Chapter 31: Neither Grace Nor Grudges Are Forgotten (3)

Something struck the floor, then dragged across it.

The sound possessed a peculiarly steady rhythm, and people found themselves involuntarily drawn to it.

As the sound drew nearer, their focus reached its peak. Their eyes flushed red, and their shoulders twitched with involuntary tremors.

Not only those trapped within the cages, but the bandits and Dong Ja-chu alike shared the same reaction. The sound gnawed at their nerves from the very core.

Scrape! Scrape!

Like ants devouring wood, the sound gnawed at their nerves, amplifying their unease.

Boom! Slither! Boom! Slither!

Only when the sound grew clearer did Dong Ja-chu realize it was footsteps.

From beyond the darkness, someone was finally revealing themselves.

He struck the floor with his right foot and dragged his left foot as he advanced. Each time he dragged his left foot, his shoulder dipped slightly.

Dong Ja-chu realized the man was lame. Under normal circumstances, he would have scoffed and cut the man's throat in an instant. He possessed a cruel temperament that never forgave anyone who startled him, even for a moment.

But now, that was impossible.

Boom!

The moment he laid eyes on the man, he felt as though his heart had dropped into his stomach.

A sudden chill ran down his spine, and sweat poured from his body as though rain were falling. Thick veins bulged upon his clenched fists like earthworms.

He bit down so hard that blood seeped between his teeth, yet Dong Ja-chu felt no pain as he stared at the man approaching through the undulating darkness.

At last, the man's pale face emerged from the shadows. Clad in a black robe that blended with the darkness, it appeared as though only his face floated in the void.

Behind the man, a horse as black as the darkness followed, yet not a single person present noticed this fact.

Such was the man's overwhelming and intense presence. It was impossible to look away, even for a single instant.

Drip!

Beads of sweat streamed endlessly down the bandits' faces.

They dared not even breathe heavily as they gazed upon the man who had emerged from the darkness.

'Who in the world is that?'

It was as though their minds had gone completely blank. No thoughts came. That was how far beyond their imagination the man's presence soared.

The man paused for a moment and surveyed his surroundings.

His eyes gleamed eerily in the darkness.

Shudder!

Those who met his gaze involuntarily shuddered, like fish laid upon a cutting board.

The man's gaze came to rest upon Dong Ja-chu. More precisely, it settled upon Bang Jin-bo, who was cradled in Dong Ja-chu's arms.

The sword in Bang Jin-bo's hand, the hand gripping that sword which belonged to Dong Ja-chu, and the blade pressed against Yeom Pyeong's throat.

The man seemed to grasp the situation at a glance, giving a slight nod before furrowing his brow.

In that instant, Dong Ja-chu and the bandits felt a crushing pressure, as though their very breath was being squeezed from their lungs.

The man gestured toward Bang Jin-bo.

Bang Jin-bo stared blankly at the man. His expression was no different from the others. Yet for some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity toward the man, despite never having seen his face before.

"Come here."

For the first time, the man's lips parted.

The moment Bang Jin-bo heard that voice, he recognized the man's identity.

"Brother!"

It was the man who had traveled with them by carriage.

Though his true features had been concealed beneath a head of wild, unkempt hair, Bang Jin-bo remembered his voice clearly.

The man who had emerged from the darkness was none other than Dam Ho.

Dam Ho spoke again.

"Come here."

His rough, hoarse voice snapped Dong Ja-chu back to awareness. He pulled Bang Jin-bo roughly into his embrace. His instincts told him he must use Bang Jin-bo as a hostage.

He pressed his sword against Bang Jin-bo's throat and shouted.

"Who are you—"

BOOM!

In that instant, a thunderclap erupted from the darkness, swallowing Dong Ja-chu's voice whole.

The bandits and merchants clutched their ears and staggered at the sudden roar.

Hmmmm!

A ringing pierced their eardrums.

Objects appeared to overlap two or three times, and their legs gave way beneath them.

After a brief time, the ringing subsided and their vision began to clear. And when their sight finally returned completely, the bandits' faces were painted with horror.

"Th-the Chief?"

"Bleagh!"

Suddenly the bandits collapsed to the ground, retching. The people in the cages did the same.

"Guh!"

Groans escaped the people's lips involuntarily.

"How is this possible?"

The upper body of Dong Ja-chu, who had been holding Bang Jin-bo hostage with his sword at the boy's throat, was gone. All that remained was his lower half, now masterless.

Where Dong Ja-chu's upper body had been, Dam Ho's fist now occupied the space. A single Fortress Breaking Punch following the Charging Step had sent Dong Ja-chu's upper body flying.

It was the first time Dam Ho had employed his martial arts against a human.

Even Dam Ho had not anticipated that a single punch would send a man's upper body flying.

Before him stood the masterless lower half of Dong Ja-chu and the bewildered Bang Jin-bo, who understood nothing of what had transpired.

Dam Ho cradled Bang Jin-bo's head and murmured.

"Humans are… so fragile."

In the darkness, he had endlessly fought against massive boulders and solid rock faces.

He had trained his martial arts by envisioning those objects—possessing a hardness incomparable to humans—as his opponents.

Killing intent and destructive power, which no human body could withstand, had condensed within his fists, which had never known a day free of blood.

The result was the devastation visible before his very eyes.

Dam Ho shielded Bang Jin-bo's eyes with his body, preventing the boy from witnessing the grisly scene.

Though Dong Ja-chu had died by his hand, he felt no emotion whatsoever. In the past, he would have been unable to lift his head from guilt, yet now the entire scene felt like something that had nothing to do with him.

Dam Ho thought it did not matter. That his twelve years in the darkness had not been wasted was enough.

"Guh! Who are you?!"

Only then did Jo Bok regain his senses and shout.

Before his very eyes, Chief Dong Ja-chu's upper body had been sent flying. The scene was so unreal that it did not feel real. It was as though he were trapped in a nightmare.

The Dong Ja-chu he knew was never a weak man. If he had been, he would never have become the Chief of the Blood Wolf Corps.

Dong Ja-chu was not the kind of man who would die so meaninglessly.

Dam Ho's gaze turned toward Jo Bok. The moment it did, Jo Bok's body trembled as though struck by lightning.

Dam Ho's lips parted, and a rough, hoarse voice emerged, as though his throat were clogged with phlegm.

"And who might you be?"

"I-I am Jo Bok, Vice Chief of the Blood Wolf Corps."

"Blood Wolf Corps?"

Dam Ho surveyed the bandits arrayed around him. Each bore the fierce countenance of men who prided themselves on having weathered the harshness of the world.

Yet the fear in their gazes as they looked upon Dam Ho was impossible to conceal.

"That's right! We are the Blood Wolf Corps. If you withdraw now, we shall forgive you. But if you don't—"

"If I don't?"

"We will kill you miserably."

"And then?"

"I said we will kill you. Tear you to shreds…"

"Then why haven't you done it yet?"

Dam Ho's voice was utterly devoid of emotion, calm and flat, yet it sent chills down the spine for reasons unknown.

Overcome with nameless dread, Jo Bok shouted.

"K-kill him!"

Instinctively, he realized Dam Ho was a breed apart from any human he had ever known.

His words struck the kindling. The bandits, already trembling with unfathomable anxiety, charged at Dam Ho in unison.

"Uwaaaah!"

"Kill him!"

They worked themselves into a frenzy to dispel their fear.

They charged at Dam Ho in a state of madness. They too sensed that if they did not kill him, they would be the ones to die.

Over a hundred bandits charged forward. One might expect them to be paralyzed with fear, yet Dam Ho's expression did not change in the slightest.

He glanced up at the night sky.

It was a moonless night, without a single star to be seen.

BOOM!

"Aaagh!"

In that instant, a thunderous roar rang out, followed by someone's scream. The pitch-black sky was painted with crimson.

Again and again the thunderous blows echoed. And with each one, bandits were sent spraying blood as they fell.

A single punch crushed a life to dust.

"Ah!"

The people, who had been caged like beasts, opened their eyes wide.

Humans were never beings who could die so easily. Yet Dam Ho dispatched them with an ease that seemed to deny this fundamental truth.

Those fearsome bandits were shattering like glass.

"Uwaaah!"

"Save us!"

The terrified bandits screamed in despair.

The merchants' common sense crumbled before their very eyes.

In an instant, more than two-thirds of the bandits had lost their lives. The blood they had spilled formed rivers that flowed across the earth.

"Ah, you demon!"

Jo Bok stared at Dam Ho with eyes glazed in terror. His legs trembled as proof.

Dam Ho was indeed lame. That much was certain. But when Dam Ho displayed his martial arts, he was never lame.

Jo Bok believed Dam Ho's limp was a ruse—a tactic to lull his enemies into complacency.

He had never once imagined that someone like Dam Ho could exist.

BOOM!

"Uagh!"

Even then, the subordinates of the Blood Wolf Corps continued to die.

It was a one-sided massacre. If this continued, not a single survivor would remain.

"St-stop!"

Jo Bok screamed until his throat tore.

Whether Dam Ho heard him or not, he ceased the slaughter and turned to look at Jo Bok. Jo Bok's face, streaked with tears, pleaded desperately.

"Forgive us! Isn't this enough? We've already paid a heavy price! To suffer more for our wrongs is too cruel!"

"Too cruel?"

"Yes! This is too cruel! I don't know what your connection is to that boy, but to slaughter us so one-sidedly is unconscionable!"

"Is that so?"

When Dam Ho tilted his head slightly, Jo Bok saw a sliver of hope. He hurriedly fell to his knees before Dam Ho.

"Please, forgive us! I'm begging you!"

Dam Ho's gaze grew even colder as he looked upon Jo Bok's prostrate form.

"Forgiveness is not something you ask of me."

"Then—"

"You ask it of him."

Dam Ho pointed toward Bang Jin-bo.

Jo Bok rushed to Bang Jin-bo and dropped to his knees.

"Boy, please spare our lives. We were wrong."

"That's…"

"Whatever you want, I'll give it. I'll make any compensation. Please…"

Jo Bok wept before Bang Jin-bo.

He dared not even think of using Bang Jin-bo as a hostage. He had just witnessed with his own eyes what had happened to Dong Ja-chu.

Bang Jin-bo did not know what to do.

He was a kind-hearted boy by nature. He had never imagined that such a situation would befall him.

'What… what do I do?'

His mind went blank. But at that moment, his father's face appeared before him—the face of his father, struggling desperately to protect him.

Bang Jin-bo pressed his lips tightly together.

Rather than asking for revenge, he would offer no forgiveness either.

Seeing this, Jo Bok grew frantic.

"I'm begging you this desperately, so just say you forgive us! You fat brat!"

"……"

But Bang Jin-bo kept his lips sealed and said nothing.

Jo Bok screamed again.

"You damn fat brat! Can't you see I'm begging you? And you still call yourself a human—cough!"

With a dull thud—

In that instant, Jo Bok's body was lifted into the air. Dam Ho had seized him by the scruff of his neck and hoisted him up.

Dam Ho whispered in a voice only Jo Bok could hear.

"Forgiveness is not something you demand through intimidation, especially not from perpetrators like you."

"Guh!"

"It must come from the heart of the victim—that boy and those who suffered alongside him."

Dam Ho looked toward Bang Jin-bo and the people in the cages. Their gazes were fixed upon him.

"It seems none of them are inclined to forgive you."

"S-save me! Please!"

"And did you spare them when they begged? They must have pleaded just as desperately."

Jo Bok realized that Dam Ho would never let him live. Maddened by rage, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"You cursed demon! Do as you please! But your end will not be pleasant either! Do you know who stands behind us? They will never let you go! You've touched the wrong people! They'll be here soon!"

A faint curve appeared at the corner of Dam Ho's mouth. The gentle arc was unmistakably a smile.

"That sounds promising."

"You—"

Crack!

In that instant, Dam Ho's fist plunged into Jo Bok's abdomen. It punched clean through, emerging from his back.

Jo Bok stared at his own abdomen in disbelief.

"Guhhh!"

"You talk too much."

Dam Ho withdrew his arm from Jo Bok's shattered midsection. Jo Bok's body crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

He collapsed face-down, gasping for air like a fish cast upon dry land. His ragged breaths gradually grew fainter.

Dam Ho's gaze turned to the remaining bandits.

The shadow of death descended upon their faces.

In that gap, Jin Ja-gang could be seen fleeing.

Longlao looked at the spot where Jin Ja-gang had been lying.

Spider lilies were blooming abundantly there.

He immediately understood the reason.

“Spider lily!”

The bulbs of spider lilies contain deadly poison.

Peculiarly, this poison spreads through the air. It emits a grassy smell, and inhaling it causes nosebleeds. Even without direct skin contact, the poison disperses into the air, damaging the inside of the nose just by smelling it.

‘This brat!’

He had thought it suspicious when Jin Ja-gang was frantically scratching at the ground claiming to be in pain. It seems he had crushed the spider lily bulbs against the ground, releasing the scent into the air.

Longlao’s suspicion was correct. As evidence, even Jin Ja-gang himself was suffering from a nosebleed.

Once he identified the poison, Longlao felt relieved. Though spider lily poison is potent, when transmitted through air, it only causes nosebleeds without being fatal. It’s dangerous only when the juice is ingested.

By pressing the blood channels around his nose to stop the bleeding and regulating his breathing, he already felt calmer.

Circulating his internal energy while simultaneously easing his headache and stomach discomfort, he relaxed.

As the saying goes, “a bird wounded by an arrow fears even a bent bow.” Having witnessed warriors dying one after another from Jin Ja-gang’s poison, he had been overly cautious even of this relatively minor poison.

Longlao was filled with rage at being tricked. He glared at Jin Ja-gang, who was escaping in the distance.

Jin Ja-gang was limping, unable to walk properly, staggering along.

From Longlao’s perspective, he wouldn’t be able to escape far. It seemed he could catch up in just a couple of steps.

But Longlao didn’t pursue Jin Ja-gang.

Instead, he drew his sword and walked in the opposite direction from where Jin Ja-gang was fleeing.

He grabbed Yong-myeong, who was lying there, and pulled him to his feet.

“Urgh…”

When Yong-myeong groaned, Longlao laughed loudly as if wanting Jin Ja-gang to hear.

“Hahaha!”

Then, channeling internal energy into his sword, he stabbed Yong-myeong’s leg.

Thunk.

“Ugh… urgh!”

Yong-myeong’s eyes widened. Though he gritted his teeth, a groan like a scream escaped through them.

Longlao paid no attention.

Thunk, thunk.

He simply continued to brutally stab Yong-myeong’s leg. Blood sprayed in all directions horribly.

Yong-myeong endured the pain until his lips split, but there was a limit.

“AAARGH!”

Finally, Yong-myeong let out a pitiful, heart-wrenching scream.

Only then did Longlao stop his sword and smile.

“Kee hee hee.”

Longlao wasn’t smiling because of Yong-myeong’s scream.

He was smiling because he saw Jin Ja-gang returning.

Yong-myeong could also see Jin Ja-gang coming back.

“I’m… sorry. I’m… sorry.”

It was a voice filled with remorse.

He thought Jin Ja-gang was returning because of him.

Jin Ja-gang felt his chest tighten as he looked at Yong-myeong.

Why was Yong-myeong, the victim, apologizing? With his leg slashed to the bone!

The one who should apologize is the old man who reduced someone to such a state.

“Even in this situation, you fled in the opposite direction to save this fellow? You’re unexpectedly thoughtful.”

Jin Ja-gang wiped his nosebleed and glared at Longlao with blazing eyes.

Longlao’s face wrinkled in disgust.

“Such a young brat, yet your eyes are so vile when looking at an adult.”

Longlao didn’t ask or demand anything more. He simply struck Yong-myeong’s leg with his sword again.

Blood and flesh splattered simultaneously.

“Urrgh!”

Yong-myeong gritted his teeth and suppressed his groan. His face was drenched in sweat from the pain.

It was Jin Ja-gang who couldn’t bear it anymore.

But instead of begging Longlao to stop or kneeling, Jin Ja-gang simply lowered his eyes slightly as a form of defiance.

Longlao was very displeased.

“I don’t like you. For a child, your gaze is too fierce. How did someone like you come into existence?”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t hold back and blurted out:

“It’s because of people like you.”

“Hmm?”

“You made me like this!”

Longlao made an incredulous face.

“My, my, the fall of Hundred Flower Valley was due to internal strife caused by that fellow Gwak-o, yet you blame others? Don’t you have any conscience?”

“Internal strife? Conscience?”

Jin Ja-gang felt like his blood was boiling. Who had instigated the otherwise peaceful Gwak-o, and who had released poisonous creatures into Hundred Flower Valley!

His teeth clenched and his hair stood on end.

These people had released poisonous creatures into Hundred Flower Valley yet refused to acknowledge their guilt until the end, using Gwak-o as an excuse.

Jin Ja-gang trembled with rage. All the resentment and indignation he had bottled up burst forth like vomiting blood.

“If it weren’t for you…! If it weren’t for you, my mother and grandfather wouldn’t have died! You released all those venomous centipedes!”

“Then you should confront the one who released the centipedes, why direct your anger at me?”

“What?”

“Honestly, did I do that? Why are you taking your anger out on me?”

Longlao spoke so sincerely that Jin Ja-gang was momentarily dumbfounded.

Is that true? Is Longlao innocent? Should he only confront Mang-ryo who released the centipedes?

Just seeing how Longlao had turned Yong-myeong’s leg into a rag was enough to know he wasn’t a good person. But was he truly unrelated to the Extreme Poison Sect?

Jin Ja-gang’s mind became confused.

His eyes lost focus and grew blurry.

Yong-myeong wanted to warn Jin Ja-gang to stay alert. Thinking about other matters at this moment was truly dangerous.

Especially against someone as devious and cunning as Longlao.

Sure enough, Yong-myeong could see Longlao subtly moving his hand behind his back.

Suddenly, a string appeared between his fingers. The string led to the book chest that Longlao was carrying on his back.

As Longlao pulled the string with his fingers, the side of the book chest lifted slightly, revealing a hole from which several scorpions began to crawl out.

They were unique scorpions with dark black bellies and yellowish backs.

The scorpions silently crawled along the string and into Longlao’s sleeve. Now, when Longlao shook his sleeve, the scorpions would fly out and cover Jin Ja-gang… Even from Longlao’s perspective, approaching Jin Ja-gang was risky. Going too close might lead to Jin Ja-gang doing something unexpected, so he planned to use venomous scorpions to immobilize him.

Yong-myeong quickly looked at Jin Ja-gang. He was completely defenseless.

“Wah!”

Yong-myeong’s body, not fully recovered from paralysis, was too slow compared to Longlao’s hand motion. When Longlao shook his sleeve, the scorpions flew toward Jin Ja-gang.

Knowing that Jin Ja-gang had some resistance to poison, Yong-myeong moved belatedly. Using all his strength, he headbutted Longlao’s chin.

Because Longlao hadn’t expected Yong-myeong to be able to move, he allowed this unexpected attack.

Crack!

“Kak!”

Longlao’s head tilted back as he staggered heavily.

Though he was an experienced martial artist and quickly regained his balance without falling, Yong-myeong pushed Longlao with his body, eventually knocking him down. Yong-myeong, now on top of Longlao, struggled and shouted:

“Run! Run away!”

“Get off! You!”

Longlao tore at Yong-myeong’s thigh, which was already in tatters.

“AAAAH!”

Despite the pain, Yong-myeong didn’t move away. Instead, he tried to bite Longlao’s neck. Though they were at close range, Longlao, being no weak martial artist, turned his head to avoid the attack.

Crack!

Yong-myeong bit down so hard that there was a chilling sound of teeth breaking.

“You madman!”

Longlao stabbed Yong-myeong’s side with his sword and pushed him away. Yong-myeong could no longer resist and collapsed to the side.

“Stubborn fools. You should have lived so fiercely when your sect was intact. Look at the state you’re in now.”

As Longlao cursed and barely managed to sit up…

He saw someone standing right in front of him. The body of a young boy. It was obvious who it was.

“Huh?”

Longlao couldn’t help but laugh out of disbelief.

“What’s this? You still haven’t run away?”

Though Jin Ja-gang’s body was too weak to flee effectively, it was laughable that he was standing right there.

But what about the scorpions?

If he had been stung by the venomous scorpions, he should be rolling on the ground in agony by now.

When Longlao looked up, he saw Jin Ja-gang staring down at him with scorpions attached to his face and body.

“What the…?”

It was an incredible sight. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been stung.

The scorpions on his face had already embedded their tails into Jin Ja-gang’s cheeks and forehead.

These were golden scorpions, called so because of their distinctively golden color. Normally, even a wild beast would be paralyzed and immobilized when stung by one.

Yet Jin Ja-gang stood there with scorpions hanging from his face, chewing on some kind of plant.

“What is this?”

His face was swelling, and veins were bulging visibly, showing clear signs of poisoning, yet Jin Ja-gang himself seemed to ignore the scorpions and continued chewing the plant without stopping.

“What’s happening right now?”

When Longlao realized that the eyes of Jin Ja-gang, staring down at him, looked so cold and emotionless, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and a creeping sense of fear rising within him.

‘Am I afraid? Me? Of this little brat?’

Longlao unconsciously channeled internal energy into his hand, almost striking Jin Ja-gang before barely restraining himself.

‘No! If I kill him, I won’t get the poison!’

While Longlao hesitated, Jin Ja-gang seized the opportunity and spat what was in his mouth at Longlao.

Pfft!

The juice and crushed pieces of the plant he’d been chewing showered onto Longlao’s face.

Longlao quickly covered his face with his palms, but the juice seeped through his fingers.

Trained martial artists often don’t close their eyes even when a sword flies toward their face. This is to observe their opponent until the very end.

Longlao, too, instinctively kept his eyes open. By the time he realized his mistake and tried to close them, the plant juice that Jin Ja-gang had spat had already seeped into Longlao’s eyes.

“Urkh?”

Longlao felt his eyes burning. Angered, he rose and swung his hand, but Jin Ja-gang had already backed away.

“Urrgh!”

He couldn’t open his eyes. When he forced them open, his vision was cloudy and unclear.

His eyes stung and hurt, causing tears to flow continuously.

“What is this! What did you do—!”

Longlao staggered backward, swinging his hands wildly.

As if answering him, Jin Ja-gang said:

“Ground cherry.”

“What?”

Only then did Longlao remember. The ground cherries that had been scattered around when he found Yong-myeong.

Jin Ja-gang had been chewing on them.

‘I need to wash my eyes! If I stay like this, I’ll go blind!’

Longlao screamed:

“Why are you doing this to me! What did I do wrong!”

“I just remembered.”

“What?”

Whoosh! He heard the sound of wind. Even though he couldn’t see, he knew it was an attack from Jin Ja-gang.

Longlao quickly leaned back, then directed a palm strike toward the ground.

Bang!

He hit only the ground, missing Jin Ja-gang entirely.

A stone flew and struck Longlao’s head.

Normally, even without sight, he could have dodged by sound, but now, with ground cherry poison in his eyes, his senses were impaired. He couldn’t properly avoid the stones that Jin Ja-gang was throwing.

Stones kept flying.

Thwack! Thwack!

“Stop, stop it!”