Ready to be taken out? (2)
“Hmm.”
At the center of a spacious courtyard. Seo Gunhong, having lined up his men, sat in an imposing chair and looked at the one kneeling before him.
‘Even more than I thought……’
Today was the first time Seo Gunhong had seen Seok Hanbin with his own eyes. However famous a troublemaker Seok Hanbin might be on the streets of Jinan, was there not a world of difference between him and the Bangju of the Black Water Manor?
His impression upon seeing Seok Hanbin, whom he had only heard about by word of mouth, was that he was even younger than he had expected. If he had to add one more thing, it would be that the venom in those eyes was fairly impressive.
“I told you, if you were going to muddy the waters, you should have done it in moderation.”
“Heh.”
Seok Hanbin, whose face had swollen up as if he had already been beaten quite a bit, looked up at Seo Gunhong, then curled his lips in a sneer.
“I didn’t know. Who would’ve thought bastards on the level of the Black Water Manor would start a war with the Scorpion Sect just to catch someone like me? If I’d known you were that stupid, I would’ve been a little more careful.”
“Stupid, you say.”
Seo Gunhong smiled faintly.
“Well. I wonder who the stupid one is? Between me, who managed to clean out one of the Venomous Scorpion Sect’s territories and inflict some damage upon them thanks to this, and you, who got dragged here by that same me and will soon be dead.”
Seok Hanbin ground his teeth.
He knew it too. No matter how arrogantly he ran his mouth, now that he had been dragged here, the biggest fool was himself.
“Do you understand? You cheerful little bastard. The only reason you were able to run wild all this time was because no one ever tried to take you on seriously. Whether that was because of keeping up the facade, or because of profit. But this time, you crossed the line. Then there’s no choice but to clean things up.”
“Then just kill me. Why so much talk?”
“Haha.”
Seo Gunhong laughed loudly.
“You have quite a bit of spirit for a little brat. Usually, when someone gets dragged here like this, they cry and wail and do everything they can to live.”
“As if you’d let me live just because I did that.”
“You know well. But it isn’t as though there’s no way for you to leave this place alive.”
“…”
Seo Gunhong looked at Seok Hanbin and twisted one corner of his mouth up.
“There are two reasons you are going to die. One is our face, which was damaged because of you, and the other is the losses you caused. There is a way to repay both of those. I won’t speak long. Join the Black Water Manor and swear your loyalty. Then I will spare you.”
“…The Black Water Manor?”
“If you are loyal to me, our damaged reputation will be restored. And, the way you are, you’ll earn that much money back for us in no time. If I followed my heart, I’d tear you limb from limb right now, but that would be too much of a waste.”
After seeing Seok Hanbin in person, his mind had changed slightly. If the boy was this cunning, he would certainly be of use to the Black Water Manor.
“This is the only way for you to survive.”
Seok Hanbin’s face twisted as he glared at Seo Gunhong. Seeing that look in his eyes, Seo Gunhong let out a mocking scoff.
“Is there any need to make that face now? What difference is there, in the first place, between what you have been doing and what those of the Black Path do? In the Black Path, it is only natural for the defeated side to follow the victorious one. It would be better than dying, no?”
A hollow laugh escaped Seok Hanbin’s mouth.
It wasn’t because those words were absurd. It was because he found himself being absurd for feeling a sense of defiance at those words.
‘He’s not wrong.’
He had done anything and everything to survive. He had believed that there was no value in the world beyond surviving and making money. Because for him, left alone in this harsh world, there had been no other way.
So if it had been the old Seok Hanbin, he would have accepted Seo Gunhong’s offer without a second thought. In exchange for enduring the humiliation of crawling between his legs, he would have someday driven a knife into his throat.
But why was it? Why did he feel this way?
“There should be no reason to hesitate, should there? It was an offer that was never meant to be given to you in the first place. You know that, don’t you?”
“…..I suppose so.”
“Then the answer is obvious. Isn’t it?”
“That is true too.”
Seok Hanbin smiled and nodded.
“Now then, say it.”
“Gladly.”
Seok Hanbin lifted his head, looked at Seo Gunhong, and flashed a bright smile.
“Go eat shit. You filthy Black Path bastard.”
“…”
“I, at the very least, didn’t bleed the weak dry like you do. If you’re born a man, you ought to live without shame. Rather than live worse than a dog, I’d rather get torn apart by…”
Thuuuuud!
Before he could even finish speaking, Seok Hanbin was kicked and sent flying by Seo Gunhong.
“Y-You… You wretch worse than a dog! How dare you refuse my offer, not even knowing your place!”
“Cough! Cough!”
Sent flying by the kick and slammed into the wall, Seok Hanbin let out a pained cough. Agony surged through him as if his entire body had been torn apart. But instead of making a pained expression, Seok Hanbin forced a sneer onto his lips.
“Drag him over here!”
“Yes.”
Seo Gunhong, his face twisted like a demon’s, ground his teeth hard.
“Crush him. Tear him apart. Don’t stop until that bastard begs to be killed. If you can’t manage that, I’ll tear you all to pieces instead!”
“Yes! Bangju!”
The thugs dragged Seok Hanbin across the ground and threw him into the center, then laid out before him the dreadful torture tools they had brought from somewhere. At the same time, they thrust several branding irons into the brazier set beside them.
Witnessing that sight, Seok Hanbin clenched his teeth.
‘This is bloody awful, truly.’
On the inside, he had been prepared for it. That someday, a day like this might come. After all, for a parentless brat to live the way he did came with that much danger.
But even among all the endings he had imagined, this was close to the worst.
‘Damn it…….’
A sigh escaped Seok Hanbin’s lips.
‘Of all things, why did I have to hear those damned words…’
If not for that Taoist bastard who was always looking at him with those strange eyes, he would not have been so defiant.
No, that was not it.
“What does it matter, damn it. Some ancestor whose face I don’t even know…”
There was no need to make excuses. It was simply that Seok Hanbin himself did not want to bow his head to trash like this.
“Brace yourself, brat.”
“Do whatever you want.”
“Begin.”
“Yes!”
At the order, the thugs pulled the heated branding irons from the brazier without delay. Then they thrust those irons at Seok Hanbin.
It was right then, just as Seok Hanbin clenched his teeth in anticipation of the pain to come.
Kwaaaaaaang!
“W-What is it?”
Startled by the unexpected turn of events, the men whipped their heads around towards one side.
“Why did the wall suddenly…”
A white cloud of dust rose over the shattered wall, and through that cloud, black shadows in the shapes of people emerged.
Just as everyone held their breath at the strange sight.
“No, I told you, there’s a gate just past that corner! Why are you suddenly knocking down the wall?”
“Then you should’ve guided us to the gate. We’re busy as hell – how are we supposed to go all the way around like that?”
“Then you could have just jumped over the wall, couldn’t you?”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t think of that?”
“No, well… When you’re in a hurry, things can happen.”
A conversation utterly unfitting for the tense situation drifted over, and through the cloud of dust, fewer than ten figures revealed themselves.
“Are those..?”
The figures who had stepped out of the dust cloud grimaced and began fanning the air with their hands.
“Ugh, this dust, seriously!”
“I can’t live like this! What are you going to do about it! My clothes have turned all white!”
“I swear, you’re always in such a rush!”
“Is this the time to be complaining about that?”
The people who had entered the manor looked all around them, then brightened when they saw Seok Hanbin tied up in the middle of the courtyard.
“There he is.”
“Phew, thank goodness. Nothing’s happened yet.”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue as he looked at Seok Hanbin.
“Look at that, look at that. Tsk.”
“…”
“Always nothing but a sharp tongue! As if anyone would doubt whose descendant you are!”
“What did I do!”
– What did I do!
“Ah, shut up!”
Ancestor or descendant, their tongues both ran like flowing water.
Frowning, Chung Myung shot Seok Hanbin a glare, then waved his hand dismissively.
“That’s enough, so come here. Let’s go home.”
“…Can’t you see what situation I’m in right now? You think I can go just because you tell me to!”
“You’ve still got that temper even in the middle of this.”
Chung Myung turned his head around sharply and, looking at the Black Water Manor members, burst out angrily.
“No, if you took the kid away, you should at least have fixed his bad manners properly! What were you Black Path bastards doing, unable to even do that? These days, even Black Path bastards have no backbone. Back in the old days, seriously…”
“…”
The Black Water Manor members, unable to hide their bewilderment, stared blankly at Chung Myung. Just where on earth had this madman suddenly popped out from?
“Chief Gam.”
“Ah… yes, Bangju.”
Chief Administrator Gam, receiving Seo Gunhong’s order, stepped forward and brought his hands together towards Chung Myung.
“I am called Gam Wi [감위(甘葦)], and I serve as the Chief Administrator of the Black Water Manor. If it would not be rude, may I ask where the esteemed masters who have graced our Manor with their presence have come from?”
Though their numbers were few, judging by the way they had shattered the wall in a single blow, they were people who had properly learned martial arts. In that case, it was only natural to first confirm their identities and affiliations.
Unfortunately, however, what came back in response to that natural question was an answer far removed from such natural common sense.
“What’s he saying? Is that bastard using fancy formal speech right now? A Black Path bastard?”
“He didn’t really use anything that fancy, Chung Myung. He was just speaking politely. Just…”
“Exactly. Why is a Black Path bastard being polite?”
“…If he wasn’t polite, you’d beat him for not being polite.”
“That’s true.”
“Then just beat him, already……”
“I was going to do that anyway.“
Chung Myung clicked his tongue and stepped forward.
“So you’re the Black…. Black….. huh?”
“Black Water Manor.”
“Right, Black Water Manor. Ugh, why do all Black Path bastards have names that sound so similar? Anyway.”
Chung Myung tilted his head.
“I was going to leave quietly if I could, since it’s a bother, but now that things have turned out like this, it doesn’t feel right to just leave you be. I’m still a Taoist, after all.”
“…”
“So starting today, you’re shutting this place down. If you don’t want to get shut down along with it, leave now. I won’t stop you.”
Chief Gam looked at Chung Myung, at a loss for words.
“Excuse me, but perhaps.. have you come from Wudang?”
Before Chung Myung could say anything, Baek Cheon shouted loudly.
“What? Wudang? What about us looks like Wudang bastards to you?! And what if we had come from Wudang? What were you going to do? Are you saying you can look down on us if we’re not from Wudang? Huh? The only Taoists you’re scared of are Wudang? If we’re from Wudang, you’ll let us go, and if we’re not from Wudang, you’ll beat us up? You bastards, I’ve been watching and watching, but. Ugh, I’m seriously so damn pissed…”
“S-Sasuk. Please calm down a little.”
“Who pressed this man’s trigger button again?”
“…No one pressed it. He did it himself.”
Perhaps finding it hard to listen to any more of this absurd exchange, Chief Gam let out a short sigh.
“So you are not from Wudang, then.”
Chief Gam’s eyes sank coldly.
“Then that is enough. If you are not Taoists of Wudang, then you must pay the price for daring to invade the Black Water Manor with those petty numbers. Kill them.“
“Yes!”
At Chief Gam’s order, one of the Black Water Manor thugs immediately rushed towards Chung Myung. The killing intent that burst forth in an instant suggested he was of fairly high rank.
“Oh. I like how straightforward these guys are.”
Grinning, Chung Myung stepped forward. His anger had already been boiling over because of that brat, so the timing couldn’t have been better.
“Die!”
“Sure. Come on.”
Just as Chung Myung was about to take one more step forward, someone shot past him like a streak of light.
“Huh?”
Kwaaaaaaang!
Baek Cheon, blocking Chung Myung’s path, struck the charging thug down with his fist and quite literally drove him into the ground.
“Ugh…“
The Black Water Manor member, who had been driven more than two chi into the hard earthen ground, writhed like an earthworm sprinkled with salt.
“What the……”
At that shocking sight, the Black Water Manor members’ mouths fell open, and Baek Cheon, having cleanly dealt with one man, ground his teeth and lifted his head. Then he growled with bloodshot eyes.
“Next.”
Wow.
That was my line….
________
Please, subscribe/donate on Patreon or Buymeacoffee – support my work and help me buy official cookies to purchase the chapters. My schedule is on the About page.
Leave a Reply