Chapter 516: Side Story 16
Chapter 16
“Uuuuugh…….”
“Urgh…….”
“P-Please spare me…….”
Jang Sam-Tae lightly brushed off his hands.
They were undoubtedly a beggar gang that threw their weight around in the vicinity. He found himself more frightening for subduing the very existences that had terrified him so much in his childhood without batting an eye.
“Goodness, you scumbags. You should be thinking about working hard to earn money.”
Jang Sam-Tae looked at Muk Ho.
Sprawled on the ground, he crawled and clutched his aching stomach. The moment their eyes met, he flinched and trembled violently, and it was so satisfying that a laugh naturally slipped out.
‘What’s so scary about a guy like this…….’
Tsk, tsk, Jang Sam-Tae clicked his tongue.
He briefly considered ending his life right then and there.
Because it was obvious that once they recovered, they would use young children to do all sorts of shady things again. Was it because murderous intent had gathered in his eyes?
Those who realized it cried out.
“P-Please spare us!”
“Spare us! Please spare us! P-Please!”
Although it was the back alleys, they were people who had lived rough lives for a long time.
As there was no way they wouldn’t recognize the murderous intent gathering in a person’s eyes, Muk Ho and the others trembled and begged desperately.
The moment Jang Sam-Tae looked at them and hesitated briefly.
Those who jumped up from their seats began to run recklessly down the alley.
It was because they didn’t know when their heads would fly off if they stayed sprawled there.
However, they couldn’t escape until the end.
Someone blocked their path as they ran.
Slash-!
In an instant, a flash of light burst forth, and the bodies of the men, including Muk Ho, were severed in half.
Blood sprayed and the pieces scattered chaotically around. As if to prove that no one survived, no one spoke, and no one moved a single finger.
“Who are you to kill so carelessly?”
Jang Sam-Tae looked at it with a crooked expression.
If he had intended to kill them, he would have done it with his own hands already. However, since they were killed in the end, Jang Sam-Tae didn’t feel completely at ease.
Step, step-
The man who drew his sword slowly approached Jang Sam-Tae.
Having approached at close distance in no time, he cupped his fist.
“Are you Great Hero Jang Sam-Tae of the Hunan Dan Family?”
“I am?”
He made an expression wondering how the man knew.
Because the name Jang Sam-Tae wasn’t actually that famous. The famous ones in the Hunan Dan Family were undoubtedly Dan Woo-Hyun and the old men around him.
“I’ve come from the Jindo Family. The Family Head wishes to speak with you briefly, could you spare some time?”
“Jindo Family?”
Jang Sam-Tae tilted his head.
It was another name he was hearing for the first time.
But why did it feel somewhat familiar to his ears?
Although he didn’t really feel like doing it in this situation, the opponent asked politely, so it was difficult to flatly refuse.
“For what matter? I am not our Manor Lord, you know?”
“He wishes to see you, Great Hero.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“For what reason?”
“…….”
The man looked at Jang Sam-Tae with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.
He already said there was business, so he could just go and check, so why did he bother repeatedly asking the same thing?
“As for that, it would be better to hear it yourself when you go…….”
“Hey, what kind of bullshit is that? The guy who wants to say something to me should be the one to come.”
“Pardon?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? Tell him to come himself if he has something to say.”
Spitting out such words, Jang Sam-Tae leisurely turned his back.
Perhaps thinking he had said something quite cool himself, there was strength in his steps as he walked. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he stopped in his tracks and turned around.
He saw the man frozen like a stone statue.
“But I don’t have a place to stay, so if you want to find out where I am, give me some money for an inn.”
“…….”
The man’s face rapidly distorted.
* * *
“What did you say?”
“T-That is…….”
The man broke out in a cold sweat.
He had already spoken, but since he got so angry, it wasn’t an easy situation to repeat the same words again. His whole body trembled with needless fear.
“He told me to convey… that you should visit him p-personally.”
“Ha…….”
Jin Do-Yoo, the Head of the Jindo Family, clicked his tongue in disbelief and looked up at the ceiling. Due to the rapidly strengthening influence of the Jindo Family in recent years, no one could treat him carelessly, but even if it was the Hunan Dan Family, a mere warrior who wasn’t even the Family Head dared to order the head of a family around?
That made him even more dumbfounded and angry.
His grasp trembled as strength entered his hands.
Bang!
Eventually, unable to hold back his anger, he slammed his hand down, and the table shattered to pieces as splinters flew about.
“Isn’t he a crazy bastard!”
“He certainly looked crazy… taking money as if robbing me…….”
“What?”
“A-No, it’s nothing.”
The man turned his head away with a tearful expression.
He had taken his entire money pouch under the pretext of inn expenses, and just thinking about it made his heart ache. Because the amount of money inside was considerable.
‘It was the salary I received yesterday…….’
He was already at a loss as to how he would survive the next month.
“Right, what else did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything else. Just that you should come visit…….”
Jin Do-Yoo clicked his tongue with a ‘tsk’.
A warrior of the Hunan Dan Family, which had exterminated the Gongcheon Gate, had come to Gansu. Since the Jindo Family maintained close relations with the Gongcheon Gate, he couldn’t help but wonder if their next target was this place.
‘The World’s Greatest Family…….’
Jin Do-Yoo recalled the stories in his mind.
During the battle with the Blood Heaven, he had not participated in order to preserve his forces, so he had no idea how strong they were.
He had only heard about it.
But aren’t rumors always exaggerated?
That didn’t mean he was ignoring the Hunan Dan Family.
If such rumors circulated, there must be a reason for it.
“What should I do about this?”
The disgust wouldn’t easily fade.
However, it was too uncomfortable to just sit and ignore it. Figuring out their intentions in whatever way possible was the most important task for Jin Do-Yoo.
He couldn’t just sit and suffer, could he?
“If I go, it looks like I’m bowing down, but I can’t just not go… This is truly troubling.”
Leaning back in his chair, Jin Do-Yoo frowned.
No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t like any of it. Furthermore, to think that he had to submit to a mere warrior and not even the Family Head of the Hunan Dan Family, his pride didn’t allow it.
Bang!
Just then, someone forcefully opened the door and entered.
It was a vibrantly dressed woman, and she had a face full of anger as if something had happened. She immediately stepped in front of Jin Do-Yoo and acted as if she was going to grab him by the collar.
“What on earth are you doing right now?”
“Why are you acting like this, Wife?”
“My older brother… my older brother died, so I’m asking why you’re just sitting here without taking up a sword!”
The woman looked like she would burst into tears at any moment. The shock and anger of losing her only older brother, Gong Ma-Jung, had not yet faded, so she would only be satisfied if she took revenge by any means.
However, since her most trusted husband, Jin Do-Yoo, hadn’t even taken any action, it was understandable that she felt frustrated and irritated from her perspective.
“We need to know the exact circumstances for our side to take action, right? Do you not know that they are not opponents we can move against recklessly?”
“My older brother died, you bastard-! What need is there for such things right now!”
Gong Baek-Ji picked up the sword placed on one side.
The way she drew the sword in an instant suggested her skills were not ordinary. In a flash, the blade was touching Jin Do-Yoo’s neck, and the edge trembled.
“If you don’t do it, I will!”
“Don’t speak crazy words! Are you planning to ruin the Jindo Family too?”
“What does the Jindo Family or whatever matter? My family died! You! You-! Have you forgotten how you came to be in this position right now? It was all thanks to my older brother!”
“Keuk!”
“Don’t stop me! The moment you stop me, I’ll kill you too.”
Gong Baek-Ji sheathed her sword and strode out without hesitation.
Her rapid strides looked as if she was about to vomit out her anger.
Staring blankly at her retreating figure, Jin Do-Yoo clutched his forehead and slumped down.
“It’s driving me crazy, really…….”
“Please do not worry. She won’t be able to do anything. Isn’t this the Jindo Family? There are no children who will move without the Family Head’s orders.”
“That would be a relief, but…….”
Jin Do-Yoo let out a sigh.
There was simply no dealing with that fiery personality.
He understood to some extent because it was her older brother’s matter, but ultimately, all her actions would return as a loss.
* * *
Unaware that someone was trying to slit his throat, Jang Sam-Tae had settled in a brothel run by the Hao Sect and was drinking alcohol.
In front of him, the man managing this place was sweating profusely, because he knew somewhat about Jang Sam-Tae.
But there was another strange thing.
There were no courtesans beside Jang Sam-Tae, who was drinking, and the sight of Jang Sam-Tae always drunkenly bursting into laughter was nowhere to be seen.
A serious face.
It was as if he had heard something that he could never overlook.
“Is that true?”
“T-That is correct.”
“So you’re saying the Lanzhou Merchant Guild is the Jindo Family?”
“Yes, without a doubt.”
“Ha…….”
Jang Sam-Tae downed his drink without hesitation.
The Lanzhou Merchant Guild.
There was a reason he still couldn’t forget that name. Because it was the name of the merchant guild that beat his younger sister to death.
Of course, the one who made a mistake was Jang Sam-Tae, but it was undoubtedly the work of the Lanzhou Merchant Guild that resulted in beating his younger sister to death, so the correct answer would be that he couldn’t forget it even if he wanted to.
Jang Sam-Tae fiddled with his glass and sighed.
There had been numerous incidents up until now, but he had never been this greatly shocked.
Also, this was the first time he felt such a strong desire to kill people.
“And regarding the Gongcheon Gate that you exterminated, Great Hero…….”
“What else is there?”
“The one backing the Lanzhou Merchant Guild was precisely the Gongcheon Gate.”
“Ah… I see.”
Jang Sam-Tae roughly tilted his glass and looked at the ceiling.
He thought about something for a moment, then scratched his head vigorously and sighed.
“It seems like karma really does exist.”
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