Chapter 113: There Is a Flame Inside Me
Even in difficult times, the Bright Fate Escort Agency took care of the families of the deceased escort members.
It was a good thing.
However, what I wanted to confirm was which direction Lady Woo’s disposition leaned.
‘If it is a half-hearted mindset, I might have to wash my hands of it.’
Was taking care of the families of the deceased escort members out of a sense of responsibility, or out of sympathy?
If it was the former, that was fine.
However, if it was the latter, it would be troublesome.
It was not in my plans to shoulder even the dead weight that should not be accepted out of sympathy.
‘If she is a person who moves out of sympathy, I will have to completely strip her of actual power and make her a figurehead. If she resists, I will have to wash my hands of it.’
Although I had offered assistance on the premise of Ju So-ran’s absolute obedience, that was not yet the consensus of the Bright Fate Escort Agency.
It is human nature to want to do something more if told not to. A contract made is not always kept.
From the look of it, the spiritual pillar of the Bright Fate Escort Agency was Lady Woo. If I tried to exclude such a person, the rest of the members would not be able to follow me sincerely. In the end, the premise of absolute obedience would become nothing but a facade.
In such a situation, it was better to cut ties quickly.
It was just that, by chance, the Bright Fate Escort Agency met the perfect conditions. If it deviated from those conditions, there was no need to be bound by it.
“If I followed my heart, I would want to cut off their heads.”
“Oh?”
‘She’s bolder than I thought.’
It was said that they were Ju So-ran’s maternal family. To Lady Woo, they were her blood relatives, and there might even be siblings born from the same womb among them.
Yet she said she wanted to cut off the heads of such people.
“But that won’t do, will it? Since there are eyes watching.”
Inwardly, my evaluation of Lady Woo rose.
She also possessed cool judgment.
Sometimes people think martial artists run around killing people as they please, but the reality is different.
If a martial artist dies while fighting other martial artists, it is treated as a matter of the martial world and overlooked, but if a civilian dies in a matter of the martial world, the government does not just stand by and watch.
Sometimes there are those who kill civilians without hesitation, but those are truly people with no future. They are deeds committed only by those who drift like duckweed.
Beheading those guys would invite the government’s intervention.
Unlike places like Sichuan, the government’s influence was strong here in Hubei, so that judgment was valid.
Lady Woo expressed two thoughts: her feelings and the reality. However, nothing had been decided yet.
Now, a conclusion had to come out.
“Th-then…”
“We were wrong, Aunt!”
Someone stuttered, harboring a small hope, while another guy immediately slammed his head to the ground, taking on a reflective posture.
The funny thing was that the guy slamming his head to the ground while bringing up “Aunt” was the very first guy who had drawn a dagger and tried to stab Do Gwang-jo.
‘He’s like a snake.’
He was someone I did not want to have under the same roof.
As I was clicking my tongue inwardly, I suddenly felt Lady Woo’s gaze.
Soon, letting out a shallow sigh, Lady Woo spoke up boldly.
“If there is a wrong, there must be appropriate punishment and reflection.”
“Yes! We will accept any punishment! All of Aunt’s blood relatives will do so!”
“Right.”
At the figure adding the word “blood relatives” on purpose, a bitter smile settled on Lady Woo’s lips.
“Then I shall hand down the punishment.”
“Yes!”
“Leave this place immediately.”
“Gladl… Yes?”
The face of the guy who had been trying to get through the emergency by any means stiffened like wood.
“Aunt!”
“Since you coveted the Bright Fate Escort Agency’s assets and committed a crime, I will not permit you anything of the Bright Fate Escort Agency. That is the punishment I give.”
“Ha…!”
The short sigh that came from the snake-like guy’s mouth sounded like a sneer. Whether that sneer was directed at himself or at Lady Woo was indistinguishable, but one thing was clear.
It was not normal for him to have a smiling face with his mouth wide open as if he had half-lost his mind.
He looked like someone whose thread had snapped.
[He’s going to cause trouble.]
‘Yes, well.’
“You bitch!”
As expected, the snake-like guy threw himself towards Lady Woo with his dagger.
Watching from a step back, I intervened quickly.
The Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step executed with determination!
I blocked his front with a movement that would make even ordinary martial artists think they had seen an illusion.
Crack!
“Argh!”
While kicking his ankle as he stepped forward to throw him down, I snapped his forearm, which was holding the dagger, like a dry twig.
“Get it treated well. If your bones set wrongly, you’ll end up a cripple.”
With a light piece of advice, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him towards his blood relatives.
Thud!
However, no one caught him. Rather, some of them were busy staring at the fallen guy with eyes full of loathing.
It was a sight that made it clear who the ringleader was who had embezzled the Bright Fate Escort Agency’s assets and tried to sell Lady Woo to Do Gwang-jo.
[That guy is bound to end up a cripple.]
“Indeed.”
If broken bones are not treated properly and set wrongly, it is easy to become a cripple.
But looking at the atmosphere over there, they did not look like they would take that guy to a physician.
To be kicked out without a single coin, and not even have a whole body, meant one of two things.
Either living as a beggar while pretending to be a cripple, or throwing himself from a high place.
With a bitter face, Lady Woo bowed her head to me.
“My greetings are late. I am Woo Ji-hye, the mistress of the Bright Fate Escort Agency.”
“I am Yeon Cheong-un. I came to help the Bright Fate Escort Agency at the request of Young Lady Ju.”
“Is that so.”
At my words, Lady Woo’s expression became complex and subtle.
I also held my tongue for now. Because bringing up the conditions I had discussed with Ju So-ran at a time like this was not a good judgment.
‘Young Lady Ju will explain it on her own.’
For now, throwing out those dead weights was the priority.
***
The blood relatives of Lady Woo, who had led the rebellion, were kicked out empty-handed.
Since the gazes of the townspeople who witnessed the whole turn of events were not kind, it would be hard for them to find a place to live in Huihua County.
The loan shark, Do Gwang-jo, knelt low and offered wealth equivalent to the assets of the Bright Fate Escort Agency he had tried to extort. Since it was a significant amount of wealth that would help rebuild the Bright Fate Escort Agency, we decided to let it go at that.
However, since it would be hard for him to do business in this town in the future, he would have to leave for another region.
Once the work was roughly sorted out, Baek Mu-ho approached.
“Were you originally that brutal?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you feel it? You were extremely brutal today.”
At the words that seemed to test me, I rather snorted.
“Look who’s talking. Man, did you know how anxious I was watching your eyes flip as you guys rampaged today?”
“Oh, well… does it look that way too?”
Although the one who rampaged madly was Beom-gak, Baek Mu-ho was not to be outdone.
I’m telling you, his eyes flashed brutally.
Though only the guy tilted his head blankly remained now.
It was like a figure who had come to his senses after having a bowl of cold water poured over him.
But thinking about it that way, the cold water suddenly seemed connected to what Baek Mu-ho just said.
‘Was I that brutal?’
I reviewed what had happened a moment ago, but there was no major problem.
I resolved the matter in accordance with the natural order. Should I say I did what I had to do?
Since I handled it naturally, there was no part where a sense of incompatibility was felt.
But I could not just overlook Baek Mu-ho’s words.
Because if I had to name the three people who knew me best, he would definitely occupy one of those seats.
‘Come to think of it, my masters also said I had become ruthless, right?’
Master Zhang Sanfeng said I had become more like a person of the martial world, and Master Bodhidharma evaluated that I had become ruthless.
Wondering if something had changed, I observed myself, and felt something swaying in my chest.
A hot heat created by a flickering flame swayed gently.
‘There is a flame within me?’
“The divine power of fire…”
[You might be receiving its influence.]
Master Bodhidharma gave a cautious warning.
As I was thinking if it was a situation where I should be vigilant, the mutual relationships of the Five Elements suddenly came to mind.
‘Come to think of it, only the divine power of fire is in an independent state.’
The divine power of earth and the divine power of metal are in a relationship where their properties are compatible with each other.
But the divine power of fire is independent.
Not only that, fire is also a force that consumes the divine power of metal.
There was no force to check it at all.
‘I must be careful.’
If I was indeed in a state of being influenced by the divine power of fire, I would have to be more careful with my words and deeds than usual.
And in the near future, I must obtain another divine power to check the divine power of fire, or else increase my achievement in the Three Talents Unified Qi Art to minimize the influence of the fire’s power on me.
The necessity to practice the Three Talents Unified Qi Art grew even more.
‘But if this is truly due to the fire’s power, what on earth is Yi Hwa…’
I turned back to look at Yi Hwa, who was following me like a shadow.
Meeting my eyes, Yi Hwa tilted her head slightly as if she did not understand the reason.
It would be rude to compare a person to a dog, but in my eyes, she looked like a dog tilting its head because it could not grasp its owner’s intention.
She was cute.
Without realizing, I stroked her head.
“…?”
Yi Hwa tilted her head to the opposite side this time.
Suppressing the laughter that was bursting out, I took my hand away, and my back head stung.
As if someone was glaring at me.
Turning around, there was Young Lady Jang So-wol, who was shaking her hand as if she had touched something dirty.
‘…Surely not?’
I knew that all the filters had fallen off since we came back from Sichuan without a word.
***
The messenger who climbed Mount Hyeongmun on Jong In-geol’s orders shook his head at the chilling air that brushed past the scruff of his neck.
“I really didn’t want to come here…”
It was a place where it was gloomy and cold. The chill that just brushed past his neck felt as if a ghost was playing a prank.
He had visited several times before, but he could not adapt to it at all.
“Does one become such a monster by living in such a nasty place?”
“A monster, you say…”
“Hieek!”
At the voice that came from somewhere, the messenger was startled.
Fearing that he would be harmed for his slip of the tongue, he quickly fell flat on his face.
“Y-you were here.”
“I am not angry, so rise.”
“I-is that truly so?”
“A monster is what the ignorant call a great existence out of fear. Since that is also a form of reverence, there is no reason to be angry.”
The existence speaking in a clear voice appeared smoothly in the air.
A Taoist with a pure impression and a pale face looked down at the man while fluttering a fan.
The figure who had sought him out on Jong In-geol’s instructions, Taoist Master Guak.
“Did you come because Jong In-geol sent you?”
“Y-yes!”
“I heard that Jong In-geol has a headache lately because of Seo Yun-geon, the Hubei Counselor of the Ministry of Personnel, but if you are asking me to kill him, I refuse. Touching those in official posts costs too much. Jong In-geol should know this as well?”
At Taoist Master Guak’s words, the messenger quickly shook his head.
“S-Seo Yun-geon is not the target!”
“It’s not him?”
“Yes, yes. You just need to kill a greenhorn.”
“A greenhorn… A martial artist?”
“Yes!”
At the messenger’s words, Taoist Master Guak’s eyes narrowed. His pure impression turned sinister in an instant.
“And the price remains the same?”
“If you handle it quickly, he said he would pay double the price.”
“Oh?”
As his lips curled upward in satisfaction, the existence there could no longer be called a Taoist.
“You came knowing where he is, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Lead the way.”
Seeing Taoist Master Guak stepping forward personally, the messenger smiled warmly and led the way.
“That bastard Yeon Cheong-un is as good as dead now.”