Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 82

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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 082

“What is it?”
Yeon Geum-hong explained Geom U-bin’s level of martial prowess. No matter how small the detail, sharing information about Geom U-bin was the covenant of the Hyeolpung Saja.
“Of course! The Greatest Genius of All Time will become the Greatest Master of All Time!”
“Naturally! At this pace, he could be the Greatest Master in the World by thirty!”
“It’s simple enough to tell. If he beats us, then he’s the Greatest Master in the World.”
Do Pyeong-su said this as he was leaving the brewery.
“It seems like only good things happen to us these days. Really, what bad thing could possibly happen to us?”
The moment those words left his mouth, the other three went rigid.
“What’s wrong?”
“Pyeong-su, shut your mouth.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you remember? Four days after you said something like that, Master disappeared.”
“That… really happened?”
That memory belonged not just to Seo Seok-san. Yeon Geum-hong had also been displeased by Do Pyeong-su’s words.
“You have a tendency—whatever you say or do, the same kind of thing happens next.”
“Come on, Master’s already passed on, so she can’t disappear.”
“Master may not, but…”
Yeon Geum-hong glanced toward the room where Geom U-bin was staying and spoke quietly.
“Watch what you say.”

***

Kang Chan-sik swallowed hard. He had been told that if he touched Wol-ha Giroo, there would be consequences. Clever Jo Ja-myeong had said as much.
But the reaction had been far more intense than expected—he’d braced for a breeze and gotten a typhoon.
“A guest arrives and you don’t even offer him a seat?”
The young-looking man spoke down to him, but Kang Chan-sik bowed respectfully.
“Please, sit here.”
“Hardly the bearing of a Triad that unified Hangju. Your organization seems rather lean.”
Kang Chan-sik’s dwelling was far more shabby than it had been before.
“Frugality is the way to prosperity.”
“Wise for a Triad leader. Did I tell you why I came?”
Jeong Pyeon-ho, the patriarch of the Cheolhyeol Faction, asked as if he suffered from severe forgetfulness, and Kang Chan-sik replied, “You said it was because of Wol-ha Giroo.”
“Yes, but that’s not the only reason I’m here.”
The way he said “first” suggested there was more to discuss.
“The Cheolhyeol Faction has relocated to Zhejiang Province.”
“Is that so? What about Haenam Province?”
“The glint of those shaved monk heads was blinding. We couldn’t live there anymore.”
The Cheolhyeol Faction had fled, driven back by Shaolin Temple.
“Fortunately, Ja Ryong Mun had plenty of land and buildings, and they offered us their grounds as a base. So we’ve settled there.”
Now it was clear why the Cheolhyeol Faction had sought him out instead of Ja Ryong Mun.
“Since Wol-ha Giroo is our first client, we can’t afford to be careless about this.”
Jeong Pyeon-ho glanced at his subordinate O Seong-gil and continued.
“I could have sent just that one, but it seemed disrespectful to send only a subordinate to the Triad that unified Hangju, so I came myself.”
If Wol-ha Giroo had hired the Cheolhyeol Faction, the fight was over. No matter how powerful the Hangju merchants were, they couldn’t stand against the Cheolhyeol Faction.
“Since I’m here, Wol-ha Giroo seems to be settled.”
“Of course.”
“Now we need to discuss protection money.”
“Protection money, you say…?”
“The Cheolhyeol Faction will shield your organization—what was it called? The Oseong Merchant Association?—from the Black Path. You’ll naturally have to pay a suitable price for that. I hear Ja Ryong Mun did the same. Since we’re better than they are, the price ought to be higher.”
“That’s correct.”
“The Cheolhyeol Faction will protect the Oseong Merchant Association from the Black Path, so you must pay a fair price for that service. As I understand it, Ja Ryong Mun made the same arrangement. Since we’re superior to them, our fee should naturally be higher.”
“But we were already paying seventy percent before…”
“So you object?”
“No, not at all.”
He had no choice but to answer that way if he wanted to live.
“It may seem like a loss now, but with the Cheolhyeol Faction backing you, your future is assured.”
If one lived by the Black Path in Zhejiang Province, there was some truth to that.
“And this is more of a special request from the director of Wol-ha Giroo, but do you happen to know anything about the Oseong Jang-won?”

***

“What? You came to work?”
Se-hwa asked, and Sang Nam-jae replied.
“I can’t idle about doing nothing, so there must be something I can do, surely?”
Go Seo-bang, who had come with him, looked troubled.
“The estate only has menial work, and I can’t ask Nam-jae to do such things.”
Though Se-hwa was technically the mistress, she couldn’t bring herself to use formal speech with them, so she softened her words instead, and since the younger Se-hwa did likewise, there was no particular objection.
“I’m fine with menial work.”
“My husband has his dignity—I can’t have him doing such work where his wife can see.”
“Is there anything you know how to do?”
Sang Nam-jae glanced around.
“I’ll do whatever you ask of me.”
Just then Gwak Bong came up to the second floor with Kang Chan-sik.
“Director.”
“Yes?”
Since their first meeting had been for a revenge on Gang Seo Samak that hardly felt like revenge at all, it had been difficult to grow close to Gwak Bong.
“There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“What could you possibly need to discuss with me?”
“You know about the Oseong Merchant Association, don’t you?”
He’d heard of it in passing.
“The Cheolhyeol Faction has apparently come calling on the Oseong Merchant Association.”
The name Cheolhyeol Faction made his ears perk up.
“That Cheolhyeol Faction from Haenam Province?”
“Yes. It seems the Cheolhyeol Faction was driven out by Shaolin Temple and has relocated their base here to Zhejiang Province.”
Gwak Bong introduced Kang Chan-sik.
“He’s the master of the Oseong Merchant Association and has some acquaintance with various lords.”
“This is our first meeting. I’m Kang Chan-sik.”
Kang Chan-sik, having made his greeting, unrolled his story.
“I’ve come here not for the Oseong Merchant Association, but because of the Oseong Jang-won. It seems the Cheolhyeol Faction is being hired by the Jo Hwang Sega to target the Oseong Jang-won.”
“So the Lord was worried about this, and it’s come to pass.”
“Please be careful in any case.”
“You speak as though someone is leaving on a long journey.”
“I am leaving.”
“Why?”
Kang Chan-sik looked rather bewildered.
“How can I fight when the opponent is the Cheolhyeol Faction? And I have no desire to serve as a lackey beneath them. Predictably, I’d have to squeeze poor merchants again as before, set up illegal gambling dens, loan-shark operations—all of it. I won’t do such things anymore.”
“You mean to live righteously?”
“I can’t live as purely as the Hangju Oseong does, but I shouldn’t live wickedly either. Well, I’m learning this urgently these days. So I’m retiring from the Triad again. Tell the Hangju masters to back off if they can. I know they’re skilled, but we’re up against the Cheolhyeol Faction. There’s no chance of victory.”
Kang Chan-sik didn’t know the identity of the Hyeolpung Saja, so naturally he thought that way. Go Seo-bang spoke to Gwak Bong.
“I must return now, so you’ll have to handle this.”
“That was my plan anyway.”
Sang Nam-jae stepped forward as well.
“I’ll go too. I think I’m needed there more than here.”
“You’re not strictly necessary, but if you insist on going, I won’t stop you.”
Kang Chan-sik asked with a puzzled look.
“Did you not hear what I said? It’s the Cheolhyeol Faction.”
“It would be better if the faction master came himself, but the patriarch will have to do.”
This was absurd.
“You seem not to understand what the Cheolhyeol Faction is. While they don’t match the Five Great Families, they command power comparable to the Dong Ssi Do Ga, the Tyrannical Lords of Anhui Province.”
Go Seo-bang muttered.
“The Dong Ssi Do Ga is only that strong? I thought they were more powerful. Anyway, the patriarch should be manageable for the two of you, shouldn’t it?”
“I alone am sufficient.”
Gwak Bong turned away and spoke to Kang Chan-sik.
“Let’s go.”
“Really…… you’re leaving? I’ve already packed everything. I…… I told them I was just going out for a bit, and I was planning to just run. I even told Do-bong to run too.”
Kang Chan-sik had no choice but to follow, his posterior jutting awkwardly back.
As they entered the house, Wang Do-bong came rushing toward them frantically.
“Lord! Why have you returned? You should have fled this way!”
“Then why are you still here?”
“I needed to buy you time to escape, Lord.”
“I appreciate the thought, but I’m afraid it’s already too late.”
Kang Chan-sik glanced back at Gwak Bong and Sang Nam-jae before speaking.
“We’re out of our hands now. All we can do is accept our fate.”
Gwak Bong stepped forward.
“Not fate—skill. Where’s the one who came from the Cheolhyeol Faction?”
At that moment, the door swung open and Jeong Pyeon-ho and O Seong-gil emerged into the Main Hall.
“Lord Kang, looks like you’ve brought someone.”
“Pardon? Ah, well…… that is…….”
“Are you the Patriarch who came from the Cheolhyeol Faction?”
Gwak Bong’s casual insolence made Jeong Pyeon-ho’s face harden.
“If you know who I am and still speak to me like that, you must be mad.”
“A man who could beat you and send you packing would speak the same way.”
Jeong Pyeon-ho’s gaze fixed sharply on Kang Chan-sik.
“So you’d refuse the reward and drink the penalty instead. For a Triad, your mathematics is slow. You’re not suited to the Triad in many ways.”
“Too much talking. Come down here. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can bring reinforcements.”
Shing!
Jeong Pyeon-ho drew his sword from his back and descended, while a blade appeared in Gwak Bong’s hand as well.
“So my opponent is that one, it seems.”
Sang Nam-jae pointed to O Seong-gil, who was following behind Jeong Pyeon-ho.
“That’s right.”
“Weapons won’t be necessary, then. Not that I brought any anyway.”
Kang Chan-sik asked carefully.
“Would you like me to bring you a suitable blade or sword?”
“No need. This won’t take long.”
Sang Nam-jae had been an assassin—ambush was his specialty—and a standard martial master from the Cheolhyeol Faction was something he could handle with both hands tied.
Gwak Bong, impatient by nature, rushed at Jeong Pyeon-ho first. She knew the Cheolhyeol Faction’s reputation well enough, and against a Patriarch of such a sect, she could finally stretch her muscles properly after a long time.
Clang!
Jeong Pyeon-ho blocked Gwak Bong’s slash and was driven backward, his back slamming into a pillar.
“What the—!”
He’d sensed the momentum was extraordinary, but he hadn’t expected the blade to carry such force.
“Don’t end this weakly—use your full strength!”
But strength that didn’t exist couldn’t be summoned by will alone. Jeong Pyeon-ho found himself unable to mount a proper attack.
No matter what they said about the first mover’s advantage, Jeong Pyeon-ho wasn’t losing because he’d surrendered the initiative.
The gap in their martial arts was simply too vast from the beginning. The fact that he’d lasted ten seconds under Gwak Bong’s tyrannical sword technique was only because he’d exhausted every ounce of strength.
But exactly ten seconds was his limit. With a particularly sharp sound, Jeong Pyeon-ho’s jaw tore open and his grip failed—the sword tumbling from his hands.
Thud!
As Jeong Pyeon-ho rolled across the ground, coughing, Gwak Bong spoke to him.
“Next time, don’t bother sending someone as weak as you. Send someone stronger. With that skill, you dare look down on Oseong Jang-won? Even a passing bird would laugh.”
Jeong Pyeon-ho clenched his bleeding, torn hand and rose to his feet. Breathing was difficult because of the strike to his chest, but he did his best to hide it.
“Who…… are you?”
“A worker at Oseong Jang-won.”
“What did you say?”
Gwak Bong scratched her head.
“I do whatever I’m told, so I suppose you could call me a general laborer.”
“Are you mocking me!”
Crack!
“Ugh!”
Jeong Pyeon-ho’s head snapped back as Gwak Bong brought the scabbard down on him, and he fell to his knees again.
“Be grateful I’m letting you live. I could easily kill you.”
The shame was profound enough to die from, but death seemed worse, so he held his silence.
“Stay out of Wol-ha Giroo’s affairs. This is your first and last warning.”
Gwak Bong sheathed her blade.
“Take your men and get out.”
Sang Nam-jae, who had already laid O Seong-gil low, spoke.
“I killed him.”
“What? You can’t just kill someone without consulting me first!”
“I was joking.”
Throughout the exchange, Sang Nam-jae’s expression never wavered.
“If you’re going to joke, make it sound like one.”
Sang Nam-jae struck O Seong-gil’s pressure point to revive him, then dusted off his clothes.
“Don’t come back here. Hangju is no place for weaklings like you.”
The patriarch of the Cheolhyeol Faction and his elite had been reduced to cripples in an instant. Gwak Bong grumbled once she confirmed the two men were gone.
“Barely got a taste of combat before running into soft prey.”
Kang Chan-sik still couldn’t believe what had unfolded before his eyes. To him, the Cheolhyeol Faction was something like the Shaolin Temple—a pillar of the Murim.
So lofty that its peaks disappeared into mist, indistinguishable from the highest heavens themselves.
That towering faction’s patriarch, whom even looking up at gave one a crick in the neck, Gwak Bong had dispatched like twisting a child’s wrist.
All this time he’d only fought street thugs in Hangju’s underworld, never recognizing that Gwak Bong was a rare master.
‘So I’ve been using a butcher’s blade to slaughter chickens all along!’
And now he could see that Sang Nam-jae was no ordinary person either. Not as strong as Jeong Pyeon-ho, but he’d seized O Seong-gil’s pressure point in the blink of an eye.
“Are you truly a laborer at Oseong Jang-won?”
Kang Chan-sik couldn’t help but ask Gwak Bong that question.
“I am. They’re trying to chase me out, so I’m stubbornly sticking around. That’s why I have to be careful not to fall out of favor with the masters.”
“Then the lords of Oseong in Hangju must be even stronger than you, Master Gwak?”
The corner of Sang Nam-jae’s mouth twitched—a sneer. Even seeing that mockery, Gwak Bong’s expression showed no offense.
“I can’t even chase their heels, so please don’t make comparisons. It’s embarrassing.”

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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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