Heaven-Defying Hero - Chapter 40
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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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#040
Ja-gang-cheon remained expressionless.
Even while watching the screaming Nokrimdo, he showed no emotion whatsoever.
“P-please spare me.”
Seeing Ja-gang-cheon snap his hand like a tree branch, the Nokrimdo realized this was an opponent he could never dare to face.
Though he had ruled as a chaejoo in a major region and was called a tenacious bastard, facing Ja-gang-cheon filled him with an eerie terror.
‘He’s a master.’
He felt like a wild beast encountered suddenly.
An existence that made one shrink just by looking at him.
The beast asked.
“You know you just tried to kill the Chosuhoe leader, right?”
“What do you mean…”
Only then did the Nokrimdo realize what he had been trying to do.
‘He’s not a competitor. He’s been the Chosuhoe leader since this morning.’
From the moment he declared to voice complaints until midnight, he was indeed the leader for now.
“I’m s-sorry…”
“Stay still.”
Tap.
Ja-gang-cheon pressed the pressure point of the apologizing Nokrimdo.
“Everyone go inside there.”
He pointed to the guest quarters where the meeting had been held.
“Anyone who wants to die can stay here.”
“Everyone move!”
Chae Geonra quickly gave orders and led the Chosuhoe people into the guest quarters.
‘So far everything’s going according to plan.’
But before closing the door, Chae Geonra looked at Ja-gang-cheon.
“Will you be alright?”
Instead of answering, Ja-gang-cheon nodded slightly.
“Be careful.”
The moment Chae Geonra closed the door, a group came over the fence.
They were Nokrimdo.
“Chaejoo-nim!”
They had come to rescue the chaejoo who was responsible for this incident.
The first to react to this was the chaejoo lying on the ground.
‘Don’t come! No!’
He thought this matter shouldn’t escalate further, but with his pressure point sealed, his mouth wouldn’t open.
Meanwhile, Ja-gang-cheon picked up a wooden staff that had fallen nearby.
Crack!
The one running at the front had his shoulder shattered by Ja-gang-cheon’s staff and was driven straight into the ground.
Though it was a tremendous blow, the Nokrimdo who had already started running didn’t stop.
Thwack! Thwack!
It was like he was deploying a barrier.
Ja-gang-cheon’s surroundings were filled with afterimages of the staff. What was amazing was that despite striking iron with wood, it was the iron that broke instead.
“Gaaah!”
“Urgh!”
Those who approached the staff invariably had something broken and rolled on the ground.
The screaming continued, and the groans of the injured piled up one by one, echoing like the wails of demons.
“St-stop!”
Meanwhile, the chaejoo, who had his pressure point released with his comrade’s help, screamed desperately.
“Stop it! You stupid bastards!”
Biam Chaejoo Do Jangmyeong.
He quickly surveyed his surroundings.
‘He’s deliberately not killing a single person.’
The intention was clear.
‘He wants to pin all the blame on us.’
To be precise, Do Jangmyeong’s own guilt was growing larger and larger.
“Stop!”
Finally, he stepped forward himself and made the Nokrimdo stop.
“Th-thank you for showing mercy.”
Do Jangmyeong, looking around at the confused and hesitant Nokrimdo, bowed his head to Ja-gang-cheon. Terrible pain shot up from his broken hand, but he had no time to worry about it.
“Unlike you, I don’t particularly enjoy killing.”
Ja-gang-cheon threw the staff to the ground and dusted off his hands. Seeing this, Do Jangmyeong shouted at the Nokrimdo once more.
“Take everyone and go back! Right now!”
The Nokrimdo were still puzzled, but they didn’t refuse their leader’s orders.
After all the groaning men left and Do Jangmyeong was left alone, the door to the guest quarters finally opened and the Chosuhoe people came out again, led by Chae Geonra.
What had happened inside during the fight could be understood just by looking at their expressions.
“We have decided to follow Leader Chae’s orders.”
Hearing this, Ja-gang-cheon stepped back. From now on, it was Chae Geonra’s time.
“Announce to everyone that the Chosuhoe has been revived. Our Chosuhoe will never force membership. We will acknowledge it even if you form groups individually, and we won’t interfere with independent businesses. However, any acts that prevent or obstruct joining the association will be thoroughly punished.”
Despite having power, Chae Geonra chose tolerance.
“The first goal of our Chosuhoe is for our members to receive proper treatment without being ignored. The Chosuhoe will directly negotiate with merchant guilds nationwide for all products we produce.”
“We will follow the leader’s will.”
“We will deliver this to everyone without exception.”
The Eastern and Western regions bowed their heads without delay, and though the Southern region sighed, they didn’t go against the tide.
The last remaining person was Tiger Eyebrow, the Northern Leader.
“Tell Nokrim this. I have no intention of making enemies with Nokrim over this matter. We will completely forget this grudge, so tell Nokrim not to interfere in our affairs anymore.”
Despite choosing forgiveness over punishment, Tiger Eyebrow’s expression didn’t improve.
‘In the end, this is something you’ll have to handle.’
The process of conveying that message to Nokrim probably wouldn’t be smooth.
‘That’s your role. Nokrim needs someone to vent their anger on too.’
Both the Chosuhoe and Ja-gang-cheon had people they needed to protect. Especially for those who traveled nationwide, making enemies with Nokrim was never a good choice.
That’s why they had devised this plan.
‘He’s an amazing person. To actually pull it off.’
Though the plan was made by Chae Geonra, it was Ja-gang-cheon who executed it.
“I will never forget this debt.”
“We did this because we needed each other. I hope we can become good partners rather than having a stiff relationship.”
“You said Deungmyeong Manor, right? From now on, products made by the Chosuhoe will be supplied to you with top priority.”
“That’s enough for me.”
Ja-gang-cheon was genuinely satisfied. However, this was both refreshing and strange to Chae Geonra.
‘Does he really have no other demands?’
He suspected until the very moment they wrote a simple contract and turned to leave, but Ja-gang-cheon never demanded anything else.
“Farewell.”
It was when they were making their final farewell.
“Oh, wait.”
Had he finally thought of something to demand?
“What do you like?”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to prepare something for when you visit Deungmyeong Manor next time. Fruits or confections are possible. Tea is good too.”
At those words, Chae Geonra somehow felt deflated.
“Having lived in the mountains my whole life, the sea fish was really delicious.”
“That’s great! There’s plenty of sea fish in Jiao-nan.”
Ja-gang-cheon even waved his hand before leaving the place.
“Seeing that person makes me feel truly pathetic.”
“Why do you say such things?”
“I was anxious until the end about what he might demand. In fact, I worried about that throughout our entire meeting. Yet the other party spoke honestly about everything.”
All the worries and concerns up to now were self-created.
“I can’t believe there are people like that in this world.”
“The mountain god must have helped him.”
“But didn’t he say he lives by the sea?”
“Ahem.”
They found themselves laughing for some reason. But at Chae Geonra’s self-deprecating words, everyone sighed.
“The mountain god must have asked the Dragon King for a favor. Since there are no useful people among us mountain folk.”
As everyone became gloomy, Chae Geonra spoke.
“Let’s change from now on. We have many families to take care of.”
Everyone looked at the spot where the seventeen-year-old young man had left with lingering eyes.
The youngest person in that place was fifty years old.
***
Ja-gang-cheon hurried on his way.
He wanted to quickly deliver the good news.
‘I should also ease the Merchant Guild Leader’s worries.’
His heart ached when he recalled the skin that had become as dry as beeswax in such a short time.
So he hastened his pace.
He deployed lightness skills while stepping on trees in the forest overlooking Guando, and even crossed long rivers directly. The reason he didn’t stray from Guando was because he was worried about getting lost.
It was when he quickly passed through Hanan and entered Shandong Province.
Since Jiao-nan was by the sea, entering Shandong Province didn’t mean he was close.
However, Ja-gang-cheon had been tracking a presence from some point. It wasn’t the energy of just one person.
It was a sparse human presence like a net spread out. Since an immeasurable dragnet continued along Guando, he began moving on foot instead of using lightness skills.
“Aah!”
If he hadn’t heard that sound from afar, he wouldn’t have stopped walking.
“P-please save me.”
If that terror-stricken voice hadn’t been young, he might not have intervened.
Whoosh!
Ja-gang-cheon’s body disappeared from Guando and immediately headed toward the deep forest.
“Please save me!”
A curved blade held by rough hands was aimed at the neck of a girl around ten years old.
The moment the girl squeezed her eyes shut,
Clang!
A stone struck the side of the curved blade.
Seeing the solid blade shatter, the 30s Man quickly looked around.
“Who’s there?”
“What’s your reason for trying to kill a child in the deep mountains?”
The voice echoed and confused the ears.
The man who recognized this as an afterimage of internal energy swallowed dry saliva.
“I don’t know what kind of master you are, but this matter stems from personal grudges, so please don’t interfere.”
The man warned with some backbone. But that wasn’t a reason for a bearded man to behead a powerless ten-year-old girl.
“Tell me the reason. I’ll decide whether to just pass by after that.”
“This child stole our belongings.”
“No! I didn’t steal anything! The men tried to kill our father!”
“That’s a lie.”
“No! No!”
The man was tense.
Strangely, he couldn’t hear the other party’s voice.
So the man raised the broken curved blade again.
“P-please save me! Don’t kill me!”
It was to deal with the noisy girl first. But before he could bring his hand down, a chilling voice was heard.
“You’re wearing two layers of clothes?”
Slash!
The man’s outer garment was torn. Then the familiar light armor inside became visible.
A red tiger.
“Hwangbo Clan.”
It was when he said those words.
A sharp energy wave flew toward Ja-gang-cheon’s back.
Thud!
Dirt flew up from where he had been standing.
What flew without warning was a sharply honed dagger. But the target was no longer in that spot.
“Ah, the child is gone! Chase them!”
It wasn’t just the uninvited guest who had disappeared. The girl who had been trembling just moments ago was also nowhere to be seen.
“Did you see the opponent’s face?”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t see because they were behind me.”
Watching ten subordinates scatter in all directions, the man frowned.
“Find them. We must find them and eliminate future troubles.”
“Yes, Dan-ju.”
The man holding the broken curved blade also immediately disappeared into the dark forest.
The man left alone pulled out the dagger that had fallen to the ground and inserted it into the leather belt at his waist.
“They dodged the hidden weapon thrown from behind as if they had seen it. That means they’re no ordinary master…”
No matter how much he thought, no particular person came to mind.
‘Did that man have friends?’
Bad thoughts arose in his mind.
“We must definitely deal with this.”
After securing the hidden weapon, he climbed to the top of the highest tree and surveyed the surroundings.
***
Whoosh!
The girl’s head hurt from the wind brushing past her ears. Perhaps because of that, she curled up her body tightly.
“Please save our father. I beg you. Please save our father.”
Ja-gang-cheon, thinking he had put quite some distance between them, asked.
“Who is your father?”
“Just our father.”
“Why is your father in danger?”
“We lived in the mountains. Father and I lived together, but those men appeared.”
The girl repeatedly told of what she had experienced.
‘Living in the mountains, but Hwangbo Clan warriors came looking? And they even attempted murder and destruction of evidence by trying to kill the girl?’
Even though Ja-gang-cheon lacked experience, he was aware that there was a high possibility of clashing with the Hwangbo Clan in the future.
‘I need to find out what’s going on.’
Ja-gang-cheon changed direction.
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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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