Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 62

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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 062

Jang Man-dok’s expression turned skeptical.
―Inflate the illness a little, scare them a bit, and the money practically pours out. Fraud? Hardly. It’s more of a negotiation technique. If my brother found out? That would be a problem.
Do Pyeong-su read the question in the other man’s eyes—’But it *is* fraud, so wouldn’t that *be* a problem?’—and gave up his argument.
If they’d simply wanted to raise the money, they wouldn’t have needed to go through all this trouble.
But the word “legitimately” had been attached to the whole affair, and that’s why the Bloodwind Saja now found himself tumbling back and forth in this exhausting undertaking.
Do Pyeong-su and Jang Man-dok had come to Haenam Province, while Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san had taken a different commission worth one thousand silver coins and headed for Hubei Province.
When they’d left Oseong Jang-won, the journey was supposed to take four days; now it had become an odyssey without end in sight.
‘Who knew ten thousand silver coins could be such a fortune? Things were far simpler before.’
The moment they entered the building’s corridor, the thick medicinal smell told them that an ailing patient lived here.
The presence of hidden sentries could be felt in every corner.
Such thorough vigilance meant only one thing: this patient had many enemies.
A knight-errant or a villain, it had to be one of the two—but given how ostentatiously rich all this was, the villain seemed far more likely.
“The patient you’ll be treating is the young master of Sama the Great. I trust you’ve read the contract?”
Baek Dong-pal had thrust it at them, but since they only needed to know the nature of the work, Do Pyeong-su hadn’t bothered to read it.
“More or less…”
When Do Pyeong-su gave this noncommittal answer, O Jang-baek spoke up.
“Should the young master’s condition worsen, the lives of both of you end in that moment. It’s clearly stated in the contract—seems you haven’t had a look at it.”
Even if he had, he wouldn’t have paid it much attention.
“So if you wish to turn back now, we won’t stop you.”
“You come seeking treatment for a patient and then spout meaningless warnings day and night. That’s rich.”
“As you wish, then.”
Judging by the look of things, quite a few physicians had died for their impertinence.
The two men who entered the patient’s chamber both wrinkled their noses involuntarily.
Mixed with the medicinal reek came a stench that was far worse.
“A bedsore? With this many attendants, and he’s developed a bedsore? What good are a hundred handmaids if the man’s been lying abed too long?”
Looking at the patient on the bed, Do Pyeong-su could read the signs of prolonged illness at a glance.
Those vacant eyes, the skeletal frame, the sallow, darkened skin—it was like looking at a corpse.
O Jang-baek gestured toward the patient.
“Well? What is it? That serious? What’s the sickness? You don’t know? Ah! There’s an illness you can see and still not recognize? How fascinating.”
O Jang-baek finally couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked the question aloud.
“What exactly have you been muttering about this whole time?”
“We’re talking between ourselves. No need for you to concern yourself.”
He couldn’t understand it, but he decided to let the curiosity rest. Jang Man-dok approached the patient.
As he took the patient’s pulse, Do Pyeong-su asked him a question.
“How is it? That bad? Do you need to examine him further?”
Jang Man-dok pulled back the patient’s chest cloth on both sides.
Seeing the chest where only bones remained, Do Pyeong-su tilted his head in confusion.
“Those marks…”
There were marks on the chest arranged in the pattern of the Big Dipper, and he felt certain he’d heard something about such a pattern before.
And then, abruptly, Yeon Geum-hong’s furious voice came alive in his memory.
―When I catch that bastard, I’ll cut off his cock and throw it to the rabid dogs!
It must have been some seven years ago.
Some wretch whose intestines were practically spilling out of his gut had tried to rape Yeon Geum-hong.
For various reasons, she had let him escape, and if she hadn’t been searching for their master, Hwa Jeok-san, she would still be hunting the man down.
Do Pyeong-su himself had caught only a glimpse of the man back then.
But the patient’s face—now nothing but bone and skin—made it impossible for him to confirm whether this was that same wretch.
“Man-dok, I think we really do need to cure this one properly.”

***

Yeon Geum-hong looked down at the boy watching her intently. When Geom U-bin first met them, he’d been about this boy’s age.
For that reason, Geom U-bin came to mind without warning.
‘I miss you, brother.’
Just as she was thinking of Geom U-bin, the boy, Kang Ji-an, spoke.
“Would you be taking me all the way to Sangeo Province, sister?”
The way the boy called her sister never failed to warm her heart.
“If the contract goes through smoothly, yes.”
She spoke while glancing sideways at Seo Seok-san.
Seo Seok-san was in the middle of discussing the contract with Kang Cheol-ju, the lord of the Hubei Merchant Association.
“Once you deliver Ji-an to Hagok Sanjang in Sangeo Province, you’ll receive the remaining eight hundred silver coins.”
As he spoke, Kang Cheol-ju’s face was clouded with worry. The pain of a father sending his young son far away alone was laid bare in every line of his expression.
“I trust you’ve heard through the Mantong Association which faction we’re dealing with?”
“I was told it’s the Mudang Faction.”
Kang Cheol-ju noticed something strange in Seo Seok-san’s casual reply and pressed further.
“Are you certain about this?”
“Certain about what?”
“You’ll need to reach Sangeo Province while avoiding the Mudang Faction. I’ve only mentioned them, but truth be told, there are scarcely any sects in all of Hubei Province whose influence doesn’t reach them.”
“That’s what I’d expect.”
‘Do these people truly understand what the Mudang Faction is?’
Among the Nine Great Sects, the Mudang Faction rivaled even the Shaolin in power and prestige. No one in the Murim would willingly invite their enmity.
Yet Seo Seok-san and Yeon Geum-hong seemed utterly unbothered, as though walking into fire with kindling on their backs.
They hadn’t even asked the obvious question: “How did you come to be enemies with the Mudang Faction?”
‘Could they mean to pocket the two hundred coins and hand Ji-an over to them?’
It was a reasonable suspicion, yet at the same time Kang Cheol-ju couldn’t quite believe the Mantong Association would send such people.
“Your deadline is one month.”
Having to cross Haenam Province and reach the far end of Sangeo Province, one month was a tight window.
“It’s alright if we arrive earlier, isn’t it?”
Yeon Geum-hong asked.
“The sooner the better, but avoiding the Mudang Faction’s eyes makes arriving much faster unlikely.”
“That’s something we’ll handle ourselves. Can we leave right now?”
There was a time when Yeon Geum-hong wouldn’t have used formal speech with anyone, but since spending time with her martial brother lately, she’d grown comfortable addressing older-looking folk with courtesy.
“Is that really all that’s… necessary?”
What Seo Seok-san had instructed them to prepare was a carrying frame that Kang Ji-an could ride in.
“It’s made of blackwood, so it’ll be quite heavy.”
Seo Seok-san asked in a low voice.
“Never mind that. I expect full payment upon arrival at Hagok Sanjang. Should that promise go unfulfilled, I’m afraid not only your son, but all of Hagok Sanjang will find themselves most unfortunate.”
There was no deliberate threat in her expression, and her tone was as casual as before—only her voice had dropped.
Yet cold sweat ran down his spine.
“O-of course.”
Seo Seok-san smiled thinly and addressed Yeon Geum-hong.
“Let’s go.”
Though the secret branch of the Hubei Merchant Association here had remained undiscovered, the eyes of the Mudang Faction were scattered throughout Namchang County.
Slipping away undetected was impossible.
“How will you get past Namchang County?”
Yeon Geum-hong answered Kang Cheol-ju’s question.
“Don’t worry. Your son will reach Hagok Sanjang safely.”
After a brief farewell between father and son, Kang Ji-an climbed onto the frame that Seo Seok-san carried.
Though unremarkable to the eye, where his bottom rested was cushioned, and safety straps were secured tight enough to keep him from falling at any ordinary jostling.
“Should we take the shortest route?”
“Let’s do it.”
After their brief exchange, Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san departed the secret branch.
Nestled among the slums, the branch was surrounded by a maze of alleys.
Breaking through the Mudang Faction’s encirclement would have been manageable in a fight, but if word of killing any of their members reached Geom U-bin’s ears later, she didn’t even want to contemplate what would follow.
So they chose speed instead.
Unless one was the sect leader of the Mudang Faction itself, no one could match their Lightness Technique.
“Please be careful—”
Before Kang Cheol-ju could finish his plea, Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san pushed off the ground and vanished from sight in an instant.
“Who… who exactly are those people?”

***

The person who opened the gate for Kang Chan-sik when he arrived at Oseong Jang-won was O Tong-su.
“I’ve come to see Hang Ju-sa-ung.”
Though he had served as both leader of the Heuksahoe and bandit chieftain, Kang Chan-sik’s manner remained respectful.
“He’s not here at the moment.”
“Is that so? What about the young master?”
With no better option, she’d have to track down the younger heir and pass along the message—a compromise, but a necessary one.
“Why are you looking for them?”
“I have an urgent matter to discuss.”
“Seems to me you ought to introduce yourself first.”
From his clothes to his bearing, O Tong-su was plainly a servant, and Kang Chan-sik found his attitude distasteful.
“You don’t need to know who I am.”
Thirty years in the Heuksahoe had worn thin whatever courtesy Kang Chan-sik once possessed. His dislike of O Tong-su’s very appearance had curdled into hostility, and now O Tong-su’s expression hardened in turn.
“Without knowing who you are, I can’t treat you as a guest.”
“Damn! So you’re the type—a servant of some great house playing master.”
“You?”
“A servant throwing his weight around gets his neck broken. Fetch your master—now.”
“Now listen here! I’ve seen plenty, but it’s been a while since some common street thug came in here and started trouble.”
“Ah, so you do have an eye for people after all? Though I should tell you—I’m no ordinary triad member. I’m a society chief. Or was, anyway.”
O Tong-su exercised the last of his patience and waved his hand dismissively.
“Just go. Those people are far above your station.”
“Why, you insolent—!”
Unable to contain himself any longer, Kang Chan-sik swung a fist.
Though Hang Ju-sa-ung was constrained within the Oseong Jang-won, he was hardly the sort to be intimidated by common triad rabble.
O Tong-su sidestepped the blow with ease and hooked his leg, sending Kang Chan-sik spinning to the ground.
“Oof!”
He’d landed on his back, so the fall hadn’t caused serious injury.
“So the servant does have some skill!”
A man who’d meekly retreated after one blow would never have risen to lead a triad society.
Kang Chan-sik scrambled up and attacked again.
But he tumbled once more, and again—four times in all he went down before finally accepting that O Tong-su was his superior.
‘How is it that even the servants of Oseong Jang-won are masters?’
There was no justice in the world.
“Who’s come looking?”
At that young, gentle voice, O Tong-su’s posture straightened instantly, his earlier ferocity utterly gone.
“Young Master, it’s no one of importance.”
Geom U-bin observed the dirt-covered Kang Chan-sik and posed a question.
“Who did you come to see?”
“Ah—I came to pay my respects to Hang Ju-sa-ung.”
“On what business?”
“It’s that… Hang Ju-sa-ung gave me a task, and the results have come in. I found the one who set fire to the Anho Giroo.”
“You did?”
“Yes, I’ve got him now, but since Hang Ju-sa-ung isn’t here, I didn’t know what to do.”
“The arsonist must have had backing?”
“Of course—I extracted that information through interrogation.”
“Who was behind it?”
“That’s… it seems like something I should report directly to Hang Ju-sa-ung…”
“You there! To the Lord—”
Geom U-bin raised his hand, cutting O Tong-su short.
“My uncle and aunt won’t be back for some time. So I’ll handle this matter myself. Was it the Wol-ha Giroo behind it?”
“Ah—did you already know? It was their new chief steward.”
“Not the proprietor?”
“The proprietor has never even been seen.”
Geom U-bin paused to gather his thoughts, then spoke to O Tong-su.
“Have Se-hwa brought here.”
The person directly involved couldn’t be kept out of this.
Se-hwa emerged from her training drenched in sweat.
“Young Master, did you find something?”
“We found the arsonist. Want to come meet him?”
“Really? Just give me a moment!”
Se-hwa returned in less than half an hour in fresh clothes, foregoing even a bath in her eagerness.
They made their way into the city and finally arrived at the basement of a certain house.
There, three brothers were held captive—men who had already set one fire successfully and failed on their second attempt.
Their faces were swollen with bruises, the marks of a thorough beating unmistakable.
“I didn’t handle them too roughly.”
At Kang Chan-sik’s words, Geom U-bin found himself wondering, ‘Then what would handling them roughly look like?’
Geom U-bin asked the Yang Family Three Brothers about the fire at Anho Giroo. Without even being prompted, they spilled everything—even confessing to the attempted arson he hadn’t asked about.
Even though they claimed to have been subjected to torture, he could tell their confessions hadn’t been extracted through pain or coercion.
“Go after that damned inspector right now!”
Geom U-bin stopped Se-hwa as she grew agitated.
“The inspector isn’t going anywhere. Calm down.”
“We should go slit that bastard’s throat on the spot!”
“Of course he deserves punishment. But I’d rather meet the one pulling his strings first.”
“Hwang Jo-gil?”
“Yes. I’m curious to see what kind of man he is.”
“And then what will you do?”
“First I’ll see him, then decide.”

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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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