7 – Path of Retribution (2)

Heukdobang’s Guyangpo.

He was in a somewhat irritable state as he was settling the tribute money that had to be paid up to the higher organization.

There was a man mocking Guyangpo.

A bodyguard of the Jo family. A man who always stayed by Jo Taebeom’s side.

“So, you failed?”

“······.”

At the bodyguard’s words, Guyangpo pressed his lips tightly shut.

He already had a headache over the tribute money, and now things had gotten even more tangled.

The Jo family’s bodyguard wore an irritated expression from start to finish.

“The head of the family is very angry. Our young master as well.”

“······.”

“Disguise the Heukdobang thugs as Noklim bandits and attack the Hojil Escort Agency. Kill all the escorts to thoroughly crush Hojil Escort Agency’s prestige, and let Heukdobang take care of the looted cargo. On top of that, a generous reward from our Jo family. What a profitable deal that was, wasn’t it?”

“······.”

“And yet you couldn’t even pull that off, and this is the state we’re in? Tsk. That’s why the tribute money you’re supposed to offer to Sadoryeon is barely enough. If a tax collector demon comes down at this rate, what then? What are you going to do?”

Faced with the bodyguard’s sarcasm, Guyangpo couldn’t retort.

It was strange.

He had clearly grasped the level of martial arts of the Hojil Escort Agency’s escorts.

He had sent enough men to wipe them out completely, so how did it end up with his side being annihilated instead?

Since not a single Heukdobang thug had returned alive, there was no way to know what on earth had happened.

After a moment, Guyangpo snapped irritably.

“Next time, we’ll succeed. I’ll send the Heukdo Sageol.”

“If you were going to do that, you should’ve sent them from the start.”

“How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this? In the first place, the Jo family is also at fault for giving us incorrect information about the Hojil Escort Agency’s escorts’ level of martial arts.”

“And now you’re blaming us? Ha.”

The bodyguard let out a snort of laughter.

Then, leaning his upper body forward, he spoke in a grave tone.

“There must be no mistake this time.”

“I understand.”

“The Hojil Escort Agency’s escort mission must fail this time for the Hojeong Sect to be driven into financial straits. Only then will those bastards accept our young master’s marriage proposal.”

“I said I understand.”

“Ho Yeyeong—that woman with nothing but pride—only when you see her selling her body because she can’t overcome money will our young master feel satisfied. You understand, right?”

“Ah, how many times are you going to say it!”

The bodyguard and Guyangpo bickered back and forth.

Just then.

Kwa—kwang!

A deafening explosion echoed from the far end of the corridor.

“······?”

“What was that?”

Guyangpo and the bodyguard rose from their seats at the same time.

At that moment.

Thud—

Something rolled into the inner room.

Rumble, rumble, rumble······

They were four heads.

The Heukdo Sageol. Heukdobang’s greatest experts.

Aside from Guyangpo himself, the four strongest martial artists in Heukdobang had been reduced to nothing but heads, rolling in like this.

Chui killed exactly forty-four people, starting from the main gate and advancing into the inner manor.

He didn’t use any other weapons.

All he had was a single horse bone in his hand.

Thuk—

A human skull that met a horse’s femur—

Crack—

Shattered like grains of sand.

Then.

“Who the hell is making all this racket?”

Four men blocked Chui’s path.

A red-faced man, one with a scar, a one-eyed man, and a bearded man.

Their martial level was somewhere between third-rate and second-rate.

Chui quickly identified who they were.

“You’re the Heukdo Sageol, right?”

“You insolent little brat—huah!?”

One of the Heukdo Sageol couldn’t finish his sentence and sucked in a gasp of air.

Chui suddenly kicked upward, slamming his foot into the red-faced man’s groin.

“Khak!?”

Both testicles burst in succession.

As the red-faced man collapsed clutching his groin, the scar-faced man charged in from his side.

Chui immediately extended a finger and stabbed it straight into the scarred man’s eye.

“Aaagh! Fuck!”

As the scar-faced man staggered back clutching his eye, the one-eyed man and the bearded man leapt into the air above him.

Chui hurled the bone into the one-eyed man’s blind spot and simultaneously stepped back to avoid the bearded man’s blade.

Puhk!

The horse bone flew like a throwing wheel and grazed the one-eyed man’s head, sending him crashing to the floor.

From his slightly crushed temple, brain matter dripped out drop by drop.

At the same time, Chui kicked a porcelain vase in the corridor.

Crash!

The middle of the vase shattered, and sharp fragments scattered straight into the air.

···Pupupupuk!

The sharp shards splattered the red-faced man’s face—who was still clutching his groin with one hand—painting it even redder.

“Kkeuaaaak!”

As the red-faced man faltered, Chui picked up the horse bone that had fallen to the floor and smashed it into his face.

Thunk—

The blood-soaked face caved in grotesquely.

Eyeballs and teeth flew out in different directions, scattering across the floor.

“What, what the hell is this guy? Why does he fight so damn weirdly?”

The bearded man gaped in disbelief.

Even in the Heukdo, where bizarre fighting styles abounded, there was no one who fought this brutally.

At least, none that he knew of.

Just then.

“Aaaaargh!”

The enraged scar-faced man rushed forward.

Whoosh—

The sword was swung, but the corridor was too narrow for the arc to fully extend.

Chui ducked his head to avoid the blade, then lifted it and bit down on the scar-faced man’s ear.

Crunch!

The ear was torn off, and fresh blood sprayed out in spurts.

“Guhak!?”

The scar-faced man was retreating while clutching his ear when he stumbled.

Puhk!

Chui picked up a shard of porcelain and drove it deep into the torn ear canal.

Thud!

With the scar-faced man also sprawled on the floor, only the bearded man remained.

“Uh, uheooo······”

The bearded man staggered backward.

Chui walked toward him.

Chomp, chomp······ crack—crack—

Chui spat the ear he had been chewing onto the floor.

His demeanor was so leisurely it was as if he had come out for a stroll.

“You, you bastard!”

The bearded man drew his long sword and slashed at Chui.

But.

Chui dodged the blade with ease and slipped into the opening at the bearded man’s side.

Crack!

Bone shattered bone.

The bearded man realized that not only had all his ribs been broken, but they had also pierced his lungs.

He dropped his sword.

Then, clutching his side, he collapsed against the wall.

“Huff······ huff······ who are you? Who sent you?”

“The blacksmith.”

“What?”

The bearded man furrowed his brow as if he didn’t understand.

But Chui offered no further answer.

He merely drew the horse bone back—

Crack!

—and swung it hard, shattering both the wall and the bearded man’s lower jaw at the same time.

“The Heukdo Sageol. Finished.”

Chui picked up a sword.

Then he severed the heads from the fallen corpses.

Sometimes, the human body is an excellent means of conveying one’s intentions.

Especially to those who do not understand words.

Chui cut off the Heukdo Sageol’s heads and braided their hair together to tie them.

Then, with quick steps, he walked down the blood-red corridor toward the inner chambers.

‘Hmm. Maybe I should’ve come after finishing the weapon?’

But that would have required waiting an entire day.

It was better to loosen up his body in the meantime.

‘That way I can go straight to visit the Jo family.’

Chui stopped, twisting his neck left and right.

Thud—rumble, rumble, rumble······

He rolled the four heads one by one.

None of them were in good enough condition to roll properly, but that only made the message clearer.

Soon after.

“Ahem—khm!”

A reaction came quickly from deeper in the corridor.

The Jo family’s bodyguard walked out.

“I belong to the Jo family of the Orthodox Sect and have nothing to do with such filthy, unorthodox Heukdo rabble. I only came today to negotiate a few matters.”

He bowed politely toward Chui.

“Judging by the situation, you seem to be a hero who has come to purge these wicked Heukdobang bastards. Shall I lend you a hand?”

“······.”

Chui didn’t respond.

He merely—

“Ptoo—”

bit his lip until it bled and spat the blood toward the bodyguard.

“Eek!?”

The man recoiled in shock as the blood hit his eyes.

“What are you doing! I belong to the Jo family, not Heukdobang—kyaaaaaaak!?”

The bodyguard suddenly stopped mid-sentence and began rubbing his eyes like a madman.

Chui recalled something the Blood Demon had once said.

“One who masters this martial art is called a ‘lol/Yiwu’ (彛兀). The blood of an Iol is like a virulent poison to most martial artists, as it burns away and dries up inner energy that is not their own.”

At present, Chui’s Changgwiching was still only at the Gulgak (屈閣) stage, and even then, barely the first level.

He still had a long way to go before reaching the Iol (彛兀) stage.

‘Still, it has some effect.’

Judging by how the bodyguard in front of him was clawing at his eyes in agony, it seemed effective enough.

Even if it wasn’t deadly poison, it was probably like having extremely spicy chili powder scattered into one’s eyes.

···Chaang!

The bodyguard drew his sword from his waist.

The slashes that followed were far faster and sharper than those of the Heukdo Sageol earlier.

Seeing inner energy condensed into a faint, gaseous form, he was at least a second-rate martial artist.

Rip!

The wall struck by the bodyguard’s sword split open like tofu.

The rapidly rotating current of inner energy along the blade had sliced straight through it.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

One side of the wall collapsed.

But Chui, without the slightest hint of panic, raised the horse bone.

The energy he had been hiding behind his breath erupted explosively.

Tsssss······

A crimson haze seeped out from the tiny holes on the surface of the horse bone.

The vengeful spirits of those he had beaten to death while entering Heukdobang gathered ominously at the blood-dripping tip of the bone.

[Save me······]

[I don’t want to die······]

[It hurts······ I’m cold······]

[Hic hic hic hic hic hic······]

At the very end, the faces of the Heukdo Sageol, now turned into Changgui (倀鬼), appeared, circling Chui’s body while shedding tears of blood.

The Jo family’s bodyguard, who barely managed to see this with his eyes open, was horrified.

“Ma, magic martial arts!?”

It was not some crude trickery of the unorthodox sects, but the unmistakable symbol of a true public enemy of the martial world.

 

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