disrespects the heirs of the Saeoe Five Kings!”
He bellowed and hurled himself forward—but toward the door, not toward Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok. Yet in that instant of shouting, his eyes had flickered toward the exit, and Geom U-bin caught it.
Anticipating the escape, Geom U-bin was already prepared, so Hak Jin-pung’s attempt was doomed from the start.
Geom U-bin seized him by the collar and slammed him to the ground.
The impact was fierce, yet when he struck the floor, it was cushioned.
From that alone, one could gauge the caliber of Geom U-bin’s martial skill.
“We mean Sect Master Hak no harm. I came on the recommendation of a lady, and if you help us, we’ll leave quietly.”
Hak Jin-pung’s eyes began to roll, searching for words, but Geom U-bin spoke first.
“And you must never speak to me disrespectfully.”
“Why should I show deference to a child?”
Crack!
Two fingers’ width of a hole appeared in the floor beside Hak Jin-pung’s ear. Geom U-bin smiled and asked, “Has your question been answered?”
“Indeed. A person only becomes a person by observing courtesy. Most certainly.”
Na So-myeong, watching this, wore an expression of dismay.
“Sect Master Hak. Where is the spirit you spoke of when addressing me?”
“Risking your life over trifles is not spirit—it is foolishness.”
Hak Jin-pung turned to Geom U-bin and asked, “What is it you wish to know?”
“Do you happen to know of someone called Samgongja?”
Hak Jin-pung rolled the name around in his mouth a few times as though it were a familiar habit, then shook his head.
“We have about ninety-two third sons in our territory, but none of them go by that name. In truth, we have no one called ‘gongja’ at all.”
If Hak Jin-pung were not allied with Samgongja, he had no reason to lie.
“This person is connected to the Ya Wang Moon. Has anyone suspicious been frequenting the sect, or do you know of unusual visitors?”
It was a question asked without great hope, yet Hak Jin-pung’s eyes began to move as he searched his memory.
“There is one strange fellow. A vegetable merchant who supplies the Ya Wang Moon. One day I saw him meeting with the sect master—just the two of them—and the atmosphere was peculiar. The man who swaggers about boasting he’s the finest in Saeoe had no business speaking with a mere vegetable seller, and it didn’t seem like he was addressing a subordinate. The distance was too great to hear what they said, but they huddled close together and talked for quite some time. I witnessed this twice.”
Unless Samgongja operated openly, there was every possibility he was concealing his identity.
“Why were you watching the Ya Wang Moon’s master?”
At Yeon Geum-hong’s question, Hak Jin-pung made a weak protest—’This girl looks younger than me’—before answering.
“His arrival was exceedingly strange. He was originally a disciple of the Ya Wang Moon, but he was expelled four years ago for attempting to assault the previous sect master’s daughter. Then, a year ago, he suddenly reappeared—precisely when the former sect master died under dubious circumstances.”
It could have been mere coincidence, but in a place rife with schemes, Hak Jin-pung’s suspicion held weight.
“What’s stranger still is that he learned the Ya Wang Moon martial arts to the Upper Realm—the same art that was lost to men from Zhongyuan. He claims the incident four years ago was a false accusation, but what can be said in a place where might is law?”
“Are you certain the martial arts he mastered are indeed those of the Ya Wang Moon?”
“My eyes are the equal of an eagle’s.”
“An eagle sees things from a distance well enough.”
Na So-myeong spoke bluntly, disappointed at the weakness of the man he had admired.
“It can also distinguish between a rat and a rabbit with precision. In any case, the Ya Wang Moon master’s arts were genuine. Had I only devoted myself to martial training as diligently, that sort of opponent wouldn’t last ten seconds.”
He sighed, yet Hak Jin-pung did not seem particularly remorseful.
Yeon Geum-hong pondered in silence, then spoke.
“It all seems tangled together somehow.”
“Those who pursued the martial arts manuals of the Saeoe Five Kings were the Chuyeong Order. A considerable number of the Mo Yong Clan’s warriors belonged to them.”
“The Huashan Faction as well.”
And the Huashan Faction’s leader had taken his own life while poisoned by the Demonic Cult.
If there were only righteousness or only evil, it would be easy to deduce the pattern. But in this conspiracy, right and wrong were hopelessly tangled together.
And on top of that, there was Samgongja, whom Ma Gun-ja had pursued before his disappearance.
“First priority is finding Samgongja. Let’s keep watch on that vegetable merchant Sect Master Hak finds suspicious.”
At Geom U-bin’s words, Yeon Geum-hong and Jang Man-dok exchanged uncertain glances.
Their faith in Hak Jin-pung was not entirely solid.
“Will you… not help me?”
Geom U-bin asked.

“Do you need our help?”
“Of course! You were in that pursuit squad chasing me, weren’t you? Ugh!”
Hak Jin-pung protested after taking a blow to the back of his head from Jang Man-dok.
“Tell us how to address you!”
“Call me Lord.”
“Lord of where? Lord of what?”
He was fishing for information, but neither Geom U-bin nor Yeon Geum-hong were careless enough to reveal it.
“That’s nothing you need to know. Just keep running like you are now, and one day it’ll all be sorted out. Probably.”
“Probably?”
They could have destroyed the Ya Wang Moon entirely, but that wasn’t a priority. Looking at how things were unfolding, the Ya Wang Moon Master had walked into their net, but if he turned out to be too small a fish to even get caught in its mesh, they might let him slip through.
“I can’t fathom why Mi-ryeo would ask someone as incompetent as you for help.”
“Didn’t I at least point out the vegetable merchant for you?”
“Are you certain he’s Samgongja?”
“That, I… don’t know.”
“Brother, would it be all right if I snapped this shameless wretch’s neck?”
Geom U-bin spared Hak Jin-pung’s life, even as the latter discreetly shifted his rear end backward.
“At least I gave you a lead, didn’t I, Lord Hak?”
“Hmm?”
“If the Ya Wang Moon Master were gone, couldn’t you unite the Sae-oe powers under your command?”
“I could. Even now, I carry some influence in Sae-oe. The fact that he hasn’t killed me yet is because most of those who would abandon him are my allies.”
“Then why is he trying to kill you so openly now?”
“Because there are far more who have bent their knees to the Ya Wang Moon’s strength than those swayed by my character.”
“Just as I said—a man of no consequence.”
Geom U-bin turned to Hak Jin-pung with a question.
“It seems there was a traitor among your associates—have you found them?”
That had been revealed to him through a letter hidden in the belly of a dead rat.
“Yes. There really isn’t a soul in this world you can trust. Ten years I spent with him like a brother… ah, well. I cut his throat with these hands.”
It was clearly a tragic matter, yet he possessed the skill of speaking as though he wasn’t particularly grieved by it.
“Then there should be no problem with your escape. Keep on as you are now. It won’t take long for things to be resolved.”
“Can I trust you?”
Na So-myeong spoke up.
“You seem far more trustworthy than Lord Hak here.”
“You feel that way too? So do I.”
Hak Jin-pung agreed with casual composure, then turned to Geom U-bin with another question.
“It seems you won’t tell us where Mi-ryeo is, so at least carry my words to him.”
“What words?”
“Don’t forget your homeland.”
For the first time, genuine gravity could be felt in Hak Jin-pung’s voice.

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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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