Chapter 400

Chapter 400

Jin Ja-gang didn’t know the way, but there was no need to worry.

The open doors showed Jin Ja-gang the path to take.

The inner courtyard warriors guarding the passages, despite not being ordinary warriors, naturally bowed their heads, overwhelmed by Jin Ja-gang’s dignity.

The source wasn’t fear.

Before fear came reverence.

It was respect and admiration for the one who had brought down the absolute ruler who had protected the Tang family for over half a century, King of Hell.

Thus, without even knowing it themselves, they were guiding Jin Ja-gang to where he needed to go.

Creak.

The warriors guarding the fifteenth water and fire gate opened the door wide.

And there Jin Ja-gang met the one he had longed for.

Tang Ha-ran, who had been sitting on the wooden porch holding her swollen belly, smiled when she saw Jin Ja-gang.

Though Tang Ha-ran looked somewhat thinner than before, she was still beautiful.

Tang Ha-ran placed her hand to the side and stood up, approaching Jin Ja-gang. Though Jin Ja-gang’s abdomen and chest were soaked with blood, she embraced him without care.

No, she tried to embrace him but stopped and withdrew her arms.

Tang Ha-ran wrinkled her nose slightly.

After looking at Jin Ja-gang briefly, she slapped his cheek.

Slap!

It wasn’t a hard slap filled with great emotion.

Jin Ja-gang, unexpectedly slapped, briefly closed and opened his eyes.

Then, as if understanding why, he removed the long robe Yeong-gwi had draped over him.

Though faint, Yeong-gwi’s body scent remained on it.

Jin Ja-gang became naked again.

For a moment Tang Ha-ran stared at Jin Ja-gang’s body as if entranced. She caressed Jin Ja-gang’s chest with her slender jade-like hands.

Then her face reddened and she let out an almost inaudible sigh.

“Hah…”

Tang Ha-ran raised her head and smiled.

“You’ve become even more handsome than last time, my husband.”

Jin Ja-gang knelt and placed his ear against Tang Ha-ran’s swollen belly. Tang Ha-ran held Jin Ja-gang’s head with both hands. Tang Ha-ran shed tears.

“You know? You were in there for more than ten days. Every day I prayed to heaven and earth for you to come out safely.”

Tang Ha-ran said with tears in her voice.

Without answering, Jin Ja-gang kept his ear against Tang Ha-ran’s belly for a long time.

Then he stood up and lightly lifted Tang Ha-ran, carrying her into the room.

* * *

A hill where the Tang Family Main House buildings could be seen up close.

Standing on the branch of the tallest tree with his hands behind his back, Master Haewol looked down at the Tang family.

The Tang Family Main House was built according to formation principles, so no matter how high one climbed nearby, the inside couldn’t be seen. Even from where Master Haewol stood, the inner courtyard of the Tang Family Main House couldn’t be glimpsed at all.

But the supreme energy waves unleashed by the highest masters couldn’t be hidden.

Master Haewol had just felt those energy waves. New yet familiar energy waves. And conversely, King of Hell Tang Qing’s energy waves couldn’t be felt.

Master Haewol clicked his tongue.

“King of Hell has finally fallen. And someone even more vicious than King of Hell has coiled up in the Tang family.”

Master Haewol’s expression became gloomy as he talked to himself.

“Isn’t this an even worse situation than you dying at King of Hell’s hands?”

Like Jin Ja-gang had predicted, Master Haewol was certain that King of Hell Tang Qing and the Hungry Ghost King had some kind of relationship. Among the countless information branches leading to the Hungry Ghost King, the thickest trunk recently led to Tang Qing.

This meant Tang Qing’s great undertaking and the Hungry Ghost King’s interests aligned somehow.

Therefore Master Haewol had hoped Tang Qing’s great undertaking would succeed. He planned to unite all orthodox sect forces to fight the Tang family.

Then he thought the identity of the power hidden behind the Tang family would surely be revealed.

But by Jin Ja-gang bringing down Tang Qing and taking over the Tang family, future events became completely unpredictable.

Even the direction of the great undertaking Tang Qing had been plotting fell into mystery.

Master Haewol sighed deeply.

“The martial world is precious to me. I cherish the martial world more than anyone. But now I’ve become someone who must do vicious things to the martial world for the sake of the martial world I cherish.”

Master Haewol, who had been hanging his head for a while, suddenly stamped his foot.

Whoosh…

With a gust of wind, Master Haewol disappeared and only the tree branch where he had been standing swayed.

* * *

Sim Hak rushed breathlessly into the office.

“P-p-p-p, Poison King, no, K-k-k-k, King of Hell!”

Baek Li-jung and Mang Ryo were together when they looked at Sim Hak. Mang Ryo spoke to Sim Hak as if finding him pathetic.

“Strategist Sim, have a cup of tea and calm down. I can’t understand what you’re saying at all.”

Sim Hak took the teacup Mang Ryo offered and gulped it down, then spat it out.

“Pffff! H-h-hot!”

Mang Ryo laughed heartily.

“Are you a bit more alert now?”

Though Sim Hak’s palate and throat must have been burning from the burns, he didn’t seem to feel the pain.

“T-t-t-Tang… In S-S-Sichuan…!”

It meant it was that shocking an event.

Baek Li-jung’s eyes flashed. A sharp energy cut through the tip of Sim Hak’s scholar’s cap.

Flutter… The cut piece of the cap fluttered.

Sim Hak blinked. He finally seemed to come to his senses.

Looking at Baek Li-jung and Mang Ryo with a dazed expression, Sim Hak said.

“King of Hell… has fallen from power.”

Now Baek Li-jung and Mang Ryo understood why Sim Hak was so shocked.

It was something shocking enough.

The great King of Hell?

Baek Li-jung’s expression became somewhat serious.

“It hasn’t been long since the Stone Vajras were sent back as corpses… What are you talking about? Who defeated King of Hell?”

“Poison Dragon… They say Poison Dragon brought down King of Hell…”

Poison Dragon!

Mang Ryo’s eyes widened.

Mang Ryo opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.

He stared blankly at the ceiling.

Jin Ja-gang… had finally taken over the Sichuan Tang family!

Even just a few years ago, no, even when Jin Ja-gang was trapped in the mine tunnels, this would have been unimaginable.

The same was true when Jin Ja-gang wiped out all of Yunnan’s poison sects. Even then Jin Ja-gang was still very young and weak. All he had was a limping leg, a body that didn’t respond to poison, and some martial arts.

But…

He had climbed up by capturing King of Hell, who proudly held one king position among the One Master, Two Buddhas, Three Dao, Two Kings that move the martial world.

Moreover, Mang Ryo knew what driving force had enabled Jin Ja-gang to go that far.

Revenge.

That’s why it had to be more meaningful and satisfying.

The things he had laid down until just before Jin Ja-gang emerged from the mine tunnels had become the foundation that made the current Jin Ja-gang possible.

And finally.

Jin Ja-gang had become a man who possessed everything he wanted, or if not everything, then most things.

Strong martial power, a wife and child, even a family background.

He had gained many things.

Jin Ja-gang wouldn’t know how long Mang Ryo had waited for this moment.

Silence settled for a while.

Baek Li-jung glanced at Mang Ryo then asked Sim Hak.

“Is that Poison Dragon… the Poison Dragon I know?”

“That’s right. That Jin family bastard. It’s him. They say King of Hell was severely beaten by that Jin family bastard and even got qi deviation, collapsing.”

Baek Li-jung’s eyebrows twitched.

He still remembered.

When handing over Hundred Flower Valley to the poison sect, the small Jin family child who had looked straight at him.

That Jin family child had grown to become Poison Dragon and devoured the great King of Hell…

And where would Poison Dragon’s blade point next?

Sim Hak, shocked, tried to drink tea with trembling hands then spat it out.

“Argh, it b-burns!”

His mouth was all torn up from being burned earlier.

Sim Hak asked with a tearful expression.

“Then what do we do now? What happens to all the things we planned to do by joining hands with King of Hell?”

“Hmm.”

As Baek Li-jung fell into anguish, Sim Hak complained to Mang Ryo in a somewhat wronged tone.

“This is all because of Advisor Mang who recommended joining hands with King of Hell! Things just got complicated for nothing…! How are you going to take responsibility!”

Mang Ryo, who finally came to his senses, shook his head and answered.

“Ah, we should continue with that. It’s not like we’ll particularly lose anything.”

“That’s what I’m saying…! …Huh?”

Sim Hak suddenly made a strange expression.

Then he crept closer to Mang Ryo and stared at his face.

“Strategist Sim, what’s wrong?”

Sim Hak asked in a bewildered tone.

“Are you… crying?”

“Huh?”

“Are you crying right now?”

Sim Hak opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Mang Ryo felt under his intact right eye.

It was damp.

“Hmm?”

Trickle.

Tears flowed again.

That wasn’t Mang Ryo’s intention at all. He didn’t even know why he was shedding tears.

He had just briefly recalled the long time Jin Ja-gang spent in the mine tunnels.

It must have been hellish time for Jin Ja-gang too, but it was the same for Mang Ryo. Just as Jin Ja-gang had vowed revenge in the mine tunnels, Mang Ryo too had constantly ruminated on revenge.

Jin Ja-gang’s revenge was killing those who had made Hundred Flower Valley and Medicine Sect that way.

Mang Ryo’s revenge was trying to make it possible for Jin Ja-gang, who had nothing, to have as much as possible.

It was Jin Ja-gang who had made him lose everything achieved at the poison sect. But paradoxically, the current Mang Ryo had gained even more than back then.

Even so, Mang Ryo felt nothing.

Having lost once, even gaining again didn’t fill the void.

That heart.

The despair of falling into an endless bottomless pit unable to rise again.

The emptiness after the gold held in hand turned to sand in an instant and slipped through his fingers.

Was it fear of losing again?

No matter how much respect he received from juniors, how high his reputation rose, how strong his martial arts became, Mang Ryo could feel no satisfaction from any of it.

That’s why he felt more wronged.

Jin Ja-gang should be made to feel exactly the same as himself.

The feeling after having everything, then losing it and falling!

Wasn’t that why he had come this far!

Grind!

Mang Ryo ground his teeth.

The more he thought about it, the more anger surged.

“Huh?”

Sim Hak flinched and stepped back.

Mang Ryo looked at the retreating Sim Hak and showed a murderous smile.

Sim Hak awkwardly averted his face.

On the other hand, Mang Ryo felt great emotion at the fact that his revenge was now not far off.

“Hahaha!”

Mang Ryo burst out laughing.

Sim Hak looked at Mang Ryo with an absurd expression.

“Are you crazy?”

Crying, then grinding teeth in anger, then laughing, anyone would think so.

But Mang Ryo continued laughing.

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

Mang Ryo’s maniacal laughter filled Baek Li-jung’s office.

Mang Ryo could feel it too.

The end was now in sight. The long, painful time of endurance.

* * *

The rainy season ended, and scorching heat arrived.

As the next sequence, plague naturally spread.

It was plague that always came after floods.

However, this year the plague spread particularly severely. Not only had flood control projects been ruined by corrupt officials, but heavy snow the previous year had made flood damage very severe.

People were dying and scenes of burning corpses wrapped in straw mats could be witnessed everywhere.

Endless burning smoke rose from various places.

The plague wasn’t easily contained.

The officials who had botched flood control projects couldn’t be expected to properly handle people’s relief either.

Relief rice and medicinal materials sent from the nation mostly disappeared along the way, and when they reached places that needed them, they were mixed with sand and stones, becoming inedible.

Food and medicinal materials. Those two things were most needed now that plague was spreading.

☕ Support on Ko-Fi

Jin Ja-gang didn’t know the way, but there was no need to worry.

The open doors showed Jin Ja-gang the path to take.

The inner courtyard warriors guarding the passages, despite not being ordinary warriors, naturally bowed their heads, overwhelmed by Jin Ja-gang’s dignity.

The source wasn’t fear.

Before fear came reverence.

It was respect and admiration for the one who had brought down the absolute ruler who had protected the Tang family for over half a century, King of Hell.

Thus, without even knowing it themselves, they were guiding Jin Ja-gang to where he needed to go.

Creak.

The warriors guarding the fifteenth water and fire gate opened the door wide.

And there Jin Ja-gang met the one he had longed for.

Tang Ha-ran, who had been sitting on the wooden porch holding her swollen belly, smiled when she saw Jin Ja-gang.

Though Tang Ha-ran looked somewhat thinner than before, she was still beautiful.

Tang Ha-ran placed her hand to the side and stood up, approaching Jin Ja-gang. Though Jin Ja-gang’s abdomen and chest were soaked with blood, she embraced him without care.

No, she tried to embrace him but stopped and withdrew her arms.

Tang Ha-ran wrinkled her nose slightly.

After looking at Jin Ja-gang briefly, she slapped his cheek.

Slap!

It wasn’t a hard slap filled with great emotion.

Jin Ja-gang, unexpectedly slapped, briefly closed and opened his eyes.

Then, as if understanding why, he removed the long robe Yeong-gwi had draped over him.

Though faint, Yeong-gwi’s body scent remained on it.

Jin Ja-gang became naked again.

For a moment Tang Ha-ran stared at Jin Ja-gang’s body as if entranced. She caressed Jin Ja-gang’s chest with her slender jade-like hands.

Then her face reddened and she let out an almost inaudible sigh.

“Hah…”

Tang Ha-ran raised her head and smiled.

“You’ve become even more handsome than last time, my husband.”

Jin Ja-gang knelt and placed his ear against Tang Ha-ran’s swollen belly. Tang Ha-ran held Jin Ja-gang’s head with both hands. Tang Ha-ran shed tears.

“You know? You were in there for more than ten days. Every day I prayed to heaven and earth for you to come out safely.”

Tang Ha-ran said with tears in her voice.

Without answering, Jin Ja-gang kept his ear against Tang Ha-ran’s belly for a long time.

Then he stood up and lightly lifted Tang Ha-ran, carrying her into the room.

* * *

A hill where the Tang Family Main House buildings could be seen up close.

Standing on the branch of the tallest tree with his hands behind his back, Master Haewol looked down at the Tang family.

The Tang Family Main House was built according to formation principles, so no matter how high one climbed nearby, the inside couldn’t be seen. Even from where Master Haewol stood, the inner courtyard of the Tang Family Main House couldn’t be glimpsed at all.

But the supreme energy waves unleashed by the highest masters couldn’t be hidden.

Master Haewol had just felt those energy waves. New yet familiar energy waves. And conversely, King of Hell Tang Qing’s energy waves couldn’t be felt.

Master Haewol clicked his tongue.

“King of Hell has finally fallen. And someone even more vicious than King of Hell has coiled up in the Tang family.”

Master Haewol’s expression became gloomy as he talked to himself.

“Isn’t this an even worse situation than you dying at King of Hell’s hands?”

Like Jin Ja-gang had predicted, Master Haewol was certain that King of Hell Tang Qing and the Hungry Ghost King had some kind of relationship. Among the countless information branches leading to the Hungry Ghost King, the thickest trunk recently led to Tang Qing.

This meant Tang Qing’s great undertaking and the Hungry Ghost King’s interests aligned somehow.

Therefore Master Haewol had hoped Tang Qing’s great undertaking would succeed. He planned to unite all orthodox sect forces to fight the Tang family.

Then he thought the identity of the power hidden behind the Tang family would surely be revealed.

But by Jin Ja-gang bringing down Tang Qing and taking over the Tang family, future events became completely unpredictable.

Even the direction of the great undertaking Tang Qing had been plotting fell into mystery.

Master Haewol sighed deeply.

“The martial world is precious to me. I cherish the martial world more than anyone. But now I’ve become someone who must do vicious things to the martial world for the sake of the martial world I cherish.”

Master Haewol, who had been hanging his head for a while, suddenly stamped his foot.

Whoosh…

With a gust of wind, Master Haewol disappeared and only the tree branch where he had been standing swayed.

* * *

Sim Hak rushed breathlessly into the office.

“P-p-p-p, Poison King, no, K-k-k-k, King of Hell!”

Baek Li-jung and Mang Ryo were together when they looked at Sim Hak. Mang Ryo spoke to Sim Hak as if finding him pathetic.

“Strategist Sim, have a cup of tea and calm down. I can’t understand what you’re saying at all.”

Sim Hak took the teacup Mang Ryo offered and gulped it down, then spat it out.

“Pffff! H-h-hot!”

Mang Ryo laughed heartily.

“Are you a bit more alert now?”

Though Sim Hak’s palate and throat must have been burning from the burns, he didn’t seem to feel the pain.

“T-t-t-Tang… In S-S-Sichuan…!”

It meant it was that shocking an event.

Baek Li-jung’s eyes flashed. A sharp energy cut through the tip of Sim Hak’s scholar’s cap.

Flutter… The cut piece of the cap fluttered.

Sim Hak blinked. He finally seemed to come to his senses.

Looking at Baek Li-jung and Mang Ryo with a dazed expression, Sim Hak said.

“King of Hell… has fallen from power.”

Now Baek Li-jung and Mang Ryo understood why Sim Hak was so shocked.

It was something shocking enough.

The great King of Hell?

Baek Li-jung’s expression became somewhat serious.

“It hasn’t been long since the Stone Vajras were sent back as corpses… What are you talking about? Who defeated King of Hell?”

“Poison Dragon… They say Poison Dragon brought down King of Hell…”

Poison Dragon!

Mang Ryo’s eyes widened.

Mang Ryo opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.

He stared blankly at the ceiling.

Jin Ja-gang… had finally taken over the Sichuan Tang family!

Even just a few years ago, no, even when Jin Ja-gang was trapped in the mine tunnels, this would have been unimaginable.

The same was true when Jin Ja-gang wiped out all of Yunnan’s poison sects. Even then Jin Ja-gang was still very young and weak. All he had was a limping leg, a body that didn’t respond to poison, and some martial arts.

But…

He had climbed up by capturing King of Hell, who proudly held one king position among the One Master, Two Buddhas, Three Dao, Two Kings that move the martial world.

Moreover, Mang Ryo knew what driving force had enabled Jin Ja-gang to go that far.

Revenge.

That’s why it had to be more meaningful and satisfying.

The things he had laid down until just before Jin Ja-gang emerged from the mine tunnels had become the foundation that made the current Jin Ja-gang possible.

And finally.

Jin Ja-gang had become a man who possessed everything he wanted, or if not everything, then most things.

Strong martial power, a wife and child, even a family background.

He had gained many things.

Jin Ja-gang wouldn’t know how long Mang Ryo had waited for this moment.

Silence settled for a while.

Baek Li-jung glanced at Mang Ryo then asked Sim Hak.

“Is that Poison Dragon… the Poison Dragon I know?”

“That’s right. That Jin family bastard. It’s him. They say King of Hell was severely beaten by that Jin family bastard and even got qi deviation, collapsing.”

Baek Li-jung’s eyebrows twitched.

He still remembered.

When handing over Hundred Flower Valley to the poison sect, the small Jin family child who had looked straight at him.

That Jin family child had grown to become Poison Dragon and devoured the great King of Hell…

And where would Poison Dragon’s blade point next?

Sim Hak, shocked, tried to drink tea with trembling hands then spat it out.

“Argh, it b-burns!”

His mouth was all torn up from being burned earlier.

Sim Hak asked with a tearful expression.

“Then what do we do now? What happens to all the things we planned to do by joining hands with King of Hell?”

“Hmm.”

As Baek Li-jung fell into anguish, Sim Hak complained to Mang Ryo in a somewhat wronged tone.

“This is all because of Advisor Mang who recommended joining hands with King of Hell! Things just got complicated for nothing…! How are you going to take responsibility!”

Mang Ryo, who finally came to his senses, shook his head and answered.

“Ah, we should continue with that. It’s not like we’ll particularly lose anything.”

“That’s what I’m saying…! …Huh?”

Sim Hak suddenly made a strange expression.

Then he crept closer to Mang Ryo and stared at his face.

“Strategist Sim, what’s wrong?”

Sim Hak asked in a bewildered tone.

“Are you… crying?”

“Huh?”

“Are you crying right now?”

Sim Hak opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Mang Ryo felt under his intact right eye.

It was damp.

“Hmm?”

Trickle.

Tears flowed again.

That wasn’t Mang Ryo’s intention at all. He didn’t even know why he was shedding tears.

He had just briefly recalled the long time Jin Ja-gang spent in the mine tunnels.

It must have been hellish time for Jin Ja-gang too, but it was the same for Mang Ryo. Just as Jin Ja-gang had vowed revenge in the mine tunnels, Mang Ryo too had constantly ruminated on revenge.

Jin Ja-gang’s revenge was killing those who had made Hundred Flower Valley and Medicine Sect that way.

Mang Ryo’s revenge was trying to make it possible for Jin Ja-gang, who had nothing, to have as much as possible.

It was Jin Ja-gang who had made him lose everything achieved at the poison sect. But paradoxically, the current Mang Ryo had gained even more than back then.

Even so, Mang Ryo felt nothing.

Having lost once, even gaining again didn’t fill the void.

That heart.

The despair of falling into an endless bottomless pit unable to rise again.

The emptiness after the gold held in hand turned to sand in an instant and slipped through his fingers.

Was it fear of losing again?

No matter how much respect he received from juniors, how high his reputation rose, how strong his martial arts became, Mang Ryo could feel no satisfaction from any of it.

That’s why he felt more wronged.

Jin Ja-gang should be made to feel exactly the same as himself.

The feeling after having everything, then losing it and falling!

Wasn’t that why he had come this far!

Grind!

Mang Ryo ground his teeth.

The more he thought about it, the more anger surged.

“Huh?”

Sim Hak flinched and stepped back.

Mang Ryo looked at the retreating Sim Hak and showed a murderous smile.

Sim Hak awkwardly averted his face.

On the other hand, Mang Ryo felt great emotion at the fact that his revenge was now not far off.

“Hahaha!”

Mang Ryo burst out laughing.

Sim Hak looked at Mang Ryo with an absurd expression.

“Are you crazy?”

Crying, then grinding teeth in anger, then laughing, anyone would think so.

But Mang Ryo continued laughing.

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

Mang Ryo’s maniacal laughter filled Baek Li-jung’s office.

Mang Ryo could feel it too.

The end was now in sight. The long, painful time of endurance.

* * *

The rainy season ended, and scorching heat arrived.

As the next sequence, plague naturally spread.

It was plague that always came after floods.

However, this year the plague spread particularly severely. Not only had flood control projects been ruined by corrupt officials, but heavy snow the previous year had made flood damage very severe.

People were dying and scenes of burning corpses wrapped in straw mats could be witnessed everywhere.

Endless burning smoke rose from various places.

The plague wasn’t easily contained.

The officials who had botched flood control projects couldn’t be expected to properly handle people’s relief either.

Relief rice and medicinal materials sent from the nation mostly disappeared along the way, and when they reached places that needed them, they were mixed with sand and stones, becoming inedible.

Food and medicinal materials. Those two things were most needed now that plague was spreading.

☕ Support on Ko-Fi

☕ Support on Ko-Fi

☕ Support on Ko-Fi