Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 236

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

#236

Do Pyeong-su made his way to a clearing where uprooted and snapped trees lay piled in heaps, then turned to face the crowd.
“From now on, come in single file and pass directly in front of me!”
Do Pyeong-su’s voice rang out so loudly that even covering one’s ears wouldn’t muffle it. The bandits moved with military precision, terrified that any surge of force directed toward the forest might suddenly veer toward them instead.
“You there! Don’t back away just because I’m not taking you!”
Do Pyeong-sun rounded up the frightened ones and lined them up in order. In times as harsh as these, it was hardly strange to find bandits who looked barely seventeen or eighteen summers old.
Yet he’d been explicit—only those under fifty—and there stood specimens who’d clearly seen sixty winters come and go.
“You blasted fools, blinded by coin! You there, grandfather—step aside!”
“I’m barely forty!”
“Your face has enough wrinkles to sow pumpkin seeds in!”
Do Pyeong-sun stood in the middle of the line, weeding out those who looked too old.
Seated on a split log, Do Pyeong-su folded his arms and observed the bandits filing past him.
Most were broad-shouldered and solidly built, yet their frames weren’t particularly suited for mastering martial arts.
Those who trained in External Martial Arts might achieve some immediate progress, but few would ever transcend the second rank.
Two hundred had passed before him, and he hadn’t selected a single one.
“This is hopeless—like searching for a needle on a sandy shore. Yawn.”
He stretched his mouth wide, wiping away tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes, when a young woman who couldn’t have been more than her early twenties hurried past with a terrified expression etched on her face.
“Wait!”
The startled woman spun around, her face crumpling as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
“Me… me?”
“Your complexion is excellent, and those shoulders—the way they curve from your neck has real promise.”
“I’m already bound to someone, though.”
“Who?”
“The Master of Nok Hwang-chae. I’m his third concubine. Hwang Yeon-sim.”
Do Pyeong-su waved his hand dismissively.
“I don’t care about that. Tighten your skirt against your body.”
“Are you… interested in my body?”
“Yes.”
“If you want me to undress, I will. But not here…”
“I’m not asking you to undress—I need to see the curve of your lower body! That’s how I’ll know if you’ve got the right build for learning martial arts!”
Hwang Yeon-sim let out a small gasp and quickly pulled her white skirt backward. As her hip and lower body frame became visible, a smile played across Do Pyeong-su’s lips.
“Splendid.”
“Men say that to me often enough. Except my calves are a bit thick…”
Do Pyeong-su flicked his finger to the left.
“Go wait over there.”
“But I need to go prepare dinner…”
Do Pyeong-su heaved a deep sigh. From the way she’d misread the situation, it seemed her mind wasn’t particularly sharp.
‘Still, she’s probably better off than I am,’ he thought, and merely waggled his finger again.
Hwang Yeon-sim tilted her head in bewilderment and obediently took a seat where Do Pyeong-su had indicated.
And so the tedious hours dragged on. He’d never expected talent to overflow from this crowd.
But he hadn’t imagined there would be so little either. So Do Pyeong-su decided to lower his standards somewhat.
If he selected only those who truly caught his eye, the final count might be nothing more than Hwang Yeon-sim alone.
By the time three thousand had passed, he’d chosen four. With five thousand assembled, he’d assumed picking ten would be easy—a miscalculation on his part.
‘These bandit wretches are just too…’
So he lowered his standards further. A mediocre bone structure could be overcome through sheer hard work.
‘I’ll just have to push them relentlessly. Can’t be helped.’
As the five thousand passed before Do Pyeong-su, half the day had elapsed and dusk was falling.
When only about a hundred remained, Do Pyeong-su had selected nine candidates.
‘I’ll pick up one more on the way back—grab just anyone.’
While that thought occupied him, a man built like a mountain passed before him.
Do Pyeong-su himself cut an impressive figure, yet this one towered over him by a full head.
The man’s size struck him first, but as Do Pyeong-su examined him more closely, he let out a gasp of admiration.
‘Now that’s a prospect!’
Do Pyeong-su immediately raised his hand to halt the massive figure’s stride.
“You!”
The man came to a halt and looked at Do Pyeong-su, then shook his head.
“I don’t want to.”
He hadn’t even explained what he was asking, and already came the refusal.
“Don’t want to what?”
“Whatever it is, I don’t want to. I have to stay at Park Dang-chae.”
“What’s so good about those bandits anyway? Come with me and—”
“I said no.”
“If you won’t go, I’ll snap your neck.”
Do Pyeong-su’s threats always carried the weight of plausibility. Yet the man shook his head with unwavering firmness.
“I’m not leaving Park Dang-chae.”
The bluntness of the refusal kindled curiosity rather than anger.
“Why won’t you leave that bandit den?”
“The Lord said he’d take me to Oseong Jang-won next year.”
“Eh? Oseong Jang-won?”
“Yes. Geom U-bin at Oseong Jang-won is my friend. Well… I think he’s my friend.”
That Geom U-bin had a friend was news to Do Pyeong-su. More than that—he found it hard to imagine this broad-shouldered man being anyone’s “friend,” much less Geom U-bin’s.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Eh? Not twenty-seven?”
“I know I look older, don’t I? I’m glad I don’t look too young. Ha!”
When he smiled, a trace of youth did show through.
“What’s your name?”
“Yeo Po-sul.”
“And how did you become friends with… I mean, with Geom U-bin?”
“Huh? You know him, sir?”
“Of course I do.”
In an instant, Yeo Po-sul stepped back and raised his fists to his chest. The stance was clumsy, but his intent to fight was clear.
“Everyone who knows Geom U-bin is dangerous. Who are you?”
“You brat, first tell me how you know him! Maybe I’ll break a leg and get answers that way!”
Do Pyeong-su was about to move when Do Pyeong-sun, who had been sitting off to the side with a weary expression, suddenly rushed over.
“My Lord! We should verify first!”
“Verify what?”
“Whether the Geom U-bin you both speak of is the same person.”
“It’s the same one! There’s only one Geom U-bin at Oseong Jang-won!”
“The Geom U-bin at Oseong Jang-won is my friend! My friend’s name is Geom U-bin from Seoungdo!”
“So how is it that Geom U-bin is your friend?”
Yeo Po-sul raised his fists again.
“Who are you?”
Since this man claimed to be Geom U-bin’s friend, Do Pyeong-su couldn’t strike recklessly.
“I’m Geom U-bin’s uncle.”
Calling himself a martial master wouldn’t be believed anyway, and there was no time here to explain the full circumstances.
But at those words, Yeo Po-sul’s suspicion only deepened.
“That’s a lie! Geom U-bin has no uncles! Both he and I are orphans without a single relative!”
The word “orphan” struck Do Pyeong-su’s chest like an autumn wind.
‘I suspected as much, but my friend was truly an orphan. How pitiful.’
He felt sadness beginning to take hold, but this was no time for sentiment.
“So I simply… took Geom U-bin as my nephew.”
“Where in this world does someone just take a nephew? Wait—now that I think of it, the Lord said he thinks of me as a nephew too. So people like that do exist? Anyway, since the Lord said he’d take me to Oseong Jang-won next year, I’m not going with you.”
“Why do you need to wait until next year to go to Oseong Jang-won?”
Yeo Po-sul scratched his head.
“I don’t have the confidence to go alone, so the Lord said he’d take me. It was supposed to be last year, but somehow it got pushed to next year.”
“There’s no need to wait until next year. Just come with me now.”
“What makes you think you can trust you?”
Do Pyeong-su had never been skilled at persuading anyone with words.
Thud!
After delivering a single blow and knocking Yeo Po-sul unconscious, Do Pyeong-su grabbed him by the waist and spoke to Do Pyeong-sun.
“I’m leaving first. Tell the others to come to Oseong Jang-won.”
“What about the money?”
“Money? Right! I’ll send word to the Oseong Merchant Association branch in nearby Do-wan County. Go find them.”
“Do-wan County? That Do-wan County? The one five hundred miles away…!”
Before Do Pyeong-su could finish speaking, he was gone.
“Five hundred li—what’s close about that!”

***

Following Jang Man-dok into the Estate were five unfamiliar faces.
Appearing to be in their late teens to early twenties, they walked with stiffened movements, clearly tense.
“Master, who are they? Yes? Talented people gathered by the Oseong Merchant Association? Ah! So the three masters will each recruit ten, and you’ve filled your quota of ten as well? There’s no need to compete over numbers like this…… No, we mustn’t fall behind.”
That very evening, as if by promise, Seo Seok-san and Yeon Geum-hong returned.
Both brought ten talented individuals, yet the atmosphere was entirely different.
The seven men and three women in their early twenties whom Yeon Geum-hong had brought were talkative and quick to laugh, whereas the ten who came with Seo Seok-san answered only when spoken to—taciturn to the core.
The arc of a life lived and its nature always align. By that evening, Do Pyeong-su had also returned.
But Do Pyeong-su had brought only one companion.
“Why just one?”
At Seo Seok-san’s question, Do Pyeong-su called out to Geom U-bin instead of answering.
“Lord! Lord!”
Geom U-bin, who had been reading in his room, rushed out at the urgent summons.
“What’s happened?”
Do Pyeong-su shoved forward Yeo Po-sul, whom he’d brought as though kidnapping him.
“Do you know this one? He claims to be your friend.”
Yeo Po-sul, bewildered from the breakneck pace of the journey, sat dazed on the ground.
Geom U-bin recognized him at once. Yeo Po-sul was a boy impossible to forget, if only for his size.
When Geom U-bin had last seen him at nine years old, Yeo Po-sul had been taller and broader than anyone else at Baeklimmun.
“Po-sul? It’s really you, isn’t it?”
That Yeo Po-sul didn’t immediately recognize Geom U-bin was not simply because of the dizzying speed of their arrival.
Yeo Po-sul retained his childhood appearance unchanged, but over the past eight years, Geom U-bin had undergone considerable transformation, both inside and out.
“Who…… are you?”
“It’s me—U-bin.”
Stunned, Yeo Po-sul stared at Geom U-bin, then tilted his head in confusion.
“You’re really U-bin? You?”
Geom U-bin approached the seated Yeo Po-sul and offered him a smile.
“Yes—you used to bring me food when I was starving in the Punishment Chamber.”
Not the most quick-witted, Yeo Po-sul took a long moment before the memory clicked into place.
“That’s right! U-bin the troublemaker! You’re U-bin!”
Yeo Po-sul sprang to his feet and embraced Geom U-bin fiercely.
“I finally found you! Ah! I’m sorry—did it hurt?”
“It’s fine.”
When they were children, Yeo Po-sul used to hold Geom U-bin like this. Back then, Geom U-bin would tap his friend’s waist to signal he couldn’t breathe.
“But how did you end up coming with Lord Do?”
“Lord Do?”
“Yes, the man who brought you is my master.”
Yeo Po-sul blinked and asked:
“Your junior under the same master?”
“You could say that.”
“That person is?”
Had it been anyone else, he would have knocked the finger being pointed at him, but being Geom U-bin’s friend, he held back.
“Yes.”
“Then he’s my brother too, isn’t he?”
“No, it’s not quite like that.”
“If he’s your brother, he’s my brother.”
At Yeo Po-sul’s simple, earnest words, Seo Seok-san and Yeon Geum-hong let out soft laughter.
“You two! If that’s how it works, only I become the younger brother? You’re all in the same boat!”
“That may be, but it’s amusing right now. Heh heh……!”
Since they couldn’t make the Bloodwind Four Lions into Yeo Po-sul’s siblings, Geom U-bin whispered to him:
“They are my masters, but they’re terrifyingly fierce people.”
“More than the warriors of Baeklimmun?”
“A hundred times—no, a thousand times more frightening. Have you ever seen me lie?”
Yeo Po-sul shook his head. The reason Yeo Po-sul had so desperately wanted to see Geom U-bin was that among everyone in his life, Geom U-bin was the friend he trusted most.
Yeo Po-sul, reading Do Pyeong-su’s expression, asked:
“But why did you bring me here? It doesn’t seem like it was just because I’m your friend.”
Even someone as dull as he was could have grasped that much.
“They’re going to make you far stronger.”
“I’m already plenty strong, though. In our bandit gang, there’s no one stronger than the gang leader.”
“You’ll become far stronger than even that leader.”
“Really?”
“Of course. But how did you end up becoming a bandit anyway? I thought you’d died at Baeklimmun.”
Since the Bloodwind Four Lions had slaughtered everyone at Baeklimmun without exception, it was only natural he’d assumed Yeo Po-sul was among them.
“Do you remember Elder Gang Chu-seom?”

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