Chapter 43: Scaling the Wall (4)
…Crash!
Expensive artworks, costly silk decorations, and all other sorts of expensive and luxurious furniture were completely shattered.
After beating and destroying everything in the room and hallway completely with his staff, Chui set fire to it.
Whoosh!
The flames rising from the tall pavilion were gradually spreading downward.
“Ugh…… uuuugh……”
Do Jwa-yoon could do nothing even as he watched the Fuchai Pavilion burn.
He merely lay flat on the floor wet with urine, trembling.
Chui raised his staff.
“In consideration of your subordinate’s resolve, I will not take your life.”
“T-thank y—Aaargh!”
Do Jwa-yoon, who was trying to prostrate himself toward Chui, let out a shrill scream.
This was because the black staff smashed his shoulder.
…Crack! …Crunch! …Snap!
The bones of Do Jwa-yoon’s entire left arm were shattered into small pieces.
It seemed clear that he would never be able to use it for the rest of his life.
Chui moved his staff sideways and did the same to Do Jwa-yoon’s right arm.
Next was the right leg, and next was the left leg.
“Ah. And there is one more thing.”
Chui pulled out the hammer from his bosom.
And he struck down with all his might toward the groin of Do Jwa-yoon, who had lost all his limbs.
Squish!
Along with the sound of flesh being crushed, Do Jwa-yoon rolled his eyes back and fainted.
Chui looked at the corpse of the First Blade lying beside him.
“I have kept my promise.”
Since he did not kill him, the last wish the First Blade had spoken during his lifetime was fulfilled.
“Having a subordinate who exceeds one’s standing is not necessarily a good thing.”
Chui pressed down with his foot on the mouth of Do Jwa-yoon, who had fainted foaming at the mouth, to force it open.
Drip-
A drop of blood fell from Chui’s fingertip and entered Do Jwa-yoon’s mouth.
* * *
The flames billowing atop the Fuchai Pavilion brightly lit up the night sky.
Leaving behind the pavilions blazing like giant candles, Chui stepped outside.
Those waiting for Chui there were a crowd of courtesans.
When Chui came out, several among the crowd of courtesans denounced Chui.
“This place is our livelihood!”
“We were living peacefully here! We were almost done paying off our debts too!”
“But because of you, we lost both our place of work and our place to stay!”
“You think you are righteous, don’t you? That is a huge misunderstanding!”
“If you want to indulge in playing hero, you should do it elsewhere, why on earth do you have to run amok here!”
The courtesans got angry, throwing dishes, hairpins, and such toward Chui.
At this.
Whoosh!
Chui swung his staff.
At the murderous wind emanating from the staff, the courtesans took fright and all fell on their backsides at once.
Chui thoroughly scanned the faces of the courtesans sitting with dazed expressions.
The courtesans of the wave-lantern boat he had met at the wave market came to mind.
Women who had become ruined courtesans and were discarded.
And the women who were still working properly on active duty here.
Comparing the faces that came to mind with the faces visible before his eyes, Chui said.
“Righteousness or whatever, I do not know.”
An expression without any emotion, a voice that was dry to the limit.
“I shall live as my heart desires, so you too live as your hearts desire.”
At those words, the expressions of the courtesans turned blank.
Chui slung his staff and left the blazing Fuchai Pavilion.
Righteousness or heroes were subjects he had little interest in.
However, only one person.
“……Thank you. Thank you.”
Only a single courtesan named Baekli Hyang was bowing toward Chui’s retreating back.
* * *
Zhaoguan, the city gate of Chu River County.
Won Wol, the guard captain here, was startled by the light of the fire faintly spreading from afar and rushed out of his barracks.
“What is going on over there?”
However, the guards also knew nothing.
Won Wol looked back at the martial artists of the Mount Hua Sect and the Wudang Sect near the city gate.
Yet they also shook their heads.
“Since that place is the territory of the heterodox, we were also only conducting patrols restrictively.”
“Because causing friction with the Hegemon Society could easily make the problem grow larger.”
It meant that, ultimately, they did not know what had occurred.
At that time.
The guards who had gone on patrol ran back in a flurry and shouted.
“Fire! A fire has broken out at the Fuchai Pavilion!”
“It seems ruffians who got into a dispute over the price of alcohol set the fire!”
“The fire is spreading beyond the pavilions! This is a disaster!”
A fire incident had occurred.
Won Wol pressed his hand to his forehead.
“What madman dared to…… first, deploy the soldiers to fetch well water. Since the wind is strong, we must suppress it early so the fire doesn’t spread.”
The fortress wall grew busy.
Most of the soldiers who had been guarding the city gate rushed out to suppress the fire.
At that moment, Won Wol discovered two men running toward the city gate.
One was a boy, and the other was a tall man covering his face with a bamboo hat.
Won Wol recognized the face of one of them.
“Ah, you are the physician from earlier. What was your name?”
“It is Dong Go-gong.”
“That’s right. Dong Go-gong. The aphrodisiac merchant who went to the Hegemon Society.”
Hearing Won Wol’s words, the physician Dong Go-gong nodded his head.
“Indeed. Please open the city gate.”
“What? Why the gate?”
“I have medicinal herbs that I abandoned outside because the load was heavy. Those herbs have urgently become necessary again.”
Won Wol shook his head as if it were absurd.
“The gate cannot be moved unless it is by imperial decree. That is the law that has been consistently observed ever since the capital was established in Nanjing.”
There was still plenty of time left before the city gate would open.
And without a thorough search and meticulous inspection, no one could be allowed to pass.
Yet the physician Dong Go-gong kept saying the same thing.
“We must open the gate and bring more herbs. Otherwise, a truly major disaster will happen.”
“What disaster?”
“A noble person is currently ill and bedridden. If we do not bring those herbs, he will surely pass away.”
He said it was a matter of human life.
Moreover, what if that person was a highly distinguished individual?
A slight hesitation settled on Won Wol’s face.
“Who is that noble person?”
“It is Young Master Do Jwa-yoon of the Hegemon Society.”
At the physician Dong Go-gong’s words, Won Wol pressed his hand to his forehead once again.
At that moment, several of the guards who had reported the anomaly at the Fuchai Pavilion earlier ran to Won Wol and whispered.
“That physician’s words are correct. Young Master Do of the Hegemon Society is currently in critical condition. His limbs are all broken, his groin is crushed…… and his mind is going in and out, perhaps poisoned by some strange venom.”
“The Hegemon Society……”
Receiving his subordinate’s report, Won Wol felt the severity of the situation.
‘The Hegemon Society Leader’s love for his son is famous for being terrible. If I mention regulations and refuse to open the gate, Young Master Do’s treatment will be delayed, and if something goes wrong with Young Master Do because of that, I will be stuck bearing the Hegemon Society Leader’s grudge all by myself.’
As if reading Won Wol’s thoughts, the physician Dong Go-gong said.
“If you open the gate now, we can bring the herbs to treat Young Master Do. If that happens, the guard captain can become the benefactor of the Hegemon Society.”
“……”
Won Wol thought.
If he closed his eyes and opened the gate now, he would become the benefactor of the Hegemon Society.
But if he insisted on principles and refused to open the gate, he would become the enemy of the Hegemon Society.
In the first case, it was nothing but good things.
The Hegemon Society would slide him handsome bribes, and with that, he could look after his wife and children warmly for a while.
Later, he could also borrow the Hegemon Society’s strength when achieving various merits necessary for promotion.
In the second case, it was nothing but bad things.
No matter how much of a government official eating the state’s stipend one was, causing discord with local powers made the future miserable.
If the Hegemon Society opposed and refused to cooperate every time he tried to do something, his future work would become extremely difficult.
If it only ended there, it would be a relief; if he was unlucky, he might be hit by a stray blade on his way home from work.
Ultimately, Won Wol let out a groan and nodded his head.
“Open the city gate just a bit. So the physician can pass.”
“Yes!”
The soldiers nodded their heads as if they thought he had decided well.
They, too, seemed to have been anxious about what if their superior did not open the gate.
Soon, the iron gate of the Zhaoguan Pass, which seemed as though it would never open, slightly parted.
It was a narrow gap just wide enough for a single person to pass.
The physician Dong Go-gong bowed his head to Won Wol and turned with brisk steps.
At that moment, Won Wol called the physician Dong Go-gong.
“Wait. Who is that fellow behind you?”
Won Wol’s gaze was fixed toward the tall man following behind the physician Dong Go-gong.
At this, the tall man took off the bamboo hat covering his face.
His face, heavily soot-stained, was that of someone Won Wol as well as all the soldiers knew.
“What. It’s Hwang Nul, the waiter of the Fuchai Pavilion.”
“Why is your face like that?”
“Ah, it must have been burned because of the fire at the Fuchai Pavilion.”
The soldiers spoke one by one.
Since the fellow was a local who had lived in Chu River County for decades, there was no need to verify his identity.
The physician Dong Go-gong said.
“Because my night vision is poor and I lack strength, I brought him along in a hurry. This fellow will guide me on the night path and carry the load.”
“I see. Go quickly. Since we must close the gate.”
Won Wol waved his hand dismissively toward the waiter Hwang Nul.
He looked extremely rushed due to the compulsion to close the opened gate again.
Soon, the physician Dong Go-gong and the waiter Hwang Nul went out of the city gate.
……And after a short while.
The physician Dong Go-gong and the waiter Hwang Nul returned to the city gate carrying an A-frame carrier loaded with herbs.
The physician Dong Go-gong stopped before passing the gate and asked Won Wol.
“How is Young Master Do’s condition?”
“They say it has worsened. So go quickly. Lest they say I wasted your time for nothing.”
Won Wol replied, furrowing his brow.
The soldiers also did not try to inspect anew the two who had just gone out and come back in.
The physician Dong Go-gong nodded and moved quickly.
The waiter Hwang Nul, with soot all over his face, followed closely behind him.
The guards were too occupied watching the fire to pay any attention to the two passing by.
However, among them, there were a few guards with sharp eyes.
“Uh? That fellow Hwang Nul, doesn’t his build look a bit larger?”
“Is that so? I didn’t see because it was dark.”
“He is carrying the A-frame carrier strangely too. Why is he dangling his left arm like that?”
“Ignore it and let’s go fetch water too. It might spread this way.”
They were merely talking casually as they watched the two drift away.
* * *
Outside the Zhaoguan Pass. A forest far away from the fortress wall.
The waiter Hwang Nul remained alone in the darkness, trembling.
His clothes and bamboo hat had been taken long ago.
Until the gate opened tomorrow morning, he was in a position where he had to endure the night dew without choice.
‘Exchange clothes with this man. And do not even think about entering the gate until the start of the Hour of the Dragon tomorrow. If you do not listen…… know that you will end up like that Do bastard of the Hegemon Society.’
Hwang Nul shed a single tear, recalling the boy who had barged in, breaking the courtesan house’s door, slapped him, and dragged him here to discard him in this forest.
“……What a fucking bastard.”
Curses came out naturally.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost