Ready to be taken out? (5)
“Phew.”
Tang Soso bound a man tightly a with rope, hoisted him up in one swift motion, and threw him into a corner. Then she clapped the dust from her hands and shook her head.
“I think that’s the last of them.”
“Why does cleaning up take longer than the actual fight?”
“I know, right.”
Tang Soso let out a sigh as she looked over the scene before her.
“Ughhh…….”
“Urgh….. I’m…. dying.”
The Black Water Manor members, strung together in a line like dried fish, were all groaning with several bones broken here and there. Since their number was well over a hundred, it was only natural that cleaning up after them would be difficult.
“Ugh… I really feel like I’m going to die…“
“Ah, is that so?”
Tang Soso continued in a kind tone.
“What a relief. As it happens, I’m a physician. Anyone here in need of treatment?”
When Tang Soso raised the needle in her hand and smiled, the Black Water Manor members all shut their mouths at once, as if on cue.
“Otherwise, stop groaning and stay quiet. Before I stick a huge needle right into your forehead.”
“…..Yes.”
After glaring once at the Black Water Manor members with eyes brimming with killing intent, Tang Soso turned and shouted.
“Sahyeong, we’re more or less done here!”
“Ah, really?”
At those words, Chung Myung smacked his lips as though disappointed.
“Wow, stubborn. Really stubborn. Even after all this, you still won’t get angry.”
“…”
“Tsk. If you’d just gotten angry, I really was going to rip your head off.”
“P-Please spare…“
“I know. I know. I’ll let you live.”
“Th-Thank…”
Seo Gunhong, who had been reduced to the state of a puffy steamed bun, nodded faintly, unable to even open his eyes properly. Then he promptly toppled over backwards.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“It’s not ‘what’s wrong with him.’ It’s a miracle he held out until now.”
“But I hit him gently? Tsk, tsk. These days, even the bastards of the Black Path have weak stomachs.”
“…Even iron would bend if you beat it for half a day.”
“I told you, I hit him gently.”
“I shouldn’t even bother talking.”
Baek Cheon shook his head.
“Soso.”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“So what should we do now?”
“We’re more or less done, so I think we can go now.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes. I checked, and, how should I put it… That person called Bangju? Hm? Where did he go?”
“He’s right in front of you.”
“…How could a human being end up like this? In any case, this man had handled things quite neatly. He recorded all the money he lent at high interest and everything he extorted over the years in ledgers. They were even more detailed than the Finance Pavilion’s ledgers?”
Baek Cheon looked at the collapsed Seo Gunhong with an incredulous expression.
“What kind of Black Path bastard is this meticulous?”
“Exactly. If he had that kind of ability, he should have just become a merchant instead.”
Tang Soso shrugged and continued.
“So the Beggars Sect should be able to handle the rest. They’ll return the money to the people who were wronged, and compensate those who suffered losses. Selling off this manor alone should fetch no small sum.”
Baek Cheon narrowed his brows slightly.
“If it’s that much work, I don’t think we necessarily need to borrow the Beggars Sect’s hands.”
“That’s not quite how it works, apparently.”
“Hm? Why?”
“From the ledgers, it looks like these people had a hand in human trafficking, too.”
“…They sold people?”
Baek Cheon’s brow furrowed sharply.
“It seems they sold off people who couldn’t repay their high-interest loans. Even with the ledgers, there’s nothing we can really do about it, but…”
“The Beggars Sect can track them down. I understand what you mean.”
In that case, rather than splitting the work awkwardly, it would be better to leave it entirely to the Beggars Sect. If there were two heads giving orders, things would only get tangled.
“We can trust Branch Leader Sunhak Gae.”
“Who knew he’d be so different from Branch Leader Hong Daekwang?”
“It has made me see the Beggars Sect in a new light.”
Chung Myung, looking regretful, prodded the unconscious Seo Gunhong with his foot as he spoke.
“While they’re cleaning things up, tell them to recover the ten thousand nyang we borrowed, too.”
“…With the money here?”
“We’re the ones who did all the work anyway, so we should get paid for our trouble. Looking at this manor, taking ten thousand nyang out of it won’t even show.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true. But wait, didn’t we ask the Hwaeum branch for that?”
“We can just give that back.”
“Then hurry and send word telling them not to send…”
Chung Myung grabbed Baek Cheon by the shoulder.
“I said we can give it back, didn’t I? No need to rush.”
“…”
“You devilish bastard.”
Baek Cheon, appalled, let out a deep sigh. But right now, he did not particularly feel like scolding Chung Myung.
“To think they even had a hand in human trafficking.”
He had long known there was no decency among Black Path bastards, but to think they would be this vicious. If Chung Myung had not forced the issue and they had obediently gone back, there would have been more victims in the future.
“So can we head back now?”
“Uh, wait a moment.”
Chung Myung abruptly grabbed one of Seo Gunhong’s legs.
“…”
“What?”
Chung Myung asked as though he had no idea what Baek Cheon meant.
“Are you taking that with you?”
“Honestly. Sasuk, you’re being naive again.”
“…About what?”
“You think a bastard who kept such meticulous ledgers wouldn’t have stashed something away for himself?”
“…”
“If we beat him a little more, something should come out. We have to make him cough up everything, down to the last coin he’s hidden in his underwear. The rod knows the answer, you see.”
“…Right, well.”
They might be just as meticulous on this side too, but… well, the direction was different, so maybe it’s fine.
“Then now, hm…”
“Yeah. There’s just one thing left to deal with.”
“Amitabha. This humble monk thinks so as well.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to one place at once.
“…”
Receiving all their attention, Seok Hanbin instinctively shrank back his shoulders.
“…”
“Now.”
Chung Myung looked at him and smiled broadly.
“Shall we have a little talk?”
“Hic.”
Seok Hanbin hiccuped without realizing it.
❀ ❀ ❀
Whack! Whack!
“Agh! Aaagh!”
“You little brat! You damned little brat!“
“Aaaaagh! It hurts! I said it hurts!”
“I’m hitting you so it’ll hurt, so of course it should hurt! You little bastard, you couldn’t hold yourself back for even that long and went gambling?”
“I said it hurts!”
“What are you yelling for, like you did something right!”
Chung Myung’s rod mercilessly lashed across Seok Hanbin’s calves.
“What are you going to become when you grow up! Huh? Do you know how I raised you?!”
“Chung Myung, you’re getting too into it… Your remarks are getting stranger and stranger.”
“Ah, sorry. It brought back some old memories.”
Chung Myung lowered the rod in his hand. Seok Hanbin, his calves streaked with bright red lines, snapped back irritably.
“Even my father has never hit me before.”
“Ah, that’s because you don’t have a fath… Mmph!”
“Hey. Words are supposed to pass through your head before they come out.”
“Anyway, that mouth of his is trouble every time it opens.”
Yoon Jong and Jo Geol, who had naturally clamped their hands over Chung Myung’s mouth, clicked their tongues.
“Let go!”
Shoving away the hand covering his mouth, Chung Myung was about to snap at Seok Hanbin again, but suddenly turned his head around.
“Are you not listening properly?”
Kii…
Baek Ah, who was holding up a boulder nearly the size of three grown men, flinched and hastily raised the boulder higher.
“Try lowering it again. The moment that rock touches your head, you’ll be touching the gates of hell, too.”
“…”
“You damned weasel bastard, if we fed and housed a mere little creature like you, you should at least earn your keep. You got drunk and threw your work aside? Are you trying to die, seriously?”
Tang Soso leaned towards Yu Iseol and whispered.
“Had we ever fed and housed it?”
“No. Especially not this one.”
For Baek Ah, who merely resided on Hwasan and found its own food and shelter, it was an unfair thing to hear, but what could it do? The one with power was acting like a thug.
“Whether it’s a person or a beast! Huh, seriously.”
Seok Hanbin and Baek Ah both lowered their heads at the same time.
But Chung Myung glared at them with eyes that held not the slightest hint of sympathy. It was not as if he had been fooled only once or twice.
“Next time, it won’t end at this. I really will peel your hides off.”
“Ugh.”
“Where are you going now, you punk!“
“I’m going to wash! To wash! If I got hit, I should at least clean the wound, shouldn’t I? I’m bleeding!”
“…Ahem. Be careful on your way. And don’t wander off somewhere again.”
“I said I won’t.”
“You little…! Raising your voice again, huh?!”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Grumbling irritably, Seok Hanbin stormed out.
While the disciples of Hwasan shook their heads, Chung Myung swung the rod in his hand through the air a couple of times.
“What are you doing?”
“No, it’s just…..”
Chung Myung scratched the back of his head with an unusually awkward expression.
“I was wondering if this was what it felt like.”
Seeing him wear a faintly nostalgic look, Baek Cheon’s face twisted in disgust.
“Ah, seriously, that’s creepy. What, does the feel of it suit you that well, you bastard?”
“No, am I the kind of person who enjoys beating people? As if I’d care about how it feels in my hand?”
“Yes.”
“…Right.”
“He looked the happiest of all.”
“…”
At a loss for words, Chung Myung coughed awkwardly.
“But is that guy really not going to sneak off somewhere else again?”
“Hmm, true. He does have a record.”
“He won’t.”
“Hm?”
Everyone in the room turned their gaze to one person at once. Yu Iseol was looking towards the doorway Seok Hanbin had gone out through with an expressionless face.
“It’s just awkward.”
“Awkward? What do you mean, Sago?”
“It’s hard. Changing the way you live. Even more so when it isn’t by your own will.”
“Hmm.”
Baek Cheon tilted his head, his expression saying he found it difficult to understand.
“I can’t really sympathize.”
“That makes sense. You’re someone who forced your way into a place you were never meant to come to through sheer persistence.”
“Shouldn’t that be called madness, not persistence?”
“…I don’t think you’re one to talk, Soso.”
Letting out a small cough, Baek Cheon asked Yu Iseol again.
“Then what should we do? Should we follow him?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“He has already gone.”
“Hm?”
Baek Cheon flinched, looked left and right, and then said.
“He slipped out already.”
Realizing that Chung Myung was no longer anywhere to be seen, Baek Cheon let out a hollow laugh.
⠀
Splash.
“Ow!”
Seok Hanbin flinched and shuddered.
The moment the cold water touched the places struck by the rod, an indescribable stinging pain washed over him.
“It really hurts……”
But he did not particularly feel like whining. If they had not saved him, it wouldn’t have ended with just injuries like this.
“Hoo.”
After thoroughly washing his wounds, Seok Hanbin sat down on a rock jutting out by the stream. Then he lifted his head and looked up at the night sky, filled with stars.
‘What am I even doing?’
He did not know. What he was doing right now. What he was even trying to do.
At some point, it felt like everything had become a complete mess. Up until they arrived, everything had seemed certain – but now he even doubted whether it had ever truly been like that. Had he really seen anything at all?
“Thinking about this alone won’t…”
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“What are you moping around for.”
“…Why did you come here?”
“Here.”
At that moment, Chung Myung, who had walked over to him, tossed something at Seok Hanbin. Catching it reflexively, Seok Hanbin tilted his head and checked what he was holding.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a healing balm. Put it on.”
“You really beat a man and then hand him the cure, huh.”
“That’s how it goes. I used plenty of it myself back in the day.”
Chuckling, Chung Myung walked over to Seok Hanbin and then plopped himself down on the rock he was sitting on.
“Did you come just to give me this?”
“Well, that’s only part of it.”
“And?”
Chung Myung grinned, then pulled something from his robe and gave it a little shake.
Slosh, slosh.
A heavy white bottle, full of something, swayed in front of Seok Hanbin.
“Want a drink?”
Strange… Against the moonlit sky, that smile looked absurdly striking.
________
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