Chapter 521: Side Story 21

Chapter side_21

Crack!

The face of the kicked man snapped to the side.

The extreme pain was indescribable, and he slammed his head onto the floor as he fell. It was a situation where his skull could have shattered, but whether out of luck, he ended up bleeding only slightly.

“Say it again!”

“Cough, that… that child… I said I remembered her.”

“And!”

“I… was there.”

Jang Sam-tae raised his fist again.

He swung his fist so violently that a loud smack echoed out. The man swallowed a groan with a gaze that seemed like he would die soon. He didn’t even seem to think that anyone would save him.

Indeed, not a single person had stepped forward even when the head of the family, Jin Do-yu, and his wife, Gong Baek-ji, were being beaten up, so who would come running to save a mere martial artist?

Turning his gaze slightly, Jin Do-yu’s eyes were trembling.

“C-Certainly, it was us who killed that child.”

“You bastard!”

Jang Sam-tae raised his fist again.

He was putting so much strength into it that if he struck down as it was, even a human head would be shattered, unable to withstand it.

“But wasn’t it unavoidable! Even if it were the opposite situation, you would have done the same!”

The man never yielded.

The child’s death was indeed a pity. But whoever it was, couldn’t just stand by after having their belongings stolen.

Right after the silk was stolen back then, the escorts who were managing it had to fully compensate for its price.

It was an expensive item worth nearly fifty taels of silver.

Only three people had to bear that burden, so in retrospect, the man had also suffered damage. It was only natural for him to be angry, and because of that, he couldn’t help but beat her more severely.

“You dare to say such things, you bastard?!”

“Just kill me! That would make me feel more at ease!”

“Fucking bastards! You killed her and dug up her grave, yet you still say such things!”

Crack!

Jang Sam-tae swung his fist once more.

The struck man spat blood and flew away. With a violent thud, he collapsed face down and vomited a mouthful of blood. Fortunately, he seemed to be still breathing, but it was clear he was critically injured.

“Keu… hehe, the… the grave on the mountain? I know… I know it well.”

“What did you say?”

“That grave… we certainly dug it up… but we relocated it elsewhere under the family head’s order, we never abandoned it. Rather, it is the family head who has managed that grave until now!”

The man spoke without ever being intimidated.

From the roughly leaked story, the grudge between Jang Sam-tae and the Jindo family could be said to be quite deep. Of course, it had to be said that it was a one-sided stance of Jang Sam-tae, but the Jindo family didn’t just neglect it either.

There was nothing to say since the child’s death was entirely a mistake, but they even dug it up without knowing it was her grave.

From Jang Sam-tae’s point of view, it was something to be angry about.

But who was it that had been taking care of the relocated grave of the child until now?

“Cough… cough! The… family head, year after year, visited to pour alcohol and pull out the weeds. That… the child you haven’t visited until now.”

“Th-That can’t be…”

Jang Sam-tae turned his head and looked at Jin Do-yu.

He, who was bleeding from his mouth, silently lowered his head. It happened back when the previous head of the merchant group, that is, Jin Do-yu’s father, was there.

He couldn’t know the exact situation, but considering his father’s personality, he wouldn’t have stood still, and he remembered that the escorts took on all the damage.

When he bought the land and found corpses there, Jin Do-yu collected the bodies of those strangers to slightly resolve his father’s karma, buried them in even ground, and took care of them until now.

To think it would be connected like this.

“Escort Gwon’s words are true. Go to the small temple west of the village. If the child you’re talking about is right, she’ll be there… We found a total of three graves, and the smallest bones among them were presumed to be a child’s. The stone placed on it had Jang Ji-a written on it, so we made a memorial tablet like that.”

“Such a damn thing!”

Jang Sam-tae ground his teeth.

He clenched his fists, but he had no more strength left. He just glared sharply at Jin Do-yu before closing his eyes tightly and turning his head.

It was because it didn’t seem like a lie they spewed out simply to escape the situation.

“If it’s a lie, you better prepare to die!”

Jang Sam-tae threw his body as if there was nothing more worth listening to.

In fact, his younger sister’s name was Jang Ji-a. Since the Jindo family people couldn’t possibly know that name, it was as good as confirmed.

As he disappeared, the people of the Killing Pavilion narrowed their eyes.

What should they do?

If it became known that they broke the contract, the position of the Killing Pavilion might be greatly shaken. It would be rather good to annihilate everyone right here and silence them.

Did he feel such murderous intent?

Jin Do-yu shook his head from side to side.

“The request is complete. I will know it as such, so you all should consider it so too.”

“…It’s a good judgment. However.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t have the slightest intention of changing my words. Would I be able to sleep comfortably with my legs stretched out, fearing the Killing Pavilion?”

Jin Do-yu sighed with a hollow expression.

He soon glared sharply at Gong Baek-ji, watching the members of Killing Pavilion disappear after nodding their heads.

“Was this what you wanted? Our family could have easily been annihilated!”

“Ugh…”

Gong Baek-ji couldn’t retort.

The places beaten by Jang Sam-tae hurt too much, and she couldn’t even speak properly because her face was swollen up. She couldn’t even tell how many teeth she had lost, or how many ribs were broken.

But Jin Do-yu’s reprimands didn’t stop.

It seemed he didn’t even feel sympathy for her.

“Never show yourself in front of me again! Get out of here right now! Now!”

Jin Do-yu shouted angrily, his eyes spewing fire.

Countless people could have died due to one person’s actions. The Killing Pavilion was one thing, but Jang Sam-tae was also strong enough to annihilate the family if he put his mind to it.

Because her complacent actions endangered the entire family, Jin Do-yu had no more desire to keep Gong Baek-ji by his side as a wife.

Gong Baek-ji shed tears and tried to say something, but he didn’t even look at her.

“What are you doing! Kick this bitch out right now!”

“Y-Yes!”

The family head’s order was absolute.

Moreover, since they also knew that their lives had been back and forth on the line, it seemed they had no sympathy for Gong Baek-ji.

Being dragged away, Gong Baek-ji couldn’t even speak properly and just shed tears endlessly.

* * *

“It’s… really… here…”

Arriving at the temple, Jang Sam-tae stared at the memorial tablet in front of him. The moment he looked at the memorial tablet enshrined in the temple, he realized Jin Do-yu’s words were not a lie.

“Oho? Is that your younger sister’s memorial tablet?”

A voice could be heard.

However, Jang Sam-tae nodded without even looking back. It was because the only people who could appear without a sound in this situation were undoubtedly those three.

“It’s… really here…”

“Yes, I see it. Jang Ji-a… it’s a very pretty name.”

Jang Sam-tae turned his head at Dan Woo-hyun’s words.

He trembled and swallowed his tears. His shaking hands were so pitiful that Dan Woo-hyun slowly approached and patted his shoulder.

“It seems there’s a graveyard out back. Shall we go take a look?”

It was Namgung Cheon who had already been watching the entire situation. The moment he arrived at the temple, he looked around and figured out exactly where Jang Ji-a’s body was buried.

Seeing him slowly nod, Namgung Cheon smiled brightly.

He grabbed the hand of the trembling Jang Sam-tae and walked toward where his younger sister was buried.

They passed through a gate and headed toward the mountain behind the temple.

They didn’t go in very deep, but numerous graves came into view. It seemed they were the ones managed by this temple. There were quite a lot of them, but they were managed just as well.

Jang Sam-tae looked around with a trembling gaze.

He checked the names carved on the graves one by one.

Then, he saw Dan Woo-hyun standing in front of a grave not far away, and the moment he looked at it, he fell into an illusion that his heart would stop.

Without realizing it, even his footsteps slowed down.

His mouth was drying up, making him feel terrible.

However, his heart was pounding fiercely to a bizarre extent.

Trickle-

At that time, Dan Woo-hyun poured the glass of alcohol he held in his hand onto the grave. He slowly poured out the entire bottle before turning his head toward Jang Sam-tae.

“It was such a pity for her to go without even knowing the taste of alcohol. Was it a nuisance?”

“…”

Jang Sam-tae shook his head without answering.

He just quietly approached its side and checked the grave.

Jang Ji-a.

A small stone block with that written on it came into view. It was the same stone he had carved her name on before burying his sister and leaving in his childhood.

“Uheuh… Uheuheuhuh…”

Jang Sam-tae slumped down and burst into tears.

It had been a long time.

It had truly been a long time.

He knew so much time had passed that even her face was blurry and he couldn’t remember it properly. But standing here in front of his sister, it felt like he had returned to the past, and that his dead younger sister would appear again and hold his hand tightly.

“This bastard, crying like it’s unmanly.”

Sa Do-hak looked at Jang Sam-tae with an absurd expression.

It was because his crying appearance looked terribly ugly.

However, his nose also stung, and he wondered if growing older had given him a sensitivity he never had.

“Uheuhuh, you… you brat, didn’t your brother worry about you! Why are you in a place like this! You never listening is still the same as ever! Heuhuh…”

Jang Sam-tae, squeezing out all his tears and snot, spoke the words in his heart. If only she hadn’t gone out wearing silk clothes, he might still be living with his younger sister now.

She needlessly didn’t listen and went out, suffering such a mishap, but now she was lying far away from where he told her to stay.

As if getting angrier the more he thought about it, Jang Sam-tae lightly beat on the grave.

“It must be really nice for her to see her brother crying so pathetically after such a long time.”

Dan Woo-hyun laughed in disbelief as he watched that.

He was just crying when he should have been showing a bright and good appearance, making him seem both ridiculous and pitiful.

“Are you happy, or are you sad?”

“Of course I’m happy, right?”

“Haha, then smile. Your sister will want that too.”

At Dan Woo-hyun’s words, Jang Sam-tae nodded and wiped away his tears. That behavior was like watching a child, causing needless laughter to flow out.

When the three people laughed at the same time, Jang Sam-tae frowned.

“Why are you doing this!”

“No, it’s nothing. Rather than that, exchange your greetings. I have somewhere to go for a moment.”

“Where do you mean?”

He looked at him with a strange expression.

It was by no means a delusion that he felt a sudden sense of unease whenever Dan Woo-hyun said he was going somewhere. Because those were the exact words that came out before causing an accident.

“Shouldn’t we have someone relocate the grave? Until when are you going to leave it in Gansu? We have to take her to Yueyang.”

“M-Manor Lord…”

Dan Woo-hyun’s words struck Jang Sam-tae’s heartstrings.

He had never even thought of such a thing, but it seemed like he was already comforting Jang Sam-tae’s heart a step ahead.

Choking up again, Jang Sam-tae shed tears and embraced Dan Woo-hyun.

Crack!

“Kkuwek!”

“Don’t stick to me.”

Dan Woo-hyun looked at the collapsed Jang Sam-tae with an indifferent expression.

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