Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Seo Gil-pung tried to stop the escort warrior who was about to support his colleague.

“W-wait!”

“What?”

It was already too late. Just as the escort warrior grabbed his falling comrade, the boy casually held the lantern up to the face of the unharmed warrior.

“What are you doing!”

But soon the warrior’s expression twisted.

“Aaargh! My face!”

The warrior was greatly startled and covered his face with one hand. However, unlike his comrade who had been caught off guard, the warrior drew his sword with lightning speed and swung it at the boy.

Swoosh!

The boy hurriedly dodged. The warrior’s vision had blurred, causing him to misjudge the distance. A sword mark about half a palm’s width appeared across the boy’s chest.

The warrior’s sword also cut the lantern in half. Oil spilled out and the lamp fell over, causing a fire on the ground.

“Ugh, urgh!”

That was the warrior’s final strike. Like his colleague before him, the warrior writhed in agony before dying.

The boy touched the blood seeping from his chest, then without any change in expression, wiped his hand on his clothes.

Seo Gil-pung’s face turned deathly pale at the sight. When the boy looked at him, Seo Gil-pung remembered his gaze. Though his appearance had changed, his eyes were the same.

“I-I remember now. I remember!”

It was that boy who had stared at him during the trial, Jin Ja-gang, the survivor of Hundred Flower Valley.

‘How is he here!’

Jin Ja-gang limped toward Seo Gil-pung, avoiding the fire and smoke on the ground from the spilled oil.

Seo Gil-pung quickly turned to flee.

‘I must escape!’

He didn’t think Jin Ja-gang was alone. Surely he must have come with opposing forces and masters!

If that were the case, running might not make sense, but either way, the first priority was to get away.

But as he was about to run, Jin Ja-gang called out from behind him.

“Your house is just ahead, isn’t it?”

Hesitation.

Those words stopped Seo Gil-pung in his tracks. He nearly fell over from stopping so suddenly.

“You have two children, and elderly family members—four family members living together.”

Seo Gil-pung hastily turned around. His face showed both anger and bewilderment.

“Are you… threatening me now?”

Seo Gil-pung looked around and said:

“I don’t know who you are, but stop hiding behind a child and show yourselves! How can people wearing the mask of righteousness cowardly take a family hostage!”

“…”

“You think you can do something to me, Seo Gil-pung? Go ahead and try. The main headquarters won’t stand by. You’ll regret today’s actions for a long time!”

“…”

“Kill me if you can! Torture me if you want! Whatever you do, you won’t get a word out of me!”

“…”

Unable to bear it any longer, Jin Ja-gang asked:

“Who are you talking to?”

“What?”

Seo Gil-pung continued looking around.

Seeing that he would continue this behavior if left alone, Jin Ja-gang got straight to the point.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“M-my family, what have you done to them?”

“They’re alive. For now.”

“Just try touching my family! I’ll never let you…”

“If you think your family is important, then perhaps you can answer about other people’s families too. Where are the people of our Hundred Flower Valley?”

“…?”

Appearing so suddenly and asking about Hundred Flower Valley confused Seo Gil-pung.

‘Hundred Flower Valley?’

Of course, he knew where they were. But he couldn’t simply reveal the survivors of Hundred Flower Valley. They were living witnesses who could bring down Seo Gil-pung and his superiors with their dangerous secrets.

“Why are you asking me that?”

Seo Gil-pung continued rolling his eyes, thinking that unseen people were watching. Being a scholar without martial arts skills, there was nothing he could do physically.

His only option was to try to persuade his opponent verbally or find an escape route.

But Jin Ja-gang wasn’t fooled by Seo Gil-pung’s tactics. In fact, he didn’t even recognize them as tactics.

“So, you don’t know.”

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes grew cold.

Seo Gil-pung felt his courage shrink.

He instinctively realized that if there was no value in keeping him alive, he wouldn’t survive.

“W-who said I don’t know!”

“What?”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“…”

Taking Jin Ja-gang’s silence as agreement, Seo Gil-pung began to speak.

“I don’t know who’s behind you, but first guarantee my life. Then we’ll take turns asking questions.”

After thinking quietly for a moment, Jin Ja-gang turned around and seemed to murmur something to the darkness behind him. Then he turned back to Seo Gil-pung and nodded.

“They agree.”

As I thought!

Seo Gil-pung thought to himself.

If they accepted his proposal, it meant they hadn’t intended to kill him from the beginning. That suggested they had appeared for some kind of information exchange or cooperation.

Seo Gil-pung quickly answered Jin Ja-gang’s question and then asked his own.

“I heard they’re somewhere in Nanhua. Now it’s my turn. Why did you annihilate the Extreme Poison Sect?”

His answer was clever. He didn’t give the exact location.

Jin Ja-gang felt annoyed at being deceived, but he controlled himself.

“Because the Extreme Poison Sect deserved to die. They attacked Hundred Flower Valley and the Medicine King Sect. So, which mine in Nanhua?”

The fact that he knew about the Medicine King Sect and that they had been sent to mines made Seo Gil-pung realize his opponent had considerable intelligence resources.

“The mines of Jianshui.”

There are numerous mines and tunnels in Yunnan, including in Jianshui County. Jin Ja-gang realized that Seo Gil-pung was deliberately delaying his answers. He couldn’t match Seo Gil-pung in verbal sparring.

But he had no choice but to listen until the end.

Seo Gil-pung asked again.

“Who destroyed the Extreme Poison Sect?”

Jin Ja-gang answered without hesitation.

“I did.”

Seo Gil-pung’s face contorted.

It was the same story he had heard from Mang-ryo. Seo Gil-pung had originally wanted to hear which forces or organization had attacked the Extreme Poison Sect.

Of course, he knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer, but “I did”…!

Seo Gil-pung became angry.

“I’m asking who else was with you besides you!”

Jin Ja-gang was no pushover.

“It’s my turn now. Which mine in Jianshui?”

It was time to answer unavoidably. Seo Gil-pung revealed the mine’s location.

“Near Tuanshan Village, in the foothills.”

After answering, Seo Gil-pung shook his head.

“Let’s stop this now. I’ve told you what you wanted to know, so let’s not waste time going in circles. Tell me why you’ve come to find me.”

Jin Ja-gang answered honestly.

“To ask about the mine where the survivors are being held.”

“You little…!”

Seo Gil-pung nearly cursed. He was certain they had come for some special deal with him, yet they kept denying it until the end?

Seo Gil-pung looked behind Jin Ja-gang and said:

“I don’t know who’s standing behind you, but let’s not do this. Do you want to make this situation bigger? Stop playing games and come out to speak directly!”

But there was no answer, and Jin Ja-gang was already backing away.

“What… hey! Where are you going!”

Seo Gil-pung called out to Jin Ja-gang belatedly, but Jin Ja-gang had already disappeared into the darkness of the alley.

Though he desperately wanted to follow, the sight of the two dead escort warriors made his feet refuse to move.

Seo Gil-pung thought he should quickly report this to Baek Li-jung. But there was a more urgent matter.

‘My family!’

With his home right in front of him, he couldn’t help but check on them. Seo Gil-pung ran toward his house with his clothes fluttering. Regardless of what had happened, confirming his family’s safety was the priority.

Turning the corner, a fairly large mansion came into view. However, the gate, which was always open until his return, was closed today.

Seo Gil-pung’s heart sank.

‘No way!’

He rushed forward and grabbed the copper door knocker shaped like an animal’s face. But he immediately let go.

“Ouch, that’s hot!”

Sharp thorns were embedded in the door knocker. Blood formed on his finger.

“Damn it.”

Seo Gil-pung removed the thorns and grabbed the door knocker again to knock.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Come out! Is anyone in there? I’m home! I’m home…!”

Suddenly his head began to spin.

“Uh… uhh?”

Seo Gil-pung couldn’t move as he wished and collapsed to the ground.

“Uhh?”

It hurt. His palm was swelling, and he could feel the numbness spreading up his arm. His sensation was disappearing.

“Why, why is this happening? My arm…”

A shadow fell over him.

Limp, limp.

It was Jin Ja-gang, walking with a limp.

Seo Gil-pung was terrified.

“H-hey, y-you said you’d spare me.”

Jin Ja-gang stared at Seo Gil-pung and replied:

“That’s not very important now, is it?”

Seo Gil-pung understood Jin Ja-gang’s meaning and felt darkness descending upon him. If there was no need to hear excuses, it meant he was as good as dead.

Jin Ja-gang asked:

“Where is Magistrate Baek Li-jung?”

“Please don’t do this. I did everything you asked. So why…”

“I’ll spare your family.”

“Sob!”

Seo Gil-pung burst into tears. He could feel his body dying.

With lips turning increasingly dark blue, Seo Gil-pung said:

“Great Hero Baek is a central official… he has returned to the main headquarters. Sob, you’ll keep your promise to spare my family, right?”

“Yes.”

“Th-thank you. Ugh… kuk!”

Seo Gil-pung’s consciousness gradually faded. Strangely, there was a strong smell of excrement.

That was his last conscious thought.

Jin Ja-gang quietly looked down at Seo Gil-pung, then limped away.

Not long after, a servant from the mansion opened the door and rushed out.

“Sir? Sir! Wake up, sir!”

Other servants and family members ran out from inside the mansion.

“Quickly bring a doctor!”

“Oh my, what tragedy is this?”

The people of the mansion gathered around, murmuring.

After some time, almost at midnight, a servant hurriedly returned with a doctor.

“Make way! Make way!”

The doctor checked Seo Gil-pung’s pulse. The family members anxiously watched the doctor, but he soon shook his head.

“He’s already passed away.”

“Oh no! Oh no!”

Exclamations of shock, surprise, and crying erupted from the household.

Thud… thud, thud… thud.

Suddenly, a sound like someone striking the ground with a wooden staff was heard approaching from a distance.

The household members who casually looked toward the sound were too frightened to speak properly.

A ghastly figure was rushing toward them.

His hair was disheveled, he wore an eye patch over one eye, and the rest of his visible face was covered in scars. He had only one leg and used crutches under both arms.

Yet with each thrust of his crutches, he easily leaped more than ten feet.

“W-who…”

Thud! Thud!

The grotesque figure, Mang-ryo, didn’t slow down and continued approaching. The startled household members parted to either side.

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Seo Gil-pung tried to stop the escort warrior who was about to support his colleague.

“W-wait!”

“What?”

It was already too late. Just as the escort warrior grabbed his falling comrade, the boy casually held the lantern up to the face of the unharmed warrior.

“What are you doing!”

But soon the warrior’s expression twisted.

“Aaargh! My face!”

The warrior was greatly startled and covered his face with one hand. However, unlike his comrade who had been caught off guard, the warrior drew his sword with lightning speed and swung it at the boy.

Swoosh!

The boy hurriedly dodged. The warrior’s vision had blurred, causing him to misjudge the distance. A sword mark about half a palm’s width appeared across the boy’s chest.

The warrior’s sword also cut the lantern in half. Oil spilled out and the lamp fell over, causing a fire on the ground.

“Ugh, urgh!”

That was the warrior’s final strike. Like his colleague before him, the warrior writhed in agony before dying.

The boy touched the blood seeping from his chest, then without any change in expression, wiped his hand on his clothes.

Seo Gil-pung’s face turned deathly pale at the sight. When the boy looked at him, Seo Gil-pung remembered his gaze. Though his appearance had changed, his eyes were the same.

“I-I remember now. I remember!”

It was that boy who had stared at him during the trial, Jin Ja-gang, the survivor of Hundred Flower Valley.

‘How is he here!’

Jin Ja-gang limped toward Seo Gil-pung, avoiding the fire and smoke on the ground from the spilled oil.

Seo Gil-pung quickly turned to flee.

‘I must escape!’

He didn’t think Jin Ja-gang was alone. Surely he must have come with opposing forces and masters!

If that were the case, running might not make sense, but either way, the first priority was to get away.

But as he was about to run, Jin Ja-gang called out from behind him.

“Your house is just ahead, isn’t it?”

Hesitation.

Those words stopped Seo Gil-pung in his tracks. He nearly fell over from stopping so suddenly.

“You have two children, and elderly family members—four family members living together.”

Seo Gil-pung hastily turned around. His face showed both anger and bewilderment.

“Are you… threatening me now?”

Seo Gil-pung looked around and said:

“I don’t know who you are, but stop hiding behind a child and show yourselves! How can people wearing the mask of righteousness cowardly take a family hostage!”

“…”

“You think you can do something to me, Seo Gil-pung? Go ahead and try. The main headquarters won’t stand by. You’ll regret today’s actions for a long time!”

“…”

“Kill me if you can! Torture me if you want! Whatever you do, you won’t get a word out of me!”

“…”

Unable to bear it any longer, Jin Ja-gang asked:

“Who are you talking to?”

“What?”

Seo Gil-pung continued looking around.

Seeing that he would continue this behavior if left alone, Jin Ja-gang got straight to the point.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“M-my family, what have you done to them?”

“They’re alive. For now.”

“Just try touching my family! I’ll never let you…”

“If you think your family is important, then perhaps you can answer about other people’s families too. Where are the people of our Hundred Flower Valley?”

“…?”

Appearing so suddenly and asking about Hundred Flower Valley confused Seo Gil-pung.

‘Hundred Flower Valley?’

Of course, he knew where they were. But he couldn’t simply reveal the survivors of Hundred Flower Valley. They were living witnesses who could bring down Seo Gil-pung and his superiors with their dangerous secrets.

“Why are you asking me that?”

Seo Gil-pung continued rolling his eyes, thinking that unseen people were watching. Being a scholar without martial arts skills, there was nothing he could do physically.

His only option was to try to persuade his opponent verbally or find an escape route.

But Jin Ja-gang wasn’t fooled by Seo Gil-pung’s tactics. In fact, he didn’t even recognize them as tactics.

“So, you don’t know.”

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes grew cold.

Seo Gil-pung felt his courage shrink.

He instinctively realized that if there was no value in keeping him alive, he wouldn’t survive.

“W-who said I don’t know!”

“What?”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“…”

Taking Jin Ja-gang’s silence as agreement, Seo Gil-pung began to speak.

“I don’t know who’s behind you, but first guarantee my life. Then we’ll take turns asking questions.”

After thinking quietly for a moment, Jin Ja-gang turned around and seemed to murmur something to the darkness behind him. Then he turned back to Seo Gil-pung and nodded.

“They agree.”

As I thought!

Seo Gil-pung thought to himself.

If they accepted his proposal, it meant they hadn’t intended to kill him from the beginning. That suggested they had appeared for some kind of information exchange or cooperation.

Seo Gil-pung quickly answered Jin Ja-gang’s question and then asked his own.

“I heard they’re somewhere in Nanhua. Now it’s my turn. Why did you annihilate the Extreme Poison Sect?”

His answer was clever. He didn’t give the exact location.

Jin Ja-gang felt annoyed at being deceived, but he controlled himself.

“Because the Extreme Poison Sect deserved to die. They attacked Hundred Flower Valley and the Medicine King Sect. So, which mine in Nanhua?”

The fact that he knew about the Medicine King Sect and that they had been sent to mines made Seo Gil-pung realize his opponent had considerable intelligence resources.

“The mines of Jianshui.”

There are numerous mines and tunnels in Yunnan, including in Jianshui County. Jin Ja-gang realized that Seo Gil-pung was deliberately delaying his answers. He couldn’t match Seo Gil-pung in verbal sparring.

But he had no choice but to listen until the end.

Seo Gil-pung asked again.

“Who destroyed the Extreme Poison Sect?”

Jin Ja-gang answered without hesitation.

“I did.”

Seo Gil-pung’s face contorted.

It was the same story he had heard from Mang-ryo. Seo Gil-pung had originally wanted to hear which forces or organization had attacked the Extreme Poison Sect.

Of course, he knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer, but “I did”…!

Seo Gil-pung became angry.

“I’m asking who else was with you besides you!”

Jin Ja-gang was no pushover.

“It’s my turn now. Which mine in Jianshui?”

It was time to answer unavoidably. Seo Gil-pung revealed the mine’s location.

“Near Tuanshan Village, in the foothills.”

After answering, Seo Gil-pung shook his head.

“Let’s stop this now. I’ve told you what you wanted to know, so let’s not waste time going in circles. Tell me why you’ve come to find me.”

Jin Ja-gang answered honestly.

“To ask about the mine where the survivors are being held.”

“You little…!”

Seo Gil-pung nearly cursed. He was certain they had come for some special deal with him, yet they kept denying it until the end?

Seo Gil-pung looked behind Jin Ja-gang and said:

“I don’t know who’s standing behind you, but let’s not do this. Do you want to make this situation bigger? Stop playing games and come out to speak directly!”

But there was no answer, and Jin Ja-gang was already backing away.

“What… hey! Where are you going!”

Seo Gil-pung called out to Jin Ja-gang belatedly, but Jin Ja-gang had already disappeared into the darkness of the alley.

Though he desperately wanted to follow, the sight of the two dead escort warriors made his feet refuse to move.

Seo Gil-pung thought he should quickly report this to Baek Li-jung. But there was a more urgent matter.

‘My family!’

With his home right in front of him, he couldn’t help but check on them. Seo Gil-pung ran toward his house with his clothes fluttering. Regardless of what had happened, confirming his family’s safety was the priority.

Turning the corner, a fairly large mansion came into view. However, the gate, which was always open until his return, was closed today.

Seo Gil-pung’s heart sank.

‘No way!’

He rushed forward and grabbed the copper door knocker shaped like an animal’s face. But he immediately let go.

“Ouch, that’s hot!”

Sharp thorns were embedded in the door knocker. Blood formed on his finger.

“Damn it.”

Seo Gil-pung removed the thorns and grabbed the door knocker again to knock.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Come out! Is anyone in there? I’m home! I’m home…!”

Suddenly his head began to spin.

“Uh… uhh?”

Seo Gil-pung couldn’t move as he wished and collapsed to the ground.

“Uhh?”

It hurt. His palm was swelling, and he could feel the numbness spreading up his arm. His sensation was disappearing.

“Why, why is this happening? My arm…”

A shadow fell over him.

Limp, limp.

It was Jin Ja-gang, walking with a limp.

Seo Gil-pung was terrified.

“H-hey, y-you said you’d spare me.”

Jin Ja-gang stared at Seo Gil-pung and replied:

“That’s not very important now, is it?”

Seo Gil-pung understood Jin Ja-gang’s meaning and felt darkness descending upon him. If there was no need to hear excuses, it meant he was as good as dead.

Jin Ja-gang asked:

“Where is Magistrate Baek Li-jung?”

“Please don’t do this. I did everything you asked. So why…”

“I’ll spare your family.”

“Sob!”

Seo Gil-pung burst into tears. He could feel his body dying.

With lips turning increasingly dark blue, Seo Gil-pung said:

“Great Hero Baek is a central official… he has returned to the main headquarters. Sob, you’ll keep your promise to spare my family, right?”

“Yes.”

“Th-thank you. Ugh… kuk!”

Seo Gil-pung’s consciousness gradually faded. Strangely, there was a strong smell of excrement.

That was his last conscious thought.

Jin Ja-gang quietly looked down at Seo Gil-pung, then limped away.

Not long after, a servant from the mansion opened the door and rushed out.

“Sir? Sir! Wake up, sir!”

Other servants and family members ran out from inside the mansion.

“Quickly bring a doctor!”

“Oh my, what tragedy is this?”

The people of the mansion gathered around, murmuring.

After some time, almost at midnight, a servant hurriedly returned with a doctor.

“Make way! Make way!”

The doctor checked Seo Gil-pung’s pulse. The family members anxiously watched the doctor, but he soon shook his head.

“He’s already passed away.”

“Oh no! Oh no!”

Exclamations of shock, surprise, and crying erupted from the household.

Thud… thud, thud… thud.

Suddenly, a sound like someone striking the ground with a wooden staff was heard approaching from a distance.

The household members who casually looked toward the sound were too frightened to speak properly.

A ghastly figure was rushing toward them.

His hair was disheveled, he wore an eye patch over one eye, and the rest of his visible face was covered in scars. He had only one leg and used crutches under both arms.

Yet with each thrust of his crutches, he easily leaped more than ten feet.

“W-who…”

Thud! Thud!

The grotesque figure, Mang-ryo, didn’t slow down and continued approaching. The startled household members parted to either side.

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