Chapter 121: Gyeon's Tenth Chapter (10)
“…”What on earth is going on?”
After that incident on that day, the undertaker Ha Gu-suk could not sleep properly.
Although his mother, wife, and two children were fine because he had kept them from coming out of the room that night, Ha Gu-suk himself had to witness that terrible carnage with his own eyes.
That bright red blood, blood, blood, gushing out in the darkness.
Just thinking about that day still made his hands tremble violently.
Fortunately, Ha Gu-suk was a bold and courageous man, enough to have been best friends with Gyeon Sul since childhood.
Since then, Ha Gu-suk had finished the work of recovering the shattered corpses, sewing them back together, dressing them in shrouds, placing them in coffins, and wiping away all the bloodstains entirely by himself.
And around that time, Ha Gu-suk heard a surprising rumor.
The West Gang, the East Association, the North Sword Coalition, and the South Righteous Circle.
The rumor was that the four violent organizations that used to dominate this town had been wiped out and disappeared overnight.
The one who disposed of those who lived by sucking the blood of the common people was said to be a rogue of the heterodox path who used the fearsome martial name of ‘Three Calls of the Yellow Springs (三稱黃泉)’.
Ha Gu-suk sighed while sitting on the narrow veranda of his thatched house.
“Sul-ah, this bastard. Where on earth has he been and what has he been doing all this time…”
The joy of meeting his old friend after a long time, the guilt of not being able to help him, and the shock of seeing the ruffians die in heaps before his eyes were all mixed and jumbled together.
As he was sitting on the veranda, catching bedbugs on his clothes against the light of a lamp,
“Hey—”
something suddenly popped up over the fence.
It was Gyeon Sul, who was smiling brightly at Ha Gu-suk.
“Sul-ah! You?!”
Ha Gu-suk rushed out in his stocking feet and ran toward Gyeon Sul.
But Gyeon Sul reached out his hand and blocked Ha Gu-suk.
“Don’t come near. You’ll get blood on you.”
“You crazy bastard! As if an undertaker would be scared of getting blood on him!”
Despite Gyeon Sul’s warning, Ha Gu-suk leaped up and kicked him.
Gyeon Sul, hit by Ha Gu-suk’s kick, tumbled backward with a cry of “Oops.”
“You son of a bitch, kicking me out of nowhere. Are you out of your mind?”
“Do I look like I wouldn’t kick you? What on earth have you been doing! I told you it was dangerous!”
“All the dangerous stuff is over now, punk.”
Gyeon Sul grinned in front of the angry Ha Gu-suk.
Soon, Gyeon Sul made his way through the bush-clover fence and threw something in front of Ha Gu-suk.
It was a large cloth bundle.
“What is this?”
“I went around here and there last night and plundered a bit. It’s tough supporting your mother, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephews, right? Add this to your expenses.”
“Cut the crap. Who asked for money, you bastard?”
“Just take it, fucker. Anyway, I’m single, so I have no place to spend it.”
“I don’t need it either! It’s yours, so you use it!”
“Ah seriously, why does someone with absolutely nothing keep showing pride? I should just throw it into the reservoir.”
“You crazy bastard, why would you throw it away! If you’re going to throw it away, give it to me!”
“Take it, you son of a bitch.”
The only things exchanged between the two friends were curses.
Soon, Gyeon Sul grumbled and turned around.
“It will be hard to see each other again. Live well.”
“Why did you put so much money in here? Three generations could live off this without working.”
“You said you didn’t want money, but you’re only talking about money, you crazy bitch.”
“Piss off, you bastard, hurry.”
“Yeah. I’m leaving, punk. Live well.”
Gyeon Sul waved his hand and turned around.
Then, without looking back, he walked forward.
Suddenly, Ha Gu-suk sprang up.
“Hey! You bastard!”
He shouted as he leaped over the broken fence.
“You must come see your nieces get married when they grow up! You also have to come when my mom passes away!”
“…”
Gyeon Sul did not look back.
Ha Gu-suk screamed at the top of his lungs.
“I’ll prepare your corpse when you die, you bastard! I even give free coffins to martial artists, punk! So you must come! Come and die right in front of me! Do you hear me?!”
But Gyeon Sul was silent.
Without uttering a single swear word that he was so good at, he just quietly disappeared into the darkness alone.
* * *
Ok-ran, the female owner of the tavern, had closed her business for a while.
She was lying in her loess-walled room, worrying about how she should live in the future.
Although she did not have to pay protection fees anymore, it was a big problem because she had no savings after being extorted all this time.
Perhaps she might have to close the business now.
Just then.
…Bam!
The sound of the outer gate breaking was heard.
Ok-ran, who hurriedly left the room, soon came to witness an astonishing sight.
Gyeon Sul, with an annoyed expression, was setting down a heavy bag of money on the wooden floor of the tavern.
“Hey, we met at the perfect time. Take this opportunity to fix that damn gate.”
“Uh… uh…”
Ok-ran could not speak properly.
Whether she did or not, Gyeon Sul, having put down the bag of money, whipped around and walked outside.
Soon, Gyeon Sul turned his head and said.
“Oh, and.”
“…?”
Ok-ran, who was looking at the bag of money in confusion, raised her head.
To her, Gyeon Sul spoke as if tossing the words lightly.
“Your tavern’s porridge tastes terrible. Do some self-reflection.”
“Pardon? B-but… I made it exactly the same as when Grandmother was alive…”
“It tasted terrible back then too. One only eats it for the taste of memories. I’m off.”
Leaving the dazed Ok-ran behind, Gyeon Sul trudged away.
That was the end.
* * *
The grand mansion of Ximen Qing.
Chui and Gyeon Sul had sent out all the maids and servants who were here.
Under the rafters of the mansion, a sturdy rope was tied, and at its end, a leather sack was suspended.
“Uuuu…”
“Sob, sob, sob, sob…”
From inside the leather sack, Ximen Qing’s groans and Pan Jinlian’s weeping could be heard.
Chui stood in front of it, examining a sheet of paper.
<‘O O O’. This person is hereby appointed as an ‘Assistant Instructor’ of the Martial Alliance’s ‘Ascending Heaven Academy’. – Martial Alliance Leader Baek>
It was parchment stamped with the official seal of the Martial Alliance Leader.
If any name was written in the blank name slot, that person would immediately become an assistant instructor at the Martial Alliance’s Ascending Heaven Academy.
No matter who he was or where he came from, no questions asked.
“He must have spent quite a bit of money.”
Chui intended to use this official appointment letter to become an assistant instructor at the Ascending Heaven Academy.
Since there were hundreds of assistant instructors in the Ascending Heaven Academy, and countless among them would have bought their credentials to enter, there was no way Chui’s movements would be exposed.
With this, Chui had finished everything he had to do before infiltrating the Ascending Heaven Academy.
‘I was lucky.’
Before returning in time.
That is, when the war between the Demonic Cult and the Central Plains Wulin ended, Chui had heard in detail about where this war had broken out.
At that time, the Demonic Cult had dispatched numerous spies to buy assistant instructor positions at the Ascending Heaven Academy, using them to grasp the movements of the martial world.
Spies of the Demonic Cult were mixed into both the Martial Alliance and the Heterodox Alliance, which made the Demonic Cult’s invasion of the Central Plains much easier.
‘It must be right about now. The time when the spies of the Demonic Cult are in full swing searching for routes to infiltrate the Central Plains. I took a wild guess, but to think I would catch one right away.’
The young noble who was supposed to meet Ximen Qing once every three months in the Happy Forest to socialize was likely the liaison sent by the Demonic Cult.
In other words, Ximen Qing was destined to act as a spy for the Demonic Cult without even knowing it.
‘In the end, catching this one guy will be the way to save countless people.’
Chui thought as he looked up at Ximen Qing, who was left groaning inside the leather sack.
He had not particularly tried to save an unspecified multitude of people… but anyway, since the result turned out like this, there was nothing bad about it.
After all, it blended well with Gyeon Sul’s goal.
“Pui, pui, pui—”
Gyeon Sul picked up a birchwood club beside him and spat three times.
Even during that time, Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian inside the leather sack were snarling at each other.
“S-Shut up, you b-bitch… W-What did you do so well th-that you keep wh-whimpering?!”
“You crazy bastard. My life is ruined because of you, you son of a bitch!”
“W-What? Who are you sh-shouting at, you b-bitch? You were the one who w-wagged your tail f-first!”
“What are you saying, with all your teeth knocked out? Oh, my eyes must have been blind. To think I fell for a piece of trash acting as a spy for the Demonic Cult…”
“S-Spy? Demonic Cult? You crazy b-bitch! There is nothing you w-won’t say!”
The leather sack moved slightly.
They were probably pressing against each other inside the sack to find even a slightly more comfortable position.
But in the end, it was all meaningless.
Human affairs—becoming famous, wealthy, and trying to rise above others by any means—were ultimately just like the tossing and turning inside this leather sack.
Gyeon Sul was about to demonstrate this himself now.
“Now. You two, listen.”
“…”
When Gyeon Sul’s voice was heard, the man and woman inside the leather sack froze as if turned to ice.
As the movement of the leather sack stopped, Gyeon Sul continued speaking.
“Sister-in-law. You should have listened when I was speaking nicely.”
“Y-Young Master… I’m sorry… Please, just once, have mercy…”
“Honestly, I understand that your life became miserable meeting my ugly brother at a young and beautiful age. Why didn’t you just secretly sell off the family property, turn it into money, and run away? If you had done that, my brother would have just wept bitterly, and I would have merely comforted him and muttered a few curses.”
“Young Master… Young Master… Please…”
“But stabbing me alongside your paramour, poisoning my brother to death, and on top of that, enjoying the pleasures of rain and clouds in front of my brother, insulting him right up to his death, was too much. If I had not met a miraculous encounter and survived, all of this would have been buried as if nothing happened, and you would have lived happily without any trouble, giving birth to children, seeing grandchildren, and continuing your lineage.”
Gyeon Sul touched the part of the leather sack presumed to be where Pan Jinlian was.
And he continued speaking in a low voice.
“Did I not say when I left the town? ‘If you betray my brother, you will surely pay the price.’ If you had taken those words to heart, things would not have come to this.”
Then, the sound of sobbing coming from inside the leather sack stopped abruptly.
And soon, a shrill, loud voice began to be heard.
“If you’re not going to spare me, don’t lecture me, you son of a bitch! You and your brother can both go to hell!”
“Hahaha—now that suits you. Yes, that is more like my sister-in-law.”
“H-Hey… I… I am r-reflecting… S-Spare me…”
“Oh, friend Ximen. Your pronunciation has improved a lot. Hahaha—but no.”
Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian floundered inside the leather sack.
Gyeon Sul bid the two of them his final farewell.
“There is saying, ‘He who tied the knot must untie it (結者解之)’. Since this disaster occurred because the two of you mingled your bodies, you can solve it by mingling your bodies together.”
At the same time, the hexagonal birchwood club was raised high.
“They say in that place far away called the Sichuan Tang Clan (四川唐家), there is a gruesome punishment called the ‘Bone-Extracting Flesh-Mashing Form (抽骨肉式)’. I also heard about it from Senior Brother Sa (巳). Let’s see, was it done like this?”
Gyeon Sul gave them a clubbing without even using his internal energy.
…Thud! …Thud! …Thud! …Thud! …Thud! …Thud! …Thud! …Thud!
Although the leather burst and the sack tore midway, because he had layered the sack dozens of times, the contents did not spill out.
In the beginning of the clubbing, screams were heard a few times, but now no sound came out.
How much time had passed?
Crack! Snap!
Only when the dozens of layered leather sacks were all torn to tatters did Gyeon Sul’s clubbing stop.
Gyeon Sul untied the leather sack and checked the inside.
“They are well mixed. Just like they were one from birth.”
Soon, flames rose from beneath the leather sack.
Gyeon Sul set fire to the oil he had scattered throughout the mansion.
…Whoosh!
Soon, a massive firestorm swallowed the mansion.
Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian were both engulfed in flames and smoke, disappearing.
“…”
Gyeon Sul threw his brother’s bone fragment and the note he had kept in his bosom into the fire.
Blaze! Blaze! Blaze!
A stick of incense was planted in front of the pillar of fire that shot up, wrapping around the entire mansion.
“It won’t be comfortable, but rest anyway, Brother.”
Gyeon Sul performed two bows before the spirits of Ximen Qing, Pan Jinlian, and Gyeon Rang.
Then, he remained prostrate on the ground for a while, not moving.
…Before he knew it, snow began to fall.
Over the prostrate Gyeon Sul’s back, and over the mansion that had turned to ashes, heavy snowflakes fluttered down thickly.
As if nothing had happened here.
Without a single black or red blemish.
It was merely being covered in a pure and lovely white.
…White, white. Whiter.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost