Chapter 57: Begging for Bones (2)
…Rumble!
Massive flames swallowed the Hegemon Society’s manor.
The fire that started from the island on the lake gradually spread to the entire manor, eventually covering even the walls with thick black smoke.
…Crack! …Crack! …Crack! Collapse—
When a rafter gnawed by sparks broke with a snap, the roof tiles collapsed all at once.
Ash and dust mixed, staining the surroundings pitch black.
“Uaa! Fire!”
“Everyone escape! It is not something that can be put out!”
“Fire! Fire! Everyone escape!”
“We must request cooperation from the government!”
“Bring Lord Won Wol quickly!”
Servants poured out in a rush.
People carrying water buckets sprang up here and there, but preventing the fire from spreading to other places was the best they could do.
Rumble! Crack! Crackle! Crash— rumble……
Bright red fire and thick black smoke soared high into the sky.
The empty manor of the Hegemon Society became prey to the fire demon just like that.
“…….”
Chui stood upon the debris of the collapsed pavilion.
Looking down at the manor where the fire was spreading.
Far away, the pavilion in the center of the island was burning quietly.
It looked like a single long incense stick placed in a censer on an ancestral table.
Wheeeew……
The smoke that burned the bodies of the father and son, Do Mak-saeng and Do Jwa-yoon, could not rise to the sky and seemed to hover in the manor for a while before soon being pushed by the wind to settle on the lakeshore.
Then it disappeared as if sucked into the center of the lake water.
Oh Ja-woon spoke.
“For the end of an evil man, it is quite futile.”
“Every end is futile. For anyone, as long as they are human.”
Chui put away his weapons in his arms as if he felt no particular inspiration.
Two awls, one hammer, two bundles of silkworm thread, Qiang tribe’s poison filling half of a small jar, and iron caltrops whose number had now decreased significantly.
And even the Ink Bamboo Staff he had seized after killing the Staff Ghost.
These were all the weapons Chui possessed.
While wiping out the Hegemon Society, his weapons had decreased significantly.
The condition of the remaining ones was also not very good.
Chui looked at the blunt-tipped awl and the hammer head slightly bent to the side, and spoke.
“I will have to procure more weapons soon.”
“Where did you procure the weapons you used before? They were quite well-made.”
“I visited a blacksmith who was living in seclusion in Anhui Province. Though I lost the spear he made for me.”
“Come to think of it, you would need a spearhead too. Since a spear is naturally better than a staff.”
Oh Ja-woon spoke, lightly tapping Chui’s staff.
Right then.
…Snap!
The main beam below the roof where they stood burned and collapsed.
Oh Ja-woon stepped on the tiles cascading down in succession, crossing through the empty air.
Soon, he leaped onto the wall and looked back at Chui.
“We should go now too…… Huh?”
Oh Ja-woon, looking back, could not help but be startled.
Because there was no one behind, and Chui was already standing in front of him before he knew it.
“Let’s go. We must prepare to greet the dogs of the Martial Alliance.”
“Geez…… please speak before you move. Looking at you move, I can’t tell if you are a human or a ghost.”
Oh Ja-woon shook his head.
It was Chui’s lightfoot technique that would make even the great Namgung Cheon lose the will to pursue.
Soon.
Chui put up a placard in front of the ash-covered main gate of the Hegemon Society.
As when he had annihilated the Cao Family Manor, the contents were simple.
First. The private path has crossed the line. They kidnapped innocent women to use them as slaves and sold them to the bandits of the Yangtze River.
Second. Punishment is meted out on behalf of the people who suffered damage because of that.
Third. Those who pursue from behind will be regarded as evil enemies who defend the Hegemon Society.
The first and second clauses were similar to the placard posted at the Cao Family Manor, but the third was not.
Because it was not a message addressed to everyone, but a message delivered only to a specific group.
* * *
Inn.
An errand boy brought out alcohol and food.
A woman wearing a bamboo hat was quietly eating food in a corner of the inn.
Somen noodles dipped in broth brewed from vegetable water.
Stir-fried vegetables made by stir-frying withered greens in lard.
A dish made by cutting pork hind leg meat into large cubes to form a hexahedron shape, marinating it deeply in a strange-tasting soy sauce, and then steaming it whole.
And in the brass bowl, unrefined rice wine with a bluish tint.
The woman ate a few chopsticks of pork, vegetables, and somen, and then put them down.
And she did not even glance at the unrefined rice wine in the brass bowl next to her.
She was quietly listening to the story heard from the adjacent table.
A few gossips, who had drunk several bowls of Uirok wine and were pleasantly intoxicated, were sharing stories.
“This bloodbath of the Hegemon Society is justice prevailing in the end.”
A man spoke.
He slammed the table and stood up resolutely.
“No one in this town does not know the vicious atrocities committed by those Hegemon Society bastards.”
“Indeed. I also lost my daughter to them. They dragged her away before my eyes saying I failed to pay my debt; this right knee of mine, which became crippled after I resisted, still throbs whenever it rains, keeping me from sleeping.”
The man next to him nodded.
At that, an old man next to them stroked his beard and spoke.
“Ahem. Still, the end of that Do Mak-saeng was a bit pitiful. He sent his son ahead and lost his life following him……”
“Hey, old man! Pitiful? How is it pitiful! How much tyranny has that fiendish bastard committed against the people of this region until now!”
“No, I merely spoke from the heart of a parent……”
“If you have the heart of a true parent, you shouldn’t empathize with that bastard Do Mak-saeng who lost his son, but you should empathize from the standpoint of a father who lost numerous daughters to Do Mak-saeng! Where do you think you are trying to sell such absurd sentimentality! Who would buy that! We aren’t suckers!”
A tiny minority sympathized with the misfortune that befell the Hegemon Society, but the vast majority reacted with a feeling of relief.
Just then, a woman coming out of the kitchen spoke.
“By the way. Did you see the posted placard?”
“Of course. I saw it. Isn’t that why everyone is talking about this now? Otherwise, why would General Won Wol, the garrison commander of the prefecture, have personally come to search through the ruins of the Hegemon Society to seize and search their ledger? Now it is only a matter of time before the atrocities of those Hegemon Society bastards are known to the whole world.”
“I understand the first and second clauses, but I didn’t understand the third clause very well. What would that be?”
“Hmm. I didn’t know either. For what purpose those words were written.”
The people talked among themselves about the third clause written on the placard.
Meanwhile.
…Clack!
The woman wearing the bamboo hat laid down her chopsticks.
Having finished her meal, she rose from the table and went outside the inn.
“Uh, customer? You didn’t drink even a sip of alcohol. If you are leaving this behind, can I consume it? Oh my, you left all this meat and somen noodles behind too.”
The errand boy shouted as he cleared the table, but without looking back, she walked with busy steps toward the main road.
“……The public sentiment is flowing strangely.”
Sword Flower Namgung Yul. Leading the Purple Moon Special Task Force of the Namgung Clan, she was currently traveling throughout the county to gather information.
Soon, she headed to the bamboo forest, the promised meeting place.
There, the members of the Purple Moon Special Task Force and the pursuit squad of the Martial Alliance had already gathered.
“Have you found out anything?”
From the Martial Alliance’s side, a middle-aged man with a sharp impression walked out.
Daoist Master Nangwa, Bi Mu-geuk. He was the person who had pursued the Death Plum Blossom all the way to this distant Hubei Province.
Namgung Yul showed courtesy to him, who was also an instructor at the Ascending Heaven Academy.
“The public sentiment toward the targets is considerably good. It seems to be due to the annihilation of the Hegemon Society this time.”
“We have also looked into it. The Three Calls of the Yellow Springs and the Death Plum Blossom, the two of them joined hands and wiped out the Hegemon Society.”
Bi Mu-geuk gestured with his chin to the side.
In that direction was a warrior of the Martial Alliance with several pigeons perched on his shoulders.
“Hence, we have just sent a carrier pigeon to the Martial Alliance to place the name of the one called Three Calls of the Yellow Springs on the list of Public Enemies of the Jianghu as well.”
“If one helps a Public Enemy of the Martial World escape, they are a Public Enemy of the Martial World. Much more so since they are heading toward the Demonic Cult at this point, this is natural treatment.”
Namgung Yul nodded.
Then she suggested to Bi Mu-geuk.
“Since it is confirmed that the whereabouts of the two have passed through Chu River County at this point, I will request reinforcements soon. I have contacted my father, so support will soon arrive from our Namgung Clan as well.”
“No.”
Bi Mu-geuk cut off Namgung Yul’s words.
“Reinforcements are not needed. We will pursue and capture the fellow as we are.”
“Pardon? Why is that?”
“What do you mean why? Having caught the fellow’s tail, why would we kill time in a place like this? It would take at least three days for reinforcements to arrive, and we cannot just wait idly during that time. Furthermore……”
Bi Mu-geuk picked up a torn room door.
First. The private path has crossed the line. They kidnapped innocent women to use them as slaves and sold them to the bandits of the Yangtze River.
Second. Punishment is meted out on behalf of the people who suffered damage because of that.
Third. Those who pursue from behind will be regarded as evil enemies who defend the Hegemon Society.
What he was quietly staring at was precisely the third clause.
“Those who pursue them are evil enemies. He is playing a game of justifications. I do not know with what confidence a bastard who raped and killed his junior sister and fled behaves like this.”
Bi Mu-geuk tore the door to shreds.
And with a cold complexion, he raised his head and looked at Namgung Yul.
“This is no different from a provocation against us.”
“If it is a provocation, is there not all the more reason not to deal with it? The fellow might be luring the pursuit squad.”
“Anyway, he is someone who will die soon after being battered while breaking through the inescapable net. In the midst of that, he even fought a full-scale battle with the Hegemon Society, so it would not be strange if he died soon. He probably plans to make one final struggle before he dies.”
“Could there be some evil scheme?”
“No.”
At Namgung Yul’s words, Bi Mu-geuk shook his head.
“The Death Plum Blossom I know is not someone who would plot a wicked scheme. He probably intends to vent his anger for the last time.”
“…….”
“And the one to slice off that fellow’s neck is none other than me.”
Simultaneously, Bi Mu-geuk drew the sword at his waist.
The sword studded with seven red gems shone brilliantly, catching the light filtering through the bamboo forest.
“Plum blossom leaves soiled with dirt must be covered with clean plum blossom leaves.”
“…….”
The stigma of Mount Hua is covered by Mount Hua’s sword.
Namgung Yul slowly nodded.
There was a bit of unreasonableness in Bi Mu-geuk’s words, but it was at a level that could be sufficiently covered by a great justification.
Soon, Bi Mu-geuk looked back at the warriors of the Martial Alliance following behind him and spoke.
“Hear, Death Plum Blossom Decapitation Squad. From now on, run without resting even for a single moment to catch up with them. In two days, we will be able to see his face.”
The hunting dogs bared their teeth.
Anticipating the taste of the hot blood that would soon spurt from the neck they would bite.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost