Chapter 90

Chapter 90: He Who Acts Alone and Moves Alone, the Lone Wanderer (3)

Do Hak-gyeong departed, leaving Eun So-cheong alone with Bang Jin-bo.

Eun So-cheong apologized first.

"I'm sorry!"

"For what?"

"I had no choice because of my uncle's request."

"Your uncle—from the Uiseon Sect?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"It's because of that man."

"Hyung?"

"Yes!"

At Eun So-cheong's answer, Bang Jin-bo's brow furrowed slightly.

"It's because of that man."

"……"

"You didn't know? Right now, the outside is in an uproar over that man's exploits. Especially here in Hunan Province—it's chaos. Several sects are already moving quickly."

"Why?"

"If they can recruit that man, it would significantly strengthen their sect."

"Sigh! You really don't know Hyung. He is not the kind of man who would serve under anyone. If that were to happen, he wouldn't be Hyung."

Bang Jin-bo sighed.

Eun So-cheong agreed with his assessment. Though she had only met Dam Ho a handful of times, she could not imagine him taking orders from anyone.

A perfect lone wolf.

That was the image of Dam Ho that Eun So-cheong carried.

But her uncle Sim Woo-won saw things differently. Despite having been humiliated by Dam Ho once already, he still harbored the ambition to recruit him.

"You are the link connecting him. That is why Chef Do came. But he truly acknowledged your cooking skills as well. That is an absolute fact that will never change."

"I see."

Bang Jin-bo suddenly felt his energy drain away.

He had been happy to be recognized by Do Hak-gyeong, but learning that it was rooted in political calculation left him deflated.

Eun So-cheong watched Bang Jin-bo with a sympathetic expression.

"Many more things like this will happen in the future. That man's fame has already shaken the world, and you are the only connection to him."

"Sigh!"

"For now, all I can say is to stay strong."

"Thank you."

"Not at all. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Friends?"

"Yes! That's how I see it. What about you?"

"I—I think of you as a friend too."

Bang Jin-bo's face flushed red. Watching his ears turn crimson, Eun So-cheong burst out laughing.

Eun So-cheong pulled a chair over and sat down.

"I wish that man would come back soon."

"Why?"

"The atmosphere around Dongting Lake has been unsettled lately. For some time now, many martial artists have been pouring in."

"Dongting Lake has always attracted many visitors."

"This time is different."

"How so?"

"Right now, most of the inns near Dongting Lake have been booked by martial artists. Even the Cheonha Jeil Ru—its detached wings, which usually don't do well because they're too expensive—have been entirely rented out by the Wudang Sect."

"The Wudang Sect? Isn't that an incredibly powerful place?"

"That's right! Along with Shaolin Temple, they are the leaders of the Nine Great Sects. For them to send people ahead and reserve the detached wings in advance is proof that truly important figures from the Wudang Sect will be coming."

"Hmm!"

Bang Jin-bo let out a low groan.

Though he did not know the martial world well, he knew full well how powerful the Wudang Sect was. For ordinary people like him, the warriors of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were inhabitants of a world impossibly distant.

To learn that such figures were entering Dongting Lake naturally made him tense.

"That's why the Eun Family is in an uproar right now. The Uiseon Sect too, and the Agyang Sword Sect has been turned upside down."

"And they don't know why these people are coming to Dongting Lake?"

"If we knew, would it be this chaotic? When the Nine Great Sects so much as cough, the entire Central Plains catches a cold."

Eun So-cheong let out a quiet sigh.

She, too, was not pleased with the current situation. Not knowing what was happening here was suffocating her.

Bang Jin-bo suddenly remembered something and asked:

"Oh, by the way, where is that sister?"

"Who? Oh, Hye-ryeong Sister."

"I don't see her."

"She won't be here for a while. She has matters to attend to. She only stopped by briefly to see me while she was out."

"Everyone seems so busy."

"That's just how life is, I suppose."

"Sigh!"

Bang Jin-bo sighed once more.

Eun So-cheong gazed at Bang Jin-bo intently. She could not claim to fully understand his feelings, but she thought she could grasp them to some degree.

Eun So-cheong stayed for quite some time, chatting, before finally departing.

Left alone, a shadow fell over Bang Jin-bo's face.

The visits of Do Hak-gyeong and Eun So-cheong had filled his mind with too many thoughts.

"What am I going to do with my life?"

He could not follow Dam Ho forever.

From the beginning, Dam Ho had only promised to bring him here to Dongting Lake. What he did from here on was entirely his own decision.

Bang Jin-bo's dilemma deepened.

Drip! Drip!

Blood trickled down the back of Dam Ho's hand.

A few drops fell and were quickly absorbed into the ground. But the vivid red stains remained.

Dam Ho's gaze was fixed on a half-collapsed wall. A blood-soaked man was embedded in the center of the stone wall.

"Cough!"

The man vomited blood. After coughing up a mouthful, he barely managed to raise his head and look up at Dam Ho.

"That brat has become a monster."

The man's name was Go Sang-gyeong. He claimed to have once been a member of the Black Tiger Band.

After the band's disbandment, he had settled here on Eullok Mountain. Having amassed considerable wealth during his time with the Black Tiger Band, he had been living quite comfortably as a local notable.

The Reaper had visited him half an hour ago.

A man dressed entirely in black, walking with a limp.

At first, Go Sang-gyeong had scoffed at him. But the time it took for that scorn to turn to horror was not long.

Exactly half an hour. That was how long it had taken for every one of his household to be reduced to corpses.

Half an hour ago, the estate had been brimming with laughter and vitality. Now only the aura of death remained.

Go Sang-gyeong murmured:

"They were innocent. Did you truly have to kill them all? You are a demon without blood or tears."

"That is why I told you. Do not interfere."

"Kuhuk!"

"They were the ones who ignored the warning."

Go Sang-gyeong had hired many warriors to protect himself. With a guilty conscience, he had taken every precaution.

They had charged at Dam Ho to defend him. And the result, as clearly visible before them, was utterly devastating.

Dam Ho knelt on one knee before Go Sang-gyeong and met his eyes. Go Sang-gyeong turned his head, avoiding Dam Ho's gaze.

Though death was at his doorstep, looking into Dam Ho's eyes was more terrifying than death itself. To carry the memory of Dam Ho's gaze into his final moments—it was too horrifying. That was how deeply Go Sang-gyeong feared Dam Ho.

Dam Ho seized Go Sang-gyeong's jaw with his hand and forced him to look.

"Kuhuk!"

"Jo Yun-san. Where is he?"

"I told you, I don't know. I lost contact with him over a decade ago. How would I know?"

In that instant, Dam Ho's gaze sank deeper.

Crack!

"Kraaah!"

Go Sang-gyeong's little finger crumbled. As though struck by a massive iron hammer, the bone shattered and the muscle mangled.

For the first time in his life experiencing such pain, Go Sang-gyeong screamed in agony.

Dam Ho looked down at him with indifference. The sight was utterly terrifying.

Dam Ho crushed Go Sang-gyeong's ring finger next. A pain beyond anything he had ever imagined tore through Go Sang-gyeong's body, and he thrashed in agony. But Dam Ho was unmoved, mechanically destroying his finger bones one by one.

Go Sang-gyeong screamed and begged for mercy.

He wished he could simply die. But Dam Ho did not allow him that luxury.

He dislocated his jaw to prevent him from biting his tongue and sealed his internal energy to stop him from bursting his own heart meridians.

"Kuhuk!"

In the end, Go Sang-gyeong could only scream.

How much time had passed?

The focus faded from Go Sang-gyeong's eyes. His hands and feet were crushed as though caught between enormous boulders.

Now he could not even feel pain. The inability to feel anything at all made Go Sang-gyeong even more terrified.

A dizzying sensation of floating and isolation—as though only his head existed—made him feel he was going mad.

"Please… kill me."

"Jo Yun-san. Where is he?"

"I… I don't know. I truly don't know."

"Is there a way to find him?"

"I don't know! Huaaagh! I really don't know!"

Go Sang-gyeong wept.

Dam Ho's gaze grew even colder.

Go Sang-gyeong truly seemed to know nothing. To have endured to this point without speaking meant there was truly nothing to say.

The problem was that with Go Sang-gyeong, the link to Jo Yun-san was severed.

Dam Ho murmured:

"You are fortunate."

In that instant, Go Sang-gyeong thought the words were directed at him and flinched. His eyes were filled with terror. But he quickly realized they were addressed to Jo Yun-san.

The darkness in Dam Ho's eyes deepened further.

Go Sang-gyeong begged.

"Kill me now. Please…"

Dam Ho placed his foot on Go Sang-gyeong's neck. The cold, chilling sensation made Go Sang-gyeong shudder. But then he smiled.

'At last, I can die. I can die.'

Crack!

The sound of his own neck bone breaking—that was the last sound Go Sang-gyeong heard in this life.

Dam Ho gazed briefly at Go Sang-gyeong's corpse, tongue lolling.

With this, the link to Jo Yun-san was completely severed. But Dam Ho was not disappointed.

If the man wished to play in bigger waters, he would eventually reveal himself.

The martial world.

There were no waters bigger than this for a martial artist.

Dam Ho stepped outside and mounted the Black Demon.

"Let's go."

The Black Demon surged forward at a terrifying speed.

After two hours of riding, they arrived at the dock in Mangseong. Mangseong was a small county connected to the lower reaches of Dongting Lake by river. From here, a boat would take them directly to Dongting Lake.

Dam Ho stood at the dock, waiting for a boat.

After waiting about half an hour, a boat entered the dock. It was one of the transport ferries that plied Dongting Lake.

Dam Ho secured the Black Demon on the lower deck and climbed to the upper deck. Passengers had already taken their seats.

As Dam Ho passed through the passengers—

"The scenery of Dongting Lake is truly exceptional—as the rumors say. To steal the time and fortune of heaven and earth—I am stealing heaven's and earth's time and fortune to enjoy myself."

A cheerful voice suddenly rose from among the passengers.

The voice was not unfamiliar. Dam Ho turned his head, and a familiar face came into view.

The owner of the voice had also spotted Dam Ho, and his eyes went wide.

"Well, now! Who is this?"

Dam Ho's brow furrowed slightly.

The young man in his late twenties, with eyes that sparkled like a morning star and a roguish expression—was none other than Cho Yeon-woon.

After parting at Hongam Mountain Villa, Dam Ho had forgotten about him. He never dreamed he would encounter him again in a place thousands of li away.

Cho Yeon-woon, too, seemed surprised to see Dam Ho, and for a moment he wore a stunned expression.

He strode toward Dam Ho.

"I never expected to meet a friend in a place like this. What a pleasure, friend."

Before long, a smile had blossomed on his face.