Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 219

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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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#Episode 219

“What’s happened?”
“The Young Lord of Oseong Jang-won has arrived.”
“What? Geom U-bin?”
All this while they’d managed to ignore each other, pretending indifference like a dog watching a rooster, a dog watching cattle—and now, of all times, she showed up. It could be connected to the Murim Alliance.
“Do you think she discovered that the Alliance asked us for help?”
“No one spoke of it. How could she have learned?”
“In Hangju these days, and nowhere in Zhejiang Province—is there any place where Oseong Jang-won has neither eyes nor ears?”
It was an undeniable truth.
Dongsi Doga had somehow become like a minor sect flailing for survival beneath the dominion of an enormous martial faction.
“Since she’s here, I’d best go receive her.”
“I’ll go alone, Uncle. Even so, there’s no need for you to meet her directly.”
Dong Baek-jae left the room to welcome the visitor, but nearly collided with Dong Chang-min, who was hurrying past.
“Where are you off to in such a rush?”
“Uncle, Geom U-bin from Oseong Jang-won has arrived.”
“Yes, and I’m on my way to receive her.”
“Never mind receiving—let me go give her a thrashing!”
“A thrashing?”
“This woman’s dodged every sparring match with me using one excuse or another! And now she walks through our door of her own accord—surely she’s not planning to run away again?”
Since Dongsi Doga became a blood ally of the Murim Alliance, Dong Chang-min had been on assignment there.
So he might well be in the dark about Geom U-bin and Oseong Jang-won’s movements, but this time his ignorance ran deep.
“Don’t even think of laying eyes on Geom U-bin.”
“Uncle? What do you mean?”
“There’s no point in explaining at length. For the next double hour, go to your room and don’t come out.”
“Uncle! That’s impossible!”
“Does your uncle’s word sound so trivial to you?”
“It’s not that, but you’re issuing an order I can’t understand, which is—”
“You’ll understand naturally soon enough. For now, just do as you’re told.”
Dong Baek-jae had spoken with such force that Dong Chang-min turned and went to his room. But given his nature, he wouldn’t abandon his plans just because of a few words.
On his way out, Dong Baek-jae stopped by Dong Medicine Hall, which managed Dongsi Doga’s medical affairs.
Baek Byeong-seon, the hall master, was skilled in medicine though unremarkable in martial arts, and he came to greet Dong Baek-jae.
“Master, you still have that Laxative Powder, don’t you?”
“The digestive agent, you mean?”
“Yes. The kind that makes a man leak like a sieve.”
“We do have plenty on hand. Has someone come down with constipation?”
“Someone more troublesome than constipation. Chang-min.”
“The Sect Master?”
“Make Chang-min eat Laxative Powder—lots of it. Make sure he can’t set one foot outside the house.”
“But how can I possibly—”
“That’s an order. If he doesn’t take the Laxative Powder, the boy might not live through today.”
In a fair duel between martial artists, death is no matter for revenge or reckoning.
“Understood. I’ll have his servant put it in the tea he likes to drink.”
“There’s no room for failure.”
After giving these grave instructions, Dong Baek-jae hurried out through the Main Gate.
Geom U-bin stood in the courtyard with hands clasped behind her back like an old sage, surveying Dongsi Doga here and there.
“Forgive my tardiness. Something urgent came up on the way out.”
Though he showed no sign of it, Dong Baek-jae was deeply shaken.
She should have been sixteen this year, yet Geom U-bin had already transformed into a young woman.
“Think nothing of it. I’m grateful you received an uninvited guest so warmly.”
“The Sect Master is waiting. Please, come inside.”
The air around her was grave, yet her steps were light.
It was clear her martial skill was considerable, but exactly how considerable eluded him—a source of frustration.
‘If the Murim Alliance watches her this closely, she can’t be weak.’
Without seeing her martial arts directly, he could only guess as much.
What was fortunate was that in Geom U-bin, who wore a smile habitually at the corners of her mouth, no trace of hostility appeared.
It’s possible he didn’t come on business for the Murim Alliance but for some other matter.
“It’s been seven years since we met by chance in town, hasn’t it? If we’d passed each other on the street after all this time, I might not have recognized you.”
“You still look like you’re in your forties, sir.”
The two exchanged honeyed pleasantries and settled across from each other.
“You seem busy these days—what brings you all the way here?”
Dong Seong-bang treated him with every courtesy befitting a sixteen-year-old’s proper conduct.
“There’s no great reason for my visit.”
Geom U-bin continued with a practiced smile.
“But I’ve heard certain rumors, and I thought there might be something that could harm the goodwill between our estate and the Dongsi Doga. I came wondering if there’s anything we should be careful about beforehand.”
His tone was quite formal.
There was barely any goodwill to damage, yet he spoke of being cautious to such a degree—Dong Seong-bang felt his heart grow heavier still.
“Is there any reason our goodwill would fall apart?”
They hadn’t even begun surveillance of Oseong Jang-won yet, so it wasn’t a lie.
“What I heard was about the future, not the present. The Murim Alliance apparently visited.”
Geom U-bin was speaking carefully, implying he knew everything.
“We’re in a blood pact with the Murim Alliance, so people coming around is only natural, isn’t it?”
“Of course. We wouldn’t dream of making an issue of such a thing.”
For the first time, Geom U-bin met Dong Seong-bang’s gaze directly.
“Unless the Alliance’s business was surveillance of our Oseong Jang-won.”
Dong Seong-bang had suspected as much, but Oseong Jang-won had indeed grasped everything.
‘We don’t even know the name of Oseong Jang-won’s lord properly, yet they know everything about us!’
A difference in information was, in effect, a difference in power.
“I came here out of goodwill toward the Dongsi Doga. There was talk inside that we should simply let the Dongsi Doga conduct surveillance on us.”
The unasked question—’And what would happen after that?’—arose unbidden in Dong Seong-bang’s mind.
Dong Seong-bang suddenly realized he hadn’t even raised an objection to what Geom U-bin said.
‘I’m being outmaneuvered by a sixteen-year-old!’
For one who had once ruled as the Tyrant of Zhejiang Province, it was no small blow to his pride.
“If you know everything already, this is easier to discuss. Truth is, I’ve been wrestling with this problem myself. As the Dongsi Doga, we don’t much like surveilling our neighbors, the Oseong Jang-won. So why doesn’t your estate settle this directly with the Murim Alliance?”
Dong Seong-bang passed the ball back to Geom U-bin.
As if he’d anticipated the words, Geom U-bin’s answer came immediately.
“Yes, we shall do so.”
Geom U-bin stood as though the business was concluded. But from the Dongsi Doga’s perspective, nothing had been resolved.
“Shall do so? You mean you’ll speak to the Alliance?”
“If the Alliance intends to attack our estate, then certainly we must prepare. But if that’s not the case, there’s no need to go to such trouble, is there? I believe I’ve made our position clear: being surveilled by us means being made our enemy.”
It was something that hardly needed stating.
“In short, we have no intention of leaving our enemy unwatched.”
Dong Baek-jae, who had been listening silently until now, stepped forward.
“Are you saying Oseong Jang-won means to make the Dongsi Doga your enemy?”
“Will you be surveilling our estate?”
Naturally, the Dongsi Doga should have answered that question first from the start.
“We haven’t decided that yet.”
“Will you let us know once you do?”
To speak of surveillance and then conduct it cannot properly be called surveillance at all.
“Does Oseong Jang-won wish for the Dongsi Doga to refuse the Murim Alliance’s demands?”
At that question, Geom U-bin sat back down.
He judged that an atmosphere conducive to actual negotiation had finally ripened.
“After all our efforts, we’ve only just become blood-pacted allies of the Murim Alliance—we can’t refuse so easily. Our estate fully understands the Dongsi Doga’s position. But put yourself in our shoes. If someone said they were surveilling the Dongsi Doga, would you simply stand by and watch?”
Geom U-bin’s words continued to the silent Dong Seong-bang.
“In the end, it becomes a path toward mutual enmity. Our estate sees no benefit in becoming enemies with the Dongsi Doga.”
“The same goes for our Dongsi Doga.”
In truth, Oseong Jang-won cared little either way.
If they determined someone an enemy, they would simply repay them in kind—that was all. This arrangement existed only because Geom U-bin preferred not to walk that path.
“As long as the Murim Alliance believes the Dongsi Doga is surveilling us, the matter should be resolved.”
“You’re asking us to deceive the Murim Alliance?”
“Isn’t it better than two tigers living together and wounding each other in their fight?”
Geom U-bin had elevated the Dongsi Doga to equal standing with Oseong Jang-won. A matter of negotiation technique.
“What method do you have in mind?”
“Our estate will provide the information, and you need only pass it on to the Murim Alliance.”
“You’re asking us to give them false information?”
“Most of it will be genuine. Truth be told, our estate has little worth hiding. It’s just that being watched is irksome, and my aunt and uncle terribly dislike being under surveillance.”
He’d even slipped in a subtle threat.
“So you’ll only share information that’s safe to reveal.”
“I’d wager that more than ninety percent of what happens at Oseong Jang-won remains unknown. Even if Dongsi Doga kept direct watch, it would be difficult to learn more than that.”
If this arrangement never reached the ears of the Murim Alliance, both sides could walk away satisfied.
“You do understand that the Murim Alliance must never learn of this, yes?”
“There’s no reason a secret should leak from Oseong Jang-won’s side, is there?”
That much was true. Dong Seong-bang showed a moment of deliberation, but the answer was already decided.
The instant he refused Geom U-bin’s proposal, Oseong Jang-won and Dongsi Doga would become enemies.
He was confident they could win a war.
At least, that was what Dong Seong-bang believed. But the cost would be staggering, and Dongsi Doga might lose its standing as the Tyrant of Zhejiang Province in the aftermath.
“Very well. I’ll accept those terms.”
For now, he chose the safer path.
He possessed enough wisdom to know that fighting an unseen enemy was the most dangerous game of all.
“We’ll need to arrange for a carrier pigeon to shuttle between Oseong Jang-won and Dongsi Doga. You can send word of our discussions to the Murim Alliance through your channels.”
Brief farewells were exchanged, and Geom U-bin left the room. Dong Baek-jae escorted him to the outer gate, then exhaled a long sigh.
“That young man’s negotiating prowess is formidable. In the end, hasn’t everything unfolded according to his wishes?”
“That’s the privilege of holding the blade.”
It had been a day of feeling the true terror of an enemy shrouded in darkness.
Geom U-bin’s steps were light as he departed Dongsi Doga. He’d anticipated this outcome all along.
Dong Seong-bang was no man to embrace adventure and risk war with Oseong Jang-won. Excessive caution was the hallmark of Dongsi Doga’s leaders—and it was precisely what had kept them standing to this day.
“The Murim Alliance’s eyes are already veiled . . .”
As he walked, turning over plans in his mind, he heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind.
“Stop!”
He turned to see a face he hadn’t encountered in some time—rushing toward him in a flustered state.
“Young Master Dong, is it.”
Dong Chang-min, his face flushed bright red with whatever had driven him to chase, came to a halt several paces away.
“All this time you’ve slipped away like a catfish, dodging sparring with me . . . dodging . . .”
He’d never realized a person’s face could turn quite that shade of red.
Splutter-splutter-splutter-splutter . . .!
The sound unmistakably emanated from his lower abdomen.
“I think something’s leaked.”
“N-no, not yet . . . j-just . . . wait . . .”
Dong Chang-min stumbled backward in growing distress, though of course Geom U-bin made no move to wait.
Jang Man-dok fell silently into step beside him. Geom U-bin had already anticipated that Jang Man-dok would follow once he mentioned visiting Dongsi Doga.
“Brother Jang, since we’re out, shall we grab a proper meal together for once?”
Jang Man-dok would hardly refuse.
They ventured into town, where Geom U-bin indulged Jang Man-dok’s fondness for five-spice braised meat to his heart’s content, then wrapped up an extra portion to take away.
It was So Gi-cheon he was thinking of—the boy who always appeared like a ghost whenever he came into town.
Along with a single copper coin, it would mean So Gi-cheon could spend that time on martial cultivation instead of begging.
Yet despite walking through the town for quite some time, So Gi-cheon never appeared.

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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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