Chapter 27: Should I Kill This (1)
Chapter 26 – Should I Kill This (1)
“S-Stop… I was wr… Keu-argh!”
Thud! Thud! Thwack.
Jo Gang-min screamed, unable to finish his sentence due to the beating that poured down without fail.
Ultimately, he rolled his eyes back, showing the whites, and completely lost consciousness.
Unable to watch any longer, Gwak Cheol-ju gnashed his teeth and shouted.
“What on earth are you trying to do? The Young Patriarch is trying to apologize, so why won’t you even listen…!”
“Ah, is that so? I didn’t hear him. Sorry.”
“Eeeek…!”
“Ayy, it would have been nice if he had apologized sooner before it came to this. What should we do? Should I wake him up again?”
It was already the third time he had woken him up and knocked him unconscious.
In truth, it wasn’t that he hadn’t heard him.
Strictly speaking, Namgung Cheon was making it impossible for Jo Gang-min to apologize.
When he lived as a fugitive in his past life, the outcome of a fight was always one of three.
The most common case was killing everyone.
Disposing of those who came to kill him without leaving a single one behind. It was the cleanest because there was no need to worry about future trouble.
Well, there were occasional cases where he spared them.
On days when he was in a good mood for no reason, on days when he felt an uncharacteristic sense of pity, or if they were someone he took a great liking to, like Namgung Seon.
Hmm, he had to correct that.
In Namgung Seon’s case, it wasn’t that he spared her, but that she spared him.
He possessed such an objective perspective.
Anyway.
Sometimes, the outcome of a fight unexpectedly led to a connection.
Namely, when he took the enemy in as a subordinate.
Though they were mostly bastards from the unorthodox path.
At any rate, what I did back then was the same as now.
Demanding an apology, and then beating them up whenever they tried to open their mouth.
Jo Gang-min had already tried to apologize several times, but I did not listen.
Because I beat him whenever his mouth so much as twitched.
In short, it was a situation where he desperately wanted to apologize but couldn’t because he was getting beaten up.
It must have been driving him absolutely mad.
What happened when one did this?
From then on, whenever he saw me, he would shrink back like someone who had done something wrong and take a posture of seeking forgiveness.
Was it my own method of brainwashing?
One that made a sinner truly repent of their wrongdoing.
I was just that good at guiding people.
Thinking about it, it wouldn’t have been bad for me to start a religion and act as the cult leader.
Let’s see.
Whether they were indirectly affected or not, the faces of Gwak Cheol-ju, Song Won-gyo, and Baekli Hyang were also pale white.
Only the cadets who had come with him were eating noodles deliciously inside the eatery.
Suddenly finding the situation amusing, Namgung Cheon burst into laughter as he watched the pouring rain.
“Hahahahaha!”
Before he knew it, a large crowd had gathered around, mostly Dragon Heaven Academy cadets or nearby residents.
Namgung Cheon beating up a cadet and bursting into wild laughter to the heavens amidst the pouring rain.
And even in the midst of that, the cadets burying their noses in their bowls to eat noodles inside the eatery.
The people murmured at the hard-to-understand sight.
“What is going on?”
“It seems a fight broke out among the cadets because of the free observation period?”
“Hey, isn’t that guy the official pushover of Dragon Heaven Academy?”
“This is a bit much. He’s completely covered in blood.”
Yun Jong-seung and Paeng Su-hyeok, who arrived late at the scene, looked at each other.
Blocked by the crowd, Yun Jong-seung frowned.
“It seems… Namgung Cheon was beaten up badly?”
“Tsk! Namgung Cheon…! That guy is supposed to be beaten up by me!”
Paeng Su-hyeok knit his brows tightly and strode forward, pushing through the crowd.
The person who got to trample Namgung Cheon had to be him.
The child of the enemy who killed his grandfather.
He had thought Namgung Cheon was finally worth trampling, but for Jo Gang-min to bring a gang and ruin it all.
It felt as if the meat he was supposed to tear into had been snatched away by someone else.
‘Namgung Cheon! You should have been trashed by me! You shouldn’t be sprawled out in a place like this…!’
Paeng Su-hyeok, who had pushed through the crowd to the very front, suddenly froze.
Because of that, Yun Jong-seung, who was closely following behind, bumped his nose against Paeng Su-hyeok’s back.
“Ugh, wh-what is it? What about Namgung Cheon…!”
Yun Jong-seung stopped mid-sentence and his mouth fell wide open.
Good heavens, what was all this?
Namgung Cheon, who they thought would be lying down covered in blood, was laughing like a madman, while Jo Gang-min was completely knocked out cold and sprawled on the ground.
“How did this happen? Ah! Paeng Su-hyeok, where are you going?”
Without even listening to Yun Jong-seung’s words, Paeng Su-hyeok strode forward.
His mouth curled up wide.
‘Nam! Yes, that’s how it should be! Only then will the desire to trample you grow even stronger! I will definitely crush you…!’
Striding with long steps, Paeng Su-hyeok suddenly froze like stone.
‘W-What is this…!’
Some kind of energy bound his entire body like chains.
‘Killing intent…?’
Paeng Su-hyeok gnashed his teeth.
Yet, the feeling was strange.
It didn’t particularly feel like killing intent directed at him.
It just felt like an aura of death spread thickly around like fog.
It was as if Namgung Cheon was standing tall atop a hill of corpses and a sea of blood.
Due to that desolate energy, goosebumps ran down his spine.
‘That guy…!’
The energy surrounding Namgung Cheon was sending a warning.
‘Let no one disturb me.’
‘He who ignores this warning and approaches shall become one of the corpses scattered around.’
“Grr…!”
While Paeng Su-hyeok barely managed to take heavy steps against that unpleasant energy, Namgung Cheon nudged Jo Gang-min with the tip of his foot to wake him up.
“Groan…!”
Groaning, Jo Gang-min looked up at Namgung Cheon.
In a situation where it was hard to even open his eyes properly due to the pouring rain.
Namgung Cheon’s heartless gaze felt like the eyes of Yama.
“Brother Namgung…”
He opened his mouth with difficulty, struggling against the fear.
Would he be able to apologize this time?
“I-I am sorry. Please stop… Forgive me.”
He finally said it.
He had offered the apology he had so desperately desired to make.
Wait, did I want an apology?
I didn’t know. What did it matter anyway?
Only now did a sliver of hope to escape this pain appear.
In the face of pain that felt as if he would die at any moment, pride had long since been cast aside.
Namgung Cheon smirked.
At the somewhat sinister smile, Jo Gang-min felt a faint sense of despair.
“Is that so? Then let’s take one more hit as a sign of forgiveness.”
Namgung Cheon raised his fist.
A thought suddenly came to mind.
Had I ever forgiven someone like this in my past life?
Hardly ever.
Because I had killed most of them.
I always felt this way, but forgiveness was always a difficult thing.
To me, who had been a fugitive, forgiveness was ultimately no different from risking my life.
That was how difficult forgiveness was.
Therefore, one should not carelessly spout nonsense to others telling them to just forgive or forget.
Because forgiveness was something so difficult that it required risking one’s life.
Whoosh!
Finally, the fist flew, cutting through the air.
In an instant.
Swoosh!
Just as a gust of wind seemed to blow in, a dark shadow abruptly intervened.
Namgung Cheon widened his eyes and quickly flipped his hand.
The opponent also deployed grappling techniques and immediately launched a counterattack.
Not so fast.
Who could it be? Gwak Cheol-ju did not possess this level of agility.
He wanted to verify the opponent’s face, but the reaction was so fast that he couldn’t take his eyes off for even a second.
Thwip, thwip, thwip!
After exchanging two or three blows in an instant, he unleashed a palm strike infused with internal energy.
Swoosh—
Boom!
As the compressed air exploded, Namgung Cheon separated from the shadow by a wide margin.
Screeech!
The two slid to a halt on the rainy road.
Long footprints remained like scars on the rain-soaked ground.
Shhhhh.
Once again, the raindrops filled all directions.
Only now did the opponent come into view.
‘Bi Ryang…?’
Namgung Cheon focused his eyes.
Before he knew it, the battered Jo Gang-min was being carried at Bi Ryang’s side.
Only then did Gwak Cheol-ju, Song Won-gyo, and Baekli Hyang recognize Bi Ryang and slump down as if their strength had drained away.
Bi Ryang whistled.
“Phew. That was quite a ruckus. How about we stop here? Even if it’s the free observation period, if things go too far, the instructors have no choice but to intervene.”
“Where is the limit to not going too far?”
When Namgung Cheon asked, Bi Ryang rested his chin in his hand for a moment and spoke.
“It seems to be right here.”
“I’ll hit him just one more time.”
“No.”
“Then just half a hit.”
“Sure… Huh? How do you hit someone half a time? No.”
“Tsk, it didn’t work. By the way, how did you find out and get here?”
Bi Ryang pointed to Paeng Su-hyeok and Yun Jong-seung standing on one side.
“I followed those two, and this was happening.”
When Namgung Cheon glanced back, Paeng Su-hyeok was glaring with wide eyes.
Right, well, since your grandfather died at my hands, I’ll acknowledge you.
At least you have a justification, unlike those who bully the weak for fun.
By the way, Bi Ryang.
Namgung Cheon narrowed his eyes.
He was certainly strong.
Though they had only briefly crossed hands, he was a formidable opponent.
At that level, he would have almost no rivals even in the Martial Alliance.
Since he probably didn’t show his full strength, perhaps his skills would rank among the top few even in the Martial Alliance.
Even so, he must be weaker than the Alliance Leader.
…No. Making hasty conclusions was forbidden.
The Martial World was a place where even a turtle could learn lightness art and defeat a rabbit.
A place where one could not be surprised no matter what variable occurred.
That was the Jianghu.
One thing is certain from this.
That he needed to become stronger.
Not just at the level of accumulating internal energy, but he needed a martial art of his own.
It was something he had felt deep in his bones even in his past life when he lived as a fugitive.
That although the First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes was a great talent, it was not omnipotent.
That when meeting an absolute master who had polished one field for a lifetime, even the First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes would find it difficult to cross that wall.
Then, what would be the best way to proceed in the future?
First of all, even if just out of consideration for Namgung Seon, who was the Number One Dragon of the Land, it would be best to base it on the martial arts of the Namgung Clan.
Well, it was familiar too.
Furthermore, since he was living as Namgung Cheon, there could be no better conditions than this.
It was different from his past life, where he couldn’t even learn martial arts properly because he was chased his entire life.
As he was briefly lost in thought, Bi Ryang’s voice flew and pierced Namgung Cheon’s ears.
“Since it seems the duel is decided, I will take the injured person. No complaints, right?”
“Well, go ahead.”
It was a situation where he couldn’t really object.
As Bi Ryang walked away carrying Jo Gang-min, he glanced at Paeng Su-hyeok.
“That’s enough for today.”
It was ambiguous whether he was speaking to Namgung Cheon or Paeng Su-hyeok. Perhaps he was addressing both of them.
When Paeng Su-hyeok simply clenched his teeth hard, Bi Ryang gave a broad smile and left the place.
Paeng Su-hyeok glared intently at Namgung Cheon.
“Namgung Cheon. Let’s have some fun together soon.”
“Sure.”
When Namgung Cheon replied nonchalantly, Paeng Su-hyeok snorted and walked away.
Good grief, this popularity of his.
Whether in his past life or now, his fate of drawing people around him seemed unavoidable.
Once the situation was mostly sorted out, Ghost King rushed out from the eatery.
“Are you alright, my lord?”
“I’m fine. What about you guys?”
“Ah, thanks to you, we hit the jackpot as soon as we opened! Hehehe. Everyone was crazy about the noodles!”
“That’s good to hear.”
“And I found out another fact that you were curious about, my lord.”
“Oh? What is it?”
Was it about Bi Ryang?
As Namgung Cheon asked with sparkling eyes, Ghost King lowered his voice to a whisper.
“On rainy days, dust definitely does not rise. Only water droplets splash. Although, if they scatter like mist, they might look like dust.”
“…….”
“……?”
Thwack!
“Ugh! Wh-Why…?”
“You found out something truly amazing. I highly praise you.”
“Hehe, as expected, right? I have such great observation skills.”
Namgung Cheon stared blankly at Ghost King, who was grinning foolishly.
Sigh, should I kill this guy?