Chapter 112: Clash of Ideals
‘Should I call this a good opportunity?’
It was an opportunity to properly understand the Bright Fate Escort Agency.
I had planned to use the Bright Fate Escort Agency as a bridgehead to improve martial arts, but if it was a place with many problems, the story would be different.
It was already a plan that required a vast amount of time.
I had no intention of wasting my mental energy on useless things.
I had simply reached out my hand because our fates crossed. If I wanted to find another way, there were plenty.
There was a method to use the Wudang Sect, with which a new connection had been formed through Adept Heu-do, and there was also a method to move Shaolin by putting Beom-gak forward.
However, if I worked through the Nine Great Sects from the start, the true essence of what I wanted to convey might be distorted by external interference, so I had simply excluded them from my options.
But in this place, the Bright Fate Escort Agency, those who would interfere with my influence appeared.
They were Ju So-ran’s maternal relatives, who flared up at the boss guy’s statement.
‘I must check.’
A person’s true nature is revealed when they are cornered.
Seeing that, I thought I would have to make a choice again.
Whether to discard them or keep them.
“Then first…”
I will secure clear evidence to see if my assumption is correct.
If I provoke that boss guy, I can make Ju So-ran’s maternal relatives show their true colors.
I must stop him before his head is actually shattered.
Just as Beom-gak declared, that boss is right on the verge of becoming a Buddha.
There was no time to delay, so I moved immediately.
The Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step, which contained the secrets of the Vajra Immovable Body Method, had the ability to close the distance at once without any major movements.
If it were someone who could not see through my movement, they might mistake it for executing the technique of Shift Shapes and Swap Positions.
Thump!
When I struck away the heavy horse’s hoof that was about to slam down on the boss’s head, a sound like striking a steel wall was made.
I was redirecting the weight of the deflected horse to the side, but another force intervened and blocked my movement.
“What is this? Why are you cutting in?”
I had intended to tilt the horse’s center of gravity and safely catch it so it would not get hurt before putting it down on the ground, but Beom-gak retrieved it again.
Neigh!
At Beom-gak’s hand movements, which now handled the heavy horse as if it were his own limb, the horse let out a sorrowful cry.
That horse also suffered a lot because it met the wrong owner.
“I have something to ask him for a moment.”
“…So you’re saying you’re going to interfere with me?”
“Probably?”
At my answer, Beom-gak’s eyes flashed for an instant.
“I was actually desiring your head more anyway!”
He had completely lost his mind. It seemed nothing was visible to his eyes.
“Hyaaah!”
Neighhhhh!
And then he swung the heavy horse around with both hands.
[The Demon Subduing Staff… indeed.]
Master Bodhidharma recognized it immediately and let out a sigh.
It seemed Beom-gak was swinging the horse using the staff techniques of Shaolin martial arts.
[Pfft! The Demon Subduing Staff executed with Horse Art… Pfft!!]
[Hahaha…]
At Master Zhang Sanfeng’s comment, which was full of laughter, Master Bodhidharma’s laughter, having lost his words, was empty.
To be honest, I also found it a bit funny, but I could not bring myself to laugh.
[Finish it quickly. If he sprays something strange in all directions like that, it will be a disaster.]
“…”
Now it was my turn for my face to stiffen.
Horses are timid animals. If it was swung around and handled like a staff like that, there was no telling what the frightened horse might do.
To prevent a terrible disaster, I took a step forward.
My hand contained a move of Tai Chi Chuan that Master Zhang Sanfeng had taught me.
Thud! Bam!
Deflecting and containing to endure.
Containing two flows in one move, I caught the horse’s body that was coming down like a thunderbolt.
After catching and securing the horse like that, the rest was simple.
Tap! Thud!
Lightly entering, the tip of my foot reached Beom-gak’s abdomen.
“Urgh!”
“Go to sleep, seriously.”
Putting down the horse, I dug into Beom-gak.
My hand went up to the head of Beom-gak, whose waist was bent after being hit in the abdomen. My hand, placed on his slick head that had nothing to grab, ruthlessly gripped his back head and slammed it into the ground.
Thud!
“Kack!”
What with the fatigue accumulated from the journey and all, he must have been at his physical limit.
With a single shriek, Beom-gak’s consciousness vanished.
After lightly subduing Beom-gak, I turned around to see the boss guy, who could not even stand and was backing away.
Step!
“It would be disappointing if you just left. I even put my companion to sleep because of you.”
“Argh!”
I pressed down on the boss guy’s chest with my foot. It was the place where he had been kicked by the horse’s hind leg.
Perhaps his bones were on the verge of breaking, as the sensation pressed by my foot was subtle.
Seeing the boss guy groaning in agony, I wore a cold expression.
I learned a good thing.
To this man, pain was a very effective tool.
Snap!
“Aaaaaargh!”
I broke the part that was on the verge of breaking.
A chilly smile was a bonus.
Personally, I thought it was a good expression.
“Only open your mouth when I ask, mister. Every time you scream a scream I don’t want to hear, I will break a bone one by one.”
“…Mmph! Hmph! Mmph!”
The boss guy desperately covered his mouth and nodded.
[Oh~ Our disciple has become much more like a person of the martial world, hasn’t he?]
‘Is that a compliment?’
My ears felt a bit itchy.
Well, let’s think of it positively.
“Mister, what kind of person are you?”
“Do Gwang-jo. I am a… loan shark.”
“Aha.”
The majestic figure who was threatening that middle-aged beauty until a moment ago was nowhere to be found, and only a well-behaved, third-rate hoodlum remained.
It seemed he would answer well no matter what I asked.
The loan shark who introduced himself as Do Gwang-jo endured the pain and stared straight at me. Rather, he looked as if he wanted questions.
He looked as if he wanted to answer what he had to answer quickly and be at ease.
It was then.
“You villain! Die!”
Suddenly, a man who drew a dagger from his chest rushed towards Do Gwang-jo, whom I was pressing down.
It was quite a fierce momentum, but even so, it was only the knife swing of a civilian who had not learned martial arts.
I spun the Taiji Line in front of the dagger’s blade that was rushing towards his chest.
“Woah!”
Just by twisting the blade’s direction and distorting the center of force, the opponent lost his balance and fell.
Since the force of his own vigorous rush was returned as is, he could only stop his body after rolling twice on the ground.
The man yelled at me.
“Why are you protecting that villain!”
“Then why are you trying to silence this loan shark?”
“That’s because…!”
Lacking an answer, the man gaped like a goldfish.
In the meantime, Do Gwang-jo shouted urgently.
“Because they came to me and proposed that we plunder the Bright Fate Escort Agency’s assets!”
“Shut your mouth! Where do you get off telling such wild lies!”
“It’s do or die! This trash of a ba… Argh!”
Crack!
A painful scream burst from the mouth of Do Gwang-jo, who was shouting in anger, along with the sound of a bone breaking.
Perhaps unable to grasp the situation, Do Gwang-jo’s eyes shook, tangled with pain and confusion.
Applying force to my foot that was stepping on Do Gwang-jo, I kindly explained the reason.
“I believe I told you to open your mouth only when I ask? Did I tell you to open your mouth?”
“Arrrrgh!”
Do Gwang-jo’s crotch became wet as his body trembled violently in pain.
[He pissed himself.]
[You’ve grown ruthless, our disciple.]
It was visible to the extent that all kinds of emotions—pain, disgrace, anger, madness—were swirling inside him.
However, he did not open his mouth in the end, as I had ordered.
‘It is done.’
Seeing the well-tamed Do Gwang-jo, I judged that it was fine to slowly remove the gag.
‘The reason I moved was strictly suspicion after all. Doing this won’t produce clear evidence, but for evaluating their true nature, this side is rather better.’
Right now, he wouldn’t dare tell blatant lies.
“Good. Spill everything you know.”
“Argh… Aaargh! This is all because of those bastards! Those bastards came to find me first! I only did what those bastards told me to dooooo!”
Even madness was felt from Do Gwang-jo, who was venting as he pleased.
The emotion contained in that shout was so deep that the surroundings became quiet for an instant.
“Don’t lie! You absolute villain!”
“He is framing people to save himself!”
Under the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere, Ju So-ran’s maternal relatives tried to rush at Do Gwang-jo with murderous eyes.
However, their attempt was thwarted by those who blocked their front.
“Let’s hear a bit more.”
“It means stay still if you don’t want your legs broken.”
Young Lady Jang So-wol and Baek Mu-ho blocked their front with dark eyes.
Behind them, Ju So-ran and Myeong Il-seo were glaring with contorted faces.
‘Should I say what I expected was correct?’
“Don’t just vaguely blame others; explain in detail. So that anyone who hears it can understand.”
“A-a few days ago, those guys…!”
Step!
“Argh!”
“I told you to speak in detail. Don’t say vague things like ‘a few days ago’. When? Where? Who? How? Don’t you know the five Ws and one H?”
“F-four days! Four days ago around the Hour of the Horse (11:00-13:00) at my residence!”
At my cruel actions, the people watching from the surroundings wore appalled expressions. Fear was also mixed in their gazes.
However, what was clear was that the people did not doubt Do Gwang-jo’s words in the slightest.
Right now, they would believe it even if he said something quite absurd.
“Continue. In detail.”
“Those guys, those guys came to find me! Those trash-like things who were anxious to stab Lady Woo in the back! What they proposed was…”
The story that came out after that did not escape the scope of my expectations.
It was a story that they, who had sought him out, a loan shark, fabricated a non-existent debt and manipulated the ledgers.
Since I told him to tell everything in detail, he even confessed that he actually planned to stab them in the back as well and gulp down all the assets of the Bright Fate Escort Agency, and that he planned to persecute the people around to put Lady Woo in his hands.
Each and every detail was dirty enough to make one want to wash their ears, so the gazes of the people, who had sent a sliver of sympathy to his torture-like treatment, also cooled down before they knew it.
Right now, the atmosphere was such that they would clap and cheer even if Do Gwang-jo was stepped on to death.
‘That side is even more so.’
The surrounded maternal relatives of Ju So-ran were being treated as worse than Do Gwang-jo.
“Evidence! Is there evidence? Is there evidence that what that bastard says is true! He’s just pinning it all on us!”
Under the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere, the one who first tried to stab Do Gwang-jo with a dagger shouted in desperation.
However, no one agreed with his words.
“At that point, rather than pinning it on others, isn’t it closer to a confession?”
“If he said it with the intention of pinning it on others, he would have left out his own wrongs.”
“Tsk tsk. Telling lies even in this situation.”
“Poor Lady Woo. To think those kinds of guys are her family…”
To dismiss it as lacking evidence, what Do Gwang-jo had let burst was too much.
The atmosphere of the crowd had completely shifted now.
In a situation where one only had to pass judgment, I did not wield that authority.
“What do you think?”
There was someone else who should wield this authority.
The person who was receiving the most sympathy among the contrasting positions.
“I believe it is a matter the Mistress must judge.”
I passed that authority to Lady Woo.
It would be easiest for the Bright Fate Escort Agency if I handled it at my end, but I did not come here to make things easy for them.
Depending on what choice they made, my course of action would also change.