Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 205

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

#Episode 205

Mo Yong Cheong-gwang stood with hands clasped behind his back as if he’d been there all along, his gaze fixed coolly upon Geom U-bin.
The presence of whoever had been tailing them vanished.
That Mo Yong Cheong-gwang had dismissed them meant he didn’t want word of what was about to happen to spread.
“You came to kill me?”
The question struck true, catching Mo Yong Cheong-gwang off guard.
“You see through it at once. How did you know?”
“The how doesn’t matter. What matters is how you intend to do it.”
“Killing you would be as easy as wringing a chicken’s neck.”
“You seem to place too much faith in that mastered Demonic Martial Arts of yours.”
“My faith has never once betrayed me.”
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang slowly drew up his momentum.
His hair streamed skyward and his robes fluttered as though about to be torn to shreds.
That needle-prick sensation of his aura descended upon Geom U-bin like a shroud. Yet the boy’s face remained utterly unmoved.
“In about a quarter hour, I will stake your life on a proposal. I beg you not to refuse it.”
“A quarter hour? You should be making such proposals to the Lord of Hell!”
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang drew the sword slung across his back and closed the distance to Geom U-bin in a single breath.
Geom U-bin unsheathed his own blade and blocked the strike aimed at his throat.
Yet something else besides Demonic Intent radiated from Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s attack.
‘Poison?’
That fishy reek, like rotting meat, was unmistakably poison.
Clang!
The weight of Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s strike transmitted through his hands.
Geom U-bin gave ground in short steps, deflecting the relentless flurry of attacks.
To an observer it might have seemed he was being driven back, but Geom U-bin’s true focus was on the poison emanating from Mo Yong Cheong-gwang.
This was poison indeed, potent enough that any ordinary Murim martial artist would perish from breathing in even a few lungfuls.
Of course, that applied only to ordinary martial artists.
Though Geom U-bin had not yet reached the realm of All Poisons Immunity, there were likely fewer than ten poisons in all the Murim that could truly fell him.
And the poison naturally emanating from Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s skin was not potent enough to bring him down.
After exchanging fifteen moves, Geom U-bin conceded that Mo Yong Cheong-gwang was stronger than he’d anticipated.
In truth, the Mo Yong Clan’s position among the Five Great Clans of Murim and their place in the Murim Alliance’s blood oath owed much to geographical advantage.
The Murim Alliance’s desire to spread its influence and the Mo Yong Clan’s ambitions to wield power in Zhongyuan had simply aligned.
It was common knowledge that the Mo Yong Clan ranked lowest among the Five Great Families in both martial prowess and faction strength.
So Geom U-bin had expected to handle Mo Yong Cheong-gwang at his leisure, yet the reality proved less straightforward.
After unleashing thirty unbroken seconds of assault, Mo Yong Cheong-gwang paused to catch his breath.
“I must admit your Martial Arts are impressive for a mere fifteen-year-old. Though you will still die here.”
“Isn’t placing so much faith in Poison Mastery a mistake?”
The words found their mark, and Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s expression hardened. Geom U-bin shook his head slowly as he spoke.
“A poison this weak I could consume three times daily with my meals and feel nothing.”
“Are you claiming you’ve achieved All Poisons Immunity?”
“Well… I’ve come very close to it.”
“Lies! It’s impossible to reach such a realm at fifteen!”
“So you too are just a fool who believes only what he wishes to believe.”
“How dare you lecture me!”
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s swordwork grew rough as his composure cracked, though its power remained undiminished.
Brutality—that was the common hallmark of those who trained in Demonic Martial Arts.
To transcend that weakness, one could only conquer Demonic Martial Arts with Demonic Martial Arts itself. Only by ascending to the pinnacle of Demonic Intent could one become a true Demon Beast, and Mo Yong Cheong-gwang had not yet reached that height.
So Geom U-bin fought with the confidence of one who could not lose.
Geom U-bin shifted his technique to the Mujik Dobeop.
The Mujik Dobeop, with its endless circles and transformations, was Martial Arts elevated to the ultimate expression of flux and gentleness—unparalleled for facing brutal Demonic Martial Arts.
He deflected a thrust aimed at his chest and swept aside a slash meant to scour his shoulder.
Their battle traced circles through the air, covering a radius of five paces, leaving nothing untouched in its wake.
Trees were severed, stones pulverized.
Dust rose up into a whirlwind that refused to dissipate.
“Wretched cur! How long will you keep running!”
Opening your mouth during a fight is an amateur’s mistake. But the impatience of failing to fell his opponent quickly had made Mo Yong Cheong-gwang commit just such a blunder.
In that instant, Geom U-bin closed the distance between himself and Mo Yong Cheong-gwang.
Startled by the suddenly collapsed space, Mo Yong Cheong-gwang swung his sword in panic. Geom U-bin hooked the blade beneath the guard, deflecting it, and took one final step forward.
Thud!
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang, struck in the chest by Geom U-bin’s left palm, spat blood and flew backward.
Crack!
Only after toppling two trees could Mo Yong Cheong-gwang finally crash to the ground. The severity of his internal injuries from a single blow owed partly to the ferocity of Geom U-bin’s attack, but also to the way his Qi meridians had surged with rage.
Despite the injuries, Mo Yong Cheong-gwang pushed himself up with a grunt.
A blade fell toward the crown of his head.
He managed to raise his sword to block, but he could not avoid the Jincheon Leogak sweeping toward his flank.
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang flew backward once more, tumbling across the earth, and this time could not rise as easily as before.
Supporting himself against a tree, he pushed his upper body up and vomited a mass of blood.
“Heave! Cough! Cough!”
Even in his current state, he would need a year of cultivation to recover from such wounds. Mo Yong Cheong-gwang had never imagined he could be broken so utterly.
Had his opponent been anyone but Geom U-bin, the outcome might have differed. The problem was not a matter of martial prowess—it was that the most fatal aspect of the Demonic Martial Arts he had mastered was the poison that flowed naturally through his Poison Mastery.
Yet the moment his Poison Mastery became useless, the battle was all but decided.
“Of all the cursed luck, to meet someone against whom my poisons don’t work… Perhaps my fortune ends here. Cough!”
“It’s not too late yet. Even now, if you reveal everything you know and put your affairs in order, I’m willing to let you walk away.”
“An arrow already loosed from the bowstring. Whether it strikes the target or misses, only one outcome remains. And it seems I’ve missed mine.”
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang was in no position to back away. Should he submit to Geom U-bin’s demands, it would not be he alone who perished—the entire Mo Yong Clan would face annihilation.
Rising to his feet, Mo Yong Cheong-gwang planted his blade at his center.
“I won’t die alone!”
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang hurled himself at Geom U-bin, spraying blood across the distance between them.
Each droplet that burst from his lips was a hidden projectile, laced with poison. Yet the Energy Barrier that Geom U-bin’s blade created permitted not a single drop to pass through.
Though his sword pierced through that barrier, Geom U-bin’s blade moved faster still.
Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s sword halted an inch before Geom U-bin’s left chest, even as blood fountained from his own throat.
“I won’t die alone!” became Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s final, unfulfilled vow.
Watching the corpse of Mo Yong Cheong-gwang—whose eyes had never closed—cross the river to the other world, Geom U-bin felt a heaviness settle in his chest.
Killing always left Geom U-bin melancholic.
He exhaled a soft sigh and moved to the left, beginning to dig into the earth.
His sadness could not be helped, but he could at least handle the aftermath cleanly. There was nothing to gain from Mo Yong Cheong-gwang’s corpse being discovered.
After burying Mo Yong Cheong-gwang, Geom U-bin returned to the inn.

***

“But the Ga-ju told us not to speak of it to anyone…”
“If you won’t tell me where Father has gone, I’ll rip your tongue out myself.”
Fear flickered across the face of the one who had been trailing Geom U-bin. Mo Yong Seol-yeong’s threats always worked.
When she was fifteen, after saying once, “You won’t need your hands,” she had actually severed the man’s wrists, and no one had dared to ignore her threats since.
The disciple who had been trailing Geom U-bin revealed the last location, and just as she was about to set out, Mo Yong Gang-seok appeared.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“I’ll tell you on the way! Follow me!”
Mo Yong Gang-seok hurried after Mo Yong Seol-yeong as she moved, asking her a question.
“What’s happened?”
“Father followed after Geom U-bin! From the way he left alone, I think he means to kill him!”
“If that’s Father’s decision, why are you so determined to save Geom U-bin?”
“It’s not Geom U-bin I’m worried about!”
“What? You actually think Father would lose to someone like Geom U-bin?”
She didn’t know.
No—Mo Yong Cheong-gwang, who had even completed his seclusion training, would surely win. Yet anything involving Geom U-bin filled her with dread, no matter how certain the outcome ought to be.
That was why she needed to see it with her own eyes.
Mo Yong Gang-seok urged her to abandon this needless worry and turn back, but Mo Yong Seol-yeong did not slow her pace.
So Mo Yong Gang-seok followed her to the place where the disciple had last seen Geom U-bin.
No people were visible, but the signs of battle were easy to find. The ground within a radius of some twenty paces lay scorched and devastated—not as though people had fought there, but as though a natural calamity had swept through.
“Father! Father!”
Mo Yong Gang-seok called out desperately for the invisible Mo Yong Cheong-gwang. But only his own echo returned to him.
In the meantime, Mo Yong Seol-yeong traced other marks and soon found a place where the earth had been disturbed, its raw flesh exposed.
Mo Yong Seol-yeong began to dig with her hands.
“What are you doing? Surely you don’t think Father is buried there?”
“Geom U-bin could be buried there instead.”
“That much is true.”
Even as he agreed, Mo Yong Gang-seok made no move to help. Raised in comfort, he couldn’t bear the thought of soiling his hands with dirt.
When she had dug down about two feet, Mo Yong Gang-seok spoke.
“Stop. There’s nothing here. How long do you mean to keep digging?”
“Until I’m certain there’s truly nothing.”
When the pit reached a depth of three feet, a sharp cry tore from Mo Yong Seol-yeong’s lips.
Blood streamed from her palm, slashed open by the blade protruding from the earth. The edge of a sword had caught her hand.
She carefully brushed away the soil around the blade. Even with just a span of the blade visible, she could identify whose it was.
“That… isn’t that Father’s Nakgyeong Sword?”
Mo Yong Seol-yeong channeled her martial force through the hand gripping the blade. With each inch the sword revealed, her dread deepened.
The weight she felt was no longer that of a single sword. Soon the blade came free, and the hand holding it emerged as well.
Dread became reality. The eyes were sealed shut, and dirt filled the gaping mouth.
Reddish earth also packed the severed throat.
“Father…”
Mo Yong Gang-seok sank to his knees, repeating that single name in disbelief.
“Geom U-bin…”
Unlike her brother, Mo Yong Seol-yeong spoke the enemy’s name through gritted teeth.
“Geom U-bin killed Father? That boy?”
“What does Geom U-bin’s age matter? Father pursued him, and if he’s buried here, then Geom U-bin is the killer!”
It was true.
If age determined martial prowess, then the eldest person in Murim would be the supreme master.
“Geom U-bin! You bastard! I won’t let you live!”
Mo Yong Seol-yeong seized her brother’s hand as he started to rise.
“Don’t be reckless. He was a master who defeated Father. You’re not his match.”
“You’d have me endure while our father’s killer stands before us?”
“Don’t you think I want vengeance? But now isn’t the time.”
“I won’t sit here nursing my anger like some woman!”
Mo Yong Gang-seok wrenched free of his sister’s grip and launched himself forward. No matter how she called after him, he did not return.

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