Don’t Look Back (3)
Standing alone in the field, Hoyun Nam was in a state of shock.
First, he was stunned by Song Hwarin.
It wasn’t because he lost the duel to her. It was what she said afterward.
“I’ll remember you as the master who couldn’t control his desires at the age of twenty.”
Her words pierced his heart like a dagger.
When she turned away with a smile, it felt as if his chest was being torn apart. He felt utterly insignificant.
A murderous rage surged within him, a desire to kill both Song Hwarin and Byeok Lidan. He wanted to destroy Byeok Lidan and violate Song Hwarin right there.
“How much did I care for her?”
He had let her go that day because he loved her.
Just then, a message reached him. It was from Byeok Lidan.
“Master Yeomhwa has instructed me to tell you to leave Shandong immediately.”
For a moment, Hoyun Nam’s mind went blank.
“What?”
While he stood there in a daze, Byeok Lidan and Song Hwarin left.
Too late, Hoyun Nam’s face twisted with rage.
“That bastard!”
It dawned on him that this was all orchestrated by the butcher, Yeomhwa.
“Of course, it makes sense.”
Otherwise, why would Song Hwarin suddenly want to meet him and humiliate him like this? Yeomhwa must have been manipulating her from behind the scenes.
“He set this up to ruin me!”
Self-justification took hold.
“Yes, Hwarin would never do this to me.”
Instead of rational thought, a fiery hatred consumed him.
Having received Yeomhwa’s message, he had no reason or situation to think otherwise.
Hoyun Nam’s eyes filled with a dark, murderous intent.
“I’ll kill that bastard for sure.”
I returned home.
I had no idea what consequences my single message would bring.
If he judged correctly, it would be nothing but nonsense. If he harbored malice, it would become a blade that ultimately harmed him.
Three days ago, after tailing Hoyun Nam to the brothel, I immediately sent a letter to Yangsobang, requesting a spy to be sent here.
I tasked the arriving spy with monitoring Hoyun Nam and Yeomhwa.
Now, all I could do was wait for the outcome.
On my way to my room, I encountered my mother and Baekpyo’s wife, Jeongyeong.
The two were chatting like close sisters.
“Mother, Madam.”
I greeted them politely.
Jeongyeong looked much brighter than when she first arrived. The tension and stiffness were gone.
“Where’s Myeong?”
“He’s studying. The Madam found a good teacher for him at the academy.”
Jeongyeong replied with a bright smile.
“Don’t call me Madam, call me sister.”
”…Yes.”
Jeongyeong lowered her head.
Knowing my mother’s personality, I suspected they would soon become like sisters. My mother seemed to have taken a liking to Jeongyeong’s gentle and calm demeanor.
Moments like these made me respect my mother anew. Although I had asked her to take care of them, her actions went beyond fulfilling my request.
She genuinely cared for Jeongyeong and her child. I could see it was an expression of her deep affection for people.
This wasn’t something that came with age. In my past life, even at seventy, I couldn’t treat people with such warmth.
“If you need anything, please let me know.”
I said to Jeongyeong, but my mother interjected slyly.
“I need a daughter-in-law.”
I pretended not to hear and quickly left the scene.
Behind me, I could hear their laughter. My marriage would soon become the topic of lively conversation.
Three days later, the news I had been waiting for arrived.
It was about the negotiations between Hoyun Nam and Yeomhwa. Yeomhwa had refused to negotiate with them, but the Hoyun family had persistently proposed it.
At the negotiation table, Hoyun Nam suddenly drew his sword and attacked Yeomhwa, turning the meeting into chaos.
In the end, Hoyun Nam died on the spot, and Yeomhwa was severely injured by the sword.
Despite his skill and the surprise attack, Hoyun Nam died. It meant he had already lost his peace of mind.
If he had reflected on his attempt to violate his young disciple, he would have returned to his family after the duel with Song Hwarin. He wouldn’t have lost his life like this.
But he couldn’t control his anger. He ended his life as a wretched man.
Upon hearing the news, I immediately donned my disguise and headed to the Shandong Night Market.
They, too, would have heard about the failed negotiations and the ensuing bloodbath, and would be in the midst of a strategy meeting.
When I mentioned I was from Cheondo Gate, the guards led me to Yacheon.
Yacheon asked cautiously.
“I heard you’re from Cheondo Gate.”
In the guest room, a dozen men stood tensely. I knew they had hidden weapons in their sleeves.
For someone of my martial prowess, an unknown weapon was a problem, but a known one was not.
I openly displayed my murderous intent.
“How dare you plot against us?”
As I revealed my true intentions, the atmosphere was intense. Those with weak hearts wet themselves on the spot.
“What do you mean?”
“How dare you bring in the Hoyun family to attack us?”
“That’s a misunderstanding! I only wanted to mediate.”
“Cut the crap! Wasn’t it you who brought them in, causing the old man from the Hoyun family to suddenly attack, severely injuring Master Yeom?”
“I never imagined such a thing would happen.”
“Is that your excuse?”
I scoffed, and Yacheon asked urgently.
“What do you want from me?”
“You’ll pay with your life. I’ll kill every last one of you.”
A chilling coldness filled the room.
Yacheon and the men exchanged worried glances.
They had no idea how to handle the situation.
Then, the hot-tempered Gucheol made the first move.
“You bastard! Die!”
With a deafening explosion, the hidden weapons in Gucheol’s sleeve were launched.
Clang!
I easily deflected them with my sword, sending them back to Gucheol, who fell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
More hidden weapons were launched in succession.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
But I deflected them all, and the men who had launched them fell, as if struck by their own weapons.
“Ahhh!”
The remaining men dropped their weapons and fled, clutching their heads.
I let them go. It needed to be known that this was the work of Cheondo Gate.
I strode toward Yacheon, sword in hand.
Yacheon fell to his knees, pleading.
“Please spare me!”
I raised my sword into the air.
“I’ll give you all the money promised to the Hoyun family.”
The sword halted above his head.
“You should have said so from the start.”
At my words, he sighed in relief.
“Please follow me.”
He led me to his room. As he manipulated a hidden mechanism, a bookshelf opened.
“Go ahead.”
“If you try anything, you’ll die on the spot.”
“I’m a man who values his life above all. I won’t do anything foolish!”
Yacheon led me underground.
There was a secret vault.
“Don’t move from here. If you do, poison gas will be released.”
As he manipulated something to open the vault door.
Clang!
Suddenly, iron bars descended around me.
The mesh between the bars was so tight that not even a dagger could pass through. I recognized it immediately. It was made of ten-thousand-year-old cold iron.
Yacheon, now confident, sneered.
“You fool! Do you know where you are? Did you think you could just waltz in here alone? Do I look that easy to you?”
After shouting at me, he opened the vault for real.
It required entering a unique code, manipulating a mechanism underfoot, and another on the wall. Only by pressing them in the correct sequence would the vault open.
Inside were promissory notes, gold, and various documents.
He brought over a large bag he had prepared in advance, grumbling.
“Damn it! I guess I have to run.”
He seemed reluctant to abandon the Shandong Night Market.
“Maybe if I lay low for a few years, I’ll find a way.”
As he gathered the promissory notes, he looked back at me.
“Do you even know how I made this money? Once, a pregnant woman came looking for her husband. He had disappeared after being dragged away for not repaying his debt. She begged me to release him, saying he was going to be a father. So, what do you think happened? I kept her locked up until she gave birth, then sold the child and sent her to a brothel. Her husband? He’d been dead and dog food for a long time. This is how I made my money, you bastard.”
“Even hell would be too good for you.”
I remained calm.
“You idiot! Acting all high and mighty just because you’re a martial artist!”
I slowly drew the Suramyungwang Sword.
Ssshhh.
Clang!
Even the sharp blade of the Suramyungwang Sword couldn’t cut through the bars.
He laughed, shouting.
“You fool, that’s ten-thousand-year-old cold iron!”
I infused the Suramyungwang Sword with my inner power.
Zing?
The sword let out a long, resonant hum as it absorbed my energy.
The sound startled Yacheon.
A deep blue aura began to envelop my sword, like the undulating waves of the ocean. It had been ages since the Suramyungwang Sword had unleashed such power.
Bzzzzzzzz!
The aura sliced through the ancient iron bars with ease.
“You fool! You can’t cut through with just aura! If it were that easy, it wouldn’t be called ancient—”
Yacheon’s words faltered, his eyes widening in disbelief.
“What? What? What?”
As I continued to slice, the iron bars began to give way.
“Damn it!”
Yacheon rushed to a control panel, frantically pressing buttons.
Clang.
Metal plates descended around the bars, sealing the area completely.
Hiss, hahahaha.
Poisonous smoke began to rise from the floor inside the enclosure.
“Heh heh heh! If you had just stayed put, I would have given you a quick death. That poison is the Deadly Bitter Toxin. It will make you feel like your veins are being torn apart before you die.”
The enclosure filled with the toxic smoke.
In the next moment, Yacheon’s eyes widened in shock.
Screech!
The metal plates split open, and a blade shot out.
I watched, thinking it was his last desperate attempt.
Suddenly, the sword moved, slicing through the bars.
Screech, screech!
Smoke billowed out between the blades.
Inside the smoke-filled enclosure, the Suramyungwang Sword was sawing through the bars. It was eerie and unsettling to see the sword moving on its own, with no sign of a person.
“What? What is this?”
Yacheon felt like he was in a nightmare. Cutting through ancient iron in the midst of poison? Impossible events were unfolding one after another.
“Aaaah!”
He scrambled to gather his money, abandoning everything else.
“You bastard! What are you? A ghost? Damn it!”
Cursing, he stuffed the money into a bag. He couldn’t let go of the money, no matter what.
Then, a sound from behind.
Clang.
A chunk of metal hit the floor.
Yacheon turned, eyes wide with terror.
He fell back in shock.
Of course, he was terrified.
The ancient iron and metal plates had been cut through, and I emerged from the toxic smoke.
Yacheon looked up at me, trembling as if he were seeing a ghost.
“It was a joke. It wasn’t poison, just smoke. Please, spare me.”
I smiled and blew a gust of air, sending the smoke lingering in my mouth into his face.
“I like jokes too.”
Caught off guard, Yacheon inhaled the smoke and screamed in agony.
“No! Aaaah!”
He writhed on the floor, clawing at himself in unbearable pain. Even in his torment, he couldn’t comprehend why I wasn’t dead. How was this possible?
Yacheon convulsed as the poison tore through his veins, and he died with his eyes rolled back.
I looked at his corpse with cold indifference.
“Just as you confessed to me, make sure to confess your sins to the King of the Underworld.”
I gathered the remaining notes he had been collecting. They were all small denomination notes, the wealth he had amassed over a lifetime. At a glance, it amounted to hundreds of thousands of nyang.
This money had caused suffering and death for many. I offered a silent prayer for their souls.
“Now, this money will be used to help good people. May you be reborn in a better place, free of grudges.”
I swept up everything in the room—documents, boxes, gold, everything.
I even used my sword aura to cut the ancient iron into manageable pieces. It was heavy, but mostly made of iron mesh, so my inner strength was enough to carry it.
The documents stored separately were loan agreements, demanding repayment of several times the principal after just one year.
I burned them all without exception.
After today, it would be known that Yacheon was dead, and with the contracts gone, no one would have to repay the debts. Those who had suffered under his loans would be free from their financial hell starting tomorrow.
With a large sack and the iron on my back, I left the place.
As of today, the shadow of Shandong had vanished from the martial world.