novelraw Chapter 127 : Chapter 127
Chapter 127 : Chapter 127
Chapter 127 - If You're Confident
“I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry!”
The next morning.
A constant voice of apology echoed through the lodgings where the Diancang swordsmen were staying.
“I was really wrong. Please forgive me!”
The narrow-eyed man repeatedly bowed his head and apologized.
“Senior Brother Eung Gajin. We said we were okay yesterday, so why is he doing that?”
At Biyoung’s question, Eung Gajin answered indifferently.
“He says our opinions are not enough. He has to ask for forgiveness from each of the disciples who came with us before he can move forward, or something like that……”
“My goodness. He’s surprisingly stubborn at times like this. Senior Brother Eung Gajin is enough of a stick-in-the-mud.”
“Yes, that’s enough…… What, you brat?”
“Kekeke.”
Danseol sought forgiveness from a total of three people.
That night, Danseol’s identity had been fully revealed, so no explanation was needed.
The only choice left was whether to accept the apology.
Or never see him again.
“Kaak! Ptui!”
Uma sniffed loudly and then spat on the floor.
No matter how much he was the one being apologized to, it was an extremely rude act.
But Danseol, who had volunteered himself as a sinner, could only watch Uma’s expression without saying a word.
“What I just spat out was not saliva.”
“Yes……? Then……?”
“It was the feeling of disappointment for having been deceived by you all this time. I just spat that out. Now, in my head, only the little brother I lived with in Simao remains.”
“Senior Brother……”
Danseol looked at Uma with a face full of emotion.
But Uma’s atmosphere was far from ordinary.
“Don’t look so touched. A person’s heart may be formless, but isn’t it something that is given and received? I will have to get the price of the heartbreak I just tore out from you.”
Danseol swallowed hard.
Uma, who was notorious as a loan shark in Simao.
He was not a person who would ever do anything at a loss.
The feeling of loss from being deceived by a comrade for over ten years.
In return for that, what would Uma request from Danseol?
“Well…… I haven’t been able to see any new works lately.”
“New works?”
“You know what I mean. The ones we sold to make a living in Simao……”
“In Simao……? Are you perhaps talking about erotic art?”
“Sp-speak quietly, you bastard……!”
“Ah. Yes.”
Erotic art.
Did Uma also secretly enjoy such paintings of men and women?
“For the next year. Once a month, bring me an erotic painting drawn with all your heart. I have an urgent use for it.”
Danseol did not ask where that ‘urgent use’ was.
Just mentioning it seemed like it would make Danseol blush first.
“Then…… Senior Brother Uma…… I will take my leave with that understanding.”
Relief at having received Uma’s forgiveness.
And a very slight…… contempt.
Those two things were contained in Danseol’s narrow eyes.
***
“Why is that something to apologize for?”
Solbo’s reaction was bewildering in a different sense.
He was a fellow whose natural disposition was clear, so he couldn’t use tricks or be sarcastic.
Solbo genuinely looked like he didn’t understand.
“But on the day the Diancang Sect was attacked, I stuck to you and lied, didn’t I? I said I was also related to the Diancang Sect.”
“Hey. Who would consider something like that in all that chaos? At that time, if a wolf had appeared from the bushes and said, ‘Please take me with you too,’ I would have taken its hand and gone.”
It wasn’t wrong.
The survivors who had fled Diancang Mountain did not casually ask about each other’s origins.
In the first place, if they weren’t people of the Diancang Sect, there would be no reason for them to reside on the rugged Diancang Mountain.
Above all, at that time, the top priority was to join forces and escape even one step further.
“Hehe. There’s an old saying that there are no bad people among those who share food. I thought you were a good person from the beginning, Senior Brother.”
“……Is that so.”
It was an overly simple reason, but on the other hand, it was also a very Solbo-like reason.
“Ah, I have one favor to ask.”
“A favor…… I will grant you anything.”
“That day, when you faced your father…… Dancheong, you grinned, didn’t you? Please don’t ever show me that again.”
Lips stretched wide from side to side.
Solbo seemed to be talking about that.
“Last night, I even had a nightmare because I kept thinking of your lips. In my entire life, I’ve never seen a face more horrifying than Senior Brother Uma’s.”
“R-right.”
Danseol, who was flustered for a moment, soon let out a small laugh.
For the price of ten years of deception, wasn’t this too trivial?
Above all, it was a facial expression that Danseol himself most disliked making.
“That won’t happen again.”
***
“That martial art. What’s its name?”
“It doesn’t have a name or anything……”
“Hmm. I feel like some cool name should come out of it……”
Jeong-i, whom he visited last, asked something completely different instead of answering Danseol’s apology.
The swordsmanship that had managed to touch the elusive Dancheong’s body.
The martial art that created waves of internal energy by causing vibrations in the flexible sword seemed to have been very impressive.
“That’s probably related to your special sword, Junior Brother. Right?”
“I suppose…… It would be easier to create a resonance than with a normal sword…… More importantly, Senior Sister…… about the past……”
“Vibration and resonance…… perhaps……”
Jeong-i, who was lost in thought, let out an exclamation as if a flower bud were bursting open.
“That’s it! Vacuum Sword!”
“Pardon?”
Jeong-i smiled sweetly as she looked at Danseol.
“Junior Brother, you might be the first among us to use the Vacuum Sword.”
“That’s……”
Vacuum Sword.
The ultimate art of the Diancang Sect, which was said to have no rivals once mastered.
It was a martial art that made his heart flutter just by imagining it, but Danseol shook his head.
“That’s ridiculous. I can’t even do a single form of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art yet……”
“The Sun-Shooting Sword Art and the Vacuum Sword are completely different types of martial arts. It wouldn’t be strange to learn either one first.”
Her words made sense.
The swordsmanship Danseol had shown was more similar to Biyoung’s Vacuum Sword than Dancheong’s Formless True Killing Sword.
If Biyoung were to give a little guidance on this swordsmanship, which was as good as a unique martial art…… perhaps…….
‘No. No.’
Danseol quickly came to his senses and stared into Jeong-i’s eyes.
He had not come here to discuss martial arts.
“Oh dear…… It seems you haven’t fully understood my meaning yet?”
Perhaps she had read Danseol’s determined gaze.
Jeong-i gave a slightly bitter smile.
“My only interest is in the martial art you showed that day, Junior Brother. The past…… is not even worth mentioning.”
“Senior Sister……”
“I was actually more disappointed by something else.”
“Pardon? What part……”
“It seems you’ve already met the Senior Brothers and other Junior Brothers…… why am I the last? Was I the one you cared about the least?”
“N-no. That’s not it……”
If it were the usual clever Danseol, he would have realized at once that Jeong-i was joking.
But Danseol was in a position where he desperately had to ask for forgiveness, and so, after being mercilessly swayed a few times, he was finally able to return.
***
“This is just ridiculous……”
Piles of luggage stacked like mountains and carriages standing on one side.
Looking at all this, Biyoung let out a hollow laugh.
“Just how much did they gobble up? To have this much left even after exchanging most of the money for promissory notes!”
Towards the gang members who were emaciated from being overworked, Biyoung began a lengthy speech.
“There’s a saying that you have to do bad things to make money, and looking at you lot, that seems to be the case! You vicious bastards!”
Needless to say, the feelings of the recipients, who were being lectured by Biyoung who was young enough to be their son, were terrible.
‘You’re one to talk! Aren’t you also plundering our wealth from us!’
‘You devil-like bastard! How much effort did it take to build this fortune!’
‘Is it even right to complain that there’s too much money to take! If so, give it back to us!’
Now, the Ghost Face Gang was literally penniless.
Most of the valuable items had been taken by Biyoung, and things that were difficult to carry were sold off and exchanged for promissory notes.
The buildings scattered here and there would also soon be under someone else’s name.
Since there were no more swordsmen in the Ghost Face Gang, jackals coveting the facilities would invade at any time and act as the owners.
Biyoung’s speech, which seemed like it would last all day, finally ended.
One of the Ghost Face Gang members, who was utterly fed up, asked cautiously.
“Then now…… are you returning?”
“Yeah. We have to go. With you guys.”
“?”
Did I mishear?
The Ghost Face Gang member who had asked the question blinked his dull eyes.
“W-we’re going too? All the necessary goods have been……”
“Ahahaha.”
Biyoung laughed, clutching his stomach as if it were incredibly funny.
“Don’t tell me, you thought I’d let you off if you helped out a bit?”
A ‘bit’ of help.
The members of the Ghost Face Gang’s mouths fell open.
They had worked so desperately that the beggars in the marketplace had looked at them with pity.
Without even eating properly!
And yet, there was still work to be done?
“Don’t get me wrong.”
But the scholars of the Ghost Face Gang gathered at the scene shut their mouths when they saw Biyoung’s changed expression.
The teasing smile had vanished without a trace, and an expression sharper than a dagger was on full display.
“Do you think I’d let the remnants who attacked our sect go just like this? Not a chance. Your disposal will be decided according to the Sect Leader’s will upon our return to the main mountain. So, each of you, pick one up.”
“……?”
Because of his frosty expression and tone, they didn’t properly understand his last words.
Pick one up.
What?
When everyone asked with a dumbfounded expression, Biyoung screamed.
“What are you doing not picking up the luggage quickly? Do you want me to carry out summary judgment before we even get to Diancang Mountain?”
“Eek?!”
“S-so, you mean……”
This luggage.
We have to carry it?
All the way to Diancang Mountain?????
They had been hoping for a bit, since there had been no additional punishment as long as they worked silently.
The hope that once all the wealth was taken, they would be let go.
But in the end, that hope was all too futile and foolish.
“B-but you certainly said you would show leniency if we finished the work……!!”
He was so desperate that he automatically used the highest form of respect to Biyoung, who was young enough to be his son.
But the answer that came back from Biyoung could only be described as despair itself.
“Right. That’s why I didn’t kill you right away and let you live.”
“…………!!”
A demon.
That guy is definitely a demon.
Otherwise, how could he say such things with that dazzling smile?
“If I were you, I’d face reality and make the first move.”
“……?”
“To pick up the lightest luggage. It’s a long way to go, after all.”
Large exclamation marks popped up above the heads of the Ghost Face Gang members.
Pitifully, the Ghost Face Gang members, who had given up on resisting, rushed towards the luggage.
“Hey! How dare a low-ranking bastard covet my things! Hand it over!”
“What’s the use of rank when we’ve all hit rock bottom? No way I’m giving it to you!”
The long, long journey to Diancang Mountain.
The sight of the half-dead men, who barely had the strength to stand, fighting over the lighter luggage was truly a scene that was hard to watch without tears.
What was even more tragic was that at the end of that journey, the Sect Leader of the Diancang Sect was waiting.
“Then let’s depart.”
“Wait a minute.”
At Eung Gajin’s words, Biyoung briefly raised his hand.
Then he climbed to the highest point of the main hall and looked around.
“……?”
Since entry wasn’t particularly blocked, all sorts of onlookers had gathered around.
They were people who would spread the news not only in the Changsha region but throughout all of Hunan.
Biyoung raised his voice towards them.
“Our Diancang Sect has annihilated the Ghost Face Gang for revenge of the past and confiscated their assets.”
Diancang Sect.
The three words that had been forgotten for a while were deeply engraved in the minds of the people.
“If you think our method was wrong, or if you don’t like it, feel free to come to Diancang Mountain at any time.”
It was a statement so full of confidence that it felt like arrogance.
But there was no particular animosity from the crowd.
Because the sight of the handsome man standing on a high place and shouting with such confidence was incredibly cool.
“If you’re confident.”
Biyoung turned his back, leaving behind the last sentence.