Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 64

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

#064

Hwang Jo-gil’s eyebrows shot up in an inverted V.
No one enjoyed being typecast.
Least of all a man who numbered among Zhejiang Province’s wealthiest—a power broker whose very meetings with provincial officials required advance appointments.
Which only made his anger burn hotter.
“This person you call ‘Brother Byeong’—what sort of man is he?”
Geom U-bin answered with nothing but a thin smile, then turned and walked away in silence.
Every fiber of Hwang Jo-gil wanted to grab him, beat the answer out of him, shake it loose like coins from a purse.
Instead, he ground his teeth and sat back down.
“An irritating bastard, that one.”
“A dangerous little thing, sir.”
“Dangerous or not, he’s just some country brat from Hangju.”
The country brat from Hangju left the Yang brothers unmolested and returned to Oseong Jang-won—though not before promising that any attempt to flee would meet swift retribution.
“Live decently from now on.”
Gwak Bong had growled the threat in Geom U-bin’s stead.
“But earlier—you never called Hwang Jo-gil ‘Brother Byeong’ yourself, did you?”
Gwak Bong posed the question the moment they crossed the threshold of the estate.
“No. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much—but now I’m curious. What sort of brother are you, then?”
Geom U-bin smiled and answered her question.
“There’s no such thing.”
“What?”
“I was just making conversation. Ten people, ten different natures—everyone’s different. How could you cram all that into four fixed types?”
“Then why say it at all?”
“To see what kind of person he is.”
“What…kind of person did you find?”
Geom U-bin smiled again.
“The kind I’ll probably end up fighting.”

***

“Aaahhhhh!”
The scream was so loud that Sima Dae-in’s vast residence seemed to shudder. Waiting outside, Yeon Geum-hong stepped forward at the sound.
Settling accounts with that bastard seven years ago had felt satisfying and yet, somehow, incomplete.
“Something’s still unfinished.”
The reason was simple: she had killed only him.
Seven years ago, the Yeon Geum-hong of that time would have set the entire sprawling compound ablaze. But she was not that woman anymore, and so her methods had changed.
Seo Seok-san understood her mood and patted her shoulder in reassurance.
“You did well.”
“Would my heart be clearer if I’d let myself loose like the old days?”
“You’ve done it before. How did it feel then?”
Now that she thought about it, before meeting Geom U-bin, she had always been seething.
So she killed everyone who deserved killing and destroyed everything that could be destroyed. At the time she’d thought it cathartic, yet some stone in her chest had always hung there, like phlegm caught in her throat.
But during her time at Oseong Jang-won with Geom U-bin, that weight had nearly vanished.
The regret she felt now was only that she hadn’t fully vented the fury accumulated over years—not any hunger to tear into that rage with greater violence.
Do Pyeong-su spoke in jest.
“Geum-hong’s temper has really mellowed.”
“I start thinking about the older brother’s face whenever I want to kill someone else.”
Now that Geom U-bin had become her standard, Hyeolpung Saja would likely never again take a life without thought.
“Should we head back to the estate now?”
At Seo Seok-san’s words, Do Pyeong-su let out a long sigh.
“We barely cleared twelve hundred taels. It seems we have no knack for making coin.”
They spoke as if they’d scraped together a pittance, when most people would never see such wealth in a lifetime—and all three nodded in agreement.
Yeon Geum-hong launched herself forward first.
“Seeing the older brother’s face is worth more than ten thousand taels to me!”

***

“This scar didn’t appear on its own! If you’d just arrived on time, my stomach wouldn’t have a hole in it!”
“That’s because you’re weak, not my fault. Why are you taking it out on me? And do you really want to drag up something from ten years ago?”
“You’re the one who brought up the old days first, whining like a child!”
“Whining like a child? Is that how you talk to people?”
Gal Ma-pyeong stepped between the brawling O Tong-su and Go Seo-bang.
“Why are you two fighting over ancient history? It’s pathetic.”
O Tong-su and Go Seo-bang’s fierce gazes turned toward Gal Ma-pyeong.
“Pathetic? You whined for a whole year about three hundred cash you never paid back. You’ve got nerve.”
Go Seo-bang’s words made Gal Ma-pyeong bristle.
“That’s rich coming from you! If you borrow money, you pay it back—where do you get off, the debtor acting like the creditor?”
“A man complaining about a belly scar is just as bad as a man complaining about three hundred cash. Identical.”
“So you need a beating to knock some sense into you, is that it?”
“You think you’ve got what it takes?”
“Damn right. Let’s settle this once and for all today!”
Go Seo-bang threw the first punch at Gal Ma-pyeong.
Gal Ma-pyeong blocked with his arm and swept his leg through empty air.
Go Seo-bang leaned back and narrowly avoided the strike, but Gal Ma-pyeong’s toes grazed O Tong-su’s jaw where he stood nearby.
“You bastard!”
The fight became a three-way brawl.
Two would attack one, then the sides would shift and someone would be pressed back, until all three entangled into a messy free-for-all.
Even when the Gang Seo Samak had earned their fearsome reputation, their martial arts were indistinguishable from one another.
After becoming disciples of Hyeolpung Saja, their gongfu had grown to an incomparable height, but still only to that—the three remained evenly matched.
So the tangled fight did not end easily.
As O Tong-su threw a punch at Gal Ma-pyeong and blocked Go Seo-bang’s kick, someone caught his eye.
“Master!”
Startled, O Tong-su took a punch from Gal Ma-pyeong and stumbled backward in confusion.
But he made no move to counterattack.
The other two also stopped in their tracks the moment they saw Geom U-bin appear.
If Hyeolpung Saja was an object of fear and awe to the Gang Seo Samak, Geom U-bin was the opposite.
Yet that opposite wasn’t entirely comfortable either. Especially when they’d done wrong—Geom U-bin was a harder opponent to face than Hyeolpung Saja himself.
The Gang Seo Samak were about to say they were sorry when Geom U-bin spoke first.
“Keep going. It’s nice to watch.”
“What? You think it’s nice to watch us fight?”
“Of course. Fighting’s how you grow close. You can fight like that because you’re friends.”
“We’re enemies, not friends.”
Go Seo-bang elbowed Gal Ma-pyeong in the ribs as he spoke.
“My disciples have torn the house down fighting each other, but they still stick together always. That kind of friend is rare to have in a lifetime. So keep fighting. Just don’t hurt each other badly.”
Geom U-bin turned to leave, then added one more thing.
“And don’t wreck the house.”
Then he hurried away behind the building and vanished.
Once the fight had stopped, neither had the heart to start again. The Gang Seo Samak glared at one another, then turned coldly away and walked off in different directions.
‘Lifelong friends with those bastards? Ugh.’
All three let out the same kind of sigh.

***

Geom U-bin flicked a single coin into the wooden bowl So Gi-cheon held out.
“If you give me one coin every time we meet, you’ll end up richer than me.”
“When you run out of money, I’ll teach you how to beg.”
Geom U-bin noticed the six knots tied to the cord hanging from So Gi-cheon’s waist and asked.
“How’s it been, becoming a disciple of the Sect?”
In truth, most people don’t know about the knots that disciples wear. Geom U-bin would have thought it was just a belt cord if So Gi-cheon hadn’t told him.
But So Gi-cheon didn’t want to keep secrets from Geom U-bin. So he’d shared the truth, and even hearing that he’d become a disciple of the Sect, Geom U-bin’s manner toward him hadn’t changed one bit.
Not that it would—if it had changed, he wouldn’t be the Geom U-bin that So Gi-cheon knew.
“Nothing’s different. The level of gongfu I’m learning has gotten higher, that’s all. I still have to beg every day, and I still sleep in a shack crawling with fleas.”
“I suppose…….”
Geom U-bin nodded and spoke.
“The Beggars’ Sect really is remarkable. They possess martial arts no inferior to the Gudaemun Faction, yet they remain unchanged as a beggars’ sect. Consistency from Beginning to End isn’t something easily achieved, you know.”
Just then a small beggar child ran toward So Gi-cheon, calling out.
“Gi-cheon! Gi-cheon!”
The child embodied the archetypal nine-year-old beggar.
“Oh! Master So, hello!”
The child offered a respectful bow to Geom U-bin, and So Gi-cheon asked him.
“What is it? Something wrong?”
What could possibly be the matter with a beggar child? So there was no tension in So Gi-cheon’s voice as he spoke.
“Some people are looking for Se-hwa.”
Se-hwa was especially kind to the beggars, so all of them knew her.
“What kind of people?”
“They looked like Murim martial artists. One had an eye patch on the left, another on the right — the one with the left eye patch carried a sword at his side, and the one with the right eye patch had a blade strapped to his back.”
So Gi-cheon’s brow furrowed.
“The Geom-do Ssanghyung?”
“You know them?”
Geom U-bin knew nothing of Murim, but So Gi-cheon, as a disciple of the Beggars’ Sect leader, had managed to gather considerable knowledge of Murim figures.
“They operate mainly in Jiangxi Province. You can tell from their epithet alone — with the character for ‘fierce’ in it — they’re not good men.”
“How skilled?”
“First-rate. They’ve done so many wicked deeds, yet they’re still alive.”
“Why would such men be looking for Se-hwa?”
When Se-hwa had come from Jiangxi Province to Hangju, she was merely a courtesan who didn’t know the first thing about martial arts.
“That’s the question.”
The beggar child spoke.
“As they left, they said something about the Gangseо Samak.”
“The Gangseо Samak?”
At Geom U-bin’s question, the beggar child nodded confidently.
“Yes. I heard it clearly with my own ears. But who is the Gangseо Samak?”
So Gi-cheon answered instead of Geom U-bin.
“Bad men, like the Geom-do Ssanghyung. Their reputation and martial skill fall a bit short of those two, but… now that I think of it, no one’s reported seeing the Gangseо Samak recently.”
So Gi-cheon never imagined that the three workers at Oseong Jang-won might be the Gangseо Samak.
‘If Se-hwa brought the Gangseо Samak from Jiangxi Province, and the Geom-do Ssanghyung are now searching for Se-hwa, then the true target must be those three workers, wouldn’t it?’
The conclusion was simple.
The real question was why the Geom-do Ssanghyung were hunting for the Gangseо Samak.
Geom U-bin asked the beggar child.
“Where are those men now?”
“I sent them somewhere else on purpose.”
“Where?”
“You know the House of Fisherman Hwang by the riverside?”
Geom U-bin had never heard the name, but So Gi-cheon knew of it.
“That place has been empty since he moved out a couple months ago, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. I bought us some time.”
Geom U-bin ruffled the beggar child’s hair.
“You’re clever.”
“Hehe! I also beg the most rice.”
So Gi-cheon, having sent the beggar child away, asked.
“So what do we do? Should we hide Se-hwa for now?”
“No. The Geom-do Ssanghyung won’t have a chance to meet Se-hwa.”
“Why not?”
“Because the Gangseо Samak will meet them first.”
Reap What One Has Sown.
The Geom-do Ssanghyung were merely reaping what the Gangseо Samak had sown in the past — the harvest belonged to them.
“Tell me the location of the House of Fisherman Hwang.”
“I can guide you there.”
“You have somewhere else to be.”
“Where?”
“Oseong Jang-won. Go fetch those three men who came to deliver liquor for me. Bring them back.”
“Why those three?”
Beggars were naturally perceptive, and So Gi-cheon possessed an especially keen instinct.
“Could those three really be the Gangseо Samak?”
“We’re running short on time. Hurry. I’ll hold those two at the House of Fisherman Hwang until you arrive.”
“Understood!”
So Gi-cheon, who had given Geom U-bin directions to the House of Fisherman Hwang, immediately headed for Oseong Jang-won, and Geom U-bin deployed the Lightness Skill.
Following the path along the riverside as it wound away from the city, finding the house was simple enough.
The House of Fisherman Hwang sat so close to the water that a few steps would bring you to where you could dip a fishing rod into the current.
With the owner long gone, the walls and roof were riddled with holes, and weeds choked the grounds.
Geom U-bin stepped into the open courtyard, which had no fence.
The door hung precariously as though it might fall apart any moment, and it stood ajar; inside, two figures were visible.
Geom-do Ssanghyung, bearing the exact appearance the small beggar had described, caught sight of Geom U-bin.
Geom U-bin crossed the threshold into the dim interior.
Each wore an eye patch over one eye, and seeing two people through just two eyes felt strange.
“I heard you’re looking for someone.”
“And you are?”
Geom U-bin pulled up a chair thick with dust and sat. Though it wasn’t particularly heavy, the legs creaked sharply beneath her.
“Someone who can arrange a meeting with Gang Seo Samak for you.”

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