Chapter 32: When Alive, Even a Thorny Path Is Walked (1)

When dawn broke, only Bang Jin-bo and the merchants who had been caged remained alive. Not a single bandit had survived.

Though they had been spared, the merchants' faces were drained of color with fear. They dared not even breathe loudly as they gazed upon Dam Ho, who stood alone in the center of the clearing.

He stood upon the blood-soaked earth.

The corpses of the bandits lay scattered around him. That was the only way to describe it.

None who had faced Dam Ho's fists retained any semblance of their former shape. They had burst apart as though struck directly by thunderbolts, or their flesh and bone had been torn away in a single motion.

Though these were men who boasted of having weathered every trial the world could offer, never had they witnessed such a scene.

"A-a demon…"

Someone muttered involuntarily before hastily clamping a hand over his mouth, fearful that Dam Ho might have heard.

But contrary to his worry, Dam Ho stood motionless in the clearing, seemingly unsure of what to do next.

Dam Ho's gaze was deeply sunken.

This was the carnage he had wrought. Over a hundred people had perished miserably at his hands. And yet, not the slightest tremor stirred within Dam Ho's heart.

Dam Ho closed his eyes briefly. Only then did he realize what his flaw was.

'Is this what I have lost?'

Twelve years of subterranean existence had stripped him of normal human emotion.

The corpses strewn at his feet were proof of this.

Dam Ho opened his eyes and looked toward the caged merchants. They averted their gazes, their faces twisted in fear.

Dam Ho proceeded to break open each cage one by one. Though they had regained their freedom, the merchants could not bring themselves to step outside. They had been utterly overwhelmed by Dam Ho's intense presence.

After smashing open all the cages, Dam Ho approached Bang Jin-bo. Even then, the boy stood as though his soul had departed, staring blankly, unable to move.

Dam Ho's hand came to rest upon Bang Jin-bo's shoulder. Only then did Bang Jin-bo look up at him.

His bloodshot eyes brimmed with tears that soon spilled over and streamed endlessly down his cheeks.

"Uwaaah! Brother!"

Bang Jin-bo wept uncontrollably.

Dam Ho watched him in silence.

He was a boy who had lost his father. The magnitude of the loss and grief he must feel was not easily guessed.

All Dam Ho could do was watch.

Meanwhile, the merchants who had been caged slipped out one by one, casting wary glances about them.

Having regained their freedom, they too seemed moved by Bang Jin-bo's emotions and began to shed tears.

"Uwaaah!"

In an instant, the clearing descended into chaos, filled with the sound of weeping.

They did not cease their crying until a considerable time had passed. Several people rose and began to move.

They gathered the goods that the bandits had plundered and loaded them back onto the carts. Seeing this, the rest joined in the effort to organize the wagons.

Their appearance as they worked was bizarre to the extreme. Yet Dam Ho watched them without a word.

At last, once all the goods had been loaded onto the wagons, one of the merchants approached Dam Ho and bowed.

"On behalf of all the merchants, I express my deepest gratitude to the great hero for saving our lives."

"Mm!"

"Thanks to you, we have been granted our lives. How might we repay this kindness?"

"I don't require anything."

"But—"

"I did not come here to save you. I came for that boy."

Dam Ho's gaze turned to Bang Jin-bo, who was still crying.

"So there is no need to concern yourselves."

"Very well. We understand."

When Dam Ho spoke thus, the merchant could say nothing more. Part of him was relieved.

He was the eldest among those present. With Trading Company Master Cho So-gwang dead, he was now the leader.

He bore the responsibility and duty of leading the survivors back to the Central Plains. Sentimental attachments and emotions had to be set aside.

He needed to settle the situation swiftly so that the survivors could take responsibility for the families of the deceased. That was how merchants survived.

The merchant bowed to Dam Ho and then approached Bang Jin-bo.

"Jin-bo, let's go now."

He tried to console the boy, but Bang Jin-bo could not stop crying. He tried to pull him by the hand, but Bang Jin-bo stood as motionless as a statue.

In the end, the merchant gave up trying to comfort Bang Jin-bo and returned to the others. After consulting with them for some time, he came back to where Dam Ho and Bang Jin-bo stood.

"Great Hero! We must be on our way. Might I trouble you to escort us to the Central Plains? We will repay you generously."

"I refuse."

"Great Hero?"

A troubled expression crossed the merchant's face. But seeing Dam Ho's resolute eyes, he could not muster the courage to press further.

Though he now appeared utterly ordinary, he was the man who had just killed over a hundred living bandits. If he wished, he could dispatch the merchants and their entire party in the time it took to eat a meal.

The merchant changed his approach.

"I apologize for the difficult request. Then we shall make our way to the Central Plains on our own."

His thinking was simple.

He would return to Toro Banner, hire more itinerant swordsmen and guards, and set out again. Fortunately, most of the goods were intact, and the horses the bandits had ridden numbered over a hundred, giving him the means to hire protection.

The merchant approached Bang Jin-bo again and urged him to come along. But Bang Jin-bo still could not move, and the merchant's expression grew pained.

They could not afford to waste any more time like this.

"If you keep this up, we'll have no choice but to leave you behind. Is that what you want?"

"I… I… uwaaah!"

Bang Jin-bo burst into tears once more.

At that moment, Dam Ho stepped forward.

"I will take Jin-bo with me."

"You, Great Hero?"

The merchant looked at Dam Ho with surprise. But the surprise was brief, and he quickly bowed his head.

"Very well. Then I shall entrust Jin-bo to you."

"And one more thing."

"Please, speak."

"Leave one horse behind for me."

"As you wish."

The merchant agreed without even asking why. The bandits had ridden over a hundred horses. Leaving just one behind was still an enormous gain.

Moreover, with Bang Jin-bo's father, Bang Woo-gwang, dead, traveling to the Central Plains with a young child without a guardian was an uncomfortable burden.

Even upon reaching the Central Plains, there would be problems—compensation to be paid, a livelihood to be arranged. The cost of taking care of Bang Jin-bo, who now had no connection to the trading company, was too great.

In that case, handing Bang Jin-bo over to Dam Ho was not a bad option.

"Jin-bo, follow the Great Hero. He will take good care of you."

He pressed a few silver coins into the still-crying boy's hand. It was merely a token gesture, but he would have felt guilty without even that much.

Without waiting for Bang Jin-bo's response, the merchant hurried back to his party. They quickly departed the hellish place.

The merchants pulling their wagons did not look back. In an instant, the dozens of wagons and horses vanished from Dam Ho and Bang Jin-bo's sight.

Dam Ho did nothing.

Fwoo!

The black horse that had been nearby approached and rubbed its head against Dam Ho's cheek. Dam Ho gently stroked the horse's neck.

Bang Jin-bo eventually collapsed from exhaustion, having cried for so long.

Dam Ho lifted Bang Jin-bo onto one of the horses the merchants had left behind. They had been considerate enough to leave the finest one.

Dam Ho mounted the black horse and led Bang Jin-bo's horse away from the clearing. Only a desolate atmosphere remained.

shortly afterward, wolves drawn by the scent of corpses appeared in the clearing. They began to gorge upon the fallen.

After the wolves came the crows. The bandits' corpses thus became fodder for the beasts.

It was a while as the wild creatures feasted upon human flesh.

Shriek!

Caw!

A piercing sound cut through the air, followed by the wolves' mournful howls. Startled, the wolves fled in every direction, and the crows burst into flight.

A group of martial artists had appeared.

Each one radiated an extraordinary aura as they surveyed the devastated clearing with furrowed brows.

They dismounted in unison.

The man who appeared to be their leader had a cold gleam in his eyes. He looked to be in his late thirties, and from his body emanated a fierce spirit that made onlookers flinch.

At his waist hung a sword sheath inscribed with a grotesque demonic pattern that sent chills down the spine.

The leader stood before a corpse he presumed to be Dong Ja-chu. His eyes glinted icily.

"So Dong Ja-chu ended up dying here."

His subordinate approached.

"The entire Blood Wolf Corps has been wiped out."

"And the goods?"

The subordinate shook his head. The leader's expression grew even colder.

"How many were the culprits?"

"The beasts have severely mutilated the corpses. It is difficult to determine."

"Find them no matter what."

"As you command!"

The subordinate replied and hurried back to the scattered bandit corpses. He examined them meticulously.

Meanwhile, the leader knelt on one knee before Dong Ja-chu's remains.

"A pity. He was still a useful hound. This will cause complications for the Mountain Lodge's plans."

Dong Ja-chu himself was unaware, but he had been quite an important figure. The dirty work he had handled had allowed operations to proceed smoothly thus far.

As the leader gazed down at Dong Ja-chu's corpse, his eyes shifted slightly. He had spotted something glinting beneath the man's waist.

The leader reached out and picked up the gleaming object.

"The… Myoan Stone?"

His voice trembled slightly. The Myoan Stone was a treasure so rare it could shake even his iron composure.

His gaze turned to Dong Ja-chu.

The Myoan Stone was not something Dong Ja-chu could possess. That meant he had attacked someone who carried it and taken it by force.

"Perhaps he provoked the wrong person."

If someone carried the Myoan Stone, they might well be a figure of considerable power.

There were beings in this world who should never be provoked. Perhaps Dong Ja-chu had trespassed against one such person.

"Even so, the crime of killing the Lodge's hound cannot be forgiven."

The leader rose.

His name was Gyeong-cheon-saeng. He possessed such a cruel temperament that he had earned the epithet "Ghost Sword, Blood Demon."

His eyes burned with killing intent.

***

Dam Ho had brought Bang Jin-bo to the large rock where Bang Woo-gwang's body lay.

The sight of his father's corpse caused Bang Jin-bo's legs to give way.

"Ah… Father! Ugh!"

Bang Jin-bo collapsed upon his father's body and wept without restraint. Dam Ho watched the boy's grief in silence.

He must face the reality of his loss and overcome it. If he turned away now because it was too painful to watch, only greater agony would remain in the future.

Bang Jin-bo spent the night beside his father.

As dawn was about to break, Dam Ho finally spoke.

"Now you must let your father go."

"Brother?"

"It is time to let him rest."

"But…"

"He has earned the right to rest."

Dam Ho's words carried a strange persuasiveness, and Bang Jin-bo nodded unconsciously.

Bang Jin-bo rose unsteadily. After gazing at his father's corpse for a moment, he began gathering nearby stones and piling them upon the body.

His palms split and bled. His fingernails loosened. Yet Bang Jin-bo uttered not a single word of complaint as he built a grave for his father from stone.

Dam Ho looked upon him and murmured.

"Even so, you are fortunate. At least you can build your father's grave with your own hands."

Longlao’s head became dizzy and his senses dulled.

It was because of the monkshood poison.

His head was split open and hot blood flowed.

Longlao became anxious. He needed to detoxify the poison before it spread further.

“It wasn’t me who released the poison in Hundred Flower Valley, it was that b*st*rd Mang-ryo! Why should I die unjustly when I’ve done nothing wrong!”

Longlao kept talking incessantly as he took down the book chest he was carrying on his back. Fumbling, he opened the lid. Inside was a powder that could neutralize the monkshood poison.

But Jin Ja-gang wasn’t going to leave it alone. He immediately kicked the book chest away.

“If you kill me like this, I’ll wander through the nine hells and curse you!”

Though Longlao kept talking, his scheming hadn’t stopped. Having anticipated that Jin Ja-gang would interfere, he had already taken a poisoned needle from the book chest and was holding it in his deerskin-gloved hand.

The moment Jin Ja-gang kicked the chest, Longlao threw the poisoned needle in that direction with all his might.

“Ugh!”

Jin Ja-gang let out a stifled groan.

It hit!

Longlao rejoiced. At such close range, there was no way he could have dodged.

“Got you! It’s Seven-Holes Poison! Now you’ll die within a quarter-hour, bleeding from every orifice in your body!”

But the voice of Jin Ja-gang, who had been struck by the poisoned needle, was surprisingly calm.

“Seven-Holes Poison… it really hurts.”

“W-what?”

Thwack!

As soon as Jin Ja-gang finished speaking, Longlao felt a sharp pain in his instep. Jin Ja-gang had pulled out the needle and used it to stab Longlao’s foot.

“Argh!”

Longlao tried to kick, but his body wouldn’t obey, causing him to miss. Instead, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

“Ugh, aaaargh!”

His instep became numb. Immediately, an overwhelming pain swept over him. The monkshood was extremely toxic, but the Seven-Holes Poison was a mixed poison created solely for killing. Having made it himself, Longlao knew better than anyone how terrifying it was.

The Seven-Holes Poison stabbed into his instep spread throughout his body instantly through his warm blood. Already his senses were fading, and his legs were becoming stiff.

Jin Ja-gang’s voice reached him.

“Bleeding from every orifice until death, you said?”

Longlao’s skin crawled at Jin Ja-gang’s emotionless tone.

“I’m innocent! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

Even as he spoke, Longlao pulled out the antidote for the Seven-Holes Poison from his sleeve. It was a powdered antidote wrapped in oiled paper. But his hands trembled so much that he dropped the antidote.

As he fumbled on the ground, he heard Jin Ja-gang picking up the antidote.

Longlao was overcome with despair. He could feel the flesh on his instep decomposing and fluid oozing out. Now it would spread throughout his body.

Longlao cried out as if in desperation.

“If you have any conscience, blame Mang-ryo for the crime and let me take the antidote quickly!”

Jin Ja-gang remained cold.

“I told you I remembered.”

Longlao didn’t have much time. He urgently asked:

“What! What are you talking about!”

Jin Ja-gang answered.

“At the Martial Arts Alliance’s Yunnan Branch, introducing Brother Gwak-o to Magistrate Baek Li-jung. Defending the Extreme Poison Sect in the courtroom.”

Longlao froze.

Jin Ja-gang asked.

“That was you, wasn’t it?” … Jin Ja-gang asked again.

“And yet you claim to have done nothing wrong?”

“I don’t, I don’t know anything about that. I don’t know!”

Longlao continued to deny it until the end. But a foul smell emanated from his entire body, and soon his skin began to rot, with fluid oozing and blood beginning to form.

“Urgh, please… the antidote…”

Jin Ja-gang watched Longlao’s state as he wiped the blood flowing from his own eyes, nose, and mouth. The Seven-Holes Poison had affected him, but it wasn’t fatal to Jin Ja-gang.

But for Longlao, it was different. Longlao was truly bleeding from all seven orifices—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

Jin Ja-gang didn’t give him the antidote. He threw it far away.

Hearing the sound of the antidote being thrown, Longlao despaired.

“It hurts… it’s so painful. Urgh…”

Longlao was blind, and he could feel his body rotting from the fingertips. The poison had already spread as far as it could. His entire body felt as if it were being pierced by needles.

Quite some time had passed since he had been stabbed by the poisoned needle. Even if he took the antidote now, he probably wouldn’t survive.

With the feeling that his body was melting and sinking into the ground, Longlao writhed in agony.

At that moment, Yong-myeong coughed.

“Cough, cough.”

When Jin Ja-gang looked at Yong-myeong, he said.

“Show… mercy…”

But Jin Ja-gang didn’t move.

Longlao had to die. As painfully as possible.

Jin Ja-gang felt no compassion for Longlao, who was dying miserably without acknowledging his crimes until the very end.

Yong-myeong, covered in blood, gave a bitter smile before crawling to where Longlao was.

Longlao opened his eyes, which were filled with blood. Though he could no longer see, he knew Yong-myeong had approached.

Sweating from the pain, Longlao mocked Yong-myeong.

“How weak…”

Yong-myeong painfully pulled out the sword that had been embedded in his side and struggled to hold it up.

“In your next life, please, don’t be born, as an evil person.”

“Hehehe. To think… that I would die so pathetically…”

Longlao laughed with a self-deprecating voice.

“Fare, well.”

Yong-myeong swung the sword at Longlao.

“Huup!”

Longlao stretched his neck, preparing to die.

Slash!

Unfortunately, Longlao didn’t die from a single sword strike. Ending someone’s life with a single blow is rarely easy.

Moreover, Yong-myeong wasn’t in good condition. Especially since it wasn’t a sharp dagger but a broad sword with a wobbling blade, it was even more difficult.

The neck was only half-severed.

Longlao spurted blood from his cut neck.

“Gak! Gaak!”

It was even more painful than before. Longlao’s body convulsed.

Yong-myeong gritted his teeth and swung the sword once more. But because Longlao’s body was convulsing, the sword missed and hit his shoulder instead.

Longlao screamed.

“Gak!”

Yong-myeong struck with the sword again, but this time it hit the collarbone. Now even swinging the sword was exhausting. When he forcefully swung it, the blade got stuck in the collarbone and couldn’t be pulled out.

“Ha, haa. Oh no.”

Yong-myeong had no choice but to release the sword and sit down.

Longlao’s eyes showed both disbelief and malice. With a voice that sounded almost deflated due to his severed neck, he spat out curses.

“You… you b*st*rd…”

Longlao had to writhe in continued agony for a while longer.

But as time passed, Longlao’s convulsions gradually subsided.

“Gurk, gurrrk.”

With bloody foam seeping from his mouth, Longlao finally stopped moving.

Yong-myeong leaned against a tree. Having lost too much blood, he felt dizzy and his lips were parched.

Jin Ja-gang approached and crouched before him.

Yong-myeong looked at Jin Ja-gang quietly.

The wounds on his face that had swollen from the scorpion stings had already subsided. There was a large ulcer on his thigh where the Seven-Holes Poison needle had pierced him, but that too seemed to be healing gradually.

What a remarkable encounter this child must have had, Yong-myeong thought.

He thought that Jin Ja-gang might be able to survive this terrible fate.

But not himself. Though the paralysis was wearing off, the wounds inflicted by Longlao were too severe.

“Haha… I think… I’m done for.”

This time, Jin Ja-gang didn’t say he could survive. The situation was different from when he was only poisoned with pufferfish toxin.

Just looking at the blood flowing from his side, it was clear he couldn’t be saved. And as for his leg… the white bones were exposed in various places.

That’s why Jin Ja-gang had stayed—to listen to Yong-myeong’s final words.

Yong-myeong looked at Jin Ja-gang and asked.

“Do you still, intend to, seek revenge?”

His paralysis had eased, so his speech was flowing better.

Jin Ja-gang answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Yes.”

Yong-myeong coughed with blood.

“Cough, cough!”

Yong-myeong realized he truly had very little time left. He took the Herbal Cultivation Method from his chest and gave it to Jin Ja-gang.

“The Medicine King Sect, has only, me left. Here, take it.”

Jin Ja-gang accepted the manual. But he shook his head.

“I am a descendant of Hundred Flower Valley. I can’t continue the Medicine King Sect’s lineage.”

“Just preserving the secret manual, is enough. As a co-successor… if fate brings you together someday, you can find, another successor.”

“Yes.”

When Jin Ja-gang accepted, Yong-myeong finally felt at ease.

“Hoo… ooh… at least the three-hundred-year, history of the Medicine King Sect, won’t end, with me.”

Taking a long breath, Yong-myeong looked at Jin Ja-gang.

After staring at Jin Ja-gang for a while, Yong-myeong said.

“I, ask of you.”

Jin Ja-gang tightly closed his mouth and nodded.

A hot feeling welled up in his chest. But not wanting to burden Yong-myeong’s mind, he deliberately maintained an expressionless face.

Jin Ja-gang drew poisonous energy and gathered it at his little finger. He bit it and dropped the poison into Yong-myeong’s mouth.

Yong-myeong smiled. Though his face had turned deathly pale and he was sweating painfully, he seemed to feel relieved.

“Kuk!”

The poison Jin Ja-gang possessed was the deadliest of all poisons.

It was extremely fatal to Yong-myeong, who was already barely breathing.

“Thank y…”

Yong-myeong couldn’t even finish his sentence before convulsing and letting out a short death scream.

“Kek!”

Then he gradually went limp. The light in his eyes faded.

Tears flowed from Jin Ja-gang’s eyes.

His heart felt empty… Though it had been brief, the fact that he wasn’t alone, the fact that there was an adult he could rely on emotionally, had been unexpectedly comforting to Jin Ja-gang.

Now Jin Ja-gang was alone again.

Jin Ja-gang wiped his tears, stood up, and bowed to Yong-myeong’s corpse.

Jin Ja-gang tightly pressed his lips together.

Though his heart ached, he couldn’t waste time being emotional. There were still fourteen members of the pursuit team remaining.

Jin Ja-gang went to Longlao’s corpse and searched his body. He wanted to gather anything that might be useful.

From the left sleeve, he found powders wrapped in oiled paper. Among them was the black Nausea Powder that had troubled Jin Ja-gang.

In the opposite sleeve, there were small ceramic vials. When opened, they emitted a not unpleasant fragrance, suggesting they were likely antidotes. Looking further in the sleeve, a small whistle rolled out.

‘A whistle?’

It was an ordinary whistle used for signaling.

If he had blown it earlier, he could have received help, but it seemed he was too greedy and couldn’t blow it because his body became paralyzed.

Finding nothing else, Jin Ja-gang went to the fallen book chest to check inside.

It was filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items and unidentifiable objects, including the branches and plants that Jin Ja-gang had coated with poison, as well as spiky chestnut-like throwing weapons and poisoned needles.

Most items were clearly related to poison, but as is common with suspicious individuals, Longlao hadn’t labeled them. He was worried someone might steal and use them.

Jin Ja-gang looked back and forth between the whistle and the book chest.

‘Fourteen remain.’

He looked around. The terrain where he stood was like the inside of a gourd bottle, surrounded by bushes in a circular shape. It was as if the corpses of Yong-myeong and Longlao were placed inside a gourd bottle.

Jin Ja-gang thought.

‘If I blow this whistle…’