Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 32

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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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#032

The Duck Walk had been forgotten.
Whenever someone from somewhere let it slip, four masters would come rushing at him like a flash, ready to strike his head—but those four masters never appeared that day, even after he’d gone all the way to the back garden.
“Where are you all? Even dog dung finds a use in medicine if you look hard enough—oof!”
The blow to his head was slow in coming, but it came nonetheless.
“You want to spend the rest of your life crawling on your backside?”
The one who’d delivered such a dire threat was Do Pyeong-su.
“That’s not it—look at this!”
Go Seo-bang held out a letter toward Do Pyeong-su.
He took two more blows, and was about to receive a third punch to the head when Seo Seok-san came to his rescue.
“Blame your own blindness—why are you striking my disciple?”
“I can read half the characters here myself. It just takes me longer, that’s all.”
“What is it?”
“I was taking a rest—I mean, practicing—in the courtyard when an arrow suddenly flew at me with this attached to it.”
Seo Seok-san’s face went ashen as he examined the letter.
“Senior Brother has been abducted!”

―You have our disciples in your possession. Come to the Abandoned Temple halfway up Yongbong Mountain by the end of Shenshi. If you don’t come or arrive late, your disciples will die.

Yeon Geum-hong’s hands trembled as she held the letter. If it was Shenshi, there was barely half a shichen left.
“If it’s our disciples… that’s just Net-dung, right? Not Senior Brother, right? That’s right?”
Seo Seok-san spoke in a grave tone.
“I checked myself just to be sure—all of Net-dung are in the estate. They mistook Senior Brother for one of our disciples and abducted him.”
“How dare some bastard kidnap Senior Brother, who is like heaven itself! If I catch them, I’ll exterminate their entire clan!”
They were all as furious as Do Pyeong-su shouting, but they couldn’t even guess who the enemy was.
“If they’re using hostages like cowards, they can’t be from the Orthodox Faction, can they?”
Do Pyeong-su picked up where Seo Seok-san left off.
“The Orthodox Faction isn’t any less treacherous than the Heterodox—if anything, they’re worse.”
“True enough. Still, let’s assume it’s the Heterodox for now… does anything come to mind?”
Though Hyeolpung Saja seemed to personify the Demonic Path itself, their disputes weren’t only with the Orthodox Faction.
Because they didn’t distinguish between righteous and evil if it displeased them, there might even be more Demonic cultivators who ground their teeth against them.
“Could it be those Demonic Bandits from the Bloodwind Gang we wiped out five years ago?”
The three others tilted their heads at Do Pyeong-su’s words.
“Who were they?”
“You wouldn’t know. I handled them myself.”
“And why did you wipe them out?”
“Because they had the same name as us. Hyeolpung Saja. Bloodwind Gang.”
“That’s the reason?”
“Yes.”
“How much trouble have you caused in your life! Who in this world wipes out an entire bandit gang just because they share the same name!”
Yeon Geum-hong spoke to Seo Seok-san as he shouted.
“You killed that Scarlet Flame Sorceress for much the same reason, didn’t you?”
“The Scarlet Flame Sorceress?”
“Sichuan Province, twelve years ago.”
Seo Seok-san’s memory returned at once.
“She deserved to die! That lascivious demon had seduced how many women!”
“How many?”
“A great many—”
“You don’t know, do you? Of course you don’t. The real reason you killed the Scarlet Flame Sorceress was purely because she had thicker hair than you.”
“If that woman hadn’t flaunted her hair in front of me, I wouldn’t have killed her!”
Bang!
Jang Man-dok slammed his hand down hard on the table.
“Focus on Senior Brother, will you?”
After that, they named dozens of suspects, but without fixing on anyone in particular, the appointed time arrived.
Hyeolpung Saja gathered their weapons.
I don’t know who abducted Geom U-bin, but one thing is certain.
They won’t even be able to preserve his body intact.
As they were heading for the door, Se-hwa approached them hesitantly and spoke.
“Um, couldn’t I come along too?”
“Come along for what?”
“Maybe there’ll be a need to use feminine wiles or something.”
“Even idiocy flourishes in abundance.”
Yeon Geum-hong spoke coldly and walked past, but she wasn’t unaware of Se-hwa’s feelings. Though perhaps not to the degree of Hyeolpung Saja, Hang Ju-sa-ung was also worried about Geom U-bin.
So before departing, she left a word behind.
“Senior Brother will return safely. This is the promise of Hyeolpung Saja.”
Come to think of it, she couldn’t recall making more than five promises in her entire life. Having lived past ninety years, that meant she made a promise roughly once every twenty years.
And those promises had been kept. Probably.
But this promise was not one that could be kept by Hyeolpung Saja’s will alone.
“Senior Brother hasn’t already come to harm, has he?”
Do Pyeong-su’s worried words were met with Seo Seok-san’s cold retort.
“Don’t talk such nonsense! Would Senior Brother fall so easily?”
“But if someone was bold enough to abduct Senior Brother and summon us, they must be no ordinary master.”
Hyeolpung Saja had been called to one place.
If they so wished, the four of them could sweep away one or two sects of the Gudaemun Faction. That they had been summoned meant preparations had been made, and it also meant the enemy was that formidable.
Do Pyeong-su’s anxious voice continued.
“What if something has happened to Senior Brother?”
“Then we kill the enemy and die as well. Misfortune has befallen Senior Brother because of us—how could we live with our faces? There would be no joy in living.”
Seo Seok-san’s words were the heart of them all.
Thanks to their haste, they arrived at the midpoint of Yongbong Mountain earlier than the appointed time. Just twenty zhang more climbing and the Abandoned Temple, hidden by forest, would come into view.
“Do you sense anything?”
At Yeon Geum-hong’s question, they all shook their heads.
One could deceive a dog’s nose, but not their keen perception.
“Could someone be waiting for us alone?”
Do Pyeong-su’s pessimistic suspicion became reality as they approached the Abandoned Temple. No matter how keenly they focused their senses, they caught only wild beasts and insects.
And one person inside the Abandoned Temple.
Holes riddled the walls and the roof was half-collapsed, yet they couldn’t see the interior clearly.
They could only sense through their perception that one person was there.
“I can’t fathom what scheme this is.”
Even their master Hwa Jeok-san, who had been called Tianyuan, had admitted that he couldn’t withstand the combined assault of all four of them.
Yeon Geum-hong stepped forward first with long strides.
“Let’s see what manner of person is so impressive.”
They entered the Abandoned Temple. Indeed, there was only one person. Though his hair hung long and unkempt, his broad back revealed him to be a man.
The man, his back turned to them, sat atop a wooden box so large it could fit a person inside.
“You brought reinforcements. Should I commend your loyalty?”
His voice was hoarse like an old man’s, yet he didn’t seem to be of great age.
“Where is our Senior Brother… no, our disciple?”
At Seo Seok-san’s question, the man tapped the box beneath him lightly with his sword.
“If you’re capable, rescue him as you see fit. Ah, but not yet. You must first understand the evil deeds you have committed. Of course, there won’t be just one or two.”
The man planted his sword upright on the box.
All of Hyeolpung Saja were confident they could save Geom U-bin before that sword pierced the box, yet none of them moved.
Even if their own heart were locked away in that box, they wouldn’t be this cautious—but with Geom U-bin’s life hanging in the balance, Hyeolpung Saja became the greatest cowards in the world.
―I don’t sense Senior Brother’s aura from the box?
―You’re right. Could it be…
Do Pyeong-su was about to voice his fear when Yeon Geum-hong stopped him.
―He may have used a drug that suppresses even breath.
The man’s voice cut through their silent communication.
“Twenty years ago. In Luoyang.”
Hyeolpung Saja’s memory raced back to that time and place.
“Gwak Bang-u.”
―Do you remember anything?
―I was in Sichuan Province twenty years ago. I stayed there for two years on sect business.
So it was for Yeon Geum-hong, and neither Do Pyeong-su nor Jang Man-dok could dredge up any memory of Gwak Bang-u from Luoyang.
Seo Seok-san, who had posed the question, was in the same position.
“Is it that you’ve forgotten because it was so long ago, or are you pretending not to know out of fear?”
“I understand you hold a grudge against us, but release our disciple. It’s us you want, isn’t it?”
The sword bit into the wooden box. Do Pyeong-su flinched in alarm.
“I don’t know! I don’t remember!”
“You murdered my parents and destroyed an entire family, and you claim you don’t remember? How can you call yourselves human!”
At the man’s anguished cry, Yeon Geum-hong spoke.
“If your parents were killed, that hatred would reach the heavens. In all the deeds we’ve committed across the Murim under the name Hyeolpung Saja, how could such a thing never have happened? But truthfully, I have no memory of Luoyang twenty years ago. None of us even went to Luoyang back then.”
The man’s head turned slightly.
“Hyeolpung…… Saja?”
The scarred man’s expression turned bewildered.
“Who…… are you?”
“The Hyeolpung Saja you’ve been searching for. The masters of the boy you’re holding.”
“Eeek! Y-you’re the Hyeolpung Saja?”
Now it was Hyeolpung Saja’s expression that grew confused.
“You summoned us here, so why are you so shocked?”
“Ah, n-no, I…… I didn’t call for Hyeolpung Saja, I c-called for G-Gangseong Samak instead…… didn’t I?”
“What? Gangseong Samak?”
The man’s jaw trembled as he nodded vigorously.
“So your enemy is Gangseong Samak?”
The man nodded again.
“Then why did you kidnap our senior brother…… no, our disciple!”
“That was…… naturally, I thought he was a disciple of Gangseong Samak…….”
In that instant, Yeon Geum-hong moved.
Before the man’s sword could bury itself in the box, her hand had already seized his throat.
Bang!
The man’s back crashed hard against the Guan Yu statue, its paint completely peeled away, one arm hanging loose.
“Check the box!”
Yeon Geum-hong held his throat firmly, careful not to cut off his breath entirely.
“Master, please stop.”
Geom U-bin appeared through the broken wall without even needing to check the box.
“Senior Brother!”
The three men about to check the box, along with Yeon Geum-hong, rushed toward Geom U-bin.
“What’s happened to you?”
“You weren’t held captive?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Caw-caw!”
Even Jang Man-dok made a sound.
Though naturally no one could understand it.
The man sprawled on the ground gasped roughly, his voice tinged with shock.
“H-how is this possible? I thought it would take at least one Double Hour to chase down that brat.”
“The boy’s performance was excellent, I must admit. But he couldn’t fool me completely. And my pace happens to be rather swift.”
Yeon Geum-hong asked.
“What boy are you talking about?”
Geom U-bin recounted what had happened in the town.
“I had no intention of hurting you.”
“Of course not! I’m no shameless wretch who’d lay hands on a child!”
Do Pyeong-su’s eyes bulged as he brought his fist down on the back of the man’s head.
“Shut your mouth! What are you bragging about!”
“I overheard bits from outside. Turned out the debt wasn’t the masters’ doing, but the disciples’ doing.”
Yeon Geum-hong embraced Geom U-bin, who scratched his head sheepishly.
“In any case, I’m relieved you’re safe. Truly relieved.”
She was so overjoyed her eyes threatened to fill with tears. To hide those tears, the wrath of Hyeolpung Saja turned instead toward the man.
“How dare you kidnap our senior brother!”
Do Pyeong-su raised his fist toward the man, but Geom U-bin stopped him.
“It wasn’t a kidnapping!”
“To me it’s all the same!”
Seo Seok-san backed Do Pyeong-su up.
“Whether it was kidnapping or deception, anyone who’s wronged our senior brother even a hairsbreadth cannot go unpunished. Let’s cut off his limbs first and throw him to the beasts.”
“We could bury him with just his head above ground and let nature take its course.”
Even the fierce-eyed Jang Man-dok nodded his agreement.
The man’s face had drained of all color; he looked as though death itself had already claimed him.
“Wait, please.”
Geom U-bin stepped between Hyeolpung Saja and the man.
“You can’t kill someone just because they deceived you.”
“What? You can spare the one who plucked every hair from my head, but I cannot spare anyone who lays a hand on my senior brother!”
It was a statement that revealed the strength of Seo Seok-san’s resolve. But as always, Hyeolpung Saja could not overcome Geom U-bin.
“We decided not to treat human life lightly. If we kill this man now, we disciples are just accumulating another karmic debt. And it would be because of me.”
Hyeolpung Saja had no choice but to step back.
He had come to understand that if they killed the man, their karmic debt would ultimately become Geom U-bin’s burden. Do Pyeong-su pointed at the man, whose legs had given way and who now sat crumpled on the ground.
“Still, we can’t simply let him go. He’s discovered that we’re here.”
“Let’s take him back to the estate first. We need to find out what connection he has with those disciples.”
The man waved his hands frantically.
“No, there’s no need to know anything. Let’s just call it revenge settled.”
Do Pyeong-su leaned his fearsome face close to the man’s.
“You laid hands on our senior brother over something this trivial, and you think you can simply walk away?”
“Ah, no… then I’ll go with you?”
The man had the helpless look of an ox being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
He’d come to catch three dogs, and four tigers had appeared instead. His state of mind was entirely understandable.
“What’s your name?”
When the man hesitated to answer Geom U-bin’s question, Do Pyeong-su let out a growl.
“My senior brother asked you.”
“It’s Gwak Bong!”
Geom U-bin was about to ask about the grudge between Gangseong Samak and Gwak Bong, but thought better of it. They would meet soon enough, and it was best to let the parties involved settle it themselves.
‘What if those disciples killed that person’s parents?’

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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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