Chapter 34: To Hire You (2)
The following night, Wang Gon stood looking out the window as he listened to Wang Woo’s report.
“For now, I sent everyone away except for the martial artists managed directly by the gang.”
“Well done.”
Besides the martial artists operated by the gang, he had also personally raised a number of martial artists. They had been a contingency prepared for times of crisis, yet when a crisis had finally arrived, they had been the first ones he had to dismiss.
In other words, it had never been a proper contingency plan to begin with.
There was one decisive thing he had realised after going through this ordeal.
‘I don’t have enough money.’
It was one thing to spend money to overcome a crisis, but it was another to end up this badly shaken. If another crisis came, he would be completely helpless.
‘I have to squeeze out money somehow.’
That was the conclusion he had reached.
If he possessed ten thousand nyang, even the Gang Leader of the Divine Transformation Gang could be moved.
“I borrowed twenty thousand nyang from Hero Liang.”
“That is fortunate.”
“It isn’t fortunate at all. That damned old man completely threw away all decency and demanded twenty percent interest every month.”
“It’s fine. Once we get through this hurdle, we can recover everything.”
Wang Gon refused to give up. Once he survived this crisis, an opportunity would surely appear.
Before that, there were countless things he had to do. Above all, no one could ever discover that he had bribed Jeong Pung. He also had to come up with a convincing explanation for his superiors as to why Yeom Jeonggil, rather than himself, had become the culprit in this incident. On top of that, he had to push forward with the iron workshop business that had been delayed because of this affair, so the gang would no longer be able to interfere with him.
“From now on, you’ll take charge of the iron workshop business.”
Originally, it had been Black Hand’s responsibility.
“Report every single detail to me.”
“Yes.”
Annoyed by the uncertain reply, Wang Gon raised his voice.
“You’re far too timid. At this rate, you’ll end up making a small gain only to suffer a great loss.”
It was then.
A voice that should never have been heard in this place echoed through the room.
“And do you know what your own problem is?”
Startled, Wang Gon and Wang Woo spun around.
Yeom Jeonggil stood behind the half-open door.
“Hero Yeom! You’ve been released.”
Though inwardly shocked, Wang Gon greeted him as though nothing were wrong. Wang Woo, on the other hand, had gone deathly pale.
“Yes, I was released just a little while ago.”
Just as Baek Socheon had expected, this was the first place he had come.
“You’ve suffered greatly, Hero.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Why did you bribe Jeong Pung?”
Yeom Jeonggil had no intention of leaving.
He was far too furious and exhausted for that.
Naturally, Wang Gon denied everything.
“You’re mistaken. I never did such a thing.”
“Then why did you borrow money from Hero Liang?”
He had heard their entire conversation.
Yeom Jeonggil’s gaze shifted to Wang Woo. Unlike Wang Gon, who lied without so much as a flicker in his eyes, Wang Woo stood stiff with tension, his face drained of colour.
‘That useless fool!’
This was the time to pour his soul into an act, yet he was visibly trembling. At this rate, he looked guilty enough to be convicted even if he had done nothing.
Wang Gon sighed inwardly before speaking honestly. Now that Yeom Jeonggil had been released, there was no longer any way to conceal what had happened.
“To tell you the truth, yes. I recruited Jeong Pung. I believed that if we could make him our ally, both you and I would be released.”
“And yet you were released first.”
“I thought it would be easier to rescue you if I were outside and free to move. If I was short-sighted…”
At that very moment, Yeom Jeonggil drew his sword.
Shing.
Slash.
The sword did not merely cut off Wang Gon’s words.
It split Wang Woo’s neck apart.
Pshhhhh!
Blood erupted from his neck like a fountain as Wang Woo collapsed backwards.
“No!”
Wang Gon rushed over, but Wang Woo had already died from that single strike.
“What have you done!”
Wang Gon roared in fury.
“That is my answer to your nonsense.”
Wang Gon drew his sword.
But he could not bring himself to charge.
That was the kind of man he was.
His son had just been killed before his eyes, yet his first thought was still for his own life. To him, ‘There’s no point throwing away my life in a fight I can’t win anyway,’ was not cowardice but rational judgement.
“To commit such an outrage! Even you won’t get away with this. Do you think the Gang Leader will let it pass?”
“And if he doesn’t? After losing you, he’ll kill me too? The losses would be far too great. Since when has our Gang Leader been someone who willingly accepts a loss?”
Neither of them had grown up within the Divine Transformation Gang.
Apart from three or four members of the leadership, nearly all of its martial artists had come from elsewhere.
When the Divine Transformation Gang established itself in Zhejiang Province, its Gang Leader had recruited martial artists through every possible means.
Sometimes with money.
Sometimes with promises of power.
Sometimes through beauty.
Sometimes by exploiting their weaknesses.
There had been countless reasons.
That was precisely why the Divine Transformation Gang functioned entirely on ability and achievements rather than loyalty or brotherhood.
“The Martial Alliance won’t let this go either.”
“They’ll conclude that the culprit was the same man who slaughtered Liang Qiu’s family.”
“What?”
Yeom Jeonggil’s sword shot toward Wang Gon.
Wang Gon swung his own blade to defend himself.
But they had never been on the same level.
He barely managed to block several exchanges before he could no longer avoid Yeom Jeonggil’s attack.
The table split apart.
The cabinet split apart.
And Wang Gon’s heart met the same fate.
Thud.
His breathing stopped as Wang Gon collapsed onto the floor.
He had planned to pin Liang Qiu’s family’s murders on that man so he could have Lim Chung and Beon Saeng killed.
Yet after everything had come full circle, he died hearing that very reason himself.
Many villains mocked the idea of karma.
At the very least, Wang Gon no longer could.
Just as Yeom Jeonggil turned to leave, he suddenly froze.
Another person was standing beside the doorway where he himself had been standing moments earlier.
It was Baek Socheon.
“No matter how much someone deserves to die, what kind of person kills a son in front of his own father?”
The moment Yeom Jeonggil recognised him, he flinched.
“You!”
He almost asked how Baek Socheon had gotten here but stopped himself.
Those words from earlier…
And the way Baek Socheon looked at him…
Everything was completely different from before.
No matter how exhausted he was, Yeom Jeonggil was not incapable of understanding the situation.
“Was it your plan for me to kill Division Leader Wang?”
“I wouldn’t call it a grand plan. I merely used you a little. You can’t endure even a moment after being wronged, can you? I can bully others, but others can never bully me. Isn’t that right? Judging by today, I’d say I was right.”
The arrogance and frivolity Baek Socheon had always displayed were nowhere to be found.
Recalling their first meeting, Yeom Jeonggil spoke.
“I had a bad feeling about you from the very beginning.”
“Was it worse than mine?”
“You… who are you really?”
“You really don’t know? I thought someone like you would. Baek Socheon. You’ve honestly never heard that name before? Ah, maybe I need to reflect on myself.”
Yeom Jeonggil blinked as though listening to complete nonsense.
Then he suddenly froze.
A name had surfaced in his mind for the briefest instant before vanishing.
Baek Socheon.
“Don’t tell me… you?”
“That’s right. The person you just thought of. That’s me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! That person is far older than you!”
“I’ve lived long enough myself.”
Yeom Jeonggil refused to believe it.
Or rather, he did not want to believe it.
As though trying to drive away the ominous feeling, he shouted.
“You don’t even have any Internal Energy! What gives you the confidence to act so arrogantly?”
Fortunately, he had personally confirmed that Baek Socheon possessed no Internal Energy.
“One hundred nyang.”
“What?”
“That’s what I’m relying on. One hundred nyang.”
At that instant, someone whispered beside Yeom Jeonggil’s ear.
“If you pay a thousand times that amount, I’ll sleep with you. Of course, even if you offered all the wealth in the world, I still wouldn’t with you.”
At some point, Cheon Geuk had appeared behind him.
Yeom Jeonggil was so startled that he slashed backwards with his sword.
But before the blade had even completed half its arc,
Stab!
A sharp dagger burst through his throat.
Yeom Jeonggil desperately tried to turn around to see who had killed him.
But Cheon Geuk pulled the dagger free before he could.
Splat!
Blood sprayed everywhere as Yeom Jeonggil collapsed to the ground.
Looking down at the corpse, Cheon Geuk said,
“No matter how I think about it, one hundred nyang is far too cheap.”
“No. It’s expensive.”
“Expensive?”
“This bastard isn’t even worth a single nyang.”
“Hmm. Do you know something?”
“What?”
“For me to move personally, I have to make quite a serious decision.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“You said there are opposition factions within the Alliance, didn’t you? If they found out you personally got involved in something like this, they’d use it against you politically.”
“So you do know.”
Just then, they heard people approaching from outside.
As Cheon Geuk vanished without a sound, he said,
“Good enough.”
The ones who entered were Jeong Pung and the martial artists of the Zhejiang Branch.
Lim Chung and Beon Saeng were with them.
Jeong Pung stared at the scene before him, speechless.
‘They’re really all dead. Just like Baek Socheon said.’
Everyone else was equally shocked.
Well…
Everyone except one man.
Lim Chung.
Looking down at Wang Gon’s corpse, he broke into a broad smile.
Even when Yeom Jeonggil had ordered his execution, he had never intended to take revenge through murder.
But Wang Gon had threatened his wife and children.
His subordinates had even gone to kill them.
Now the direct threat to his family was gone.
He felt not the slightest sympathy for Wang Gon’s death.
Instead, he felt exhilarated.
The same went for Wang Woo.
How many people had suffered because of that young fool’s shallow selfishness and greed?
And how many more would have suffered in the future?
Looking at Baek Socheon, Jeong Pung asked,
“What do we do now?”
“The Divine Transformation Gang has lost one Division Leader and one of its Four Great Martial Artists. They were even summoned because of the Liang Qiu family case. Well? At this point, we have enough grounds to arrest the Gang Leader for questioning, don’t we?”
“The Gang Leader?”
Everyone was stunned by the suggestion of summoning the Gang Leader of the Divine Transformation Gang.
“So this was your plan from the beginning.”
“The order to wipe out Liang Qiu’s family came from the Gang Leader.”
“Why go this far?”
“You didn’t even know that family. Isn’t this sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong?”
“Well, not exactly. But let’s assume it is.”
“Because if you’re not going to live this way, then you shouldn’t be in the Martial Alliance.”
“…!”
“If you’re just going to look away and pretend not to know, then you should choose another life. There are plenty of other ways to live. You could even earn more money. But if you’ve deliberately chosen to make your living in the Martial Alliance, then even if you don’t go searching for injustice yourself, you should at least not ignore what’s right in front of your eyes.”
“Those words put me to shame.”
“You don’t need to feel that way. Everyone has different beliefs and different ways of living. You’re standing here, and that’s enough. Let’s just say the Divine Transformation Gang had bad luck. I’ve been needing somewhere to vent my frustration lately.”
“So… has it eased your anger?”
“I haven’t even started yet. Come on. Let’s go arrest the Gang Leader.”
Strangely, once events had reached this point, Jeong Pung’s anxious heart became lighter.
“Very well. Let’s go. Let’s find out whether that madman truly gave the order to exterminate Liang Qiu’s family. If we give them time, we’ll be at a disadvantage. We’ll travel through the night straight to their headquarters.”
“Excellent! It’s so reassuring to know there’s someone else who’ll take responsibility if things go wrong.”
“Must you say things like that?”
Jeong Pung shook his head in disbelief.
Yet he was grateful that Baek Socheon had reminded him.
This had always been his responsibility.
Since he had chosen to lead this investigation, he would also bear its consequences.
‘That’s right. No regrets.’
Baek Socheon had given him the chance to make that decision consciously.
At least he would never end up regretting it after being swept along without thinking.
Leaving only the martial artists needed to clean up the scene, Jeong Pung headed outside.
As Baek Socheon followed after him, Cheon Geuk’s voice was transmitted directly into his ear.
—Can I come watch? I won’t charge you a hundred nyang.
Since he had no Internal Energy and could not reply through voice transmission, Baek Socheon simply gave a slight nod.
He could sense Cheon Geuk and the Guardian Killing Stars following him while remaining concealed.
Behind them came Lim Chung and Beon Saeng.
Ever since seeing Wang Gon’s corpse, Beon Saeng’s heart had been pounding.
It was on the land where the iron workshop would be built that the two of them had first learned their true opponent was the entire Divine Transformation Gang.
Even then, they had never imagined things would develop this far, or become reality so quickly.
In a quiet voice, Beon Saeng asked,
“Branch Leader, we’ll be alright… won’t we?”
“I want to say yes… but honestly, I don’t know either. And from now on, call me Hyung outside official settings.”
Beon Saeng blinked in surprise.
Then he realised another wall between himself and Lim Chung had crumbled.
“Yes, Hyung.”
“This is an official setting.”
“Yes… Branch Leader!”
Beon Saeng’s steps felt unusually light.
Perhaps because he was in such a good mood, he ended up greatly overestimating Baek Socheon.
“As long as Big Brother is with us, I feel like everything will be fine. Forget the Divine Transformation Gang, I feel like we could charge straight into the Martial Alliance itself.”
“That’s going a bit too far.”
“Hahaha.”
Beon Saeng laughed cheerfully.
Just then, one of the Zhejiang Branch martial artists walking ahead turned around and frowned at them, clearly asking with his expression whether this was really the time to laugh.
Beon Saeng quickly composed himself.
‘Right. This isn’t the time to laugh. Gang Leader of the Divine Transformation Gang… just you wait.’
Though he wished it could be himself,
‘My Hyung is coming to get you!’
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