novelraw Chapter 126 : Chapter 126
Chapter 126 : Chapter 126
Chapter 126 - Nurture Over Nature
“Move it, move it!”
The work proceeded without a hitch.
The numerous businesses run by the Ghost Face Gang, including the Jangil Escort Agency, began to spit out all the assets they possessed.
Taverns and Gisaeng houses.
Gambling dens.
Even loan-sharking businesses disguised as money houses.
The packed storehouses of the businesses became completely empty, as if they had never been full.
“Hey, you there! Slack off and you might lose your teeth!”
The decisive reason the work proceeded so quickly.
It was thanks to three diligent supervisors.
Uma.
Gwangyo.
And Biyoung.
These three roamed through each business, plundering their goods.
“Kekeke! Seeing how sluggish your movements are, it seems your time has come to die from exhaustion!”
“N-no, sir!”
Every time Gwangyo’s sclera twitched, the members of the Ghost Face Gang felt their legs tremble.
“Hey, you there!”
“I-I’m sorry! Please spare my life!”
“……I haven’t said anything yet.”
There was no need to even mention Uma, whose scars had increased from his confrontation with Jin Galsa.
But.
The other two were preferable.
“Hooooooooo? Resting while sitting? Shall I make you a cripple while I’m at it?”
“Oh my, oh my. The safe must be heavy for you? If you didn’t have arms, you wouldn’t feel the weight.”
“Food? Don’t talk to me about food! There’s not even ancestral rite food left for you lot!”
Biyoung worked the Ghost Face Gang members harshly, as if he were possessed by a slave trader.
If they slacked off even a little, he would threaten them, and he would forcefully wake up sleeping men to put them to work.
Don’t even livestock get fed while they work?
But Biyoung showed not a shred of mercy.
‘That, that vicious bastard!’
‘What are the ghosts doing! Not taking away a guy like that!’
‘Damn it. We can’t attack, we can’t run away, what on earth are we supposed to do!’
The biggest problem was that there was no helping hand extended towards them.
Most of the businesses run by the Ghost Face Gang were in the shadows.
They were people who made money from gisaeng houses, gambling dens, and even contract killings.
It wasn't that people openly opposed them, but public sentiment towards the Ghost Face Gang, which shamelessly committed evil acts and sucked the blood of the common people, could not possibly be good.
“Exchange all of this for promissory notes. I’ll give you two hours.”
“Y-yes? How can we possibly… all these assets……”
“Hey! You’re saying the money house right in front of you is too heavy to carry to, so how are we supposed to carry this all the way to Diancang Mountain? If it’s heavy, hire some escorts to carry it!”
‘Where are the escorts, you crazy bastard……!’
The person in charge of the Ghost Face Gang was about to go mad with frustration.
There had to be escorts left to hire them!
Public sentiment can sometimes be cruel.
The rumor of someone’s downfall always spreads much faster than the rumor of their success.
The news that the Jangil Escort Agency had been attacked and the Ghost Face Gang had been annihilated spread quickly.
With the financiers gone, there was no way the hired escorts would stick around.
Moreover, as rumors spread that those associated with the Ghost Face Gang had been killed or detained, mercenaries and escorts didn’t even come near the Jangil Escort Agency.
For that reason, the ones currently suffering while carrying the gold bars and goods were mostly the members of the Ghost Face Gang who had only ever written in ledgers.
The rumors spread, and no one helped.
As the Ghost Face Gang’s facilities became ownerless, a rather ridiculous incident occurred.
“Huh? Senior Brother Solbo. Why did you come back empty-handed?”
Solbo and the slaves… no, the members of the Ghost Face Gang, had returned with nothing in their hands.
“Well…… it all burned down.”
“Huh?”
“Before we arrived, the Ayeong Money House Southern Branch was attacked. Not only the safe, but most of the people there were either killed or seriously injured.”
“Ha…… what shrewd opportunists.”
Biyoung smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Whether in the Murim, the marketplace, or even the Imperial Palace.
There were always jackal-like seeds everywhere.
It seemed that as soon as the news spread that the Ghost Face Gang had been hit, a force had already appeared to loot the empty house.
“Well. It’s fine. We’ve recovered most of the funds. It might even be for the better.”
At Biyoung’s words, Solbo’s eyes widened.
“F-for the better?”
“The shadier the business, the more frequent the stabbings. But in this Changsha region, such power struggles didn’t happen. Because there was an absolute powerhouse called the Ghost Face Gang.”
But now, the situation had changed.
There was no need to be wary of the Ghost Face Gang, whose power had been shattered.
What was plundered was just a single business division, but its meaning was quite significant.
Now, no one feared the Ghost Face Gang anymore.
“From now on, to do anything in this Changsha region, they’ll have to deliberately hide the name ‘Ghost Face Gang’.”
“I see……”
Seeing Solbo return empty-handed, Biyoung had a premonition.
That the Ghost Face Gang was now completely uprooted.
***
Rustle, rustle.
Weeds and tree branches that had grown up to his waist obstructed a man’s path.
But the man, with an expressionless face, continued his steady walk.
“……It’s been a while.”
The man with narrow eyes bowed towards the ground.
There was no tombstone, not even a proper burial mound.
It was so unmanaged that an outsider wouldn’t even realize it was a grave.
“Mother.”
The expressionless, narrow-eyed man.
Danseol bowed to the owner of the grave.
The Diancang Sect’s revenge.
And his mother’s revenge were all completed.
Dancheong was dead, and nowhere in the world would the words ‘Ghost Face Gang’ be seen anymore.
The plan he had worked on for over ten years was finally over.
“I thought I would feel relieved when it was all over, but my heart is rather complicated.”
He had stopped at nothing for the sake of revenge.
He had deceived and cheated people for a long time, hiding his true identity.
That was the factor that weighed heavily on Danseol’s heart, even though he had achieved his goal.
“Mother. How should I live from now on.”
Forgiveness?
He felt too shameless to even utter that word.
Thinking of his fellow disciples who had suffered in the Simao region, he wanted to run away immediately.
Moreover, wasn’t the one who had cut off the Sect Leader’s head his father’s subordinate?
Danseol silently held his position until all the assets of the Ghost Face Gang were recovered.
Because that was the end of the entire process of revenge.
Danseol was at the forefront of that process more than anyone else, and that process was truly lonely.
And now, the entire process was over.
“Sometimes, I wonder if Junior Brother Biyoung is full of sly snakes. He only gave me roles I could do alone, as if he had read my mind.”
Thanks to that, he was able to spend a few days without facing his fellow disciples.
If he had encountered them in between, he would not have been in his right mind due to the guilt of having deceived his comrades for over ten years.
But, an unexpected voice was heard from behind him.
“I was the one who decided that.”
“!”
He was so surprised that Danseol drew the flexible sword from his waist.
Even though it was a voice he couldn’t possibly mistake, having been with it for so long.
“Senior Brother Eung Gajin?”
Eung Gajin, his body wrapped in bandages, slowly walked towards Danseol.
As if embarrassed for having drawn his sword, the tips of Danseol’s ears turned red.
“Is this where your mother is?”
“……Yes, it is.”
Eung Gajin, with a calm face, bowed twice towards the grave.
“How did you know this place…… Did you perhaps follow me?”
“Yes. A fellow who never skips a meal, no matter how small the portion, suddenly said he wouldn’t eat dinner, so I had my suspicions.”
Normally, he might have been touched by Eung Gajin’s thoughtful concern.
But to the current Danseol, even such feelings came as guilt.
“I always wanted to come here once.”
“To my mother’s grave?”
“Yes.”
Eung Gajin’s calm gaze was still fixed on the grave.
“As the eldest brother, I have to take responsibility for you for the rest of my life, so isn’t it only right to pay my respects to your mother?”
“…………!”
Danseol was the most brilliant person among the disciples.
He was skilled in calculation and had an excellent talent for understanding what was between the lines.
That was why Danseol could understand.
What meaning was contained in the words Eung Gajin had just spoken.
Forgiveness.
Eung Gajin’s actions clearly contained forgiveness.
Danseol, who was second to none when it came to being expressionless.
A myriad of emotions surfaced on such a Danseol’s face.
“Senior Brother…… I……”
A hint of moisture crept into his clear voice.
“What your origins are, and with what heart you approached us, is not important.”
“……”
“What is important is the time we have spent together. Danseol, do you regret the years you spent in Simao?”
“……I do not regret it.”
“Then were your feelings for your fellow disciples all a lie?”
“That is……”
Danseol wanted to say it.
That it wasn't a lie.
But from the position of having hidden his identity, how much sincerity would there be in such words?
But,
“It was not a lie.”
That answer came not from Danseol, but from Eung Gajin.
“Senior Brother……”
“When I was on the verge of dying from starvation myself, would you have shared your food with Solbo like that if your heart had been a lie?”
You remembered.
Even though it was more than ten years ago.
Something hot surged up from Danseol’s heart.
“If you can’t be sure, I will be for you. There were no lies in any of our moments together in Simao. Then and now, you are a swordsman of the Diancang Sect, and you will continue to be.”
“……!!!”
If.
If Danseol had been with the Diancang Sect from the beginning.
He would have pulled out someone’s image from his faint memories.
The way Eung Gajin faced Danseol was exactly like his own grandfather.
The person who, from the highest position in the sect, had embraced the swordsmen with a broad and warm heart.
Eung Jinsan.
At this moment, Eung Gajin was the spitting image of the previous Sect Leader.
‘But…….’
Danseol bit his lip hard.
He wanted to embrace Eung Gajin right away, thanking him for his forgiveness.
But, wasn't the one who had cut off that very Eung Jinsan’s head his father’s subordinate?
While Danseol’s mind was muddled with confusion, another figure popped out from between the bushes.
“Geez. For such a sharp person, you’re so frustrating at times like this.”
“Ju-Junior Brother Biyoung?”
Eung Gajin was not the only one who had followed Danseol.
Biyoung looked at Danseol, who was standing there with a dazed expression, and pouted.
Then he turned his head and asked Eung Gajin.
“Senior Brother Eung Gajin.”
“How long are you going to call me that.”
“Senior Brother, you couldn’t cut off Yi Cheon-yu’s head yourself. Are you upset about that?”
As the name of the person who had cut off Eung Jinsan’s head was mentioned outright, Danseol flinched.
“No. I am not upset.”
“Why not?”
“It would have been good if he had died by my sword, but it was fine even if he didn’t. Because your sword is also the sword of the Diancang Sect.”
“…………!”
A thin ray of light glinted between Danseol’s narrow eyes.
“Did you hear that, Senior Brother? What was done to the Sect Leader was by the sword of the Ghost Face Gang, and conversely, the one who took revenge on Dancheong and the Ghost Face Four Shadows was the sword of the Diancang Sect. There’s no room for blood ties to intervene in this process.”
“Biyoung……”
“Did Senior Brother Danseol wield his sword solely as his mother’s son?”
“………….”
There was no need to re-examine that.
The sword at Danseol’s waist, the footwork he used, the forms he extended.
All of it belonged to the Diancang Sect.
And the entire process was also ‘for’ the Diancang Sect.
“Everyone else is fine with it, so why are you the only one making a fuss? Pay your respects properly and come down. We’re starting new training from tomorrow, so you know.”
After saying that, Biyoung went down the mountain path without even waiting for an answer.
Eung Gajin, who had been smiling reassuringly, also slowly began to move.
“People often say.”
“Yes?”
“That nurture is more important than nature.”
“……Senior Brother.”
“See you tomorrow. Little brother.”
Eung Gajin went down the mountain with unhesitating movements.
“………….”
The moonlight, which had been hidden between the clouds, peeked out its head.
Perhaps thanks to that, Danseol’s face, which had been hard to see in the dark, slowly began to be revealed.
Even the single, transparent drop of liquid flowing down his cheek.