Chapter 47

Chapter 47: There Is No Justice More Expensive Than a Human Life (1)

"Damn it!"

Jo Hyeol-san bit down hard on his teeth.

He had realized that no words would work on Dam Ho anymore.

The man was a monster beyond all reason, and even martial prowess was no match.

*Then there is only one option left.*

Jo Hyeol-san hurled himself backward.

At this point, capturing Shim Ok was no longer the priority. He had to survive and report this to Eun Ha-seong somehow.

Jo Hyeol-san flung both arms wide.

*Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!*

In that instant, dozens of coins poured from both his hands.

Gold coins—a hidden weapon also known as Arhat Coins.

They resembled ordinary coins, but their cutting power and penetrating force surpassed any other concealed weapon. Naturally, their lethal capability was unmatched.

Jo Hyeol-san was a master of the gold coins, and he had used them to kill countless people.

He did not believe this single move could kill Dam Ho. But he thought it might buy a little time.

*No matter how formidable his martial arts, the man is a cripple. If I employ my movement arts, he can never catch me.*

Jo Hyeol-san did not even wait to confirm the result before turning to flee.

He was gathering his energy to push his movement arts to the limit when…

*Whirrr!*

From behind him came a sound like ten thousand bees taking flight in unison, followed by an overwhelming tide of killing intent that crashed over him.

*Grab!*

It was not merely killing intent. A hand as large as a cauldron lid seized the back of his neck.

"Urgh!"

The terrifying force constricting his throat twisted Jo Hyeol-san's face. He tried to wrench himself free from Dam Ho's grip. But Dam Ho's hand was like a steel clamp, utterly immovable.

Jo Hyeol-san drew upon his internal energy, but it was useless. Like an octopus washed ashore, his entire body refused to obey.

In that state, his body was spun around.

Dam Ho's face was right before his eyes. A face carved from stone, devoid of all emotion.

But Jo Hyeol-san could sense it. Dam Ho's killing intent.

His deeply sunken eyes burned with a frenzied light. That gaze alone was enough to make Jo Hyeol-san feel his life slipping away.

Jo Hyeol-san could not comprehend the situation. The gold coins he had launched with every ounce of his power lay scattered on the ground, and Dam Ho's body showed not a single wound.

His reason could not process what was happening, and Jo Hyeol-san was consumed by terror.

"Sp-spare me…"

In that instant, Dam Ho raised his hand high. Jo Hyeol-san's body rose into the air along with it.

As Jo Hyeol-san's legs thrashed in midair, Dam Ho's hand drove toward the earth like a thunderbolt.

*CRASH!*

Jo Hyeol-san's body was slammed into the ground.

Cracks spread across the grassland as his body embedded itself deep into the earth.

"Kuhuk!"

Jo Hyeol-san coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The tremendous impact felt as though his entire body was being torn apart. But his suffering was not yet over.

His body was lifted into the air once more. And slammed into the ground again.

*BOOM!*

"Ugh!"

A scream of agony tore from Jo Hyeol-san's throat.

*Boom! Boom!*

Dam Ho continued to smash Jo Hyeol-san's body into the ground. With each impact, the crater deepened, and Jo Hyeol-san became increasingly bloodied.

"Ghhk! Spare me…"

Jo Hyeol-san pleaded.

But Dam Ho remained utterly unmoved. Not a single word. That was what made it all the more terrifying.

He wished Dam Ho would say something—anything. He wished Dam Ho would at least ask if he wanted to die. But cruelly, Dam Ho simply raised the hand gripping Jo Hyeol-san's throat once more.

"Pl-please…"

*CRASH!*

Jo Hyeol-san's body was driven into the crater again.

The difference from before was that a far louder thunderclap rang out, and Jo Hyeol-san's movements ceased.

"Ugh…"

A faint, flute-like moan seeped from Jo Hyeol-san's throat. The breath that had been hanging by a thread finally faded, and only then did Dam Ho straighten and rise.

Blood pooled in the crater where Jo Hyeol-san had been driven. He had died submerged in the very blood he had shed.

Dam Ho turned around.

"Hic!"

In that instant, Geum So-hye let out a hiccup.

It was not just Geum So-hye. Every survivor stared at Dam Ho with eyes glazed in terror.

The survivors saw in Dam Ho a vision of hell itself.

In their eyes, Dam Ho was no longer human.

He was a monster more terrifying than even the fearsome warriors of Seocheon Mountain Villa. They could not even bear to meet his gaze.

The fact that Dam Ho had saved their lives did not even cross their minds.

All of them averted their eyes. All except one—Bang Jin-bo.

A suffocating silence descended upon the ranch.

Dam Ho did not blame the people. He could guess how he must appear through their eyes.

He and they had lived in different worlds.

Unlike him, whose humanity had been worn away by repeated tribulations, leaving him somehow incomplete, their sensibilities were ordinary. They could never endure the hell he had wrought.

They were normal.

He was the abnormal one. And so he harbored no resentment.

Dam Ho's gaze turned to Shim Ok.

Shim Ok's reaction was no different from the others. No matter how trained in martial arts she was, she was still a woman. She had never imagined that such a vision of hell could unfold before her very eyes.

Dam Ho walked toward her.

Shim Ok feared Dam Ho. She was terrified—maddeningly so—of the man who had orchestrated this blood-soaked hell. But she forced her eyes open and stared at him.

Dam Ho finally stood before her. And spoke.

"Why did you flee here?"

His voice was rough and hoarse, as though he had just emerged from a dusty mine. It grated on her ears all the more for it, but she dared not say she did not wish to hear it.

She clenched her small fists.

"I had no choice. I needed to obtain a horse here."

"You did not anticipate that they would follow you?"

"…"

Shim Ok offered no answer. It was a tacit admission.

Dam Ho's gaze churned roughly.

"Then you must have known this would happen."

"I told you. I had no choice. I have a duty to protect the peace and justice of the Murim."

"Justice? Is that more important than their lives?"

"I am sorry about that. But if their deaths can protect the peace of the Murim, then perhaps it is not such a great injustice. Please help me. If anyone can stop Seocheon Mountain Villa's ambitions, it is you. For the sake of the Murim's peace…"

In that instant, Dam Ho's massive palm struck Shim Ok across the cheek.

*Slap!*

"Ack!"

The unexpected blow sent Shim Ok tumbling across the ground. Her cheek swelled instantly.

Shim Ok shook her head, unable to regain her bearings. The tremendous impact made her vision double and triple.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain inside her mouth. Her mouth was full of blood. When she spat, broken teeth came out with it.

"How…"

Shim Ok murmured in a daze.

More than the broken teeth, the fact that someone had struck her was the greater shock.

She was not someone who should ever receive such treatment.

"I… I…"

Her voice trembled. She felt she had to say something, but she did not know what words to use.

Dam Ho looked down at her.

"You should have apologized to them first."

"But the fate of the Murim… hung in my hands."

Shim Ok cried out as though defending herself. But Dam Ho's gaze, looking down at her, remained cold.

"The Murim is not so great a place that you must destroy these people's lives to protect it."

"How can you say that…"

Shim Ok's pupils trembled.

Dam Ho's words negated her entire worldview.

Dam Ho turned away. There was no longer any reason to speak with Shim Ok.

His gaze fell upon Bang Jin-bo.

"Let us go."

"Yes!"

Bang Jin-bo nodded.

He had many questions but asked none. Though Dam Ho was covered in blood, oddly, he was no longer afraid.

A being who existed upon the deaths of others.

Perhaps that was Dam Ho's most essential nature.

Bang Jin-bo retrieved his horse from the grassland and loaded his belongings. Meanwhile, Heuk-gwi approached Dam Ho. Though a speechless creature, it seemed to know beforehand that Dam Ho was about to leave.

The people of the Golden Horse Ranch watched in stunned silence. Not one of them dared to speak.

Dam Ho mounted Heuk-gwi. Bang Jin-bo followed. Even then, the people did not speak.

Dam Ho, mounted on Heuk-gwi, approached Geum Gwan-cheon.

"G-great one…"

Geum Gwan-cheon's voice trembled. He could no longer speak with the ease he had before. No matter how long he had lived, he was an ordinary man. His nerves were not coarse enough to withstand such a vision of hell.

"You have been most kind during our stay."

"I…"

Geum Gwan-cheon's gaze shifted toward the warriors. In his eyes was a fear he could not conceal.

Warriors of Seocheon Mountain Villa had died here. Regardless of the reason, they would not let it stand.

Though not widely known in the Central Plains, Seocheon Mountain Villa's influence in Xinjiang was immense. If Seocheon Mountain Villa wished, erasing a mere horse ranch from the face of the earth would be no trouble at all.

Then Dam Ho's voice came again.

"What you fear will not come to pass."

"Great one?"

Geum Gwan-cheon looked up in surprise. But Dam Ho was already riding away on Heuk-gwi. All he could see were their retreating figures.

Bang Jin-bo hurried to catch up with Dam Ho.

"Hyung."

Geum So-hye called out to Bang Jin-bo.

Her tear-streaked face pained Bang Jin-bo's heart.

He wished he could stay, but he had to follow Dam Ho.

"I will come back to visit someday."

"You must come."

Geum So-hye waved her tiny hand.

"I will!"

Bang Jin-bo nodded firmly and followed Dam Ho.

Walking alongside Dam Ho, Bang Jin-bo asked:

"But where are we going, hyung? Are we heading to the Central Plains like this?"

Dam Ho shook his head.

Bang Jin-bo looked puzzled.

"Then?"

"We go to Seocheon Mountain Villa."

Dam Ho's gaze turned toward the western sky.