Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 63

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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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#Chapter 63

Everyone stared at Jang Man-dok in amazement.
Within a single day of beginning treatment, Sa Ma Dang-joong’s mind had grown sharp, and by the second day he could eat again.
Sa Ma Cheong, who had given up after wagering twelve hundred silver coins, came running at once.
“Father….”
“Dang-joong! Do you recognize me?”
“Of course. I feel no weakness, and there’s no pain anywhere.”
Do Pyeong-su caught a glimpse of Jang Man-dok’s face and thought, ‘It’s the medicine.’
“Thank you! I’m truly grateful!”
“We’re paid to do this work, after all.”
He didn’t bother mentioning that the man probably wouldn’t live long.
Sa Ma Dang-joong, burdened with both cirrhosis and venereal disease, had lost his window for treatment; the illness would only deepen with time.
To cure him completely, Jang Man-dok would need to stay at his side for treatment continuously—at least a year, possibly five years or more.
What had improved now was merely a temporary restoration of the body, accomplished through potent toxins and a limited amount of medicine.
And regardless of illness, Sa Ma Dang-joong would not live long.
Seven marks on his chest had triggered the memory, and when color returned to his face, Do Pyeong-su’s recollection had crystallized.
For ordinary people, seven years might be sufficient for forgetting, but for Do Pyeong-su, seven years was no more distant than seven days.
‘Poor wretch. It would’ve been a mercy if the illness had killed him.’
Do Pyeong-su wrote out a prescription for three months.
“You should stay a bit longer and continue with the treatment.”
“Once you take this medicine, you should be fine. So there’s no need for us to remain. Though I doubt it will come to pass, if his condition should worsen, send someone to fetch us. We’ll come at once.”
At Do Pyeong-su’s words, the middle-aged man’s expression twitched slightly, but he offered no other response.
Soon a banknote passed into both their hands.
“Man-dok. Let’s go find Geum-hong. We have good news to share.”

***

Though their deadline had been a month, Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san had not spent that much time.
The path they chose first was always the shortest, and they deliberately sought the most difficult mountain terrain.
The Mudang Faction and their allies, encamped in Hubei Province, never even caught a glimpse of Gang Ji-an’s shadow leaving the province.
Had they not lost their way in the mountains halfway, they would have arrived half a day earlier.
Four days later, when they reached Hagok Estate and handed off Gang Ji-an to others, those people set out at once toward Sae-oe. Neither of them felt any need or interest in understanding why they were fleeing from the Mudang Faction.
Having received a banknote worth a thousand silver coins, the two were satisfied with that.
“Man-dok and Pyeong-su must have handled things well?”
“We’ll find out when we get back to Man Tong-hoe.”
Because they had traveled so far, the long journey had taken five days.
When they returned to Man Tong-hoe, Do Pyeong-su and Jang Man-dok were waiting.
“Damn it! I should have taken Man-dok to Haenam Province myself.”
At Yeon Geum-hong’s grumbling, Do Pyeong-su spoke in a teasing tone.
“Don’t even dream of it unless you have the talent of someone like Hang Ju-sa-ung or me.”
“Man-dok did all the healing anyway, so you just lounged around.”
“If you keep throwing harsh words at me, you’ll regret it.”
“Ha! I’ve been saying such things my whole life, and if I was going to regret it, I’d have regretted it back when I was five feet tall.”
“I was about to tell you where that bastard from seven years ago is, but this won’t do.”
“That bastard from seven years ago?”
“Wow! The incomparable Yeon Geum-hong has really lost your edge. Forgetting a grudge!”
“I may forget kindness, but never—never a grudge… Could it be? That bastard from seven years ago?”
“Yes. That bastard from Shandong Province.”
“The one with seven marks on his chest?”
“Yes. The one with seven marks on his chest. The one who fed you that aphrodisiac.”
“You found him? Where?”
“Where do you think?”
“Tell me right now before I pluck out every last hair from that beard!”
“Dear me! If you keep coming at me like that….”
At that moment, Baek Dong-pal entered the room.
“A new commission has come in for an amount befitting the four of you.”
Baek Dong-pal always funneled jobs with large sums directly to the Bloodwind Four Lions. He’d learned that the only way to keep them at bay was to hand them ten thousand silver coins.
“This time the commission is for nine hundred silver coins, but……” Ugh!”
Yeon Geum-hong suddenly seized him by the collar, cutting his words short.
“I, I didn’t…… What did I say……?”
“Where did Jang Man-dok and Do Pyeong-su accept the commission from?”
There was no point in deliberating. When Yeon Geum-hong asked, the answer was simply to tell the truth.
“H-Haenam Province, the residence of Sa Ma Cheong…….”
“Shut your mouth!”
Do Pyeong-su’s warning came too late—Yeon Geum-hong had already heard everything she needed.
“That bastard is there, isn’t he?”
“Gack! Gack! What in the world is wrong with you?”
“You’ve ruined all my plans!”
Do Pyeong-su reached to strike Baek Dong-pal, but Seo Seok-san stopped him.
“Leave him. Even vermin flail about trying to survive.”
As Yeon Geum-hong turned to leave the room, Do Pyeong-su called out to her.
“You’re going right now? What about the commission?”
“Does the commission matter now?”
They all did what they did for money, but Yeon Geum-hong’s driving force transcended coin—it was pure hatred.
Seo Seok-san and Do Pyeong-su pulled out the banknote and stared at it impassively.
To others, such a thing was worth dying for; to them, it was no more than a scrap of worthless paper.
“Should we give this up?”
“Either we use this money to fix things cheaply, or we put up with more ugliness.”
“Let’s go back. I want to see the senior.”
Jang Man-dok nodded his head, agreeing with their sentiment.
They’d set out needing ten thousand silver coins, but the moment they left the estate, it became clear that money held no meaning for them.
Even rolling in a garbage heap and laughing carelessly with Geom U-bin was far more pleasant.
As the Bloodwind Four Lions moved to leave the room, Baek Dong-pal called after them.
“Wait, the commission……?”
“Forget it. Live well.”
Baek Dong-pal watched the place where the Bloodwind Four Lions had stood.
He’d met the Bloodwind Four Lions and lived; the Man Tong-hoe had been left intact.
It was almost a miracle from heaven.
The Bloodwind Four Lions had earned twenty-two hundred silver coins through their own labor and simply walked away!
“Tomorrow the sun will…… rise in the west?”

***

Jeo Pal-sik, said to possess the greatest strength among all at the Wol-ha Giroo, was knocked sprawling by a single punch from the intruder.
Baek No-pal stumbled backward, his back striking a pillar.
“Do you truly believe you can run rampant in the Wol-ha Giroo and walk away unscathed!”
Gwak Bong’s fist lashed out.
Bang!
Thunder seemed to crack near his ear, and a sharp pain seared across his cheek.
Gwak Bong’s fist had grazed Baek No-pal’s face and embedded itself in the pillar—the stone had crumbled like tofu under the impact.
“I know you sent the three Yang brothers to burn down the Hang-ho Giroo.”
“I, I don’t know anything.”
“Denial is pointless. I’ve already learned everything.”
The fact that she even knew about the three Yang brothers meant she’d grasped the full truth of the matter.
“There’s no one in this Hangju who can protect you. A mere Beijing nobody dares to touch the Hangju O-seon? You’re as good as dead.”
After the threat, Gwak Bong simply turned and left.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed; fragments of stone fell onto his head.
He knew nothing of martial arts, but anyone in the Murim who could shatter a stone pillar with his bare fists was a master of considerable standing.
“That person who just came…… was he one of the Oseong Jang-won’s servants?”
It made no sense to him.
Just weeks ago, that man had been a taciturn delivery boy who barely spoke, and now he was a Murim master—a skilled one at that!
“Could the rumors actually have been true?”
He was beginning to understand why the people of Hangju spoke the name Hangju O-seon with such reverence.
“Regardless…… this wasn’t my fault!”
The fire at the Hang-ho Giroo had been set purely for the Wol-ha Giroo’s sake, and that in turn was for Hwang Jo-gil’s sake.
“Yes, Jo-gil will take care of it.”
Money moves even spirits.
If Oseong Jang-won has ten masters, then Hwang Jo-gil can simply buy a hundred.
That money is the most powerful weapon in the world—this was Baek No-pal’s faith, as unshakeable as a creed. He had abandoned familiar Beijing and traveled all the way to unfamiliar Hangju for one reason alone: money.
Conversely, if money ran short, Oseong Jang-won would crush him. That was why Baek No-pal rushed to the only savior who could rescue him.
The movements of men like Baek No-pal were already in the palm of Geom U-bin’s hand.
Geom U-bin had foreseen it perfectly: once Gwak Bong frightened him, Baek No-pal would have nowhere to turn but to Hwang Jo-gil.
Upon arriving at the Jo Hwang Household, Baek No-pal searched desperately for Hwang Jo-gil.
Fortunately, he had visited before, so the steward had no trouble arranging an audience.
“Jo-gil! Please, you have to save me!”
Yeo Dong-sul, who had been with Hwang Jo-gil, asked him a question.
“Why such a fuss?”
“Oseong Jang-won has figured out that I ordered someone to set fire to the Hang-ho Giroo. One of their men came today, and I nearly died!”
The moment Baek No-pal finished speaking, Yeo Dong-sul’s hand whipped across his face, turning it sharply to the left.
The blow was so vicious it nearly squeezed the tears from his eyes.
“Why…… are you doing this?”
“I told you. Lord Hwang is not your friend.”
Hwang Jo-gil’s gaze upon Baek No-pal was glacial.
True—even back in Beijing, Hwang Jo-gil had always looked at him that way. But now Baek No-pal had no luxury to mind it.
“I… I apologize, Lord Hwang. Everything I have done was for you.”
“I don’t recall ordering you to set any fires.”
“Is not a good subordinate one who attends to his master’s wishes before the master even speaks them? I have merely fulfilled my role as a retainer to the best of my ability.”
“You speak as though you could read my very thoughts.”
“Lord…… Hwang.”
Baek No-pal’s call and a voice from beyond the door summoning Hwang Jo-gil reached them at the same instant.
“Someone from Oseong Jang-won has come and wishes to see the master.”
At the name Oseong Jang-won, Baek No-pal’s face drained of all color.
“Wh-why would they come all the way here?”
“We’ll know once we meet them.”
As Hwang Jo-gil rose, Baek No-pal pleaded with him.
“Perhaps you could simply turn them away? I fear those brutes might do you harm.”
“Hmph. I will not be harmed.”
At the gate, they found Geom U-bin, Gwak Bong, Kang Chan-sik, and the three Yang brothers—the arsonists.
Geom U-bin spoke, watching Baek No-pal hover nervously in the background.
“How fortunate. The man we were looking for is right here.”
Hwang Jo-gil glanced sidelong at Baek No-pal.
“What is this about?”
“The fact that you ask my business first suggests you already know who I am.”
“Everyone in Hangju speaks as though disaster will strike if you don’t know about Hangju O-seon. So yes, I know.”
“Then this should be straightforward. Your subordinate set fire to a building we were constructing.”
“I never did such a thing!”
“Of course you didn’t set it with your own hands. You simply paid the Yang brothers here and ordered them to do it.”
“What nonsense are you spouting! I’ve never even met those men!”
“I saw with my own eyes, just days ago, the administrator gambling with these men at a gaming house.”
Baek No-pal stammered in panic.
“Well, g-gambling… we may have met at a gaming table, but that’s all.”
Geom U-bin withdrew a banknote from his robes.
“A draft for three silver coins. You can see Administrator Baek’s seal stamped right here.”
When transferring a draft to someone other than the original recipient, one’s official seal must always be stamped.
“The Yang brothers have confessed that Administrator Baek was the instigator, and we have the evidence. Will you really deny it?”
Geom U-bin’s gaze turned toward Hwang Jo-gil.
“What does Lord Hwang think of keeping such a subordinate?”
“If the criminal has confessed and the evidence is there, then your words are true.”
“L-Lord Hwang!”
“I do not keep criminals as my subordinates.”
“This was all done for you! And you would hand me over to them?”
“He may have been my retainer once, but I will not soil another man’s hands with his crime.”
Suddenly Baek No-pal’s mouth fell open, and a strangled moan escaped him.
“You… you… bastard……!”
With his final curse, Baek No-pal toppled forward. Blood spreading from his back began to soak the courtyard.
Yeo Dong-sul, who had driven his blade into Baek No-pal’s back, stepped half a pace behind Hwang Jo-gil.
“My subordinate appears to have taken responsibility for his own error. What do you think?”
Though they said Geom U-bin was only thirteen years old, he watched a man get stabbed and didn’t so much as blink.
“Is there more business to settle?”
Geom U-bin studied him for a long moment before speaking.
“You’re a Type C person, sir.”
“Type C?”
“People say humanity divides into four categories—A, B, C, and D. You fall into the third, sir.”

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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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