Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 8
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 8. Unreasonable (3)
His heart was pounding like crazy.
He couldn’t even swallow his saliva because of the sword touching his throat. If he moved wrong, the blade would dig in.
‘How did this bastard?!’
How did he find out about my residence and come here?
Even though they belonged to the Black Tiger Gang, the executives’ residences were all prepared separately. In other words, the workplace and lodging were different.
But this bastard appeared here like a ghost. He didn’t even seem to be caught by anyone. If there had been a commotion, he couldn’t have missed hearing it.
“Why? Don’t want to receive the money? Should we just consider it embezzled?”
Ga Hang, who had been looking up at Moyong Cheon with trembling eyes, muttered in a low voice.
“How on earth did you get here…?”
Slash.
“Huk!”
Ga Hang was terrified. The sharp dagger had cut into the skin of his neck.
The trickling blood felt hot. If it had been just a little deeper, his artery would have been injured and he would have crossed the Sanzu River before counting to five.
“Will you take the money or not?”
It meant don’t ask useless questions and just answer properly.
Ga Hang squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t know what was going on, but he was a man who had experienced everything in the back alleys.
“I, I won’t take it!”
For a moment, Ga Hang felt dizzy.
Moyong Bi’s grinning teeth were gleaming white in the moonlight.
“The guy who banged on the main gate of the Main Family House at that late hour to collect money, why won’t you take it now?”
“…”
“Huh? Not answering?”
The sword pressed in with force again.
Ga Hang’s mouth opened reflexively.
“S-sorry! I apologize for that matter!”
“Why apologize? You guys just came to collect money. Right?”
“That’s… true, but.”
“But you feel like you did something wrong?”
You crazy bastard! What do you want!
He wanted to shout that. If the fear dominating his entire body hadn’t overwhelmed his anger, he might have really screamed.
“I did wrong…”
“Well, I didn’t come here to judge your rights and wrongs, so let’s stop this talk here.”
“…”
“Since midnight has passed, more compound interest has been added. So how much is the money I borrowed?”
Ga Hang quickly opened his mouth.
“Interest is added based on the beginning of the Hour of the Rabbit, not midnight. It’s still 1,080 Nyang and 70 Mun.”
“Hour of the Rabbit… that’s the time when dawn barely breaks even in midsummer. You must have turned away people who came to repay just before that and sent them back? Since it’s sleeping time like now for you bastards. Right?”
From the Yama King Debt’s perspective, which had to collect even one more day of interest, it was natural.
That was how Yama King Debt operated – they would chase away people who borrowed money and refuse to meet them, then when the debt had grown to a suitable amount, they would go collect it.
Naturally, when debtors protested that they weren’t met when they came looking, it held no water whatsoever.
These were people who strategically approached those in need of money, lent it with the kindest faces in the world, then made them stamp unfavorable contracts or used violence to suck them dry to the bone.
They were called Yama King Debt because it would be better to borrow money from the King of Hell himself.
“What, then? Am I like that too? Does not collecting the borrowed money ultimately mean ‘not collecting it now’? To collect it later with more interest?”
“No! I won’t collect the lent money itself!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“You said 1,080 Nyang and 70 Mun, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Good.”
Moyong Cheon sat on the edge of the bed chamber.
As the end of the bed chamber tilted slightly, Ga Hang’s heart beat even harder. It felt as if his heart was rolling around as much as the bed chamber had tilted.
“We don’t need to write up any contract between us. A great man like you wouldn’t go back on his word, so I’ll just trust you and leave it at that.”
Even while trembling with fear, Ga Hang cheered inwardly.
Damn bastard! Just go back like this! The moment you do, I’ll call all my boys and have you turned into minced meat!
“Then let’s drop the petty interest, and the total money you’ll repay me is 8,920 Nyang.”
“…?”
“Ah, but since there’s friendship between men, I’ll round it up and just take 9,000 Nyang.”
What kind of crazy talk is this?!
Why should he give money to this bastard? Even while under threat of death, Ga Hang couldn’t contain his curiosity.
“Why, why should I give money?”
“Disturbance fee.”
“…?”
“The crime of bringing a bunch of worthless bastards in the dead of night and making noise at the Main Family House.”
“What?!”
“Why? Don’t want to pay 9,000 Nyang for the disturbance fee?”
Moyong Cheon tapped Ga Hang’s cheek with his sword.
“Is your life worth at least 9,000 Nyang?”
Ga Hang’s face turned bright red.
Since he could die if he made a wrong move, he had listened to most anything, but faced with the ridiculous demand to pay 9,000 Nyang for causing a disturbance, he couldn’t contain his fury.
“Are you calling that reasonable talk?!”
“Then is 100 Nyang becoming 1,080 Nyang in less than ten days reasonable?”
“What?”
“Ah, and 70 Mun was tacked on too. Such petty bastards.”
“You bastard! That was clearly…!”
“Let’s not talk about contracts. Anyone can see it doesn’t make sense. Even if I had suddenly changed my mind about borrowing, as an adult I shouldn’t have done that. You should have either sent me away nicely or scolded me. Right?”
What kind of crazy bastard is this?!
“Stop talking nonsense! You dare look down on our organization, but if you don’t hand over the borrowed money and get lost right now, not a single pillar of your household will remain!”
It was an outburst he couldn’t contain in his anger, but ultimately Ga Hang shouldn’t have gone that far.
Moyong Cheon’s cold eyes turned colorlessly transparent.
It was a similar yet completely different gaze. At that eerie change, Ga Hang felt a suffocating terror.
“Your way of calculating is quite charming, I like it.”
Unlike his changed gaze, his voice was gentle.
That disparity was even more frightening. Ga Hang’s body began trembling like an aspen leaf.
“I’m actually more familiar with that approach. If you can’t get what you want, just rip it out by the roots. It might lack some dignity, but it’s one way to properly secure what matters.”
Moyong Cheon grabbed Ga Hang’s wrist and pulled it before his eyes.
“Look how thick these fingers are. Is one of these worth a nyang?”
This crazy bastard!
“Wait…!”
Slice.
“Kraaak!”
“Seems about worth a nyang, right? Let’s see.”
Slice.
“Krgh! J-just wait!”
“This one’s so greasy that blood barely comes out. Here we go.”
Slice!
“Ugh.”
In an instant, three fingers from thumb to middle finger were cut off, and Ga Hang drooled helplessly.
The terror from the sense of loss was far greater than the pain. He thought that if things went wrong, all his fingers and toes might be cut off.
“Three fingers means three nyang? Then that’s eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven nyang?”
Moyong Cheon shrugged his shoulders.
“What’s with calculating down to single nyang between men? Let’s just make it nine thousand nyang.”
“Kheuk!”
Ga Hang foamed at the mouth.
Only now did he realize it. He had really stepped into it this time.
How Moyong Bi had snuck in here, what method he used to paralyze his body, how he was emanating an even more intimidating presence than the Black Tiger Gang Leader – all of that was secondary.
This bastard had no intention of showing him any mercy.
‘I’m really going to die!’
Even in this situation, rage boiled up inside him.
Not toward Moyong Bi, but toward his dim-witted subordinates who weren’t banging on the door despite all this commotion.
As if reading his mind, Moyong Cheon spoke with an amused voice.
“If you’re waiting for someone to come help you, don’t get your hopes up. I was going to knock them all out, but except for that guy Jang Gu, none of them were around?”
“…?”
“Well, I guess they weren’t completely heartless since I dared to attack the main family house at night. They’re probably off somewhere drinking.”
Moyong Cheon pointed toward the door with his thumb, wearing an innocent expression.
“By the way, Jang Gu is lying over there. He politely told me this was your residence.”
These bastards!
How could every single one of them be so hopeless? When their leader gives an order, they should follow it even if it kills them. But true to their vagrant origins, they couldn’t resist going off to drink?
“Well, let’s stop talking about that. It’s a trivial matter anyway.”
Moyong Cheon brought the sword to Ga Hang’s wrist.
His intention was to cut the wrist, not the fingers. If he cut the wrist when Ga Hang couldn’t move his body, he would inevitably die from excessive blood loss.
Ga Hang’s face turned deathly pale.
“Will you pay back the nine thousand nyang?”
“I, I’ll pay it back!”
“Ah, should we just make it ten thousand nyang? Rounding up. Wouldn’t that be more refreshing?”
It was an absurd markup, but Ga Hang answered frantically.
“Ten thousand nyang! I’ll give you ten thousand nyang! Please spare my life!”
“Good.”
Moyong Cheon got up from the bed and lit the candle on the table with flint.
Ga Hang’s breathing naturally became labored. Thanks to the candlelight, the blood staining the bed was clearly visible.
His terror intensified.
“Where’s the ten thousand nyang?”
“I’ll give it to you directly…”
“Want me to cut off a few more nyang? I don’t mind.”
Foolish tricks truly didn’t work even a little bit on this opponent.
At this moment, Ga Hang gave up everything. Revenge and whatever else – getting through this current situation was all that mattered.
“If, if you open the black shelf to the left of the table, there’s money there.”
“Hmm.”
Moyong Cheon, who had returned to the table, chuckled softly.
“There’s money here?”
“Yes. If you carelessly open it, the glass bottle containing oil will break and catch fire from the flint flame. The key is in my pocket!”
“Really?”
“Really! How could I dare tell you a lie!”
Ga Hang foamed at the mouth once again. If he could move his body, he would have beaten his chest repeatedly.
It’s real, so please believe me!
“Well, I suppose there would be money.”
Greed flickered in Moyong Cheon’s eyes as he glanced around the surroundings.
“But I suddenly got the feeling that there might be things more precious than money here.”
“…!”
“I heard you’re ranked fifth in the Black Tiger Gang?”
It wasn’t surprising that he knew this. As famous as the Black Tiger Gang was, his own name was quite well-known in the marketplace.
The real problem was the madness reflected in that demon’s eyes.
“A greedy bastard like you openly kept money in your residence. That means your real wealth is hidden somewhere else, right? I noticed you don’t have any guards either.”
The reason for having no guards was simple. He couldn’t trust even the guards.
No matter how famous, the Dark Path was still the Dark Path. Birds of a feather flock together – the Black Tiger Gang was a place filled with people who trusted no one, whether it was Ga Hang or his subordinates.
“Where did you bury your remaining wealth?”
Now Ga Hang’s teeth were chattering.
“My lord… please spare my life.”
“Who said anything about killing? I just want to know where your wealth is.”
That couldn’t be.
Not only did they barge into his residence to extort money, but they also wanted to steal his hidden wealth. In other words, they were going to strip him completely bare.
When you strip someone completely bare, common sense dictates you burn the remaining shell of clothes.
“By the way, you had ten thousand nyang hidden in your residence? The Black Tiger Gang’s earnings must be pretty good? With that kind of money, everyone would be lining up to become a Black Tiger Gang member.”
“…!”
“If the Gang Leader hears you have so much wealth, he’ll be delighted. Hey, I can already hear the sound of gang members multiplying from here.”
Could Ga Hang have accumulated all that money just from his monthly salary? Of course, there was plenty of money he had embezzled along the way.
If that became known, Ga Hang would be as good as dead.
In the end, he had only one choice.
“Are you really going to spare my life?”
Moyong Cheon spoke indifferently.
“It’s not like I’m some murderer. What would I gain from killing you?”
That’s right. He wasn’t a murderer.
He was just the Mad Demon who was called a Killing Demon.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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