Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 83

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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 83

What sort of person must Hangju of Oseong Jang-won be, to employ a master like Gwak Bong as a mere servant?
‘And they threatened me just to catch some wanted criminal?’
The Brewery swarmed with skilled martial artists. No matter how she thought about it, Oseong Jang-won was a strange place.

***

After five days in the Underground Cultivation Chamber, Geom U-bin emerged looking as though light radiated from her very face.
Despite Do Pyeong-su’s unlucky remarks, it was obvious at a glance that she had made tremendous progress in her martial arts.
“Senior! As promised, I’ll spar with you first!”
Yeon Geum-hong stepped forward, but the Bloodwind Four Lions were not the sort to let that pass.
“Why do you get to go first!”
“Because I made a promise with Senior!”
“A promise made without us doesn’t count!”
If he left them to their argument, the half-built structure would collapse again, so Geom U-bin quickly intervened.
“I’ll spar with Master Yeon first. A promise is a promise, after all.”
The three disappointed men stationed themselves at a safe distance and settled the order by drawing lots in advance.
“I’ll use the Chuhwa Naksu.”
Geom U-bin spoke as she took her stance. Yeon Geum-hong watched her motionless posture and let out a breath of admiration.
‘When was our last sparring match?’
It must have been about two months ago. But in those two months, Geom U-bin had ascended to an entirely different realm.
The word “rapid advancement” hardly captured the astonishment. Her initial strike from the ground was as light and fluid as a swallow skimming water, then flowed into something rough and powerful like an angry torrent rounding a gorge.
Though still far from holding her own against Yeon Geum-hong, she seemed to have reached the level of an elder of the Gudaemun Faction.
‘Has there ever been a Murim martial artist with such mastery at thirteen years old?’
Her own master, Master Hwa Jeok-san, surely had not reached this level at such an age.
‘All our effort has borne fruit.’
The other three felt their bodies stir as they watched Geom U-bin and Yeon Geum-hong spar. Their hands itched to exchange moves with this visibly strengthened girl.
Yeon Geum-hong, with grace, ended the match in just a quarter hour—consideration for Geom U-bin, who still had three more opponents.
Seo Seok-san handed her one of the two lutes he had brought.
“You haven’t neglected your sound cultivation, have you?”
“Of course not.”
Again, Geom U-bin attacked first. The lute’s resonance spread softly at first, like ripples from a pebble dropped in still water, but by the time it reached Seo Seok-san, it crashed down like a tidal wave.
Clang!
Startled, Seo Seok-san plucked all four strings at once, creating an invisible wall.
With a sharp twang, Geom U-bin’s shoulder jerked backward, but her fingers resumed dancing across the strings almost at once.
This time the playing was fast and piercing. Seo Seok-san matched her tempo, his fingers flying.
It might have looked like a duet, but anyone stepping between them would have had every bone in their body crushed.
Seo Seok-san’s match also ended in a quarter hour. When he had first brought the lute, there had been worry in his heart.
Unlike other martial arts, sound cultivation was difficult to control in strength and gentleness. A single mistake could easily leave the opponent with severe injuries.
For that reason, sound cultivation was rarely chosen as a sparring discipline.
“Magnificent!”
“Thank you, Seo.”
Jang Man-dok, unable to restrain himself, stepped forward. Having already fought with Yeon Geum-hong in fist technique, Jang Man-dok chose palm technique instead.
Fist and palm techniques seem similar but differ greatly. Fist technique cannot match palm’s fluidity, and methods like the Gum-na Technique and Yi-hwa Grafting can be employed far more readily.
For this reason, the hands of the two collided in midair countless times.
Though called a sparring match, their martial skill was so high that sleeves scattered into dust, and the points of contact flushed red with heat.
After a long stretch that sounded like beans popping in a pan, Jang Man-dok suddenly withdrew. The quarter hour had not yet passed, but he feared if they continued, he might use too much force and injure Geom U-bin.
Do Pyeong-su studied Jang Man-dok’s expression and said:
“There’s no way to win without going all out.”
Jang Man-dok nodded, his face brimming with satisfaction. As Do Pyeong-su finally handed Geom U-bin a sword, the three others let out a low growl.
“If you hurt Senior even once more, this time we’ll really kill you.”
“I’m fine.”
“We’re not.”
The intensity of their warning was genuine, so Do Pyeong-su sparred with maximum caution. But Geom U-bin’s realm was not one that caution could manage.
Their movements grew increasingly fierce, and the ringing of clashing steel sang loud enough to shake all of Oseong Jang-won.
From the distant sound of a baby crying, it seemed Ji-u had woken at the noise of their sparring.
In the end, Do Pyeong-su hadn’t managed to fill even a quarter hour.
“Senior, this won’t do. From now on, when we spar with you, we’ll need to prepare ourselves mentally.”
Geom U-bin made no pretense of modesty either—he could feel his martial arts leaping forward in great bounds.
“It’s all thanks to you masters. I’m truly grateful.”
At Geom U-bin’s sincere gratitude, they all wore satisfied expressions. But that contentment didn’t last long.
Do Pyeong-su’s carelessly teasing mouth eventually revealed its true nature.

***

“Strange. Why are there so many hairs falling out on the lord’s bed?”
Jeong I-im, the maidservant doing the cleaning, tilted her head curiously and carried the bedsheet outside.
As she shook it over the courtyard, hair fell noticeably to the ground. Do Pyeong-su, passing by, asked.
“When did your assignment change to Seo Seok-san?”
“No, sir.”
“Then what’s with all this hair, shedding like some molting animal?”
The only person at Oseong Jang-won who could lose that much hair was Seo Seok-san.
“No, that can’t be right. He wouldn’t have that much left to lose.”
“It belongs to the elder lord.”
The workers didn’t know why they called Geom U-bin the elder lord, but they used the title because they were told to.
“What? Is that really true?”
“Yes, sir. I was startled when I saw it today myself!”
“That is strange.”
The strangeness Do Pyeong-su sensed was only the beginning. At that very moment, Seo Seok-san, who had met Geom U-bin, was tilting his head in confusion.
“You can’t remember where you put your Muk-cheol Arm Guard?”
“No. And my Muk-cheol Belt is missing too. I’m sure I took them off in my room.”
“You’re something, senior. If you’re already getting forgetful, what will you be like when you reach my age? Haha!”
It was good when he could joke and laugh like that.
“I… Master Jang. Um… that, that m-m-medicine you gave me yes-yesterday… what was its n-name again?”
Jang Man-dok’s expression hardened. The emotion that crossed his face was fear—fear so acute that even Geom U-bin couldn’t discern exactly what terrified him.
“M-Master Jang, why… why are you l-like that? When… when did you s-start st-stuttering?”
That was strange. Just a double hour ago, there was none of this.
“Y-yes. I’ll… I’ll w-wait here.”
Jang Man-dok sought out three of the Bloodwind Four Lions and gathered them in one place.
“What’s wrong? You look terrified.”
Do Pyeong-su asked with indifference, but his expression soon shifted to bewilderment.
“Senior’s stuttering? If he’s in a rush, that could happen, right? But actually st-stuttering while speaking normally? Is that really something to look at me like you’re about to eat me?”
Seo Seok-san’s expression also turned grave.
“Senior has misplaced his Muk-cheol Arm Guard and Belt. He can’t remember where he put them.”
Yeon Geum-hong spoke.
“That can happen, can’t it?”
“Of course. Youth doesn’t mean you never forget things. But stuttering all of a sudden, and suddenly forgetting things…”
Do Pyeong-su spoke like a groan.
“And now his hair’s starting to fall out.”
“What? Senior’s hair?”
Seo Seok-san was the most shocked. Do Pyeong-su told him what had happened at Geom U-bin’s quarters this morning.
“Hair loss starting at thirteen? Like me?”
Yeon Geum-hong pointed to Jang Man-dok.
“Man-dok used to stutter too, a very long time ago. And eventually he stopped speaking altogether, just like now.”
“I couldn’t learn to write because no matter how hard I studied, I’d wake up the next morning and have forgotten everything.”
“But how did you learn martial arts?”
“With my body. The mind forgets, but the body remembers.”
“Forgetfulness, hair loss, and stuttering…”
Seo Seok-san looked at Jang Man-dok and Do Pyeong-su.
“Those are exactly the symptoms that happened to us.”
Do Pyeong-su’s face looked ready to break into tears.
“Senior’s going to change like us? Not one flaw but all of them? Why on earth?”
Seo Seok-san spoke as though groaning.
“It must be because of his martial arts. His gongfu has advanced by leaps and bounds in just a few days. When our martial arts reached a certain level, side effects like these must have appeared. There’s no other explanation.”
The world felt like it was crumbling. Geom U-bin, who had been so perfect he’d already claimed the seat of the greatest in all history, becoming bald and thick-headed and stammering! No matter what, that had to be prevented.
“What Seo Seok-san says has merit, but we still don’t know for certain. These symptoms only appeared briefly today, after all.”
“True. There’s no point despairing prematurely. But Yeon Geum-hong.”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have anything like that?”
“Like what?”
“My hair loss, Jang Man-dok’s silence, Do Pyeong-su’s poor memory. So by that logic, you ought to have something too.”
“I…… I don’t have anything like that.”
“Really? Why are you the only one spared?”
“Hang Ju-sa-ung’s symptoms might not be caused by martial arts at all, and the martial arts I’ve learned seem to be flawless without any drawbacks! Why are you turning this on me!”
“It’s hardly fair!”
“So you want me to go bald like you, is that it?”
Jang Man-dok struck the table, putting an end to their quarrel.
“Enough. This isn’t the time for us to fight among ourselves. Let’s observe whether Hang Ju-sa-ung’s symptoms persist.”
The two days of watching Geom U-bin were like walking across thin ice—fraught with anxiety.
Geom U-bin’s hair visibly thinned, his forgetfulness worsened until he couldn’t remember where he’d put his own sword, and his speech grew increasingly halting, so much so that he spoke less and less.
Within days, it seemed he would fall silent altogether, just like Jang Man-dok. The stutter had taken root.
In the end, they had to face the truth: Geom U-bin was becoming bald, dim-witted, and stammering—all because of their martial arts.
“What do we do about this?”
These were flaws they’d spent decades unable to remedy. The chances of a remedy appearing now were virtually nonexistent.
“We should stop Hang Ju-sa-ung’s cultivation practice at once.”
At Seo Seok-san’s words, Do Pyeong-su shook his head.
“No. Your martial arts have no drawbacks, so Yeon Geum-hong must continue learning them. If we forbid her from doing anything, it will only torment her mind.”
It was reasonable, but Yeon Geum-hong burst out sharply.
“Absolutely not!”
“Goodness! Why?”
“Because…… there might be side effects I don’t know about yet. And since I’m a woman, maybe that’s why I haven’t experienced any. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s possible, but…….”
“Either way, I’m stopping my martial arts training too. No cultivation practice until we’ve fixed Hang Ju-sa-ung’s side effects!”
Having had her say, Yeon Geum-hong left the room. In her wake, Seo Seok-san’s quiet voice fell like a stone.
“Yeon Geum-hong definitely has something wrong.”
Seo Seok-san’s intuition proved correct. Her reaction was so violent that even someone with no sense of perception could have detected it.
Yeon Geum-hong found Geom U-bin in the depths of the Back Garden, crouching against the wall with his gaze fixed to the ground.
Even the Bloodwind Four Lions would have noticed the change happening to him. There was no way the man himself had failed to sense it.
“Hang Ju-sa-ung.”
Startled, Geom U-bin lifted his gaze from the earth to meet hers. That face, always confident and bright, now bore the deepest darkness of early dawn.
“I…… Miss Yeon…… I’m…… something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
She could thrust him into even greater despair with what she might learn. Yet there was no way to avoid asking. They needed to know whether side effects existed if they had any hope of remedying them.
“Hang Ju-sa-ung, this is an odd question, but I need you to answer honestly.”
Geom U-bin nodded, but Yeon Geum-hong’s question took a long time in coming.
“Do you…… have morning hardness?”
Geom U-bin, who had been staring at her, finally spoke.
“I…… once I’m si…… sitting up and th…… then get out of…… out of bed, I st…… stand, yes.”
“No, not standing on your legs. I mean…… an important part of your body.”
His expression suggested he thought every part of his body was important. So she decided to be direct.
“Your manhood. That part.”
“W…… why would M…… Miss Yeon ask such a th…… thing?”
“I’ll explain later. Just make sure to check carefully tomorrow morning.”
She could only pray that this—at least this—would spare him. But with every other symptom already manifested, no mercy came to shield him from Yeon Geum-hong’s side effect.

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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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