Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 37

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

#Chapter 037

Seo Seok-san quietly withdrew his hand from Yeon Geum-hong’s arm, only for Geom U-bin to catch the other one.
“Master, please restrain yourself. You’re here as an invited guest, after all.”
She could have brushed aside the senior disciples’ objections with a wave, but the moment Geom U-bin’s warmth touched her skin, her anger snapped back into sharp focus.
“Oh my! What am I doing? I’m terribly sorry, Patriarch. I’m afraid I have something of a temperament problem. Hehe!”
“Yes. Our youngest has grown up so adorably that sometimes she can’t quite tell her left from her right. Haha!”
Seo Seok-san rushed through the recovery, and Namgung Hye-yeon, uncomfortable in her flattery, made an effort to appease Namgung Cheol-un’s displeasure.
Such an awkward meal could not have lasted long.
What had begun with apparent warmth ended abruptly in discomfort, and Geom U-bin and the Hyeolpung Saja returned to their quarters.
“Geum-hong, have you lost your mind? You nearly drove a chopstick into Namgung Cheol-un’s forehead right there!”
“He was spouting nonsense, so what did you expect!”
“That’s no excuse!”
At Do Pyeong-su’s words, Yeon Geum-hong thrust her face close to his.
“Say you’ll call me Sister. Say it twice, and we’ll see what happens.”
“You’re angry because we called you Master a few times? Don’t be so childish!”
“Then call me! Yeon Geum-hong, Sister!”
“Fine, there’s no reason I can’t! Yeon Geum-hong, Sis, Sis, Sis… Sis-who? Damn it!”
Seo Seok-san, catching the sharp edge of her glare, raised both hands in a gesture that said ‘I understand your position completely.’
Only Jang Man-dok, who’d said nothing and so had never heard Yeon Geum-hong call him brother, successfully stayed out of her way.
The moment her gaze fell on Geom U-bin, who sat across the table, Yeon Geum-hong’s anger transformed into remorse.
“Master.”
At her call, Geom U-bin lifted his eyes from their downward gaze.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“Because of me, you couldn’t even enjoy your meal in peace, and things have turned awkward with the Namgung Clan…”
“There are plenty of delicious meals to be had with or without the Namgung Clan. And they’re not even business partners of ours. Why worry if relations sour a little?”
“Still, if things go poorly with them, it might make things uncomfortable with Namgung Hye-yeon…”
“Namgung Hye-yeon is just a friend. Don’t concern yourself.”
“Then you’re not upset?”
“Upset? I would’ve loved to see that chopstick go straight into the patriarch’s forehead. Wouldn’t you?”
“It wouldn’t have stopped at his forehead—it would’ve drilled clean through his skull and stuck in the wall. Hehe!”
Seo Seok-san said this.
“At that point, the Namgung Clan would’ve been wiped out.”
Yeon Geum-hong struck his back.
“Did I throw the chopstick? I would never make such a mistake!”
“Even if you did, it wouldn’t matter. Whatever mistakes or wrongs my disciples commit, I’m always on their side. That’s what family is.”
“Sniff! Master!”
Yeon Geum-hong hugged him so hard that Geom U-bin thought his ribs would crack.

***

“Brother, you showed admirable restraint back there.”
At Namgung Seong-won’s words, Namgung Cheol-un looked down at his own palm.
“It wasn’t restraint—I simply had no choice.”
The sweat that had formed there still hadn’t dried.
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you sense the killing intent that U-bin’s aunt unleashed?”
“Killing intent? What are you saying?”
Namgung Seong-won asked in confusion, then his expression hardened as understanding dawned.
“Surely not… No, it couldn’t be. I felt nothing at all. If she’d truly unleashed killing intent… then I should have sensed it too…”
“So it was aimed only at me, then. That she could release such killing intent—and only I would perceive it…”
At Namgung Cheol-un’s heavy expression, Namgung Seong-won chose his next question with care.
“How intense was this killing intent?”
“Even now, the sweat on my palms hasn’t dried.”
“What? If she’s a master of that caliber, then throughout all the Murim…”
“Yes, I’d say they’re not inferior to me.”
Still, Namgung Cheol-un’s pride wouldn’t let him think they were superior.
“Are all the masters in Hangju of that caliber?”
“Hard to say. For now, we should probably assume they are, shouldn’t we?”
“I thought Oseong Jang-won was merely a distillery. But then… why are masters of that level running a liquor business?”
“That’s the mystery, isn’t it? The minds of such eccentric people are impossible to fathom.”
“We should consider improving relations with them.”
“Improving relations?”
“For the Namgung Clan to expand into Zhejiang Province, we need allies. If we could find someone with wealth, reputation, and martial prowess, there’s no better partner than Oseong Jang-won.”
“But we can’t simply bow to them.”
“There’s no need to. We have Namgung Hye-yeon, don’t we?”
However, contrary to Namgung Seong-won’s hopes, Geom U-bin and Namgung Hye-yeon hadn’t made much progress.
Had the Bloodwind Four Lions not arrived, they might have spent more time together.
But with only a single day allotted to them, the time Geom U-bin and Namgung Hye-yeon spent together hadn’t even reached one double hour.
“So we have no hard feelings between us.”
At Namgung Hye-yeon’s words, Geom U-bin smiled slightly.
“There couldn’t be. We’ll see each other at the Jegal Clan anyway.”
Namgung Hye-yeon was heading to meet the former clan leader of the Jegal Family. Though Geom U-bin and she shared the same destination, they would take different paths.
Namgung Hye-yeon traveled with her escort, while Geom U-bin chose to journey with the Bloodwind Four Lions.
Leaving behind Namgung Hye-yeon, whose disappointment was plain to see, Geom U-bin and the Bloodwind Four Lions set out on their journey.
At first, it seemed like it would be something grand. The phrase “family journey” had given them that impression.
But then they walked.
They kept walking.
They walked endlessly.
Do Pyeong-su called out to Geom U-bin.
“Master.”
“Yes?”
“Is a family journey always like this? This seems no different from just going back and forth between Oseong Jang-won and downtown Hangju.”
Yeon Geum-hong spoke up.
“What matters is that the five of us are together.”
“The five of us could do the same back and forth in Hangju.”
For once, Do Pyeong-su was right, so Yeon Geum-hong fell silent.
They really did need something special.
As they walked along a mountain path, Geom U-bin pointed to a boulder about thirty paces ahead.
“Let’s wager who can reach that rock fastest.”
“I’m in!”
No one even asked what they’d stake.
“Go!”
Before the word “start” had even left their lips, the Bloodwind Four Lions kicked off the ground and arrived at the boulder in an instant.
More precisely, where the boulder had been.
The moment they arrived, the rock shattered into countless fragments.
“I won!”
“What are you talking about? Didn’t you see my feet touch it first?”
“What touched your feet was a fragment of the rock I destroyed!”
“Grrr!”
Watching the Bloodwind Four Lions look ready to throw punches at each other, Geom U-bin muttered to himself.
“We shouldn’t make any more wagers.”
He thought a few bandits appearing now might relieve the boredom—mountains supposedly swarmed with them like cockroaches—yet none showed their faces.
Still, traveling wasn’t entirely tedious. Especially when they came upon beautiful scenery.
A waterfall in the mountains, a stream flowing by—that was quite pleasant.
“Let’s eat here,” Geom U-bin said.
Geom U-bin built a fire, Yeon Geum-hong caught fish, and the other three went hunting. The Bloodwind Four Lions were so fast that the hunt was done before Geom U-bin could even strike a spark.
Yeon Geum-hong, who had caught six nameless fish, bellowed at Do Pyeong-su.
“Idiot! What if you brought back a tiger again!”
“It tasted good though.”
Seo Seok-san said proudly.
“Venison is always best.”
“Fool, that’s a deer! And Jang Man-dok, what in the world are we supposed to do with that porcupine you brought!”
Either way, the meat was roasted, and there was plenty of it, so they ate their fill. Satisfied, they lay side by side on a broad stone.
Do Pyeong-su asked a question.
“Should I fetch some fruit, brother?”
“No. Let’s just stay like this—doing absolutely nothing. I think we’ve lived too frantically these past years.”
“True enough. You’ve been consumed with cultivation practice, and the rest of us… well, we’ve just been consumed with things.”
So they lay on their backs, watching the blue sky or closing their eyes to the sound of water.
They did nothing at all.
Truly nothing—only breathing.
Then boredom crept in. Unbearable boredom. The kind that felt like it might kill you.
Geom U-bin bolted upright.
“This isn’t working.”
Hyeolpung Saja rose too, his face suddenly animated.
“You’re right.”
“Should we go for a boat ride? I’ve never been on a boat. Is there somewhere nearby we could rent one?”
This was Hyeolpung Saja, who’d scoured the length of Zhongyuan searching for their missing master.
“From here… half a quarter hour, or rather, one double hour on foot. In any case, there’s a place called Seoseong County nearby. Changmyeong Lake there is quite wide—perfect for boating.”
They walked.
But before a quarter hour had passed, they deployed their Lightness Technique and reached Seoseong County in two quarters of an hour.
Not as vast as Dongting Lake, but Changmyeong Lake was still impressively broad. Already crowds of people were enjoying the water.
They rented a single painted pleasure boat.
“We won’t need oars.”
Do Pyeong-su removed the oars from the boat and hurled them overboard, then propelled the vessel with his Internal Power. It shot forward like an arrow.
“Stop! You ignorant fool, you don’t even know what boating is!”
At Seo Seok-san’s cry, Do Pyeong-su withdrew his power.
“What? We’re on a boat, aren’t we?”
“True boating is surrendering yourself to the rocking of the waves, savoring the gentleness of the breeze, and discussing poetry and painting with a beautiful woman. We have no woman to discuss such things with, but the other two—those we should appreciate properly.”
So they remained still.
Which promptly bored them.
“Boating isn’t much, is it?” Geom U-bin observed.
Seo Seok-san’s expression darkened.
“That’s true. It shouldn’t be like this. Boating is really best done at night with a beautiful woman.”
Just then, a woman’s lilting laughter drifted across the water.
Some ten zhang away, a couple were enjoying themselves, chattering merrily.
Yeon Geum-hong’s hand slipped quietly beneath the surface.
A moment later, a column of water erupted beside their boat, drenching them both.
“Eek!”
“What—what is this!”
Watching the soaked pair flailing about like drowned rats, Hyeolpung Saja stifled a giggle.
“Elder Sister Yeon, why did you do that?”
“They were an eyesore.”
“I suppose they were rather annoying. Hehehehe!”
When Geom U-bin began to laugh, Do Pyeong-su spoke up.
“Should we sink the boat entirely?”
“Drowning isn’t proportionate to their crime. But how fast can this boat actually go?”
“Hehehehe! You’ll be astonished.”
Do Pyeong-su unleashed his Martial Force.
The boat gave a sickening crack from the bottom before it could lurch forward.
“Huh?”
The center of the hull split open, and water came pouring in.
“That idiot Pyeong-su—everything he touches turns to disaster!”
“Why did you split our boat in half!”
The five of them crossed the lake using the Water-Skimming Technique, leaving the sinking boat behind. When Geom U-bin paid the boat owner for the loss, the man could only stand with his mouth agape.
They toured the town, ate a meal, and visited the night market.
“If you strike this strong man’s belly and push him outside the circle, I’ll give you this All-purpose Whetstone for free!”
Yeon Geum-hong stepped forward. She struck. The strong man flew not outside the white circle drawn on the ground, but far beyond the circle the crowd had formed.
“Hooray!”
She claimed her prize, the All-purpose Whetstone, and in the meantime Seo Seok-san purchased some medicine the strong man had been selling.
“What’s that medicine for?”
“He said it’s effective for hair growth.”
“You believe that?”
“Who knows what might work. Might as well keep trying.”
“I salute your determination.”
Do Pyeong-su ruffled Seo Seok-san’s hair, and in the process, two strands came loose.
“You’re killing me!”
“Two measly hairs? Just give me twenty of yours and we’re even!”
“You shameless bastard—you’re getting worse with that mouth of yours!”
Watching the Bloodwind Four Lions bicker and squabble, Geom U-bin let out a weary sigh.
“A family journey isn’t easy, is it.”

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