Dokmaeuiseon - Chapter 12

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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 12

 

 

‘He doesn’t seem very trustworthy though…’

 

Shifty, snake-like eyes.

Even Jung Myeong couldn’t help but be bothered by this.

But the task itself didn’t feel too heavy.

 

‘Well, just going to look around and check the market prices shouldn’t be a problem.’

 

It was just going to take a look.

There was no need to buy anything right now.

So he followed along.

 

‘What trouble could there be? I’ve grown stronger, so I should be able to handle most problems.’

 

21 years of internal energy, and the highly advanced abilities of the Three Origin Poison Art.

If he utilized his skills on top of that.

He had become more than ten times stronger than before.

So he was confident. That he could easily handle scoundrels of that level.

Perhaps because of this.

There was no trace of fear in Jung Myeong’s steps as he followed behind the broker.

 

“The place we’re going is more remote than I expected?”

“It can’t be helped.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. You know how expensive Hangzhou is, don’t you.”

“I’ve heard about it.”

“Getting a single spot in the Market District costs twice as much as in other cities. And lodging? It’s naturally three times more expensive. Since it’s fixed, you see.”

“I see.”

 

He also probed the broker appropriately.

To learn about market prices and the surrounding situation.

 

‘Since I’m thinking this might become my residence, I am curious.’

 

Since he was thinking of settling down in Hangzhou, there was much to ask about.

So he asked persistently.

Perhaps because the broker wanted something from Jung Myeong.

The broker answered well, though he seemed annoyed.

 

“Hehe. You ask a lot of questions.”

“Haha, this is my first time in Hangzhou, so I’m quite curious about many things.”

“Well, I think I’ve answered enough to deserve payment. At this point, I should probably charge for all this chatter.”

“I’ll buy you a bottle of liquor later.”

“A cheap one?”

“A decent one.”

“Hmm… Good.”

 

The broker was quite the character too.

While acting annoyed.

He continuously answered and diverted Jung Myeong’s attention.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Here we are.”

 

Eventually, they reached their destination.

The place looked to be in good condition.

Though shabby, there were clear signs that it had been maintained here and there.

Moreover.

 

‘There seem to be people inside? Hmm… Is this a place where people still live.’

 

He could sense presence too.

Meaning people were living there.

This wasn’t bad.

If you’ve seen abandoned houses with no one in them, you’d know.

Houses deteriorate faster than you’d think. Without people, that speed accelerates. A few months would be enough for it to become an eyesore.

In that sense, taking over a place where people had been living was the best option.

 

‘If people are living here, maybe he didn’t bring me to a bad place… I might have misjudged based on appearance alone.’

 

Jung Myeong felt relieved that this seemed acceptable.

 

“How about we go inside and take a look?”

“Would that be alright?”

“Usually it wouldn’t be, but I know this house well, so it’s possible.”

“Oh…!”

 

Fortunately, he said they could see the inside too.

If things went well, he might easily find a place to use as his residence.

Jung Myeong poked his head through the door the broker had opened.

 

“The inside is… Ugh!”

 

At that moment.

The back of his head throbbed with pain.

 

[You have received a major blow!]

[You are falling into Formation ????.]

[Formation ???? is activating!]

 

Just as he was turning his head from the impact and trying to react,

Someone struck his head and pushed him from behind.

Before he could even react.

Suddenly, he felt the ground give way beneath him.

 

“Keurgh!”

 

Thud.

The impact that followed spread throughout his entire body.

His whole body ached.

 

“Keurgh… Cough!”

 

It felt like his bones might have broken.

When he belatedly came to his senses and looked up,

he saw the Broker with murderous eyes.

 

“Huh… Is your head made of iron? You’re not passing out?”

“You, you bastard!”

 

The Broker giggled at the sight of the enraged Jung Myeong.

Next to him, several Scoundrels who seemed to be his accomplices were visible.

They all had similarly crazed looks in their eyes.

 

“That bastard, his eyes have gone crazy.”

“Hiya. We really caught a good one, didn’t we?”

“Seems like it? Hey hey. Don’t struggle uselessly and just lie there. It’s too deep for you to climb out anyway. There’s even a Formation, right?”

“Hey! Why are you telling him about the Formation?”

“He’s going to die anyway, so what does it matter. Even if he could sell it, he wouldn’t be able to come here.”

“Heh. Right. You’re right, you’re right.”

“Hm, seems like we hit it big this time. That bastard has some money too, right?”

“From what I heard on the way here, he seems to have some money.”

“Really? Good. Where is it?”

“From what I heard, he probably hid it somewhere in the Inn.”

“Then I’ll have to go to the Inn. That place will be a bit hard to search though.”

“What can you do. Go and handle it well. Seems like we’ll make a solid profit after a long time. Be careful.”

“Of course. I’m going.”

“Go and come back quickly through the back route without leaking anything. You, you. You two follow him.”

“Yes!”

“Bastard? You don’t trust me?”

“I should trust someone trustworthy. Shut up and go come back. If any of you have schemes, all three of you die.”

“…Damn it.”

 

From the looks of it, this wasn’t their first or second time doing something like this.

The bastards whispered among themselves and quickly divided up the work.

Three went to search through the luggage left at the Inn.

Another one heard some words and moved somewhere.

In the midst of this, Jung Myeong faintly heard the words “Black Point” pass by.

 

“Well then, see you later.”

 

Rumble- Thud.

And some time later, the only space connecting to the outside closed.

The light completely disappeared.

 

 

* * *

 

 

‘This price is too high.’

 

He had been complacent for a moment.

The price of that complacency was too high.

Jung Myeong felt bitter.

 

‘I might have let my guard down without realizing it.’

 

The constant tension he should maintain, you could say.

While wandering as a Gangho Physician, he had always maintained deep tension.

It was tension like an instinct.

At some point, that had loosened without him knowing.

Jung Myeong realized this belatedly.

 

“Tsk…”

 

When had he become accustomed to such warmth?

Since losing his Master, he hadn’t built any deep connections at all.

People around him calling him a great physician, a divine physician.

 

‘Getting all pleased from being called a benefactor.’

 

He had also become arrogant.

Because of his Awakening.

Until now, he had lived without incident despite lacking skill, thanks to staying tense.

This time, even with skill, he acted more foolishly and ended up like this.

He felt pathetic.

 

“I was stupid.”

 

He could only scold himself.

But he couldn’t just wallow in regret.

He couldn’t just sit idle.

He put regret behind him.

First, he decided to come to his senses.

He discarded his dazed state.

He immediately began assessing the situation.

 

‘From the looks of it, they’ll sneak into the Inn and search through my luggage. If they’re calling someone over, the time I have left is at most about one hour.’

 

The time granted to him. One hour.

After that, whatever would happen would happen.

The people from Black Point they mentioned might come.

 

‘Then…’

 

In the thick darkness,

Jung Myeong’s eyes alone were shining.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Huu…”

 

Swish-

Jung Myeong first circulated his Internal Energy.

The power of Internal Energy was tremendous.

The throbbing in his body quickly disappeared.

In the meantime, he also made a plan.

 

‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I’ll deal with them all.’

 

A plan quickly formed.

All that remained was action.

 

[Martial Art: Using Earth Movement Technique.]

 

Tadadadadadak-

He dug into the ground at a terrifying speed.

Not upward, but sideways.

His hands, which had burrowed in instantly, roughly dug through the dirt.

Fast speed!

But extremely stealthy.

 

‘I need to dig in an L-shape and come up. Maintain stealth.’

 

How should he dig in.

That was already decided.

Carefully so it wouldn’t collapse.

Stealthily so he wouldn’t be detected.

He would only observe these two principles.

He endlessly dug inward.

 

“Huu…”

 

He finally succeeded in coming up.

As soon as he emerged, voices could be heard.

 

“Hey hey, do you remember that place from before?”

“The Pleasure House. Where else would it be.”

“I mean Wolhwa! Wolhwa! Don’t you even know that place?”

“You should visit just one or two places to talk. Just smile a little and you get all giddy and blow your entire fortune…”

“Damn it. Do you think I want to hear nagging?”

“Ah, so what about it?”

“Before that, at Wolhwa…”

 

It was lewd talk.

 

‘Judging by the atmosphere, it seems the Broker who brought me here is the center of this place.’

 

Perhaps because they thought they had caught everything, they weren’t even tense.

They weren’t paying any attention to what was below.

Good.

Then he had to move on to the next step immediately.

It would be better to separate rather than stay attached if possible.

The opportunity came right away.

 

“Hey, where are you going in the middle of our conversation?”

“Ah, just need to take a leak…”

“This bastard. Didn’t you just go a moment ago? Are you already running out of energy? Huh?”

“…Shut up. I’ll be back.”

 

There was someone who seemed to need to urinate.

Creak-

The sound of the back door opening could be heard.

This is the chance!

Thud-

 

“Huh?”

 

A friction sound suddenly felt.

At that, the Scoundrel turned his head.

But it was already too late.

Crack-

That was the end.

Jung Myeong immediately snapped his neck.

Without even a chance to scream,

the Scoundrel’s neck was broken.

 

“…Guk.”

 

The Scoundrel couldn’t even let out a proper groan and died.

His eyes were still open.

 

‘How dare you stare.’

 

The eyes that met at the end.

Those eyes clearly held great surprise.

Jung Myeong paid him no mind.

Instead, he quietly laid the guy down.

Swish-

He dragged him about one jang away and hid the body in the bushes.

He searched through his belongings, took the dagger, and emerged.

 

‘There’s no way a scoundrel wouldn’t be carrying a blade. That takes care of the weapon. Next up.’

 

This was more than enough time to finish off Sophie.

It meant opening the door would be natural.

Creeak-

He naturally opened the door and entered.

 

“You’re here. Come in and finish… You!?”

 

Thunk-

As soon as he entered, he threw the dagger at the one who noticed him.

The sharp dagger cut through the air.

It pierced into the remaining scoundrel’s left eye.

The moment it tore through his brain in one strike.

Thud-

The scoundrel died instantly.

 

“What!”

“How did that bastard!”

 

The thunderous crash of the falling body became a signal to the remaining two.

A signal for them to belatedly assess the situation.

But it was already too late.

 

Thwack-

Jung Myeong’s body was already shooting forward.

The first target was the Broker!

Was it because of his grudge against him? No, it wasn’t.

 

‘Where do you think you’re running!’

 

The Broker was quick-witted.

Realizing the situation wasn’t favorable, he immediately attempted to flee.

That’s why he was selected first.

Jung Myeong had no intention of giving him more opportunities.

Whoosh.

Jung Myeong’s body gained momentum from the ground using Earth Movement Technique.

And immediately shot forward.

As soon as he reached the Broker.

Thwam-

He struck the fleeing Broker’s back with one blow.

 

“Urk!”

 

Crack-

A chunk of the Broker’s back flesh was gouged out.

The flesh wasn’t the important part.

The impact that went in as the flesh was gouged.

The result of that impact.

 

“Gaaack…!”

 

Crunch-

A sound like collapsing rafters came from the Broker’s back.

It was the sound of the vertebrae breaking apart.

 

“Kraaagh! Kek… Kraaagh!”

 

The spine is where nerves converge.

That spine had been crushed.

There was no way he could support his body.

 

Thud-

The Broker collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Screams erupted from the excruciating pain he felt.

Screams more horrific than sounds from hell.

 

“Aaagh!”

 

The last remaining scoundrel was startled by this.

He stopped trying to draw his dagger and flinched first.

It was because he was shocked.

He should have immediately taken action.

That split second determined life and death.

 

‘The last one!’

 

Jung Myeong was already closing the distance with the next scoundrel.

In his hand was a Long Needle he had prepared in advance.

Swoosh-

The long needle mercilessly tore through a vital point.

 

“Kuurk…!”

 

It was a vital point, no less.

There wasn’t even time to let out a groan.

The moment it pierced, his life force was severed.

 

“Phew…”

 

With this, he had dealt with four in an instant.

 

“Is it over?”

 

It wasn’t.

The time granted to him wasn’t as long as he thought.

—————
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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